Investigation of supersonic viscous flow past a sphere in the presence of subsonic and sonic injection

Supersonic flow past a sphere with a given rate of gas injection along the generator is investigated numerically on the range Re=10²–10⁴. Calculations have been made on the interval 0 90°, where is the angle between the axis of symmetry and the normal to the surface. It is shown that for high subsonic and sonic injection rates it is possible to observe qualitatively new features in the flow structure and in the distribution of the local supersonic flow characteristics around the perimeter of the sphere not previously noted in [9]. In the case of sonic injection the changes in flow structure occur only in the supersonic zone. In the neighborhood of the transition from a subsonic to sonic injection velocity the heat flux has a local maximum, which in absolute value does not exceed the heat flux in the absence of injection. It is shown that there may be qualitative differences in the pressure distribution over the surface of the body with increase in the injection parameter depending on the distribution and value of the injected gas flow rate and, moreover, the number Re.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 83–89, January–February, 1988.     

Direct determination of arsenic in petroleum derivatives by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry: A comparison between filter and platform atomizers

In the present work a direct method for the determination of arsenic in petroleum derivatives has been developed, comparing the performance of a commercial transversely heated platform atomizer (THPA) with that of a transversely heated filter atomizer (THFA). The THFA results in a reduction of background absorption and an improved sensitivity as has been reported earlier for this atomizer. The mixture of 0.1% (m/v) Pd + 0.03% (m/v) Mg + 0.05% (v/v) Triton X-100 was used as the chemical modifier for both atomizers. The samples (naphtha, gasoline and petroleum condensate) were stabilized in the form of a three-component solution (detergentless microemulsion) with the sample, propan-1-ol and 0.1% (v/v) HNO₃ in a ratio of 3.0:6.4:0.6. The characteristic mass of 13 pg found in the THFA was about a factor of two better than that of 28 pg obtained with the THPA; however, the limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were essentially the same for both atomizers (1.9 and 6.2 μg L⁻¹, respectively, for THPA, and 1.8 and 5.9 μg L⁻¹, respectively, for THFA) due to the increased noise observed with the THFA. A possible explanation for that is a partial blockage of the radiation from the hollow cathode lamp by the narrow inner diameter of this tube and the associated loss of radiation energy. Due to the lack of an appropriate certified reference material, recovery tests were carried out with inorganic and organic arsenic standards and the results were between 89% and 111%. The only advantage of the THFA found in this work was a reduction of the total analysis time by about 20% due to the ‘hot injection’ that could be realized with this furnace. The arsenic concentrations varied from < LOQ to 43.3 μg L⁻¹ in the samples analyzed in this work.     

Noncontact method for calibration of lateral forces in scanning force microscopy

This paper describes a noncontact calibration procedure for lateral force microscopy in air and liquids. The procedure is based on the observation that the sensitivity of a force microscope may be calibrated using the raw thermal noise spectrum of the cantilever and its known spring constant, which can be found from the same uncalibrated thermal noise spectrum using Sader's method (Rev. Sci. Instrum.1999, 70, 3967-3969). In addition to the power spectrum of the cantilever thermal noise, this noncontact calibration method only requires knowledge of the plan view dimensions of the cantilever that could be measured using an optical microscope. This method is suitable for in situ force calibration even in viscous fluids through a two-step calibration procedure, where the cantilever thermal spectra are captured both in air and in the desired liquid. The lateral calibration performed with the thermal noise technique agrees well with sensitivity values obtained by the wedge calibration procedure. The approach examined in this paper allows for complete calibration of normal and lateral forces without contacting the surface, eliminating the possibility for any tip damage or contamination during calibration.     

Coherent control protocol for separating energy-transfer pathways in photosynthetic complexes by chiral multidimensional signals

Adaptive optimizations performed using a genetic algorithm are employed to construct optimal laser pulse configurations that separate spectroscopic features associated with the two main energy-transfer pathways in the third-order nonlinear optical response simulated for the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) photosynthetic complex from the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium tepidum. Superpositions of chirality-induced tensor components in both collinear and noncollinear pulse configurations are analyzed. The optimal signals obtained by manipulating the ratios of various 2D spectral peaks reveal detailed information about the excitation dynamics.     

A combined effective fragment potential-fragment molecular orbital method. II. Analytic gradient and application to the geometry optimization of solvated tetraglycine and chignolin

The gradient for the fragment molecular orbital (FMO) method interfaced with effective fragment potentials (EFP), denoted by FMO∕EFP, was developed and applied to polypeptides solvated in water. The structures of neutral and zwitterionic tetraglycine immersed in water layers of 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 A? are investigated by performing FMO∕EFP geometry optimizations at the RHF∕cc-pVDZ level of theory for the solutes. The geometries optimized with FMO-RHF∕EFP are compared to those from the conventional RHF∕EFP and are found to be in very close agreement. Using the optimized geometries, the stability of the hydrated zwitterionic and neutral structures is discussed structurally and in terms of energetics at the second-order M?ller-Plesset theory (MP2)∕cc-pVDZ level. To demonstrate the potential of the method for proteins, the geometry of hydrated chignolin (protein data bank ID: 1UAO) was optimized, and the importance of the inclusion of water was examined by comparing the solvated and gas phase structures of chignolin with the experimental NMR structure.     

Transformation of ionic liquid into carbon nanotubes in confined nanospace

We have developed a two-step filling process for the nano-reaction of ionic liquid in a tip-closed SWNT, where fullerenes are inserted at the end of the host SWNT as a plug to prevent the leakage of the confined ionic liquid during heat treatment.     

Engineering of a redox protein for DNA-directed assembly

Engineered enzyme conjugate of the small laccase enzyme from Streptomyces coelicolor and zinc finger DNA binding domain from Zif268 is demonstrated to bind double stranded DNA in a site specific manner while retaining enzymatic activity.     

Three-dimensional imaging of sulfides in silicate rocks at submicron resolution with multiphoton microscopy

We report the first application of multiphoton microscopy (MPM) to generate three-dimensional (3D) images of natural minerals (micron-sized sulfides) in thick (～120 μm) rock sections. First, reflection mode (RM) using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), combined with differential interference contrast (DIC), was tested on polished sections. Second, two-photon fluorescence (TPF) and second harmonic signal (SHG) images were generated using a femtosecond-laser on the same rock section without impregnation by a fluorescent dye. CSLM results show that the silicate matrix is revealed with DIC and RM, while sulfides can be imaged in 3D at low resolution by RM. Sulfides yield strong autofluorescence from 392 to 715 nm with TPF, while SHG is only produced by the embedding medium. Simultaneous recording of TPF and SHG images enables efficient discrimination between different components of silicate rocks. Image stacks obtained with MPM enable complete reconstruction of the 3D structure of a rock slice and of sulfide morphology at submicron resolution, which has not been previously reported for 3D imaging of minerals. Our work suggests that MPM is a highly efficient tool for 3D studies of microstructures and morphologies of minerals in silicate rocks, which may find other applications in geosciences.     

Temperature dependence of crystal growth of hexagonal ice (I(h))

The transformations between water and ice have many implications across numerous fields of study. A better understanding of this process would benefit many areas of science and technology such as medicine, biology, and atmospheric and material sciences. In the present work the temperature dependence of the rate of growth (melting) of the basal face of hexagonal ice I(h) and the effect of system size are investigated in molecular dynamics simulations. Using an effective pair potential model of water, systems are studied over temperatures ranging from T(M) - 40 to T(M) + 16 K, where T(M) is the melting temperature of the model. It is found that the growth rates reach a maximum value of 0.7 ? ns(-1) (7 cm s(-1)) at about 12 K below the melting temperature. A noticeable effect of the system size on the melting temperature and ice growth rates is observed; it is shown that the size effect arises in smaller systems due to the artificial ordering under periodic conditions. The decrease in melting entropy in the smallest system by 0.4 J (mol K)(-1) relative to the largest system results in an up-shift in the melting temperature by about 2 K. An almost 60% increase in the maximum growth rate is observed for the smallest system.