Measurement of gamma radiation from rocks used as building material in Tiruchirappalli district,Tamil Nadu,India

Tiruchirappalli district is naturally endowed with rich building material resources which are also used in neighboring districts. Hence, measurements of activity concentrations and absorbed dose rate of primordial radionuclides (²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K) in the rock samples collected from 14 sedimentary rocks and 9 igneous rocks were carried out employing gamma ray spectrometry. In sedimentary rocks the geometric mean activity concentrations of ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K were found to be 7.4, 29.5 and 233.6 Bq kg^?1, respectively. On the other hand in igneous rocks geometric mean activity concentrations of ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K were distinctly higher and found to be 13.1, 105.7 and 888.8 Bq kg^?1, respectively. The mean radium equivalent activity (Ra_eq) recorded in both sedimentary (20.8 Bq kg^?1) and igneous rocks (245.4 Bq kg^?1) were well within the limit prescribed for dwellings (370 Bq kg^?1) except Vilathupatti (689.3 Bq kg^?1) and Narthamalai (371.6 Bq kg^?1). The mean absorbed dose rate from igneous rock (115 nGy h^?1) exceeded the prescribed limit of 55 nGy h^?1. The mean indoor annual effective dose from the sedimentary rock (0.056 mSv y^?1) and igneous rock (0.580 mSv y^?1) did not exceed the prescribed limit (1 mSv y^?1) except the igneous rock from Vilathupatti (1.51 mSv y^?1). The study concludes that sedimentary and igneous rocks analyzed were radiologically safe when used as building materials except igneous rock from Vilathupatti and Narthamalai.     

Inventory with service time and transfer of customers and/inventory

An inventory system with two parallel service facilities is considered. A certain number of customers are transferred from longer to shorter queue whenever their difference reaches a prescribed quantity. Along with this customer transfer, a certain quantity of inventory is also transferred, depending on availability. Further, if one of the queues has customers, but has no inventoried items whereas the other has at least one inventoried item to spare, then exactly one item is taken to the former and service begins thereby enhancing the efficiency of the system. Stability of the system is analysed. Several performance measures that helps in efficient design of such systems, are computed. Some numerical results are provided.     

On continuous maps between Grassmann manifolds

LetG _n,k denote the Grassmann manifold ofk-planes in ?ⁿ. We show that for any continuous mapf: G _n,k→G_n,l the induced map inZ/2-cohomology is either zero in positive dimensions or has image in the subring generated by w₁(γ_{n, k}), provided 1≤l<k≤[n/2] andn≥k+2l-1. Our main application is to obtain negative results on the existence of equivariant maps between oriented Grassmann manifolds. We also obtain positive results in many cases on the existence of equivariant maps between oriented Grassmann manifolds.     

Evidence for synchronous cleavage of N-H and C-C bonds: bis(2,2￠-bipyridyl)copper(II) permanganate oxidation of cobalt(III) bound and unbound α-amino acids

Summary Oxidation of pentaamminecobalt(III) complexes of α-aminoacids by bis(2,2¢-bipyridyl) copper(II) permanganate in 50% HOAc-50% H₂O (v/v) aqueous acetic acid medium. This oxidation as a diagnostic tool to find out the fraction proceeding by synchronous cleavages of N-H and C-C bonds.     

How Many Timesteps for a Cycle? Analysis of the Wisdom-Holman Algorithm

The Wisdom-Holman algorithm is an effective method for numerically solving nearly integrable systems. It takes into account the exact solution of the integrable part. If the nearly integrable system is the solar system, for example, the Wisdom-Holman algorithm uses the solution consisting of Keplerian orbits obtained when the interplanetary interactions are ignored. The effectiveness of the algorithm lies in its ability to take long timesteps. We use the Duffing oscillator and Kepler's problem with forcing to deduce how long those timesteps can be. For nearly Keplerian orbits, the timesteps must be at least six per orbital period even when the orbital eccentricity is zero. High eccentricity of the Keplerian orbits constrains the algorithm and forces it to take shorter timesteps. The analysis is applied to the solar system and other problems.     

Further studies of the reaction kernel structure and stabilization of jet diffusion flames

The structure of axisymmetric laminar jet diffusion flames of ethane, ethylene, acetylene, and propane in quasi-quiescent air has been studied numerically in normal earth gravity (1g) and zero gravity (0g). The time-dependent full Navier–Stokes equations with buoyancy were solved using an implicit, third-order accurate numerical scheme, including a C₃-chemistry model and an optically thin-media radiation model for heat losses. Observations of the flames were also made at the NASA Glenn 2.2-Second Drop Tower. For all cases of the fuels and gravity levels investigated, a peak reactivity spot, i.e., reaction kernel, was formed in the flame base, thereby holding a trailing diffusion flame. The location of the reaction kernel with respect to the burner rim depended inversely on the reaction-kernel reactivity or velocity. In the C₂ and C₃ hydrocarbon flames, the H₂–O₂ chain reactions were important at the reaction kernel, yet the CH₃ + O → CH₂O + H reaction, a dominant contributor to the heat-release rate in methane flames studied previously, did not outweigh other exothermic reactions. Instead of the C₁-route oxidation pathway in methane flames, the C₂ and C₃ hydrocarbon fuels dehydrogenated on the fuel side and acetylene was a major hydrocarbon fragment burning at the reaction kernel. The reaction-kernel correlations between the reactivity (the heat-release or oxygen-consumption rate) and the velocity, obtained previously for methane, were developed further for various fuels in more universal forms using variables related to local Damköhler numbers and Peclet numbers.     

Molecular Diffusion Measurement in Lipid Bilayers over Wide Concentration Ranges: A Comparative Study

Molecular diffusion in biological membranes is a determining factor in cell signaling and cell function. In the past few decades, three main fluorescence spectroscopy techniques have emerged that are capable of measuring molecular diffusion in artificial and biological membranes at very different concentration ranges and spatial resolutions. The widely used methods of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and single‐particle tracking (SPT) can determine absolute diffusion coefficients at high (>100 μm^?2) and very low surface concentrations (single‐molecule level), respectively. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), on the other hand, is well‐suited for the intermediate concentration range of about 0.1–100 μm^?2. However, FCS in general requires calibration with a standard dye of known diffusion coefficient, and yields only relative measurements with respect to the calibration. A variant of FCS, z‐scan FCS, is calibration‐free for membrane measurements, but requires several experiments at different well‐controlled focusing positions. A recently established FCS method, electron‐multiplying charge‐coupled‐device‐based total internal reflection FCS (TIR‐FCS), referred to here as imaging TIR‐FCS (ITIR–FCS), is also independent of calibration standards, but to our knowledge no direct comparison between these different methods has been made. Herein, we seek to establish a comparison between FRAP, SPT, FCS, and ITIR–FCS by measuring the lateral diffusion coefficients in two model systems, namely, supported lipid bilayers and giant unilamellar vesicles.