Coulomb blockade electrometer with a high-T c island

We report on a successful attempt to fabricate a Coulomb blockade electrometer consisting of an ultrasmall YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ (YBCO) island coupled to two gold electrodes through a high-resistance native surface tunnel barrier. A third electrode placed near the island was used as an electrostatic gate. Spectra typical for tunneling into the YBCO superconductor were reproducibly measured. At temperatures below 0.5 K the low-bias conductance was suppressed by the Coulomb blockade. The blockade could be periodically varied by the gate potential. An external magnetic field of up to 5 T strongly influenced the transport via the island but without any change in the period of the Coulomb oscillations. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 2, 112–117 (25 January 1996) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

Sandwich plates-free vibrations and damping analysis

A new analytical approach to the optimization analysis of stacking sequences of sandwich plate faces is presented. FRP faces are assumed to be constructed of 0₂°, 90₂°, and ±45° plies. A new set of design variables was succesfully used for the optimization analysis of natural flexural vibrations and modal loss factor of sandwich plates with FRP faces. In addition, the influence of the core thickness on optimization solutions was studied. Three variants of plate theories were considered, namely those of Love-Kirchhoff and first- and higher-order transverse shear deformation. To verify the results of the models proposed, the values of the natural vibrations were compared with the results obtained using the NISA II FEM package.Submitted to the 10th International Conference on Mechanics of Composite Materials, April 20–23, 1998, Riga, Latvia.Institute of Mechanics and Machine Design, Cracow University of Technology, 31–155, Cracow, Poland. Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 276–286, March–April, 1998.     

Synthesis of a new class of uridine phosphorylase inhibitors

A new series of potent uridine phosphorylase inhibitors have been prepared from barbituric acid. Among them, 1-[(2-hydroxyethoxy)methyl]-5-)(m--benzyloxy)benzylbarbituric acid ( 37 , BBBA) is the most promising having a K_i value of 1.1 ± 0.2 nM with uridine phosphorylase from human liver. The new inhibitors are easily synthesized and are better inhibitors of human uridine phosphorylase than their uracil counterparts.     

Nonlinear and chaotic oscillations of a constrained cantilevered pipe conveying fluid: A full nonlinear analysis

In this paper, the planar dynamics of a nonlinearly constrained pipe conveying fluid is examined numerically, by considering the full nonlinear equation of motions and a refined trilinear-spring model for the impact constraints—completing the circle of several studies on the subject. The effect of varying system parameters is investigated for the two-degree-of-freedom (N=2) model of the system, followed by less extensive similar investigations forN=3 and 4. Phase portraits, bifurcation diagrams, power spectra and Lyapunov exponents are presented for a selected set of system parameters, showing some rather interesting, and sometimes unexpected, results. The numerical results are compared with experimental ones obtained previously. It is found that in the parameter space that includesN, there exists a subspace wherein excellent qualitative, and reasonably good (N=2) to excellent (N=4) quantitative agreement with experiment. In the latter case, excellent agreement is not only obtained in the threshold flow velocities (u) for the key bifurcations, but the inclusion of the nonlinear terms improves agreement with experiment in terms of amplitudes of motion and by capturing features of behaviour not hitherto predicted by theory.     

Rotational temperature and density measurements in a hypersonic flow by dual-line CARS

Rotational temperature and nitrogen number density are measured in the shock wave/boundary layer interaction region in the vicinity of a two-dimensional compression corner disposed in a low pressure, 55 K, Mach 10 hypersonic air flow. Spatially-resolved data are recorded using a nonlinear optical technique named dual-line coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (DLCARS). Averaged temperature and density profiles are compared with those predicted by a Navier-Stokes solver. Good agreement is found.     

Molecular electric field mapping of some anions and cations of 2- aminopurine and 6- thioguanine

Electric fields of the anions, cations and neutral forms of 2-aminopurine and 6-thioguanine have been mapped. Certain important features of the maps are similar to those found earlier in the neutral and ionic forms of adenine and guanine. The computed electric field patterns satisfactorily explain reactive sites and biological activity of the molecules.     

Molecular Orbital Calculations on 2, 4, 6-Trinitrotoluene

Three ab initio calculations (HF/6-3IG, HF/6-3IG*, and HF/6-3IG**) on 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene were made, The results compare well with xray data, except dihedral angles of NO₂ relative to the plane of the benzene ring. The deviations are attributed to packing forces and steric effects in the crystal. The most stable structure was a torsional angle 10° of the methyl top with the benzene ring, unlike toluene. The rotational barriers of the methyl top and the 4-nitro group are small. Hydrogen bonding, dipole moments and total atomic charges arc calculated.     

Liquid crystal properties of some substituted pyrazines

A number of biphenyl, terphenyl analogues and ethynes which contain a pyrazine ring have been made and their liquid crystal transition temperatures, together with examples of birefringence measurements, are reported. All the 2,5-disubstituted pyrazine systems are liquid crystalline showing high birefringence values for the biphenyl and terphenyl analogues, whereas the 1,5-disubstituted systems are not liquid crystalline. The pyrazine ethyne systems exhibit very high birefringence values. X-ray diffraction has been used to identify the liquid crystal phases of 2-n-nonyloxy-5-(4'-propylbiphenyl-4-yl)pyrazine.