Surface and interfacial properties of PVDF/acrylic copolymer blends before and after UV exposure

Morphological and chemical properties of both the surface and interface of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/poly(methyl methacrylate)-co-poly(ethyl acrylate) (PVDF/PMMA-co-PEA) blend films have been investigated before and after the samples were exposed to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation using a xenon arc lamp at 50 °C and 9% relative humidity (RH) for 7 months. Surface and interfacial morphologies were studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Chemical composition information was obtained by confocal Raman microscopy, attenuated total reflection-FTIR spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and contact angle measurements. Results show an enrichment of the PVDF material at the air surface, while the acrylic copolymer enriches the interface. Blends having greater than 50% mass fraction of PVDF show little change in the surface morphology after UV exposure for 7 months. However, for a lower PVDF content, blends exhibit significant degradation of PMMA-co-PEA copolymer and a much rougher surface after UV exposure. Microstructural changes in the PVDF spherulites are also observed after UV degradation. It is found that the surface and interfacial morphologies are correlated with the chemical properties.     

Towards cooling of high-intensity ion beams

Buffer gas beam coolers may become excellent beam preparation devices for high-resolution mass separation. The small beam emittance provided makes efficient isobar resolution a realistic goal. In order to fulfill the needs of future facilities providing high-intensity beams of rare isotopes, it is desirable to increase the beam intensity limit of such devices from typically several tens of nanoamperes to microamperes. This requires the usage of high-voltage radiofrequencies in a low-pressure gas environment. A buffer gas beam cooler, dedicated to this purpose, is under development at the NSCL. The study of voltage breakdowns under such conditions and the design of an electrode system minimizing them is mandatory.      

Measurements of theg-factor ratio of the first 3− and 5− states in40Ca and the lifetime of the 5− state

[Theg-factor ratio of the first excited 3^? and 5^? states in⁴⁰Ca was measured to beg ₃/g ₅=1.01(10) employing the implantation perturbed angular correlation technique. The static hyperfine fields (SF) in Fe and Gd hosts were used. In addition the lifetime of the 5^? state was measured to be τ=426(7)ps. The values of the SF in Gd and Fe hosts were deduced and compared with systematics in this element region.     

Products of residue currents of Cauchy–Fantappiè–Leray type

With a given holomorphic section of a Hermitian vector bundle, one can associate a residue current by means of Cauchy–Fantappiè–Leray type formulas. In this paper we define products of such residue currents. We prove that, in the case of a complete intersection, the product of the residue currents of a tuple of sections coincides with the residue current of the direct sum of the sections.     

An Implicit Iteration Process with Errors for a Finite Family of r-strictly Asymptotically Pseudocontractive Mappings

In this paper,we will establish several strong convergence theorems for the approximation ofcommon fixed points of r-strictly asymptotically pseudocontractive mappings in uniformly convex Banachspaces using the modiied implicit iteration sequence with errors,and prove the necessary and sufficient conditionsfor the convergence of the sequence.Our results generalize,extend and improve the recent work,in thistopic.     

A Penrose-like inequality for maximal asymptotically flat spin initial data sets

We prove a Penrose-like inequality for the mass of a large class of constant mean curvature (CMC) asymptotically flat n-dimensional spin manifolds which satisfy the dominant energy condition and have a future converging, or past converging compact and connected boundary of non-positive mean curvature and of positive Yamabe invariant. We prove that for every n ≥ 3 the mass is bounded from below by an expression involving the norm of the linear momentum, the volume of the boundary, dimensionless geometric constants and some normalized Sobolev ratio.     

Artificial time integration

Many recent algorithmic approaches involve the construction of a differential equation model for computational purposes, typically by introducing an artificial time variable. The actual computational model involves a discretization of the now time-dependent differential system, usually employing forward Euler. The resulting dynamics of such an algorithm is then a discrete dynamics, and it is expected to be “close enough” to the dynamics of the continuous system (which is typically easier to analyze) provided that small – hence many – time steps, or iterations, are taken. Indeed, recent papers in inverse problems and image processing routinely report results requiring thousands of iterations to converge. This makes one wonder if and how the computational modeling process can be improved to better reflect the actual properties sought. In this article we elaborate on several problem instances that illustrate the above observations. Algorithms may often lend themselves to a dual interpretation, in terms of a simply discretized differential equation with artificial time and in terms of a simple optimization algorithm; such a dual interpretation can be advantageous. We show how a broader computational modeling approach may possibly lead to algorithms with improved efficiency. AMS subject classification (2000)  65L05, 65M32, 65N21, 65N22, 65D18     

Existence Results for Semilinear Neutral Functional Differential Inclusions via Analytic Semigroups

In this paper we prove existence results for semilinear neutral functional differential inclusions with finite or infinite delay in Banach spaces. Our theory makes use of analytic semigroups and fractional powers of closed operators, integrated semigroups and cosine families.      

Stored energy release behaviour of disordered carbon

The use of graphite as a moderator in a low temperature thermal nuclear reactor is restricted due to accumulation of energy caused by displacement of atoms by neutrons and high energetic particles. Thermal transients may lead to a release of stored energy that may raise the temperature of the fuel clad above the design limit. Disordered carbon is thought to be an alternative choice for this purpose. Two types of disordered carbon composites, namely, CB (made up of 15 wt. % carbon black dispersed in carbonized phenolic resin) and PAN (made up of 20 vol. % chopped polyacrylonitrile carbon fibre dispersed in carbonized phenolic resin matrix) have been irradiated with 145 MeV Ne⁶⁺ ions at three fluence levels of 1.0×10¹³, 5.0×10¹³ and 1.5×10¹⁴ Ne⁶⁺/cm², respectively. The XRD patterns revealed that both the samples remained disordered even after irradiation. The maximum release of stored energy for CB was 212 J/g and that of PAN was 906 J/g. For CB, the release of stored energy was a first order reaction with activation energy of 2.79 eV and a frequency factor of 3.72×10²⁸ per second. 13% of the defects got annealed by heating up to 700 °C. PAN showed a third-order release rate with activation energy of 1.69 eV and a frequency factor of 1.77×10¹⁴ per second. 56% of the total defects got annealed by heating it up to 700 °C. CB seems to be the better choice than PAN as it showed less energy release with a slower rate. PACS 61.80.Jh; 61.80.-x; 61.43Er; 61.43.-j; 68.43.Vx     

Dynamic programming in cricket: optimizing batting order for a sticky wicket

In cricket, a rain-affected pitch can make batting more difficult than normal. Several other conditions such as poor light or an initially lively pitch, may also result in difficulties for the batsmen. In this note, we refer to all of them as ‘sticky wickets’. On sticky wickets, lower order batsmen are often sent into ‘hold the fort’ until conditions improve. In this paper, a stochastic dynamic programming model is used to examine the appropriateness of this policy. The model suggests that the tactic is often optimal when the sticky wicket persists until the end of the day's play, but not often when the sticky wicket is transitory. In some circumstances, it is worthwhile, on a normal wicket near the end of the day, to send in a lower order batsman to hold the fort (a night watchman): when the wicket is sticky, this tactic is even more worthwhile.