Bragg diffraction of light in a restricted homogeneous system of tunnel-coupled waveguides

A system of tunnel-coupled rectilinear waveguides is studied. The dependence of the number of modes in this system on the number of waveguides N, the distance between the waveguides, and the number of modes in a separate waveguide is considered. It is shown that the modes of the m = N and N + 1 orders in such a system are Bragg modes; i.e., the angle between the direction of their propagation and the system axis is close to the Bragg angle. The effective refractive indices n ^* of these modes change stepwise. The step size Δn ^* is found to be dependent on the distance s between the waveguides and on the number of modes in a separate waveguide. A system of single-mode waveguides with the number of guided modes M = 34 < N = 50 is studied experimentally. It is shown that the Bragg modes of the system lie among the leakage modes of the system and have rather low losses. It is demonstrated that the localization of the Bragg modes among the leakage modes may be favorable for their selection upon light generation.     

Reply to “Comment on papers by K. Shanahan that propose to explain anomalous heat generated by cold fusion”, E. Storms, Thermochim. Acta, 2006

Dr. E. Storms has published a Letter [E. Storms, Comment on papers by K. Shanahan that propose to explain anomalous heat generated by cold fusion, Thermochim. Acta, 2006] in which he argues that in a sequence of recent papers, the apparent excess heat signal claimed by Dr. Shanahan to arise from a calibration constant shift is actually true excess heat. In particular he proposes that the mechanisms proposed that foster the proposed calibration constant shifts cannot occur as postulated for several reasons. As well, he proposes Shanahan has ignored the extant data proving this. Because this Letter may lend unwarranted support to acceptance of cold fusion claims, these erroneous arguments used by Storms need to be answered.     

On the coherent inelastic processes in collisions of elementary particles with nuclei at ultrarelativistic energies

The coherent inelastic processes of the type a → b, which may take place in the interaction of hadrons and γ quanta with nuclei at very high energies (the nucleus remains the same), are theoretically investigated. Analytical formulas for the effective cross-section σ_coh(a→b) are obtained.     

Prognostication of aging of polymeric composite materials

Experimental data demonstrate that a study of accelerated aging can enable prognostication of the working capacity and storage life of polymeric formulations used in aircraft components on the basis of changes in thermogravimetric constants of these polymeric formulations.     

Measuring length of business cycles across countries using a new non‐stationary unit‐root cyclical approach

This article examines the length of the cycles in the gross domestic product (GDP) real per capita series of 15 countries by means of new statistical techniques based on unit root cycles. We propose tests for unit root cycles at each of the frequencies of the process. Using this approach, we are able to approximate the number of periods per cycle. The results show that the cycles have a periodicity of approximately six years when the disturbances are white noise. However, if we permit autocorrelation, they may also occur at smaller intervals of time. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finitely additive integration and local integration with respect to upper integrals

Summary We study the integration theory for general integral metrics when restricted to upper integrals q, finding improvements in the relation between the classes of the q-integrable and the q_l-integrable functions. We give new results and notions which lead to the desirable characterizations of q-integrable functions as q_l-integrable f with q(|f|) < ∞, and of q_l-integrable functions via the integrability of their upper truncations, under natural conditions which are fulfilled in most finitely additive integration theories.     

Global Optimization of Stochastic Black-Box Systems via Sequential Kriging Meta-Models

This paper proposes a new method that extends the efficient global optimization to address stochastic black-box systems. The method is based on a kriging meta-model that provides a global prediction of the objective values and a measure of prediction uncertainty at every point. The criterion for the infill sample selection is an augmented expected improvement function with desirable properties for stochastic responses. The method is empirically compared with the revised simplex search, the simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation, and the DIRECT methods using six test problems from the literature. An application case study on an inventory system is also documented. The results suggest that the proposed method has excellent consistency and efficiency in finding global optimal solutions, and is particularly useful for expensive systems.     

Contact angle hysteresis of liquid drops as means to measure adhesive energy of zein on solid substrates

Adhesion of zein to solid substrates has been studied using surface energy profiles as indices and by adhesion mapping using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Different plasticizers like glycerol and sorbitol have been used to form mixed films with zein and properties of these films are studied using surface energy profiles. Comparison of the results from the different mixed samples with those from the pure zein films showed that force mapping could identify areas rich in protein. The adhesion maps produced were deconvoluted from sample topography and contrasted with the data obtained from contact angle measurements. A comparison of the two methods shows that the extent of contact angle hysteresis is indicative of both hydrophobicity of the surface as well as the force of adhesion. Mechanical properties and microstructure of zein films prepared by casting from solutions and using Langmuir-Blodgett film technique have been investigated. Pure zein seemed brittle and exhibited an essentially linear relationship between stress and strain. Films with plasticizer were tougher than these films. In general, mixed films showed better mechanical properties than pure films and had higher ultimate tensile strength and increased per cent elongation. Further, the mixed films of zein showed a higher force of adhesion compared to the pure films.