Stress monitoring in a Guinness 10-day scuba dive

Nowadays, there is high demand for sensitive gas sensors both for human and environmental monitoring. This paper deals with a high-resolution (0.2 ppb) laser-based photoacoustic spectroscopic system realized at ENEA Frascati, Italy, applied for monitoring stress in scuba divers during sustained immersion by analyzing breath samples. Blood tests and psychometric tests for scuba divers were performed at Catholic University in Rome. Results will be reported and discussed.     

Characterization and Thermal Behaviour of Garnets from Almandine–Pyrope Series at 1200°C

Hyperfine Interactions - The natural garnets from almandine (Fe3Al2Si3O12)–pyrope (Mg3Al2Si3O12) series with the iron to magnesium atomic ratio ranging from 0.2 to 1 were characterised and...     

Asymptotic conditions for the electromagnetic form factors of hadrons represented by the VMD model

A system of linear homogeneous algebraic equations for the coupling constant ratios of vector mesons to hadrons is derived by imposing the assumed asymptotic behavior upon the VMD pole parameterization of an hadron electromagnetic form factor. A similar system of equations with a simpler structure of the coefficients, taken as even powers of the vector-meson masses, is derived by means of integral superconvergent sum rules for the imaginary part of the considered form factor using its appropriate -function approximation. Although both systems have been derived starting from different properties of the electromagnetic form factor and they each have their own appearances, it is shown explicitly that they are fully equivalent. Received: 20 March 2002 / Revised version: 3 December 2002 / Published online: 7 March 2003     

20-relative neighborhood graphs are hamiltonian

For any two points p and q in the Euclidean plane, define LUN_pq = { v | v ∈ R², d_pv < d_pq and d_qv < d_pq}, where d_uv is the Euclidean distance between two points u and v . Given a set of points V in the plane, let LUN_pq(V) = V ∩ LUN_pq. Toussaint defined the relative neighborhood graph of V, denoted by RNG(V) or simply RNG, to be the undirected graph with vertices V such that for each pair p,q ∈ V, (p,q) is an edge of RNG(V) if and only if LUN_pq (V) = ?. The relative neighborhood graph has several applications in pattern recognition that have been studied by Toussaint. We shall generalize the idea of RNG to define the k-relative neighborhood graph of V, denoted by kRNG(V) or simply kRNG, to be the undirected graph with vertices V such that for each pair p,q ∈ V, (p,q) is an edge of kRNG(V) if and only if | LUN_pq(V) | < k, for some fixed positive number k. It can be shown that the number of edges of a kRNG is less than O(kn). Also, a kRNG can be constructed in O(kn₂) time. Let E_c = {e_pq| p ∈ V and q ∈ V}. Then G_c = (V,E_c) is a complete graph. For any subset F of E_c, define the maximum distance of F as max_epq∈Fd_pq. A Euclidean bottleneck Hamiltonian cycle is a Hamiltonian cycle in graph G_c whose maximum distance is the minimum among all Hamiltonian cycles in graph G_c. We shall prove that there exists a Euclidean bottleneck Hamiltonian cycle which is a subgraph of 20RNG(V). Hence, 20RNGs are Hamiltonian.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the formation of poly[(1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxanyl)ethylene] and poly(methyldecylsiloxane) by hydrosilylation

The kinetics of the formation of poly(carbosiloxane), as well as of alkyl-substituted poly(siloxane), by Karstedt's catalyst catalyzed hydrosilylation were investigated. Linear poly(carbosiloxane), poly[(1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxanyl)ethylene], (PTMDSE), was obtained by hydrosilylation of 1,3-divinyltetramethyldisiloxane (DVTMDS) and 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane (TMDS), while alkyl-substituted poly(siloxane), poly(methyldecylsiloxane), (PMDS), was synthesized by hydrosilylation of poly(methylhydrosiloxane) (PMHS) and 1-decene. To investigate the kinetics of PTMDSE formation, two series of experiments were performed at reaction temperatures ranging from 25 to 56 °C and with catalyst concentrations ranging from 7.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 3.1 × 10⁻⁵ mol Pt/mol CHCH₂. A series of experiments was performed at reaction temperatures ranging from 28 to 48 °C, with catalyst concentrations of 7.0 ×10⁻⁶ mol of Pt per mol of CHCH₂, when kinetics of PMDS formation was investigated. All reactions were carried out in bulk, with equimolar amounts of the reacting Si H and CHCH₂ groups. The course of the reactions was monitored by following the disappearance of the Si H bands using quantitative infrared spectroscopy. The results obtained showed typical first order kinetics for the PTMDSE formation, consistent with the proposed reaction mechanism. In the case of PMDS an induction period occurred at lower reaction temperatures, but disappeared at 44 °C and the rate of Si H conversion also started to follow the first-order kinetics. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 2246–2258, 2007     

Eligibility of spherical-well approximation for calculations of nucleon-transfer matrix elements

Single-particle matrix elements of nucleon transfer were calculated by the Woods-Saxon potential wave functions. The results are compared with the ones calculated by the spherical-well approximation. The eligibility of the approximation of the mean field of nuclei by the spherical well to study the initial stage of nuclear reactions at heavy-ion collisions is demonstrated. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Temporal compression of nanosecond laser pulses using coherent control

We present a study of the temporal compression of nanosecond laser pulses resulting from the coherent control peculiarities of the propagation dynamics in a regime of electromagnetically induced transparency. We describe the general theoretical framework and discuss the crucial conditions required in order to experimentally realize such a temporal compression scheme. A proof-of-concept experimental realization of a scheme of this type in a sample of hot sodium vapors is currently being implemented: we describe in detail the experimental setup designed for this purpose.     

Synthesis and characterization of polyaniline doped with organic acids

Spectroscopic [UV–visible and Fourier transform IR (FTIR)] and thermal properties of chemically synthesized polyanilines are found to be affected by varying the protonation media (acetic, citric, oxalic, and tartaric acid). The optical spectra show the presence of a greater fraction of fully oxidized insulating pernigraniline phase in polyaniline doped with acetic acid. In contrast, the selectivity in the formation of the conducting phase is higher in oxalic acid as a protonic acid media. The FTIR spectra of these polymers reveal a higher ratio of the relative intensities of the quinoid to benzenoid ring modes in acetic acid doped polyaniline. Scanning electron micrographs revealed a sponge‐like structure derived from the aggregation of the small granules in acetic acid and oxalic acid doped polyaniline. A three‐step decomposition pattern is observed in all the polymers, regardless of the protonic acid used for the doping. The second step loss related to the loss of dopant is found to be higher in the oxalic acid doped polymer. In accordance with these results the conductivity is also found to be higher in oxalic acid doped material. The temperature dependent conductivity measurements show the thermal activated behavior in all the polymers. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 2043–2049, 2004     

Nonlinear resistor based on a polymer-ceramic composition

The resistivity of composite nonlinear resistors (varistors) consisting of zinc oxide ceramic and high-density polyethylene, as well as IR spectra and X-ray diffraction patterns taken of the samples, are studied. The component composition of the resistor is shown to influence its resistivity and IR and X-ray spectra.