2,353 research outputs found
Surface modification of flax yarns by enzymatic treatment and their interfacial adhesion with thermoset matrices
The aim of this study was to assess the effects of commercially available and relatively inexpensive enzyme preparations based on endo 1,4-β-xylanase, pectinase and xyloglucanase on the thermal (TGA), morphological (SEM), chemical (FT-IR) and mechanical (single yarn tensile tests) properties of flax yarns. The preparation based on pectinase and xyloglucanase provided the best results, resulting in the effective removal of hydrophilic components such as hemicellulose and pectin, the individualization of yarns and increased thermal stability at the expense of a reduction in mechanical properties, depending on the treatment parameters. Single yarn fragmentation tests pointed out an improved interfacial adhesion after enzymatic treatment, with reduced debonding length values of 18% for an epoxy matrix and up to 36% for a vinylester resin compared to untreated flax yarns
Modelization of flow electrification in a polymer melt
Flow electrification of polymer melts is an important side effect of polymer
processing. The studies dealing with this phenomenon are seldom and most of the
scientific work has been focused on flow electrification of aqueous and
insulating Newtonian liquids. From that prior art it is well established that
the flow electrification in Newtonian liquids is a consequence of the formation
of an ionic double layer. Convection of this layer induces the electrification
of the liquid at the outlet of the pipe. In those models, the key parameters
governing the flow electrification are thus the intrinsic electrical properties
of the polymer and the flow characteristics. In this work, we reconsider the
assumptions made previously and we propose a new approach to modelise the flow
electrification in the particular case of non-Newtonian polymer materials in
laminar flow conditions. We establish that, a key parameter for the
electrification quantification in the polymer melt is the shape of the velocity
profile. Additionally, in some cases, we show that a slip velocity at the
polymer/die wall interface must be considered to describe accurately the
electrification. As a consequence, we deduce that the slip velocity at the
interface can be calculated by measuring the electrification: this work gives
an alternative manner to measure the slip velocity during polymer flow
Isotope shift calculations for atoms with one valence electron
This work presents a method for the ab initio calculation of isotope shift in
atoms and ions with one valence electron above closed shells. As a zero
approximation we use relativistic Hartree-Fock and then calculate correlation
corrections. The main motivation for developing the method comes from the need
to analyse whether different isotope abundances in early universe can
contribute to the observed anomalies in quasar absorption spectra. The current
best explanation for these anomalies is the assumption that the fine structure
constant, alpha, was smaller at early epoch. We test the isotope shift method
by comparing the calculated and experimental isotope shift for the alkali and
alkali-like atoms Na, MgII, K, CaII and BaII. The agreement is found to be
good. We then calculate the isotope shift for some astronomically relevant
transitions in SiII and SiIV, MgII, ZnII and GeII.Comment: 11 page
Complementary DNA sequence of human amyloidogenic immunoglobulin light-chain precursors
Tests of the Equivalence Principle with Neutral Kaons
We test the Principle of Equivalence for particles and antiparticles, using
CPLEAR data on tagged K0 and K0bar decays into pi^+ pi^-. For the first time,
we search for possible annual, monthly and diurnal modulations of the
observables |eta_{+-}| and phi_{+-}, that could be correlated with variations
in astrophysical potentials. Within the accuracy of CPLEAR, the measured values
of |eta_{+-}| and phi_{+-} are found not to be correlated with changes of the
gravitational potential. We analyze data assuming effective scalar, vector and
tensor interactions, and we conclude that the Principle of Equivalence between
particles and antiparticles holds to a level of 6.5, 4.3 and 1.8 x 10^{-9},
respectively, for scalar, vector and tensor potentials originating from the Sun
with a range much greater than the distance Earth-Sun. We also study
energy-dependent effects that might arise from vector or tensor interactions.
Finally, we compile upper limits on the gravitational coupling difference
between K0 and K0bar as a function of the scalar, vector and tensor interaction
range.Comment: 15 pages latex 2e, five figures, one style file (cernart.csl)
incorporate
Search for the exotic resonance in the NOMAD experiment
A search for exotic Theta baryon via Theta -> proton +Ks decay mode in the
NOMAD muon neutrino DIS data is reported. The special background generation
procedure was developed. The proton identification criteria are tuned to
maximize the sensitivity to the Theta signal as a function of xF which allows
to study the Theta production mechanism. We do not observe any evidence for the
Theta state in the NOMAD data. We provide an upper limit on Theta production
rate at 90% CL as 2.13 per 1000 of neutrino interactions.Comment: Accepted to European Physics Journal
Final NOMAD results on nu_mu->nu_tau and nu_e->nu_tau oscillations including a new search for nu_tau appearance using hadronic tau decays
Results from the nu_tau appearance search in a neutrino beam using the full
NOMAD data sample are reported. A new analysis unifies all the hadronic tau
decays, significantly improving the overall sensitivity of the experiment to
oscillations. The "blind analysis" of all topologies yields no evidence for an
oscillation signal. In the two-family oscillation scenario, this sets a 90%
C.L. allowed region in the sin^2(2theta)-Delta m^2 plane which includes
sin^2(2theta)<3.3 x 10^{-4} at large Delta m^2 and Delta m^2 < 0.7 eV^2/c^4 at
sin^2(2theta)=1. The corresponding contour in the nu_e->nu_tau oscillation
hypothesis results in sin^2(2theta)<1.5 x 10^{-2} at large Delta m^2 and Delta
m^2 < 5.9 eV^2/c^4 at sin^2(2theta)=1. We also derive limits on effective
couplings of the tau lepton to nu_mu or nu_e.Comment: 46 pages, 16 figures, Latex, to appear on Nucl. Phys.
A Precise Measurement of the Muon Neutrino-Nucleon Inclusive Charged Current Cross-Section off an Isoscalar Target in the Energy Range 2.5 < E_\nu < 40 GeV by NOMAD
We present a measurement of the muon neutrino-nucleon inclusive charged
current cross-section, off an isoscalar target, in the neutrino energy range
GeV. The significance of this measurement is its
precision, % in GeV, and % in GeV regions, where significant uncertainties in previous
experiments still exist, and its importance to the current and proposed long
baseline neutrino oscillation experiments.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys.Lett.
Prediction of Neutrino Fluxes in the NOMAD Experiment
The method developed for the calculation of the flux and composition of the
West Area Neutrino Beam used by NOMAD in its search for neutrino oscillations
is described. The calculation is based on particle production rates computed
using a recent version of FLUKA and modified to take into account the cross
sections measured by the SPY and NA20 experiments. These particles are
propagated through the beam line taking into account the material and magnetic
fields they traverse. The neutrinos produced through their decays are tracked
to the NOMAD detector. The fluxes of the four neutrino flavours at NOMAD are
predicted with an uncertainty of about 8% for nu(mu) and nu(e), 10% for
antinu(mu), and 12% for antinu(e). The energy-dependent uncertainty achieved on
the R(e, mu) prediction needed for a nu(mu)->nu(e) oscillation search ranges
from 4% to 7%, whereas the overall normalization uncertainty on this ratio is
4.2%.Comment: 43 pages, 20 figures. Submitted to Nucl. Phys.
Production properties of K*(892) vector mesons and their spin alignment as measured in the NOMAD experiment
First measurements of K*(892) mesons production properties and their spin
alignment in nu_mu charged current (CC) and neutral current (NC) interactions
are presented. The analysis of the full data sample of the NOMAD experiment is
performed in different kinematic regions. For K*+ and K*- mesons produced in
nu_mu CC interactions and decaying into K0 pi+/- we have found the following
yields per event: (2.6 +/- 0.2 (stat.) +/- 0.2 (syst.))% and (1.6 +/- 0.1
(stat.) +/- 0.1 (syst.))% respectively, while for the K*+ and K*- mesons
produced in nu NC interactions the corresponding yields per event are: (2.5 +/-
0.3 (stat.) +/- 0.3 (syst.))% and (1.0 +/- 0.3 (stat.) +/- 0.2 (syst.))%. The
results obtained for the rho00 parameter, 0.40 +/- 0.06 (stat) +/- 0.03 (syst)
and 0.28 +/- 0.07 (stat) +/- 0.03 (syst) for K*+ and K*- produced in nu_mu CC
interactions, are compared to theoretical predictions tuned on LEP measurements
in e+e- annihilation at the Z0 pole. For K*+ mesons produced in nu NC
interactions the measured rho00 parameter is 0.66 +/- 0.10 (stat) +/- 0.05
(syst).Comment: 20 p
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