Transient free‐surface flow of a viscoelastic fluid in a narrow channel

The interplay between inertia and elasticity is examined for transient free‐surface flow inside a narrow channel. The lubrication theory is extended for the flow of viscoelastic fluids of the Oldroyd‐B type (consisting of a Newtonian solvent and a polymeric solute). While the general formulation accounts for non‐linearities stemming from inertia effects in the momentum conservation equation, and the upper‐convected terms in the constitutive equation, only the front movement contributes to non‐linear coupling for a flow inside a straight channel. In this case, it is possible to implement a spectral representation in the depthwise direction for the velocity and stress. The evolution of the flow field is obtained locally, but the front movement is captured only in the mean sense. The influence of inertia, elasticity and viscosity ratio is examined for pressure‐induced flow. The front appears to progress monotonically with time. However, the velocity and stress exhibit typically a strong overshoot upon inception, accompanied by a plug‐flow behaviour in the channel core. The flow intensity eventually diminishes with time, tending asymptotically to Poiseuille conditions. For highly elastic liquids the front movement becomes oscillatory, experiencing strong deceleration periodically. A multiple‐scale solution is obtained for fluids with no inertia and small elasticity. Comparison with the exact (numerical) solution indicates a wide range of validity for the analytical result. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Novel antibiotics: second generation macrocyclic peptides designed to trap Holliday junctions

Described are the syntheses of 15 macrocyclic peptides designed to trap Holliday junctions (HJs) in bacteria during site-specific and homologous recombination. This leads to inhibiting bacterial growth. These second generation macrocycles were based on the C-2 symmetrical HJ. They were synthesized using a strategy that permits elucidation of the amino acid role in binding HJs. The syntheses of these macrocycles are an important step in the development of a new class of antibiotics.     

Electrical properties of high Curie temperature (1−x)Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-xPbTiO3 single crystals grown by the solution Bridgman technique

0.65Pb(In_1/2Nb_1/2)O₃-0.35PbTiO₃ (PINT65/35) (starting composition) single crystals were grown successfully through the solution Bridgman technique using PbO flux and PMNT67/33 seed crystals. Because of the composition variation, the final composition of achievable crystals is in a range of 0.32-0.34 with the corresponding T_c range of 265-269 °C. The (001) plates of as-grown PINT66/34 single crystals show high Curie temperature (T_c=269 °C) and rhombohedral-tetragonal phase transition temperature (T_rt=134 °C). Besides, good electrical properties with high dielectric constant (ε>3000), low dielectric loss (tan δ∼1.2%), high piezoelectric constant (d₃₃∼2000 pC/N) and large electromechanical coupling factor (k_t≈59%) at room temperature have been obtained on the (001) plates. The sound velocity, acoustic impedance and other piezoelectric parameters were also measured on the (001) plates in this study, which provide us more detailed information about PINT66/34 single crystals.     

Evolution of Spiral Waves under Modulated Electric Fields

Spirals generated from the excitable media within the Barkley model is investigated under the gradient electric fields by a numerical simulation. The spiral drift and spiral break up are observed when the amplitude of the electric fields is modulated by a constant signal or a chaotic signal. It is also verified that, even in the presence of the white noise, the whole system can reach homogeneous states after the spiral breakup, by using an adaptive strategy.     

用于高数值孔径物镜的可调光瞳滤波器

根据矢量衍射理论，提出了一种用于提高高数值孔径显微物镜纵向分辨率的可调二元环形光瞳滤波器，通过改变滤波器的环半径获得不同的纵向分辨率，并利用共焦显微术点扩散函数的乘积性大大地降低了旁瓣相对主瓣的比值。模拟结果表明，这种新型滤波器不仅可以提高高数值孔径物镜的纵向分辨率，同时基本上不影响横向分辨率。     

Accurate Gain Flattening Filters Manufactured by Optical Compensation Monitoring Method

GFFs with less than 0.4 dB peak-to-peak error functions are routinely fabricated using commercially available coating machines by utilizing the natural error compensation mechanism of wavelength variable turning point optical monitoring method.     

Investigation of charge effects on poling and stability for corona-poled polymer films

The optimal corona-poling temperature of polymer films was accurately determined by measuring the temperature dependence of the in situ second-harmonic (SH) intensity profile under the applied poling electric field. The in situ SH intensity profile was first measured by probing both the surface voltages and the poling currents induced by surface/space charges for the corona-poled polymer films. Moreover, charge effects on the stability of the chromophore orientation were first studied by using the thermally stimulated discharge-current technique. PACS 72.20.Jv; 42.65.Ky; 73.61.Ph; 81.40.Tv