Maxima and minima of the displacement components for the Lamb modes

This paper revisits the vanishing of the transverse component of the particle displacement vector in free surfaces of an isotropic homogeneous plate, for both symmetric and antisymmetric Lamb waves. Drawing on well-known analytical expressions from Viktorov's book [(1967) Rayleigh and Lamb Waves: Physical Theory Applications, Chap. II, pp. 67-121], two distinct frequency-thickness product expressions, in cases where this vanishing occurs, are derived: one for the symmetric modes and another for the antisymmetric modes. At these frequency-thickness products, phase and group velocities have appreciable values which are discussed herein. It appears that these velocities depend on the transverse bulk wave velocity only. This is the specific condition of the Lame? modes. Moreover, theoretical and experimental investigations of displacements in the surface of a plate in air have been carried out. The theoretical part shows that the normal and transverse displacements have, respectively, a local maximum and a local minimum in the vicinity of these frequency-thickness products. The experimental part corroborates the presence of the local maximum of the S(0) Lamb mode for various materials.     

Applications of kriging to image sequence coding

Kriging is a linear interpolation method used by geostatisticians. In this paper we show that it can be successfully applied to image sequence coding. First we apply it to texture coding and we improve these preliminary results with an optimization method that we have named ‘inverse kriging’. Then we apply kriging and inverse kriging to motion vector fields, which are by essence smooth within an object. We show an application of these tools in the framework of the active mesh coding scheme developed within the RACE/Morpheco project.     

Vapour-liquid equilibrium of the acetone---methanol system in the presence of KSCN and comparison with other salts

The effect of KSCN at salt mole fractions of 0.01–0.05 and at saturation on the VLE of the binary acetone-methanol system has been experimentally investigated at 101.32 kPa using a modified Othmer equilibrium still. The experimental data were correlated by the electrolytic NRTL model [B. Mock, L.B. Evans and C.C. Chen, AIChE J., 32 (1986) 1655–1664], the extended UNIQUAC equation [B. Sander, A. Fredensland and P. Rasmussen, Chem. Eng. Sci., 41 (1986) 1171–1183] and the modified Wilson and NRTL models proposed by Tan [T.C. Tan, AIChE J., 31 (1985) 2083–2085; Chem. Eng. Res. Des., 65 (1987) 355–366; Trans. Inst. Chem. Eng., 68 (1990) 93–102]. The results were compared with those obtained by Tan's predictive models. A crossover between the salting-out and salting-in effects on acetone and a non-azeotropic minimum in the temperature-composition diagram were observed at low and high salt concentrations. Based on the solubility data in the mixture, comparisons with the effect of other salts on the same mixed solvent were made.     

Stereoselektive Totalsynthese von natürlichem Phytol und Phytolderivaten und deren Verwendung zur Herstellung von natürlichem Vitamin K1

Steroselective Total Synthesis of Natural Phytol and Derivatives thereof; Use of these Compounds in the Synthesis of Natural Vitamin K₁ The Li₂CuCl₄-catalyzed couplings of the easily accessible bifunctional C₅ allylic acetates (E)- 18a and (E)- 18b with racemic hexahydrofarnesylmagnesium bromide ((3 RS/RS, 7 RS/SR)- 19a ) proceed with high chemo- and stereoselectivity (≥98% (E)-retention) to give the (2E, 7 RS/RS, 11 RS/SR)-phytol derivatives 1a and 1b , respectively, in yields of 72–80% (Scheme 5). The same couplings performed with optically active hexahydrofarnesylmagnesium bromide (3 R, 7 R)- 19a yielded the (E)-phytol derivatives of the natural series (7 R, 11R)- 1a and (7 R, 11 R)- 1b. Acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of(2 E, 7 R, 11 R)- 1b gave natural phytol((2 E, 7 R, 11 R)- 1c ) Friedel-Crafts alkylation of ‘menadiol monobenzoate’ 11b with (2 E, 7 R, 11 R)- 1a or (2 E, 7 R, 11 R)- 1b gave the dihydrovitamine K₁ derivative (2 E/Z, 7′ R, 11′R)- 12b ((E/Z)≈? 9:l). Conversion of configurationally pure (2 E, 7′ R, 11′ R)- 12b (yield 73%; obtained after chromatographic removal of the (Z)-isomer) into natural vitamine K₁ ((2 E,7′ R, 11′ R)- 2 ) was achieved in the usual way by saponification and oxidation with air. Some further investigations of the coupling reactions of bifunctional C₅ allylic synthons with hexahydrofarnesylmagnesium bromide (3 RS/RS, 7 RS/SR)- 19a showed the outcome of these reactions to be critically dependent on the nature of the leaving group, the double-bond geometry and the nature and concentration of the catalyst. Thus, the Li₂CuCl₄-catalyzed couplings of (3 RS/RS,7 RS/SR)- 19a with the allylic halides 29a and 29c as well as with p-toluenesulfonate 29b yielded besides the phytol derivatives 1a and 1b - also the S_N2′-type products 30a and 30b (Scheme 8, Table 2); the same result was found for the coupling with the cis-configurated allylic acetates (Z)- 18a and (Z)- 18b (Table 3). A similar loss of chemo selectivity as well as the loss of stereoselectivity in the coupling reactions of 19 with the bifunctional (E)-olefins of type 18 was observed when the Li₂CuCl₄-catalyst concentration was increased from 0.2 to 25 mol-% or upon substitution of Li₂CuCl₄ by copper (I) chloride or iodide (Table 4).     

Automatic video object generation tool: segmentation and tracking of persons in real time

In the field of the multimedia applications, future standards as mpeg4 or mpeg7 allow new image content representation that goes far from the basic compression. This way, the objects of interest become entities that the user can manipulate. Nevertheless, the norm does not specify how objects have to be segmented, even if in some cases this is a complex task. In the framework of the European project m4m (mpeg fo(u)r Mobiles, Medea project Al 16), we have in charge the development of a demonstrator able to segment and track a speaker in videophone and vidéoconférence applications.     

A comprehensive theoretical investigation of the electronic states of Ca2 up to the Ca(4s(2) 1S) + Ca(4s5p 1P) dissociation limit

A theoretical survey of the electronic structure of Ca(2) is presented using two-electron pseudopotentials complemented by core-polarization operators on Ca atoms and multireference configuration interaction/quasidegenerate perturbation theory (MRCI/QDPT) treatment of molecular excited states. The spectroscopic constants of 70 electronic states up to 30,000?cm(-1) above the ground state are determined. This implies all Ca(2) states dissociating up to the Ca(4s(2) (1)S) + Ca(4s5p (3,1)P) dissociation limits. All spin states (singlet, triplet, and quintet) are investigated. The work emphasizes the variety of interactions implying singly valence and lowest Rydberg excited states, doubly excited states generated by atom pairs (3)P(4s4p) + (3)P(4s4p), or (3)P(4s4p) + (3)D(4s3d), 4p3d double excitations asymptotically localized on a single-atom. Zwitterionic Ca(+) + Ca(-) configurations are evidenced and shown to induce specific electronic patterns in (1)Σ(g)(+), (3)Σ(g)(+), (1)Σ(u)(+), (3)Σ(u)(+), (1)Π(g), (3)Π(g), (1)Π(u), and (3)Π(u) symmetry manifolds. They also provide insight for qualitative features (barriers) found for the lower electronic states already investigated in previous publications by other authors.     

A new method for recycling asymmetric catalysts via formation of charge transfer complexes

[reaction: see text]. A new concept for recycling asymmetric bis(oxazoline)-type catalysts is reported. The formation of charge-transfer complexes between the chiral ligand and trinitrofluorenone and their subsequent precipitation and reuse by addition of new substrate solutions is described. The efficiency of this procedure is demonstrated in a Diels-Alder reaction to reach the expected endo product as major isomer (up to 97% de and 94% ee): the catalyst was used up to 12 times without loss of either activity or selectivity.     

Cationic polymerization of 1,3-pentadiene I. infrared, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR investigations on the microstructure of poly(1,3-pentadiene) synthesized with cationic catalysts

This study deals with cationic polymerization of the cis- and trans-isomers of 1,3-pentadiene. The microstructure of the polymer chains is studied by ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR and IR spectroscopies. It is shown that the trans-diene gives strictly trans-1,4 and trans-1,2 residual linear insaturations, whereas the cis-isomer yields also cis-1,4, cis-1,2 and 3,4-units whose overall content can reach 10 mol-%. According to the cyclization degree of the macromolecules, ranging from 30 to 70 mol-%, the number of trans-(1,2+1,4) units varies between 33 to 65 mol-% and that of trans-1,2 units between 4 and 20 mol-%. An analytical method is proposed to evaluate the average number of rings present in the polycyclic sequences. It is found that the cyclic fragments of the polymer chains consist of bi- or tri-cyclohexane fused rings containing α tetrasubstituted double bond.     

ACTS AERONAUTICAL EXPERIMENTS

This paper discusses a series of aeronautical experiments that utilize the advanced communication technology satellite (ACTS). As part of the ongoing effort to investigate commercial applications of ACTS technologies, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and various industry/government partners have developed a series of experiments that utilize the ACTS mobile terminal (AMT)¹ and the broadband aeronautical terminal¹ to investigate aeronautical uses of the ACTS. This paper discusses these experiments including the experiment configurations, technologies, results and future implications.