Reflection of Long Game Formulas

We study game formulas the truth of which is determined by a semantical game of uncountable length. The main theme is the study of principles stating reflection of these formulas in various admissible sets. This investigation leads to two weak forms of strict-II¹₁ reflection (or ∑₁-compactness). We show that admissible sets such as H(ω₂) and L_ω2 which fail to have strict-II¹₁ reflection, may or may not, depending on set-theoretic hypotheses satisfy one or both of these weaker forms. Mathematics Subject Classification : 03C70, 03C75.     

Additivity of inelastic gamma ray scattering in methanol—water and ethanol—water solutions

Compton profiles of water, methanol, ethanol and mixtures of methanol—water and ethanol—water have been measured using 60 keV gamma rays from a 5 Ci annular²⁴¹ Am source. The profile of each mixture has been compared with the profile of the sum of the components and at all concentrations a linear behaviour has been found.     

Effects of functional group interactions in the chemical ionization mass spectra of some substituted cis-1,3-cyclopentane dicarboxylic acids and their derivatives

Ammonia, isobutane and methane chemical ionization mass spectra have been measured for some substituted cis-1,3-cyclopentane dicarboxylic acids and their derivatives. The relative proton affinities of the different functional groups determine the protonation site in the molecule and thereby greatly affect the fragmentation. Intramolecular catalysis clearly facilitates the elimination of water in cases where functional groups can interact with each other.     

Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy for the fast identification of PVC-based films

Near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy was used to develop a non-destructive and rapid qualitative method for the analysis of plastic films used by the pharmaceutical industry for blistering. Three types of films were investigated: 250 microm PVC [poly(vinyl chloride)] films, 250 microm PVC films coated with 40 g m(-2) of PVDC [poly(vinylidene dichloride)] and 250 microm PVC films coated with 5 g m(-2) of TE (Thermoelast) and 90 g m(-2) of PVDC. Three analyses were carried out using different pre-treatment options and a PLS (partial least squares) algorithm. Each analysis was aimed at identifying one type of film and rejecting all types of false sample (different thickness, colour or layer). True and false samples from four plastics manufacturers were included in the calibration sets in order to obtain robust methods that were suitable regardless of the supplier. Specificity was demonstrated by testing validation sets against the methods. The tests showed 0% of type I (false negative identification) and 1% of type II errors (false positive identification) for the PVC method, 13 and 3%, respectively, for the PVC-PVDC method and no error for the PVC-TE-PVDC method. Type II errors, mostly due to the slight sensitivity of the methods to film thickness, are easily corrected by simple thickness measurements. This study demonstrates that NIR spectroscopy is an excellent tool for the identification of PVC-based films. The three methods can be used by the pharmaceutical industry or plastics manufacturers for the quality control of films used in blister packaging.     

The effect of drying method on the properties and nanoscale structure of cellulose whiskers

Cellulose whiskers were prepared from wood- and cotton-based microcrystalline cellulose and dried by two methods: freeze-drying or air-drying. The effect of drying method on the properties and structure of the whiskers were studied. Furthermore, the influence of the source of cellulose on the nanoscale structure was investigated. Drying method was observed to slightly influence the thermal stability of cellulose whiskers, whereas the char residue varied significantly depending on the drying process performed. Small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering and solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were used to examine the crystallinity and nanoscale structure of the dried whiskers. It was observed that the crystal structure and crystallinity of cellulose whiskers remained during all treatments, whereas their nanoscale structure was significantly influenced by drying method, neutralization, and source of cellulose. Relationships between thermal behavior and nanoscale structure were reported and discussed.     

Dynamics of photoluminescence in GaInNAs saturable absorber mirrors

Femtosecond time-resolved photoluminescence experiments have been used to study the nonlinear dynamics of novel monolithic GaInNAs/GaAs semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors at 1.08 and 1.55 m. The mirror structures were grown using molecular-beam epitaxy followed by Ni-ion implantation and thermal annealing. We present photoluminescence measurements showing the critical role of post-growth processing on the response time of GaInNAs/GaAs absorber mirrors. PACS 42.65.Re; 42.50.Nn; 42.70.Nq     

In-beam spectroscopy of 253, 254No

In-beam conversion electron spectroscopy experiments have been performed on the transfermium nuclei ^{253, 254}No using the conversion electron spectrometer SACRED in nearly collinear geometry in conjunction with the gas-filled separator RITU at the University of Jyv?skyl?. The experimental setup is discussed and the spectra are compared to Monte Carlo simulations. The implications for the ground-state configuration of ²⁵³No are discussed. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: rdh@ns.ph.liv.ac.uk RID="b" ID="b"Present address: GANIL, F-14021 Caen, France. RID="c" ID="c"Permanent address: IReS Strasbourg, IN2P3-CNRS, F-67037-Strasbourg, France. RID="d" ID="d"Present address: CEA/DIF DCRE/SDE/LDN F-91680 Bruyeres-le-Chatel. RID="e" ID="e"Present address: Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury WA4 4AD, UK. RID="f" ID="f"Permanent address: IPN Lyon, IN2P3-CNRS, F-69037 Lyon, France.     

Extragalactic background light: inventory of light throughout the cosmic history

The Extragalactic Background Light (EBL) stands for the mean surface brightness of the sky as we would see it from a representative vantage point in the intergalactic space outside of our Milky Way Galaxy. Averaged over the whole 4π solid angle it represents the collective light from all luminous matter radiated throughout the cosmic history. Part of the EBL is resolved into galaxies that, with the increasing detecting power of giant telescopes and sensitive detectors, are seen to deeper and deeper limiting magnitudes. This resolved part is now known to contribute a substantial or even the major part of the EBL. There still remains, however, the challenge of finding out to what extent galaxies too faint or too diffuse to be discerned individually, individual stars or emission by gas outside the galaxies, or – more speculatively – some hitherto unknown light sources such as decaying elementary particles are accounting for the remaining EBL. We review the recent progress that has been made in the measurement of EBL. The current photometric results suggest that there is, beyond the resolved galaxies, an EBL component that cannot be explained by diffuse galaxy halos or intergalactic stars.     

Diffusion of nitrogen in vanadium and niobium

The diffusion of N in the group VB metals V and Nb has been studied in the previously uninvestigated temperature range 300–500 °C using ion-beam techniques. Diffusion couples were created by ion implantation. The time-dependent diffusion profiles were monitored by the use of the Nuclear Resonance Broadening (NRB) technique. New values for the solubility of N in Nb were obtained. The diffusion rates presented support recent observations of the diffusivity of interstitial impurities in body-centered cubic metals in which positive deviations from Arrhenius behaviour have been seen at high temperatures.     

The kink of cellular automaton rule 18 performs a random walk

We give an exact characterization of the movement of a single kink in the elementary cellular automaton Rule 18. It is a random walk with independent increments as well as independent delay times. Its statistical parameters are computed to confirm the earlier simulation results by Grassberger.