Very fast relaxation in polycarbonate glass

Low-frequency Raman and inelastic neutron scattering of amorphous bis-phenol A polycarbonate is measured at low temperature, and compared. The vibrational density of states and light-vibration coupling coefficient are determined. The frequency dependences of these parameters are explained by propagating vibration modes up to an energy of about 1 meV, and fracton-like modes in more cohesive domains at higher energies. The vibrational dynamics is in agreement with a disorder in the glass, which is principally of bonding or of elasticity instead of density.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, to be pub. in EPJ

On Maximal Unbordered Factors

Given a string $S$ of length $n$, its maximal unbordered factor is the longest factor which does not have a border. In this work we investigate the relationship between $n$ and the length of the maximal unbordered factor of $S$. We prove that for the alphabet of size $\sigma \ge 5$ the expected length of the maximal unbordered factor of a string of length~$n$ is at least $0.99 n$ (for sufficiently large values of $n$). As an application of this result, we propose a new algorithm for computing the maximal unbordered factor of a string.Comment: Accepted to the 26th Annual Symposium on Combinatorial Pattern Matching (CPM 2015

Low-energy vibrational density of states of plasticized poly(methyl methacrylate)

The low-energy vibrational density of states (VDOS)of hydrogenated or deuterated poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA)plasticized by dibutyl phtalate (DBP) is determined by inelastic neutron scattering.From experiment, it is equal to the sum of the ones of the PMMA and DBP components.However, a partition of the total low-energy VDOS among PMMA and DBP was observed.Contrary to Raman scattering, neutron scattering does not show enhancement of the boson peak due to plasticization.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures (Workshop on Disordered Systems, Andalo

Effect of physical aging on the low-frequency vibrational density of states of a glassy polymer

The effects of the physical aging on the vibrational density of states (VDOS) of a polymeric glass is studied. The VDOS of a poly(methyl methacrylate) glass at low-energy (<15 meV), was determined from inelastic neutron scattering at low-temperature for two different physical thermodynamical states. One sample was annealed during a long time at temperature lower than Tg, and another was quenched from a temperature higher than Tg. It was found that the VDOS around the boson peak, relatively to the one at higher energy, decreases with the annealing at lower temperature than Tg, i.e., with the physical aging.Comment: To be published in Europhys. Let

Comparative Assessment of the Cytotoxicity of Various Substrates in Organ Culture and Cell Culture: A Scanning Electron Microscopy Study

A comparative study of the behavior of chick embryo endothelial cells grown on various substrates was performed in order to establish the reliability and the limitation of both cell and organ culture methods. Following substrates were analyzed to compare these two different culture techniques: bovine serum albumin, pigskin gelatin and albumin + gelatin cross-linked by glutaraldehyde or carbodiimide, fibrin glue and negative control (Thermanox*). Parameters of cell growth and adhesion were calculated and compared with electron microscopic observations of cell morphology and of the extracellular matrix. Both culture methods provided complementary results and led to a similar classification of the biomaterials. However, the cell culture method exhibited a higher sensitivity to the surface properties of biomaterials which limited further experimentation. This was well illustrated by glutaraldehyde cross-linked protein membranes which did not support the growth of dispersed cells but enabled the formation of a cellular tissue in organ culture, thus allowing a cytocompatibility assessment. Endothelial cell morphology and extracellular matrix elaborated on biomaterials were compared to chicken blood vessels. Both methods showed that cells grown on fibrin glue and on gelatin or albumin + gelatin cross-linked by carbodiimide had a microscopic morphology similar to that of vessel wall. Organ and dispersed cell cultures provide complementary information relative to the cell behavior towards vascular prosthesis materials

Rigorous Physicochemical Framework for Metal Ion Binding by Aqueous Nanoparticulate Humic Substances: Implications for Speciation Modeling by the NICA-Donnan and WHAM Codes

Latest knowledge on the reactivity of charged nanoparticulate complexants toward aqueous metal ions is discussed in mechanistic detail. We present a rigorous generic description of electrostatic and chemical contributions to metal ion binding by nanoparticulate complexants, and their dependence on particle size, particle type (i.e., reactive sites distributed within the particle body or confined to the surface), ionic strength of the aqueous medium, and the nature of the metal ion. For the example case of soft environmental particles such as fulvic and humic acids, practical strategies are delineated for determining intraparticulate metal ion speciation, and for evaluating intrinsic chemical binding affinities and heterogeneity. The results are compared with those obtained by popular codes for equilibrium speciation modeling (namely NICA-Donnan and WHAM). Physicochemical analysis of the discrepancies generated by these codes reveals the a priori hypotheses adopted therein and the inappropriateness of some of their key parameters. The significance of the characteristic time scales governing the formation and dissociation rates of metal−nanoparticle complexes in defining the relaxation properties and the complete equilibration of the metal− nanoparticulate complex dispersion is described. The dynamic features of nanoparticulate complexes are also discussed in the context of predictions of the labilities and bioavailabilities of the metal species

Non-commuting coordinates, exotic particles, & anomalous anyons in the Hall effect

Our previous ``exotic'' particle, together with the more recent anomalous anyon model (which has arbitrary gyromagnetic factor $g$) are reviewed. The non-relativistic limit of the anyon generalizes the exotic particle which has $g=0$ to any $g$.When put into planar electric and magnetic fields, the Hall effect becomes mandatory for all $g\neq2$, when the field takes some critical value.Comment: A new reference added. Talk given by P. Horvathy at the International Workshop "Nonlinear Physics: Theory and Experiment. III. July'04, Gallipoli (Lecce, Italy). To be published in Theor. Math. Phys. Latex 9 pages, no figure

Assessment of Black Rail Status in Georgia, Breeding Season 2017 and 2018 Summaries

The Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) is the most secretive and least understood marsh bird in North America with the Eastern Black Rail (L. j. jamaicensis), one of two subspecies that occur here, listed as endangered in six states along the Atlantic Coast and proposed for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act (USFWS–R4–ES–2018–0057, 2018). Black Rails require dense vegetation for cover during all stages of their life cycle. They require wetlands with minimal water coverage during the breeding season. Historic population size for the Eastern subspecies was likely in the tens of thousands (25,000 to 100,000; Delaney and Scott 2002) but is now believed to be in the hundreds to low thousands. Eastern Black Rails breed within three geographic areas within North America including the Atlantic Coast, the Gulf Coast, and the Midwest. The Atlantic Coast has generally been considered to support the largest breeding population throughout the range with pairs mostly confined to the highest elevations within tidal salt marshes. Breeding range along the Atlantic Coast has contracted south more than 450 kilometers and the population is estimated to be declining by 9% annually (Watts 2016). The primary driver of declines over the past three decades is believed to be sea-level rise and associated tidal inundation during the nesting season. Georgia is noticeably missing from most of the early descriptions of Eastern Black Rail distribution (e.g. Allen 1900, Bent 1926, Forbush 1929). Early authors describing Eastern Black Rail status in the state (Burleigh 1938, Greene et al. 1945, Burleigh 1958) indicate that the species was perhaps more common and widespread in previous decades. As in all states within the breeding range, the lack of status and distribution information is certainly facilitated by their secretive habits, but in Georgia this is also likely reflected in an extremely low population size, a lack of overlap between Black Rails and bird watchers, or both. Scattered historic occurrences along the outer coast suggested a presence of a potential breeding population (Sykes 2010). The Eastern Black Rail ranks as a species of high conservation concern (GA DNR Wildlife Action Plan 2015) and breeding season surveys ranked as one of the highest conservation action priorities within the plan. The 2016 population estimate for the state (based on available habitat) was 10 to 40 pairs though the uncertainty in this estimate was very high (Watts 2016). The only definitive breeding record in the state comes from Greene County (Sykes 2010), and this site has been the most consistently documented breeding area throughout the state in the past 25 years (Watts 2016). During the 2017 field season, 409 coastal points were surveyed, and during the 2018 field season 206 points were surveyed. All points surveyed in 2017 were along the outer coast in tidal or impounded wetlands. During the 2018 survey, 141 inland points and 65 coastal points were surveyed. Three rounds of surveys were conducted between 18 April and 17 July 2017 and between 1 May and 15 July 2018. All points were surveyed three times unless there were access issues during one of the survey rounds. A total of 1,827 individual play-back surveys were conducted, 1,213 in 2017, and 614 in 2018. We detected no Black Rails during either season

Harmonic oscillator in a background magnetic field in noncommutative quantum phase-space

We solve explicitly the two-dimensional harmonic oscillator and the harmonic oscillator in a background magnetic field in noncommutative phase-space without making use of any type of representation. A key observation that we make is that for a specific choice of the noncommutative parameters, the time reversal symmetry of the systems get restored since the energy spectrum becomes degenerate. This is in contrast to the noncommutative configuration space where the time reversal symmetry of the harmonic oscillator is always broken.Comment: 7 pages Late

Assessment of Black Rail Status in North Carolina, Breeding Season 2017 and 2018 Summaries

The Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) is the most secretive and least understood marsh bird in North America with the Eastern Black Rail (L. j. jamaicensis), one of two subspecies that occur here, listed as endangered in six states along the Atlantic Coast and proposed for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act (USFWS–R4–ES–2018–0057, 2018). Black Rails require dense vegetation for cover during all stages of their life cycle. They require wetlands with minimal water coverage during the breeding season. Historic population size for the Eastern subspecies was likely in the tens of thousands (25,000 to 100,000; Delaney and Scott 2002) but is now believed to be in the hundreds to low thousands. Eastern Black Rails breed within three geographic areas within North America including the Atlantic Coast, the Gulf Coast, and the Midwest. The Atlantic Coast has generally been thought to support the largest breeding population throughout the range with pairs mostly confined to the highest elevations within tidal salt marshes. The historic breeding range along the Atlantic Coast has contracted more than 450 kilometers south and the population is estimated to be declining by 9% annually (Watts 2016). The primary driver of declines over the past three decades is believed to be sea-level rise and associated tidal inundation during the nesting season. North Carolina has long been recognized as a stronghold for Black Rails within the mid-Atlantic region. Most of what we know about the distribution and abundance of Black Rails in the state is based on site specific surveys and scattered anecdotal records (Fussell and McCrimmon 1976, Fussell and Wilson 1983, Davis et al. 1988, Collazo et al. 1990, LeGrand 1993, Fussell 1994, Paxton and Watts 2002, Watts 2016). These reports have documented a number of tidal marsh breeding locations, a well-known larger population at the Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge, and at Piney Island military installation (both in Carteret County). In the late 1800s and early 1900s Black Rails were documented in the western part of the state using agricultural fields but there have not been consistent records since that time (Lee 1999, Watts 2016). Prior to 2014, a comprehensive status assessment for Black Rails in North Carolina had not been conducted, nor were there any existing systematic monitoring programs in place to assess the health of Black Rail populations. The purpose of this project is to gain a systematic view of the distribution of Black Rails in coastal North Carolina to help determine their status and distribution, to expand upon previous survey locations from the 2014 and 2015 field seasons, to determine if Black Rails continue to occupy historic strongholds, and to initiate an inland survey centered on agricultural lands with high density freshwater wetlands, farm ponds, Carolina Bays, and other water features that Black Rails have historically used within the region. We designed a broad survey frame so sampling locations could be used for monitoring purposes into the future. During the 2017 field season, 284 coastal points were surveyed, and during the 2018 field season 192 points were surveyed. All points surveyed in 2017 were along the outer coast in tidal or impounded wetlands. During the 2018 survey, 169 inland points and 23 coastal points were surveyed. The 2018 coastal survey locations were comprised of a network of previously occupied areas from year 2000 on. Three rounds of surveys were conducted between 18 April and 20 July 2017 and between 1 May and 15 July 2018. All points were surveyed three times unless there were access issues during one of the survey rounds. We conducted a total of 1,394 individual play-back surveys, 844 in 2017 and 550 in 2018. We detected a minimum of 9 individual Black Rails at 4 survey points in 2017 and we detected zero Black Rails in 2018 for survey occupancy of .01% (4 of 476 total survey points). During the 2014 and 2015 breedin