Diode-Laser Spectroscopy of the nu(19a) Band of Chlorobenzene in a Supersonic Jet

The diode-laser absorption spectrum of the nu(19a) band of the chlorobenzene molecule cooled in a supersonic jet is presented and transitions from low J, K(a), and K(c) values (0-14) are reported. The C(6)H(5)(35)Cl band center has been found at nu(0) = 1483.894 cm(-1) and rotational constants for the upper state have been determined from a least-squares fitting to experimental data. The band center for the C(6)H(5)(37)Cl isotope has also been obtained. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Unstructured Adaptive Grid Flow Simulations of Inert and Reactive Gas Mixtures

Unstructured adaptive grid flow simulation is applied to the calculation of high-speed compressible flows of inert and reactive gas mixtures. In the present case, the flowfield is simulated using the 2-D Euler equations, which are discretized in a cell-centered finite volume procedure on unstructured triangular meshes. Interface fluxes are calculated by a Liou flux vector splitting scheme which has been adapted to an unstructured grid context by the authors. Physicochemical properties are functions of the local mixture composition, temperature, and pressure, which are computed using the CHEMKIN-II subroutines. Computational results are presented for the case of premixed hydrogen–air supersonic flow over a 2-D wedge. In such a configuration, combustion may be triggered behind the oblique shock wave and transition to an oblique detonation wave is eventually obtained. It is shown that the solution adaptive procedure implemented is able to correctly define the important wave fronts. A parametric analysis of the influence of the adaptation parameters on the computed solution is performed.     

Weyl numbers and eigenvalues of abstract summing operators

We estimate Weyl numbers and eigenvalues of operators via studying their abstract summing norms. In particular we prove estimates of these summing norms for abstract interpolation Lorentz spaces. For this we combine factorization theorems with estimates of concavity constants. Finally we apply our general eigenvalue results to integral operators with kernels of weakly singular type. We obtain asymptotically optimal estimates which extend the well-known classical results.     

A hybrid GRASP/VND algorithm for two- and three-dimensional bin packing

The three-dimensional bin packing problem consists of packing a set of boxes into the minimum number of bins. In this paper we propose a new GRASP algorithm for solving three-dimensional bin packing problems which can also be directly applied to the two-dimensional case. The constructive phase is based on a maximal-space heuristic developed for the container loading problem. In the improvement phase, several new moves are designed and combined in a VND structure. The resulting hybrid GRASP/VND algorithm is simple and quite fast and the extensive computational results on test instances from the literature show that the quality of the solutions is equal to or better than that obtained by the best existing heuristic procedures.     

A lower bound for the spectral radius of a digraph

We show that the spectral radius ρ(D) of a digraph D with n vertices and c₂ closed walks of length 2 satisfies Moreover, equality occurs if and only if D is the symmetric digraph associated to a -regular graph, plus some arcs that do not belong to cycles. As an application of this result, we construct new sharp upper bounds for the low energy of a digraph, which extends Koolen and Moulton bounds of the energy to digraphs.     

Comparative short-term stability for a Cs beam and an expanding cold atomic cloud of Cs used as atomic frequency standards

We have compared the stability of two distinct atomic frequency standards. One is based on an atomic cold cloud of ¹³³Cs atoms in free expansion, interrogated by a Rabi resonance. The other standard is based on a thermal Cs beam interrogated by the separated oscillatory field method (Ramsey’s method). The atomic expanding cloud standard shows better stability and technical advances based on its simplicity.     

Novel pulsed switched power supply for a fast field cycling NMR spectrometer

In this paper, we outline the operating principles of a pulsed switched power supply for a fast field-cycling nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. The power supply uses a variant of a four-quadrant chopper with a duty cycle that defines the average output current. With this topology only two semiconductors are necessary to drive hundreds of amperes with an output power of several kilowatts. The output current ripple has a well-defined shape that can be reduced to acceptable values by a careful design of the semiconductors' controlling circuits and drivers. A power supply prototype was tested with a home build air-core magnet operating with fields between 0 and 0.21 T. The system is computer controlled using pulse generator and data acquisition PC cards, and specific user-friendly home-developed software. A comparative proton relaxometry study in two well-known liquid crystal compounds 5CB and MBBA was performed to check the reproducibility of the T1 measurements.     

Mixed 2D molecular systems: Mechanic, thermodynamic and dielectric properties

Study of Langmuir monolayers consisting of stearic acid (SA) and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) molecules was done by surface pressure-area isotherms (π-A), the Maxwell displacement current (MDC) measurement, X-ray reflectivity (XRR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to investigate the selected mechanic, thermodynamic and dielectric properties based on orientational structure of monolayers. On the base of π-A isotherms analysis we explain the creation of stable structures and found optimal monolayer composition. The dielectric properties represented by MDC generated monolayers were analyzed in terms of excess dipole moment, proposing the effect of dipole-dipole interaction. XRR and AFM results illustrate deposited film structure and molecular ordering.     

Cytotoxicity of Shear Exfoliated Pnictogen (As,Sb, Bi) Nanosheets

The experimental achievement of phosphorene, which exhibits superior electronic, physical, and optical properties has spurred recent interest in other Group 15 elemental 2D nanomaterials such as arsenene, antimonene, and bismuthene. These unique and superior properties of the pnictogen nanosheets have spurred intensive research efforts and led to the discovery of their diversified potential applications; for instance, optical Kerr material, photonic devices, pnictogen-decorated microfibers, high-speed transistors, and flexible 2D electronics. Previous studies have mainly been dedicated to study the synthesis, properties, and applications of the heavy pnictogens nanosheets; however, the toxicological behaviour of these nanosheets has yet to be established. Herein, the cytotoxicity study of pnictogen nanosheets (As, Sb, and Bi) was conducted over 24 h of incubation with various concentrations of test materials and adenocarcinoma human lung epithelial A549 cells. After the treatment period, the remaining cell viabilities were obtained through absorbance measurements with WST-8 and MTT assays. These findings demonstrate that the toxicity of pnictogen nanosheets decreases down Group 15, whereby arsenic nanosheets are considered to be the most toxic, whereas bismuth nanosheets induce low cytotoxicity. The findings of this study constitute an important initial step towards enhancing our understanding of the toxicological effects of pnictogen nanosheets in light of their prospective commercial applications.