Methane polymerization with a hollow cathode: Influence of the cathode metal

Methane, mixed with argon, has been polymerized by means of a hollow-cathode discharge system. Two types of cathodes were studied; one was made of a solid solution of 81% tungsten and 19% platinum, while the other was of pure tungsten. Under identical operating conditions, a higher polymer yield was found in the case of the platinum cathode (90% against 70% for tungsten). The work function of the solid solution was estimated to be 6.3 eV, compared with 4.4 eV for tungsten. In terms of the data available, the thermionic current, which is the main source of energetic electrons, is about one order of magnitude lower for the solid solution cathode when compared with the tungsten cathode thermionic current. However, the polymer yield observed is higher in the former case. The concentration of the CH species in the hollow cathode was found to differ greatly for the cathodes tested and was about 5 times higher in the case of tungsten-platinum cathodes. Since no excited platinum vapor could be detected in the gas phase, the increase in CH concentration was attributed to a catalytic effect of the cathode inside surface. An evaluation of the plasma polymer deposition rate yields 70 nm·s^–1 for the platinum-tungsten type hollow cathode and 42 nm·s^–1 for the tungsten one. In both cases, the deposition rate is much higher than those obtained from the most widely used methods for plasma polymer deposition (0.10–1.0 nm·s^–1) implying methane-argon mixtures, and is comparable to the results obtained with a new type of plasma polymer deposition reactor described in the literature.     

Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins and Bamboo Leaf Flavonoids Improve the Quality of Bull Semen Cryopreservation

It is important to inhibit oxidative stress to maintain sperm motility during cryopreservation. The present study was performed to investigate the effects of supplementing oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPC) and bamboo leaf flavonoids (BLF) or their combination as an extender for Simmental bull semen freezing. OPC, BLF, or their combination were added to the frozen diluent of bovine semen. Afterwards, computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA), detection of membrane functionality, acrosome integrity, mitochondrial integrity, CAT, SOD, GSH-PX, MDA, and ROS were conducted. The results showed that adding 50 mg/L OPC or 4 mg/L BLF could improve the quality of frozen sperm. Compared with 50 mg/L OPC alone, the combination of 50mg/L OPC and 2 mg/L BLF significantly increased the kinematic parameters of sperm, and sperm CAT, GSH-PX and SOD levels (p < 0.05), whereas the MDA of sperm was decreased (p < 0.05). These results indicated that compared to the addition of 50 mg/L OPC alone, a combination of 50 mg/L OPC and 2 mg/L BLF could further improve the quality of frozen semen. The results could provide theoretical data support for the development of a new protective agent and are significant for the cryopreservation of bovine semen in the future.     

Prime Rings with Involution Equipped with Some New Product

Let R be a ring with involution *. We consider R as a ring equipped with a new product r s = rs + sr^*. The relationship between (ordinary) ideals of R and right ideals of R with respect to the product is studied.AMS Subject Classification (2000): 16W10, 16D25     

蛋氨酸铜对西门塔尔牛血液指标的影响

选用16头平均体质量420 kg、年龄2.5岁中国西门塔尔牛阉牛,采用随机区组设计分为4组,以混合精料和风干玉米秸秆为基础日粮,以蛋氨酸铜为铜源,在基础日粮中分别添加铜0、8、16和24 mg/kg,研究了蛋氨酸铜对西门塔尔牛血液指标的影响。结果表明,血清TG、GLU、TC、ALB和TP含量显著增加(P<0.05)。24 mg/kg组SUN明显低于对照组(P<0.05)。血清GOT、GPT、AKP、ACP、LDH差异均不显著(P>0.05)。血清Cp逐渐增加(P<0.05);SOD和GSH-px活性呈上升趋势,显著提高(P<0.05);MDA呈下降趋势(P<0.05)。16 mg/kg和24mg/kg组血清铜含量显著高于对照和8 mg/kg组(P<0.05)。根据试验结果,蛋氨酸铜添加量以8~16 mg/kg为宜。     

Partial characterizations of clique-perfect and coordinated graphs: Superclasses of triangle-free graphs

A graph G is clique-perfect if the cardinality of a maximum clique-independent set of H equals the cardinality of a minimum clique-transversal of H, for every induced subgraph H of G. A graph G is coordinated if the minimum number of colors that can be assigned to the cliques of H in such a way that no two cliques with non-empty intersection receive the same color equals the maximum number of cliques of H with a common vertex, for every induced subgraph H of G. Coordinated graphs are a subclass of perfect graphs. The complete lists of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs for the classes of clique-perfect and coordinated graphs are not known, but some partial characterizations have been obtained. In this paper, we characterize clique-perfect and coordinated graphs by minimal forbidden induced subgraphs when the graph is either paw-free or {gem, W₄, bull}-free, both superclasses of triangle-free graphs.     

Rate Constants for Reactions of •OH with Several Reduced Sulfur Compounds Determined by Relative Rate Constant Method

The rate constants for the reactions between •OH and six reduced sulfur compounds in air, N₂, and O₂ were measured using relative rate constant method in a 180-L Teflon bag at 298 K and 1.013×10⁵ Pa. These results were compared with previous published data and were discussed in terms of trends in different buffer gases.     

股灾背景下中美股市风险溢出的结构转换研究

选取中美股票市场的上证综指、恒生指数和标普500指数作为研究对象进行风险溢出效应研究,结果表明,总体而言上海市场与香港市场之间双向风险溢出效应最为显著,香港市场和美国市场次之,而上海市场与美国市场之间的双向风险溢出效应最不显著;从风险溢出方向与强度方面分析,无论牛熊市,香港市场对上海市场在极端风险时刻的风险溢出要显著强于上海市场对香港市场的溢出,而香港市场与美国市场之间在牛市行情下双向风险溢出效应相对均衡,在熊市行情下香港对美国的风险溢出相对更大,与常理不一致的结果是上海市场在牛市期间对香港市场的风险溢出效应要大于熊市,围绕这一点进一步采用Chi-plot相关图进行分析表明中国市场还未达到“中国打喷嚏,世界经济感冒”的状态;从风险溢出效应的动态趋势分析看出两个牛市阶段各市场的风险溢出呈现不同特征。美国市场对中国市场的风险溢出效应总体平稳,而中国市场对美国市场的风险溢出效应存在一定差异,在低分位数水平相差较大,随分位数水平提高两个牛市阶段的风险溢出趋于一致。但上海市场对香港市场的风险溢出随时间变化在牛市阶段逐步增强,而香港市场对上海市场的风险溢出则逐渐下降。     

Clique‐coloring some classes of odd‐hole‐free graphs

We consider the problem of clique‐coloring, that is coloring the vertices of a given graph such that no maximal clique of size at least 2 is monocolored. Whereas we do not know any odd‐hole‐free graph that is not 3‐clique‐colorable, the existence of a constant C such that any perfect graph is C‐clique‐colorable is an open problem. In this paper we solve this problem for some subclasses of odd‐hole‐free graphs: those that are diamond‐free and those that are bull‐free. We also prove the NP‐completeness of 2‐clique‐coloring K₄‐free perfect graphs. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 53: 233–249, 2006     

Excluding Induced Subdivisions of the Bull and Related Graphs

For any graph H, let Forb*(H) be the class of graphs with no induced subdivision of H. It was conjectured in [J Graph Theory, 24 (1997), 297–311] that, for every graph H, there is a function f_H: ?→? such that for every graph G∈Forb*(H), χ(G)≤f_H(ω(G)). We prove this conjecture for several graphs H, namely the paw (a triangle with a pendant edge), the bull (a triangle with two vertex‐disjoint pendant edges), and what we call a “necklace,” that is, a graph obtained from a path by choosing a matching such that no edge of the matching is incident with an endpoint of the path, and for each edge of the matching, adding a vertex adjacent to the ends of this edge. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 71:49–68, 2012     

Production of a fluorescence probe in ion-beam radiolysis of aqueous coumarin-3-carboxylic acid solution—2: Effects of nuclear fragmentation and its simulation with PHITS

The G(OH) values in aqueous coumarin-3-carboxylic-acid (3-CCA) solutions irradiated with ¹²C⁶⁺ beams having the energies of 135, 290 and 400 MeV/u were measured by a fluorescent method around the Bragg peak, with 0.6 mm intervals, and quartz cells of 1 cm optical lengths, at the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba, National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS). For each ion, the G(OH) has been calculated as a function of dose average LET and position. The calculated results have been compared to measurements, and the results, reproducibility and reliability of the calculations are discussed in the paper.