Determination of Magnetic and Nuclear Quadrupole Interactions in La@C82 from EPR Linewidth Data

From the analysis of the temperature dependence of the EPR line width, an estimate of the anisotropic parts of the dipolar and quadrupolar hyperfine couplings of lanthanum was derived. Furthermore, the rotational correlation time of the nearly spherical molecule was found to deviate considerably from that of the solvent molecules.     

Comparison of supports for the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from H2 and O2 using Au–Pd catalysts

The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from H₂ and O₂ using a range of supported Au–Pd alloy catalysts is compared for different supports using conditions previously identified as being optimal for hydrogen peroxide synthesis, i.e. low temperature (2 °C) using a water–methanol solvent mixture and short reaction time. Five supports are compared and contrasted, namely Al₂O₃, -Fe₂O₃, TiO₂, SiO₂ and carbon. For all catalysts the addition of Pd to the Au only catalyst increases the rate of hydrogen peroxide synthesis as well as the concentration of hydrogen peroxide formed. Of the materials evaluated, the carbon-supported Au–Pd alloy catalysts give the highest reactivity. The results show that the support can have an important influence on the synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from the direct reaction. The effect of the methanol–water solvent is studied in detail for the 2.5 wt% Au–2.5 wt% Pd/TiO₂ catalyst and the ratio of methanol to water is found to have a major effect on the rate of hydrogen peroxide synthesis. The optimum mixture for this solvent system is 80 vol.% methanol with 20 vol.% water. However, the use of water alone is still effective albeit at a decreased rate. The effect of catalyst mass was therefore also investigated for the water and water–methanol solvents and the observed effect on the hydrogen peroxide productivity using water as a solvent is not considered to be due to mass transfer limitations. These results are of importance with respect to the industrial application of these Au–Pd catalysts.     

SiCf/O′-SiAlON composite: properties and oxidation retained properties

A composite of O′SiAlON (Si_2-xAl_xN_2-xO_1+x, with x 0.14) reinforced with 20 vol.% SiC monofilaments was fabricated by hot-pressing, at 1600°C, for 2 h under 34 MPa pressure. The mechanical and interfacial properties of the composites, as-fabricated as well as post-oxidized, were, investigated. The composite exhibited a significant improvement in ultimate flexure strength (640 MPa) and work of fracture (42 kJ m⁻²) compared with that (350 MPa and 1.8 kJ m⁻², respectively) of the monolithic material. These mechanical properties were slightly increased after the composite was heat treated for 24 h in air at 1200 and 1300°C. However, the composite exhibited a significant degradation in ultimate strength, while the work of fracture (WOF) remained unchanged after exposure in air at temperatures beyond 1400°C. The as-fabricated composite revealed a low interfacial shear strength (6.2 MPa) and a frictional sliding stress (3.2 MPa). After the composite was oxidized at elevated temperatures, the interfacial bonding and sliding stresses were reduced to noticeable extents, resulting from the degradation of the carbon coating layer of the SiC monofilaments.     

An EKV-based high voltage MOSFET model with improved mobility and drift model

An EKV-based high voltage MOSFET model is presented. The intrinsic channel model is derived based on the charge based EKV-formalism. An improved mobility model is used for the modeling of the intrinsic channel to improve the DC characteristics. The model uses second order dependence on the gate bias and an extra parameter for the smoothening of the saturation voltage of the intrinsic drain. An improved drift model [Chauhan YS, Anghel C, Krummenacher F, Ionescu AM, Declercq M, Gillon R, et al. A highly scalable high voltage MOSFET model. In: IEEE European solid-state device research conference (ESSDERC), September 2006. p. 270–3; Chauhan YS, Anghel C, Krummenacher F, Maier C, Gillon R, Bakeroot B, et al. Scalable general high voltage MOSFET model including quasi-saturation and self-heating effect. Solid State Electron 2006;50(11–12):1801–13] is used for the modeling of the drift region, which gives smoother transition on output characteristics and also models well the quasi-saturation region of high voltage MOSFETs. First, the model is validated on the numerical device simulation of the VDMOS transistor and then, on the measured characteristics of the SOI-LDMOS transistor. The accuracy of the model is better than our previous model [Chauhan YS, Anghel C, Krummenacher F, Maier C, Gillon R, Bakeroot B, et al. Scalable general high voltage MOSFET model including quasi-saturation and self-heating effect. Solid State Electron 2006;50(11–12):1801–13] especially in the quasi-saturation region of output characteristics.     

Esophagitis in Sprague-Dawley rats is mediated by free radicals

Free radical-mediated esophagitis was studied during duodenogastroesophageal reflux (mixed reflux) or acid reflux in rats. The influence of reflux on esophageal glutathione levels was also examined. Mixed reflux caused more gross mucosal injury than acid reflux. Gross mucosal injury occurred in the mid-esophagus. Total glutathione (GSH) in the esophageal mucosa of control rats was highest in the distal esophagus. The time course of esophageal GSH in rats treated by mixed reflux showed a significant decrease 4 hr after initiation of reflux, followed by a significant increase from the 12th hour on. Mucosal GSH was increased in both reflux groups after 24 hr but significantly more so in the mixed than in the acid reflux group. The free radical scavenger superoxide dismutase (SOD) prevented esophagitis and was associated with decreased GSH levels. GSH depletion by buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) prevented esophagitis and stimulated SOD production in the esophageal mucosa. It is concluded that gastroesophageal reflux is associated with oxidative stress in the esophageal mucosa. The lower GSH levels in the mid-esophagus may predispose to damage in this area. Duodenogastroesophageal reflux causes more damage than pure acid reflux. Oxidative stress leads to GSH depletion of the esophageal mucosa in the first few hours following damage but then stimulates GSH production. GSH depletion by BSO does not worsen esophagitis since it increases the esophageal SOD concentration.     

A multiagent approach to managing air traffic flow

Intelligent air traffic flow management is one of the fundamental challenges facing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today. FAA estimates put weather, routing decisions and airport condition induced delays at 1,682,700 h in 2007 (FAA OPSNET Data, US Department of Transportation website, ), resulting in a staggering economic loss of over $41 billion (Joint Economic Commission Majority Staff, Your flight has been delayed again, 2008). New solutions to the flow management are needed to accommodate the threefold increase in air traffic anticipated over the next two decades. Indeed, this is a complex problem where the interactions of changing conditions (e.g., weather), conflicting priorities (e.g., different airlines), limited resources (e.g., air traffic controllers) and heavy volume (e.g., over 40,000 flights over the US airspace) demand an adaptive and robust solution. In this paper we explore a multiagent algorithm where agents use reinforcement learning (RL) to reduce congestion through local actions. Each agent is associated with a fix (a specific location in 2D space) and has one of three actions: setting separation between airplanes, ordering ground delays or performing reroutes. We simulate air traffic using FACET which is an air traffic flow simulator developed at NASA and used extensively by the FAA and industry. Our FACET simulations on both artificial and real historical data from the Chicago and New York airspaces show that agents receiving personalized rewards reduce congestion by up to 80% over agents receiving a global reward and by up to 90% over a current industry approach (Monte Carlo estimation).     

Dispersion in Disks

We present three new approximation algorithms with improved constant ratios for selecting n points in n disks such that the minimum pairwise distance among the points is maximized.

1. A very simple O(nlog?n)-time algorithm with ratio 0.511 for disjoint unit disks.
2. An LP-based algorithm with ratio 0.707 for disjoint disks of arbitrary radii that uses a linear number of variables and constraints, and runs in polynomial time.
3. A hybrid algorithm with ratio either 0.4487 or 0.4674 for (not necessarily disjoint) unit disks that uses an algorithm of Cabello in combination with either the simple O(nlog?n)-time algorithm or the LP-based algorithm.

The LP algorithm can be extended for disjoint balls of arbitrary radii in ? ^d , for any (fixed) dimension d, while preserving the features of the planar algorithm. The algorithm introduces a novel technique which combines linear programming and projections for approximating Euclidean distances. The previous best approximation ratio for dispersion in disjoint disks, even when all disks have the same radius, was 1/2. Our results give a positive answer to an open question raised by Cabello, who asked whether the ratio 1/2 could be improved.     

Design optimization of supersonic jet pumps using high fidelity flow analysis

Supersonic jet pumps are simple devices with no moving parts, where a high velocity (primary) flow is used to pump a second fluid. In this paper, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is combined with an optimization framework in order to develop a tool for the rapid generation of jet pump designs. A key feature of the problem formulation is the transformation of the jet pump design parameters in terms of geometric ratios. This approach dramatically reduces the number of unrealistic designs covered by the Design of Experiments. Optimal Latin Hypercubes for surrogate model building and model validation points are constructed using a permutation genetic algorithm and design points are evaluated using CFD. Surrogate models of primary and entrained flow rates are built using a Moving Least Squares approach. A series of optimizations for various pump sizes are performed using a genetic algorithm and Sequential Quadratic Programming, with responses calculated from the surrogates. This approach results in a set of optimized designs, from which pumps for a wide range of flow rates can be interpolated.     

Superconductivity,magnetic properties,and specific heat of the pseudoternary,body-centered tetragonal system Ho(Rh1−x Ru x )4B4

The phase boundaries between superconductivity and various types of magnetism in the pseudoternary system Ho(Rh_1–x Ru _x )₄B₄ were examined by low-temperature measurements of the specific heatc(T), dc magnetizationM(H), superconducting upper critical fieldH _c2 (T), and ac susceptibility x_ac (T). For Ru concentrationsx0.37 superconductivity coexists with antiferromagnetic order below about 1 K, as shown by characteristic minima in theH _c2 (T) curves and an extrapolation ofM(H) data. Additionally, theH _c2 (T) measurements exhibit an unusual hysteresis between data taken in increasing and decreasing fields below 0.6 K. As a starting point for a theoretical explanation of this feature, a mean-field model is proposed with antiferromagnetic as well as ferromagnetic interactions, which are tentatively identified as the RKKY and dipole-dipole interactions. The existence of two competing interactions is supported by the observation of a time-dependence of the x_ac signal at 50 mK for 0.40x0.70, leading to a pronounced hysteresis in x_ac (T), which reflects a relaxation of the magnetic structure with time constants of several hours. Forx0.80 the x_ac (T) andM(H) data indicate ferromagnetic ordering withT _m increasing withx. However, an irregular temperature dependence of the Arrott plots forx=1.0 and unusual features of the magneticc(T) anomalies forx=0.95 and 1.0 exclude simple mean-field ferromagnetism. A discussion of the experimental results based on anx-dependent variation of the electronic density of states at the Fermi level is presented.     

Image shifting technique to resolve directional ambiguity in double-pulsed velocity

Image shifting provides a method of determining the direction of displacement, and hence the velocity, for all types of pulsed laser velocimeter. It is independent of the scattering properties of the particles and/or the intensity of the illumination of the first image with respect to the second image, and it is capable of high performance. With rotating mirror systems, image shifting can be used to offset negative velocities up to 10 m/s. With electrooptic systems, it is estimated that image shifting can be used at velocities up to 500 m/s.