Fields for which the projective schur subgroup is the whole Brauer group

LetBr(K) denote the Brauer group of a fieldK andPS(K) the projective Schur subgroup. 1. LetK be a finitely generated infinite field. ThenPS(K)=Br(K) if and only ifK is a global field. 2.|LetK be a finitely generated infinite field, and letK((t)) denote the field of formal power series int overK. ThenPS(K((t)))=Br(K((t))) if and only ifK=ℚ.     

Generic Transport Aft-body Drag Reduction using Active Flow Control

Active flow-separation control is an effective and efficient mean for drag reduction and unsteady load alleviation resulting from locally or massively separated flow. Such a situation occurs in configurations where the aerodynamic performance is of secondary importance to functionality. The performance of heavy transport helicopters and aeroplanes, having a large, and almost flat, aft loading ramp suffer from the poor aerodynamics of the aft body. Hence, a combined experimental and numerical investigation was undertaken on a generic transport aeroplane/helicopter configuration. The experimental study provided surface pressures, direct drag measurements, surface and smoke flow visualization. The baseline flow was numerically analyzed, using finite volume solutions of the RANS equations. The baseline flow around the model was insensitive to the Reynolds number in the range it was tested. The flow separating from the aft body was characterized by two main sources of drag and unsteadiness. The first is a separation bubble residing at the lower ramp corner and the second is a pair of vortex systems developing and separating from the sides of the ramp. As the model incidence is decreased, the pair of vortex systems also penetrates deeper towards the centerline of the ramp, decreasing the pressure and increasing the drag. As expected, the ramp lower corner bubble was highly receptive to periodic excitation introduced from four addressable piezo-fluidic actuators situated at the ramp lower corner. Total drag was reduced by 3–11%, depending on the model incidence. There are indications that the flow in the wake of the model is also significantly steadier when the bubble at the lower ramp corner is eliminated. The vortex system is tighter and steadier when the ramp-corner bubble is eliminated.     

Robust locally testable codes and products of codes

We continue the investigation of locally testable codes, i.e., error‐correcting codes for which membership of a given word in the code can be tested probabilistically by examining it in very few locations. We give two general results on local testability: First, motivated by the recently proposed notion of robust probabilistically checkable proofs, we introduce the notion of robust local testability of codes. We relate this notion to a product of codes introduced by Tanner and show a very simple composition lemma for this notion. Next, we show that codes built by tensor products can be tested robustly and somewhat locally by applying a variant of a test and proof technique introduced by Raz and Safra in the context of testing low‐degree multivariate polynomials (which are a special case of tensor codes). Combining these two results gives us a generic construction of codes of inverse polynomial rate that are testable with poly‐logarithmically many queries. We note that these locally testable tensor codes can be obtained from any linear error correcting code with good distance. Previous results on local testability, albeit much stronger quantitatively, rely heavily on algebraic properties of the underlying codes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2006     

Glass transitions in hydrogen-bonded polymer complexes

Mutual precipitates of poly (N, N-dimethyl acrylamide) and poly (4-hydroxystyrene) were collected from dioxane, methanol, or acetone. The glass transition (T_g) temperatures of the precipitates are higher than the weight-average values. Clear films cast from dimethylformamide solutions have lower T_g values. Complexation also occurred between poly (ethyl oxazoline) and poly (4-hydroxystyrene) in dioxane and between poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) and poly (4-hydroxystyrene) in methanol. Again, the glass transition temperatures of the precipitates are higher than the values for the blend films. The ΔC_p values associated with the glass transitions of the complexes are smaller than those of the blends having the same compositions. Negative excess heat capacities of mixing have been observed for several precipitates.     

SECOND BEST TAXES AND QUOTAS IN NITROGEN REGULATION

This paper investigates second best policies to regulate nitrogen leaching. When the policy maker controls the total nitrogen use, an overall tax is superior to an action equivalent overall quota. When the goal is to regulate the expected level of nitrogen leaching, expected profit of a risk neutral farmer is greater under an overall tax than under an overall quota under a reasonable condition. The welfare ranking of action equivalent taxes and quotas for a risk averse farmer is generally ambiguous. In the numerical analyses, overall taxes turned out to be superior to overall quotas with both targets, despite a very high value of absolute risk aversion, 0.01. These results suggest that an overall tax is probably a superior policy to an overall quota to regulate expected total nitrogen use or expected nitrogen leaching for risk neutral and most of risk averse farmers.     

"I Buy American": The American Image as Reflected in Israeli Advertising

Analysis of advertisements in Israeli newspapers over the past decade has shown that American symbols have been widely used to market an array of consumer goods. Products made in America, Israel, or other countries are marketed with some sort of American angle by invoking America's values, symbols, landscapes, or lifestyle. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, we analyzed how central components of the nation-state/national sphere—language, flag, political leaders, borders, landscapes, and sights—are reflected in advertising. We attempt to show how social values metamorphose, shedding their "Israeliness" and taking on an American veneer. Using Israel as an example may provide a test case for the Americanization process in other societies at the turn of the millennium.     

Extension of multigrid methodology to supersonic/hypersonic 3-D viscous flows

A multigrid acceleration technique developed for solving the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations for subsonic/transonic flows has been extended to supersonic/hypersonic flows. An explicit multistage Runge–Kutta type of time-stepping scheme is used as the basic algorithm in conjunction with the multigrid scheme. Solutions have been obtained for a blunt conical frustum at Mach 6 to demonstrate the applicability of the multigrid scheme to high-speed flows. Computations have also been performed for a generic High-Speed Civil Transport configuration designed to cruise at Mach 3. These solutions demonstrate both the efficiency and accuracy of the present scheme for computing high-speed viscous flows over configurations of practical interest.     

Styrylpyridine-based epoxy resins: Synthesis and characterization

Polymers containing rigid aromatic structures in the chain backbone usually gave high thermal stability and good flammability resistance. Three glycidyl ethers of epoxy resins were prepared from 2,4-di(p-hydroxystyryl)pyridine (2,4-DGESP), 2,6-di-(p-hydroxystyryl)pyridine (2,6-DGESP), and 2,4,6-tri-(p-hydroxystyryl)pryidine (2,4,6-TGESP) to study the relationships of structure to polymer degradation. To prepare a highly crosslinked material, trimethoxyboroxine (TMB) was used as the curing agent. The relative char yields of the three different resins, as measured by TGA, were 2,4-DGESP ≈ 2,6-DGESP > 2,4,6-TGESP. The char yield of the cured 2,6-DGESP varied with different amounts of the TMB curing agent, and was higher than the uncured 2,6-DGESP. The oxygen index increased as a function of thermal curing time for the 2,6-DGESP epoxy resin. An intermolecular Diels–Alder reaction with 2,6-DGESP is proposed as a primary reaction during thermal curing.