Analytical estimates of the contact zone area for a pressurized flat-oval cylindrical shell placed between two parallel rigid plates

The paper presents an analytical estimate for an area of contact for a thin-walled noncircular cylindrical shell placed between two parallel rigid plates with an initial gap and then pressurized hydrostatically up to the contact appearance. The Euler–Bernoulli beam is used to model the shell deformation under the plane strain assumption. Such a simplification allows one to obtain the simplest closed-form estimate for the contact zone area. The first approximation is obtained neglecting the deformation of the curvilinear segments of the flat oval shell cross-section while the solution for the curved beam loaded by the homogeneous pressure is considered as a second approximation. The accuracy of the proposed analytical solutions as well as their usability in the preliminary design of thin-walled elements of various cooling systems is validated by the results of both numerical simulations and experimental tests.     

Limitations on retrieval of complex refractive index of spherical particles from scattering measurements

On the base of a lookup table approach we performed sensitivity tests of dual-polarization polar nephelometer (D2PN) data to optical and microphysical parameters of ensembles of spherical particles. Measurement errors were modeled as Gaussian random variables. It is shown that D2PN data enable to retrieve some microphysical parameters (depending on the case) along with the assessment of the complex refractive index. In the case of the low absorbing particles, measurement errors substantially reduce the sensitivity to the imaginary part of the refractive index and only the range of the imaginary part can be estimated, whereas the real part of the refractive index and the microphysical parameters can be retrieved. When the absorption of spherical particles is moderate, i.e., 10⁻⁴?χ?0.5, the real n and imaginary χ parts of the refractive index can be deduced along with the microphysical parameters. In the case when the absorption of spherical particles is high, only the microphysical characteristics and the imaginary part can be retrieved. These limitations on retrieval should be valid for data of other instruments measuring the same magnitudes as D2PN with the same errors, at least for aerosols made of spherical particles.     

Production of new heavy isotopes in low-energy multinucleon transfer reactions

It is shown that the multinucleon transfer reactions in low-energy collisions of heavy ions may be used for production of new neutron-rich nuclei at the "northeast" part of the nuclear map along the neutron closed shell N=126 which plays an important role in the r process of nucleosynthesis. More than 50 unknown nuclei might be produced in such reactions (in particular, in collision of 136Xe with 208Pb) with cross sections of not less than 1 microb.     

Casimir interaction of dielectric gratings

We derive an exact solution for the Casimir force between two arbitrary periodic dielectric gratings and illustrate our method by applying it to two nanostructured silicon gratings. We also reproduce the Casimir force gradient measured recently [H. B. Chan, Y. Bao, J. Zou, R. A. Cirelli, F. Klemens, W. M. Mansfield, and C. S. Pai, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 030401 (2008)10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.030401] between a silicon grating and a gold sphere taking into account the material dependence of the force. We find good agreement between our theoretical results and the measured values both in absolute force values and the ratios between the exact force and proximity force approximation predictions.     

Ranking vertices or edges of a network by loops: a new approach

We introduce loop ranking, a new ranking measure based on the detection of closed paths, which can be computed in an efficient way. We analyze it with respect to several ranking measures which have been proposed in the past, and are widely used to capture the relative importance of the vertices in complex networks. We argue that loop ranking is a very appropriate measure to quantify the role of both vertices and edges in the network traffic.     

Sublimation inside an elastoplastic material

Thermodynamic and kinetic approaches for sublimation inside elastoplastic material under tensile stress are developed for large strains. Various conceptual problems related to irreversible plastic deformation are addressed for a spherical bubble. They include definitions of the thermodynamic driving forces and activation energies, nontraditional concepts of a critical nucleus, path dependence of its appearance, modes of its growth (sublimation or expansion due to loss of mechanical stability), and the possibility of reverse transformation. The kinetic relationships between sublimation pressure and temperature are obtained.     

Background-free coherent Raman spectroscopy by detecting the spectral phase of molecular vibrations

We propose and demonstrate a new approach to subtracting high nonresonant background in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering spectroscopy. The method is based on the retrieval of the spectral phase of molecular vibrations using the technique of frequency-resolved optical gating of Raman scattering. In the presence of high nonresonant background the retrieved phase corresponds directly to the background-free spectrum of the coherent Raman response.     

Single-mode 212 W tapered fiber laser pumped by a low-brightness source

With a tapered double-clad all-glass ytterbium fiber as a gain medium, a maximum output power of over 200 W at 1079 nm and a slope efficiency of over 70% were demonstrated. The tapered double-clad fiber concept allows for using low-brightness diode bars and results in cost-effective and efficient high-power fiber lasers. The adiabatic conical fiber gain waveguide combines improved pump absorption owing to enhanced mode mixing in the pump cladding, low-noise single fundamental mode operation with M(2)< or =1.02, and strong potential for significant power scaling.     

Photooxidation of diglycine in confined media. Application of the microreactor model for spin-correlated radical pairs in reverse micelles and water-in-oil microemulsions

Time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance spectra (X-band) of correlated radical pairs created in AOT reverse micelles and microemulsions are presented, simulated, and discussed using the microreactor model. The radicals are formed inside the water pool using photooxidation of diglycine by the excited triplet states of two different anthraquinone sulfonate salts. Water pool size and temperature effects on the spectra are reported, and the simulations allow for extraction of the diffusion coefficient in the interior, which monotonically increases with water pool size. The data directly correlate with the diffusional properties of correlated radical pairs in regular aqueous micelle solutions studied previously by similar methods. Competition between H-atom abstraction and electron transfer is observed with anthraquinone sulfonate, but electron transfer is the only reaction pathway observed when anthraquinone disulfonate triplet state is the sensitizing species.     

New luminescent terbium complex for the determination of DNA

New terbium complexes of derivatives of 2-oxo-4-hydroxy-quinoline-3-carboxylic acid are reported, which are highly luminescent, water soluble and do not require luminescence enhancers. The triplet-state energy levels of the ligands, the relative quantum yields (QYs) and the excitation maxima of the respective terbium chelates were determined. The large luminescence enhancement of one of these complexes by nucleic acids was investigated and a mechanism of its interaction with DNA is proposed. The optimal conditions for determination of DNA are equal concentrations of Tb(3+) and ligand R(1) (C = 1 x 10(-6) M), pH 9.0. Under optimal conditions the luminescence intensity (RI) is proportional to the concentration of fish sperm DNA (fsDNA) or calf thymus DNA (ctDNA), respectively, within the range of 0.05-1.5 microg ml(-1). The detection limits were 10 ng ml(-1) for fsDNA and 12 ng ml(-1) for ctDNA.