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Book reviews

     

Evaluating the Efficiency of US Air Force Real-Property Maintenance Activities

The objective of this research is to evaluate a new methodology, data envelopment analysis (DEA), as a tool for measuring and evaluating the operational efficiency of US Air Force organizations. This study involves the application of DEA to locate possible inefficiencies in the performance of US Air Force real-property maintenance activities. Dynamic behaviour, as exhibited via window analyses, is reviewed along with static counterparts. The testing was done in close coordination with Air Force officials, who reviewed the results for accuracy, validity and relevance. We conclude that this type of efficiency analysis does have value for the Air Force, where it can serve as a guide to auditors, budget programmers, managers and others in measuring, evaluating and enhancing operational efficiency.     

3D-TOFSIMS characterization of black spots in polymer light emitting diodes

The occurrence and formation of black spots areas in PolyLED devices has been studied by time-of-flight SIMS (TOFSIMS). The composition, shape and position of the black spots is visualised by three-dimensional (3D)-TOFSIMS depth-profiling. It has been established that the formation of non-emissive spots is due to the growth of aluminium oxide clusters at the AlBa/polymer interface. Electron injection in the black spots is lost by the resulting local increase of the resistivity of the cathode.     

A simplified method of computing the process of opening of a parachute

We propose a simplified method of determining the integral characteristics of the opening of a parachute which makes it possible to compute the maximal stress on a parachute and the trajectory parameters of the motion of the load in the region of the opening of the parachute, and to determine the size of the portion of the canopy at the time of maximal stress.Translated fromDinamicheskie Sistemy, No. 6, 1987, pp. 38–41.     

An expedient route to diaza-spirocycles utilizing a sequential multicomponent α-aminoallylation/ring-closing metathesis strategy

A general method for the preparation of diaza-spirocycles is reported. This method used an olefin metathesis in order to construct the desired spirocyclic framework. Beginning with commercially available protected amino ketones, this strategy ultimately produced pharmacologically relevant diaza-scaffolds in an efficient and high-yielding process.     

The Henderson Approximation and the Mass Action Law of Guldberg and Waage

Using contemporary accounts, we describe the scope of the Henderson approximation, and its relationship to the mass action law of Guldberg & Waage. The Henderson approximation, apparently written in logarithmic form by Hasselbalch, has the same form as the mass action law, but has a completely different meaning and a much more restricted range of applicability. The Guldberg-Waage law is the fundamental mass action relationship valid for all chemical equilibria, whereas the Henderson approximation is useful only within a limited range of a sufficiently concentrated two-component buffer mixture.     

Effect of Alkali Metal Cation on Copolymerization of Acrylamide with Salts of 2-Acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic Acid in Aqueous Solutions

The kinetics of radical copolymerization of acrylamide with lithium, sodium, and potassium 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonates in concentrated aqueous solutions in the presence of potassium persulfate as initiating agent at pH 9 and 50°C was studied by dilatometry.     

Contact Interaction of Two Elastic Wedges

We consider the problem of contact of two elastic wedges and assume that only the vertices of the wedges touch before loading. After loading, the edges of both wedges come in contact near their common vertex. We reduce the constructed system of dual integral equations to a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind with difference kernel given on the semiaxis. We analytically solve the Fredholm equation by reducing it to the boundary-value Riemann problem for analytic functions. We obtain an analytic expression for contact stresses.     

Dynamical Characteristics of Traveling Wave Packets of Total Electron Content Disturbances

Using the COPHASE method and the GPS interferometry method for travelling ionospheric disturbances, we analyze in detail the spatio-temporal properties of travelling wave packets (TWP) of total electron content (TEC) disturbances. The analysis is performed on the example of a clearest TWP manifestation observed in California, USA, in October 18, 2001, using the GLOBDET technique, developed at the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics of the Siberian Branch of RAS for global detection and monitoring of natural and technogenic ionospheric disturbances on the basis of TEC variations retrieved from the global network of GPS receivers. In the time domain, TWPs are quasi-periodic TEC oscillations of duration about 1 h, period of 10–20 min, and amplitude exceeding that of the background TEC fluctuations by at least one order of magnitude. The velocity and direction of TWP motion are similar to those of mid-latitude mesoscale travelling ionospheric disturbances, as obtained earlier from the analysis of phase parameters of HF radio signals and the signals of geostationary satellites and discrete space radio sources.     

Optical background measurement in a potential site for the NEMO KM undersea neutrino telescope

We describe the measurement of the deep sea optical background in some sites south of Capo Passero, Sicily. A continuous flux of about 440 photons cm ^-2 s ^-1 in the wavelength interval 440-550 nm is estimated due to the decays of the ⁴⁰K contained in the sea water. Bioluminescence light bursts are also observed and an example of time evolution is reported. All the measurements were accomplished using a deep sea module also described in this article. Received: 20 April 2002 / Published online: 26 July 2002