Distribution of metastable argon atoms in the modified Grimm-type electrical discharge

The absorbance by metastable argon atoms of the Ar 696.543 nm line in the modified Grimm-type electrical discharge source was measured at different discharge conditions and at distances varying from 0.25 to 6 mm from the cathode. A uranium/argon hollow cathode lamp was used as primary source, which gave an argon gas temperature of 850 K when run at 12 mA. A maximum absorbance of 0.57 was found 3 mm from the cathode at 600 V, 80 mA. The magnitude of absorbance increases with discharge current while the position of maximum absorbance shifts away from the cathode with increase in discharge voltage. The quenching of metastable atoms by nitrogen is demonstrated.The spatial distribution of the intensity of four different types of spectral lines is shown. The approximate number densities of the different particles are 10¹²cm^?3 for metastable argon atoms, 10¹⁶cm^?3 for neutral argon atoms, 10¹³ cm^?3 for sputtered copper atoms and 10¹⁴cm^?3for electrons.     

On the origin of self-replicating information-containing polymers from oligomeric mixtures

Within the renormalization group formalism we study condensation reactions between oligomeric molecules catalysed by residues complementary to the growing ones. By assuming that the substrate-catalyst binding constatnt is the relevant parameter, we show that the transition to an information-containing self-replicating polymer is a critical phenomenon.     

Rheological properties of paraffin suspensions of surface-modified alumina powder for low-pressure injection moulding

Due to the hygroscopic nature of fine alumina powders, the presence of water may have a detrimental effect on the rheological properties of a suspension in melted paraffin for low-pressure injection moulding (LPIM). For this reason, a modification of the powder surface from hydrophilic to hydrophobic is essential for the production of high-quality moulded ceramics. In our paper, the efficiency of the application and the chemisorption of protective monomolecular layers of a long-chain carboxylic acid or its salts will be presented. The effect of the powder treatment on the shear viscosity and the viscoelastic properties of the suspensions for LPIM as well as on their stability in terms of the detrimental effect of water will be discussed.This paper was presented at the first Annual European Rheology Conference (AERC) held in Guimarães, Portugal, September 11-13, 2003.     

Structure and photoluminescence of a benzil nanocolumn in a C-methylcalix[4]resorcinarene-based framework

A new framework based on C-methylcalix[4]resorcinarene and the flexible nonconjugated spacer 1,4-bis(imidazol-1yl-methyl)benzene encloses a large one-dimensional channel, containing benzil nanocolumns. Unlike in a previously reported series of benzil-containing supramolecular solids with conjugated linker molecules, benzil luminescence is observed, but the lifetime of 580 ns at 77 K is considerably shorter than the 145 micros reported for neat benzil at room temperature.     

Numerical blow‐up for the porous medium equation with a source

We study numerical approximations of positive solutions of the porous medium equation with a nonlinear source, where m > 1, p > 0 and L > 0 are parameters. We describe in terms of p, m, and L when solutions of a semidiscretization in space exist globally in time and when they blow up in a finite time. We also find the blow‐up rates and the blow‐up sets, proving that there is no regional blow‐up for the numerical scheme. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2004     

Stochastic modeling approach to the incubation time of prionic diseases

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are neurodegenerative diseases for which prions are the attributed pathogenic agents. A widely accepted theory assumes that prion replication is due to a direct interaction between the pathologic (PrP(Sc)) form and the host-encoded (PrP(C)) conformation, in a kind of autocatalytic process. Here we show that the overall features of the incubation time of prion diseases are readily obtained if the prion reaction is described by a simple mean-field model. An analytical expression for the incubation time distribution then follows by associating the rate constant to a stochastic variable log normally distributed. The incubation time distribution is then also shown to be log normal and fits the observed BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) data very well. Computer simulation results also yield the correct BSE incubation time distribution at low PrP(C) densities.     

Method development for the determination of iron in milligram amounts of rice plants (Oryza sativa L.) from cultivation experiments using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

The amount of sample that is available for analysis in laboratory plant cultivation experiments is usually very limited. Highly sensitive analytical techniques are therefore required, even for elements that are present in the plants at mg g^–1 concentrations, and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) was chosen in this work because of its micro-sampling capability, and its relatively simple operation. Four micro-methods were investigated for the determination of iron in roots and leaves of rice plants: i) a micro-digestion with nitric and hydrochloric acids, ii) a slurry procedure using tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) tissue solubilizer, iii) a slurry prepared in 1.4 mol L^–1 nitric acid, and treated in an ultrasonic bath, and iv) the direct analysis of solid samples. The micro-digestion was suffering from high blank values and contamination problems, so that it could not be recommended for routine purposes. The TMAH method exhibited poor precision and occasional low recoveries, particularly for real samples. Direct solid sampling analysis gave results similar to those obtained with the slurry technique with ultrasonic agitation for the determination of iron in certified reference materials with iron content up to about 100 g g^–1, but was too sensitive for the investigated rice plants, which had an iron content up to several mg g^–1. The slurry technique with ultrasonic treatment of the samples, suspended in dilute nitric acid, was finally adopted as the method of choice.The method was then applied for the determination of iron in the leaves and in different compartments of the roots of two rice cultivars, one sensitive to iron toxicity, an important nutritional disorder, and the other one resistant to iron toxicity. The results suggest that the higher resistance to iron toxicity of the second cultivar is due to a smaller uptake of iron from the soil, resulting in lower iron levels in all compartments of the plant.     

Minimal Surfaces Obtained by Ribaucour Transformations

We consider Ribaucour transformations between minimal surfaces and we relate such transformations to generating planar embedded ends. Applying Ribaucour transformations to Enneper's surface and to the catenoid, we obtain new families of complete, minimal surfaces, of genus zero, immersed in R ³, with infinitely many embedded planar ends or with any finite number of such ends. Moreover, each surface has one or two nonplanar ends. A particular family is obtained from the catenoid, for each pair (n,m), nm, such that n m0 is an irreducible rational number. For any such pair, we get a 1-parameter family of finite total curvature, complete minimal surfaces with n+2 ends, n embedded planar ends and two nonplanar ends of geometric index m, whose total curvature is –4(n+m). The analytic interpretation of a Ribaucour transformation as a Bäcklund type transformation and a superposition formula for the nonlinear differential equation = e^-2 is included.     

Dynamics of classical wave scattering by small obstacles

A causality problem in the time-dependent scattering of classical waves from point scatterers is pointed out and analyzed. Based on an alternative model, the leading pole approximation of the exact scattering matrix of the square-well potential, transparent expressions for the time- and position-dependent Green function in a disordered medium are derived.