TURBULENT NATURAL CONVECTION IN AN ENCLOSURE WITH LOCALIZED HEATING FROM BELOW

Natural-convection heat transfer in a cylindrical enclosure, heated partially from below by a disk-shaped heating surface and cooled from the top and the side, was investigated experimentally and numerically. Heat transfer measurements are presented for the range of Rayleigh numbers from 10⁸ to 2 × 10¹⁰. The total acceleration normal to the heating surface was varied from I to 100 times the standard gravitational acceleration. The heat flux was varied from 0.19 MW / m1 to 1.5 MW / m². The test results were correlated by an equation of the form Nu_D = 0.2Ra^0.325 _D for Prandtl number 2 and aspect ratio I. The flow field was studied numerically using FLUENT code.     

Non-abelian local reciprocity law

Following our work on the generalized Fesenko reciprocity map, we construct the non-abelian local reciprocity map ${\pmb{\Phi}_K^{(\varphi)}}$ of a local field K as a certain isomorphism from the absolute Galois group G _K of K onto a topological group ${\nabla_{K,Y}^{(\varphi)}}$ whose definition involves Fontaine–Wintenberger theory of field of norms, and build the non-abelian local class field theory over K in the sense of Fesenko and Koch.     

Inequalities for Queues with a Learning Server

We study a multi-class queue with a learning server who becomes stochastically faster with each subsequent customer served of the same type in a row, and returns to some baseline speed each time he switches to a different type of customer. We show under some conditions that customer waiting time is larger (in the increasing convex ordering sense) with server learning than in a queue with iid service times having the same marginal service distribution as the learning server. An easy to evaluate inequality for the mean stationary waiting time is derived from this in the case of Poisson arrivals, and results in more general settings are given. The primary tool used in the proofs is the supermodularity of the delay in queue as a function of previous service times.     

Charge transfer mechanism in hybrid bulk heterojunction composites

Charge transfer mechanisms of several conducting polymers and polymer/CdSe nanocrystal composites (hybrid bulk heterojunction composites) were investigated by means of cyclic voltammetry. Potential application of these composites in hybrid light-emitting diodes was discussed. It was found that charge transfer is observed in most of the composites, used so far, but was relatively slow or incomplete. The PVPy/CdSe nanocrystal composite showed promising results, and is favorable for use in electroluminescent devices.     

Temperature dependence of transport characteristics of wurtzite GaN epilayers

We report electrical transport properties of intentionally and unintentionally doped wurtzite GaN epilayers within the temperature range of 3K up to 340 K. Specifically, temperature dependence of the carrier concentration, mobility and resistivity are investigated. Obtained data could only be explained on the basis of two-band model, namely, high mobility conduction band and low mobility impurity band. The threshold doping concentration for the dominance of the conduction band electrons is estimated to be about 10¹⁸ cm^–3.     

Lightlike Hypersurfaces of a Golden Semi-Riemannian Manifold

We introduce lightlike hypersurfaces of a golden semi-Riemannian manifold. We investigate several properties of lightlike hypersurfaces of a golden semi-Riemannian manifold. We prove that there is no radical anti-invariant lightlike hypersurface of a golden semi-Riemannian manifold. In particular, we obtain some results for screen semi-invariant lightlike hypersurfaces of a golden semi-Riemannian manifold. Moreover, we study screen conformal screen semi-invariant lightlike hypersurfaces.     

Electrochemical Investigation of Gold Based Screen Printed Electrodes: An Application for a Seafood Toxin Detection

Although commercial screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) are used extensively for biosensor purposes nowadays, detailed studies on characterization are still limited. In this study, the surface of the gold-based screen-printed electrode (SPGE) was carefully modified with self-assembly-monolayer through an optimized immobilization procedure. The key physical and chemical properties with regeneration capacity of the developed biosensors were assessed by various characterization techniques. Then SPGE was used to determine its sensitivity, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for a toxin substance of domoic acid in seafood that has become more common and rising concern of marine wildlife and seawater pollution. LOD in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and cell culture media were obtained as 2.93 ng mL⁻¹ and 4.28 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. The reduced sensitivity for antibody-based biosensors in the cell culture medium was probably due to interaction of nonspecific compounds with DA in the culture medium compared to the much less complex environment of PBS. In addition, the regeneration capacity has been found very limited due to inherent heterogeneity and low robustness. This study can be used for the main challenges with the design requirements of commercial SPE-based biosensors to provide a detailed perspective for further toxicity studies.     

Quantitation of ortho‐cresyl phosphate adducts to butyrylcholinesterase in human serum by immunomagnetic‐UHPLC‐MS/MS

Tri‐ortho‐cresyl phosphate (ToCP) is an anti‐wear, flame retardant additive used in industrial lubricants, hydraulic fluids and gasoline. The neurotoxic effects of ToCP arise from the liver‐activated metabolite 2‐(o‐cresyl)‐4H‐1,3,2‐benzodioxaphosphoran‐2‐one (cresyl saligenin phosphate or CBDP), which inhibits esterase enzymes including butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). Following BChE adduction, CBDP undergoes hydrolysis to form the aged adduct ortho‐cresyl phosphoserine (oCP‐BChE), thus providing a biomarker of CBDP exposure. Previous studies have identified ToCP in aircraft cabin and cockpit air, but assessing human exposure has been hampered by the lack of a laboratory assay to confirm exposure. This work presents the development of an immunomagnetic‐UHPLC‐MS/MS method for the quantitation of unadducted BChE and the long‐term CBDP biomarker, oCP‐BChE, in human serum. The method has a reportable range from 2.0 ng/ml to 150 ng/ml, which is consistent with the sensitivity of methods used to detect organophosphorus nerve agent protein adducts. The assay demonstrated high intraday and interday accuracy (≥85%) and precision (RSD ≤ 15%) across the calibration range. The method was developed for future analyses of potential human exposure to CBDP. Analysis of human serum inhibited in vitro with CBDP demonstrated that the oCP‐BChE adduct was stable for at least 72 h at 4, 22 and 37 °C. Compared to a previously reported assay, this method requires 75% less sample volume, reduces analysis time by a factor of 20 and demonstrates a threefold improvement in sensitivity. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

A new protocol of analyzing isotope-coded affinity tag data from high-resolution LC-MS spectrometry

Isotope-coded affinity tags (ICAT) is a labeling technique that provides insights into quantitative molecular changes. In this paper, we propose a new protocol to identify and analyze ICAT labeled peak pairs in high-resolution LC-MS data. Our major contributions are: (1) we use isotope distance constraint, ICAT distance constraint, and LC-span constraint to identify ICAT labeled peak pairs and (2) we propose to trigger tandem MS/MS scanning based on the ratio estimation value of identified ICAT peak pairs instead of the peak intensity values. Compared with current approaches that choose peaks with high intensity values for tandem MS/MS scanning, the new protocol can improve the scanning efficiency and accuracy.     

Synthesis and characterization of two new cyclobutyl and aryl hydroxyethyl methacrylate monomers and their polymers

Two new hydroxyethyl methacrylates having aryl and cyclobutane rings were synthesized by addition to 1-(epoxyethyl)-3-aryl-3-methylcyclobutane to methacrylic acid. The monomers prepared are 2-(3-methyl-3-phenylcyclobutyl)-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (PCHEMA) and 2-(3-methyl-3-mesitylcyclobutyl)-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (MCHEMA). Both monomers were polymerized at 60°C in 1,4-dioxane solution using benzoyl peroxide as initiator. Poly(PCHEMA) and poly(MCHEMA) and their monomers were characterized by FT-IR and ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR techniques. Weight average molecular weights of the polymers were determined for poly(PCHEMA) poly(MCHEMA) by gel permation chromatography. Thermal stabilities of the polymers were essentially the same. Glass transition temperatures for poly(PCHEMA) and poly(MCHEMA) were determined as 105 and 137°C, respectively. No changes of the polymers by irradiation with UV light at 254 nm were observed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35 : 2123–2128, 1997