Synthesis of diisocyanides with phenolic groups and their polymerization to helically chiral poly(quinoxaline‐2,3‐diyl)s

The development of synthetic routes which lead to five new diisocyanide monomers with one or two phenolic groups is described. Their polymerization behavior is studied with Pd‐ and Ni‐based initiators, as well as under microwave irradiation. The polymerizability is mainly dominated by steric effects as is concluded from experiments using different protecting groups. Chiroptical properties of these new polymers are studied by CD‐spectroscopy. After deprotection, helically chiral poly(quinoxalin‐2,3‐diyl)s are obtained which display a Brønsted function attached to a stereolabile biaryl axis whose configuration should be influenced by the chiral polymer backbone. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 1320–1329     

Time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau equations for multi-gap superconductors

We numerically solve the time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau equations for two-gap superconductors using the finite-element technique. The real-time simulation shows that at low magnetic field, the vortices in small-size samples tend to form clusters or other disorder structures. When the sample size is large, stripes appear in the pattern. These results are in good agreement with the previous experimental observations of the intriguing anomalous vortex pattern, providing a reliable theoretical basis for the future applications of multi-gap superconductors.     

The deformation and fracture of balloons

Inflation of balloons provides a straightforward way of achieving large biaxial deformations. Previous studies have shown that when a balloon bursts, crack propagation occurs at very high speed – much higher than would be expected from the low strain modulus and elastic wave velocity of the rubber. The present paper is concerned with studies of the deformation and fracture of cylindrical balloons. On inflation, the deformations of such a balloon pass through an unstable region but subsequently increase monotonically with pressure. In this relatively high pressure region, the ratio of the longitudinal and circumferential extension ratios is broadly in accord with expectations from high-strain elasticity theory when the ratio of the corresponding stresses is taken into account. On bursting, crack speeds up to around 300 m/s in this region. It is shown that these speeds are in accord with large increase in incremental moduli for the highly-strained rubber. Marked changes in crack tip profile observed at very high crack speeds are consistent with control of the rate of growth by inertia rather than by the viscoelastic properties of the rubber (as is believed to be the case at lower speeds). Consistent with this, various elastomers having different glass transition temperatures show similar crack growth behaviour in the very high speed region.     

Current air quality analytics and monitoring: A review

This review summarizes the different tools and concepts that are commonly applied in air quality monitoring. The monitoring of atmosphere is extremely important as the air quality is an important problem for large communities. Main requirements for analytical devices used for monitoring include a long period of autonomic operation and portability. These instruments, however, are often characterized by poor analytical performance. Monitoring networks are the most common tools used for monitoring, so large-scale monitoring programmes are summarized here. Biomonitoring, as a cheap and convenient alternative to traditional sample collection, is becoming more and more popular, although its main drawback is the lack of standard procedures. Telemonitoring is another approach to air monitoring, which offers some interesting opportunities, such as ease of coverage of large or remote areas, constituting a complementary approach to traditional strategies; however, it requires huge costs.     

Probabilism,entropies and strictly proper scoring rules

Accuracy arguments are the en vogue route in epistemic justifications of probabilism and further norms governing rational belief. These arguments often depend on the fact that the employed inaccuracy measure is strictly proper. I argue controversially that it is ill-advised to assume that the employed inaccuracy measures are strictly proper and that strictly proper statistical scoring rules are a more natural class of measures of inaccuracy. Building on work in belief elicitation I show how strictly proper statistical scoring rules can be used to give an epistemic justification of probabilism.An agent's evidence does not play any role in these justifications of probabilism. Principles demanding the maximisation of a generalised entropy depend on the agent's evidence. In the second part of the paper I show how to simultaneously justify probabilism and such a principle. I also investigate scoring rules which have traditionally been linked with entropies.     

Sobolev Stability of Plane Wave Solutions to the Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation

This article explores the questions of long time orbital stability in high order Sobolev norms of plane wave solutions to the NLSE in the defocusing case.     

Semilinear wave models with friction and viscoelastic damping

In this paper, we study the global (in time) existence of small data solutions to the Cauchy problem for the semilinear wave equation with friction, viscoelastic damping, and a power nonlinearity. We are interested in the connection between regularity assumptions for the data and the admissible range of exponents p in the power nonlinearity.