Volcanic monitoring for radon and chemical species in the soil and in spring water samples

Soil radon has been monitored at two fixed stations in the northern flank of Popocatepetl Volcano, a high risk volcano located 60 km SE from Mexico City. Water samples from three springs were also studied for radon as well as major and trace elements. Radon in the soil was recorded using track detectors. Radon in the water samples was evaluated using the liquid scintillation method and an Alphaguard. The major elements were determined through conventional chemical methods and trace elements using an ICP-MS equipment. Soil radon levels were low, indicating a moderate diffuse degassing through the flanks of the volcano. Groundwater radon had almost no relation with the eruptive stages. Water chemistry was stable in the reported time (2000–2002).     

Kinetics of oxygen exchange in strontium titanate

The kinetics of oxygen exchange are of primary importance for the application of titanates as fast resistive oxygen sensors. The sensor’s conductivity is correlated with the oxygen partial pressure pO₂ of the surrounding atmosphere: Due to oxygen surface transfer and subsequent diffusion of oxygen vacancies V _O ^·· , a pO₂ change gives rise to a conductivity change of the sample. While bulk diffusion usually occurs very fast, the surface transfer reaction becomes the rate determining step for thin samples and for low temperatures. We have shown that in the case of acceptor doped SrTiO₃ the kinetics of the surface transfer reaction can be strongly influenced through stoichiometric changes brought about by thin coatings of alkaline earth metal oxides (e.g. SrO). In contrast to the commonly used jump method (conductivity response to a sudden pO₂ change in the time domain), a model is presented which is based on the frequency-domain analysis of amplitude and phase shift of the response signal obtained from a pO₂ modulation in a fast kinetic measurement set-up. This method allows not only for measuring response times in the sub-millisecond range but also for distinguishing between behaviour either controlled by volume diffusion or by surface transfer reaction. Paper presented at the 9th EuroConference on Ionics, Ixia, Rhodes, Greece, Sept. 15 – 21, 2002.     

Synthesis of 5‐phenyl‐5,6,7,8‐tetrahydro‐1,6‐naphthyridines and 5‐phenyl‐6,7,8,9‐tetrahydro‐5H‐pyrido[3,2‐c]azepines as potential D1 receptor ligands

A new access to 5‐phenyl‐5,6,7,8‐tetrahydro‐1,6‐naphthyridines 25a‐28a (n=1) and 5‐phenyl‐6,7,8,9‐tetrahydro‐5H‐pyrido[3,2‐c]azepines 25b‐28b (n=2) has been developed by first preparing the functional pyridine moiety followed by intramolecular cyclization forming the partially reduced ring.     

Regional elemental signatures related to combustion of lignites

In ambient air, arsenic to selenium ratio (As/Se) is generally found to be less than 1, except in areas influenced by specific point sources, such as Cu smelters. However, the annual average of this ratio is found to be much higher than unity in Turkey. This finding is rather unique and may provide a marker for air masses influenced by the coal-related emissions in Turkey. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On the Stability of Solutions to the Moment System of Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics

The paper is devoted to the study of the asymptotic behavior of solutions to linearized systems of equations of the so-called nonequilibrium thermodynamic moments.     

On the Sum of Roots of a Closed Set

An invariant of a closed set that is equal to the sum of roots is introduced. For a closed subset in a root system, we describe symmetric and special parts and its stabilizer in the Weyl group by means of the sum of roots. We determine associated bases with respect to which the closed set has the simplest form. All possible values of the root sum are found. Bibliography: 9 titles.     

A cusp singularity with no Galois cover by a complete intersection

With an explicit example, we confirm a conjecture by Neumann and Wahl that there exist cusps with no Galois cover by a complete intersection. Some computational techniques are reviewed, and a method for deciding whether a given cusp has a complete intersection Galois cover is developed.

     

Solubility parameter determination of cationic surfactants by inverse GC

Summary The solubility parameters of cationic surfactants were obtained using the inverse gas chromatographic technique. The surfactants didodecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide, dioctadecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide and dodecyl pyridinium chloride were used as stationary phase and retention data of different probe solutes were measured at different temperatures. The results were analysed by the combination of Flory-Huggins and Hildebrand theories, and the solubility parameters of the surfactants were obtained in a range of temperatures between 80–120°C.     

Viscoelastic properties of nanostructured natural rubber/polystyrene interpenetrating polymer networks

The effects of the blend ratio and initiating system on the viscoelastic properties of nanostructured natural rubber/polystyrene‐based interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) were investigated in the temperature range of ?80 to 150 °C. The studies were carried out at different frequencies (100, 50, 10, 1, and 0.1 Hz), and their effects on the damping and storage and loss moduli were analyzed. In all cases, tan δ and the storage and loss moduli showed two distinct transitions corresponding to natural rubber and polystyrene phases, which indicated that the system was not miscible on the molecular level. However, a slight inward shift was observed in the IPNs, with respect to the glass‐transition temperatures (T_g's) of the virgin polymers, showing a certain degree of miscibility or intermixing between the two phases. When the frequency increased from 0.1 to 100 Hz, the T_g values showed a positive shift in all cases. In a comparison of the three initiating systems (dicumyl peroxide, benzoyl peroxide, and azobisisobutyronitrile), the dicumyl peroxide system showed the highest modulus. The morphology of the IPNs was analyzed with transmission electron microscopy. The micrographs indicated that the system was nanostructured. An attempt was made to relate the viscoelastic behavior to the morphology of the IPNs. Various models, such as the series, parallel, Halpin–Tsai, Kerner, Coran, Takayanagi, and Davies models, were used to model the viscoelastic data. The area under the linear loss modulus curve was larger than that obtained by group contribution analysis; this showed that the damping was influenced by the phase morphology, dual‐phase continuity, and crosslinking of the phases. Finally, the homogeneity of the system was further evaluated with Cole–Cole analysis. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1680–1696, 2003