Application of synthetic reference materials in the medical radiological research centre

The contents of 21 chemical elements (Ag, Br, Ca, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Fe, Hg, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sr, Zn, Zr) in synthetic reference materials (SRMs) were compared with those in natural reference materials (NRMs) using short- and long-lived radionuclides. SRMs called synthetic standards (SSs) and synthetic standards, biological (SSBs) were prepared on the basis of phenol-formaldehyde resol resins in the Institute of Physics, Georgian Academy of Science. The NRMs included such IAEA reference materials as H-4 (animal muscle), A-13 (animal blood), H-5 (animal bone), SL-1 (lake sediment), SOIL-7 (soil), A-9 (mixed human diet), and IAEA-153 (milk powder). It was shown that SSB-SRMs possessed good representativity of the 30–50 mg tablets, high precision, operational convenience, and could be recommended for the INAA of a wide range of medico-biological and bioecological objects.     

Thickness and temperature dependence of subsidiary absorption thresholds in yttrium-iron-garnet thin films

The microwave subsidiary absorption threshold in tangentially magnetized yttrium-iron-garnet (YIG) films was measured as a function of the static magnetic field, film thickness and decrease in the 0.3–3 μm range is observed. The effect is explained quantitatively by using modified Damon-Eshbach dispersion relations which take into account exchange interactions.

The effect of temperature on h_crit, the smallest threshold field amplitude, in the 250<T< 450 K temperature range can be expressed by an empirical relationship h_crit M_s(T)^-1.6 where M_s is the saturation magnetization. This h_crit vs M_s relationship is similar to that obtained for the magnetization dependence of parallel pump thresholds in Li-Ti ferrite compounds.     

Vibrational control of crystal growth from liquid phase

Modeling and numerical simulations of the convective flows induced by the vibration of the monocrystal during crystal growth have been performed for two configurations simulating the Cz and FZ methods. This permitted to emphasize the role of different vibrational mechanisms in the formation of the average flows. It is shown that an appropriate combination of these mechanisms can be used to counteract the usual convective flows (buoyancy- and/or thermocapillary-driven) inherent to crystal growth processes from the liquid phase. While vibrational convection is rather complex due to these identified mechanisms, the new modeling used in the present paper opens up very promising perspectives to efficiently control heat and mass transfer during real industrial applications of crystal growth from the liquid phase.     

A planar XeCl-exilamp pumped by a low-pressure glow discharge

The energy characteristics of an XeCl exciplex lamp with planar construction pumped by a low-pressure gas discharge are investigated experimentally. When a discharge gap of width 2 cm and a Xe-Cl₂ mixture were used, average radiation powers up to 20 mW were obtained in the wavelength interval 200–380 nm at efficiencies of ∼0.4%. In this case the total efficiency of radiation into an angle of 4π exceeded 4%. It is shown that increasing the working pressure and using low discharge currents can lead to “point” radiation sources. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 67, 43–46 (December 1997)     

Database reverse engineering: From requirements to CARE tools

This paper analyzes the requirements that CASE tools should meet for effective database reverse engineering (DBRE), and proposes a general architecture for data-centered applications reverse engineering CASE environments. First, the paper describes a generic DBMS-independent DBRE methodology, then it analyzes the main characteristics of DBRE activities in order to collect a set of desirable requirements. Finally, it describes DB-MAIN, an operational CASE tool developed according to these requirements. The main features of this tool that are described in this paper are its unique generic specification model, its repository, its transformation toolkit, its user interface, the text processors, the assistants, the methodological control and its functional extensibility. Finally, the paper describes five real-world projects in which the methodology and the CASE tool were applied. This is a heavily revised and extended version of “Requirements for Information System Reverse Engineering Support” by J.-L. Hainaut, V. Englebert, J. Henrard, J.-M. Hick, D. Roland, which first appeared in the Proceedings of the Second Working Conference on Reverse Engineering, IEEE Computer Society Press, pp. 136–145, July 1995. This paper presents some results of the DB-MAIN project. This project is partially supported by the Région Wallonne, the European Union, and by a consortium comprising ACEC-OSI (Be), ARIANE-II (Be), Banque UCL (Lux), BBL (Be), Centre de recherche public H. Tudor (Lux), CGER (Be), Cockerill-Sambre (Be), CONCIS (Fr), D'Ieteren (Be), DIGITAL, EDF (Fr), EPFL (CH), Groupe S (Be), IBM, OBLOG Software (Port), ORIGIN (Be), Ville de Namur (Be), Winterthur (Be), 3 Suisses (Be). The DB-Process subproject is supported by the Communauté Fran?aise de Belgique.     

A method of computing the gradient and the Hessian of the quality criterion in parametric optimization of continuous-discrete stochastic systems

We propose an effective method of numerical determination of the gradient vector and the Hessian matrix of a quadratic quality criterion in parametric optimization of continuous-discrete stochastic dynamic control systems based on the application of adjoint equations. Translated fromDinamicheskie Sistemy, No. 13, 1994, pp. 20–25.     

Toughening of epoxies via craze-like damage

The fracture behavior of a core-shell rubber (CSR) modified epoxy is investigated using both fracture mechanics and microscopy tools. The CSR-modified epoxy is found to be toughened via numerous line-array cavitations of the CSR particles, followed by plastic flow of the epoxy matrix. The toughening effect via the above craze-like damage process is found to be as effective as that of the well-known widespread rubber cavitation/matrix shear yielding mechanisms. The conditions for triggering the craze-like damage appear to be both stress state and rubber concentration dependent. The type of rubber tougheners utilized also plays a critical role in triggering this rather unusual craze-like damage in epoxy systems. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Kinetics of benzonitrile nitration with mixed acid under homogeneous conditions

Chemical kinetics of benzonitrile nitration with mixed acid is investigated in the temperature range 283–299 K. Pseudo-first-order rate constants are evaluated by means of rate experiments on homogeneous reacting mixtures having large stoichiometric excesses of nitric acid. The second-order kinetic constants for nitronium ion attack to the aromatic substrate are derived on the basis of the assessed nitration mechanism. An activation energy of 604 ± 37 kJ mol^?1 is calculated for this reaction step. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.