Effect of Tungsten (W) Substitution on the Physical Properties of Bi-(2223) Superconductors

The superconducting Bi_1.6Pb_0.4Sr₂Ca₂Cu_3?x W _x O_10+y (x=0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15) bulk samples were prepared by the solid-state reaction method. The effects of W substitution on the BSCCO system have been investigated by the electrical resistivity (ρ-T), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), magnetic hysteresis and critical current density measurements. It has been found that the Bi-(2212) low-T _C phase is formed for all the substitution levels, together with the Bi-(2223) high-T _C phase. The results obtained from the XRD data show that the Bi-(2223) phase gradually transforms into the Bi-(2212) phase with increasing W substituting for Cu. In addition, from the magnetization measurements at the temperatures below the zero resistance temperatures of the samples, we have observed that a decreasing in magnitude of |M| with the increasing measurement temperature and W concentration. Therefore, the decreasing of |M| related to superconducting volume seems to imply an existence of flux-pinning centers in our samples.     

Measurements of a leaky-wave ferrite isolator

A single ferrite/dielectric image line is analyzed using the effective permittivity method adapted for ferrites. E/sub pq//sup x/ modes are used in association with a transverse bias direction to obtain nonreciprocal behavior. It is shown that the required conditions can be obtained that enable the composite image line to guide in one direction and leak in the other. Thus, the structure behaves as a "leaky-wave isolator." Dispersion diagrams showing this behavior in the frequency range of 14-30 GHz are obtained for a 2 /spl times/ 2 mm/sup 2/ ferrite (type TT1-390) rod with adjacent dielectric loading with /spl epsiv/r=10. The structure is built and the bias is applied externally in a direction transverse to and in the plane of the direction of propagation. The required modes are excited and probed by semirigid coaxial cables mounted on vernier mechanisms. The S-parameters indicating the nonreciprocal behavior in the frequency range expected are shown.     

Effect of the composition of methanol−water mixtures on tacticity of poly(N‐ethylacrylamide) gel

Two series of macroporous poly(N‐ethylacrylamide) (PNEAM) gels are synthesized in different composition of methanol–water mixtures (x_m = 0, 0.06, 0.13, 0.21, 0.31, and 0.43; where x_m = mole fraction of methanol) in presence as well as in the absence of 0.1M Y(OTf)₃ Lewis acid as additive. The gels synthesized in the absence of Lewis acid are atactic and in the presence of the same are isotactic. Synthesis of the corresponding linear PNEAM homopolymers shows that, the isotacticity (meso dyad, %) of the resulted polymers increases for the gels prepared in the presence of Lewis acid (LA) and remains constant for the gel prepared in the absence of LA, respectively, with the increase in the concentration of the synthesis solvent methanol. SEM micrographs reveal that, the hydrogels synthesized in the presence of LA are more porous than the gels prepared in the absence of LA. Swelling ratio of all the hydrogels decreases with the increase in the temperature and LA gels show higher swelling ratio values than non LA gels (NLA). Deswelling rate of the hydrogels prepared in methanol–water mixture in presence of LA is faster than the hydrogels prepared in absence of LA. Moreover, reswelling rate increases with increase in the isotacticity of the PNEAM segment in the gel. All these results have been explained on the basis of the formation of highly porous hydrogels with higher isotactic PNEAM chain segment in the presence of LA in methanol–water mixtures. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41668.     

Sorption and desorption behaviours of 2,4‐D and glyphosate in calcareous soil from Antalya,Turkey

2,4‐Dichlorophenoxyl acetic acid (2,4‐D) and glyphosate are used extensively as a herbicide in vicinity of Antalya, Turkey. Laboratory batch experiments were conducted to investigate the sorption isotherm and sorption‐desorption characteristics of 2,4‐D and glyphosate. Results indicated that degree of sorption of glyphosate was approximately 50 times higher than 2,4‐D (K_d= 34.43 vs. 0.66 L/Kg). The sorption of 2,4‐D and glyphosate was described by linear and rate‐limited processes for soil. Organic carbon content was most likely responsible for sorption behaviour of 2,4‐D and glyphosate. The rapid desorption can be attributed to soft carbon fraction (humic/fluvic acid and lipids) whereas slower desorption can be responsible by hard carbon fraction (black carbon, kerogen) of soils that led to chemically nonideal behaviour (hysteresis). Sorption of 2,4‐D was low due to most likely deactivation of organic carbon surfaces by excess carbonate fraction, whereas strong binding of glyphosate onto organic carbon causing high sorption behaviour.     

Comparison of relative density of two random geometric digraph families in testing spatial clustering

We compare the performance of relative densities of two parameterized random geometric digraph families called proximity catch digraphs (PCDs) in testing bivariate spatial patterns. These PCD families are proportional edge (PE) and central similarity (CS) PCDs and are defined with proximity regions based on relative positions of data points from two classes. The relative densities of these PCDs were previously used as statistics for testing segregation and association patterns against complete spatial randomness. The relative density of a digraph, D, with n vertices (i.e., with order n) represents the ratio of the number of arcs in D to the number of arcs in the complete symmetric digraph of the same order. When scaled properly, the relative density of a PCD is a U-statistic; hence, it has asymptotic normality by the standard central limit theory of U-statistics. The PE- and CS-PCDs are defined with an expansion parameter that determines the size or measure of the associated proximity regions. In this article, we extend the distribution of the relative density of CS-PCDs for expansion parameter being larger than one, and compare finite sample performance of the tests by Monte Carlo simulations and asymptotic performance by Pitman asymptotic efficiency. We find the optimal expansion parameters of the PCDs for testing each alternative in finite samples and in the limit as the sample size tending to infinity. As a result of our comparisons, we demonstrate that in terms of empirical power (i.e., for finite samples) relative density of CS-PCD has better performance (which occurs for expansion parameter values larger than one) for the segregation alternative, while relative density of PE-PCD has better performance for the association alternative. The methods are also illustrated in a real-life data set from plant ecology.     

The Structural and Magnetic Properties of Zn0.8−4x Dy x O y (0.05≤x≤0.10) Compounds Prepared by Solid-State Reactions

In this study, Dy-doped ZnO (Zn_0.8?4x Dy _x O _y (0.05≤x≤0.10)) samples were prepared by the solid-state reaction method, and were characterized by using the XRD, SEM and EDX techniques. The SEM results clearly demonstrate that the grains of the samples are very well connected to each other and tightly packed. From the XRD and EDX spectra, it has been concluded that the substituting of Dy³⁺ for Zn²⁺ in ZnO causes almost no change in the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO. However, the lattice parameters a and c of Dy-doped ZnO are slightly different from those of the pure ZnO. These observations may be due to the slightly different ionic sizes of Zn²⁺ and Dy³⁺ ions. Our magnetization measurements (M–H) and (M–T) show paramagnetic behavior with a negative value of the Curie–Weiss temperature, corresponding to an antiferromagnetic exchange coupling in Dy-doped ZnO. Since, for low magnetic fields the extrapolation of the H/M versus temperature curves cut the T axes at negative values, we believe that the substitution of Dy in ZnO causes an overwhelming antiferromagnetic interaction for x≤0.10.     

Biogenic amines formation in Streptococcus thermophilus isolated from home-made natural yogurt

Twelve different biogenic amines formation in 58 isolates of Streptococcus thermophilus from home-made natural yogurt were investigated in histidine (HDB) and lysine decarboxylase broth (LDB). All S. thermophilus isolates had an ability to produce twelve different biogenic amines in HDB and LDB. Most of the S. thermophilus isolates formed low amounts of histamine (1–50 mg/L) from histidine. Apart from one isolate, S. thermophilus produced tyramine at low (47 isolates) and medium (10 isolates) levels. The amount of each specific biogenic amine produced by S. thermophilus was generally lower than 100 mg L⁻¹. Also, the presence of hdcA gene was investigated using PCR technique and relation between gene and histamine production was conducted in S. thermophilus isolates. This study showed that most of the S. thermophilus isolates have the ability to form biogenic amines, especially histamine, and tyramine, which is an important consideration when selecting strains as starter cultures.     

Overall and pairwise segregation tests based on nearest neighbor contingency tables

Multivariate interaction between two or more classes (or species) has important consequences in many fields and may cause multivariate clustering patterns such as spatial segregation or association. The spatial segregation occurs when members of a class tend to be found near members of the same class (i.e., near conspecifics) while spatial association occurs when members of a class tend to be found near members of the other class or classes. These patterns can be studied using a nearest neighbor contingency table (NNCT). The null hypothesis is randomness in the nearest neighbor (NN) structure, which may result from-among other patterns-random labeling (RL) or complete spatial randomness (CSR) of points from two or more classes (which is called the CSR independence, henceforth). New versions of overall and cell-specific tests based on NNCTs (i.e., NNCT-tests) are introduced and compared with Dixon’s overall and cell-specific tests and various other spatial clustering methods. Overall segregation tests are used to detect any deviation from the null case, while the cell-specific tests are post hoc pairwise spatial interaction tests that are applied when the overall test yields a significant result. The distributional properties of these tests are analyzed and finite sample performance of the tests are assessed by an extensive Monte Carlo simulation study. Furthermore, it is shown that the new NNCT-tests have better performance in terms of Type I error and power estimates. The methods are also applied on two real life data sets for illustrative purposes.     

Electrical properties of composites as affected by the degree of mixedness of the conductive filler in the polymer matrix

The development of the electrical properties of composites as a function of the degree of mixedness of a conductive filler distributed into an insulating polymer is investigated. A wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD)‐based quantitative phase analysis method was used to characterize the variations of the concentrations of the insulating binder and the conductive particles around their mean values as a function of mixing time in an intensive batch mixer. Increasing the time and hence, the specific energy input, during the mixing process results in a more homogeneous spatial distribution of the conductive filler in the polymeric matrix, which in turn results in a decrease of the volume conductivity of the composite. The decreasing conductivity of the composite is attributed to the better coating and hence the isolation of the conductive particles from each other, thus hindering the formation of a conductive network “percolation”. Overall, these results suggest that the control of the electrical properties of conductive composites could benefit from a good understanding and adequate control of the dynamics of the mixing process and the resulting degree of mixedness of the conductive particles in the polymer matrix.