Characterization of low molecular weight hydrocarbon oligomers by laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry using a solvent-free sample preparation method.

A new solvent-free sample preparation method using silver trifluoroacetate (AgTFA) was developed for the analysis of low molecular weight paraffins and microcrystalline waxes by laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LDI-TOFMS). Experiments show that spectral quality can be enhanced by dispersing AgTFA directly in liquid paraffins without the use of additional solvents. This preparation mixture is applied directly to the MALDI probe. Solid waxes could be examined by melting prior to analysis. The method also provides sufficiently reproducible spectra that peak area ratios between mono- and bicyclic alkane peaks indicated variations in the cycloalkane content of paraffin samples. Dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons observed during the desorption/ionization process was studied by analysis of alkane standards.     

Influence of Azimuthal Structure of Surface Waves on Efficiency of their Excitation by Tubular Electron Beams

The excitation of eigen surface waves by tubular electron beams in cylindrical discharge devices is studied. The influence of the wave‐field azimuthal structure on the excitation efficiency and nonlinear stage of the plasmabeam instability is investigated both numerically and analytically. Analytical expressions for the saturation amplitude and excitation efficiency of the wave under study are derived. They are found to agree well with results obtained by numerical modelling of the plasma‐beam interaction presented in this paper. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Method of lines with boundary elements for 1‐D transient diffusion‐reaction problems

Time‐dependent differential equations can be solved using the concept of method of lines (MOL) together with the boundary element (BE) representation for the spatial linear part of the equation. The BE method alleviates the need for spatial discretization and casts the problem in an integral format. Hence errors associated with the numerical approximation of the spatial derivatives are totally eliminated. An element level local cubic approximation is used for the variable at each time step to facilitate the time marching and the nonlinear terms are represented in a semi‐implicit manner by a local linearization at each time step. The accuracy of the method has been illustrated on a number of test problems of engineering significance. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2006     

AGE method simulations of a turbulent far‐wake compared to spectral DNS

Turbulent flow simulation methods based on finite differences are attractive for their simplicity, flexibility and efficiency, but not always for accuracy or stability. This paper demonstrates that a good compromise is possible with the advected grid explicit (AGE) method. Starting from the same initial field as a previous spectral DNS, AGE method simulations of a planar turbulent wake were carried out as DNS, and then at three levels of reduced resolution. The latter cases were in a sense large‐eddy simulations (LES), although no specific sub‐grid‐scale model was used. Results for the two DNS methods, including variances and power spectra, were very similar, but the AGE simulation required much less computational effort. Small‐scale information was lost in the reduced resolution runs, but large‐scale mean and instantaneous properties were reproduced quite well, with further large reductions in computational effort. Quality of results becomes more sensitive to the value chosen for one of the AGE method parameters as resolution is reduced, from which it is inferred that the numerical stability procedure controlled by the parameter is acting in part as a sub‐grid‐scale model. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Error analysis: a tool for selecting travel demand models

In developing travel demand models it is generally assumed that the base-year data used in developing the parameters, as well as the forecasted data to be used as independent variables for the design year, are of acceptable quality. The purpose of this paper is to present the application of error propagation theory in assesing the predictive quality of one type of travel demand forecasting model (multinomial logit models) and to demonstrate how error considerations can be used as a tool for identifying the optimal model. The general conclusions of this study are that: (1) it is indeed possible to quantify errors in dependent variables in logit models as a consequence of errors in independent variables; and (2) error consideration can be used as a tool for identifying the optimal model from a set of candidate models. Further research is recommended to develop better insights into the phenomenon of error propagation so that the consideration of errors can be a factor in decisions on model selection.     

Unitarity condition in covariant quantum field theory with indefinite metric

V. A. Steklov Mathematics Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences. Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 79, No. 3, pp. 347–358, June, 1989.     

Franck-Condon factors and relative strengths of the c1Σu → α1Δg,c1Σu → X3Σg electronic transitions in the O2 molecule

Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. 46–50, January, 1991.     

Determination of trace levels of diosmin in a pharmaceutical preparation by adsorptive stripping voltammetry at a glassy carbon electrode.

A systematic study on the electrochemical behavior of diosmin in Britton-Robinson buffer (pH 2.0-10.0) at a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was made. The oxidation process of the drug was found to be quasi-reversible with an adsorption-controlled step. The adsorption stripping response was evaluated with respect to various experimental conditions, such as the pH of the supporting electrolyte, the accumulation potential and the accumulation time. The observed anodic peak current at +0.73 V vs. Ag/AgCl reference electrode increased linearly over two orders of magnitude from 5.0x10(-8) M to 9.0x10(-6) M. A limit of detection down to 3.5x10(-8) M of diosmin at the GCE was achieved with a mean recovery of 97+/-2.1%. Based on the electrochemical data, an open-circuit accumulation step in a stirred sample solution of BR at pH 3.0 was developed. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of the drug in pharmaceutical formulations. The results compared favorably with the data obtained via spectrophotometric and HPLC methods.     

Dielectric and conductivity relaxations in quaternary ammonium polymer

Ionic conductivity of dry quaternary ammonium polymer, polydiallyldimethylammonium with Cl⁻ and H₂PO₄⁻ counter ions was studied in a wide range of frequencies (10⁻²-10⁷ Hz) and temperatures (300-470 K). The data were analysed within the formalism of permittivity. WAXS, and thermal properties of this polymer were investigated prior to conductivity measurements.