Three-dimensional half-plane diffraction: Exact solution and testing of uniform theories

The exact solution of the diffraction problem for a plane electromagnetic wave at oblique incidence on a perfectly conducting half-plane was obtained more than 30 years ago. Recent advances in the high-frequency diffraction theory enable us to present the final solution in much simpler and suggestive forms. This solution is next used to test two uniform theories of edge diffraction. We find that uniform asymptotic theory (UAT) developed by Ahluwalia et al. recovers the exact solution, whereas uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (UTD) developed by Kouyoumjian and Pathak does not. The error of UTD is discussed.     

Varietal Differentiation of Grape Juice Based on the Analysis of Near- and Mid-infrared Spectral Data

The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of visible (VIS), near-infrared reflectance (NIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy combined with pattern recognition methods as tools to differentiate grape juice samples from commercial Australian Chardonnay (n = 121) and Riesling (n = 91) varieties. Principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) were applied to classified grape juice samples according to variety based on both NIR and MIR spectra using full cross-validation (leave-one-out) as a validation method. Overall, LDA models correctly classify 86% and 80% of the grape juice samples according to variety using MIR and VIS-NIR, respectively. The results from this study demonstrated that spectral differences exist between the juice samples from different varietal origins and confirmed that the infrared (IR) spectrum contains information able to discriminate among samples. Furthermore, analysis and interpretation of the eigenvectors from the PCA models developed verified that the IR spectrum of the grape juice has enough information to allow the prediction of the variety. These results also suggested that IR spectroscopy coupled with pattern recognition methods holds the necessary information for a successful classification of juice samples of different varieties.     

Single Soybean Seed NMR Calibration for Oil Measurement Using Commercial Cooking Oils

Development of high oil soybeans would reduce the cost of soybean oil production for biodiesel or edible oil applications. An accurate determination of soybean seed oil concentration is essential especially when developing superior cultivars with increased seed oil content. The objective of this study was to develop an oil measurement method for single seeds using NMR spectrometry. An NMR spectrometer was calibrated using commercial cooking oil. Fifteen cultivars of known mean oil content were used to evaluate the calibration curves. The calibration curves developed had a correlation coefficient of 0.99. It was found that soybean and corn oil gave identical results over the calibrated interval.     

Trans isomeric octadecenoic acids are related inversely to arachidonic acid and DHA and positively related to mead acid in umbilical vessel wall lipids

Long-chain PUFA play an important role in early human neurodevelopment. Significant inverse correlations were reported between values of trans isomeric and long-chain PUFA in plasma lipids of preterm infants and children aged 1–15 yr as well as in venous cord blood lipids of full-term infants. Here we report FA compositional data of cord blood vessel wall lipids in 308 healthy, full-term infants (gestational age: 39.7±1.2 wk, birth weight: 3528±429 g, mean±SD). The median (interquartile range) of the sum of 18-carbon trans FA was 0.22 (0.13)% w/w in umbilical artery and 0.16 (0.10)% w/w in umbilical vein lipids. Nonparametric correlation analysis showed significant inverse correlations between the sum of 18-carbon trans FA and both arachidonic acid and DHA in artery (r=−0.38, P<0.01, and r=−0.20, P<0.01) and vein (r=−0.36, P<0.01, and −0.17, P<0.01) wall lipids. In addition, the sum of 18-carbon trans FA was significantly positively correlated to Mead acid, a general indicator of EFA deficiency, in both artery (r=+0.35, P<0.01) and vein (r=+0.31, P<0.01) wall lipids. The present results obtained in a large group of full-term infants suggest that maternal trans FA intake is inversely associated with long-chain PUFA status of the infant at birth.     

Exo-mechanism proximity-accelerated alkylations: investigations of linkers, electrophiles and surface mutations in engineered cyclophilin-cyclosporin systems

Investigations on the scope and utility of exo-mechanism proximity-accelerated reactions in engineered receptor-ligand systems are reported. We synthesized a series of electrophilic cyclosporin (CsA) derivatives by varying electrophiles and linker lengths, prepared a series of nucleophilic cysteine mutations on the surface of cyclophilin A (Cyp), and examined their reactivity and specificity in proximity-accelerated reactions. Acrylamide and epoxide electrophiles afforded useful reactivity and high specificity for alkylation of engineered receptors in Jurkat cell extracts. We found that remote cysteines (>17 A from the ligand) could be alkylated with useful rates under physiological conditions. The results from mutations of the receptor surface suggest that the dominant factors governing the rates of proximity-accelerated reactions are related to the local environment of the reactive group on the protein surface. This study defines several parameters affecting reactivity in exo-mechanism proximity-accelerated reactions and provides guidance for the design of experiments for biological investigations involving proximity-accelerated reactions.     

Diffraction by an elliptic cone and the solution of the wedge diffraction problem

Contents The paper deals with scalar diffraction by an elliptic cone in the limit case of ellipticity parameterk=0. In this case the elliptic cone degenerates into a wedge with exterior opening angle 2₀. We solve the two-parameter eigenvalue problem for two coupled Lamé differential equations fork=0 and obtain the eigenvalues and the eigenfunctions for the wedge problem by a completely analytical calculation. We utilize a precise transformation of the sphero-conal coordinates into spherical coordinates with the edge of the wedge as polar axis and determine, by substitution of the transformed Lamé products into Green's functions for the elliptic cone, the solution of the scalar diffraction problem for the wedge.The results obtained are in full agreement with those reported in [2]. In the special case of half-plane diffraction (₀=) the solution reduces to that in [1].

---

Beugung am elliptischen Kegel und die Lösung des Beugungsproblems für den Keil

Übersicht in dieser Arbeit beschäftigen wir uns mit der skalaren Beugung am Kegel elliptischen Querschnitts im Grenzfall des Elliptizitätsparametersk=0. In diesem Fall entartet der elliptische Kegel in einen Keil mit dem Außenöffnungswinkel 2₀. Wir lösen das zweiparametrige Eigenwertproblem für zwei gekoppelte Lamésche Differentialgleichungen fürk=0 und erhalten über eine vollständig analytische Rechnung die Eigenwerte und die Eigenfunktionen für das Keilproblem. Wir ziehen eine exakte Transformation der elliptischen Kegelkoordinaten in Kugelkoordinaten mit der Keilkante als Polarachse heran und gewinnen, durch Substitution der transformierten Laméschen Produkte in den Greenschen Funktionen für den elliptischen Kegel, die Lösung des skalaren Beugungsproblems für den Keil.Die Ergebnisse stimmen vollständig überein mit denjenigen, die in [2] zitiert werden. Im Spezialfall der Beugung an der Halbebene (₀=) wird die Lösung wieder zurückgeführt auf die in [1] abgeleitete Lösung.

     

High-frequency diffraction of a line-source field by a half-plane: Solutions by ray techniques

The diffraction of an arbitrary cylindrical wave due to a line source and incident on a half-plane is treated by the uniform asymptotic theory of edge diffraction. For large wavenumberk, an asymptotic solution for the total field up to and including terms of orderk^{-3/2}relative to the incident field is derived. This solution is uniformly valid for all observation points, including points near the edge and the shadow boundaries. In particualr, two special cases are considered: A) the line source is located on the half-plane, and radiates anE-polarized wave and B) the line source is located in the aperture complementary to the half-plane and radiates anH-polarized wave. A companion paper will show that our asymptotic solution for Case A) is in complete agreement with the asymptotic expansion of the exact solution. For the same diffraction problem, asymptotic solutions obtained by the method of slope diffraction coefficients and the method of equivalent currents are also discussed. It is found that the latter solutions agree with the exact one only when i) the observation point is away from the edge and the shadow boundaries, and/or ii) the terms of orderk^{-3/2}in the field solution are ignored.     

Celebrating ten years of KRYPTOS: a series of cryptanalysis

Abstract

The KRYPTOS competition is an annual codebreaking competition for undergraduates. Debuting in 2011 with 49 participants from three states, after nine years we have seen over 1,000 students from 32 states and seven different countries. KRYPTOS will hold its tenth competition in April of 2020. Here we present some of the puzzles participants have found most elusive and challenge you to beat the clock on our fastest solver.     

The Common Operational Picture as Collective Sensemaking

The common operational picture is used to overcome coordination and information management problems during emergency response. Increasingly, this approach is incorporated in more advanced information systems. This is rooted in an ‘information warehouse’ perspective, which implies information can be collected, sorted and exchanged in an accessible and univocal form. In practice, however, professionals interpret similar information differently. Therefore, we focus on how emergency responders develop collective sensemaking from information. We employ a ‘trading zone’ perspective, in which information is negotiated, to study information management in an ethnographic study of disaster exercises in the Netherlands. Our analysis shows how professionals attribute different meanings to information that distorts the coordination process. We end by stressing the importance of actionable knowledge and reflexivity.     

Singularity in Green's function and its numerical evaluation

The free-space scalar Green's functionghas anR^{-1}singularity, whereRis the distance between the source and observation points. The second derivatives ofghaveR^{-3}singularities, which are not generally integrable over a volume. The derivatives ofgare treated as generalized functions in the manner described by Gel'fand and Shilov, and a new formula is derived that regularizes a divergent convolution integral involving the second derivatives ofg. When the formula is used in the dyadic Green's function formulation for calculating theEfield, all previous results are recovered as special cases. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the formula is particularly suitable for the numerical evaluation of the field at a source point, because it allows the exclusion of an arbitrary finite region around the singular point from the integration volume. This feature is not shared by any of the previous results on the dyadic Green's function.