Maximal Linear Subspaces of Strong Self-Dual 2-forms and the Bonan 4-form

The notion of self-duality of 2-forms in 4-dimensions plays an eminent role in many areas of mathematics and physics, but although the 2-forms have a genuine meaning related to curvature and gauge-field-strength in higher dimensions also, their “self-duality” is something which is almost avoided above 4-dimensions. We show that self-duality of 2-forms is a very natural notion in higher (even) dimensions also and we prove the equivalence of some scattered and rarely used definitions in the literature. We demonstrate the usefulness of this higher self-duality by studying it in 8-dimensions and we derive a natural expression for the Bonan form in terms of self-dual 2-forms and we give an explicit expression of the local action of SO(8) on the Bonan form.     

Optimization of the experimental conditions for macrolide antibiotics in high performance liquid chromatography by using response surface methodology and determination of tylosin in milk samples

The simple, rapid and sensitive liquid chromatographic separation of five macrolides (tilmicosin, erythromycin, tylosin, roxithromycin and josamycin) widely used in food producing animals was developed. Response surface methodology was used as an optimization method of mobile phase, column temperature and pH to provide the best resolution of these analytes. The separation was performed by using an end-capped X-Terra RP-18 column (250 × 4.6 mm I.D × 5 m) with an isocratic system of 15 mM hydrochloric acid (pH 2.5)-acetonitrile as the mobile phase at a temperature of 30°C and flow-rate of 1.0 mL/min. The suitability of the method for multi-residue determination of the macrolides is demonstrated by the analysis of milk samples spiked with tylosin. Roxithromycin was used as internal standard. The recovery of tylosin was quite good as 90.8%. The limit of quantification and detection limit were 0.024 and 0.007 μg/mL, respectively. The method was successfully applied to determination of macrolides at levels below the maximum concentration legally allowed in milk samples.     

First principles potential for the acetylene dimer and refinement by fitting to experiments

We report the definition and refinement of a new first principles potential for the acetylene dimer. The ab initio calculations were performed with the DFT-SAPT combination of symmetry-adapted intermolecular perturbation method and density functional theory, and fitted to a model site-site functional form. Comparison of the calculated microwave spectrum with experimental data revealed that the barriers to isomerization were too low. This potential was refined by fitting the model parameters in order to reproduce the observed transitions, an excellent agreement within ~1 MHz being achieved.     

The concentration of <Superscript>238</Superscript>U and the levels of gross radioactivity in surface waters of the Van Lake (Turkey)

Gross α and gross β activities and ²³⁸U concentrations were determined in 18 surface water samples collected from Van Lake. The instrumentations used to count the gross α and gross β activities and to determine the ²³⁸U concentrations were α/β counter of the multi-detector low background system (PIC-MPC-9604) and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (Thermo Scientific Element 2), respectively. Concentrations ranging from 0.001 to 0.021 Bq L⁻¹ and from 0.111 to 2.794 Bq L⁻¹ were observed for the gross α and β activities in surface waters, respectively. For all samples the gross β activities were higher than the corresponding gross α activities. The results indicated that the gross α radioactive contamination in water samples was lower than recommended values for the guideline of drinking waters and most of the gross β activities in water samples were higher than those in the same procedure. The ²³⁸U concentrations ranged from 74.49 to 113.2 μg L⁻¹ in surface waters. The obtained results have showed that ²³⁸U concentrations are higher than guideline values for uranium.     

On Defining Sets of Full Designs with Block Size Three

A defining set of a t-(v, k, λ) design is a subcollection of its blocks which is contained in no other t-design with the given parameters, on the same point set. A minimal defining set is a defining set, none of whose proper subcollections is a defining set. The spectrum of minimal defining sets of a design D is the set {|M| | M is a minimal defining set of D}. We show that if a t-(v, k, λ) design D is contained in a design F, then for every minimal defining set d _D of D there exists a minimal defining set d _F of F such that \({d_D = d_F\cap D}\). The unique simple design with parameters \({{\left(v,k, {v-2\choose k-2}\right)}}\) is said to be the full design on v elements; it comprises all possible k-tuples on a v set. Every simple t-(v, k, λ) design is contained in a full design, so studying minimal defining sets of full designs gives valuable information about the minimal defining sets of all t-(v, k, λ) designs. This paper studies the minimal defining sets of full designs when t = 2 and k = 3. Several families of non-isomorphic minimal defining sets of these designs are found. For given v, a lower bound on the size of the smallest and an upper bound on the size of the largest minimal defining set are given. The existence of a continuous section of the spectrum comprising approximately v values is shown, where just two values were known previously.     

Stress Response Kinetics of Two Nisin Producer Strains of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lactococcus lactis</Emphasis> spp. <Emphasis Type="Italic">lactis</Emphasis>

The purpose of this study is to determine the survival and nisin production behaviors of two strains of Lactococcus lactis under different stress conditions that represent the food ecosystem. In this respect, the survival ratios of two nisin producers were determined under different pH, temperature, NaCl, and bile salt concentrations. Then, nisin production levels of the strains were determined at each stress conditions. Both strains had similar growth or inactivation patterns under the same stress conditions. NaCl and bile salt stresses on the survival ratio of the strains could be successfully described by the exponential decay function, whereas Gaussian function produced good fits for temperature and pH stresses. The nisin activity of two nisin producers (in their mid-exponential and/or early stationary phase) decreased dramatically under all stress conditions, except osmotic (NaCl) and low temperature applications. The results of this study showed that two nisin producers had similar adaptive responses under severe stress conditions, which could be described by appropriate mathematical equations. Moreover, the effect of harsh environment on the nisin activity of L. lactis strains depends on the stress factors applied.     

Superconducting Phase Diagram of the Yttrium,Barium, and YBa-core in YBa<Subscript>2</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>7–δ</Subscript> by an Ising Model

We investigate the temperature dependent of magnetizations, hysteresis properties and present the superconducting phase diagrams of the YBa₂Cu₃O_7–δ (YBCO) by an Ising model within the effective-field theory. We obtain the magnetizations of the YBCO and its components (Cu1, Cu2, O1, O2, O3, O4, Ba, Y, CuO-shell, YBa-core, and total YBCO) versus the reduced temperature and external magnetic field. We find that the copper atoms have two different magnetizations (Cu1 and Cu2) and oxygen atoms have four different magnetizations (O1, O2, O3, O4) but yttrium and barium has one magnetization. The differences in the magnetizations of the copper and oxygen atoms result from the lattice location of them on the YBCO lattice. The magnetization of the Cu1 atoms is the lowest and the yttrium is highest than those of the others; hence magnetizations of the YBCO increase from the corner to inner of the orthorhombic YBCO lattice. We also find that the YBa-core, yttrium and barium atoms of the YBCO exhibit superconductivity behaviors. Therefore, Y–Ba core, yttrium and barium atoms have the superconducting phase diagram and it has Meissner, vortex, and normal states. It is also found that the upper critical coercive field (H_c2) and the critical vortex temperature (T_v) of the Ba are high than those of the Y and YBa-core.     

A novel polysiloxane-based polymer as a gel agent for gel–VRLA batteries

In this study, a novel polysiloxane-based gel agent (PSGA) was synthesized by using poly(dimethylsiloxane-co-alkylmethylsiloxane) and used as a gel agent for gel–valve-regulated lead–acid batteries. A PSGA was characterized by Fourier transform infrared, zeta meter, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The electrochemical characterization of the gel system for the optimization of some parameters, such as concentration of gel agent, stirring rate, and agitation time, was conducted by cyclic voltammetric and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic analyses. The optimum concentration of the gel agent was determined as 6 wt% of the PSGA to form the best gel structure. The mechanical parameters related to the formation of a suitable gel structure were also investigated. The optimum stirring rate and agitation time were determined as 500 rpm and 2.5 h, respectively. The charge–discharge tests were applied to the gel system, and the highest capacity was determined in the PSGA-based gel system as 10 mAh at the end of the 100th cycle. The capacity of non-gelled system was the lowest.     

Strength and ultrasonic properties of cemented paste backfill

This paper presents the strength (UCS) and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) properties of cemented paste backfill (CPB) produced from two different mill tailings (Tailings T1 and T2). A total of 240 CPB samples with diameter × height of 5 × 10 cm and 10 × 20 cm prepared at different binder dosages (5–7 wt.%) and water-to-cement ratios (3.97–5.10) were subjected to the UPV and UCS tests at 7, 14, 28 and 56-days of curing periods. UCS and UPV of CPB samples increased with increasing the binder dosage and reducing the w/c ratio irrespective of the sample size and tailings type. CPB samples with a diameter × height of 5 × 10 cm were observed to produce consistently higher (up to 1.69-fold) UCSs than those of 10 × 20 cm CPB samples at all binder dosages and w/c ratios. However, at the corresponding binder dosages and w/c ratios, the maximum variation of UPV between the CPB samples of 5 × 10 cm and 10 × 20 cm was only 7.45%. Using the method of least squares regression, the UCS values were correlated with the UPV values for CPB samples of 10 × 20 cm in size. A linear relation with a high correlation coefficient appeared to exist between the UCS and UPV for CPB samples. These findings suggest that the UPV is essentially independent of the sample size. In this regard, the UPV test can be suitably exploited for the rapid estimation of the strength and quality of CPB samples even using small samples with concomitant benefits of reducing sample size.     

N‐Cyclo­hexyl‐2‐[5‐(4‐pyridyl)‐4‐(p‐tolyl)‐4H‐1,2,4‐triazol‐3‐yl­sulfanyl]­acetamide dihydrate

In the title compound, C₂₂H₂₅N₅OS·2H₂O, the mol­ecules are stacked in columns running along the b axis. In this arrangemant, the mol­ecules are linked to each other by a combination of one two‐centre N—H⋯O hydrogen bond and four two‐centre O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds containing two types of ring motif, viz.R₄⁴(10) and R₃³(11). In the crystal structure, centrosymmetric π–π inter­actions between the triazole rings, with a distance of 3.691 (2) Å between the ring centroids, also affect the packing of the mol­ecules.