Determination of 90Sr and 210Pb in deer bone samples by liquid scintillation counting after ion-exchange procedures

This work describes a procedure for the isolation of ⁹⁰Sr and ²¹⁰Pb from deer bones by anion exchange methods and their sequential measurement by LSC. To prevent collection of Pb on the Sr·Spec^® resin we first separated Pb on a Dowex anion exchange column. Sr, which is not held back on the Dowex column, was then purified using Sr·Spec^® resin: first Ca and the Ra isotopes were eluted with 3 M HNO₃ and then Sr was eluted with distilled water. With this 2-steps procedure pure ²¹⁰Pb and ⁹⁰Sr spectra can be achieved. The chemical yield of both steps was determined by ICP-MS. Our ⁹⁰Sr results show satisfying agreement with data obtained by a shorter Sr·Spec^® method and also by the “classical” ⁹⁰Sr determination using fuming nitric acid. Also ²¹⁰Pb results were checked by re-measuring bone samples with already known ²¹⁰Pb activities. Further our method was verified on the reference sample IAEA-A-12.     

On Subordination Chains with Normalization Given by a Time-dependent Linear Operator

In this paper we are concerned with solutions, in particular with univalent solutions, of the Loewner differential equation associated with non-normalized subordination chains on the Euclidean unit ball B ⁿ in \mathbbCⁿ{\mathbb{C}^n}. The main result is a generalization to higher dimensions of a well known result due to Becker. Various particular cases of this result have been recently obtained for subordination chains with normalization Df(0,t)=e^tI_n{Df(0,t)=e^tI_n} or Df(0, t) = e ^tA , t ≥ 0, where A ? L(\mathbbCⁿ,\mathbbCⁿ){A\in L(\mathbb{C}^n,\mathbb{C}^n)}. We also determine the form of the standard solutions to the Loewner differential equation associated with generalized spirallike mappings. In the last section we obtain the form of the solution in the presence of coefficient bounds.     

Annealing study of two-dimensional patterned Ge nanostructures via nanosphere lithography

Experimental studies on patterning hexagonal Ge nanostructures have been conducted on Si substrates through deposition of Ge with colloidal particles as a mask. The deposited Ge thin film possesses, according to the X-ray diffraction measurements, in plane texture, being epitaxial and aligned with the (111) Si substrate. The size distribution of the patterned Ge nanostructures is narrow, as indicated by the atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy measurements. We have obtained Ge nanostructures with lateral dimension of 490 nm (height 12 nm), 200 nm (height 6 nm) and 82 nm (height 6 nm) by using different sizes of polystyrene spheres. We have performed in depth studies of the Ge nanostructures’ behavior due to thermal and rapid thermal post-annealing processes. FT micro-Raman spectroscopy shows that there is no Si intermixing during the annealing process. In order to quantify the changes in the height and lateral dimension, we have performed atomic force microscopy and white light interferometry analysis. The changes in shape and the decrease in the area of a cross-section of Ge nanostructure will be discussed in respect to similar results shown in the literature for Ge thin films during the annealing process.     

On the “viscous incompressible fluid + rigid body” system with Navier conditions

In this paper we consider the motion of a rigid body in a viscous incompressible fluid when some Navier slip conditions are prescribed on the body's boundary. The whole system “viscous incompressible fluid + rigid body” is assumed to occupy the full space R³${\mathbb{R}}^3$. We start by proving the existence of global weak solutions to the Cauchy problem. Then, we exhibit several properties of these solutions. First, we show that the added-mass effect can be computed which yields better-than-expected regularity (in time) of the solid velocity-field. More precisely we prove that the solid translation and rotation velocities are in the Sobolev space H¹$H^1$. Second, we show that the case with the body fixed can be thought as the limit of infinite inertia of this system, that is when the solid density is multiplied by a factor converging to +∞. Finally we prove the convergence in the energy space of weak solutions “à la Leray” to smooth solutions of the system “inviscid incompressible fluid + rigid body” as the viscosity goes to zero, till the lifetime T   of the smooth solution of the inviscid system. Moreover we show that the rate of convergence is optimal with respect to the viscosity and that the solid translation and rotation velocities converge in H¹(0,T)$H^1(0,T)$.     

Effective learning hyper-heuristics for the course timetabling problem

Course timetabling is an important and recurring administrative activity in most educational institutions. This article combines a general modeling methodology with effective learning hyper-heuristics to solve this problem. The proposed hyper-heuristics are based on an iterated local search procedure that autonomously combines a set of move operators. Two types of learning for operator selection are contrasted: a static (offline) approach, with a clear distinction between training and execution phases; and a dynamic approach that learns on the fly. The resulting algorithms are tested over the set of real-world instances collected by the first and second International Timetabling competitions. The dynamic scheme statistically outperforms the static counterpart, and produces competitive results when compared to the state-of-the-art, even producing a new best-known solution. Importantly, our study illustrates that algorithms with increased autonomy and generality can outperform human designed problem-specific algorithms.     

Variational Solutions to Nonlinear Diffusion Equations with Singular Diffusivity

We provide existence results for nonlinear diffusion equations with multivalued time-dependent nonlinearities related to convex continuous not coercive potentials. The results in this paper, following a variational principle, state that a generalized solution of the nonlinear equation can be retrieved as a solution of an appropriate minimization problem for a convex functional involving the potential and its conjugate. In the not coercive case, this assertion is conditioned by the validity of a relation between the solution and the nonlinearity. A sufficient condition, under which this relation is true, is given. At the end, we present a discussion on the solution existence for a particular equation describing a self-organized criticality model.     

Zur Trennung der Metalle der dritten Analysengruppe

Ohne Zusammenfassung