Environmental inversion using high-resolution matched-field processing

This paper considers the inversion of experimental field data collected with light receiving systems designed to meet operational requirements. Such operational requirements include system deployment in free drifting configurations and a limited number of acoustic receivers. A well-known consequence of a reduced spatial coverage is a poor sampling of the vertical structure of the acoustic field, leading to a severe ill-conditioning of the inverse problem and data to model cost function with a massive sidelobe structure having many local extrema. This causes difficulties to meta-heuristic global search methods, such as genetic algorithms, to converge to the true model parameters. In order to cope with this difficulty, broadband high-resolution processors are proposed for their ability to significantly attenuate sidelobes, as a contribution for improving convergence. A comparative study on simulated data shows that high-resolution methods did not outperform the conventional Bartlett processor for pinpointing the true environmental parameter when using exhaustive search. However, when a meta-heuristic technique is applied for exploring a large multidimensional search space, high-resolution methods clearly improved convergence, therefore reducing the inherent uncertainty on the final estimate. These findings are supported by the results obtained on experimental field data obtained during the Maritime Rapid Environmental Assessment 2003 sea trial.     

Coarsening in one dimension: invariant and asymptotic states

We study a coarsening process of one-dimensional cell complexes. We show that if cell boundaries move with velocities proportional to the difference in size of neighboring cells, then the average cell size grows at a prescribed exponential rate and the Poisson distribution is precisely invariant for the distribution of the whole process, rescaled in space by its average growth rate. We present numerical evidence toward the following universality conjecture: starting from any finite mean stationary renewal process, the system when rescaled by e ^?2t converges to a Poisson point process. For a limited case, this makes precise what has been observed previously in experiments and simulations, and lays the foundation for a theory of universal asymptotic states of dynamical cell complexes.     

Affinity capillary electrophoresis and density functional theory employed for the characterization of hexaarylbenzene-based receptor complexation with alkali metal ions

In this study, affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE) and quantum mechanical density functional theory (DFT) calculations were combined to investigate non-covalent binding interactions between the hexaarylbenzene-based receptor (R) and alkali metal ions, Rb(+) and Cs(+) , in methanol. The apparent binding (stability) constants (K(b) ) of the complexes of receptor R with alkali metal ions in the methanolic medium were determined by ACE from the dependence of effective electrophoretic mobility of the receptor R on the concentration of Rb(+) and Cs(+) ions in the BGE using a non-linear regression analysis. The receptor R formed relatively strong complexes both with rubidium (log K(b) =4.04±0.21) and cesium ions (log K(b) =3.72±0.22). The structural characteristics of the above alkali metal ion complexes with the receptor R were described by ab initio density functional theory calculations. These calculations have shown that the studied cations bind to the receptor R because they synergistically interact with the polar ethereal fence and with the central benzene ring via cation-π interaction.     

Aluminum sulfate—an electrolyte for MnO2 hybrid supercapacitor

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Manganese oxide is an important emerging electrode material for use in supercapacitor applications. Herein, we propose a new aqueous electrolyte,...     

Line-by-line calculations of thermal infrared radiation representative for global condition: CFC-12 as an example

We estimate a current direct radiative forcing due to CFC-12 of 0.18 Wm^-2, which is likely to be the peak radiative forcing for CFC-12. Global measurements of CFC-12 show at present an almost negligible trend for CFC-12 and measurement in an industrialized region show evidence that the peak concentration is reached. It is expected that concentration of CFC-12 in industrialized regions begins to decline 1-3 years before the global concentration.Our radiative forcing calculations are based on a line-by-line model appropriate for simulation of global mean radiative forcing, including clouds and stratospheric temperature adjustment. The radiative forcing of 0.33 Wm^-2/ppbv is close to earlier published results for this compound. New spectroscopic measurements for CFC-12 are performed and compared to previously published results.     

Long-range critical wetting: observation of a critical end point

Alkanes deposited on aqueous substrates exhibit two different types of wetting behavior: alternatively to the usual first-order wetting transition, a sequential-wetting scenario of a long-range critical wetting transition preceded by a first-order thin-thick transition may be observed. Here, we present the first successful experimental attempt to locate the transition point between the standard first-order wetting and the long-range critical wetting: a critical end point, observed in a mixture of pentane and hexane which is deposited on an aqueous solution of glucose. Furthermore, we present the first direct measurement of the contact angle in the intermediate wetting state (frustrated-complete wetting) in the sequential-wetting scenario of hexane on brine and compare to theoretical predictions.     

Thermodynamic properties of quinoxaline-1,4-dioxide derivatives: a combined experimental and computational study

The mean (N-O) bond dissociation enthalpies were derived for three 2-methyl-3-(R)-quinoxaline 1,4-dioxide (1) derivatives, with R = methyl (1a), ethoxycarbonyl (1b), and benzyl (1c). The standard molar enthalpies of formation in the gaseous state at T = 298.15 K for the three 1 derivatives were determined from the enthalpies of combustion of the crystalline solids and their enthalpies of sublimation. In parallel, accurate density functional theory-based calculations were carried out in order to estimate the gas-phase enthalpies of formation for the corresponding quinoxaline derivatives. Also, theoretical calculations were used to obtain the first and second N-O dissociation enthalpies. These dissociation enthalpies are in excellent agreement with the experimental results herewith reported.