Comparative Hydrodynamic Study on Non-Aqueous Soluble Archaeological Wood Consolidants: Butvar B-98 and PDMS-OH Siloxanes

Butvar B-98 and PDMS-OH both have a demonstrable ability as consolidants for archaeological wood. This makes them both potential treatment options for the Oseberg collection, which is one of the most important archaeological finds from the Viking era. Both Butvar B-98 and PDMS-OH are soluble in organic solvents, offering a useful alternative to aqueous-based consolidants. Extensive characterisation studies were carried out on both of these polymers, with the use of analytical ultracentrifugation and viscometry, for the benefit of conservators wanting to know more about the physical properties of these materials. Short column sedimentation equilibrium analysis using SEDFIT-MSTAR revealed a weight-average molar mass (weight-average molecular weight) M_w of (54.0 ± 1.5) kDa (kg · mol⁻¹) for Butvar B-98, while four samples of PDMS-OH siloxanes (each with a different molar mass) had an M_w of (52.5 ± 3.0) kDa, (38.8 ± 1.5) kDa, (6.2 ± 0.7) kDa and (1.6 ± 0.1) kDa. Sedimentation velocity confirmed that all polymers were heterogeneous, with a wide range of molar masses. All molecular species showed considerable conformational asymmetry from measurements of intrinsic viscosity, which would facilitate networking interactions as consolidants. It is anticipated that the accumulated data on these two consolidants will enable conservators to make a more informed decision when it comes to choosing which treatment to administer to archaeological artefacts.     

Positive current correlations associated with super-Poissonian shot noise

We report on shot noise cross spectrum measurements in a beam splitter configuration. Electrons tunneling through potential barriers are incident on a beam splitter and scattered into two separate channels. Such a partition process introduces correlations between the fluctuations of the two currents. Our work has confirmed that the generally expected negative correlations resulted from sub-Poissonian electron sources. More interestingly, positive cross correlations associated with barriers exhibiting super-Poissonian shot noise have also been observed. We have found that both positive and negative correlations can be related to the noise properties of the electron source.     

Error-rate measurements on an all-optically regenerated signal

Error-rate measurements have been performed on an experimental all-optical regenerator at 140 Mbit s⁻¹ for a range of input wavelengths in the 1.5-μm band. The best sensitivity was −40 dB m and the maximum gain 31.5 dB from facet to facet. Wavelength translations from −11 to +24 nm were obtained for a penalty of less than 5 dB. The regenerator used the interaction of the input signal with an optical clock waveform in a bistable laser amplifier to re-time the signal and restore the data levels. Future applications may include use in a repeater, as an interface in a wavelength-multiplexed network or as a logic element.

     

More on quadratic convergence in interval arithmetic

Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for quadratic convergence in interval arithmetic.Partially supported by NSF grant GJ-797.     

Partial differential equations with deviating arguments in the time variable

Some classes of partial differential equations with deviating arguments in the time variable are investigated. The equations are written as abstract ordinary functional differential equations of the form $\text{d}\text{dt}\text{u(t) = ?Au(t) + F(u}{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{), u}{}_0\text{= φ}$, where ?A is the infinitesimal generator of a linear semigroup and F is not necessarily continuous. Existence, uniqueness, and stability properties are developed by studying the equations in appropriately chosen spaces of initial functions φ.     

Imaging performance of an isotropic negative dielectric constant slab

The influence of material and thickness on the subwavelength imaging performance of a negative dielectric constant slab is studied. Resonance in the plane-wave transfer function produces a high spatial frequency ripple that could be useful in fabricating periodic structures. A cost function based on the plane-wave transfer function provides a useful metric to evaluate the planar slab lens performance, and using this, the optimal slab dielectric constant can be determined.     

Resonant Raman scattering from screened longitudinal optical phonons in EuTe

Forbidden resonant Raman scattering from screened longitudinal optical, LO, phonons has been observed in the back-reflection geometry from n-type EuTe at 2°K. The Raman shift increased with increasing excitation frequency but was always between the LO and TO phonon frequencies. This effect is explained in terms of a varying ‘effective’ carrier concentration as a function of laser penetration depth through the surface depletion layer in the situation of large phonon wave vector. Conduction band and lattice parameters have been calculated from infrared Reststrahlen and plasma edge measurements.     

Comparison of Green and Lowtran Radiation Schemes with a Discrete Ordinate Method UV Model

Abstract— Using the same input parameters for the calculations, the Green and Lowtran codes for calculating UV irradiances were compared to the discrete ordinate method (DOM) model by Stamnes et al , which was used as a reference. The comparisons were performed at 305 and 380 nm for different ozone concentrations, aerosol optical depths and aerosol absorption characteristics. No obvious dependencies on optical depth, single scattering albedo or column ozone were found for the ratio of the Green and the Lowtran code to the DOM model. At 380 nm the Green model agrees with DOM within 10%, whereas the Lowtran code shows discrepancies of ±25%. At 305 nm the Green model shows 10% higher values than the DOM model at low zenith angles and up to 80% lower values for zenith angles between 60 and 80°. The Lowtran code shows 60% higher values than DOM at small zenith angles and 60% lower values at large zenith angles. When the spectra from each model were weighted with the erythemal action spectrum the Green model overestimated the DOM results by less than 10% for zenith angles less than 50°. Discrepancies between DOM and Lowtran models exceeded 10% except for a small range of zenith angles.     

Exhaustive computational search of ionic-charge clusters that mediate interactions between mammalian cytochrome P450 (CYP) and P450-oxidoreductase (POR) proteins

In this work, a model for the interaction between CYP2B4 and the FMN domain of rat P450-oxidoreductase is built using as template the structure of a bacterial redox complex. Amino acid residues identified in the literature as cytochrome P450 (CYP)–redox partner interfacial residues map to the interface in our model. Our model supports the view that the bacterial template represents a specific electron transfer complex and moreover provides a structural framework for explaining previous experimental data.We have used our model in an exhaustive search for complementary pairs of mammalian CYP and P450-oxidoreductase (POR) charge clusters. We quantitatively show that among the previously defined basic clusters, the 433K–434R cluster is the most dominant (32.3% of interactions) and among the acidic clusters, the 207D–208D–209D cluster is the most dominant (29%). Our analysis also reveals the previously not described basic cluster 343R–345K (16.1% of interactions) and 373K (3.2%) and the acidic clusters 113D–115E–116E (25.8%), 92E–93E (12.9%), 101D (3.2%) and 179E (3.2%).Cluster pairings among the previously defined charge clusters include the pairing of cluster 421K–422R to cluster 207D–208D–209D. Moreover, 433K–434R and 207D–208D–209D, respectively the dominant positively and negatively charged clusters, are uncorrelated. Instead our analysis suggests that the newly identified cluster 113D–115E–116E is the main partner of the 433K–434R cluster while the newly described cluster 343R–345K is correlated to the cluster 207D–208D–209D.