Modified gravity on the brane and dark energy

We analyze the dynamics of an AdS₅ braneworld with matter fields when gravity is allowed to deviate from the Einstein form on the brane. We consider exact five-dimensional warped solutions which are associated with conformal bulk fields of weight –4 and describe on the brane the following three dynamics: those of inhomogeneous dust, of generalized dark radiation, and of homogeneous polytropic dark energy. We show that, with modified gravity on the brane, the existence of such dynamical geometries requires the presence of non-conformal matter fields confined to the brane.     

T-duality in Affine NA Toda Models

The construction of non-Abelian affine Toda models is discussed in terms of its underlying Lie algebraic structure. It is shown that a subclass of such non-conformal two-dimensional integrable models naturally leads to the construction of a pair of actions, which share the same spectra and are related by canonical transformations.     

Mechanosynthesis of YIG and GdIG: A Structural and Mössbauer Study

We have investigated the mechanosynthesis of gadolinium and yttrium iron garnets by high-energy ball-milling of α-Fe₂O₃ and Gd₂O₃ or α-Fe₂O₃ and Y₂O₃, respectively, followed by short thermal annealings conducted at moderate temperatures. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy, in order to determine the influence of the milling time and annealing conditions on the final products. For as-milled samples of each rare-earth system, the results revealed the formation of perovskite phases, in relative amounts that depend on the milling time. The formation of garnet phases was observed in as-annealed samples treated at 1000°C for 2 h or 1100°C for 3 h, i.e., at very modest annealing requirements when compared with ordinary solid-state-reaction processes performed without previous high-energy milling. Also, the occurrence was verified of a milling time for which the relative amount of garnet phases formed by annealing was maximized. This time depends on the rare-earth composing the garnet phase and on the annealing temperature.     

Erbium:YAG (2.94 mum) laser effects on dental tissues

Past trials with soft and calcified tissues have demonstrated that long pulse train (2.5 mus) Er:YAG (2.94 mum) laser may be used to ablate tooth structure of human teeth. Determination of physical and thermal damage to surrounding tissue during removal of enamel and dentin is a primary objective of this study. Extracted human teeth with thermal probes imbedded in the pulp chambers were submitted to cavity preparation using an Erbium YAG laser with water mist. Wavelength selection as well as use of a water mist during the procedure resulted in efficient tissue removal without significant surrounding damage. Ground sections and SEM sections of teeth showed little or no melting or ash formation in adjacent dentin and enamel and no visible change in the pulp chamber. The surfaces produced by laser ablation were rough and irregular with craters and grooves. Average temperature change in the pulp chamber monitored during tooth preparation was 2.2 degrees Centigrade. These findings suggest that constantly available water aids vaporization and microexplosions, increasing the efficiency of tooth structure removal, and aids in cooling of the tooth structures. The long pulse Er:YAG (2.94 mum) laser may be an effective method for tooth reduction applications when used with a water mist.     

Soliton Raman fibre-ring oscillators

Results are presented on the operation and optimization of soliton Raman fibre-ring lasers using a c.w. mode-locked Nd-YAG laser at 1.32m as the source of 100 ps pump pulses. Various lengths of standard single-mode silica fibre were used, and tunable pulses as short as 100 fs generated.On leave from Departamento de Fisica, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceio, 57000-AL, Brazil     

Chimie des complexes de metaux de transition avec des hydrocarbures cyanes : III. Quelques observations sur la conformation et la reactivite de complexes dicyclopentadienyles du molybdene et du tungstene

A new class of cyclic telluronium salts has been prepared. All the salts are stable in solution in CHCl₃ or dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO). Conductivity measurements in DMSO and dimethylformamide (DMF) have shown that considerable ion pairing occurs in solution. Infrared, ¹H, ¹³C, ¹²⁵Te NMR, and mass spectra are reported and discussed.     

Simulation of aerated lagoon using artificial neural networks and multivariate regression techniques

The aim of this study was to develop an empirical model that provides accurate predictions of the biochemical oxygen demand of the output stream from the aerated lagoon at International Paper of Brazil, one of the major pulp and paper plants in Brazil. Predictive models were calculated from functional link neural networks (FLNNs), multiple linear regression, principal components regression, and partial least-squares regression (PLSR). Improvement in FLNN modeling capability was observed when the data were preprocessed using the PLSR technique. PLSR also proved to be a powerful linear regression technique for this problem, which presents operational data limitations.     

Phase transfer of metal cations by induced dynamic carrier agents: biphasic extraction based on dynamic covalent chemistry

In contrast to the classical method where a single molecule is designed to extract metal cations under specific conditions, dynamic covalent chemistry provides an approach based on the implementation of an adaptive dynamic covalent library for inducing the generation of the extractant species. This approach has been applied to the liquid–liquid extraction of copper(ii) nitrate based on a dynamic library of acylhydrazones constituents that self-build and distribute through the interface of a biphasic system. The addition of copper(ii) cations to this library triggers a modification of its composition and the up-regulation of the ligand molecules driven by coordination to the metal cations. Among these, one species has proven to be sufficiently lipophilic to play the role of carrier agent and its formation by component exchange enables the partial extraction of the copper(ii). The study of different pathways to generate the dynamic covalent library demonstrates the complete reversibility and the adaptability of the system. The detailed analytical investigation of the system provides a means to assess the mechanism of the dynamic extraction process.

Phase transfer of Cu(ii) cations is achieved by component exchange in a dynamic covalent library of acylhydrazone ligands. B1/B2 component exchange leads to the generation of a lipophilic carrier agent that extracts Cu(ii) into chloroform.