The effect of an antiphlogistic incorporated in liposomes on experimentally induced inflammation

The antiphlogistic Ibuprofen incorporated in liposomes caused a decrease of the inflammatory edema induced by Carrageenan in the distal part of the rat's hind leg after both the intramuscular and percutaneous administration. The antiphlogistic effect of free Ibuprofen in the cream was weaker. Intramuscular administration of empty liposomes slowed down in the initial stages the development of inflammation and slightly diminished the size of edema.     

Effect of annealing on the structure and electrical properties of sulfur-doped amorphous c-BN layers

Undoped and sulfur doped amorphous cubic boron nitride (a-cBN) layers were deposited on to silicon substrates by reactive pulse plasma (RPP) method. Subsequently they were annealed at 475, 500 and 700 K for 1 h in pure nitrogen atmosphere. In this study structural and electronic properties of unannealed and annealed layers were investigated. The results show that a consequence of annealing is formation of microstructural stable nanocrystalline cubic boron nitride film as well as substitutional location of introducedin situ donor impurities. This resulted in creation of a-cBN(n-type)-Si(p-type) heterojunction.     

Numerical investigation of the error on flow measurements due to exhaust gas heating and cooling in the SBI‐configuration

The possible flow measurement error due to heating or cooling of exhaust gases in the Single‐Burning‐Item (SBI) test is estimated from numerical experiments. It is illustrated that there is no one‐to‐one correspondence between the velocity profile shape and the instantaneous Reynolds number, due to the time‐dependent temperature and density profile evolution in the exhaust gas pipe. A non‐ambiguous relation is found between the velocity profile shape and an ‘effective’ Reynolds number, based on the turbulent viscosity. Maximum variations of the velocity correction factors, relating the mean velocity to the velocity on the pipe axis, are found to be in the order of 2% for limiting circumstances for the SBI test. The primary effect is caused by instantaneous Reynolds number variations. The effect of heating or cooling of the flow by the hot or cold pipe is noticeable, too. The statements are proved to be valid independent of the computational grid, the turbulence model and the time steps taken to obtain the numerical solutions. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A method to find all solutions of a system of multivariate polynomial equalities and inequalities in the max algebra

In this paper we show that finding solutions of a system of multivariate polynomial equalities and inequalities in the max algebra is equivalent to solving an Extended Linear Complementarity Problem. This allows us to find all solutions of such a system of multivariate polynomial equalities and inequalities and provides a geometrical insight in the structure of the solution set. We also demonstrate that this enables us to solve many important problems in the max algebra and the max-min-plus algebra such as matrix decompositions, construction of matrices with a given characteristic polynomial, state space transformations and the (minimal) state space realization problem.Research assistant with the N.F.W.O. (Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research).Senior research associate with the N.F.W.O.     

Determination of porous glass surface free energy components from contact angles

The contact angles of water drops and diiodomethane drops on pellets made of controlled porosity glasses have been measured. The surface of the glasses was modified by thermal treatment at 873 K which led to an increase in the surface concentration of boron atoms. Glass modified with Carbowax 20M (polyethylene glycol) and fully hydroxylated glass have also been studied. Using the measured contact angles and modified Young equation, the dispersion and nondispersion components of the glass surface free energy have been calculated. The values show that with increasing heating time (increasing surface density of boron atoms) an increase in the surface polarity takes place. However, the polarity of the same samples decreases after treatment with Carbowax, increasingly so with higher boron atom concentrations.     

Allotropic phase transformations induced by ultraviolet power laser irradiation of graphite

Optically induced allotropic phase transformations of carbon were studied. Under irradiation with a laser beam of 337.1 nm wavelength, at an energy density of 1.9 mJ per 0.1 mm², graphite transformed into -carbin, and amorphous carbon-film transformed into rhombohedral graphite with no evidence of high-temperature effects. The transformations differ from the changes occurring due to heating alone. We suggest that the results could be explained by the one-photon excitation and recombination of electrons.     

Allotropie phase transformation induced by UV power laser irradiation of boron nitride

The optically induced allotropic phase transformations of boron nitride were studied. Under irradiation with laser beam of 337.1 nm wavelength, at energy density of 1.9mJ per 0.1 mm² a hexagonal boron nitride transformed into the cubic form. The suggestion is made that the results obtained could be explained by the multiphoton excitation and recombination of electrons.     

On security arguments of the second round SHA-3 candidates

In 2007, the US National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) announced a call for the design of a new cryptographic hash algorithm in response to vulnerabilities like differential attacks identified in existing hash functions, such as MD5 and SHA-1. NIST received many submissions, 51 of which got accepted to the first round. 14 candidates were left in the second round, out of which five candidates have been recently chosen for the final round. An important criterion in the selection process is the SHA-3 hash function security. We identify two important classes of security arguments for the new designs: (1) the possible reductions of the hash function security to the security of its underlying building blocks and (2) arguments against differential attack on building blocks. In this paper, we compare the state of the art provable security reductions for the second round candidates and review arguments and bounds against classes of differential attacks. We discuss all the SHA-3 candidates at a high functional level, analyze, and summarize the security reduction results and bounds against differential attacks. Additionally, we generalize the well-known proof of collision resistance preservation, such that all SHA-3 candidates with a suffix-free padding are covered.     

Sensing properties of the CB-PCV composites for chlorinated hydrocarbon vapours

The conductivity measurements of carbon black (CB)-polyvinyl chloride (PCV) composite in a tetrachloride (CCl₄), trichloromethane (chloroform, CHCl₃) or methylene chloride (CH₂Cl₂) vapour ambient have been performed. The composite contains 20% Chezacarb K2 carbon black and was prepared as a plastic strip. Based on the =f(t) dependence, three methods to determine the vapour concentration,c, are presented. The investigations could allow one to construct a CCl₄ and CHCl₃ vapour detector.     

A universal dependence for thermal conductivity of metals and dilute alloys

A universal curve relating the maximum of thermal conductivity and its respective temperature with the residual electrical resistivity has been proposed for metals and dilute alloys. Based on the equation of that curve, a comparative analysis of selected literature data of thermal conductivity of metals, which have residual electrical resistivity in the range 10^–11<₀<10^–5. cm, have been performed. Using the data for 33 metals, confirmation of the Wiedemann-Franz law for the impurity component/T of thermal conductivity was obtained, which means that _th/_el1, where _th and _el are the parameters of the electron-lattice defect interaction obtained from measurements of thermal and electrical conductivity, respectively. Examples of the failure of the Wiedemann-Franz law are also presented, exhibiting the values of _th/_el in the range 0.16 to 25. Measurements of thermal conductivity in the range 2 to 20 K and determination of the residual electrical resistivity for the samples of Cd doped with Zn and quenched were performed, resulting in values _th/_el1.