Constraints on dark energy from the lookback time versus redshift test

We use lookback time versus redshift data from galaxy clusters (Capozziello et al., 2004 [9]) and passively evolving galaxies (Simon et al., 2005 [62]), and apply a Bayesian prior on the total age of the Universe based on WMAP measurements, to constrain dark energy cosmological model parameters. Current lookback time data provide interesting and moderately restrictive constraints on cosmological parameters. When used jointly with current baryon acoustic peak and Type Ia supernovae apparent magnitude versus redshift data, lookback time data tighten the constraints on parameters and favor slightly smaller values of the nonrelativistic matter energy density.     

Laminar jet impingement on an indented wall

Summary The Navier-Stokes equations are solved numerically to study the problems of laminar, axisymmetric jet impinging normally on an indented wall. The results obtained for three different wall geometries and Reynolds number range upto 25 are compared with those for the impingement on a plane wall to study the influence of indentation. The overall flow picture remains similar to the plane wall case qualitatively but the wall shear stress and pressure distribution get altered in the indented region.

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Zusammenfassung Es wird der Strömungsverlauf eines laminaren achsensymmetrischen Strahles nach dem Aufprall auf eine Wand mit Einbuchtung analysiert. Hierzu wird die numerische Lösung der Navier-Stokeschen Gleichungen benutzt. Die Ergebnisse für drei verschiedene Wandgeometrien, als auch für verschiedene Reynolds-Zahlen bis auf 25, sind mit dem Fall der ebenen Wand verglichen, um hieraus den Einfluß der Einbuchtung festzustellen. Das globale Strömungsbild bleibt in allen Fällen qualitativ ähnlich. Es wurde jedoch festgestellt, daß im Bereich der Einbuchtung die Wandschubspannung sowie die Druckverteilung gewisse Änderungen aufweisen.

     

Maximization of yield of C-13 isotope by multiphoton dissociation of Freon-22 using high average power TEA CO2 laser

Selective multi-photon dissociation (MPD) of Freon-22 (CF₂HC1) molecules has been carried out using a TEA CO₂ laser at various CO₂ laser lines (9P(20)-9P(26)) in order to maximize the yield of C-13 isotope in the product (C₂F₄) at an enrichment factor of 100. The effects of laser pulse tail due to the presence of N₂ in the laser mixture on the enrichment factor and yield of C-13 are investigated. It is found that the addition of a small amount of N₂ is possible in the laser mixture without a significant drop in the yield at desired enrichment factor. Addition of a small amount of N₂ improves the laser efficiency considerably. At a given pulse energy, a slight change in the near field intensity distribution of a laser severely affects the selectivity of C-13 isotope. The computed far-field intensity distributions of the measured near-field intensities show marked spatial variation in the focal spots that leads to a drop in selectivity. For macroscopic production of C-13 isotope a simple and novel multi-pass cavity has been designed and tested to focus the energy repeatedly keeping the optimum fluence constant at each focal spot.     

Lower bounds for adaptive locally decodable codes

An error‐correcting code is said to be locally decodable if a randomized algorithm can recover any single bit of a message by reading only a small number of symbols of a possibly corrupted encoding of the message. Katz and Trevisan 12 showed that any such code C : {0, 1}ⁿ → Σ^m with a decoding algorithm that makes at most q probes must satisfy m = Ω((n/log |Σ|)^q/(q?1)). They assumed that the decoding algorithm is non‐adaptive, and left open the question of proving similar bounds for adaptive decoders. We show m = Ω((n/log |Σ|)^q/(q?1)) without assuming that the decoder is nonadaptive. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2005     

Membrane chromatography: Protein purification from E. coli lysate using newly designed and commercial anion-exchange stationary phases

This contribution describes the purification of anthrax protective antigen (PA) protein from Escherichia coli lysate using bind-and-elute chromatography with newly designed weak anion-exchange membranes. Protein separation performance of the new AEX membrane adsorber was compared with the commercial Sartobind^® D membrane adsorber and HiTrap™ DEAE FF resin column under preparative scale conditions. Dynamic protein binding capacities of all three stationary phases were determined using breakthrough curve analysis. The AEX membrane showed higher binding capacities than the Sartobind^® D membrane at equivalent volumetric throughput and higher capacities than the HiTrap™ DEAE FF resin column at 15 times higher volumetric throughput. Anion-exchange chromatography was performed using all three stationary phases to purify PA protein. Quantitative SDS-PAGE analysis of effluent fractions showed that the purity of PA protein was higher for membrane adsorbers than the HiTrap™ DEAE FF resin column and was the same for the new AEX membrane and Sartobind^® D membrane adsorbers. The effects of E. coli lysate load volume and volumetric flow rate on PA protein separation resolution using the membrane adsorbers were minor, and the peak elution profile remained un-changed even under conditions where >75% of the total protein dynamic binding capacity of the membranes had been utilized. PA protein peak resolution was higher using pH-gradient elution than with ionic strength gradient elution. Overall, the results clearly demonstrate that membrane chromatography is a high-capacity, high-throughput, high-resolution separation technique, and that resolution in membrane chromatography can be higher than resin column chromatography under preparative conditions and at much higher volumetric throughput.     

Electrical and thermal properties of lead titanate glass ceramics

Glass samples with composition of (50−X)PbO-(25+X)TiO₂-25B₂O₃ (where X=0, 5, 10 and 12.5 mol%) were prepared using conventional quenching technique. The glass transition temperature, T_g and crystallization temperature T_c were determined from the DTA. These glass samples were converted to glass ceramics by following two stage heat treatment schedule. The glass ceramic samples were characterized by XRD, SEM and dielectric constant measurements. The XRD results revealed the formation of ferroelectric lead titanate (PT) as a major crystalline phase in the glass ceramics. The density increases and the CTE decreases for all glass ceramics with increase in X (mol%). This may be attributed to increase in PT phase. The SEM results which show rounded crystallites of lead titanate, also supports other results. Hysteresis loops observed at room temperature confirms the ferroelectric nature of glass ceramics. The optimized glass ceramic sample exhibits high dielectric constant which is of technical importance.     

Hubble parameter data constraints on dark energy

We use Hubble parameter versus redshift data from Stern et al. (2010) [1] and Gaztañaga et al. (2009) [2] to place constraints on model parameters of constant and time-evolving dark energy cosmological models. These constraints are consistent with (through not as restrictive as) those derived from supernova Type Ia magnitude-redshift data. However, they are more restrictive than those derived from galaxy cluster angular diameter distance, and comparable with those from gamma-ray burst and lookback time data. A joint analysis of the Hubble parameter data with more restrictive baryon acoustic oscillation peak length scale and supernova Type Ia apparent magnitude data favors a spatially-flat cosmological model currently dominated by a time-independent cosmological constant but does not exclude time-varying dark energy.     

Role of surface roughness and lubricant film thickness in nanolubrication of sliding components in adaptive optics

Silver-coated copper particles with various silver loading were prepared by a direct liquid-to-particle conversion process in spray pyrolysis reactor system. The prepared particles were completely densified at 900°C within a residence time of 2.1 s and had core-shell structure, of which formation mechanism was proposed. The mean diameter of particles was 0.45 μm. Copper particles of 20 wt.% of silver loading were stable under air and 95% of copper remained as metallic copper even after 1 month of exposure to air. This enhanced air-stability contributed to the enhanced electrical property of conductive film obtained from the coated particles. The conductive film obtained from 15 wt.% of silver-coated copper particles had a sheet resistance of 1.2 mΩ square(-1). This low resistance resulted from the lack of oxide layer and low sintering temperature of silver layer.