Shearing or compressing a soft glass in 2D: time-concentration superposition

We report surface shear rheological measurements on dense insoluble monolayers of micron sized colloidal spheres at the oil/water interface and of the protein beta-lactoglobulin at the air/water surface. As expected, the elastic modulus shows a changing character in the response, from a viscous liquid towards an elastic solid as the concentration is increased, and a change from elastic to viscous as the shear frequency is increased. Surprisingly, above a critical packing fraction, the complex elastic modulus curves measured at different concentrations can be superposed to form a master curve. This provides a powerful tool for the extrapolation of the material response function outside the experimentally accessible frequency range. The results are discussed in relation to recent experiments on bulk systems, and indicate that these two-dimensional monolayers should be regarded as being close to a soft glass state.     

Chromium(III) complexes as intermolecular probes

Metal ion complexes provide flexible paramagnetic centers that may be used to define intermolecular contacts in a variety of solution phase environments because both the charge and electronic relaxation properties of the complex may be varied. For most complex ions, there are several proton equilibria that may change the effective charge on the complex as a function of pH which in turn affects the efficacy of application for defining the electrostatic surfaces of co-solute molecules. We report here spectrophotometric and nuclear spin relaxation studies on aqueous solutions of chromium(III) complexes of EDTA, DTPA, and bis-amides of both. The effective charges available from these paramagnetic centers range from -3 to +1 and we report the pH ranges over which the effective charge is defined with confidence for application in magnetic relaxation experiments.     

Propagation and radiation of sound from flanged circular ducts with circumferentially varying wall admittances,I: Semi-infinite ducts

The propagation of acoustic waves in an infinite circular duct with a circumferentially varying wall admittance is theoretically considered. An exact solution is obtained and used to investigate the characteristics of wave dispersion, mode shapes and admittance. The scattering from a flanged termination of the circular duct is then analyzed with use of a rigorous solution in oblate spheroidal co-ordinates. The effects of the asymmetry of the duct wall admittance on the amplitude reflection coefficients, radiated power transmission losses and the far field radiation directivity patterns are examined.     

The effect of cold acclimation on the water relations and freezing tolerance of Hordeum vulgare L

During a 5 degree C and a 5/-1 degree C cold acclimation (CA) regime there was a significant decline in the water potential of winter barley, and a concurrent decline in tissue water content of the 5/-1 degree C CA plants. Results of carbohydrate analysis illustrated a significant (P < 0.001) accumulation of sucrose, fructose and glucose in the 5/-1 degree C CA plants, which was inversely correlated to water potential. Using an infrared imaging radiometer during a convection frost test the water release time (WRT) of 5/-1 degree C CA was demonstrated to be significantly (P < 0.001) longer than that observed in non-cold acclimated plants. This observation is consistent with visual analysis of exotherm curves where the rate of cellular water release to extracellular ice is reduced in the 5/-1 degree C CA plants, compared to the non-cold acclimated plants. These biochemical and physiological changes were correlated to increased plant health following a non-lethal freezing test to -5 degree C, where non-cold acclimated plants produced 2.3 +/- 0.3 tillers and 5 degree C and 5/-1 degree C CA plants produced 2.4 +/- 0.3 and 4.7 +/- 0.7 tillers, respectively. Results from this study imply that cold acclimation leads to changes in the physical state of water that result in a less osmotically responsive cellular environment and subsequently significantly less damage to meristematic tissue.     

Characterizing photolithographic linewidth sensitivity to process temperature variations for advanced resists using a thermal array

A thermal system is developed to rapidly characterize the linewidth sensitivity of advanced resists to process temperature variations in the photolithographic manufacturing sequence. This thermal array consists of a 7×7 grid of individually programmable heating zones distributed within a thermal cycling apparatus. It is used to improve the quality and quantity of data for determining the optimal thermal conditions by effectively producing equivalent operating conditions besides the spatially controlled temperature. The system is demonstrated for the optimization of the post-apply and post-exposure thermal-processing conditions for chemically amplified photoresists used in the fabrication of quartz photomasks . PACS 07.20.Hy; 81.16.Nd; 81.70.Pg     

Broadband control of plate radiation using a piezoelectric, double-amplifier active-skin and structural acoustic sensing

The potential of a piezoelectric, double-amplifier active-skin with structural acoustic sensing (SAS) is demonstrated for the reduction of broadband acoustic radiation from a clamped, aluminum plate. The active-skin is a continuous covering of the vibrating portions of the plate with active, independently controllable piezoelectric, double-amplifier elements and is designed to affect control by altering the continuous structural radiation impedance rather than structural vibration. In simulation, acoustic models are sought for the primary and secondary sources that incorporate finite element methods. Simulation indicates that a total radiated power attenuation in excess of 10 dB may be achieved between 250 and 750 Hz with microphone error sensing, while under SAS the radiated power is reduced by nearly 8 dB in the same frequency range. In experiment, the adaptive feed forward filtered-x LMS (least mean square) algorithm, implemented on a Texas Instruments C40 DSP, was used in conjunction with the 6I6O control system. With microphone error sensing, 11.8-dB attenuation was achieved in the overall radiated power between 175 and 600 Hz, while inclusion of SAS resulted in a 7.3-dB overall power reduction in this frequency band.     

EFFECTS OF PHASIC AND TONIC LIGHT INPUTS ON THE ORCADIAN ORGANIZATION OF THE SQUIRREL MONKEY

Abstract— The organization of the circadian timing system in Saimiri sciureus was probed using the phasic (abrupt transition) and tonic (continuous action) effects of light intensity. The behavior of the simultaneously monitored circadian rhythms of feeding behavior, colonic temperature, and urinary potassium excretion was studied in response to the phasic effects of (a) an abrupt 8-h phase delay in the light–dark (LD) cycle and (b) a series of non-24 h LD cycles ( T = 18 to 30 h). These studies demonstrated that the feeding and temperature rhythms were more tightly coupled to the light-dark cycle than was the rhythm of urinary potassium excretion. The tonic effects of constant levels of illumination confirmed this conclusion. In constant light, internal desynchronization spontaneously occurred in 25% of animals with the potassium rhythm exhibiting a period quite different from that of the feeding and colonic temperature rhythms. Thus, the response of the internal circadian timekeeping system to phasic and tonic light inputs shows that the system in this species comprises at least two potentially independent oscillators with differential light sensitivities.     

Sterically Crowded peri‐Substituted Naphthalene Phosphines and their PV Derivatives

Three sterically crowded peri‐substituted naphthalene phosphines, Nap[PPh₂][ER] (Nap=naphthalene‐1,8‐diyl; ER=SEt, SPh, SePh) 1–3 , which contain phosphorus and chalcogen functional groups at the peri positions have been prepared. Each phosphine reacts to form a complete series of P^V chalcogenides Nap[P(E′)(Ph₂)(ER)] (E′=O, S, Se). The novel compounds were fully characterised by using X‐ray crystallography and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy and MS. X‐ray data for 1 , 2 , n O , n S , n Se (n=1–3) are compared. Eleven molecular structures have been analysed by naphthalene ring torsions, peri‐atom displacement, splay angle magnitude, X???E interactions, aromatic ring orientations and quasi‐linear arrangements. An increase in the congestion of the peri region following the introduction of heavy chalcogen atoms is accompanied by a general increase in naphthalene distortion. P???E distances increase for molecules that contain bulkier atoms at the peri positions and also when larger chalcogen atoms are bound to phosphorus. The chalcogenides adopt similar conformations that contain a quasi‐linear E???P? C fragment, except for 3 O , which displays a twist‐axial‐twist conformation resulting in the formation of a linear O???Se? C alignment. Ab initio MO calculations performed on 2 O , 3 O , 3 S and 3 Se reveal Wiberg bond index values of 0.02 to 0.04, which indicates only minor non‐bonded interactions; however, calculations on radical cations of 3 O , 3 S and 3 Se reveal increased values (0.14–0.19).