Synthesis of Lead Nickel Niobate–Lead Zirconate Titanate Solid Solutions by a B-site Precursor Method

A modified processing method for lead nickel niobate–lead zirconate titanate (Pb(Ni_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃–Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃, PNN–PZT) solid solutions is presented. This method is based on the high-temperature synthesis of a precursor that contains all the B-site cations (Ti, Zr, Ni, and Nb). This synthesis yields a diphasic mixture that contains a ZrTiO₄-like phase and a rutile-like phase. Both phases exhibit a cationic valence of 4; thus, it is concluded that the mixing of Ni and Nb cations is adequate for the preparation of PNN–PZT solid solutions. Indeed, a pure perovskite phase has been obtained after calcination with lead oxide for compositions that contain 40 and 50 mol% PNN. Moreover, their electromechanical properties have been shown to be superior to values reported for standard columbite routes. This conclusion has been interpreted in terms of enhanced chemical homogeneity.     

Melting of the flux line lattice observed by specific heat experiments in YBa2Cu3O7−δ

High resolution adiabatic specific heat experiments on YBa₂Cu₃O₇– (00.05) are performed in magnetic fields from 0 to 14 T (Bc and Bc). In a 0.3 gram, twinned crystal with strong pinning, a step is consistently observed at the melting temperature T_m of the vortex solid up to a critical point that depends on . The field B_m and step temperature T_m obey the relation B_m=B_mo()(1–T_m/Tc)^4/3. The anisotropy of B_m and that of the upper critical field B_c2 are found to be equal. Alternatively, in a 18 mg, twinned crystal of high purity with low pinning, first-order-like specific heat peaks are observed on the melting line from 8 to 14 T. The entropy under these peaks is 0.5 kB /vortex/bilayer. These characteristic features are attributed to the melting of a vortex glass in the former case and that of a vortex lattice in the latter case.     

Baculovirus expression of chimeric hepatitis B virus core particles with hepatitis E virus epitopes and their use in a hepatitis E immunoassay

Two hepatitis B core proteins bearing the immunodominant region of the hepatitis E virus (HEV) capsid protein, one at the C terminus of hepatitis B virus core antigen (HBcAg) and the other within the HBcAg immunodominant loop, were constructed. Both chimeric proteins exhibited HEV reactivity, but only the first construct retained HBcAg reactivity. The second construct was used to develop an anti-HEV test which is equivalent to a commercial test for the detection of anti-HEV immunoglobulin G (IgG) but is more sensitive for the detection of anti-HEV IgM.     

Resistive transition of superconducting wire networks. Influence of pinning and fluctuations

We have studied the resistive transition of several 2-D superconducting wire networks of various coupling strengths, which we characterize in terms of the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition temperature and the ratio /a of the coherence length to the array period. In the extreme strong coupling limit where the mesh size is of the order of the zero-temperature coherence length, the superconducting behavior is well described by the mean-field properties of the superconducting wave function. Extending to 2-D array, the 1-D phase slippage model explains the dissipative regime observed above the Ginzburg-Landau depairing critical current. On the other hand, when the coupling is weak, phase fluctuations below the Ginzburg-Landau transition and vortex depinning dominate the resistive behavior. An activated dissipation is observed even below the depairing critical current. Results obtained in this regime for critical temperature, magnetoresistance or critical current versus temperature, and magnetic field are shown; their periodic oscillations are discussed in terms of depinning of vortices on the array. A simple periodic pinning potential for a vortex in a wire network is calculated, and compared with the case of pinning in Josephson junction arrays. We show that this model explains qualitatively the experimental results observed for small /a.     

Content-Based Copy Retrieval Using Distortion-Based Probabilistic Similarity Search

Content-based copy retrieval (CBCR) aims at retrieving in a database all the modified versions or the previous versions of a given candidate object. In this paper, we present a copy-retrieval scheme based on local features that can deal with very large databases both in terms of quality and speed. We first propose a new approximate similarity search technique in which the probabilistic selection of the feature space regions is not based on the distribution in the database but on the distribution of the features distortion. Since our CBCR framework is based on local features, the approximation can be strong and reduce drastically the amount of data to explore. Furthermore, we show how the discrimination of the global retrieval can be enhanced during its post-processing step, by considering only the geometrically consistent matches. This framework is applied to robust video copy retrieval and extensive experiments are presented to study the interactions between the approximate search and the retrieval efficiency. Largest used database contains more than 1 billion local features corresponding to 30000 h of video     

Removal of arsenic from geothermal discharge waters after absorption on iron floc and subsequent recovery of the floc using dissolved air flotation

Arsenic as arsenate can be almost quantitatively removed from hot geothermal discharge waters after absorption on to iron floc. Floc formation is markedly improved through the addition of a non-ionic flocculant and the floc can be collected by conditioning the floc with a surfactant followed by dissolved air flotation. Optimum conditions of reagent dosages and conditions for flotation have been determined.Heating the dried floc with charcoal to 900°C enables 90° of the arsenic present to be volatilised and potentially recoverable.The treated waters will deposit silica at a considerably slower rate than untreated discharge waters.     

Dialysis clearance of buflomedil in hemodialysed patients

Buflomedil (CAS 55837-25-7, Fonzylane) is a peripherally vasoactive drug which improves nutritional blood flow in ischaemic tissue of patients with peripheral vascular disease by the way of an increase of perfusion in the microcirculation. Ten hemodialysed patients with chronic renal failure treated with intravenous infusion of 400 mg of buflomedil during 4 h of dialysis were included in the first study. This study was carried out to determine the dialysis plasma clearance and the amount of drug dialysed during the first intravenous administration of buflomedil. The dialysis clearance calculated from the amount recovered in dialysate was (mean +/- SD) 25.4 +/- 25.6 ml/min. The drug recovery resulting from hemodialysis represented a small fraction of the dose (< or = 5%). A second study was carried out to determine the accumulation of buflomedil in chronic hemodialysed patient. The drug concentration were measured before and at the end (4 h) of the infusion of buflomedil in six other patients maintained on intermittent hemodialysis (3 per week) for 4 weeks. The average Cmin and Cmax were stable during the 12 successive dialyses (mean +/- SD intervals were between 0.36 +/- 0.53 and 0.66 +/- 0.79 microgram/ml for Cmin and between 5.15 +/- 2.19 and 7.37 +/- 1.76 micrograms/ml for Cmax), showing no trend of accumulation of buflomedil. These results agree with the pharmacokinetics of the drug which is mainly metabolised in the liver and has a low renal clearance. Dialysis is unable to modify significantly the plasma concentration of the drug in regularly dialysed patients.     

Acides forts dans le dimethylsulfoxide

Dissociation of acids in dimethylsulfoxide has been studied by conductometry. Trifluoromethanesulphonic acid is completely dissociated. Dissociation constants of the other acids are: picric acid 10^+0·3, methanesulphonic acid 10^?1·76, hydrochloric acid 10^?2·01, trifluoroacetic acid 10^?3·45 and sulphuric acid ? 10^?1·41. The proton ionic conductivity is “normal”. The acids dissociation is compared in dimethylsulfoxide and other solvents.