Interaction of charged dust particles in clouds of thermodynamically equilibrium charges

The solution of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation for a cloud of charges surrounding two charged dust particles treated as Debye atoms forming a Debye molecule is investigated numerically using Cassini coordinates. The electric force exerted on a dust particle by the other dust particle was determined by integrating the electrostatic pressure on the surface of the dust particle. It is shown that attractive forces appear when the following two conditions are satisfied. First, the Debye radius (corresponding to the electron density at half the mean distance between the dust particles) must be approximately equal to half the mean distance between the dust particles. Attraction between the dust particles emerges at a distance equal approximately to half the mean distance between the dust particles. Second, attraction takes place when like charges are concentrated predominantly on the dust particles. If the particles carry a small fraction of charge of the same polarity, repulsion between the particles takes place at all distances.     

Properties of reflected sunlight derived from a Green's function method

The inference of optical depth and particle size of clouds and aerosols using remotely sensed reflected radiance at solar wavelengths has received much attention recently. The information these measurements provide is path integrated. However, very little is known about the vertical distribution of this weighting. To characterize it, we first solve the radiative transfer equation (RTE) by a Green's function approach, and then investigate the sensitivity of the weighting to vertical inhomogeneities in the extinction by introducing a function that is closely related to the Green's function, herein called the contribution function. This function calculates the contributions to the radiance at the upper boundary of the medium by underlying layers. Three hypothetical clouds of identical optical depth but exhibiting different extinction profiles were used in this study. The contribution function was found very sensitive to the extinction profile. The global reflection and transmission matrices used to construct the Green's function, derived using an eigenmatrix method, resulted in an efficient, stable, and accurate method for calculating the emerging radiances that can be extended to multi-layered media.     

Numerical simulation and experimental validation of heat transfer within rotating flows for three‐dimensional non‐axisymmetric,turbulent conditions

A control volume type numerical methodology for the analysis of steady three‐dimensional rotating flows with heat transfer, in both laminar and turbulent conditions, is implemented and experimentally tested. Non‐axisymmetric momentum and heat transfer phenomena are allowed for. Turbulent transport is alternatively represented through three existing versions of the k–ε model that were adjusted to take into account the turbulence anisotropy promoted by rotation, streamline curvature and thermal buoyancy. Their relative performance is evaluated by comparison of calculated local and global heat balances with those obtained through measurements in a laboratory device. A modified version of the Lam and Bremhorst, low Reynolds number model is seen to give the best results. A preliminary analysis focused on the flow structure and the transfer of heat is reported. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Growth of K(DxH1 − x )2PO4 single crystals from solutions in the K2O-P2O5-(D, H)2O system

Based on the analysis of the K₂O-P₂O₅-D₂O solubility phase diagram, the optimum conditions of KD₂PO₄ crystallization—the compositions of mother solutions and the temperature range of crystallization—in the KH₂PO₄-D₂O system have been determined. The technique of K(D_xH_{1 ? x} )₂PO₄ growth is developed. The DKDP single crystals with deuterium concentration up to 88 wt % are grown on DKDP seeds from KH₂PO₄ solutions in D₂O by the method of temperature decrease.     

Response dynamics of goldfish saccular fibers: effects of stimulus frequency and intensity on fibers with different tuning, sensitivity, and spontaneous activity

The effects of stimulus frequency and intensity on response patterns (PST histograms) to tone burst stimulation were examined in differently tuned saccular fibers of the goldfish. In addition, the sensitivity of these fibers to amplitude-modulated (AM) signals of different carrier frequencies was measured. The response patterns evoked by unmodulated signals were a complex function of tuning, spontaneous activity and sensitivity of the fiber, and the frequency and intensity of the signal. Frequency-dependent response patterns were found in low-frequency fibers with best frequencies (BF) below 200 Hz. Responses in these fibers ranged from tonic to phasic in nonspontaneous fibers and included more complex patterns in spontaneously active fibers, such as suppression of evoked activity below spontaneous levels. Midfrequency fibers (BF = 500-600 Hz) showed responses similar to those in low-frequency fibers, but with less dependence on frequency. In contrast, both high-frequency (BF = 800-1000 Hz) and wideband, untuned fibers showed frequency-invariant patterns of adaptation. High-frequency fibers were equally sensitive to AM signals at all frequencies tested. The sensitivity of low-frequency fibers to AM, however, increased as a function of carrier frequency and corresponded to the degree of adaptation in response to unmodulated tones. In general, the AM sensitivity of a fiber could be predicted more by its pattern of response to unmodulated signals than by its tuning characteristics.     

Asymptotic stability of the numerical solution for an integrodifferential reaction-diffusion system

This paper presents the study of the numerical solution of a reaction-diffusion system involving a reaction term of integral type arising from biological models. By means of a monotone approach we introduce upper and lower solutions and then we show the existence and the asymptotic behavior of nonnegative numerical solutions. To this end, we require the positivity of the numerical scheme and so we can use some properties of positive and M-matrices. Finally we give some sufficient conditions to verify the asymptotic stability of the numerical solution.     

Spatial regularities in the effect of locking of photon echo signals and associative optical memory

The efficiency of suppression of the generation of a photon echo response depending on the mutual spatial orientation of gradients of external nonumform electric fields acting on a resonant medium is studied. The possibility of creating an associative memory where the mutual orientation of the gradients of external electric fields is an associative key is discussed.     

Two-stream-like mechanism of zonal-flow generation by Rossby waves in a shallow rotating fluid

It is shown that the small-scale Rossby waves in a shallow rotating fluid placed in a gravitational field can generate large-scale zonal flows by means of a two-stream-like mechanism. This mechanism is revealed under the conditions when the Lighthill instability criterion is not satisfied. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Interaction of cationic 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-N-methyl pyridyl) porphyrin with mono-and polynucleotides: A study by picosecond fluorescence spectroscopy

The interaction of water-soluble cationic 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-N-methyl pyridyl) porphyrin (H₂TMPyP4) with some mono-and polynucleotides is studied by time-resolved and steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy, as well as by steady-state absorption spectroscopy. The fluorescence decay kinetics are analyzed by reconstructing the decay time distributions, which made it possible to describe in more detail than previously the complexes formed due to the interaction. The main effect of binding of H₂TMPyP4 adenosine 5′-monophosphate and to poly(dA-dT)₂ is shown to be an increase in the fluorescence lifetime from 4.6 ns in the solution to 8.3 and 12.3 ns, respectively. This effect is explained by a less polar (in comparison with water) environment of porphyrin in complexes, which leads to a decrease in the quenching action of the intramolecular charge transfer state between the porphyrin macrocycle and methyl pyridyl groups. In the case of complex formation with guanine-containing nucleotides (guanosine 5′-monophosphate and poly(dG-dC)₂), the effect of decrease in the quenching action of the intramolecular charge transfer state caused by a decrease in the medium polarity is superimposed by a stronger effect of decrease in the fluorescence lifetime of porphyrin as a result of intermolecular electron transfer from guanine to excited porphyrin. A high sensitivity of this intermolecular quenching to the mutual arrangement of the electron donor and the electron acceptor makes it possible to reveal four types of complexes between H₂TMPyP4 and guanosine 5′-monophosphate, which differ in the positions of four broad peaks in the porphyrin fluorescence decay time distribution (0.1, 0.7, 2.4, and 6.1 ns). For the complex with poly(dG-dC)₂, a narrow peak at 2.8 ns prevails in the fluorescence decay time distribution, with the contributions from two additional narrow peaks at 1.0 and 6.2 ns being small.