Wavelets and adaptive grids for the discontinuous Galerkin method

In this paper, space adaptivity is introduced to control the error in the numerical solution of hyperbolic systems of conservation laws. The reference numerical scheme is a new version of the discontinuous Galerkin method, which uses an implicit diffusive term in the direction of the streamlines, for stability purposes. The decision whether to refine or to unrefine the grid in a certain location is taken according to the magnitude of wavelet coefficients, which are indicators of local smoothness of the numerical solution. Numerical solutions of the nonlinear Euler equations illustrate the efficiency of the method.     

Fast electrons generation by RF and random fields near the antenna I. One dimensional model and regular fields

Test particle motion and acceleration has been explored in strong radio frequency (RF) fields, for which quasilinear ponderomotive force approximation is not valid. By nonlinear acceleration in spatially varying wave amplitude of RF travelling wave, electrons may be accelerated to time averaged velocities significantly larger than the RF wave phase velocity, and than the boundary plasma thermal velocity, in RF fields of several Volts per centimeter at wave frequency of 7 MHz. It is also demonstrated that even weak spatial gradients, much weaker than those expected in experiments, of the RF wave field amplitude, have significant consequences for the particle motion. Estimates are presented of the total energy transferred from the near antenna RF field to the plasma due to the nonlinear electron acceleration effects.     

Transient binary nucleation from ethanol-hexanol vapour

We study condensation of ethanol-hexanol vapour by numerical solution of kinetic equations. The number of droplets formed in unit volume is computed within self-consistent classical model. It is shown that formation of ethanol-rich droplets prevails at the initial stage of nucleation process, but in the stationary state formation of droplets near the saddle point (on cluster formation energy surface) plays the dominant role. Presented at the 6th Joint Seminar “Development of Materials Science in Research and Education”, Karlštejn, Czech Republic, 17–19 September 1996. This work was supported by Grant No. A1010615 of the Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.     

Aqueous solution and solid state interactions of lanthanide ions with a methacrylic ester polymer bearing pendant 15‐crown‐5 moieties

The interaction between trivalent lanthanide ions and poly(1,4,7,10,13‐pentaoxacyclopentadecan‐2‐yl‐methyl methacrylate), PCR5, in aqueous solution and in the solid state have been studied. In aqueous solution, evidence of a weak interaction between the lanthanides and PCR5 comes from the small red shift of the Ce(III) emission spectra and the slight broadening of the Gd(III) EPR spectra. From the Tb(III) lifetimes in the presence of H₂O and D₂O the loss of one or two water coordinated molecules is confirmed when Tb(III) is bound to PCR5. An association constant of the order of 200 M^?1 was obtained for a 1:1 (lanthanide:15‐crown‐5) complex from the shift of the polymer NMR signals induced by Tb(III). A similar association constant is obtained from the differences of the molar conductivity of Ce(III) solution at various concentrations in presence and absence of PCR5. When Tb(III) is adsorbed on PCR5 membranes, lifetime experiments in H₂O and D₂O confirm the loss of 5 or 6 water coordinated molecules indicating that in solid state the lanthanide(III)‐PCR5 interaction is stronger than in solution. The adsorption of Ce(III) in PCR5 membranes shows a Langmuir type isotherm, from which an equilibrium constant of 39 M^?1 has been calculated. SEM shows that the membrane morphology is not much affected by lanthanide adsorption. Support for lanthanide ion–crown interactions comes from ab initio calculations on 15‐crown‐5/La(III) complex. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 1788–1799, 2007     

Efficiency and effectiveness of Spanish football teams: a three-stage-DEA approach

In this paper, we apply a three-stage-DEA model to the Spanish Professional Football League, which means separating the teams’ economic behaviour into three components: operating efficiency—of the offence and defence—athletic or operating effectiveness, and social effectiveness. The results showed that the technical inefficiency of the defence is greater than that of the offence, both being caused by aspects linked to the poor management of players’ abilities and by the football team’s size. Teams showed a favourable evolution of their offensive and defensive efficiency during the 2004/2005 season and to a lesser extent in the season before. The point system assigned by the professional football league regulations evaluates the teams’ athletic effectiveness, but we detected that the teams with the most experience perform athletically in a more effective manner. Their social effectiveness is strongly related to the level of play in itself and to factors linked to their PFL ranking: participation in international competitions for important football teams; or the struggle of minor football teams to stay in the first division.     

Control of the block copolymer morphology in templated epoxy thermosets

It has been found that by the addition of low concentrations of an amphiphilic block copolymer to an epoxy resin, novel disordered morphologies can be formed and preserved through curing. This article will focus on characterizing the influence of the block copolymer and casting solvent on the templated morphology achieved in the thermoset sample. The ultimate goal of this work is to determine the parameters that would control the microphase morphology produced. Epoxy resins blended with a series of amphiphilic block copolymers based on hydrogenated polyisoprene (polyethylene-alt-propylene or PEP) and polyethylene oxide (PEO), specifically, were investigated. In this article, the cure-induced order–order phase transition from the spherical to wormlike micelle morphology will also be discussed. It is proposed that the formation of the wormlike micelle structure from the spherical micelle structure is similar to the phase transition behavior that occurs in dilute block copolymer solutions as a function of the influence of the solvent on micelle morphology. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 3338–3348, 2007     

100-TW femtosecond laser based on parametric amplification

In experiments on the parametrical amplification of femtosecond pulses in wide-aperture DKDP crystals, a power of more than 100 TW has been reached, which is much higher than the record level achieved in such lasers. The energy efficiency obtained for the parametric amplifier is equal to 27%. The energy of a 72-fs pulse is equal to 10 J.     

Diblock copolymers based on allyl methacrylate: Synthesis,characterization, and chemical modification

Different diblock copolymers constituted by one segment of a monomer supporting a reactive functional group, like allyl methacrylate (AMA), were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Bromo‐terminated polymers, like polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and poly(butyl acrylate) (PBA) were employed as macroinitiators to form the other blocks. Copolymerizations were carried out using copper chloride with N,N,N′,N″,N″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as the catalyst system in benzonitrile solution at 70 °C. At the early stage, the ATRP copolymerizations yielded well‐defined linear block copolymers. However, with the polymerization progress a change in the macromolecular architecture takes place due to the secondary reactions caused by the allylic groups, passing to a branched and/or star‐shaped structure until finally yielding gel at monomer conversion around 40% or higher. The block copolymers were characterized by means of size exclusion chromatography (SEC), ¹H NMR spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In addition, one of these copolymers, specifically P(BA‐b‐AMA), was satisfactorily modified through osmylation reaction to obtain the subsequent amphiphilic diblock copolymer of P(BA‐b‐DHPMA), where DHPMA is 2,3‐dihydroxypropyl methacrylate; demonstrating the feasibility of side‐chain modification of the functional obtained copolymers. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3538–3549, 2007     

Mineralogical analysis of auriferous ores from the El Diamante mine, Colombia

X-ray diffraction (XRD), Mössbauer spectrometry (MS), secondary ions mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and laser-ablation microprobe–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LAM–ICP–MS) were used to study mineral samples of Colombian auriferous ores collected from the “El Diamante” mine, located in the municipality of Guachavez-Nariño, in Colombia. The samples were prepared as polished thin sections and polished sections. From XRD data, quartz, sphalerite and pyrite were detected and their respective cell parameters were estimated. From MS analyses, pyrite, arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite were identified; their respective hyperfine parameters and respective texture were deduced. Multiple regions of approximately 200 × 200 μm in each sample were analyzed with SIMS; the occurrence of “invisible gold” associated mainly with pyrite and secondarily with arsenopyrite could thus be assigned. It was also found that pyrite is of the arsenious type. Spots from 30 to 40 μm in diameter were analyzed with LAM–ICP–MS for pyrite, arsenopyrite and sphalerite; Au is “homogeneously” distributed inside the structure of the arsenious pyrite and the arsenopyrite (not as inclusions); the chemical composition indicates similarities of this “invisible gold”, forming a solid solution with arsenious pyrite and arsenopyrite. One hundred nineteen and 62 ppm of ‘invisible gold’ was quantified in 21 spots analyzed on pyrite and in 14 spots on arsenopyrite, respectively.