Observation of two resonant structures in e+ e- -->pi+ pi- psi(2S) via initial-state radiation at Belle

The cross section for e+ e- --> pi+ pi- psi(2S) between threshold and sqrt[s]=5.5 GeV is measured using 673 fb(-1) of data on and off the Upsilon(4S) resonance collected with the Belle detector at KEKB. Two resonant structures are observed in the pi+ pi- psi(2S) invariant-mass distribution, one at 4361 +/- 9 +/- 9 MeV/c2 with a width of 74 +/- 15 +/- 10 MeV/c2, and another at 4664 +/- 11 +/- 5 MeV/c2 with a width of 48 +/- 15 +/- 3 MeV/c2, if the mass spectrum is parametrized with the coherent sum of two Breit-Wigner functions. These values do not match those of any of the known charmonium states.     

Catalytic performance of cement clinker supported nickel catalyst in glycerol dry reforming

The paper reports the development of cement clinker-supported nickel （with metal loadings of 5 wt%, 10 wt%, 15 wt% and 20 wt%） catalysts for glycerol dry （CO2） reforming reaction. XRF results showed that CaO constituted 62.0% of cement clinker. The physicochemical characterization of the catalysts revealed 32-folds increment of BET surface area （SBET） with the addition of nickel metal into the cement clinker, which was also corroborated by FESEM images. Significantly, XRD results suggested different types of Ni oxides formation with Ni loading, whilst Ca3SiO5 and Ca2Al0.67Mn0.33FeO5 were the main crystallite species for pure cement clinker. Temperature-programmed reduction analysis yielded three domains of H2 reduction peaks, viz. centered at approximately 750 K referred to as type-Ⅰ peaks, another peaks at 820 K denoted as type-Ⅱ peaks and the highest reduction peaks, type-Ⅲ recorded at above 1000 K. 20 wt% Ni was found to be the best loading with the highest XG and H2 yield, whilst the lowest methanation activity. Syngas with lower H2/CO ratios （0.6 to 1.5） were readily produced from glycerol dry reforming at CO2-to-Glycerol feed ratio （CGR） of unity. Nonetheless, carbon deposit comprised of whisker type （Cv） and graphitic-like type （Cc） species were found to be in majority on 20 wt%Ni/CC catalysts.     

Observation of a new DsJ meson in B+-->D0D0K+ decays

We report the observation of a new DsJ meson produced in B+-->D0DsJ-->D0D0K+. This state has a mass of M=2708+/-9(-10)(+11) MeV/c2, a width Gamma=108+/-23(-31)(+36) MeV/c2 and a 1- spin-parity. The statistical significance of this observation is 8.4 sigma. The results are based on an analysis of 449 x 10(6) BB events collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider.     

The Effect of the Buffering Capacity of the Supporting Electrolyte on the Electrochemical Oxidation of Dopamine and 4‐Methylcatechol in Aqueous and Nonaqueous Solvents

Dopamine was electrochemically oxidized in aqueous solutions and in the organic solvents N,N‐dimethyl‐formamide and dimethylsulfoxide containing varying amounts of supporting electrolyte and water, to form dopamine ortho‐quinone. It was found that the electrochemical oxidation mechanism in water and in organic solvents was strongly influenced by the buffering properties of the supporting electrolyte. In aqueous solutions close to pH 7, where buffers were not used, the protons released during the oxidation process were able to sufficiently change the localized pH at the electrode surface to reduce the deprotonation rate of dopamine ortho‐quinone, thereby slowing the conversion into leucoaminochrome. In N,N‐dimethylformamide and dimethylsulfoxide solutions, in the absence of buffers, dopamine was oxidized to dopamine ortho‐quinone that survived without further reaction for several minutes at 25 °C. The voltammetric data obtained in the organic solvents were made more complicated by the presence of HCl in commercial sources of dopamine, which also underwent an oxidation process.     

A molecular mechanics approach for analyzing tensile nonlinear deformation behavior of single-walled carbon nanotubes

In this paper, by capturing the atomic information and reflecting the behaviour governed by the nonlinear potential function, an analytical molecular mechanics approach is proposed. A constitutive relation for single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT’s) is established to describe the nonlinear stress-strain curve of SWCNT’s and to predict both the elastic properties and breaking strain of SWCNT’s during tensile deformation. An analysis based on the virtual internal bond (VIB) model proposed by P. Zhang et al. is also presented for comparison. The results indicate that the proposed molecular mechanics approach is indeed an acceptable analytical method for analyzing the mechanical behavior of SWCNT’s. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10121202, 90305015 and 10328203), the Key Grant Project of Chinese Ministry of Education (0306) and the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (HKU 7195/04E).     

Using one EWMA chart to jointly monitor the process mean and variance

Two control charts are usually used to monitor the process mean and variance separately. The mean is monitored using the [`(X)]{\bar{{X}}} chart while the variance using either the standard deviation, S chart, or the range, R chart. Recently, numerous single variable charts are proposed to jointly monitor the mean and variance. Most approaches transform the sample mean and sample variance into two statistics, each having a standard scale, and either plotting them on the same chart or combining them into a single statistic to be plotted on a chart. The R chart is more widely used than the S chart but no attempt is made to combine the [`(X)]{\bar{{X}}} and R charts in the construction of a single variable chart and to study its properties and performance. In this paper, we transform the [`(X)]{\bar{{X}}} and R statistics into two standard normal random variables, used in the computation of two corresponding exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) statistics, which are then merged into a single plotting statistic for the proposed chart, called the EWMA [`(X)]-R{\bar{{X}}-R} chart.     

Analysis of a bi-piezoelectric ceramic layer with an interfacial crack subjected to anti-plane shear and in-plane electric loading

The behaviour of a bi-piezoelectric ceramic layer with a centre interfacial crack subjected to anti-plane shear and in-plane electric loading has been studied. The dislocation density functions and the Fourier integral transform method have been employed to eliminate the problem of singular integral equations. The normalized energy release rate, stress and electrical displacement intensity factors, G/G₀,K_III/K_III0 and K_D/K_D0, respectively, were determined for different geometric and property parameters by use of two different crack surface electric boundary conditions, i.e. impermeable and permeable. It has been shown that the effects of the thickness and material constants of the piezoelectric layer on all the three parameters, i.e. G/G₀,K_III/K_III0 and K_D/K_D0 were significant.     

Rheological behavior and prediction for blending conditions of a thermotropic liquid crystalline polyester with nylon

The dynamic rheological behavior of a liquid crystalline polymer (LCP), Vectra™ A, and nylons was investigated. The viscosities of nylon 66 and nylon 6 decrease slowly with an increase in temperature, while the viscosity of Vectra A drops dramatically at 280 °C, but remains slightly changed above 300 °C. At constant frequency and above 300 °C, the mean value of the activation energy of Vectra A is about 87.0 kJ/mole, but jumps to a much higher value of about 407.0 kJ/mole if the melt temperature is below 300 °C. The activation energy of Vectra A above 300 °C is lower than nylon 66, which shows that the viscosity of nylon 66 has a greater temperature dependence than Vectra A. The viscosity ratio of Vectra A to Nylon 66 is less than 1 at temperatures higher than 290 °C, which indicates that Vectra A can form the fibrils in the nylon 66 matrix and reinforce nylon 66 when blending them above this temperature. Experimental data confirm our prediction. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.