Chisquare as a rotation criterion in factor analysis

The rotation problem in factor analysis consists in finding an orthogonal transformation of the initial factor loadings so that the rotated loadings have a simple structure that can be easily interpreted. The most popular orthogonal transformations are the quartimax and varimax procedures with Kaiser normalization. A classical chisquare contingency measure is proposed as a rotation criterion. It is claimed that this is a very natural criterion, not only for rotations but also for oblique transformations, that is not to be found in our popular statistical packages up to now.     

The Economic and Ecological Effects of Water Management Choices in the Upper Niger River: Development of Decision Support Methods

One million people in the Inner Niger Delta make a living from arable farming, fisheries and livestock. Upstream dams (one built for electricity generation and one for irrigation) affect this downstream multifunctional use of water. Additionally, the Inner Niger Delta, which is one of the largest Ramsar sites in the world, is a hotspot of biodiversity and accommodates two of the largest known breeding colonies of large wading birds in Africa and in addition, is a vital part of the eco-regional network, supporting up to 3 to 4 million staging waterbirds, residents and migrants from all over Europe and western Asia. The hydrological and related ecological conditions in the Inner Delta largely determine the population size of these waterbird species. The major aim of the three-year study was to develop a decision-support system for river management in the Upper Niger, in which ecological and socio-economical impacts and benefits of dams and irrigation systems can be analysed in relation to different water management scenarios. The study involves various components: hydrology, arable farming, livestock, fisheries, ecology and socio-economics. An economic analysis has been conducted to determine the role of dams in the economy of the Inner Niger Delta and the Upper Niger region. By innovatively combining the above information on hydrology, ecology, fisheries, and agriculture, the study shows that building new dams is not an efficient way to increase economic growth and reduce poverty in the region. In fact, such efforts are counter-effective. Instead, development efforts should be aimed at improving the efficiency of the existing infrastructure, as well as of current economic activities in the Inner Niger Delta itself. This approach will also provide greater certainty for the essential eco-regional network functioning of the Inner Delta.     

Effect of concentration gradients in ZnPc:C60 bulk heterojunction organic solar cells

A concentration gradient in a mixed absorber layer with increasing content of donor (acceptor) towards the hole (electron) collecting contact could improve the charge carrier collection in bulk heterojunction organic solar cells. We study p-i-metal type solar cells where the gradient in a 45 nm thick ZnPc:C₆₀ absorber layer is introduced by varying the deposition rate during co-evaporation. It is shown that the observed increase in the performance is mainly caused by a better energy level alignment and reduced recombination at the p-side. A significant influence on charge carrier transport is not observed. However, regions with a concentration of less than 20% of one component do not fully contribute to the photocurrent. Voltage dependent external quantum efficiency data are used to identify the photoactive regions.     

Mineral analysis of mono-floral New Zealand honey

The levels of 18 different minerals in ten locally produced mono-floral honeys (clover, honeydew, kāmahi, mānuka, nodding thistle, rātā, rewarewa, tāwari, thyme and viper’s bugloss honey) were determined, as well as moisture content, pH, conductivity and colour. The most abundant minerals were potassium, phosphorus and calcium, ranging between 34.8–3640, 29.5–255 and 7.21–94.3 mg/kg, respectively. Potassium made up 73% of the total mineral content. There was a large range of mean total mineral contents, with honeydew honey having the highest level (4060 mg/kg) and viper’s bugloss honey the lowest (126 mg/kg). Honeydew had more than twice the mean total mineral contents than kāmahi, the next highest. The heavy metal contents (Cd, Pb and Zn) of the mono-floral honey types investigated were very low. A strong positive relationship between mean conductivity and total mineral content (r² = 0.973), and pH and total mineral content (r² = 0.776) was observed in this study.     

Microstructural Changes after Control Rolling and Interrupted Accelerated Cooling Simulations in Pipeline Steel

The γ‐α transformation and final microstructure in pipeline steel was studied by carrying out a number of physical simulations of industrial hot rolling schedules. Particularly, the effect of the reheating temperature, deformation and cooling parameters on the transformation temperatures and final grain size were considered with a goal to obtain an appropriate thermo‐mechanical processing route which will generate appropriate microstructures for pipeline applications. The CCT diagram of the steel was derived experimentally by means of dilatometric tests. Hot torsion experiments were applied in a multi‐deformation cycle at various temperatures in the austenite region to simulate industrial rolling schedules. By variation of the reheating temperature, equivalent strain, and accelerated cooling, different types of microstructures were obtained. It was found that the deformation increases the transformation temperatures whereas the higher cooling rates after deformation decrease them. Post‐deformation microstructure consists of fine bainitic‐ferrite grains with dispersed carbides and small amount of dispersed martensite/austenite islands which can be controlled by varying the reheating temperature, deformation and post‐deformation cooling. The detailed microstructure characteristics obtained from the present work could be used to optimize the mechanical properties, strength and toughness of pipeline steel grades by an appropriate control of the thermo‐mechanical processing.     

Effects of Holding Time on Thermomechanical Fatigue Properties of Compacted Graphite Iron Through Tests with Notched Specimens

In cylinder heads of compacted graphite iron (CGI), the heating and cooling cycles can lead to localized cracking due to thermomechanical fatigue (TMF). Traditionally, TMF behavior is studied by thermal cycling of smooth specimens. The resulting number of cycles to failure (N _f) constitutes a single parameter that can be used to predict actual service failures. Nevertheless, there are also some drawbacks of the conventional testing procedures, most noticeably the prolonged testing times and a considerable scatter in test results. To address these drawbacks, TMF tests were performed using notched specimens, resulting in shorter testing times with less scatter. In the case of cast iron, artificial notches do not necessarily change the TMF behavior since the inherent graphite particles behave as internal notches. Using a notch depth of 0.2 mm, the effect of prolonged holding times (HT) on TMF lifetime was studied and a clear effect was found. Extended holding times were also found to be accompanied by relaxation of compressive stresses, causing higher tensile stresses to develop in the subsequent low temperature stages of the TMF cycles. The lifetimes in notched CGI specimens can be predicted by the Paris’ fatigue crack growth model. This model was used to differentiate between the individual effects of stress level and holding times on TMF lifetime. Microstructural changes were evaluated by analyzing quantitative data sets obtained by orientation contrast microscopy based on electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD).     

Open‐Circuit Voltage and Effective Gap of Organic Solar Cells

The open‐circuit voltage (V_OC) of an organic solar cell is limited by the donor‐acceptor material system. The effective gap E_g^eff between the electron affinity of the acceptor and the ionization potential of the donor is usually regarded as the upper limit for V_OC, which is only reached for T → 0 K. This relation is confirmed for a number of small‐molecule bulk heterojunction p‐i‐n type solar cells by varying the temperature and illumination intensity. With high precision, the low temperature limit of V_OC is identical to E_g^eff. Furthermore, the influence of the hole transport material in a p‐doped hole transport layer and the donor‐acceptor mixing ratio on this limit V₀ is found to be negligible. Varying the active material system, the quantitative relation between V₀ and E_g^eff is found to be identity. A comparison of V₀ in a series of nine different donor‐acceptor material combinations opens a pathway to quantitatively determine the ionization potential of a donor material or the electron affinity of an acceptor material.