Preparation of photochromic calcium fluoride by additive coloration

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - Calcium fluoride doped with certain rare earths (CaF2:RE) can be made photochromic by additive coloration,i.e., by treating CaF2:RE samples in a calcium...     

Studies on nucleotides and related compounds in plants. III. Adenine and adenosine ratios in starch from potatoes held under prescribed conditions

Adenine is the sole base and adenosine is the sole nucleoside in potato starch extracts. The levels of these metabolites remain constant in stored potato starch over several months. In starch samples obtained from potatoes under differing physiological conditions the ratio of adenine to adenosine fluctuates. When potatoes are in an active state of growth the adenosine levels in the starch are low and the ratio of adenine to adenosine is consequently high (approx 8–12). Starch from physiologically inactive potatoes has an adenine: adenosine ratio of 1.5:2.5. When potatoes are held at 0 °C the levels of adenine and adenosine in the starch fall, but there is no striking change in the ratio of these two metabolites.     

Vicarious experience and partial reinforcement.

This study attempts to determine the conditions under which one can benefit from others' experience and to offer an explanation in terms of S-R theory using a mediational response mechanism. The apparatus was a modified slot machine which pays off on particular plays determined in advance by E. Ss were 200 university students divided into 5 pairs of groups, with one group in each pair having a 25% reward acquisition series and the other a 100% acquisition series. 5 different conditions of participation were used. The results showed that vicarious learning did take place as long as S actually participated in the winning during acquisition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A practical approach to fire hazard analysis for offshore structures

Offshore quantitative risk assessments (QRA) have historically been complex and costly. For large offshore design projects, the level of detail required for a QRA is often not available until well into the detailed design phase of the project. In these cases, the QRA may be unable to provide timely hazard understanding. As a result, the risk reduction measures identified often come too late to allow for cost effective changes to be implemented. This forces project management to make a number of difficult or costly decisions. This paper demonstrates how a scenario-based approached to fire risk assessment can be effectively applied early in a project's development. The scenario or design basis fire approach calculates the consequence of a select number of credible fire scenarios, determines the potential impact on the platform process equipment, structural members, egress routes, safety systems, and determines the effectiveness of potential options for mitigation. The early provision of hazard data allows the project team to select an optimum design that is safe and will meet corporate or regulatory risk criteria later in the project cycle. The focus of this paper is on the application of the scenario-based approach to gas jet fires. This paper draws on recent experience in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and other areas to outline an approach to fire hazard analysis and fire hazard management for deep-water structures. The methods presented will include discussions from the recent June 2002 International Workshop for Fire Loading and Response.     

Robust maximum principle for multi-model LQ-problem

This paper presents the version of the robust maximum principle in the context of multi-model control formulated as the minimax Bolza problem. The cost function contains a terminal term as well as an integral one. A fixed horizon and terminal set are considered. The necessary conditions of the optimality are derived for the class of uncertain systems given by an ordinary differential equation with parameters from a given finite set. This problem consists in the control design providing a good behaviour for a given class of multi-model system. It is shown that the design of the minimax optimal controller is reduced to a finite-dimensional optimization problem given at the corresponding simplex set containing the weight parameters to be found. The robust optimal control may be interpreted as a mixture (with the optimal weights) of the controls which are optimal for each fixed parameter value. The proof is based on the recent results obtained for minimax Mayer problem (Boltyanski and Poznyak 1999a). The minimax linear quadratic control problem is considered in detail and the illustrative examples dealing with finite as well as infinite horizons conclude this paper.     

Rate-dependent transient extrusion

Plane strain slip line field solutions are developed for deformation at the edge of a cylindrical billet when this is backward extruded to form a thin-walled cup. The extrusion pressure for a perfectly plastic material is then derived assuming homogeneous compression in the centre of the billet. A geometric factor, derived from the slip line field, is identified which permits the extrusion pressure to be determined for a nonlinear viscous material.Theoretical results agree well with recent experimental data on back extrusion of highly rate-sensitive superplastic alloys. It is shown that an apparent steady state exists in the process and that extrusion pressure increases with ram speed with a rate index approximately equal to that of the material. The punch profile shape has a greater effect on extrusion pressure for viscous materials than for perfectly plastic ones. The method of analysis appears to have a generality beyond the particular process considered and may be used to optimize extrusion equipment designs.     

Fast Fourier Transform simulation techniques for Coulomb gases

An improved approach to updating the electric field in simulations of Coulomb gases using the local lattice technique introduced by Maggs and Rossetto [A.C. Maggs, V. Rossetto, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (2002) 196402] is described and tested. Using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) an independent configuration of electric fields subject to Gauss' law constraint can be generated in a single update step. This FFT based method is shown to outperform previous approaches to updating the electric field in the simulation of a basic test problem in electrostatics of strongly correlated systems.     

Boundary finding with parametrically deformable models

Segmentation using boundary finding is enhanced both by considering the boundary as a whole and by using model-based global shape information. The authors apply flexible constraints, in the form of a probabilistic deformable model, to the problem of segmenting natural 2-D objects whose diversity and irregularity of shape make them poorly represented in terms of fixed features or form. The parametric model is based on the elliptic Fourier decomposition of the boundary. Probability distributions on the parameters of the representation bias the model to a particular overall shape while allowing for deformations. Boundary finding is formulated as an optimization problem using a maximum a posteriori objective function. Results of the method applied to real and synthetic images are presented, including an evaluation of the dependence of the method on prior information and image quality     

Enantioselectivity of recombinant Rhizomucor miehei lipase in the ring opening of oxazolin-5(4H)-ones

Enantioselectivity of enzyme catalysis is often rationalizedvia active site models. These models are constructed on thebasis of comparing the enantiomeric excess of product observedin a series of reactions which are conducted with a range ofhomologous substrates, typically carrying various side chainsubstitutions. Surprisingly the practical application of thesesimple but informative `pocket size' models has been rarelytested in genetic engineering experiments. In this paper wereport the construction, purification and enantioselectivityof two recombinant Rhizomucor miehei lipases which were designedto check the validity of such a model in reactions of ring openingof oxazolin-5(4H)-ones.