Scanning tunnelling microscopic images of the surface ordering of the liquid crystal 4-n-octyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl

Images of the surface ordering of 4-n-octyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl, a room temperature smectic liquid crystal deposited upon graphite, have been obtained by scanning tunnelling microscopy. The microscope was operated in air using the constant-current mode. Under certain tunnelling conditions it has been possible to resolve both the aliphatic and aromatic parts of the molecule, and to observe individual benzene rings. Two previously unreported conformations have been observed: an overlapping bilayer structure with spacing 3.7 nm, and a monolayer structure with spacing 2.4 nm. The latter structure may represent the first visual evidence for a surface polar ordered structure.     

On a Conjecture of Bannai and Ito: There are Finitely Many Distance-regular Graphs with Degree 5, 6 or 7

Bannai and Ito conjectured in a 1987 paper that there are finitely many distance-regular graphs with fixed degree that is greater than two. In a series of papers they showed that their conjecture held for distance-regular graphs with degrees 3 or 4. In this paper we prove that the Bannai–Ito conjecture holds for degrees 5–7.     

On a generalized $L_2$ projection and some related stability estimates in Sobolev spaces

Summary. In this paper we investigate a stability estimate needed in hybrid finite and boundary element methods, especially in hybrid coupled domain decomposition methods including mortar finite elements. This stability estimate is equivalent to the stability of a generalized projection in certain Sobolev spaces. Using piecewise linear trial spaces and appropriate piecewise constant test spaces, the stability of the generalized projection is proved assuming some mesh conditions locally. Received April 11, 2000 / Revised version received February 15, 2001 / Published online July 25, 2001     

Mittlere Schwingungsamplituden von OTeF 5 −

Summary Mean amplitudes of vibration for OTeF ₅ ^– have been calculated from known spectroscopic and structural data in a wide temperature range. The results are briefly discussed in comparison with those of related species.

     

On the behaviour of rubberlike materials in compression and shear

Summary The mechanical behaviour of rubberlike materials is modelled in a phenomenological approach using a strain-energy formulation. Nonhomogeneous shear experiments on solid rubber specimens have been carried out as well as simple elongation tests on the same rubber compound. The elongation tests have been used to determine the model constants. By a comparison between experiment and numerical simulation of the nonhomogeneous shear test the predictive capabilities of the Mooney-Rivlin, the Ogden and the Besseling model have been assessed for compression-shear deformation paths. An analytical study explains the numerically observed behaviour.

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Über das Verhalten von Gummimaterialien unter Druck und Schubverformungen

Übersicht Das mechanische Verhalten von Gummimaterialien wird phänomenologisch modelliert unter Anwendung einer Formänderungsenergiefunktion. Es sind nicht-homogene Schubversuche auf dreidimensionale Versuchsproben aus Gummi so wie auch einfache Verlängerungsversuche auf Gummiproben der gleichen Zusammenstellung durchgeführt worden. Die Verlängerungsversuche sind durchgeführt worden um die Stoffkennwerte feststellen zu können. In einer Vergleichung zwischen dem Experiment und der numerischen Simulation von nicht-homogenen Schubversuchen ist die Genauigkeit des Mooney-Rivlinschen Modells, des Ogdenschen Modells und des Besselingschen Modells für kombinierte Druck-Schubverformungen festgestellt worden. In einem analytischen Studium wird das numerisch betrachtete Verhalten auseinandergesetzt.

     

HPLC study of starch hydrolysis products obtained with α-amylase from bacillus amyloliquefaciens and bacillus licheniformis

Two bacterial α-amylases from new industrial strains were studied: α-amylase fromBacillus amyloliquefaciens CCM 3502 (Czechoslovak) and thermostable α-amylase fromBacillus licheniformis 44MB82 (Bulgarian). The thermostable enzyme hydrolyzed starch mainly to dextrins, and after 1 h, 30% of the products were oligosaccharides. TheB. amyloliquefaciens enzyme produced more maltooligosaccharides than the first enzyme (B. licheniformis). Within 1 h, up to 80% of the substrate were hydrolyzed, giving different spectrum of oligosaccharides in comparison with the thermostable one.     

Isotopic study of the mechanism of ozone formation

The mechanism of ozone formation has been studied using ¹⁶O and ¹⁸O₂. High-resolution microwave spectroscopy was used to measure the amounts of the isotopomeric ozone species formed. The study is hampered by the very rapid exchange process between the reactants, that tends to scramble the isotopes and hence give a 2:1 statistical ratio between the two possible isotopomers. We have found a strategy to come around this difficulty and conclude that the mechanism is a simple end-on-addition.