A method for analysing nesting techniques for the linearized shallow water equations

A method for analysing different nesting techniques for the linearized shallow water equations is presented. The problem is formulated as an eigenvector–eigenvalue problem. A necessary condition for stability is that the spectral radius of the propagation matrix is less than or equal to one. Two test cases are presented. The first test case is analysed, and effects of enforcing volume conservation and nudging in time are studied. A nesting technique is found that causes no growth of any eigenvectors for reasonable time steps. This nesting technique is then used on both test cases, and results are compared to an everywhere refined model and a coarse grid model. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New class of dynamics in concentrated polymer gels

We show that concentrated poly(methyl methacrylate) solution exhibits a new class of coupled dynamics, which can be regarded as an intermediate between the collective diffusion of solutions and the structural relaxations of glasses. This class of dynamics have a relaxation rate that is directly proportional to the wave vector. The transition from diffusive to coupled collective dynamics occurs at smaller length scales with increasing polymer concentration and decreasing temperature. The experimental observations can be understood by considering the contributions from physical cross-links interconnected by stiff polymer segments.     

Detection of arsenic-containing hydrocarbons in a range of commercial fish oils by GC-ICPMS analysis

The present study describes the use of a simple solid-phase extraction procedure for the extraction of arsenic-containing hydrocarbons from fish oil followed by analysis using gas chromatography (GC) coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). The procedure permitted the analysis of a small sample amount, and the method was applied on a range of different commercial fish oils, including oils of anchovy (Engraulis ringens), Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), sand eel (Ammodytes marinus), blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) and a commercial mixed fish oil (mix of oils of Atlantic herring, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and saithe (Pollachius virens)). Total arsenic concentrations in the fish oils and in the extracts of the fish oils were determined by microwave-assisted acid digestion and ICPMS. The arsenic concentrations in the fish oils ranged from 5.9 to 8.7 mg kg^?1. Three dominant arsenic-containing hydrocarbons in addition to one minor unidentified compound were detected in all the oils using GC-ICPMS. The molecular structures of the arsenic-containing hydrocarbons, dimethylarsinoyl hydrocarbons (C₁₇H₃₈AsO, C₁₉H₄₂AsO, C₂₃H₃₈AsO), were verified using GC coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), and the accurate masses of the compounds were verified using quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (qTOF-MS). Additionally, total arsenic and the arsenic-containing hydrocarbons were studied in decontaminated and in non-decontaminated fish oils, where a reduced arsenic concentration was seen in the decontaminated fish oils. This provided an insight to how a decontamination procedure originally ascribed for the removal of persistent organic pollutants affects the level of arsenolipids present in fish oils.     

A convergence study of two ocean models applied to a density driven flow

A three‐dimensional, baroclinic and rotational benchmark for hydrostatic coastal ocean models is suggested. The computational domain is a quadratic basin 200×200 km horizontally and 200 m deep. The lateral boundaries are closed. Solutions to the problems are estimated with two different sigma co‐ordinate models, both for the diagnostic and the prognostic case. Grid‐ and time‐converged results are presented. For the transports, convergence within two significant digits is reported. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Krypton incorporation in sputtered silicon films

The incorporation of Kr in sputtered a-Si films has been investigated in a systematic way by varying the Kr to Si flux, yielding Kr concentrations up to 5 at%. Compositions were determined with X-ray microanalysis. A model has been applied to describe the composition of the growing film. The layers were characterized by positron annihilation, Raman spectroscopy and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The present results clearly indicate that ion assisted growth leads to a strong reduction of open volume defects, and that the Kr resides in very small clusters.     

On the use of Gauss quadrature in adaptive automatic integration schemes

The use of Kronrod's scheme for automatic adaptive integration is well known. In this paper we introduce Gauss integration rules combined with a new way of estimating the errors as basic rules in automatic adaptive integration schemes. On the basis of very limited numerical experiments it seems that our scheme may be as efficient and reliable as the Kronrod scheme.Supported by NAVF (The Norwegian Research Council for Arts and Sciences).     

Solvent and lipid dynamics of hydrated lipid bilayers by incoherent quasielastic neutron scattering

The microscopic dynamics of the planar, multilamellar lipid bilayer system 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) has been investigated using quasielastic neutron scattering. The DMPC was hydrated to a level corresponding to approximately nine water molecules per lipid molecule. Selective deuteration has been used to separately extract the dynamics of the water, the acyl chains, and the polar head groups from the strong incoherent scattering of the remaining hydrogen atoms. Furthermore, the motions parallel and perpendicular to the bilayers were probed by using two different sample orientations relative to the incident neutron beam. For both sample orientations, the results showed an onset of water motions at 260 K on the experimental time scale of about 100 ps. From lack of wave-vector dependence of the onset temperature for water motions, it is evident that the observed water dynamics is of mainly rotational character at such low temperatures. At 290 K, i.e., slightly below the gel-to-liquid transition around 295 K, the nature of the water dynamics had changed to a more translational character, well described by a jump-diffusion model. On the limited experimental time and length (about 10 A) scales, this jump-diffusion process was isotropic, despite the very anisotropic system. The acyl chains exhibited a weak onset of anharmonic motions already at 120 K, probably due to conformational changes (trans-gauche and/or syn-anti) in the plane of the lipid bilayers. Other anharmonic motions were not observed on the experimental time scale until temperature had been reached above the gel-to-liquid transition around 295 K, where the acyl chains start to show more substantial motions.