Infrared and raman spectroscopic studies of optically transparent zirconia (ZrO2) films deposited by plasma-assisted reactive pulsed laser deposition

Plasma-assisted pulsed laser deposited zirconia (ZrO(2)) films were studied by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy for structural characterization and thermal stability in combination with optical characterization by spectroscopic ellipsometry and optical transmission measurements. Only the monoclinic ZrO(2) phase was positively identified from the infrared and Raman spectra of the as-deposited ZrO(2) films, which show excellent optical transparency from the ultraviolet to the near infrared as revealed by optical characterization. The as-deposited ZrO(2) films are free of any SiO(x) interfacial layer when deposited on silicon. The prepared ZrO(2) films exhibit good thermal stability in their structural, optical, and interfacial properties up to 900 °C. Upon annealing above 1100 °C, a silicon oxide interfacial layer forms due to the oxidation of the silicon substrate surface by the oxygen diffused from the oxide film to the silicon substrate at high temperatures.     

Sorption and desorption of pyrethroid insecticide permethrin on concrete

Use of pesticides around residential homes is linked to contamination of urban waterways, where impervious surfaces like concrete are considered as sources or facilitators of the contamination. However, the fate of pesticides on urban hard surfaces is poorly understood. We characterized sorption and desorption of permethrin, the most used pyrethroid insecticide, on concrete surfaces, to understand its availability for contaminating runoff water. Sorption of (14)C-permethrin to concrete was rapid, and the sorption isotherm was linear, with surface area-normalized K(d) of 1.91 ± 0.1 mL/cm(2). When small permethrin-treated concrete cubes (14 × 14 × 8 mm) were subjected to 300 h sequential desorption, both the parent compound and total (14)C showed an initial rapid desorption, followed by prolonged slow desorption. Meanwhile, permethrin became more resistant to desorption as the pesticide contact time on the concrete increased. When desorption was performed 1 and 7 d after the treatment, the desorbed permethrin after 300 h was 34.1 ± 3.2% and 23.7 ± 1.1% of the spiked amount, respectively, as compared to 56.2 ± 6.1% for the freshly spiked samples. The decreased desorption was partially attributed to permethrin decomposition on the alkaline concrete. However, even after 300 h, over 20% of the applied (14)C still remained in the concrete. Therefore, when pesticide-treated concrete surfaces come in contact with runoff water, elevated concentrations may be expected initially, while the extended desorption implies a potential for sustained contamination.     

A comprehensive model of human ear for analysis of implantable hearing devices

A finite element (FE) model of the human ear including the ear canal, middle ear, and spiral cochlea was constructed from histological sections of human temporal bone. Multiphysics analysis of the acoustics, structure, and fluid coupling in the ear was conducted in the model. The viscoelastic material behavior was applied to the middle ear soft tissues based on dynamic measurements of tissues in our laboratory. The FE model was first validated using the experimental data obtained in human cadaver ears, and then used to investigate the efficiency of the forward and reverse mechanical driving with middle ear implant, and the passive vibration of basilar membrane (BM) with cochlear implant placed in the cochlear scala tympani. The middle ear transfer function and the cochlear function of the BM vibration were derived from the model. This comprehensive ear model provides a novel computational tool to visualize and compute the implantable hearing devices and surgical procedures.     

Load compensation research on twicetension for loop anchor cable of inner lining in Yellow River-crossing tunnel

The load compensation equipment for anchor cable named low retraction prestressed anchorage system with twice-tension (referred to as twice-tension anchorage system) is proposed in the paper. Calculation results of loop anchorage prestressing loss (PL) values of inner lining（IL）in Yellow River-crossing tunnel under two anchorage systems,including twice- tension anchorage system and HM（Chinese transliteration is huanmao） anchorage system,are introduced. The software ANSYS is selected to realize the three-dimensional (3D) finite element modeling to accomplish simulation and calculation works under the two anchorage systems,respectively. Stress processes of IL under the two working conditions,of which one is completed cable tensioning (CCT) and the other is water in the tunnel with the designed water pressure (DWP),are contrasted and analyzed. Impacts of prestressing forces of anchor cables on structural safety under the two anchorage systems are contrasted. The calculation results show that the twice-tension anchorage system can reduce PL effectively and then increase prestresses of wall concrete（WC）. Meanwhile,the anchorage system has the advantages of improving security and stability of tunnel structure,reducing project costs and saving steel consumption. The research work is available to related design and construction of anchor cable,and is worthy of promotion and application.     

Inhibition of hematite on acid mine drainage caused by chalcopyrite biodissolution

Even though biodissolution of chalcopyrite is considered to be one of the key contributors in the formation of acid mine drainage (AMD), there are few studies to control AMD by inhibiting chalcopyrite biodissolution. Therefore, a novel method of using hematite to inhibit chalcopyrite biodissolution was proposed and verified. The results indicated that chalcopyrite biodissolution could be significantly inhibited by hematite, which consequently decreased the formation of AMD. In the presence of hematite, the final biodissolution rate of chalcopyrite decreased from 57.9% to 44.4% at 20 day. This in turn suggested that the formation of AMD was effectively suppressed under such condition. According to the biodissolution results, mineral composition and morphology analyses, and electrochemical analysis, it was shown that hematite promoted the formation and accumulation of passivation substances (jarosite and Cu_2-xS) on chalcopyrite surface, thus inhibiting the biodissolution of chalcopyrite and limiting the formation of AMD.     

Effective solid contact for ion-selective electrodes: tetrakis(4-chlorophenyl)borate (TB-) anions doped nanocluster films

We report on a novel material, tetrakis(4-chlorophenyl)borate (TB(-)) anion doped nanocluster films, as the solid contact (SC) for producing well-defined, electrochemically reversible, and nonpolarizable double interfaces on it. Detailed studies have unambiguously revealed that, for the first time, the developed SC can fully overcome all the signal stability problems of ion-selective electrodes (ISEs), offering a reliable and universal platform for the development of high quality SC-ISEs. As an exemplification, the developed monolayer-protected cluster (MPC) based K(+)-ISEs have advantages of excellent analytical performances, e.g., the low potential drift (10.1 ± 0.3 μV h(-1) over 72 h measured in 0.1 M KCl and 10.8 ± 0.5 μV h(-1) over 96 h rechecked in 0.1 M KCl after 1 month) and the stable and reproducible linear range, sensitivity, and standard potential (few changes within the first 6 weeks). This evidence suggests that the developed MPC films are the most promising SC transducers among all the reported ones to the best of our knowledge.     

Calibration of the 1064 nm lidar channel using water phase and cirrus clouds

Calibration is essential to derive aerosol backscatter coefficients from elastic scattering lidar. Unlike the visible UV wavelengths where calibration is based on a molecular reference, calibration of the 1064 nm lidar channel requires other approaches, which depend on various assumptions. In this paper, we analyze two independent calibration methods which use (i) low-altitude water phase clouds and (ii) high cirrus clouds. In particular, we show that to achieve optimal performance, aerosol attenuation below the cloud base and cloud multiple scattering must be accounted for. When all important processes are considered, we find that these two independent methods can provide a consistent calibration constant with relative differences less than 15%. We apply these calibration techniques to demonstrate the stability of our lidar on a monthly scale, along with a natural reduction of the lidar efficiency on an annual scale. Furthermore, our calibration procedure allows us to derive consistent aerosol backscatter coefficients and angstrom coefficient profiles (532-1064 nm) along with column extinction-to-backscatter ratios which are in good agreement with sky radiometer inversions.     

Elliptical-Tukey chirp signal for high-resolution, air-coupled ultrasonic imaging

A new signal processing method, which uses a modified chirp signal for air-coupled ultrasonic imaging, is described. A combination of the elliptical and Tukey window functions has been shown to give a better performance than the Hanning windowing used in most pulse-compression algorithms for air-coupled applications. The elliptical-Tukey chirp signal provides an improvement in both the resolution of images and signal-to-noise ratios. In addition, this type of signal also reduces the level of signal voltages required to drive the source transducer while maintaining the performance of the system. This approach, thus, may have wide interest in all forms of wide bandwidth ultrasonic imaging.