Photoluminescence of nc-Si:Er thin films obtained by physical and chemical vapour deposition techniques: The effects of microstructure and chemical composition

Erbium doped nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:Er) thin films were produced by reactive magnetron rf sputtering and by Er ion implantation into chemical vapor deposited Si films. The structure and chemical composition of films obtained by the two approaches were studied by micro-Raman scattering, spectroscopic ellipsometry and Rutherford backscattering techniques. Variation of deposition parameters was used to deposit films with different crystalline fraction and crystallite size. Photoluminescence measurements revealed a correlation between film microstructure and the Er³⁺ photoluminescence efficiency.     

Gilthead Seabream Liver Integrative Proteomics and Metabolomics Analysis Reveals Regulation by Different Prosurvival Pathways in the Metabolic Adaptation to Stress

The study of the molecular mechanisms of stress appraisal on farmed fish is paramount to ensuring a sustainable aquaculture. Stress exposure can either culminate in the organism’s adaptation or aggravate into a metabolic shutdown, characterized by irreversible cellular damage and deleterious effects on fish performance, welfare, and survival. Multiomics can improve our understanding of the complex stressed phenotype in fish and the molecular mediators that regulate the underlying processes of the molecular stress response. We profiled the stress proteome and metabolome of Sparus aurata responding to different challenges common to aquaculture production, characterizing the disturbed pathways in the fish liver, i.e., the central organ in mounting the stress response. Label-free shotgun proteomics and untargeted metabolomics analyses identified 1738 proteins and 120 metabolites, separately. Mass spectrometry data have been made fully accessible via ProteomeXchange, with the identifier PXD036392, and via MetaboLights, with the identifier MTBLS5940. Integrative multivariate statistical analysis, performed with data integration analysis for biomarker discovery using latent components (DIABLO), depicted the 10 most-relevant features. Functional analysis of these selected features revealed an intricate network of regulatory components, modulating different signaling pathways related to cellular stress, e.g., the mTORC1 pathway, the unfolded protein response, endocytosis, and autophagy to different extents according to the stress nature. These results shed light on the dynamics and extent of this species’ metabolic reprogramming under chronic stress, supporting future studies on stress markers’ discovery and fish welfare research.     

Piezoelectric behaviour of PZT doped with calcium: a combined experimental and theoretical study

An experimental and theoretical study on the piezoelectric behaviour of PZT doped with a range of calcium ion concentrations is presented. A systematic study of the effect on the piezoelectric properties of PZT doped with various concentrations of CaO at constant sintering temperature and sintering time was carried out. The remanent polarization, planar coupling factor and frequency–thickness constant increase with calcium concentration. Ab initio perturbed ion calculations show that the lattice energy decreases with calcium addition for both tetragonal and rhombohedral phases of PZT. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Recent advances in multimedia networking

In recent years, the ubiquity of multimedia services along with the proliferation of mobile devices and the demand for new audio and video applications are changing the life style of users. User demands for multimedia access anywhere, anytime from any device are creating new challenges for research communities from both academia and industry. It is expected that video-based services alone will account for 50 percent of all consumer network traffic in 2012 and we will continue to witness the explosive growth in users sharing multimedia content over the Internet. In this context, new network, application, and user-based approaches must be created to deal with such complex multimedia systems. This paper presents some of the recent advances in multimedia networking focusing primarily on areas that have been receiving attention recently and are expected to continue to generate further interests in coming years. These areas include Quality of Experience (QoE) and various related standardization issues, Content Distribution Networks (CDNs), multimedia communications, mobile Multimedia. This paper also briefly highlights some of the major challenges that still need to be addressed to enable the support and delivery of multimedia services anywhere, anytime over highly heterogeneous infrastructures and user terminal devices.     

Management of virtual network resources for multimedia applications

The Internet is the primary means for multimedia content sharing, playing a central role in the lifestyle of users. As a consequence, in the past few years, the traffic demand for access and edge networks has increased (video stream downloading, videoconferencing or even the broadcasting of video streams through the Internet), since multimedia applications have strict requirements, including high bandwidth, small amount of loss and low delay. To address this scenario, the edge as a service (EaaS) paradigm arises as a suitable approach to increasing the quality of Internet access. The EaaS uses network virtualization and software-defined networks to improve the resource utilization and manageability. Within this context, this article proposes a framework to manage the virtual network resource (VNR) according to the multimedia application characteristics, and not only the network requirements. Additionally, a study about the relationship between quality of experience (QoE) and VNR availability was performed to be used as a basis for a proposed resource allocation adjustment mechanism. Experiments using real multimedia traffic under distinct scenarios demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework to ensure the QoE of users through the management of the VNR.     

Glass transition and the flowability and caking of powders containing amorphous lactose

Many powders contain amorphous components, such as amorphous lactose in milk powders, which when given sufficient conditions of temperature and water content, will mobilise as a high viscosity flow making the particles sticky. This can lead to increased cohesiveness, powder caking and increased adhesion to surfaces. The transition from the glassy state is established by increasing the powder temperature to above its glass transition temperature which can be measured using differential scanning calorimetry. Exposing milk powder to over 10-20 °C above the lactose glass transition makes the powder more sticky, rendering it a lot more cohesive and also increases its adhesion to a stainless steel surface. This glass transition induced stickiness is time-dependent. Over time, crystallisation can take place converting the amorphous lactose into crystalline lactose. Furthermore, the caking behaviour of powders depends on the amount of component present in the amorphous state. Finally, this work presents an approach for applying the measured relationship between the glass transition and water content for predicting caking problems with powders containing amorphous components.     

Statistical analysis of impact-fracture characteristics and microstructure of industrial Portland cement clinkers

Impact is the dominant breakage mode in most industrial grinding mills used in cement manufacture. The physical amenability of two industrial Portland cement clinkers to size reduction was determined through measurement of their fracture strengths under impact loading. It was found that the fracture strength of clinker is strongly dependent on size, which is consistent with the increasing expenditure of energy in fine grinding. Also, it was observed that the measured fracture strengths could be well described by either single or multiple Weibull distributions. The appearance of these distributions was consistent with the variability in the composition and microstructure of the clinker nodules, observed in a detailed examination under the microscope. Possible reasons for the appearance of these populations are given. It is concluded that the fracture strength of clinker is generally determined by porosity at coarser nodule sizes and by mineralogy and texture at finer sizes.     

Influence of photodegradation with UV radiation in biotreatment with Paecilomyces variotti on PHBV /GNS nanocomposites

Graphite nanosheets (GNSs) and poly(hydroxybutyrate‐co ‐hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) nanocomposites were prepared by solution casting method. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of previously phototreatment with ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the biotreatment with Paecilomyces variotti of neat PHBV and PHBV /GNS nanocomposites. Some samples of PHBV film were submitted only to biotreatment with P. variotti during 120 days; other samples were subjected to phototreatment (UV radiation) for 30 h followed by biodegradation assessment with P. variotti for a period of 120 days. The effects of biotreatments on thermal properties were studied through differential scanning calorimetry. The PHBV films were monitored by weight changes as a function of time. Also, their surfaces were examined after the tests using scanning electron microscopy, contact angle and roughness measurements. The level of oxidation was recorded by means of carbonyl index evaluation by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy spectroscopy. The phototreatment of PHBV films influenced the process of adhesion and colonisation by P. variotti on the surface of the films, and enhanced morphological and structural changes.Inspec keywords: ultraviolet radiation effects, nanocomposites, graphite, polymer blends, casting, nanofabrication, biodegradable materials, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, contact angle, surface roughness, oxidation, Fourier transform infrared spectra, adhesionOther keywords: photodegradation, biotreatment, Paecilomyces variotti, nanocomposites, graphite nanosheets, poly(hydroxybutyrate‐co‐hydroxyvalerate), solution casting, ultraviolet radiation, biodegradation assessment, thermal properties, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, contact angle, roughness measurements, oxidation, carbonyl index evaluation, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, adhesion, colonisation, morphological change, structural change, time 120 d, time 30 h, C     

Degradation profiles of poly(methylene oxide) and poly(glycolic acid) for inflow control devices in oil wells

The viability of the application of hydrolysable polymers, such as poly(methylene oxide) (PMO) and poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), in formation treatments in oil wells, was studied; we examined their addition to inflow control devices (ICDs), which are instruments used to control the oil‐flow profile along production intervals. Thereby, the structural and morphological changes of PMO and PGA samples exposed to common chemicals, such as hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sodium chloride (NaCl) solutions and xylene, used in the procedure were evaluated under conditions similar to those observed in southeastern Brazilian offshore oil fields (temperature range = 50–130 °C, 41.4 MPa). The aim of this study was to verify whether the polymers hydrolyzed and could be further removed from the ICDs. Techniques including high‐pressure liquid chromatography, ion chromatography, ¹³C‐NMR, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and optical microscopy were applied in this study. Xylene did not produce expressive effects in the samples. PMO was significantly affected by 15% HCl at 75 °C but was not completely dissolved after 24 h of exposure; this counter indicates its use. The PGA hydrolysis profile in NaCl brine was suitable for application around 75 °C. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43786.