Observations on CuAlNi single crystals

The shape memory alloy CuAlNi shows a particularly rich load–deformation temperature behaviour, because the martensitic phase exhibits different maximal recoverable deformations. In simple tension experiments we have observed four different phases and transitions between them. Two of these transitions are reversible and two are hysteretic. We present a thermodynamic theory of reversible and hysteretic phase transitions and construct the energy landscape which dictates the behaviour of our tensile specimen.     

Statics of wrinkling films

This paper presents analytical investigations of some general properties of equilibrium of films in a state of wrinkling. The results are illustrated by examples.     

Application and evaluation of a new cold-stable kinetic Jaffé reagent to the Hitachi 747 for the determination of serum creatinine

One of the most commonly requested tests of the clinical laboratory is that of serum creatinine. Since the late 19th century the most commonly used reagents have been those based upon the work of Jaffé [1], which are composed of alkali and picric acid. Upon addition of creatinine to this reagent a red color, referred to as a Janovsky complex [2 and 3] is rapidly formed. Almost all of the currently available approaches to the automated determination of creatinine are based upon this reaction. Furthermore, the rate of the reaction may be controlled so that either equilibrium [4] or kinetic [5] measurements can be made. Although various enzymic approaches have been proposed [6, 7, 8, 9 and 10] they, as yet, have not gained the same popular support of the modified Jaffé reagents.     

pH‐responsive destabilization and facile bioconjugation of new hydroxyl‐terminated block copolymer micelles

New hydroxyl‐terminated amphiphilic block copolymers (HO‐ABPs) having pendant t‐butyl groups for pH‐responsiveness and terminal OH groups for bioconjugation are reported. These HO‐ABPs consist of hydrophilic poly(oligo(ethylene oxide) monomethyl ether methacrylate) and hydrophobic poly(t‐butyl methacrylate) blocks and were synthesized by a consecutive atom transfer radical polymerization in the presence of an OH‐terminated bromine initiator. Aqueous self‐assembly of HO‐ABPs resulted in colloidally stable micellar aggregates being capable of encapsulating hydrophobic guest molecules. They were nontoxic to cells and destabilized in response to low pH. A facile bioconjugation of HO‐ABP micelles for active targeting is demonstrated by conjugation with biotin (vitamin H) and competitive assay exhibiting >93% ABP chains conjugated with biotin in each micelle. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Growth and characterization of Cl-doped ZnO hexagonal nanodisks

Cl-doped ZnO nanodisks were grown on a Si(111) substrate using a thermal evaporation method. The prepared nanodisks exhibited a hexagonal shape with an average thickness of 50 nm and average diagonal of 270 nm. In addition, undoped ZnO disks with hexagonal shape were grown under the same conditions, but the sizes of these undoped ZnO disks were on the micrometer order. A possible mechanism was proposed for the growth of the Cl-doped ZnO nanodisks, and it was shown that the Cl¹⁻ anions play a crucial role in controlling the size. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy clearly showed an extension in the crystal lattice of ZnO because of the presence of chlorine. In addition, these nanodisks produced a strong photoluminescence emission peak in the ultraviolet (UV) region and a weak peak in the green region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Furthermore, the UV peak of the Cl-doped ZnO nanodisks was blueshifted with respect to that of the undoped ZnO disks.     

Quantum Algorithms in Hilbert Database

A fast quantum algorithm for a search and pattern recognition in a Hilbert space memory structure is proposed. All the memory information is mapped onto a unitary operator acting upon a quantum state which represents a piece of information to be retrieved. As a result of only one quantum measurement, the address of the required information encoded in a number of the corresponding row of the unitary matrix is determined. By combining direct and dot products, the dimensionality of the memory space can be made exponentially large, using only linear resources. However, since the preprocessing, i.e., mapping the memory information into a Hilbert space can appear to be exponentially expensive, the proposed algorithm will be effective for NASA applications when the preprocessing is implemented on the ground, while the memory search is performed on remote objects.     

Surface phenomena in elasticity

The characteristic properties of free surfaces of elastic bodies, such as propagation speeds of characteristic waves and conditions of instability of the surface shape (wrinkling), are considered. The results are generalized whenever a free surface is streamlined by an inviscid flow. The theory is illustrated by example.     

Elastic continua in high frequency excitation field

The response of an elastic continua to high frequency excitations is decomposed in two parts: “slow” motion which practically remains unchanged during the vanishingly small period of time τ, and “fast” motions whose mean value during this period is negligible, but the energy contribution is essential. After such a decomposition the “slow” and “fast” motions become nonlinearly coupled by the corresponding governing equations. This coupling leads to an additional “effective” potential energy which changes the “mean” stiffness characteristics. The results can be used for dynamical stiffening of flexible structural elements for a temporary increase of their stiffness in the course of occasional loads to prevent buckling or wrinkling.