Adjugates in Banach algebras

A simple formula for the adjugate of a block triangle offers an alternative route to the determinant theory for Banach algebras.

     

Fractal strings as an alternative justification for El Naschie''s cantorian spacetime and the fine structure constant

Beginning with the most general fractal strings/sprays construction recently expounded in the book by Lapidus and Frankenhuysen, it is shown how the complexified extension of El Naschie's cantorian-fractal spacetime model belongs to a very special class of families of fractal strings/sprays whose scaling ratios are given by suitable pinary (pinary, p prime) powers of the Golden Mean. We then proceed to show why the logarithmic periodicity laws in Nature are direct physical consequences of the complex dimensions associated with these fractal strings/sprays. We proceed with a discussion on quasi-crystals with p-adic internal symmetries, von Neumann's Continuous Geometry, the role of wild topology in fractal strings/sprays, the Banach-Tarski paradox, tesselations of the hyperbolic plane, quark confinement and the Mersenne-prime hierarchy of bit-string physics in determining the fundamental physical constants in Nature.     

On the Behavior of Some Second Order Nonlinear Differential Equations

Qualitative behavior of second order nonlinear differential equations of type y″+p(t)y+q(t)f(y)=0, is studied. It includes properties such as positivity, number of zeros, oscillating nature, boundedness and monotonicity of the solutions.     

关于不含k-C-圈的n阶r-一致超图的若干结果

主要讨论了不含k-C-圈的n阶r-一致超图,对不同的k,分别得出了它的极大边数的一个下界,并且得出在有些情况下它的下界是最大的.另外,我们得到了Krn含k-C-圈的一个充分必要条件.     

Measurement of surface topography by RGB Shadow-Moiré with direct phase demodulation

In this paper we present the application of a direct demodulation method for the measurement of surface topography by means of Shadow-Moiré. In our set-up, we use three LEDs (with green, red and blue peak wavelengths) to illuminate the grating. Due to the different position of these light sources, a polychromatic Shadow-Moiré fringe pattern is produced, which can be described as the superposition of three monochromatic (red, green and blue) fringe patterns. Taking the image of this polychromatic fringe pattern with a RGB CCD camera, we get a monochromatic fringe pattern stored at each RGB channel of the CCD. The direct demodulation algorithm employed uses these fringe patterns to calculate the wrapped phase map. After unwrapping the phase map using a standard multi-grid technique, we implemented an automatic procedure to detect the area of interest of the phase map by removing low modulation zones and to calculate the absolute value of the phase. In this way it is possible to determine the topography of a surface with a single RGB snapshot maintaining a simple experimental set-up, which is an important feature, especially for the study of dynamic phenomena such as deformations. We present the experimental results obtained after measuring different objects with both smooth and rough surface textures.     

Improvement of the properties of polyarylate reinforced with liquid crystalline polymers

Blends of polyarylate of bisphenol A, PAr, with two commercial main chain liquid crystalline polymers, Vectra A950 and Vectra B950, are studied. From dynamic viscoelastic measurements it is deduced that both systems (PAr/Vectra A950 and PAr/Vectra B950) are immiscible and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs show the presence of spherical domains of the liquid crystalline polymer when PAr constitutes the matrix. Extrusion capillary measurements reveal that, under conditions of temperature and shear rate similar to those of processing, the viscosity is reduced to approximately 10% of its value when the content of liquid crystalline polymer is only 20%. This great improvement of the rheological properties is observed in both PAr/Vectra A950 and PAr/Vectra B950 blends. The effect of draw ratio on Young's modulus for different compositions is also analyzed, pointing out the reinforcing action of both liquid crystalline polymers on polyarylate: for instance, 20% of Vectra B950 in the blend gives rise to a 700% increase of the modulus of fibres prepared at a draw ratio of 50. SEM of the extrudates reveals that the spherical domains are elongated at the entrance of the capillary giving rise to a microfibrillar morphology which is related to the excellent rheological and mechanical properties of the blends.     

Electrochemical characterization of composite membranes based on crown-ethers intercalated into montmorillonite

Oxyethylene macrocyclic compounds (crown-ethers) act as ligands of intracrystalline cations of certain layered silicates as montmorillonites. Stable intercalation materials are formed which are used to prepare organic-inorganic membranes by encapsulating these intercalation compounds with a poly-butadiene thin coating. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) is used to study the resulting composite membranes in contact with aqueous electrolytes. From the impedance plots, the ionic resistance of the membranes is obtained. The thickness of the polybutadiene coating is an important factor determining the ability of ions to pass across the membrane. Marked differences in the ionic resistance are observed as a function of the nature of the interlayer macrocyclic compound. For non-intercalated montmorillonite membranes, the ionic resistance is strongly reduced, whereas for some crown-ether intercalated materials such as 18-crown-6 and dibenzo 24-crown-8, iono-selective membranes are obtained. Concerning the nature of the electrolyte, cations exhibiting greater hydration energies show higher difficulties to pass through the membrane and, consequently, the ionic resistance increases.     

Multicommuted fluorometric multiparameter sensor for simultaneous determination of naproxen and salicylic acid in biological fluids.

A combined approach based on solid-phase optosensing and multicommutation principles has been applied to develop a method for the simultaneous analysis of two pharmaceuticals (naproxen and salicylic acid) in biological fluids. The multicommuted flow-through optosensor was based on direct native fluorescence measurements of both analgesics using a non-polar sorbent (C18 silica gel) as a solid sensing zone. The flow system was controlled by Java-written home-made software and designed using three-way solenoid valves for an independent automated manipulation of sample and carrier solutions. Using an optimized sampling time, the method was calibrated in the range of 1 - 25 and 5 - 200 ng mL(-1). The obtained detection limits were 0.3 and 1.3 ng mL(-1) for naproxen and salicylic acid, respectively, with RSD (%) values of better than 2% for both analytes. The proposed methodology was successfully applied to urine, serum and pharmaceutical preparations. Recovery percentages ranging from 96.1 to 104% were obtained for both analytes.     

矩阵方程（A^TXA，B^TXB=（C，D）的反对称解及其最佳逼近

本利用矩阵对的标准相关分解，得到了矩阵方程(A^TXB，B^TXB)=(C，D)反对称解存在的充分必要条件及通解表达式，同时给出了解关于已知矩阵的最佳逼近．