Evaluation of atomic fluorescence, absorption and emission techniques for the determination of mercury

Summary Atomic fluorescence (AFS), absorption (AAS) and emission (AES) systems were evaluated for the determination of inorganic mercury. Identical vapour generation and amalgamation procedures were used to permit direct comparison of the performance of a commercial long-path AAS instrument to laboratory constructed non-dispersive AFS as well as He-MIP based AES instruments. Instrumental noise-limited detection limits (LOD) were 0.94, 2.4, 2.8 pg for AAS, AES and AFS techniques, respectively. Methodological LOD's were found to be blank controlled and similar for all three instruments, viz. 9, 25 and 16 pg for AAS, AFS and AES, respectively. All three systems produced accurate results at the low ng/l concentration, as verified by the analysis of a certified river water reference material (NRCC ORMS-1).     

Axial Structure of the Field Intensity in Diffusion-Controlled Surface-Wave Produced Plasmas

Surface-wave gas discharges sustained under the conditions of a diffusion controlled regime are studied on the basis of the fluid plasma model. The self-consistent behaviour of the plasma density and of the field intensity along the discharge length is obtained. It is shown that the nonlinearity in the particle balance equation due to stepwise ionisation determines the plasma density in terms of the field intensity and ensures self-consistent behaviour of the wave ? discharge characteristics in a diffusion controlled regime.     

Dynamic programming in sport: a survey of applications

This paper surveys applications of dynamic programming to decisionproblems faced by active participants in sports.     

Theory of electromagnetic stirring by AC fields

Electromagnetic fields are often used industrially to controlthe flow of liquid metal, and in particular this review is concernedwth applications of alternating fields. An alternating fieldinduces eddy currents in liquid metal which interact with thefield to give a Lorentz body force which is generally rotationaland which must therefore drive fluid motion. We derive generalexpressions for the Lorentz force, showing that it consistsof both steady and oscillatory components. The flow in a circularcylinder due to a rotating field is discussed in detail, sincethis problem is simple to analyse and illustrates several importantgeneral principles. In the high-frequency limit, the field isconfined to a narrow layer on the surface of the conductor,and we derive approximate methods for calculating the surfacemagnetic pressure andthe induced flow. We also examine the otherextreme of slowly alternating fields. As each problem is studied,we discuss practical applications.     

Statistical approach to light scattering from deformed textured heterogeneous polymer materials

A statistical theory of light scattering from deformed isotropic and textured heterogeneous polymer materials is formulated. Two types of textured structures are analyzed: assemblies of optically isotropic and anisotropic rods and a spatially anisotropic distribution of isotropic spherical inclusion centers. The small-angle H_v light-scattering patterns are calculated. The appearance of scattering from isotropic rods and spheres in deformed materials has been demonstrated. The changes of the H_v scattering patterns as a function of elongation and strucuture parameters are discussed. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Optimal estimation of linear operators from inaccurate data: A second look

This paper intends to re-examine some results and proofs given in a previous publication on optimal estimation under uncertainty. In a rather general setting we showed that regularization of an element of a linear space relative to a quadratic criterion and inaccurate linear observations is an optimal method for recovering a linear operator of that element. For this to be the case, the regularization parameter must be chosen with care.     

Solvability in Lebesgue spaces of nonlinear boundary equations of one-sided contact problems of elasticity theory

We investigate the solvability of one-sided contact problems with nonlinear boundary conditions. The results generalize the author's previous results to the case of equations in Lebesgue spaces.Translated from Vychislitel'naya i Prikladnaya Matematika, No. 66, pp. 77–83, 1988.     

Polymorphism in alternating polyketones studied by x-ray diffraction and calorimetry

Differential scanning calorimetry and high temperature x-ray diffraction were used to study the perfectly alternating copolymer of ethene and carbon monoxide (polyketone; POKC2). It was found that oriented POK-C2 fibers show a crystalline phase transition at a temperature between 110–125°C with a 10% change in crystalline density. At this temperature, the crystal structure reported recently (POK-α) is transformed to a crystal structure that was reported in the past for room temperature imperfectly alternating polyketone. The latter structure will be designated as POK-β. The influence of chain defects on the crystal structure was studied by synthesizing terpolymers (POK-C2/C3), in which small amounts of propylene-CO units are incorporated into the polymer backbone. The resulting terpolymers differ from the copolymer by the presence of methyl groups randomly distributed along the polyketone backbone chain. Evidence is presented that indicates that the methyl groups are built into the crystal lattice as defects. With more than 5 mole-% propene the terpolymer fibers crystallize exclusively in the β-modification. Below this level the α/β ratio (at room temperature) increases with decreasing amounts of propene. Both as-synthesized and as-spun POK-C2 were found to consist of both POK-α and POK-β; the α/β ratio depends on the method of preparation. Because the drawn POK-C2 fibers studied here consist exclusively of POK-α, the process of spinning and drawing leads to the transformation of unoriented β-rich material into oriented POK-α. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.