Coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical and Chemical Analysis of Expansive Clay Subjected to Heating and Hydration

A fully coupled formulation combining reactive transport and an existing thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) code is presented. Special attention has been given to phenomena likely to be encountered in clay barriers used as part of containment systems of nuclear waste. The types of processes considered include hydrolysis, complex formation, oxidation/reduction reactions, acid/base reactions, precipitation/dissolution of minerals and cation exchange. Both kinetically-controlled and equilibrium-controlled reactions have been incorporated. The total analytical concentrations (including precipitated minerals) are adopted as basic transport variables and chemical equilibrium is achieved by minimizing Gibbs Free Energy. The formulation has been incorporated in a general purpose computer code capable of performing numerical analysis of engineering problems. A validation exercise concerning a laboratory experiment involving the heating and hydration of an expansive compacted clay is described.     

A fourth‐order compact finite difference scheme for the steady stream function–vorticity formulation of the Navier–Stokes/Boussinesq equations

A fourth‐order compact finite difference scheme on the nine‐point 2D stencil is formulated for solving the steady‐state Navier–Stokes/Boussinesq equations for two‐dimensional, incompressible fluid flow and heat transfer using the stream function–vorticity formulation. The main feature of the new fourth‐order compact scheme is that it allows point‐successive overrelaxation (SOR) or point‐successive underrelaxation iteration for all Rayleigh numbers Ra of physical interest and all Prandtl numbers Pr attempted. Numerical solutions are obtained for the model problem of natural convection in a square cavity with benchmark solutions and compared with some of the accurate results available in the literature. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Algebraic Formulation of Quantum Decoherence

An algebraic formalism for quantum decoherence in systems with continuous evolution spectrum is introduced. A certain subalgebra, dense in the characteristic algebra of the system, is defined in such a way that Riemann–Lebesgue theorem can be used to explain decoherence in a well defined final pointer basis.     

Formulation and survey of ALE method in nonlinear solid mechanics

This paper investigates the applicability and accuracy of existing formulation methods in general purpose finite element programs to the finite strain deformation problems. The basic shortcomings in using such programs in these applications are then pointed out and the need for a different type of formulation is discussed. An arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) method is proposed and a concise survey of ALE formulation is given. A consistent and complete ALE formulation is derived from the virtual work equation transformed to arbitrary computational reference configurations. Differences between the proposed formulations and similar ones in the literature are discussed. The proposed formulation presents a general approach to ALE method. It includes load correction terms and is suitable for rate-dependent and rate-independent material constitutive law. The proposed formulation reduces to both updated Lagrangian and Eulerian formulations as special cases.     

On a certain two-sided symmetric condition in magnetic field analysis and computations

A special two-sided condition for the incremental magnetic reluctivity is introduced which guarantees the unique existence of both the weak and the approximate solutions of the nonlinear stationary magnetic field distributed on a region composed of different media, as well as a certain estimate of the error between the two solutions. The condition, being discussed from the physical as well as the mathematical point of view, can be easily verified and is fulfilled for various magnetic reluctivity models used in electrotechnical practice.     

统计模拟分光光度法测定复方消咳新片组分含量

用统计模拟分光光度法测定复方消咳新片４个组分含量。按均匀设计表制备合成样品，绘制溶液的ＵＶ－ＶＩＳ吸收曲线，获得有限但足够的实验数据，用逐步回归法构造反映该复方制剂组分在灵敏波长的吸光度－组分含量经验关系的“最优”数学模型，用改进单纯形法寻优，求出未知样品的各组分含量。磺胺甲基异恶唑、甲氧苄胺嘧啶、盐酸溴已新、枸橼酸维静宁的回收率分别为１００３％、１００４％、９９９％、９９０％，标准差分别为０９１％、１４％、１２％、３９％。     

Detection of processed genetically modified food using CIM monolithic columns for DNA isolation

The availability of sufficient quantities of DNA of adequate quality is crucial in polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods for genetically modified food detection. In this work, the suitability of anion-exchange CIM (Convective Interaction Media; BIA Separations, Ljubljana, Slovenia) monolithic columns for isolation of DNA from food was studied. Maize and its derivates corn meal and thermally pretreated corn meal were chosen as model food. Two commercially available CIM disk columns were tested: DEAE (diethylaminoethyl) and QA (quaternary amine). Preliminary separations were performed with standard solution of salmon DNA at different pH values and different NaCl concentrations in mobile phase. DEAE groups and pH 8 were chosen for further isolations of DNA from a complex matrix-food extract. The quality and quantity of isolated DNA were tested on agarose gel electrophoresis, with UV-scanning spectrophotometry, and by amplification with real-time PCR. DNA isolated in this way was of suitable quality for further PCR analyses. The described method is also applicable for DNA isolation from processed foods with decreased DNA content. Furthermore, it is more effective and less time-consuming in comparison with the existing proposed methods for isolation of DNA from plant-derived foods.     

Polymerised bicontinuous microemulsions as stationary phases for capillary electrochromatography

Summary Polymerisation of bicontinuous microemulsions yields porous monolithic structures with well defined pore sizes that are potentially suitable for use as stationary phases for capillary electrochromatography (CEC). A variety of pore sizes can be achieved by altering the composition of the microemulsion, which typically consists of butyl methacrylate (BMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the polymerisable oil phase. The aqueous phase consists of water, a surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulphate, SDS) and a co-surfactant (1-propanol). 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid (AMPS) is also added to provide charges along the polymer backbone to allow electroosmotic flow (EOF) to occur. SEM analysis shows that in-situ polymerisation yields a monolithic structure with a porous topography. Investigations have shown that these monoliths are easy to prepare, robust and suitable for the separation of phthalates. They generate higher linear velocities than are achieved using the silica based HPLC packings normally used for CEC.     

The potential of serially coupled alkyl-bonded silica monolithic columns for high resolution separations of pharmaceutical compounds in biological fluids

Summary In this paper we investigate the potential of alkyl-bonded silica monolithic columns for the isolation and identification of drug-related components in biological fluids. Up to 6 columns have been connected in series to produce a chromatographic system with up to 40,000 plates. This high-resolution chromatography system has been coupled to both MS and NMR to enable efficient detection and characterisation of drug-related components in biological fluids. The use of six coupled columns has been shown to give enhanced resolution over a high quality silica particulate column packed with 3 μm material which exhibits the same back pressure. The effect of volume and mass load on the performance of monolithic columns for semi-preparative chromatography of biological fluids has also been investigated. In these studies it was possible to inject up to 100 mL of neat urine with no loss of chromatographic performance. Furthermore, upon re-testing, the columns showed similar chromatographic performance. Again several columns were serially connected, producing enhanced resolution in the semi-preparative mode.     

Chiral separation of 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol and its analogue on molecular imprinting monolithic columns by HPLC

Two molecular imprinting polymer (MIP) monolithic columns with (S)-(-)-1,1'-bi-2-naphthol and (R)-(+)-5,5',6,6',7,7',8,8'-octahydro-1,1'-bi-2-naphthol as the templating molecules, respectively, have been prepared by in situ polymerization using 4-vinylpyridine and ethylene dimethacrylate as functional monomer and cross-linker, respectively. The columns with good flow-through properties were obtained by changing the molar ratio of the functional monomer and the template molecule. The effects of mobile-phase composition on separation of enantiomers were systematically investigated. The results indicate that hydrophobic interaction in aqueous solution and hydrogen-bonding interaction in ACN between the enantiomers and polymers could play important roles in the retention and resolution. The effects of chromatographic conditions, such as flow rate, column temperature, sample loading, on the enantioseparation were also studied. Further, these two MIP columns show a cross-reactivity.