The role of Ar III in quantitative spectroscopy on hot argon plasmas

We perform quantitative optical emission spectroscopy on the hot core of the cathode region of a free-burning arc in argon under atmospheric pressure. As the peak temperatures in the centre of the discharge exceed 22 000 K we are able to observe three spectra of argon (Ar I, Ar II and Ar III) and the continuum emission. We report on some inconsistencies concerning the evaluation of Ar III radiation in both line and continuum emission. These are caused by erroneous data in the literature and common misconceptions about the influence of Ar III on the plasma emission. We discuss the impact of this fact on published data.     

Direct and indirect methods of calculating entropy generation rates in turbulent convective heat transfer problems

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solutions of turbulent convective heat transfer problems based on the mass, momentum and energy conservation principle provide all information to calculate the entropy production rate in such a transfer process. It can be determined in the post processing phase of a CFD calculation. Two methods are discussed in detail which can provide the information about the entropy production with different degrees of accuracy.     

Substrate inhibition in an enzymatic ordered bireactant system: non-linear modelling of the kinetics of hypoxanthine-guanine-phosphoribosyltransferase

Hypoxanthine-guanine-phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT; EC 2.4.2.8) was determined as an enzyme following an ordered bireaction in the presence of substrate inhibition due to hypoxanthine. This kind of inhibition has not been postulated for HGPRT so far. The mechanism and the kinetic constants of the reaction of HGPRT from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were investigated by initial velocity studies involving a non-linear regression analysis. In addition, two kinds of experimental designs were compared: the variation of hypoxanthine concentrations over wide ranges at different of fixed levels of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate, and the use of five appropriate sets of experimental conditions each characterized by different hypoxanthine and 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate concentrations. Both experimental designs were consistent with an ordered bi bi mechanism including a dead-end-complex between the enzyme and hypoxanthine. Received: 25 April 1997 / Revised: 9 June 1997 / Accepted: 16 June 1997     

Raman analysis of glaze on various archaeological shard samples and intact Ming plates

Raman microscopy is used in the analysis of glaze on a number of samples that include blue and white ceramic shards, a tile from the Citadel of Algiers and intact Ming plates. The use of the glaze depth profiling method for the study of interfacial pigments on these samples [J. Raman Spectrosc. 2007; 38: 1480] prompted the study of the glaze on the same set of samples to determine glaze type dependence of this method. Using the index of polymerization (I_p) which is closely correlated with glaze composition and processing temperature, it is shown that processing temperature could be estimated from a low of about 600 °C for some of the unknown archaeological shards to about 1000 °C or above for the Ming porcelain shards. Two intact porcelain plates from the Hongzhi (1488 – 1505) and Wanli (1573 – 1620) Ming imperial periods from the J. A. van Tilburg Museum of the University of Pretoria have been studied, and glaze/glass transition temperature was estimated to be above 1000 °C, consistent with historical data. A SnO₂‐based glaze tile shard from the Citadel of Algiers was also successfully probed, and results indicated a much lower sintering temperature. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An evolutionary game theoretic perspective on e-collaboration: The collaboration effort and media relativeness

Studies of e-collaboration from a game-theoretical perspective are practically nonexistent. This article contributes to filling this gap by focusing on the strategic interaction between players as they decide whether and how much to collaborate with each other. We use evolutionary game theory to make predictions about a two-person e-collaboration game. More specifically, we extend the traditional Prisoners’ Dilemma and Snowdrift game theory notions to discrete-strategy e-collaboration games, by explicitly including social punishments into the players’ payoff functions. We also introduce continuous-strategy e-collaboration games with both complete and incomplete information. Finally, we provide two generic dynamic programming models for e-collaboration games with media selection.     

Shell model calculations on natural parity states in 10≦ A≦14 nuclei

Shell model calculations of natural parity states in the 10≦A≦14 mass region have been performed by assuming an inert⁴He core with the residual interaction in the 1p shell only. The modified surface delta interaction (MSDI) has been used as an effective two-body interaction. The MSDI parameters as well as the single-particle binding energies have been deduced from a least-squares fit to experimentally known levels in, firstly, the seperate¹⁰B,¹¹B-C,¹²C,¹³C-N and¹⁴N nuclei, and secondly, the whole mass region 10≦A≦14. Multipole moments for ground states and M1 and E2 radiative widths for excited states have been calculated with the resultant wave functions.