Measurements of Transitional and Turbulent Flow in a Randomly Packed Bed of Spheres with Particle Image Velocimetry

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) has been used to investigate transitional and turbulent flow in a randomly packed bed of mono-sized transparent spheres at particle Reynolds number, \(20<{{ Re}}_{\mathrm{p}}< 3220\). The refractive index of the liquid is matched with the spheres to provide optical access to the flow within the bed without distortions. Integrated pressure drop data yield that Darcy law is valid at \({{ Re}}_{\mathrm{p}} \approx 80\). The PIV measurements show that the velocity fluctuations increase and that the time-averaged velocity distribution start to change at lower \({{ Re}}_{\mathrm{p}}\). The probability for relatively low and high velocities decreases with \({{ Re}}_{\mathrm{p}}\) and recirculation zones that appear in inertia dominated flows are suppressed by the turbulent flow at higher \({{ Re}}_{\mathrm{p}}\). Hence there is a maximum of recirculation at about \({{ Re}}_{\mathrm{p}} \approx 400\). Finally, statistical analysis of the spatial distribution of time-averaged velocities shows that the velocity distribution is clearly and weakly self-similar with respect to \({{ Re}}_{\mathrm{p}}\) for turbulent and laminar flow, respectively.     

Photo-redox induced cationic polymerization of divinyl ethers

The cationic polymerization of diethyleneglycoldivinyl ether was initiated by cationic species originating from the redox reaction between photochemically generated free radicals or excited state photosensitizers and various onium salts. For the oxidation of free radicals, the efficiency of the initiation process depended primarily on the redox potential of the redox couple and hence the reactivity could be altered by choosing an appropriate combination of free radical photoinitiator and onium salt. The electron transfer from excited state photosensitizers to the phenacyletramethylenesulfonium salt showed no correlation between the free energy of the process and the initiation efficiency.     

Genomic responses in rat cerebral cortex after traumatic brain injury

Background  

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) initiates a complex sequence of destructive and neuroprotective cellular responses. The initial mechanical injury is followed by an extended time period of secondary brain damage. Due to the complicated pathological picture a better understanding of the molecular events occurring during this secondary phase of injury is needed. This study was aimed at analysing gene expression patterns following cerebral cortical contusion in rat using high throughput microarray technology with the goal of identifying genes involved in an early and in a more delayed phase of trauma, as genomic responses behind secondary mechanisms likely are time-dependent.     

Molecularly imprinted polymers in capillary electrochromatography: recent developments and future trends

The developments in molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based capillary electrochromatography (CEC) achieved during the past years are reviewed in this article. The MIP is prepared using a templated polymerization reaction and results in a material with a high selectivity towards a predetermined target. The selectivity of the MIP is comparable to that of the biological antibodies, however, the MIP is much more stable and is thus able to withstand extremely harsh conditions in terms of pH, temperature, and organic solvents. The high selectivity and stability of the MIP made it an interesting candidate for application as stationary phase sorbent in chromatography. However, due to slow kinetics the efficiency of the early MIP columns, which were predominantly applied in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), were limited. The use of CEC was thought to improve the efficiency of the MIP-based separation system. The small dimensions of the capillary format employed in CEC have put demands on the polymer systems which have resulted in the development of many different polymer formats. Thus, this need for novel MIP formats for applications in CEC has contributed a lot to the general development of MIP formats as well as to the knowledge in MIP synthesis and characteristics.     

Studies of selenium and selenium dioxide isochromats

The allotropic forms of selenium, hexagonal and amorphous, and selenium dioxide have been studied by the isochromat method. A high vacuum spectrometer provided with bent crystal and water cooled targets was used. It is shown that a shift of the short wave-length limit of the continuous X-ray spectrum occurs for a semiconductor in comparison with a metal. The shift of hexagonal Se is found to be 1.7 ± 0.2 V, amorphous Se 1.5±0.3 V and SeO₂ 1.3 ± 0.2 V. The temperature was held at about 320 °K for the amorphous sample and at 400 °K for the others. The shifts of hexagonal and amorphous Se are in good agreement with the energy band gaps found by other methods. The fine structure near the short wave-length limit is discussed considering the Nijboer theory. Attempts have been made to explain the isochromat structure by comparison withL _I -absorption and characteristic energy loss spectra. The characteristic energy loss values found by the present method, which impliesreappearing intervals in the isochromats, have been compared with the theoretical values of? ω _p , given by the plasma oscillation theory.     

Uniform stability of a class of parabolic difference operators

Conditions on a class of parabolic difference operators are given which are sufficient for maximumnorm stability, uniform in the mesh-widths. This paper is a generalization of a previous result by Hakberg [4].     

Total synthesis of (-)-stemoamide

A stereocontrolled total synthesis of (-)-stemoamide (1) is presented. The synthesis starts from commercially available (S)-pyroglutaminol (4). A chemoselective iodoboration of 5 was used to access key intermediate 3. The beta,gamma-unsaturated azepine derivative 2 was obtained via a Pd(0)-catalyzed sp(2)-sp(3) Negishi cross-coupling using a Reformatsky nucleophile followed by a ring-closing metathesis reaction. The required C8-C9 trans-stereochemistry of 1 was accessed through a stereoselective bromolactonization/1,4-reduction sequence.     

Large-aperture focusing of high-energy x rays with a rolled polyimide film

We describe a point-focusing x-ray lens made of a rolled polyimide film with etched prisms. The resulting lens is a cylinder with a large number of prisms forming an internal conic structure. The method allows for the manufacturing of lenses with large apertures and short focal lengths, for energies up to at least 100?keV. In order to evaluate the concept, we have hand-rolled a few lenses and evaluated them at a synchrotron source. The measured performance of the prototype is promising, and deviations from the theoretical limits are quantitatively explained.     

Real forms of complex higher spin field equations and new exact solutions

We formulate four-dimensional higher spin gauge theories in spacetimes with signature (4−p,p)$(4-p,p)$ and non-vanishing cosmological constant. Among them are chiral models in Euclidean (4,0)$(4,0)$ and Kleinian (2,2)$(2,2)$ signature involving half-flat gauge fields. Apart from the maximally symmetric solutions, including de Sitter spacetime, we find: (a) SO(4−p,p)$\mathit{SO}(4-p,p)$ invariant deformations, depending on one continuous and infinitely many discrete parameters, including a degenerate metric of rank one; (b) non-maximally symmetric solutions with vanishing Weyl tensors and higher spin gauge fields, that differ from the maximally symmetric solutions in the auxiliary field sector; and (c) solutions of the chiral models furnishing higher spin generalizations of type D gravitational instantons, with an infinite tower of Weyl tensors proportional to totally symmetric products of two principal spinors. These are apparently the first exact 4D solutions with non-vanishing massless higher spin fields.