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Dynamic mechanical and molecular weight measurements on polymer bonded explosives from thermally accelerated aging tests. II. A poly(ester-urethane) binder
The molecular weight distribution and dynamic mechanical properties of an experimental polymer-bonded explosive, X-0282, maintained at 23, 60, and 74/sup 0/C for 3.75 y were examined, X-0282 is 95.5% 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetraazacyclo-octane explosive and 4.5% Estane 5703, a segmented poly(ester-urethane). Two mechanical relaxations at about -24 and 42/sup 0/C were found in the X-0282 aged at room temperature for 3.75 years. A third relaxation at about 85/sup 0/C was found in X-0282 aged at 60 and 74/sup 0/C. The relaxation at -24/sup 0/C is associated with the soft segment glass transition of the binder. The relaxation at 42/sup 0/C is associated with the soft segment melting and may also contain a component due to the hard segment glass transition. The relaxation at 85/sup 0/C is probably associated with improved soft segment crystallite perfection. The molecular weight of the poly(ester-urethane) binder decreased significantly with increasing accelerated aging temperature. A simple random chain scission model of the urethane degradation kinetics in the presence of explosive yields an activation energy of 11.6 kcal/mole. This model predicts a use life of about 17.5 years under the worst military operating conditions (continuous operation at 74/sup 0/C)
Statistics of Atmospheric Correlations
For a large class of quantum systems the statistical properties of their
spectrum show remarkable agreement with random matrix predictions. Recent
advances show that the scope of random matrix theory is much wider. In this
work, we show that the random matrix approach can be beneficially applied to a
completely different classical domain, namely, to the empirical correlation
matrices obtained from the analysis of the basic atmospheric parameters that
characterise the state of atmosphere. We show that the spectrum of atmospheric
correlation matrices satisfy the random matrix prescription. In particular, the
eigenmodes of the atmospheric empirical correlation matrices that have physical
significance are marked by deviations from the eigenvector distribution.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figs, revtex; To appear in Phys. Rev.
Bulk and surface thermal stability of ultra nanocrystalline diamond films with 10-30 nm grain size prepared by chemical vapor deposition
The thermal stability of nanocrystalline diamond films with 10-30 nm grain size deposited by microwave enhanced chemical vapor deposition on silicon substrate was investigated as a function of annealing temperature up to 1200°C. The thermal stability of the surface-upper atomic layers was studied with near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy recorded in the partial electron yield mode. This technique indicated substantial thermally induced graphitization of the film within a close proximity to the surface. While in the bulk region of the film no graphitization was observed with either Raman spectroscopy or NEXAFS spectroscopy recorded in total electron yield mode, even after annealing to 1200°C. Raman spectroscopy did detect the complete disappearance of transpolyacetylene (t-PA)-like 1 and 3 modes following annealing at 1000°C. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy, applied to investigate this relative decrease in hydrogen atom concentration detected only a ∼30% decrease in the bulk content of hydrogen atoms. This enhanced stability of sp3 hybridized atoms within the bulk region with respect to graphitization is discussed in terms of carbon bond rearrangement due to the thermal decomposition of t-PA-like fragments. <br /
Completeness of Communicable Disease Reporting, North Carolina, USA, 1995–1997 and 2000–2006
Reporting proportions were <50% for 49 of the 53 diseases evaluated
Red Queen Coevolution on Fitness Landscapes
Species do not merely evolve, they also coevolve with other organisms.
Coevolution is a major force driving interacting species to continuously evolve
ex- ploring their fitness landscapes. Coevolution involves the coupling of
species fit- ness landscapes, linking species genetic changes with their
inter-specific ecological interactions. Here we first introduce the Red Queen
hypothesis of evolution com- menting on some theoretical aspects and empirical
evidences. As an introduction to the fitness landscape concept, we review key
issues on evolution on simple and rugged fitness landscapes. Then we present
key modeling examples of coevolution on different fitness landscapes at
different scales, from RNA viruses to complex ecosystems and macroevolution.Comment: 40 pages, 12 figures. To appear in "Recent Advances in the Theory and
Application of Fitness Landscapes" (H. Richter and A. Engelbrecht, eds.).
Springer Series in Emergence, Complexity, and Computation, 201
The Intentional Use of Service Recovery Strategies to Influence Consumer Emotion, Cognition and Behaviour
Service recovery strategies have been identified as a critical factor in the success of. service organizations. This study develops a conceptual frame work to investigate how specific service recovery strategies influence the emotional, cognitive and negative behavioural responses of . consumers., as well as how emotion and cognition influence negative behavior. Understanding the impact of specific service recovery strategies will allow service providers' to more deliberately and intentionally engage in strategies that result in positive organizational outcomes. This study was conducted using a 2 x 2 between-subjects quasi-experimental design. The results suggest that service recovery has a significant impact on emotion, cognition and negative behavior. Similarly, satisfaction, negative emotion and positive emotion all influence negative behavior but distributive justice has no effect
The Similarity Hypothesis in General Relativity
Self-similar models are important in general relativity and other fundamental
theories. In this paper we shall discuss the ``similarity hypothesis'', which
asserts that under a variety of physical circumstances solutions of these
theories will naturally evolve to a self-similar form. We will find there is
good evidence for this in the context of both spatially homogenous and
inhomogeneous cosmological models, although in some cases the self-similar
model is only an intermediate attractor. There are also a wide variety of
situations, including critical pheneomena, in which spherically symmetric
models tend towards self-similarity. However, this does not happen in all cases
and it is it is important to understand the prerequisites for the conjecture.Comment: to be submitted to Gen. Rel. Gra
Diversity in collaborative research communities: a multicultural, multidisciplinary thesis writing group in public health
Writing groups for doctoral students are generally agreed to provide valuable learning spaces for Ph.D. candidates. Here an academic developer and the eight members of a writing group formed in a Discipline of Public Health provide an account of their experiences of collaborating in a multicultural, multidisciplinary thesis writing group. We consider the benefits of belonging to such a group for Ph.D. students who are operating in a research climate in which disciplinary boundaries are blurring and where an increasing number of doctoral projects are interdisciplinary in nature; in which both academic staff and students come from enormously diverse cultural and language backgrounds; and in which teamwork, networking and collaboration are prized but not always proactively facilitated. We argue that doctoral writing groups comprising students from diverse cultural and disciplinary backgrounds can be of significant value for postgraduates who wish to collaborate on their own academic development to improve their research writing and communication skills; at the same time, such collaborative work effectively builds an inclusive, dynamic research community.Cally Guerin, Vicki Xafis, Diana V. Doda, Marianne H. Gillam, Allison J. Larg, Helene Luckner, Nasreen Jahan, Aris Widayati and Chuangzhou X
A measurement of the tau mass and the first CPT test with tau leptons
We measure the mass of the tau lepton to be 1775.1+-1.6(stat)+-1.0(syst.) MeV
using tau pairs from Z0 decays. To test CPT invariance we compare the masses of
the positively and negatively charged tau leptons. The relative mass difference
is found to be smaller than 3.0 10^-3 at the 90% confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to Phys. Letts.
Search for Higgs Bosons in e+e- Collisions at 183 GeV
The data collected by the OPAL experiment at sqrts=183 GeV were used to
search for Higgs bosons which are predicted by the Standard Model and various
extensions, such as general models with two Higgs field doublets and the
Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The data correspond to an
integrated luminosity of approximately 54pb-1. None of the searches for neutral
and charged Higgs bosons have revealed an excess of events beyond the expected
background. This negative outcome, in combination with similar results from
searches at lower energies, leads to new limits for the Higgs boson masses and
other model parameters. In particular, the 95% confidence level lower limit for
the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson is 88.3 GeV. Charged Higgs bosons
can be excluded for masses up to 59.5 GeV. In the MSSM, mh > 70.5 GeV and mA >
72.0 GeV are obtained for tan{beta}>1, no and maximal scalar top mixing and
soft SUSY-breaking masses of 1 TeV. The range 0.8 < tanb < 1.9 is excluded for
minimal scalar top mixing and m{top} < 175 GeV. More general scans of the MSSM
parameter space are also considered.Comment: 49 pages. LaTeX, including 33 eps figures, submitted to European
Physical Journal
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