Stability testing in an integrated scheme

ISO Guide 35 deals with RM stability issues and scrutinizes the evaluation of stability testing results under the assumption that either there is no trend at all (a rather rare situation), or any observed deterministic change is insignificant and thus can be neglected. However, market demands for reliable reference materials are obviously not limited to stable or at least seemingly stable materials. In many analytical applications, analytes and measurands under consideration are known, or at least suspected, to be unstable on time scales that may vary widely from measurand to measurand. The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) has developed (and successfully uses) an integrated approach in its certification practice. The approach is based on an initial stability study and subsequent post-certification monitoring. Data evaluation is model-based and takes advantage of all information collected in the stability testing scheme(s). It thus allows one to deal with any kind of instability observed, to assess limiting time intervals at any stress condition in the range tested, to estimate a final expiry date for materials with detected instabilities or the maximum admissible re-testing interval for seemingly stable materials, and to assess maximum admissible stress loads during delivery of the material to the customer. The article describes (and exemplifies) typical study layout, the model selection, and the integrated data assessment.     

Complex powers of classical SG-pseudodifferential operators

Abstract Under a suitable ellipticity condition, we show that classical SG-pseudodifferential operators of nonnegative order possess complex powers. We show that the powers are again classical and derive an explicit formula for all homogeneous components. Keywords: Complex power, Weighted symbols, Noncompact manifolds     

Compact spreads and compact translation planes over locally compact fields

We prove that a spread S over a locally compact nondlscrete field F defines a topological translation plane if and only if the spread is compact. For F=R, this is implicit in Breuning's thesis [Bre], cf. [B 2]. For the proof, we describe the point set of the projective translation plane as a quotient space of some projective space, with identifications taking place in one hyperplane. This is new even for F=R.     

The Hahn–Banach Theorem for Partially Ordered Totally Convex, Positively Convex and Superconvex Modules

The Hahn–Banach Theorem for partially ordered totally convex modules [3] and a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of an extension of a morphism from a submodule C ₀ of a partially ordered totally convex module C (with the ordered unit ball of the reals as codomain) to C, are proved. Moreover, the categories of partially ordered positively convex and superconvex modules are introduced and for both categories the Hahn–Banach Theorem is proved.     

Extrusion of pastes with a piston extruder for the determination of the local solid and fluid concentration, the local porosity and saturation and displacement profiles by means of NMR imaging

 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) was used to investigate the extrusion behaviour of PTFE pastes in a ram extruder. By means of ¹H-NMR imaging (MRI) it is possible to determine the local proton density and therefore, the local fluid concentration. The ¹⁹F-MRI provides the local solid concentration. Thus the local saturation and the local porosity can be calculated with the information of the local fluid and solid concentration. Furthermore displacement profiles can be derived from NMR images by means of correlation techniques without any preparation or marking of the pastes. Received: 8 May 2000   Accepted: 1 May 2001     

On a conjecture of Cox and Katz

This note shows that a certain toric quotient of the quintic Calabi-Yau threefold in provides a counterexample to a recent conjecture of Cox and Katz concerning nef cones of toric hypersurfaces. Received: 8 February 2001; in final form: 17 September 2001 / Published online: 1 February 2002     

Portable and Automatic Mössbauer Analysis

A portable Mössbauer spectrometer, developed for extraterrestrial applications, opens up new industrial applications of MBS. But for industrial applications, an available tool for fast data analysis is also required, and it should be easy to handle. The analysis of Mössbauer spectra and their parameters is a barrier for the popularity of this wide-applicable spectroscopic technique in industry. Based on experience, the analysis of a Mössbauer spectrum is time-consuming and requires the dedication of a specialist. However, the analysis of Mössbauer spectra, from the fitting to the identification of the sample phases, can be faster using by genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic and artificial neural networks. Industrial applications are very specific ones and the data analysis can be performed using these algorithms. In combination with an automatic analysis, the Mössbauer spectrometer can be used as a probe instrument which covers the main industrial needs for an on-line monitoring of its products, processes and case studies. Some of these real industrial applications will be discussed.     

Explicit limits for nonperiodic homogenization and reduction of dimensionLimites explicites pour l'homogénéisation non-périodique et la réduction de dimension

The aim of this Note is to give explicit limit expressions, for diffusion equations involving a small parameter ε, describing both nonperiodic homogenization and reduction of dimension. We consider two kinds of reduction of dimension: the case of plates and the case of thin cylinders. In particular, we give the limit diffusion equation for stratified plates. This is completely explicit and requires no special assumption, except stratification. In the case of thin cylinders, the formulae are less explicit, but we also indicate some simple applications to fibered materials. To cite this article: B. Gustafsson, J. Mossino, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 334 (2002) 977–982.     

Simple, expedient methods for the determination of water and electrolyte contents of cellulose solvent systems

The concentrations of water, W, and electrolytes present in solutions of LiCl in N,N-dimethylacetamide, LiCl/DMAc, and of tetrabutylammonium fluoride. x-hydrate in DMSO, TBAF.xW/DMSO can be accurately and expediently determined by three independent methods, UV–vis, FTIR and EMF measurement. The first relies on the use of solvatochromic probes whose spectra are sensitive to solution composition. It is applicable to W/LiCl/DMAc solutions but not to TBAF.xW/DMSO, because the charge-transfer complex bands of the probes are suppressed by strong interactions with the latter electrolyte. Integration of ν_OH band of water may be employed in order to determine [W], hence [electrolyte] by weight difference. EMF measurement uses ion-selective electrodes in order to determine [electrolyte], hence [W] by weight difference. Results of the latter method were in excellent agreement with those of FTIR. The reason for the failure of Karl Fischer titration is addressed, and the relevance of the results obtained to functionalization of cellulose under homogenous solution conditions is briefly commented on.