Untersuchung der Verteilung und Intensität filamentierter Barrierenplasmen für die Behandlung von Oberflächen

The application of barrier discharges at atmospheric pressure in air expands on the market of plasma technology, because it is an ecological and cost‐effective alternative to other processes of surface treatment. These plasmas usually consist of a multitude of spatially and temporally localized filaments, whose distribution should be as even as possible for homogeneous treatment. This holds especially for the plasma treatment of sensitive goods such as wool or other textiles. In equipment for continuous pass of material the barrier arrangements often consist of a system cylinder – cylinder or cylinder – plane, whereby the gap width changes locally. Space distribution and intensity of filaments has been investigated by means of short‐time photography and spatially resolved measurement of current distribution and energy distribution derived from it. The local dependency found can be explained by means of a capacitive equivalent circuit.     

Solutions to a combined problem of excessive hydrogen sulfide in biogas and struvite scaling.

The Woodman Point Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Western Australia has experienced two separate problems causing avoidable maintenance costs: the build-up of massive struvite (MgNH4PO4. 6H2O) scaling downstream of the anaerobic digester and the formation of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) levels in the digester gas to levels that compromised gas engine operation and caused high operating costs on the gas scrubber. As both problems hang together with a chemical imbalance in the anaerobic digester, we decided to investigate whether both problems could be (feasibly and economically) addressed by a common solution (such as dosing of iron solutions to precipitate both sulfide and phosphate), or by using separate approaches. Laboratory results showed that, the hydrogen sulfide emission in digesters could be effectively and economically controlled by the addition of iron dosing. Slightly higher than the theoretical value of 1.5 mol of FeCl3 was required to precipitate 1 mol of dissolved sulfide inside the digester. Due to the high concentration of PO4(3-) in the digested sludge liquor, significantly higher iron is required for struvite precipitation. Iron dosing did not appear an economic solution for struvite control via iron phosphate formation. By taking advantage of the natural tendency of struvite formation in the digester liquid, it is possible to reduce the risk of struvite precipitation in and around the sludge-dewatering centrifuge by increasing the pH to precipitate struvite out before passing through the centrifuge. However, as the Mg2+/PO4(3-) molar ratio in digested sludge was low, by increasing the pH alone (using NaOH) the precipitation of PO4(3-) was limited by the amount of cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+) available in the sludge. Although this would reduce struvite precipitation in the centrifuge, it could not significantly reduce PO4(3-) recycling back to the plant. For long-term operation, maximum PO4(3-) reduction should be the ultimate aim to minimise PO4(3-) accumulation in the plant. Magnesium hydroxide liquid (MHL) was found to be the most cost-effective chemical to achieve this goal. It enhanced struvite precipitation from both, digested sludge and centrate to the point where more than 95% PO4(3-) reduction in the digested sludge was achieved.     

Trace elements in particles of motor vehicle exhaust in Shanghai

A nuclear microprobe with high spatial resolution and high analytical sensitivity was applied to analyze trace elements,especially lead,in vehicle exhaust of Shanghai city.The result shows that the chemical composition and its corresponding x-ray relative intensity are different among different vehicle exhausts.There are many kinds of metal elements in particles of vehicle exhaust.most are harmful to people,such as Ti,Cr,Mn,Pb,etc.We found that the lead concentration was 6820μg/g and the bromine concentration was 5300μg/g in the exhaust from Santana using leaded gasoline(SULG).which is higher than any other kinds of vehicle exhausts.We have also detected the minimum lead in the particles of unleaded gasoline and its content varies from one to another.Its mean concentration was 450μg/g and the highest reached 6210μg/g.The unleaded gasoline‘s Pb existed in the whole particle while the leaded gasoline‘s enriched in the surface of the particle and was more harmful to the human beings.     

Robustness of VS-MRAC with respect to unmodelled dynamics and external disturbances

A variable structure model reference adaptive controller (VS-MRAC) using only input and output measurements was recently proposed and shown to be globally asymptotically stable with superior transient behaviour and disturbance rejection properties. In this paper a singular perturbation approach is used in order to establish the robustness of the controller in the presence of unmodelled dynamics (parasitics) and disturbances. We develop a new Lyapunov-based technique to analyse the overall system and show that for sufficiently small parasitics the system remains stable and the output error is small in some sense.     

Where is the infant in infant intervention? A review of the literature on changing troubled mother-infant relationships.

Four intervention models that aim to reduce problematic caregiver–infant relationships are reviewed within the context of attachment theory. These models include support, guidance, psychotherapy, and infant-led psychotherapy. All of the models are consistent with attachment theory in that they aim to enhance maternal sensitivity and responsiveness. Only infant-led psychotherapy focuses primarily on the mother–infant relationship and directly includes the infant in treatment instead of focusing and working primarily with the more verbal partner, the caregiver. Thus, of the 4 interventions, infant-led psychotherapy is most consistent with the current empirical and theoretical understanding of infants as active contributors to their relationships and development. However, there is little empirical research on this intervention; the bulk of studies evaluate support and guidance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nd3+ Doped Silicate Glass Photonic Crystal Fiber with Random Hole Distributions

The fabrication of one kind of large core area Nd3 doped silicate glass photonic crystal fiber, and demonstration of the fiber's waveguidence properties were reported. This fiber owns a random air hole distribution in the cladding. The measured minimum loss of this kind of fiber is 10 dB·m-1 at 660 nm. These fibers can sustain only a single mode at least over wavelength ranging from 660 nm to 980 nm.     

Synthesis and aqueous solution behaviors of sodium sulfonate‐terminated dendritic poly(ester‐amine)

Sodium sulfonate‐terminated dendritic poly(ester‐amine) (SPEA) was synthesized by sulfonation of acrylic double bond‐terminated dendritic poly(ester‐amine) (APEA) with sodium hydrogen sulfite (NaHSO₃) in mixture of diglycol and 2‐butanone under normal pressure. The structure of SPEA was characterized by IR, ¹H‐NMR, and elemental analysis. SPEA was water‐soluble. 1.0–40.0% (mass) SPEA aqueous solutions appeared as dilatant fluid. When pH value varied from 1.5 to 12.0, the viscosity of 1–5% (mass) SPEA aqueous solutions changed very small, and the electric conductivity almost kept stable within pH 3.0–10.0. The relationship between the viscosity and the concentration of SPEA water solutions was similar to that of NaCl water solutions. The surface tension of SPEA water solutions was lower than that of polyethylene glycol 2000 water solutions with the same concentration. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Declines in divergent thinking with age: Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and cross-sequential analyses.

Six measures of divergent thinking were administered to 825 men ranging in age from 17 to 101 over the period from 1959 to 1972; repeat administrations were given to a subset of 278 men after a 6-year interval. Cross-sectional analyses showed curvilinear trends, with an increase in scores for men under 40 and a decline thereafter. Repeated measures analyses on subjects initially aged 33 to 74 generally replicated this finding, whereas cross-sequential analyses suggested a decline for all cohorts tested at a later time. Additional analyses suggested that not all of the decline could be attributed to reduced speed of response production. These longitudinal findings confirm earlier cross-sectional reports of decline in divergent thinking abilities with age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)