Positronium lifetime in polymers

A model describing the relationship between the orthopositronium lifetime and the volume of a void, located in a synthetic zeolite, is analyzed. Our idea, which allows us to take into account the effects of temperature, comprises the introduction of a non-Hermitian term in the Hamiltonian, which accounts for the annihilation of the orthopositronium. The predictions of the present model are also confronted against an already known experimental result.     

ON THE RATE OF CONVERGENCE OF BEZIER VARIANT OF SZASZ—DURRMEYER OPERATORS

In the present paper, we introduce Szasz-Durrmeyer-Bezier operators M.,.(f,x) , which generalize the Szasz-Durrmeyer operators. Here we obtain an estimate on the rate of convergence of Mn,a(f,x) for functions of bounded variation. Our result extends and improves that of Sahai and Prasad and Gupta and Pant.     

Feeding level and diet quality influence trophic shift of C and N isotopes in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus (L.))

Many scientists use naturally occurring stable isotopes to reconstruct the diets of animals. However, isotopic ratios may be affected not only by the composition of the diet but also by the amount of food consumed. Thus, an experiment using tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) was carried out to test the influence of feeding level on delta13C and delta15N of fish given a semi-synthetic wheat gluten/wheat starch based diet. In addition, the effect of diet quality was tested by comparing tilapia given this feed with tilapia fed a fish meal/wheat meal based diet. Forty-four tilapia were reared individually. After a prefeeding phase, fish were randomly assigned to five groups, four on the semi-synthetic diet at different feeding levels and one group on the fish meal/wheat meal based diet fed at the equivalent of the highest level of the semi-synthetic diet. The experiment lasted eight weeks. Proximate composition, gross energy content and delta13C and delta15N values were determined in feed and fish, for delta13C separately in the lipids and the lipid-free matter. Delta13C in the lipids and the lipid-free matter and delta15N of tilapia fed the semi-synthetic diet decreased significantly with increasing feeding rate. The absolute values of the trophic shift in fish fed the semi-synthetic wheat based diet were significantly higher than in fish fed the fish meal/wheat meal based diet. The different delta13C and delta15N values in tilapia fed the same diet at different feeding levels and the influence of feed quality on the trophic shift add to the uncertainty involved in the use of stable isotopes in ecological research.     

Characterization of porphyrins of rat Harderian gland by thin layer chromatography and mass spectrometry: no evidence for a tricarboxylic acid porphyrin

Reversed-phase TLC systems using ion-pairing reagents are described for the separation without prior derivatization of the porphyrins of rat Harderian gland. Porphyrins with R(f) values greater than protoporphyrin but smaller than coproporphyrin, representing harderoporphyrin, were labile to 1 m NaOH, which converted them to protoporphyrin, inconsistent with the established literature that harderoporphyrin is a tricarboxylic acid porphyrin. It was confirmed by HPLC/electrospray ionization MS that this 'harderoporphyrin' fraction consists of the recently characterized glycoconjugate, protoporphyrin-1-O-acyl beta-xyloside, with trace amounts of protoporphyrin-1-O-acyl beta-glucoside.     

Operator kernel estimates for functions of generalized Schrödinger operators

We study the decay at large distances of operator kernels of functions of generalized Schrödinger operators, a class of semibounded second order partial differential operators of mathematical physics, which includes the Schrödinger operator, the magnetic Schrödinger operator, and the classical wave operators (i.e., acoustic operator, Maxwell operator, and other second order partial differential operators associated with classical wave equations). We derive an improved Combes-Thomas estimate, obtaining an explicit lower bound on the rate of exponential decay of the operator kernel of the resolvent. We prove that for slowly decreasing smooth functions the operator kernels decay faster than any polynomial.

     

Comparison of the filamentation and the hollow-core fiber characteristics for pulse compression into the few-cycle regime

The gas-filled hollow-core fiber compression and the optical filamentation technique are compared experimentally in a parameter regime suitable for intense few-cycle pulse generation. In particular, pointing stability, spectral properties, and spatial chirp are investigated. It is found that in the case of filamentation, the critical parameter for pointing stability is gas pressure inside the generation cell whereas for the hollow-core fiber it is alignment that plays this role. The hollow-core fiber technique yields spectra that are better suited for chirped-mirror pulse compression whereas filamentation offers higher throughput and prospects for easy-to-implement self-compression. We present spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction (SPIDER) measurements that directly show the transition in the spectral phase of the output continua into the self-compression regime as the gas pressure is increased. PACS 42.65.Re; 42.65.Jx; 42.65.Tg     

Magnetic and structural properties of mechanically alloyed Tb0.257−x Nd x Fe0.743 alloys, with x = 0 and 0.257

The alloys between a transition metal and a rare earth present magnetic and magneto optical properties of exceptional interest for the production of magnetic devices for information storage. In this work we report the magnetic and structural properties, obtained by Mössbauer spectrometry (MS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), of Tb_0.257?x Nd _x Fe_0.743 alloys with x?=?0 and 0.257 prepared by mechanical alloying during 12, 24 and 48 h, to study the influence of the milling time in their magnetic and structural properties. The X-rays results show for all the samples that the α-Fe and an amorphous phase are always present. The first decreases and the second increases with the increase of the milling time. Mössbauer results show that the amorphous phase in samples with Nd is ferromagnetic and appears as a hyperfine field distribution and a broad doublet, and that as the milling time increases the paramagnetic contribution increases. For samples with Tb the amorphous phase is paramagnetic and appears as a broad doublet which increases with the milling time and for 48 h milling it appears an additional broad singlet.     

Hydrogen oxidation reaction on platinum nanoparticles: Transition between mechanistic routes

The present work reports for the first time results which demonstrate that the hydrogen oxidation reaction on platinum nanoparticles supported on gold and glassy carbon substrates displays a transition between the Tafel–Volmer route, which dominates at low overpotentials, and the Heyrovsky–Volmer route, predominant at high overpotentials.     

Synthesis and crystal structure of [Re2Cl2(CO)6(S e)]

The dinuclear complex [Re₂Cl₂(CO)₆S e] has been prepared and characterized in the solid state by X-ray crystallography. Proton NMR spectroscopy has shown the structure to be stereochemically rigid in solution.     

Structural assessment under uncertain parameters via interval analysis

An efficient health monitoring system for damage detection in civil engineering structures using on-line monitoring data is being developed to identify any possible damage in short time. The present work is based on the treatment of uncertainties, which is one of the basic common difficulties faced when modelling structures. A methodology, based on interval analysis (IA) theory [R.E. Moore, Interval Analysis, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1966] applied to a numerical constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) [J.R. Casas, J.C. Matos, J.A. Figueiras, J. Vehí, O. García, P. Herrero, Bridge monitoring and assessment under uncertainty via interval analysis, in: Ninth International Conference On Structural Safety And Reliability—ICOSSAR2005, 2005. pp. 487–494], is implemented in the damage detection [J.R. Casas, J.C. Matos, J.A. Figueiras, J. Vehí, O. García, P. Herrero, Bridge monitoring and assessment under uncertainty via interval analysis, in: Ninth International Conference On Structural Safety And Reliability—ICOSSAR2005, 2005. pp. 487–494] and modelling system of a long-term monitoring project in order to achieve such an objective. An algorithm is being developed for using such methodology with the obtained data.