Mössbauer effect phase determination in iron oxide–polyaniline nanocomposites

Mössbauer effect spectroscopy and thermal analysis techniques were applied to characterize polyaniline composites successfully synthesized by embedding Fe oxide nanoparticles (about 10–13 nm) in a polymeric matrix in the presence of dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid and HCl (dopant). Thermal techniques provided quantitative information on iron oxide content and on polyaniline stability and transformations. Mössbauer results indicated that for the whole studied composition range, 3.4 to 100 iron oxide wt.%, composites hold maghemite particles. A preliminary study of the conductivity of the nanocomposites was performed. The largest conductivity was observed for a 8 wt.% maghemite composite where all particles are magnetically unblocked at room temperature within the Mössbauer time window.     

Impact of subgrid fluid turbulence on inertial particles subject to gravity

Two-phase turbulent flows with the dispersed phase in the form of small, spherical particles are increasingly often computed with the large-eddy simulation (LES) of the carrier fluid phase, coupled to the Lagrangian tracking of particles. To enable further model development for LES with inertial particles subject to gravity, we consider direct numerical simulations of homogeneous isotropic turbulence with a large-scale forcing. Simulation results, both without filtering and in the a priori LES setting, are reported and discussed. A full (i.e. a posteriori) LES is also performed with the spectral eddy viscosity. Effects of gravity on the dispersed phase include changes in the average settling velocity due to preferential sweeping, impact on the radial distribution function and radial relative velocity, as well as direction-dependent modification of the particle velocity variance. The filtering of the fluid velocity, performed in spectral space, is shown to have a non-trivial impact on these quantities.     

Using an ANP performance management framework to manage the development of transversal competences in University degrees

Organisations are concerned about measuring the performance of the product/service they deliver to their customers. In all types of organisations, if a proper performance assessment is to be developed, it should be measured in different dimensions. At University, the new study programs include the development and assessment of transversal competences due to their importance in enhancing the abilities and improving the employability of students. The achievement of transversal competences can be assessed in different levels/stages; for example, the 1st and 2nd years of a Bachelor’s degree; the 3rd and 4th years of a Bachelor’s degree and at Master’s level. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the research into performance management in organisations to develop an approach consisting of four components (a methodology, a solid and integrated performance management framework, graphical diagrams and quantitative techniques) to assess and manage the achievement of transversal competences through the different levels of study using a consolidated approach. The proposal uses the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to model dependences and feedback among the elements of the competences.

     

Minimal sets in monotone and sublinear skew-product semiflows I: The general case

The dynamics of a general monotone and sublinear skew-product semiflow is analyzed, paying special attention to the long-term behavior of the strongly positive semiorbits and to the minimal sets. Four possibilities arise depending on the existence or absence of strongly positive minimal sets and bounded semiorbits, as well as on the coexistence or not of bounded and unbounded strongly positive semiorbits. Previous results are unified and extended, and scenarios which are impossible in the autonomous or periodic cases are described.     

Manipulation games in economies with indivisible goods

In this paper we study the strategic aspects of the No-Envy solution for the problem of allocating a finite set of indivisible goods among a group of agents when monetary compensations are possible. In the first part of the paper we consider the case where each agent receives, at most, one indivisible good. We prove that the set of equilibrium allocations of any direct revelation game associated with a subsolution of the No-Envy solution coincides with the set of envy-free allocations for the true preferences. Under manipulation all the subsolutions of the No-Envy solution are equivalent. In the second part of the paper, we allow each agent to receive more than one indivisible good. In this situation the above characterization does not hold any more. We prove that any Equal Income Walrasian allocation for the true preferences can be supported as an equilibrium allocation of any direct revelation game associated with subsolutions of the No-Envy solution, but also non-efficient allocations can be supported.     

Hyperfine Field and Isomer Shift Evolution in Hydrogenated Nd–Fe–B Alloy

RE₂Fe₁₄B (RE=rare earth) materials are capable of absorbing hydrogen to form a stable solid solution at room temperature. Hydrogenation produces a number of significant changes in the hyperfine interactions. In this work, ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer effect spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements were performed on Nd_14.01Hf_0.08Fe_78.91B_7.00 alloys submitted to thermal treatment in hydrogen atmosphere. A non-linear increase of the hyperfine fields and isomer shifts with hydrogen concentration was observed. The hyperfine parameters of the 8j₁ site exhibit a rather different evolution than those experienced by the other major sites (8j₂, 16k₁, 16k₂). The origin of the hyperfine field enhancement is analyzed in terms of volume expansion and H nearest neighbors to the Fe sites. A linear expression on these two effects to give account of isomer shift evolution for 8j₁ site is given.     

The representation type of rational normal scrolls

The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that all non-singular rational normal scrolls \(S(a_0,\ldots ,a_k)\subseteq \mathbb P ^N\), \(N =\sum _{i=0}^k(a_i)+k\), (unless \(\mathbb P ^{k+1}=S(0,\ldots ,0,1)\), the rational normal curve \(S(a)\) in \(\mathbb P ^a\), the quadric surface \(S(1,1)\) in \(\mathbb P ^3\) and the cubic scroll \(S(1,2)\) in \(\mathbb P ^4\)) support families of arbitrarily large rank and dimension of simple Ulrich (and hence indecomposable ACM) vector bundles. Therefore, they are all of wild representation type unless \(\mathbb P ^{k+1}\), \(S(a)\), \(S(1,1)\) and \(S(1,2)\) which are of finite representation type.     

Highly excited “nuclear molecules”: A way to explain the fluctuations in DBHIC excitation functions. Study of the28Si +28Si colliding system at 5.3 MeV ·A

The properties of the strong fluctuations observed in the excitation functions of Dissipative Binary Heavy Ion Collisions (DBHIC) have been studied for the system²⁸Si+²⁸Si in the energy range 150 MeV ≤E _lab ≤ 156 MeV with 150 keV step laboratory incident energy, by angular distributions and excitation functions measurements. Experimental results are compared to the the recently developed Partially Overlapping Molecular Level Model (POMLM). The parameters of the model have been determined with reasonable accuracy by describing all the quantities characterizing the fluctuations in the excitation functions i.e.: Average Angular Distributions, Energy Autocorrelation Functions, Variances, Angular Correlation Coefficients. The results of the analysis strongly support the idea of a process proceeding through the formation of an highly excited “nuclear molecule”. Experimental data collected at the most forward angles show the effects of strong excitation of a few final channels.     

Reversible Activation of Water by an Air- and Moisture-Stable Frustrated Rhodium Nitrogen Lewis Pair

[Cp*Rh(κ³N,N′,P- L )][SbF₆] (Cp*=C₅Me₅), bearing a guanidine-derived phosphano ligand L , behaves as a “dormant” frustrated Lewis pair and activates H₂ and H₂O in a reversible manner. When D₂O is employed, a facile H/D exchange at the Cp* ring takes place through sequential C(sp³)−H bond activation.