Anion exchangers based on modified shungites

Modification of shungite with polyamines, followed by corss-linking with epoxy compounds, yielded chemically and thermally stable polyfunctional anion exchangers. The effect of the nature of a polyamine and epoxy compounds and of the carbon content of shungites and the process conditions on the ion-exchange properties of the samples obtained was studied.     

Depth profiling of latex blends of fluorinated and fluorine‐free acrylates with laser‐induced secondary mass spectrometry

We explored phase separation and self‐assembly of perfluoroalkyl segments at the surface of polymer films obtained from latices of semifluorinated acrylate copolymers and the corresponding latex blends of nonfluorinated and semifluorinated polyacrylates. With laser‐induced secondary mass spectrometry the fluorine distribution was measured after annealing above the minimum film‐forming temperature of the polymers up to a depth of several micrometers. Depth profiles of a semifluorinated acrylate homopolymer and latex blends thereof with fluorine‐free alkylacrylates with 25, 50, and 75 mol % semifluorinated acrylate as well as a copolymer comprised of alkyl acrylate and semifluorinated acrylate (50/50 mol %) were investigated. In the case of latex blends containing both semifluorinated polyacrylates and fluorine‐free or low‐fluorine polymers, self‐assembly accounted for enrichment of the perfluoroalkyl segments at the surface. Coatings exhibiting low surface energy and having a substantially reduced total fluorine content were obtained. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 360–367, 2003     

The Ideal Retraction Property for Idempotent Semigroups

A semigroup S is said to have the ideal retraction property provided each of its ideals is the image of an idempotent endomorphism of S. The main result of this work is a characterization of those bands which have the idempotent retraction property. All such bands are normal.     

Crutch or Catalyst: Teachers' Beliefs and Practices Regarding Calculator use in Mathematics Instruction

This study investigated K‐12 teachers' beliefs and reported teaching practices regarding calculator use in their mathematics instruction. A survey was administered to more than 800 elementary, middle and high school teachers in a large metropolitan area to address the following questions: (a) what are the beliefs and practices of mathematics teachers regarding calculator use? and (b) how do these beliefs and practices differ among teachers in three grade bands? Factor analysis of 20 Likert scale items revealed four factors that accounted for 54% of the variance in the ratings. These factors were named Catalyst Beliefs, Teacher Knowledge, Crutch Beliefs, and Teacher Practices. Compared to elementary teachers, high school teachers were significantly higher in their perception of calculator use as a catalyst in mathematics instruction. However, the higher the grade level of the teacher, the higher the mean score on the perception that calculator use may be a way of getting answers without understanding mathematical processes. The mean scores for teachers in all three grade bands indicated agreement that students can learn mathematics through calculator use and using calculators in instruction will lead to better student understanding and make mathematics more interesting. The survey results shed light on teachers' self reported beliefs, knowledge, and practices in regard to consistency with elements of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (2000) technology principle and the NCTM use of technology position paper (2003). This study extended previous research on teachers' beliefs regarding calculator use in classrooms by examining and comparing the results of teacher surveys across three grade bands.     

Spectral and kinetic characteristics of the pulsed cathodoluminescence of a natural IIa-type diamond

Emission spectra and decay kinetics of pulsed cathodoluminescence of a natural IIa-type diamond sample are investigated in the spectral range 340–680 nm. The luminescence of the vibronic N3-system and band A are observed. The N3-system is dominant on a nanosecond scale and has a 415.2-nm zero-phonon line with phonon replicas in the range 430–460 nm. The decay time for the N3 system is found to be 30–50 ns. Structureless band A is observed on a millisecond scale; it has a maximum at 460 nm and a decay time of 8.5–8.8 ms. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 1, pp. 53–57, January, 2007.     

Narrowband filters based on one-barrier crystallike structures

A method of producing narrowband high-selectivity filters based on resonance tunneling in onebarrier crystallike structures is proposed. Characteristics illustrating the efficiency of the method are presented.     

First measurement of the ϱ spectral function in nuclear collisions

The NA60 experiment at the CERN SPS has studied low-mass muon pairs in 158 A GeV In–In collisions. A strong excess of pairs is observed above the yield expected from neutral meson decays. The unprecedented sample size close to 400000 events and the good mass resolution of about 2% made it possible to isolate the excess by subtraction of the decay sources. The shape of the resulting mass spectrum shows some non-trivial centrality dependence, but is largely consistent with a dominant contribution from π⁺π^-→ϱ→μ⁺μ^- annihilation. The associated ϱ spectral function exhibits considerable broadening, but essentially no shift in mass. The p_T-differential mass spectra show the excess to be much stronger at low p_T than at high p_T. The results are compared to theoretical model predictions; they tend to rule out models linking hadron masses directly to the chiral condensate. PACS 25.75.-q; 12.38.Mh; 13.85.Qk     

Preparation of Fe–Si–B–Nb amorphous powder cores with excellent high-frequency magnetic properties

FeSiBNb amorphous powder cores were prepared with the amorphous powder by gas atomization and subsequent hot pressing of resulting powder after creating oxide layers on the amorphous powder. Fully amorphous FeSiBNb powders with good soft magnetic properties were successfully obtained in the particle size range below 100 μm. FeSiBNb amorphous powder cores exhibit stable permeability up to 10 MHz, showing excellent high-frequency characteristics.     

The impact of nonequilibrium gain in a spectral laser diode model

We describe the inclusion of nonequilibrium gain into a self-consistent 2.5D CW spectral laser diode model and report on the use of this model to investigate the origin of gain compression in a 975 nm high-brightness tapered QW laser diode. Nonequilibrium gain is calculated using a dynamic gain model, which simulates the dynamic relaxation of the quantum well carrier energy distributions under the influence of steady-state electrical and optical excitation. Calculated gain and spontaneous emission spectra are included in the laser model via parameterised look up tables. Both simulated and experimentally measured intracavity spontaneous emission spectra show an increased carrier density and a blue-shift of the gain maximum with increasing bias caused by carrier heating and spectral hole burning. The accurate incorporation of nonequilibrium gain compression is therefore vital for the accurate prediction of the operating characteristics of these devices and for the experimental determination of the active region temperature.