Evaluation of proposed Skylab and SSP soap products

Three personal hygiene cleansing agents and one laundry detergent (sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate), which are all candidates for use on long-duration space missions, were evaluated in terms of dermatological effects on human subjects and effects on microbiological species. None of the four materials exhibited adverse dermatological effects from either skin patch tests of two weeks duration or a simulated Skylab personal hygiene regimen of up to four weeks duration. No significant alterations in skin microflora during the use regimen were found. None of the four materials were found to serve as microbiological support media for the species tested, but a species of air-borne mold was observed to grow rapidly in a neutralized aqueous solution. None of the candidate agents was found to be strongly biocidal

Boundary manifolds of projective hypersurfaces

We study the topology of the boundary manifold of a regular neighborhood of a complex projective hypersurface. We show that, under certain Hodge theoretic conditions, the cohomology ring of the complement of the hypersurface functorially determines that of the boundary. When the hypersurface defines a hyperplane arrangement, the cohomology of the boundary is completely determined by the combinatorics of the underlying arrangement and the ambient dimension. We also study the LS category and topological complexity of the boundary manifold, as well as the resonance varieties of its cohomology ring.Comment: 31 pages; accepted for publication in Advances in Mathematic

Security Attributes Based Digital Rights Management

Most real-life systems delegate responsibilities to different authorities. We apply this model to a digital rights management system, to achieve flexible security. In our model a hierarchy of authorities issues certificates that are linked by cryptographic means. This linkage establishes a chain of control, identity-attribute-rights, and allows flexible rights control over content. Typical security objectives, such as identification, authentication, authorization and access control can be realised. Content keys are personalised to detect illegal super distribution. We describe a working prototype, which we develop using standard techniques, such as standard certificates, XML and Java. We present experimental results to evaluate the scalability of the system. A formal analysis demonstrates that our design is able to detect a form of illegal super distribution

Note and Comment

Effect at the Situs Rei of a Decree Ordering Conveyance of Foreign Land - In a recent article in this Review, Prof. Willard Barbour discussed the question indicated by the above title. His cbnclusions may be-briefly slated as follows: that such a decree of a competent court having jurisdiction of the person of the defendant creates a personal obligation upon the defendant which a court of equity at the situs should enforce just as it w9uld a contract or trust concerning this land made in the foreign jurisdiction: and that, as between the States of this Union. the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution makes such enforcement of the \u27foreign decree obligatory. He conceded that, upon the authorities, these points are ,still open to debate, but he -showed that the tendency of the law, through the course of several centuries, has been obviously in the direction of these conclusions, that the negative authorities are in the nature of a survival in part of doctrines long since abandoned, and that the distinctions upon which the survival restsre without logic or good sense. Extra-territorial Effect .of the Equitable Decree, 17 MICH. L. Rzv. 527

Phase-matched optical parametric conversion of ultrashort pulses in a hollow waveguide

We demonstrate for the first time nonresonant phase-matched frequency conversion of ultrashort pulses in gases. Broad-bandwidth ultrafast pulses, tunable around 270 nm, were generated from a Ti:sapphire amplifier system using 2ω+2ω−ω2ω+2ω−ω parametric wave mixing in a capillary waveguide. Both the fundamental and the second-harmonic light were coupled into the lowest-order (EH11)(EH11) mode. The output pulses have an energy >4μJ at a 1kHz repetition rate, in the EH11EH11 spatial mode. This method can be made to generate 10–20fs pulses, and is the first phase-matching technique which is applicable to frequency conversion into the deep- and vacuum-ultraviolet regions of the spectrum. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87447/2/331_1.pd

High power ultrafast lasers

In this article, we review progress in the development of high peak-power ultrafast lasers, and discuss in detail the design issues which determine the performance of these systems. Presently, lasers capable of generating terawatt peak powers with unprecedented short pulse duration can now be built on a single optical table in a small-scale laboratory, while large-scale lasers can generate peak power of over a petawatt. This progress is made possible by the use of the chirped-pulse amplification technique, combined with the use of broad-bandwidth laser materials such as Ti:sapphire, and the development of techniques for generating and propagating very short (10–30 fs) duration light pulses. We also briefly summarize some of the new scientific advances made possible by this technology, such as the generation of coherent femtosecond x-ray pulses, and the generation of MeV-energy electron beams and high-energy ions. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70759/2/RSINAK-69-3-1207-1.pd

Note and Comment

The Mortgages in Possession in New York and in Michigan - It is interesting to observe how tenaciously the old common law of mortgages has persisted in the state of New York, the very cradle of the modem lien theory of the mortgage. As early as 18o2 Chancellor KENT began the importation into that state of Lord MANSFIELD\u27S Civil Law doctrines of mortgage. Johnson v. Hart, 3 Johns. Cas. 322. In 1814, in the case of Runyan v. Mersereau, ii Johns. 534, the lien theory definitely triumphed over the old law. In other cases, both before and since the statute of 1828 denying ejectment to the mortgagee, the details of mortgage law were worked over to harmonize with the central ,theor

Long-Term Stability of an Area-Reversible Atom-Interferometer Sagnac Gyroscope

We report on a study of the long-term stability and absolute accuracy of an atom interferometer gyroscope. This study included the implementation of an electro-optical technique to reverse the vector area of the interferometer for reduced systematics and a careful study of systematic phase shifts. Our data strongly suggests that drifts less than 96 $\mu$deg/hr are possible after empirically removing shifts due to measured changes in temperature, laser intensity, and several other experimental parameters.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

Defect and Hodge numbers of hypersurfaces

We define defect for hypersurfaces with A-D-E singularities in complex projective normal Cohen-Macaulay fourfolds having some vanishing properties of Bott-type and prove formulae for Hodge numbers of big resolutions of such hypersurfaces. We compute Hodge numbers of Calabi-Yau manifolds obtained as small resolutions of cuspidal triple sextics and double octics with higher A_j singularities.Comment: 25 page