Global Analysis of the Flows of Fluids with Pressure-Dependent Viscosities

 To describe the flows of fluids over a wide range of pressures, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the viscosity of the fluid depends on the pressure. That the viscosity depends on the pressure has been verified by numerous careful experiments. While the existence of solutions local-in-time to the equations governing the flows of such fluids are available for small, special data and rather unrealistic dependence of the viscosity on the pressure, no global existence results are in place. Our interest here is to establish the existence of weak solutions for spatially periodic three-dimensional flows that are global in time, for a large class of physically meaningful viscosity-pressure relationships. (Accepted May 1, 2002) Published online November 15, 2002 Communicated by S. S. ANTMAN     

Contributions to the degenerated branching mechanism of the thermal decomposition of ammonia

By continuing our studies on the reaction kinetics and mechanism of ammonia thermal decomposition, new evidences are brought about supporting the indirectly branched chain mechanism advanced previously. The dependence of the induction period of the hydrogen formation as a reaction final product on the maximum concentration of hydrazine as the reaction molecular intermediate evidences indirectly branched chain mechanism affording preponderantly the hydrogen formation from hydrazine. The branching factor value of 0.00136 s⁻¹ was found by means of three laws specific to the reaction developing according to three rules specific to the degenerated branching. This value indicates degenerated branching occurring rather as a scarce event according to literature data where this factor is shown to be between 0.00016 and 0.01666 s⁻¹.     

Guided modes of integrated optical guides. A mathematical study

A waveguide in integrated optics is defined by its refractiveindex. The guide is assumed to be invariant in the propagationdirection while in the transverse direction it is supposed tobe a compact perturbation of an unbounded stratified medium.We are interested in the modes guided by this device, whichare waves with a transverse energy confined in a neighbourhoodof the perturbation. Our goal is to analyse the existence of such guided modes. Underthe assumptions of weak guidance the problem reduces to a two-dimensionaleigenvalue problem for a scalar field. The associated operatoris unbounded, selfadjoint, and bounded from below. Its spectrumconsists of the discrete spectrum corresponding to the guidedmodes and of the essential spectrum corresponding to the radiationmodes. We present existence results of guided modes and an asymptoticstudy at high frequencies, which shows that contrarily to thecase of optical fibers, the number of guided modes can remainbounded. The major tools are the min-max principle and comparisonof results between different eigenvalue problems. The originalityof the present study lies in the stratified character of theunbounded reference medium.     

Effect of the interface on separation in multicapillary gas chromatography-based hyphenated techniques for speciation analysis of organometallic compounds

This paper reports the effect of transfer line (TL) internal diameter (i.d.) on gas chromatographic separation characteristics such as efficiency and speed, when a multicapillary (MC) column is used for speciation analysis of mercury. Five different TL consisting of fused-silica capillaries with 0.15, 0.20, 0.25, 0.32, and 0.53 mm i.d. are compared. The separation efficiency and total chromatographic run time are critically affected by the i.d. of the TL. Narrow capillaries (i.d.0.20 mm) produce minimum peak dispersion whereas wide capillaries result in narrow peaks and shorter chromatographic analysis times. A thermodynamic approach is proposed to describe the motion of the analytes through the separation column and TL. The model provides good agreement with the experimental data for high pressures (35 psig) and wide TL (0.25 mm i.d.).Dedicated to the memory of Wilhelm Fresenius     

The Hardy classes for functions in the class MV[α, k]

Suppose that f(z) = z + a₂z² + ··· + a_nz_n + ··· is regular in the unit disc $\text{D}\text{with}\text{[f(z) f′}\text{(z)}\text{z] ≠ 0}\text{in}\text{D}$, and further let α ? 0 and k ? 2. If $\text{∝}{}^{\mathrm{2\pi }}{}_{\mathrm{o}}\text{¦}\text{Re}\text{{(1 ? α)z[}\text{f′(z)}\text{f(z)}\text{] + α(1 + z[}\text{f″(z)}\text{f′(z)}\text{])}¦ dθ ? kπ}\text{for}\text{z ? D}$, then f(z) is said to belong to the class MV[α, k]. This class contains many of the special classes of regular and univalent functions. The authors determine the Hardy classes of which f(z), f′(z) and f″(z) belong and obtain growth estimates of a_n.     

Interaction of the mu-opioid receptor with GPR177 (Wntless) inhibits Wnt secretion: potential implications for opioid dependence

Background  

Opioid agonist drugs produce analgesia. However, long-term exposure to opioid agonists may lead to opioid dependence. The analgesic and addictive properties of opioid agonist drugs are mediated primarily via the mu-opioid receptor (MOR). Opioid agonists appear to alter neuronal morphology in key brain regions implicated in the development of opioid dependence. However, the precise role of the MOR in the development of these neuronal alterations remains elusive. We hypothesize that identifying and characterizing novel MOR interacting proteins (MORIPs) may help to elucidate the underlying mechanisms involved in the development of opioid dependence.     

High precision delta(17)O isotope measurements of oxygen from silicates and other oxides: method and applications

The use of infrared laser-assisted fluorination to release oxygen from milligram quantities of silicates or other oxide mineral grains is a well-established technique. However, relatively few studies have reported the optimisation of this procedure for oxygen-17 isotope measurements. We describe here details of an analytical system using infrared (10 μm) laser-assisted fluorination, in conjunction with a dual inlet mass spectrometer of high resolving power ( approximately 250) to provide (17)O and (18)O oxygen isotope measurements from 0.5-2 mg of silicates or other oxide mineral grains. Respective precisions (1) of typically 0.08 and 0.04 per thousand are obtained for the complete analytical procedure. Departures from the mass-dependent oxygen isotope fractionation line are quantified by Delta(17)O; our precision (1) of such measurements on individual samples is shown to be +/-0.024 per thousand. In turn, this permits the offset between parallel, mass-dependent fractionation lines to be characterised to substantially greater precision than has been possible hitherto. Application of this system to investigate the (17)O versus (18)O relationship for numerous terrestrial whole-rock and mineral samples, of diverse geological origins and age, indicates that the complete data set may be described by a single, mass-dependent fractionation line of slope 0.5244+/- 0.00038 (standard error). Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Test of bell’s inequality using the one-atom micromaser

We examine a local realist bound in the case of a one-atom micromaser. It is shown that such a bound is violated using a simplified treatment of the micromaser. We consider the effect of dissipation in a proposed experiment with the real micromaser. It is seen that the magnitude of violation of a Bell-type inequality depends significantly on the cavity parameters.     

Convex and alpha-prestarlike subordination chains

In this paper we consider convex subordination chains (c.s.c.) and alpha-prestarlike subordination chains (α-p.s.c.) over (0,1] on the unit disc in the complex plane. We obtain sufficient conditions for a mapping f(z,t) to be an α-p.s.c. over (0,1], which generalize a well-known result of Ruscheweyh [St. Ruscheweyh, Convolutions in Geometric Function Theory, Les Presses de l'Université de Montreal, 1982]. We also obtain sufficient conditions for injectivity for nonanalytic mappings on the unit disc, and give certain examples of α-c.s.c. over (0,1] on the unit disc.     

Surface properties of some carotenoids spread in monolayers at the air/water interface. Experimental and computational approach

The surface pressure versus molecular area isotherms of some carotenoids: β,β-carotene-4-one (echinenone, ECH), β,β-carotene-4,4′-dione (canthaxanthin, CAN) and 4,4′-diapo-ω,ω-carotene-4,4′-dial (APO), spread at the air/water interface, are reported. A van der Waals type state equation is used to describe the high molecular area portions of the compression isotherms and interaction parameters within monolayers are derived. Quantum chemical semi-empirical SCF MO calculations (AM1 and PM3) are performed for the optimized geometries of molecules and dipole moments are calculated. Similar theoretical magnitudes are obtained by both methods. Surface properties, like collapse pressure, surface compressional modulus and interaction parameters are discussed in terms of dipole-dipole interactions, and correlations with the calculated quantities for the carotenoid molecules are analyzed. The orientation of the different carotenoid molecules in the monolayer is discussed.