Stability of shock waves in the modified quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation

We consider a shock-type wave solution of the modified quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation and make a numerical study of its spatiotemporal stability. Discussions related to the behavior of this front wave are introduced and it is shown how the velocities of the wave can be used to collect information concerning the pattern formation in the system. Published in Neliniini Kolyvannya, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 270–276, April–June, 2007.     

Double adaptive notch filter for mechanical grain flow sensors

Nowadays, commercial combine harvesters are equipped with special sensors for the purposes of precision farming. Sensors are installed to measure the harvested surface and mass flow each second. Hence, grain yield maps are constructed, approximating the actual grain yield on the field before harvesting.Most grain flow sensors are installed on the paddle elevator before storage in the grain tank. At the elevator exit, paddles throw packs of grain against a curved plate on which a force transducer is attached. Therefore, the measured flow signal is heavily disturbed by the paddle rate and resonance frequency of the mechanical sensor.In this study, a computationally cheap method is presented to track both frequencies in the measured flow signal. Based on these frequency trackers, a double notch filter is tuned continuously to remove both disturbances. Moreover, the knowledge about the frequency content can be used to monitor the condition of the mechanical sensor and the paddle elevator.     

Monitoring trace anion contamination in disk drive components

Ion chromatography was used to determine trace anionic contamination on the surface of hard disk drive components. These contaminants can have a detrimental effect on device reliability and yield. Disk drive components were soaked in deionized water and these extracts were analyzed for anions. The anions fluoride, acetate, formate, acrylate, methacrylate, chloride, nitrite, bromide, nitrate, benzoate, sulfate, oxalate, phthalate and phosphate were separated on a high-performance anion-exchange column and determined at concentrations less than 1 microg/l with suppressed conductivity detection. The extract solutions were analyzed either by injecting 1 ml or by preconcentrating 5 ml. We evaluated the performance of both methods.     

A rapid fire-assay/atomic-absorption method for the determination of platinum, palladium and gold in ores and concentrates: A modification of the tin-collection scheme

The tin-collection scheme of fire-assaying has been simplified to permit the rapid and accurate determination of platinum, palladium and gold in ores and related materials. The presence of tellurium in the charge ensures that the precious metals remain insoluble during the parting of the tin button with hydrochloric acid. The residue is easily collected and dissolved and the resultant solution analysed for the precious metals by AAS. The accuracy of the method has been established by application to five diverse certified reference materials.     

Determination of traces of impurities in high-purity sodium chloride by differential pulse polarography and flame spectrometry

Summary Detection limits for the determination of a number of elements in solid sodium chloride by differential pulse polarography, flame absorption and emission spectrometry were established. These methods were used for a quantitative investigation on the distribution of ppm quantities of Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn, Mn, Mg, Sr and Ba between the crystallizate and the mother solution obtained in a partial crystallization of sodium chloride from its saturated solution. Recoveries of the crystallization process, calculated from the results of the analysis, vary from 86% for Pb to 115% for Sr.

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Bestimmung von Spurenverunreinigungen in reinstem Natriumchlorid durch Differential-Pulspolarographie und Flammenspektrometrie

Zusammenfassung Die Nachweisgrenzen für die Bestimmung einer Zahl von Elementen im festen Natriumchlorid wurden mit Differential-Pulspolarographie, Absorptions- und Emissions-Flammenspektrometrie bestimmt. Diese Methoden wurden benutzt zur quantitativen Untersuchung der Verteilung von ppm-Mengen Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn, Mn, Mg, Sr und Ba zwischen kristallisiertem Salz und Mutterlösung bei teilweiser Kristallisation vom Natriumchlorid aus seiner gesättigten Lösung. Die Ausbeuten des Kristallisationsprozesses, berechnet aus den Analysenergebnissen, schwanken von 86% für Pb bis 115% für Sr.

Lecture presented at Euroanalysis I Conference, 28. 8.–1. 9. 1972 in Heidelberg, Germany.     

Monitoring the N-glycosylation of plant glycoproteins by fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis

We have evaluated the efficiency of a fast, simple and efficient method, fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE), for the characterization of plant N-linked glycans. After their enzymatic release from plant glycoproteins, N-glycans were reductively aminated to the charged fluorophore 8-aminonaphthalene-1, 3, 6-trisulfonic acid (ANTS) and separated using high resolution polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In addition, an affinity purification procedure using concanavalin A was developed for separation of ANTS-labeled high-mannose-type N-glycans from other plant oligosaccharides.     

Existence of pulses in excitable media with nonlocal coupling

We prove the existence of fast traveling pulse solutions in excitable media with non-local coupling. Existence results had been known, until now, in the case of local, diffusive coupling and in the case of a discrete medium, with finite-range, non-local coupling. Our approach replaces methods from geometric singular perturbation theory, that had been crucial in previous existence proofs, by a PDE oriented approach, relying on exponential weights, Fredholm theory, and commutator estimates.     

Nitrogen-Broadening Parameters for Atmospheric Spectra Modelling of the ν3 Band of SF6

The infrared absorption of the ν₃ band region of SF_6, at temperatures spanning the 130 to 297 K range, has been reexamined using improved instrumentation with one goal: to estimate the broadening of parameters by nitrogen gas. These parameters are compared to previous literature predictions and an extended set of IR cross-sections is proposed and compared to other existing datasets.     

Stereochemistry of reactions of the inhibitor/substrates L- and D-beta-chloroalanine with beta-mercaptoethanol catalysed by L-aspartate aminotransferase and D-amino acid aminotransferase respectively

Two members of the alpha-family of PLP-dependent enzymes, L-aspartate aminotransferase and D-amino acid aminotransferase, have been shown to catalyse beta-substitution of L- and D-beta-chloroalanine respectively with beta-mercaptoethanol, reactions typical of the beta-family of PLP-dependent enzymes. The reaction catalysed by L-aspartate aminotransferase has been shown to occur with retention of stereochemistry, a typical outcome for reactions catalysed by beta-family enzymes. There are also indications that the reaction catalysed by D-amino acid aminotransferase may involve retention of stereochemistry. Both enzymes have been shown to catalyse exchange at C-3 when the appropriate enantiomer of beta-chloroalanine is the substrate.     

Partial Lagrangian relaxation for general quadratic programming

We give a complete characterization of constant quadratic functions over an affine variety. This result is used to convexify the objective function of a general quadratic programming problem (Pb) which contains linear equality constraints. Thanks to this convexification, we show that one can express as a semidefinite program the dual of the partial Lagrangian relaxation of (Pb) where the linear constraints are not relaxed. We apply these results by comparing two semidefinite relaxations made from two sets of null quadratic functions over an affine variety.