Block copolymers of acrylic acid and butyl acrylate prepared by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization: Synthesis,characterization, and use in emulsion polymerization

Amphiphilic block copolymers of poly(acrylic acid‐b‐butyl acrylate) were prepared by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization in a one‐pot reaction. These copolymers were characterized by NMR, static and dynamic light scattering, tensiometry, and size exclusion chromatography. The aggregation characteristics of the copolymers corresponded to those theoretically predicted for a star micelle. In a butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate emulsion polymerization, low amounts of these copolymers could stabilize latices with solid contents up to 50%. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 684–698, 2003     

Sound propagation in the atmospheric surface layer: Comparison of experiment with FFP predictions

This paper presents a set of acoustical and meteorological data from an outdoor sound propagation experiment. This experiment was done in a farm field near Rock Springs, Pennsylvania, on 7 July 1990. Meteorological and acoustical measurements were recorded simultaneously during six different times in the day. The meteorological measurements permitted determination of the sound speed profiles during each of the measurement sessions, using a method based on surface-layer similarity scaling. The acoustical measurements allowed precise determination of the relative sound pressure levels for a frequency range up to 3150 Hz at six different distances (66, 88, 125, 175, 250 and 350 m). The results show atmospheric conditions have an important effect on sound propagation. At medium and high frequencies, variations of the relative SPL have been measured at distances as short as 62 m. These effects increased with the distances so that variations as great as 30 dB have been measured during that day. Comparisons with the fast field program predictions are also presented, and amply demonstrate the accuracies of this model, especially for the downward refraction cases.     

Forme harmonique duale à un cycle quasi-fuchsienDual harmonic form to a quasi-Fuchsian cycle

Following the ideas of [2,3], we describe an explicit construction of the dual harmonic form to a quasi-Fuchsian surface in a hyperbolic 3-manifold. To cite this article: N. Bergeron, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 334 (2002) 395–400.     

The effect of oxidation on physical properties of porous silicon layers for optical applications

In order to understand the optical loss mechanisms in porous silicon based waveguides, structural and optical studies have been performed. Scanning and transmission electron microscopic observations of porous silicon layers are obtained before and after an oxidation process at high temperature in wet O₂. Pore size and shape of heavily p-type doped Si wafers are estimated and correlated to the optical properties of the material before and after oxidation. The refractive index was measured and compared to that determined by the Bruggeman model.     

On error operators related to the arbitrary functions principle

The error on a real quantity Y due to the graduation of the measuring instrument may be asymptotically represented, when the graduation is regular and fines down, by a Dirichlet form on R whose square field operator does not depend on the probability law of Y as soon as this law possesses a continuous density. This feature is related to the “arbitrary functions principle” (Poincaré, Hopf). We give extensions of this property to Rd and to the Wiener space for some approximations of the Brownian motion. This gives new approximations of the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck gradient. These results apply to the discretization of some stochastic differential equations encountered in mechanics.     

Large deviation principle for enhanced Gaussian processes

We study large deviation principles for Gaussian processes lifted to the free nilpotent group of step N. We apply this to a large class of Gaussian processes lifted to geometric rough paths. A large deviation principle for enhanced (fractional) Brownian motion, in Hölder- or modulus topology, appears as special case.     

Direct quantitative determination of surface Brønsted acidity of solids by H/D exchange using D2O

A highly flexible method for direct and quantitative determination of surface Br?nsted acidity of solids in terms of number, type and strength of the acid sites based on quantitative H/D exchange kinetics between the acid solid and gaseous D2O has been developed and applied to materials covering the whole range of acidity.     

Determination of Organochlorine Pesticides in Sediments from Authie Bay Using Microwave Assisted Solvent Extraction

The aim of this study was to develop an analytical method to determine the organochlorine concentrations in sediments. Combination of Microwave assisted Solvent Extraction (MASE) and capillary gas chromatography with specific detection (electron capture detector) was a viable approach for the determination of pesticides in solid matrixes. In this study, MASE development was focused on the selection of a suitable extraction solvent for all the target analytes. MASE procedure was validated by comparison with conventional methods such as Soxhlet and sonication extraction. The proposed method was then applied to determine the organochlorine insecticides concentrations in samples from Authie Bay (France). Environmental water samples were analysed and five target analytes were detected in concentrations from 0.03 to 0.56 ng/g of dry sediment. These investigations showed the accumulation and the persistency of these products in sediments in spite of the fact they were banned a few decades ago.