90 research outputs found
Relationship between dielectric properties and critical behavior of the electric birefringence in binary liquid mixtures
We present experimental results on the critical exponent ÏEKE describing the divergence of the Kerr constant of binary liquid mixtures near the critical consolute point. We show that the measured value of ÏEKE agrees with the theoretical prediction only if the measurement is performed with a mixture of two liquids presenting a small mismatch in the dielectric constant, and that the measured ÏEKE grows as the dielectric constant mismatch increases. Such findings are consistent with a recent model which assumes that the elongation of critical fluctations along the direction of the electric field can become so strong that fluctuations in the direction perpendicular to the electric field may cross over from Ising to mean-field behavior
Comments on the High Pressure Preservation of Human Milk
The current state of studies on the high pressure preservation of the human milk is briefly presented. It is indicated that reaching (i) the antimicrobial safety, (ii) antiviral safety, and (iii) high nutritional, metabolic and immunological quality, may be difficult for a âclassicalâ single pressure pulse High Pressure Preservation (HPP) treatment. It is shown that the sudden decompression leads to additional physical processes, which can be important for supporting the HPP technology. Additional advantages were reached due to the two-pulse compression, with subsequent values: P = 200 MPa and 400 MPa. Tests included the microbiological insight for the two-weeks storage. It is also shown that the decay of the number of microorganisms under the high pressure follows the relation n(t) = n0exp(At)exp(Bt2). Finally, issues regarding containers for the high pressure preservation of human milk are discussed
Nonlinear dielectric effect of dipolar fluids
The nonlinear dielectric effect for dipolar fluids is studied within the
framework of the mean spherical approximation (MSA) of hard core dipolar Yukawa
fluids. Based on earlier results for the electric field dependence of the
polarization our analytical results show so-called normal saturation effects
which are in good agreement with corresponding NVT ensemble Monte Carlo
simulation data. The linear and the nonlinear dielectric permittivities
obtained from MC simulations are determined from the fluctuations of the total
dipole moment of the system in the absence of an applied electric field. We
compare the MSA based theoretical results with the corresponding Langevin and
Debye-Weiss behaviors.Comment: 10 pages including 4 figure
Microscopic structures and dynamics of high- and low-density liquid trans-1,2-dichloroethylene
4 pĂĄgs.; 3 figs.; PACS number s : 64.70.Ja, 61.05.fm, 61.20. p, 61.25.EmWe present a study of the dynamics and structural changes for trans-1,2-dichloroethylene between high- and
low-density liquids using neutron-scattering techniques diffraction, small-angle neutron scattering, and time of
flight spectroscopy and molecular-dynamics simulations. We show that changes in the short-range ordering of
molecules goes along with a change in the molecular dynamics: both structure and dynamics of the highdensity
liquid are more cooperative than those of the low-density liquid. The microscopic mechanism underlying
the cooperative motions in the high-density liquid has been found to be related to the backscattering of
molecules due to a strong correlation of molecular ordering. ©2010 The American Physical SocietyThis work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology Grants
No. FIS2008-00837 and No. BES-2007-17418, by the Government
of Catalonia Grant No. 2009SGR-1251 and by the
European Commission MI3/FP7.Peer Reviewe
A synthesis of past, current and future research for protection and management of papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.) wetlands in Africa
Papyrus wetlands (dominated by the giant
sedge Cyperus papyrus L.) occur throughout eastern,
central and southern Africa and are important for
biodiversity, for water quality and quantity regulation
and for the livelihoods of millions of people. To draw
attention to the importance of papyrus wetlands, a
special session entitled ââThe ecology of livelihoods in
papyrus wetlandsââ was organized at the 9th INTECOL
Wetlands Conference in Orlando, Florida in June
2012. Papers from the session, combined with additional
contributions, were collected in a special issue
of Wetlands Ecology and Management. The current
paper reviews ecological and hydrological characteristics
of papyrus wetlands, summarizes their ecosystem
services and sustainable use, provides an
overview of papyrus research to date, and looks at
policy development for papyrus wetlands. Based on
this review, the paper provides a synthesis of research
and policy priorities for papyrus wetlands and introduces
the contributions in the special issue. Main
conclusions are that (1) there is a need for better
estimates of the area covered by papyrus wetlands.
Limited evidence suggests that the loss of papyrus
wetlands is rapid in some areas; (2) there is a need for a
better understanding and modelling of the regulating
services of papyrus wetlands to support trade-off
analysis and improve economic valuation; (3) research
on papyrus wetlands should include assessment of all
ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, habitat,
cultural) so that trade-offs can be determined as the
basis for sustainable management strategies (âwise
useâ); (4) more research on the governance, institutional
and socio-economic aspects of papyrus wetlands
is needed to assist African governments in
dealing with the challenges of conserving wetlands in
the face of growing food security needs and climate
change. The papers in the special issue address a
number of these issues
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