Perceptions of reward systems by technologists and managers ininformation technology companies

The authors summarize empirical research that studied the perceptions of 91 technologists and managers about rewards systems in eight information technology companies. An analysis of the responses shows that although the companies differ in business and location, technologists and their managers share different sets of perceptions about the same reward systems. Technologists strongly perceive that they must move into management to increase their pay, status, and importance. Managers believe that their pay reflects their current responsibilities and they do not perceive that they are at a dead-end in their jobs. Although they state that technologists need not progress to management positions in their careers, managers agree that technologists must move into management to get higher pay and status. All respondents expressed a strong need for a parallel technical career ladder in their companies     

Mechanical and electromagnetic design of the SSC QSE101 quadrupoleends

The SSC (Superconducting Super Collider) magnets feature grouped ends in which cables of a particular coil remain stacked together as they are bent around the end. Methods have been developed to form the ends in such a way that mechanical stresses are lowered and field quality is optimized. The authors discuss techniques of end turn design and present calculations of harmonics and peak fields for the SSC quadrupole QSE101. By optimizing the end configuration, integrated harmonics through the end have been minimized     

Tempering characteristics of two low-alloy steels used for naval applications

Tempering characteristics of two high-strength low-alloy steels (HY-80 and HX-80) with carbon contents of 0.14 and 0.07%, respectively, have been investigated by transmission electron microscopic analysis. Mechanical properties such as hardness, and tensile and impact properties of these two steels were correlated with microstructural features. It was observed that the major factors contributing to the equivalent strength, better toughness, and weldability of microalloyed HX-80 steel compared to HY-80 steel include judicious selection of tempering temperature, lower carbon content, and finer grain size.     

Temperature dependence of microhardness in mixed crystals

The temperature dependence of microhardness of mixed KCl-KBr crystals has been studied using the Kataoka and Yamada theory which considers plastic deformation and internal stress field due to elastic interactions in mixed crystals. The microhardness showed systematic variation with temperature in both the components and the mixed crystals and the probable reasons for this variation are indicated.     

Au/P polysilicon Schottky diodes

Schottky barrier diodes were fabricated by evaporation of gold layers onto chemically etched polycrystalline silicon wafers. The wafers are p type (resistivityρ _⊥=160 Ωcm, the grains are columnar shape with some orientation). An average potential barrier of 0.087 eV appears to exist across the grain boundary between columns. Ohmic back contacts were made from a Ga-Al alloy. Diodes were investigated with the aid of (a)I-V characteristics at different temperatures, (b)C-V characteristics, (c) spectral response and (d) Fowler's plot of photoelectric measurements. The best diodes had characteristics similar to data typical of monocrystalline silicon. The low series columnar resistance (0.67Ω) of the cells is neglected in the analysis. The barrier height, fromI-V data (including temperature variation) was 0.67 to 0.73 eV. This is much lower than that obtained from Fowler's plot (0.9 eV). However, the barrier height obtained from theC-V graph is in agreement with the value of 0.9 eV. The diffusion potential is 0.4 eV. The value of the diode ideality factor (1.5 to 2.8) indicates that recombination generation processes play a dominant role. The normalized photovoltaic spectral response in the wavelength range 600 to 1300 nm was presented with a comparison from the theory taking into account bulk and surface recombination.     

Attenuation and Backscattering of Ultrasound in Freshly Excised Animal Tissues

A modified version of pulse echo technique was used to measure the attenuation a and backscattering ?bs coefficient of ultrasound (frequency range 1-10 MHz) in freshly excised tissues. Data acquisition and analysis were carried out using a microprocessor conlled high speed A/D converter and a minicomputer. Attenuation and scattering measurements were made using the substitution technique and computations were carried out in the frequency domain.     

Enhanced antibacterial activity of bimetallic gold-silver core-shell nanoparticles at low silver concentration

Herein we report the development of bimetallic Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) where gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) served as the seeds for continuous deposition of silver atoms on its surface. The core-shell structure and morphology were examined by UV-Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The core-shell NPs showed antibacterial activity against both gram negative (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and gram positive (Enterococcus faecalis and Pediococcus acidilactici) bacteria at low concentration of silver present in the shell, with more efficacy against gram negative bacteria. TEM and flow cytometric studies showed that the core-shell NPs attached to the bacterial surface and caused membrane damage leading to cell death. The enhanced antibacterial properties of Au@Ag core-shell NPs was possibly due to the more active silver atoms in the shell surrounding gold core due to high surface free energy of the surface Ag atoms owing to shell thinness in the bimetallic NP structure.