Effect of genesis on the properties and hydrogen reducibility of NiO-ZnO mixed oxides

The physico-chemical properties and reactivity tested by hydrogen reduction have been studied for two series of NiO-ZnO mixed oxides of various composition. The solid nickel oxide or zinc oxide in interaction with the solution of nitrate of the second component were used as the precursors in each series. The differences in some physico-chemical parameters of the samples in both series were correlated with their reduction behaviour, followed both in iso- and non-isothermal regime. Moreower, the influence of various factors modifying the reactivity of mixed oxides was also investigated and the results were compared with those obtained from earlier studied analogous systems of quite different origin.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Determining radii of meromorphy via orthogonal polynomials on the unit circle

Using a convergence theorem for Fourier–Padé approximants constructed from orthogonal polynomials on the unit circle, we prove an analogue of Hadamard's theorem for determining the radius of m-meromorphy of a function analytic on the unit disk and apply this to the location of poles of the reciprocal of Szeg functions.     

Asymptotic properties of computationally efficient alternative estimators for a class of multivariate normal models

Parameters of Gaussian multivariate models are often estimated using the maximum likelihood approach. In spite of its merits, this methodology is not practical when the sample size is very large, as, for example, in the case of massive georeferenced data sets. In this paper, we study the asymptotic properties of the estimators that minimize three alternatives to the likelihood function, designed to increase the computational efficiency. This is achieved by applying the information sandwich technique to expansions of the pseudo-likelihood functions as quadratic forms of independent normal random variables. Theoretical calculations are given for a first-order autoregressive time series and then extended to a two-dimensional autoregressive process on a lattice. We compare the efficiency of the three estimators to that of the maximum likelihood estimator as well as among themselves, using numerical calculations of the theoretical results and simulations.     

Dihalodimethyltin(IV) complexes of 2‐(pyrazol‐1‐ylmethyl)pyridine

Reaction of dichloro‐ and dibromodimethyltin(IV) with 2‐(pyrazol‐1‐ylmethyl)pyridine (PMP) afforded [SnMe₂Cl₂(PMP)] and [SnMe₂Br₂(PMP)] respectively. The new complexes were characterized by elemental analysis and mass spectrometry and by IR, Raman and NMR (¹H, ¹³C) spectroscopies. Structural studies by X‐ray diffraction techniques show that the compounds consist of discrete units with the tin atom octahedrally coordinated to the carbon atoms of the two methyl groups in a trans disposition (Sn? C = 2.097(5), 2.120(5) Å and 2.110(6), 2.121(6) Å in the chloro and in the bromo compounds respectively), two cis halogen atoms (Sn? Cl = 2.4908(16), 2.5447(17) Å; Sn? Br = 2.6875(11), 2.7464(9) Å) and the two donor atoms of the ligand (Sn? N = 2.407(4), 2.471(4) Å and 2.360(5), 2.455(5) Å). In both cases, the Sn? N(pyridine) bond length is markedly longer than the Sn? N(pyrazole) distance. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synchronization and modularity in complex networks

We investigate the connection between the dynamics of synchronization and the modularity on complex networks. Simulating the Kuramoto's model in complex networks we determine patterns of meta-stability and calculate the modularity of the partition these patterns provide. The results indicate that the more stable the patterns are, the larger tends to be the modularity of the partition defined by them. This correlation works pretty well in homogeneous networks (all nodes have similar connectivity) but fails when networks contain hubs, mainly because the modularity is never improved where isolated nodes appear, whereas in the synchronization process the characteristic of hubs is to have a large stability when forming its own community.     

Nanostructures in calcia stabilized hafnia thin films observed by PAC as a function of temperature

The hyperfine quadrupole interaction at Hf sites in films and powders of 14 mol% CaO–HfO₂ and 20 mol% CaO–HfO₂ has been determined as a function of temperature. Results indicate the formation of a cubic solid solution and other microstructures assigned to the ?₁ (CaHf₄O₉) and ?₂ (Ca₆Hf₁₉O₄₄) phases. Dynamical effects on the electric field gradient reveal the existence of oxygen vacancies movements in the solid solution. The thermal behavior of the relaxation constant observed in films allowed the determination of activation energies of 0.54 eV and 0.70 eV for the 14 mol% and 20 mol% CaO doped hafnias, respectively. The influence of the microdomains and the stability of the cubic solid solution are discussed.     

Integrable semiclassical deformations of general algebraic curves and associated conservation laws

Based on the Lenard relations, we completely classify integrable deformations of general algebraic curves. We construct the general solution of the Lenard relation from the invariance condition with respect to an element of the Galois group of the curve. We give some examples and also some associated conservation laws. __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 151, No. 3, pp. 458–469, June, 2007.     

Confidence regions in a multivariate regression model with constraints II

The multivariate model, where not only parameters of the mean value of the observation matrix, but also some other parameters occur in constraints, is considered in the paper. Some basic inference is presented under the condition that the covariance matrix is either unknown, or partially unknown, or known. Supported by the grant of the Council of Czech Republic MSM 6 198 959 214.     

Interpretation of the polyelectrolyte and antipolyelectrolyte effects of poly(N‐vinylimidazole‐co‐sodium styrenesulfonate) hydrogels

Hydrogels of N‐vinylimidazole (VI) and sodium styrenesulfonate (SSS) were synthesized in aqueous solution by radical crosslinking copolymerization with N,N′‐methylene‐bis(acrylamide) as crosslinker. Swelling in several saline solutions was measured for hydrogel samples synthesized with different comonomer concentrations (C_T = 10, 25, or 40%) and with SSS mole fractions covering a broad range (f_SSS = 0–0.7), while the crosslinker ratio was 2 wt % in all cases. The degree of swelling in aqueous solution with a specific ionic strength (μ), plotted versus the SSS composition of the feed, shows a minimum for any set of samples synthesized with a fixed C_T. The dependence of swelling on μ shows both polyelectrolyte (f_SSS beyond the minimum) and antipolyelectrolyte behaviors (in the low f_SSS limit). It was found that the nonGaussian factor of the crosslinking density and the polymer‐solvent interaction parameter increase with f_SSS for any C_T. Moreover, in the low f_SSS limit, the osmotic swelling pressure is governed not only by the ionic contribution, but also by the polymer‐solvent mixing and, the concentration of mobile counterions inside the gel is not proportional to the net fixed charge but to the addition of cationic and anionic side groups, what discards the formation of ionic pairs. The antipolyelectrolyte effect is interpreted as due to the increasing protonation of VI as μ goes up. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1683–1693, 2007     

A Self-Similar Dynamics in Viscous Spheres

We study the evolution of radiating and viscous fluid spheres assuming an additional homothetic symmetry on the spherically symmetric space-time. We match a very simple solution to the symmetry equations with the exterior one (Vaidya). We then obtain a system of two ordinary differential equations which rule the dynamics, and find a self-similar collapse which is shear-free and with a barotropic equation of state. Considering a huge set of initial self-similar dynamics states, we work out a model with an acceptable physical behavior.