A Graph-Transformational Approach to Swarm Computation

In this paper, we propose a graph-transformational approach to swarm computation that is flexible enough to cover various existing notions of swarms and swarm computation, and it provides a mathematical basis for the analysis of swarms with respect to their correct behavior and efficiency. A graph transformational swarm consists of members of some kinds. They are modeled by graph transformation units providing rules and control conditions to specify the capability of members and kinds. The swarm members act on an environment—represented by a graph—by applying their rules in parallel. Moreover, a swarm has a cooperation condition to coordinate the simultaneous actions of the swarm members and two graph class expressions to specify the initial environments on one hand and to fix the goal on the other hand. Semantically, a swarm runs from an initial environment to one that fulfills the goal by a sequence of simultaneous actions of all its members. As main results, we show that cellular automata and particle swarms can be simulated by graph-transformational swarms. Moreover, we give an illustrative example of a simple ant colony the ants of which forage for food choosing their tracks randomly based on pheromone trails.     

Bis(O‐ethyl di­thio­carbonato‐κ2S,S′)­palladium(II)

The Pd atom in the title compound, [Pd(C₃H₅OS₂)₂], lies on an inversion center and adopts a square‐planar coordination geometry defined by the four S atoms of the two di­thio­carbonate (xanthate) ligands. In the solid state, the mol­ecules aggregate into layers in which the rows of mol­ecules alternate their orientation to allow each Pd atom to interact with two symmetry‐equivalent S atoms of the xanthate ligands of adjacent mol­ecules, generating a pseudo‐octahedral environment around each Pd atom. This weak interaction of 3.3579 (7) Å can be classified as a closed‐shell electrostatic intermolecular interaction.     

Optical and structural proprieties of nc-Si:H prepared by argon diluted silane PECVD

Using argon as a diluent of Silane, hydrogenated amorphous and nanorocrystalline silicon films Si:H were prepared by radio-frequency (13.56 MHz) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (rf-PECVD). The deposition rate and crystallinity varying with the deposition pressure and rf power, were systematically studied. Structural analysis (Raman scattering spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction), combined with optical measurements spectroscopy were used to characterize the films. The argon dilution of silane for all samples studied was 95% by volume, and the substrate temperature was 200 °C. The deposition pressure was varied from 400 mTorr to 1400 mTorr and varying rf power from 50 to 250 W. The structural evolution studies, shows that beyond 200 W of rf power, an amorphous-nanocrystalline transition was observed, with an increase in crystalline fraction by increasing rf power and working pressure. The films were grown at high deposition rates. The deposition rates of the films near the amorphous-nanocrystalline phase transition region were found in the range 6–10 Å/s. A correlation between structural and optical properties has been found and discussed.     

Films thickness effect on structural and optoelectronic properties of hydrogenated amorphous germanium (a-Ge:H)

Thin films of hydrogenated amorphous germanium (a-Ge:H) deposited at high growth rate by radiofrequency (RF) glow discharge with 1 sccm GeH₄ diluted in 40 sccm H₂ have been studied. The effect of the films thicknesses on the defect density and on the structural parameters was carefully investigated by means of infrared spectroscopy, optical transmission measurements, and the photothermal deflection spectroscopy (PDS) technique. The results of this investigation show that when the films thicknesses increase, the total hydrogen content (C_H) decreases and the hydrogen-bonding configuration changes. The results of these changes appear clearly on the defects density and on the microstructure parameter of the films, while the disorder parameter E_OV and the optical gap E_T remain practically constant (E_OV ≈ 45 ± 2 meV, E_T = 1.08 ± 0.02 eV). The improvement of these parameters is mainly due to the incorporation of the hydrogen in the bulk of the material as the monohydride groups (Ge-H) rather than the polyhydride groups (Ge-H₂ and Ge-H_2n) when the films thicknesses increase.     

Path integral treatment of a noncentral electric potential

We present a rigorous path integral treatment of a dynamical system in the axially symmetric potential $V(r,\theta ) = V(r) + \tfrac{1} {{r^2 }}V(\theta ) $ . It is shown that the Green’s function can be calculated in spherical coordinate system for $V(\theta ) = \frac{{\hbar ^2 }} {{2\mu }}\frac{{\gamma + \beta \sin ^2 \theta + \alpha \sin ^4 \theta }} {{\sin ^2 \theta \cos ^2 \theta }} $ . As an illustration, we have chosen the example of a spherical harmonic oscillator and also the Coulomb potential for the radial dependence of this noncentral potential. The ring-shaped oscillator and the Hartmann ring-shaped potential are considered as particular cases. When α = β = γ = 0, the discrete energy spectrum, the normalized wave function of the spherical oscillator and the Coulomb potential of a hydrogen-like ion, for a state of orbital quantum number l ≥ 0, are recovered.     

Palladium-catalyzed direct arylation using free NH2 substituted thiophene derivatives with inhibition of amination type reaction

The palladium-catalyzed direct arylation at C2 or C5 of free NH₂ substituted thiophene derivatives was found to proceed in moderate to high yields using a variety of aryl halides. The choice of potassium acetate as the base was found to be crucial to inhibit the amination reaction and to promote the direct arylation.     

Chemical composition of the essential oils of the berries of Juniperus oxycedrus L. ssp. rufescens (L. K.) and Juniperus oxycedrus L. ssp. macrocarpa (S. & m.) Ball. and their antioxidant activities

This study is outlined to probe the chemical composition of essential oil and in vitro antioxidant activity of Juniperus oxycedrus ssp. macrocarpa (S. & m.) Ball. and Juniperus oxycedrus L. ssp. rufescens (L. K.) berries, collected from four sites, according to their maturity phase. The chemical composition of the hydrodistilled essential oil was analysed by GC-MS. Forty-eight compounds were identified, accounting for approximately 79.8-98.9% of the oil. The main constituents were α-pinene, germacrene D, myrcene, abietadiene and cis-calamenene, their mean percentage vary according to their phenological stage. The antioxidant activity of the samples was determined by the ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activities. Hawaria essential oil extracted from mature berries showed the highest antioxidant capacity.     

Identification of internal cracks in a three-dimensional solid body via Steklov–Poincaré approaches

This Note deals with the identification of internal planar cracks inside a three-dimensional elastic body via two approaches relying on domain decomposition using elastostatic measurements. These approaches consist in recasting the problem in terms of primal or dual Steklov–Poincaré equations. The primal approach is a straightforward continuation to the elastic Cauchy problem of the work presented in J. Ben Abdallah (2007) [1] which is devoted to the Cauchy problem for the scalar Laplace equation. The numerical performances of these formulations are compared.     

Theoretical spectroscopy and metastability of BeS and its cation

Multiconfiguration self-consistent field and multiconfiguration reference interaction including the Davidson’s correction techniques were employed to calculate the potential energy curves (PECs) of the BeS/BeS⁺ electronic states correlating to the 4/5 lowest dissociation limits. After nuclear motion treatment, we deduced reliable spectroscopic data for the neutral and cationic bound states. For BeS, the transition moments and spin-orbit couplings were also evaluated and used later with the PECs to deduce the rovibronic transition probabilities and the radiative lifetimes in the low-lying states, and to investigate the unimolecular decomposition processes of BeS (X¹Σ⁺, A¹Π, ³Σ⁺ and B¹Σ⁺) leading to Be(¹S_g) + S(³P_g). The prominent mechanism is a spin-orbit induced predissociation via the repulsive BeS(1³Σ⁻) state. Finally, we give the single ionization spectrum of BeS (X¹Σ⁺) populating the BeS⁺ (X²Π, 1²Σ⁻, 1²Σ⁺, 1²Δ, 2²Σ⁺, 2²Π and 3²Π) electronic states. The adiabatic ionisation energy of BeS is estimated to be ∼9.15 eV.     

SAXS studies of blends of high- and low-density polyethylene

It is shown that in blends of PE having different melting temperatures the morphology depends drastically on the cooling rate. In these heterogeneous PE, the correlation relationship L = r between the long period L of the solid state and the dimension of the coils r in the liquid state is observed only in rapidly quenched materials. In slowcooled materials the SAXS spectra are interpreted in terms of segregation of two types of PE, on a scale of the order of the dimension of the coils, the arrangement of the crystalline lamellae being paracrystalline and statistical.