Some inequalities for partial orders

We establish some inequalities connecting natural parameters of a partial order P. For example, if every interval [a,b] contains at most maximal chains, if some antichain has cardinality v, and if there are ₁ chains whose union is cofinal and coinitial in P, then the chain decomposition number for P is ₁v (Theorem 2.2), and the inequality is sharp in a certain sense (Section 3).This paper was written while the authors were visitors at the Laboratoire d'algèbre ordinale, Département de Mathématiques, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon 1, France.Research supported by NSERC grant # A5198.     

Transient behavior of a nonequilibrium plasma formed by merged beams

A low density, low temperature plasma formed by two merged beams of electrons and ions at near zero relative velocity is studied by solving a set of time-dependent rate equations. In particular, we investigate the role played by the radiative recombination (RR) and three-body recombination (TBR) on the population of excited states during the initial stage of plasma rearrangement and relaxation. It is found in the case of hydrogenic plasmas that low-lying states are filled predominantly by RR, while high Rydberg states are populated mainly by TBR. As the plasma further relaxes, the collisional excitation and de-excitation, and radiative decays become important, filling the median excited states. The dependence of the TBR and RR rates on ionic chargeZ is discussed to extend the result to plasmas of highZ ions.     

Odd/even effect in the chain length on the enthalpy of micellization of gemini surfactants in aqueous solution

The micellization properties of cationic symmetric gemini surfactants, [CmH(2m+1)(CH3)2N(CH2)6N(CH3)2CmH(2m+1)]Br2 (designated as CmC6CmBr2, with m = 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 16), has been investigated by isothermal titration microcalorimetry. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) and enthalpy of micellization (DeltaHmic) were determined from calorimetric titration curves. The linear decreasing of log CMC with increasing the length of the hydrophobic chain is consistent with an increase in the hydrophobicity of the alkyl chain. Interestingly, with increasing the length of the alkyl chain, the DeltaHmic values of the surfactants with even numbered alkyl chains vary from endothermic to exothermic, whereas the DeltaHmic values of the surfactants with odd numbered alkyl chains are all endothermic and tend to become more endothermic. The pronounced even/odd effect in DeltaHmic is discussed with respect to the "donor-acceptor" interaction.     

Strong adhesion and smooth conductive surface via graft polymerization of aniline on a modified glass fiber surface

The goal of this paper is to prepare surface-conductive glass fibers. The fibers were first hydroxylated, after which they were reacted with 3-bromopropyltrichlorosilane to form a bromopropylsilane monolayer, which was further reacted with aniline to substitute the bromine atoms. The surface-bound aniline molecules were used as active sites for the graft polymerization of polyaniline (PANI). The composition, structure and the morphology of the modified glass fiber surface were examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The method generated a smooth and homogenous thin layer of PANI on the surface of the glass fiber with a surface conductivity of about 6 S/cm, hence larger than the usual value ( approximately 1 S/cm) of the bulk polyaniline.     

锰（Ⅱ）—邻菲口罗啉配合物极谱吸附波及其应用

在ｐＨ９．５ＮＨ３ＮＨ４Ｃｌ缓冲溶液中，Ｍｎ（Ⅱ）与邻菲口罗啉形成的配合物在－１．３６Ｖ（ｖｓ．ＳＣＥ）处产生一灵敏的吸附波，一阶导数峰电流与Ｍｎ（Ⅱ）浓度在５×１０－８５×１０－６ｍｏｌ／Ｌ范围内呈线性关系，检出限为２×１０－８ｍｏｌ／Ｌ对极谱性质及反应机理进行了研究，用该法测定了大豆和茶叶中的微量锰，结果满意     

Prospects of thermal analysis in polymer research

A survey and an analysis of the publications concerned in thermal analysis (TA) published in four renowned journals during the years 1965–1974 were performed. The published data were evaluated from three points of view: TA methods used for polymers, properties and phenomena studied by TA methods, types of polymers investigated by TA methods. From the statistical data were derived the future trends for the application of particular TA methods in polymer science.     

Accurate local spin-polarized exchange potential: Reconciliation of generalized Slater and Kohn–Sham methods

Using simple physical arguments, a local spin-polarized exchange potential, V_xσ, is constructed from the single-particle Hartree–Fock (HF ) potentials (generalized Slater method) that reduces to the usual Kohn–Sham (KS ) result in the uniform gas limit. Numerical results for 10 closed subshell atoms demonstrate that the total energy calculated employing this V_xσ is closer to the exact KS results than those of other standard exchange approximations with electron densities and highest occupied orbital eigenvalues that closely approximate the HF results.     

The influence of “two-phase” synthesis conditions on blown film extrusion of LDPE

LDPE synthesized under two-phase conditions is known to have a good balance of blown film properties. Good optical properties and high impact strength are characteristic for two-phase LDPE grades. In order to obtain systematic information, LDPE was synthesized at several different pressures with two different melt index levels. Blown film was extruded at different output rates and melt temperatures. The influence on haze and dart drop impact was studied. Two-phase conditions were found to improve haze and dart drop impact and the improvement was impressive, especially for the low melt index grades. By increasing the output rate, the dart drop values were further improved. The influence of melt temperature on dart drop impact goes through an optimum and overall haze decreases with increasing melt temperature. For films made from two-phase grades, dart drop impact decreases as internal haze increases. For corresponding internal haze values, the films made from single-phase grades have lower dart drop values and they are somewhat scattered.