Viscometric properties of dilute polystyrene/dioctyl phthalate solutions

We report viscometric data collected in a Couette rheometry on dilute, single‐solvent polystyrene (PS)/dioctyl phthalate (DOP) solutions over a variety of polymer molecular weights (5.5 × 10⁵ ≤ M_w ≤ 3.0 × 10⁶ Da) and system temperatures (288 K ≤ T ≤ 318 K). In view of the essential viscometric features, the current data may be classified into three categories: The first concerns all the investigated solutions at low shear rates, where the solution properties are found to agree excellently with the Zimm model predictions. The second includes all sample solutions, except for high‐molecular‐weight PS samples (M_w ≥ 2.0 × 10⁶ Da), where excellent time–temperature superposition is observed for the steady‐state polymer viscosity at constant polymer molecular weights. No similar superposition applies at a constant temperature but varied polymer molecular weights, however. The third appears to be characteristic of dilute high‐molecular‐weight polymer solutions, for which the effects of temperature on the viscosity curve are further complicated at high shear rates. The implications concerning the relative importance of hydrodynamic interactions, segmental interactions, and chain extensibility with increasing polymer molecular weight, system temperature, and shear rate are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 787–794, 2006     

Study on anti-emission materials for non-emitting grid applications in microwave power tubes

Hafnium and platinum were deposited onto molybdenum grids by ion-beam assisted deposition method. Electron-emission characteristics from molybdenum grids with Hf and Pt films, which were contaminated by active electron-emission substances (Ba, BaO) of the cathode, were measured using analogous diode method. The surfaces of grids were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The results revealed that the reaction between BaO and Hf formed BaHfO₃ compound, which greatly reduced the accumulation of BaO on the surface and accordingly decreased grid emission. In contrast, Ba were formed by the decomposition of BaO on the surface of Pt film under high temperature and re-evaporated from its surface, which reduced the active electron-emission substances on the surface of the grid and effectively restrained grid emission. Their mechanisms for grid-emission suppression are discussed and a good method to develop new grid-coating materials is suggested.     

Transformation and shift of a Gaussian light beam upon reflection from a resonant medium

The specific features of the transformation and shift of a Gaussian beam reflected from a resonant absorbing medium are analyzed numerically. The study is based on the expansion of the field of the incident Gaussian beam into plane-wave components by using the Fourier integral transform. The calculations are performed for a frequency range covering the resonance region. The conditions for the splitting of the profile of the reflected beam and for its negative shift are established.     

Molecular orbital momentum distributions and binding energies for nitric oxide

Binding energy spectra of the valence electrons of the open shell molecule NO have been obtained up to 55 eV at azimuthal angles of 0° and 7° using binary (e, 2e) spectroscopy at an impact energy of 1200 eV. The momentum distribution has been obtained for the least tightly bound (unpaired) electron, removal of which leads to formation of the X ¹Σ⁺ ground state of NO⁺. Momentum distributions have also been measured at 21.0 and 40.5 eV. The measured momentum distributions are compared with several literature wavefunctions of varying complexity. They are found to be in excellent agreement with those calculated using the natural spin orbital wavefunctions of Kouba and Ohrn.     

Cytotoxic activity of marine algae and a cytotoxic principle of the brown alga Sargassum tortile.

Partition fractions of hexane, CCl4 and CHCl3 from methanolic extracts of marine algae were each examined for cytotoxic activities against cultured P-388 lymphocytic leukemia cells. Cytotoxic activities were found for partition fractions of 21 species of seaweed. Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the CCl4 partition fraction from Sargassum tortile, exhibiting the most prominent activity, afforded dihydroxysargaquinone (1) and sargatriol (2) previously isolated from this alga. The former was evaluated as a cytotoxic principle, and the latter, showing moderate activity, was suggested to be an artifact derived from 1 during the isolation procedure.     

Einstein vacuum field equations with a single non-null Killing vector

It is shown that, in the case where there is a single non-null Killing vector, the vacuum Einstein field equations imply that there is a Ricci collineation in the quotient 3-space. Using coordinates adapted to the collineation vector, we derive a fourth order partial differential equation involving the metric of the quotient 3-space and we show that if this equation is satisfied, the Ernst potential may be obtained by integrating a total Riccati equation and a straightforward set of total differential equations. We also show that if the collineation vector is null, the metric of the quotient 3-space may be expressed in terms of two real Clebsch potentials. Finally in the special case where the collineation vector is the generator of a timelike homothetic motion we reduce the field equations to a single second order partial differential equation of non-Painlevé type in two independent variables and obtain Petrov type III solution of Robinson-Trautman type.     

Stabilization of needle-crystals by the Gibbs-Thomson effect

We develop a scheme based on pseudo-differential operators to analyze the propagation of excitations in inhomogeneous extended systems. This method is used in a very specific situation, however we think that it has some generality and should apply to various other problems of current interest. We study the well known two-dimensionalsymmetric model of solidification introduced by Langer and Turski. Assuming the existence of Ivantsov-like steady-state solutions, we calculate their excitation spectrum. We show that there are no unstable propagating modes if the Gibbs-Thomson effect is taken into account. This proves that the growth of needle-crystals is stable with respect to side-branching.