Heavy-Ion Collisions: Experimental Highlights

Lattice QCD predicts a phase transition between hadronic matter and a system of deconfined quarks and gluons (the Quark Gluon Plasma) at high energy densities. Our current understanding of this new state of matter will be discussed with two key results from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC).     

The construction and approximation of feedforward neural network with hyp erb olic tangent function

In this paper, we discuss some analytic properties of hyperbolic tangent function and estimate some approximation errors of neural network operators with the hyperbolic tangent activation functionFirstly, an equation of partitions of unity for the hyperbolic tangent function is givenThen, two kinds of quasi-interpolation type neural network operators are constructed to approximate univariate and bivariate functions, respectivelyAlso, the errors of the approximation are estimated by means of the modulus of continuity of functionMoreover, for approximated functions with high order derivatives, the approximation errors of the constructed operators are estimated.     

A conformal mapping approach for investigating the free-boundary seepage from symmetric channels

We present a new method to investigate the two-dimensional free-boundary groundwater seepage from symmetric soil channels into a homogeneous isotropic porous medium. We use Levi–Civitá’s function to construct an integral representation for the conformal mapping of the complex potential domain onto the physical flow domain. A genetic algorithm (GA) is used to calculate the coefficients of the Maclaurin series expansion of Levi–Civitá’s function. The coordinates of the points from the channel contour, calculated by means of the integral representation, must satisfy the analytic equation of the contour. We use this condition to define the objective function of the genetic algorithm. Levi–Civitá’s function is afterwards used to calculate the seepage loss, the free lines, the streamlines, the equipotential lines, the isobars and the velocity field. Some examples illustrate the method.     

Novel Methods for Obtaining High Modulus Aliphatic Polyamide Fibers

Super high modulus polyethylene fibers can be created by converting high molecular weight flexible PE chains into highly oriented and extended chain conformations. However, unlike polyethylene, aliphatic polyamides have very high cohesive energy and therefore cannot be easily drawn and highly oriented. This review addresses this fundamental problem by analyzing various novel approaches that can be used to suppress hydrogen bonding in these types of polyamides. Plasticization of such polymers with ammonia, iodine, salts, and Lewis acids, as well as dry spinning, wet spinning, and gel spinning, are discussed. Specialized techniques that involve vibrational zone drawing and annealing as well as laser heating zone drawing and annealing are also reviewed. Some of these methods definitely lead to remarkable improvements in initial modulus and other mechanical properties. The development of recombinant spider silk proteins as well progress in spinning these materials is also reported. The advantages and disadvantages of all of these processes are then summarized.     

Effect of Octadecanol on the Interfacial Dilational Properties of Surfactant/Polymer Systems

The effect of octadecanol on dilational properties of 4,5-diheptyl-2-propylbenzene sulfonate and partly hydrolyzed polyacrylamide at the decane-water interface has been examined by means of longitudinal method. The octadecanol plays different roles in influencing the structure of adsorbed layers at different bulk concentration. A small quantity of octadecanol may enhance the dilational modulus by forming densely packed mixed-adsorption layer with surfactant molecules through hydrophobic interaction, which leads to the increase of dilational modulus. However, due to the weakening of the “entanglement” among long alkyl chains in surfactant molecules by the intercalation of octadecanol, the superfluous addition of octadecanol could decrease the dilational modulus. In the case of polymer/octadecanol system, the addition of the polymer may enhance the dilational modulus due to the slow diffusion-exchange process of the polymer.     

Inhibition of CTAB on the Corrosion of Mild Steel in Hydrochloric Acid

The inhibition effect of cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) on the corrosion of mild steel in 1.0 mol L^?1 hydrochloric acid (HCl) has been studied at different temperatures (25–60°C) by weight loss and potentiodynamic polarization methods. The results reveal that CTAB behaves as an effective inhibitor in 1.0 mol L^?1 HCl, and the inhibition efficiency increases with the inhibitor concentration. Polarization curves show that CTAB is a mixed-type inhibitor in hydrochloric acid. The results obtained from weight loss and polarizations are in good agreement. The effect of immersion time on corrosion inhibition has also been examined and is discussed. The adsorption of inhibitor on mild steel surface obeys the Langmuir adsorption isotherm equation. Thermodynamic parameters have been obtained by adsorption theory. The inhibition effect is satisfactorily explained by the parameters.     

Skin Constituents as Cosmetic Ingredients. Part II: A Study of Bio‐Mimetic Monoglycerides Behavior at the Squalene‐Water Interface by the “Pendant Drop” Method in a Dynamic Mode

This work aims at presenting the viscoelastic behavior of bio‐mimetic monoglycerides used as emulsifier in a mixture made of two non‐miscible liquids, squalene and water. The measurement of the interfacial tension, carried out by the “pendant drop” method in “dynamic” mode, made it possible to characterize these amphiphilic molecules according to the value of their elastic modulus, ?, as well as their relaxation time, τ_R.

The analysis of these parameters, as well as those developed in the previous publication [L. Blasco et al. (2006) Skin constituents as cosmetic ingredients. Part I: A Study of bio‐mimetic monoglyceride behavior at the squalene‐water interface by the “pendant drop” method in a static mode. J. Dispers. Sci. Technol., 27(6).] shows that the hydrocarbon chain structure, such as its length, the presence of one or more unsaturations, hydroxyl function, affects the behavior of surfactant molecules at the squalene/water interface.     

Effects of post-deposition annealing on chemical composition of SiNx film in SiO2/SiNx/SiO2/Si stacked structure

To systematically evaluate the quality of SiN_x films in multi-stacked structures, we investigated the effects of post-deposition annealing (PDA) on the film properties of SiN_x within the SiO₂/SiN_x/SiO₂/Si stacked structure by performing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray reflectivity (XRR), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and scanning transmission electron microscope–electron energy loss spectroscopy (STEM-EELS) analyses. The XPS results showed that PDA induces the oxidation of the SiN_x layer. In particular, new finding is that Si-rich SiN_x in the SiN_x layer is preferentially oxidized by PDA even in multi-stacked structure. The XRR results showed that the SiN_x layer becomes thinner, whereas the interface layer between the SiN_x layer and Si becomes thicker. It is concluded by STEM-EELS and XPS that this interface layer is SiON layer. The density of N–H and Si–H bonding within the stacked structure strongly depends on the PDA temperature. Our study helps elucidate the properties of SiN_x films in stacked structures from various perspectives.     

Optical constants of organic insulators in the UV range extracted from reflection electron energy loss spectra

Reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) spectra were measured for seven insulating organic compounds (DNA, Irganox 1010, Kapton, polyethylene [PE], poly(methyl methacrylate) [PMMA], polystyrene [PS] and polytetrafluoroethylene [PTFE]). Optical constants and energy band gaps were extracted from the measured REELS spectra after elimination of multiple electron scattering via a deconvolution and fitting the normalised single scattering energy loss spectra to Drude and Drude–Lindhard model dielectric functions, constrained by the Kramers–Kronig sum and f-sum rules. Satisfactory agreement is found for those optical constants for which literature data exists. For PTFE, the observed features in the optical data correspond to its electronic structure.