The impact of river regulation on invertebrate communities in the U.K.

The impact of river regulation on invertebrates has received comparatively little attention in the U.K., with most studies concentrating on the effects of impoundment. During dam construction invertebrate diversity and abundance decreases. Longer term alterations in community structure (which usually extend for a relatively short distance downstream) reflect changes in flow, substrate, temperature, and water quality. In particular adverse effects on invertebrates have been attributed to a reduction in substrate heterogeneity together with an accumulation of sediment. Responses to impoundment within and between taxonomic groups are highly variable. In general Ephemeroptera and Coleoptera are reduced. Of the Plecoptera the Perlodidae and Chloroperlidae are more likely to be adversely affected than the Nemouridae or Leuctridae. The impact of impoundment on net-spinning Trichoptera varies with reductions in some populations and enhancement in others. Simuliids are usually restricted, probably because of a lack of suitable oviposition or attachment sites. Freshets released from reservoirs increase the level of invertebrate drift. However, the full consequences of impoundment on drift, recolonization, and upstream migration have yet to be assessed. There is some evidence that modified temperature regimes cause extended egg hatching periods and alter larval growth rates but further studies are needed. Little is known of the effects of inter-river transfers on invertebrates, but it has been suggested that changes in flow velocity, water chemistry, suspended solids, and temperature together with translocation of organisms are all likely to be important. The limited information available for groundwater schemes indicates that they are not detrimental to invertebrates. Their impact, however, is dependent upon factors such as the extent and timing of flow augmentation. It is suggested that there is scope for positive management of invertebrate communities through river regulation, although at present attitudes and practices do not encourage this. Many gaps in our knowledge still remain and these are discussed in relation to future research needs.     

Quasithermodynamic theory of He3 and He4 solutions

The conventional theory of nonideal solutions is modified on the basis of Gorter's hypothesis, and various properties of He³ and He⁴ solutions are investigated. The variation of -temperature with He³ concentration is explained adequately right up to the phase separation region. A comparison between the theoretical and experimental results for excess chemical potentials, excess entropy, and excess enthalpy is then carried out. In view of the recognized complex behavior of the solution in the region 1 to 2° K, the observed satisfactory agreement between theory and experiment may be regarded as a strong support for the assumptions made in our work.     

Generalized orderings of excess lifetimes of renewal processes

Several concepts of generalized orderings and generalized ageing classes have been considered in the literature (see Fagiuoli and Pellerey, 1993, Nav Res Logist 40: 829–842). They have been used in reliability, economics and actuarial sciences. These generalized notions provide a knowledge of the intrinsic structure of the ageing and ordering properties of random variables and have become an important tool in applied probability. In this paper, we provide new results about generalized orderings of excess lifetimes at different times of a renewal process when the underlying distribution belongs to some generalized ageing class. We also derive some interpretations and give some discussions of these results.     

Adhesion enhancement of sol-gel coating on polycarbonate by heated impregnation treatment

The main limitation in using coated plastics for optical components, electronic applications and display systems is the softness of the substrate surfaces, which is responsible for the low impact and abrasion resistance and weak adhesion between the coating and the substrate. In this paper, we report a new strategy for surface pre-treatment of plastics using heated vacuum equipment and sol-gel materials to provide both chemical bonds and penetrated hard layer into the plastic surface to increase the overall performance of the coated plastic components. The heated vacuum treatment process involves: (1) surface cleaning and pore opening by heating and vacuum conditions, (2) impregnation of hydrolyzed hybrid precursor into polymer substrate under pressure and elevated temperature, (3) aminolysis of diffused precursor with surface to form chemical bonds and hardened surface layer, (4) formation of chemical bonds at treated surface with sol-gel hard coating. An impregnation depth of 1.5 µm was detected. Water contact angle dropped to below 40° and roughness increased after treatment. These provided better adhesion by increased wettability and contact area. Much increased nanoindentation hardness and Young's modulus after impregnation provided a gradient in mechanical properties between soft substrate and hard sol-gel coating. The hardened substrate delays the plastic deformation in substrate during pencil scratch test, thereby preventing early gouge failure. Both the better adhesion and the delayed gouge failure contributed to the increased scratch resistance from 6B to 8H after sol-gel coating.     

Electroactive Shape Memory Effect of Polyurethane Composites Filled with Carbon Nanotubes and Conducting Polymer

We report the electroactive shape memory composites obtained by shape memory polyurethane block copolymer (PU) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), and polypyrrole (PPy). An addition of combined MWNTs and PPy contributed to an enhancement in conductivity of PU-MWNTs composites. PU containing 2.5% MWNTs showed better mechanical and thermal properties than other composites, but conductivity was not sufficient for showing the shape memory effect by applying electrical voltages. However, when the composite was lightly coated by PPy (2.5%), its conductivity was the highest than other composites. Such the conductivity of this composite was enough to show electroactive shape recovery by heating above transition temperature of 40-48°C due to melting of polycaprolactone soft segment domain. The good shape recovery of 90-96% could be obtained in the shape recovery test when an electric field of 25 V was applied.     

Structural and optical properties of nc-Si:H thin films deposited by layer-by-layer technique

Hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) thin films deposited on c-Si and quartz substrates by layer-by-layer (LBL) technique using radio-frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition system. The effects of rf power on the interlayer elemental profiling, structural and optical properties of the films were investigated by Auger electron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman scattering spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and optical transmission and reflection spectroscopy. The results revealed that the LBL deposition leads to a formation of different ranges of crystallite sizes of nc-Si corresponds 3–6 and 8–26 nm respectively. LBL deposition also demonstrated a capability to increase the crystalline volume fraction of nc-Si up to 65.3 % with the crystallite size in between 5 and 6 nm, at the rf power in between 80 and 100 W. However, the crystalline volume fraction decreased for the rf power above 100 W due to the growth of nc-Si was suppressed by the formation of SiO₂. In addition, the onset of crystallization of the films deposited on c-Si and quartz substrates are different with increase in the rf power. The effects of rf power on the growth of nc-Si, and the hydrogen content, structural disorder, crystallite size of nc-Si and oxygen diffusion into the LBL layer with the change of optical energy gap under the variation of rf power are also discussed.     

Study of the growth,and effects of filament to substrate distance on the structural and optical properties of Si/SiC core–shell nanowires synthesized by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

Silicon/silicon carbide (Si/SiC) core–shell nanowires grown on quartz substrates by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition were studied. Nickel was used as a catalyst to induce the growth of these core–shell nanowires followed by the vapor–solid–solid growth mechanism. The nanowires were grown by varying substrate-to-filament distance; d_s-f from 1.9 to 3.1 cm with an interval of 0.4 cm. Lower d_s-f produced a high density of straight core–shell nanowires. A highly crystalline single crystal Si core of the nanowires was produced at lower d_s-f as well. Presence of Si and SiC nano-crystallites embedded within an amorphous matrix in the shell of the nanowires exhibited a high intensity of photoluminescence emission spectra from 600 to 1000 nm. The effects of the d_s-f on the structural and optical properties of the nanowires are discussed.     

Emphasis on Validation in Research: A Meta-Analysis

The emphasis of validity as a publication content was investigated in dissertations and journal articles. The time of first publication, longitudinal publication profile, ratio of articles to dissertations, and time lag between dissertations and articles emphasizing validity were compared within and among various fields. A three-decade gap separated the first field adopting validity-related contents in its dissertations from the latest fields that did so. The longitudinal data suggested three groups of fields (Agricultural Sciences, Applied Sciences and Social Sciences) which showed consistent differences among groups and consistent similarities within groups in their emphasis on validity-related content. Adoption of validity-related content in dissertations always preceded adoption of validity-related content in journal articles. On average, less than 4% of journal articles included validity-related content across fields. These findings support the hypothesis that validity has been introduced and disseminated within fields following patterns predicted by diffusion of innovations theory. It is argued that this pattern is inconsistent with an efficient and interdisciplinary utilization of available knowledge. Policy recommendations are made for developing strategic communication and education programs for academicians and journal reviewers.     

The role of functionalized carbon nanotubes in a PA6/LCP blend

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were carboxyl-functionalized in order to improve their dispersion in a polymer matrix. The carboxyl-functionalized MWCNTs (i.e., MWCNT-COOH) were added into a blend matrix consisting of polyamide 6 (PA6) and liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) (PA6:LCP = 80:20 in weight) to make ternary composites. The effects of MWCNT-COOH on the rheological, physical, morphological, thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties of the ternary composites have been examined systematically. The dispersion of MWCNTs in the polymer matrix and their interactions with the polymers (i.e., PA6 and LCP) were found to be the most important factors affecting all properties. The functionalization of MWCNTs resulted in the significant improvement in their dispersion in the polymer matrix and largely enhanced the interactions of MWCNTs with the polymer matrix. The functionalized MWCNTs acted not only as reinforcement fillers but also as a compatibilizer that could enhance the interfacial adhesion between PA6 and LCP. Interestingly, the packing density of the polymer matrix was greatly increased by adding MWCNT-COOH.     

IT2000: A critical appraisal of Singapore's state-wide strategic planning process for information technology

In April 1992, the Singapore Government announced its information technology (IT) vision and plan for the next 15 years to turn Singapore into ‘an intelligent island’, providing a strategic regional switching centre for expertise, goods, services and information. At the heart of this plan is a national information infrastructure that would capitalize on information as a key factor of production and an important ingredient for enhancing the quality of life of its people. Code named ‘IT2000’, the plan was developed by 60 senior managers at the National Computer Board in 1991 with participation and inputs from about 200 business and industry leaders, domain experts and academics. This paper describes the background of Singapore's drive into the information age, the IT2000 planning process, the roles of various participants and the main recommendations of the plan. An evaluation of IT2000 is made in terms of its objectives, its unanticipated results and its impacts on industry participants. Implications and lessons are drawn for strategic IT planning at the national or sectoral level.