Optical separation of racemic 5-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenylhydantoin by reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography using eluents containing beta-cyclodextrin.

Both S-(-)- and R-(+)-enantiomers of 5-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenylhydantoin (p-HPPH), a main oxidative metabolite of the achiral antiepileptic drug phenytoin, could be determined simply, sensitively and accurately using reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography by using a methanol-monopotassium phosphate eluent containing beta-cyclodextrin. Using this assay procedure, it was determined that an S-(-)-enantiomer was formed predominantly by the oxidation of phenytoin in isolated rat hepatocytes.     

Temporal characteristics of picosecond stimulated Raman scattering in oxide crystals

The temporal characteristics of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) under 22-ps laser excitation were studied in eight oxide crystals with a T ₂ optical-phonon dephasing time variable by up to two orders of magnitude. The measured SRS pulse width was shortened from 13.8 ps for Ba(NO₃)₂ (T ₂ = 26.5 ps) to 4 ps for the LiNbO₃ (T ₂ = 0.38 ps) crystal. The dependence of SRS pulse width on the dephasing time was analyzed in the framework of the known SRS theory.     

Temperature distribution in the bright spot of the optical discharge in an optical fiber

2D simulation of the optical discharge propagation in an optical fiber is performed. In contrast to the previous works, the temperature dependences of the transfer coefficient are taken into account for the bright-spot plasma. The results are compared with the recently published measurements of the spatial distribution of the bright-spot radiation intensity. Good agreement is obtained for the discharge propagation velocity and the dependence of the bright-spot size on the laser power.     

Minimax detection of a signal in the heteroscedastic Gaussian white noise

We consider the problem of signal detection in the heteroscedastic Gaussian white noise when the set of alternatives is essentially nonparametric. In this setting, we find a family of asymptotically minimax tests. The results are extended to the case of testing a parametric hypothesis against nonparametric sets of alternatives. Bibliography: 8 titles. __________ Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 320, 2004, pp. 54–68.     

Ionization of Hydrogen and Helium Atoms in Collisions with Relativistic Structural Heavy Ions

Based on the eikonal approximation, cross sections for single and double ionization of hydrogen and helium atoms in collisions with structural multiply charged heavy ions moving with relativistic velocities are calculated. In the present paper, the structural ions are taken to mean the ions with partially filled electronic shells. It is demonstrated that a consideration of the ion charge extension may noticeably change the corresponding cross sections compared to the cross sections for ionization by point ions having the same charges and energies.     

Characterization of phospho-olivines as materials for Li-ion cell cathodes

Solid State Reaction was employed to prepare phospho-olivines LiMPO₄ (where M=Fe, Co) as pure phase and LiNiPO₄ in presence of foreign phases, as cathodic materials for lithiumions batteries. The relationship between structural, morphological and electrochemical properties were investigated in the case of LiFePO₄. Structural investigation has been carried out by means of X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and Rietveld refinement. The influence on the morphology of annealing temperature, different flowing gas mixture and addition of ascorbic acid during the synthesis, has been analysed via scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical cycling performances on LiFePO₄ showed to be positively affected by the modifications of the experimental conditions. Cyclic voltammetry showed a good reversibility during insertion-extraction mechanism, in particular in presence of additives. LiCoPO₄ and LiNiPO₄ are interesting as high voltage cathode materials for Li-ion batteries and have been taken into account, but their electrochemical operating conditions are still to be optimised. In the case of LiNiPO₄ it is very difficult to obtain, by solid state synthesis, suitable purity powders, having a grain size small enough to exploit it usefully as cathodic material for Li-ion cells. Paper presented at the 8th EuroConference on Ionics, Carvoeiro, Algarve, Portugal, Sept. 16 – 22, 2000.     

Interaction of charged dust particles in clouds of thermodynamically equilibrium charges

The solution of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation for a cloud of charges surrounding two charged dust particles treated as Debye atoms forming a Debye molecule is investigated numerically using Cassini coordinates. The electric force exerted on a dust particle by the other dust particle was determined by integrating the electrostatic pressure on the surface of the dust particle. It is shown that attractive forces appear when the following two conditions are satisfied. First, the Debye radius (corresponding to the electron density at half the mean distance between the dust particles) must be approximately equal to half the mean distance between the dust particles. Attraction between the dust particles emerges at a distance equal approximately to half the mean distance between the dust particles. Second, attraction takes place when like charges are concentrated predominantly on the dust particles. If the particles carry a small fraction of charge of the same polarity, repulsion between the particles takes place at all distances.     

Analysis of Static Simulated Annealing Algorithms

Generalized hill climbing (GHC) algorithms provide a framework for modeling local search algorithms to address intractable discrete optimization problems. This paper introduces a measure for determining the expected number of iterations to visit a predetermined objective function level, given that an inferior objective function level has been reached in a finite number of iterations. A variation of simulated annealing (SA), termed static simulated annealing (S²A), is analyzed using this measure. S²A uses a fixed cooling schedule during the algorithm execution. Though S²A is probably nonconvergent, its finite-time performance can be assessed using the finite-time performance measure defined in this paper.