An experimental investigation on the poor hydrogen sorption properties of nano-structured LaNi5 prepared by ball-milling

Nano-structured LaNi5 hydrogen storage materials prepared by ball-milling is analysed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). DSC results indicate a partial elimination of defects at 500 °C in a more efficient way for the short-time ball-milled powders compared to the long-time ball-milled ones. XPS results show almost no change in the core-level electronic structure for La and Ni of LaNi5 in the bulk and the nano-structured forms, but gives an indication that the self-restoring mechanism of the active surface observed in the bulk sample (Siegmann et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 40, 972) may not be occurring in the nano-powders. Results from the X-ray diffraction and the local structural studies together with the above observations suggest that the reduced unit-cell volume and the enhanced atomic disorder in the nano-structured LaNi5 cause a larger energy barrier for the hydrogen sorption reactions of the long-time ball-milled samples

Generalized Wasserstein distance and its application to transport equations with source

In this article, we generalize the Wasserstein distance to measures with different masses. We study the properties of such distance. In particular, we show that it metrizes weak convergence for tight sequences. We use this generalized Wasserstein distance to study a transport equation with source, in which both the vector field and the source depend on the measure itself. We prove existence and uniqueness of the solution to the Cauchy problem when the vector field and the source are Lipschitzian with respect to the generalized Wasserstein distance

Effect of endogenous and exogenous prostaglandin E on Friend erythroleukaemia cell growth and differentiation.

The effect of exogenous and endogenous prostaglandins on the patterns of growth and differentiation of Friend erythroleukaemia cells (FLC) were studied. During the differentiation process, DMSO stimulated PGE synthesis by an average of 95%. The addition of a long-acting synthetic analogue of PGE2,16,16-dimethyl-PGE2-methyl ester (di-M-PGE2) to the culture medium only slightly and temporarily slowed cell growth, with no appreciable induction of differentiation. However, in the presence of DMSO, the same concentration of di-M-PGE2 produced 73% inhibition of cell growth and accelerated and potently stimulated haemoglobin production. The action of both di-M-PGE2 and DMSO on cell proliferation was dependent upon the state of cell growth at the time of the administration of these compounds. FLC cultures treated with DMSO + di-M-PGE2 produced considerable amounts of haemoglobin before even one duplication cycle was completed. Both DMSO and di-M-PGE2 stimulated endogenous PGE biosynthesis, and the biosynthetic effect of these compounds was synergistic. Inhibition of endogenous prostaglandin synthesis by indomethacin completely abolished the effects produced by DMSO + di-M-PGE2 on the growth, and substantially reduced the stimulated differentiation of FLC. These data suggest that an endogenously synthesized prostaglandin plays a significant role in both the inhibition of replication and in the stimulation of differentiation induced by DMSO and di-M-PGE2 in Friend erythroleukaemia cells

Phase transitions for the cavity approach to the clique problem on random graphs

We give a rigorous proof of two phase transitions for a disordered system designed to find large cliques inside Erdos random graphs. Such a system is associated with a conservative probabilistic cellular automaton inspired by the cavity method originally introduced in spin glass theory.Comment: 36 pages, 4 figure

Orthonormal sequences in L2(Rd)L^2(R^d) and time frequency localization

We study uncertainty principles for orthonormal bases and sequences in $L^2(\R^d)$. As in the classical Heisenberg inequality we focus on the product of the dispersions of a function and its Fourier transform. In particular we prove that there is no orthonormal basis for $L^2(\R)$ for which the time and frequency means as well as the product of dispersions are uniformly bounded. The problem is related to recent results of J. Benedetto, A. Powell, and Ph. Jaming. Our main tool is a time frequency localization inequality for orthonormal sequences in $L^2(\R^d)$. It has various other applications.Comment: 18 page

Photometric Solutions for Detached Eclipsing Binaries: selection of ideal distance indicators in the SMC

Detached eclipsing binary stars provide a robust one-step distance determination to nearby galaxies. As a by-product of Galactic microlensing searches, catalogs of thousands of variable stars including eclipsing binaries have been produced by the OGLE, MACHO and EROS collaborations. We present photometric solutions for detached eclipsing binaries in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) discovered by the OGLE collaboration. The solutions were obtained with an automated version of the Wilson-Devinney program. By fitting mock catalogs of eclipsing binaries we find that the normalized stellar radii (particularly their sum) and the surface brightness ratio are accurately described by the fitted parameters and estimated standard errors, despite various systematic uncertainties. In many cases these parameters are well constrained. In addition we find that systems exhibiting complete eclipses can be reliably identified where the fractional standard errors in the radii are small. We present two quantitatively selected sub-samples of eclipsing binaries that will be excellent distance indicators. These can be used both for computation of the distance to the SMC and to probe its structure. One particularly interesting binary has a very well determined solution, exhibits complete eclipses, and is comprised of well detached G-type, class $II$ giants.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figures. To be published in Ap

Dispersive estimates for Schr\"odinger operators with point interactions in R3\mathbb{R}^3

The study of dispersive properties of Schr\"odinger operators with point interactions is a fundamental tool for understanding the behavior of many body quantum systems interacting with very short range potential, whose dynamics can be approximated by non linear Schr\"odinger equations with singular interactions. In this work we proved that, in the case of one point interaction in $\mathbb{R}^3$, the perturbed Laplacian satisfies the same $L^p-L^q$ estimates of the free Laplacian in the smaller regime $q\in[2,3)$. These estimates are implied by a recent result concerning the $L^p$ boundedness of the wave operators for the perturbed Laplacian. Our approach, however, is more direct and relatively simple, and could potentially be useful to prove optimal weighted estimates also in the regime $q\geq 3$.Comment: To appear on: "Advances in Quantum Mechanics: Contemporary Trends and Open Problems", G. Dell'Antonio and A. Michelangeli eds., Springer-INdAM series 201

Time-evolving measures and macroscopic modeling of pedestrian flow

This paper deals with the early results of a new model of pedestrian flow, conceived within a measure-theoretical framework. The modeling approach consists in a discrete-time Eulerian macroscopic representation of the system via a family of measures which, pushed forward by some motion mappings, provide an estimate of the space occupancy by pedestrians at successive time steps. From the modeling point of view, this setting is particularly suitable to treat nonlocal interactions among pedestrians, obstacles, and wall boundary conditions. In addition, analysis and numerical approximation of the resulting mathematical structures, which is the main target of this work, follow more easily and straightforwardly than in case of standard hyperbolic conservation laws, also used in the specialized literature by some Authors to address analogous problems.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures -- Accepted for publication in Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal., 201