Ordering in Ni-Mo alloys—First-principles calculations versus experimental observations

An extensive amount of experimental work has been reported in the literature on the ordering behaviour of Ni-Mo alloys containing 8–33 at% of Mo, which exhibit both short-range and long-range ordering phenomena and a competition among several fcc-based long-range ordered structures. We have used local-density-based tight binding linear muffin-tin orbital (TB-LMTO) method in conjunction with ‘augmented space recursion + orbital peeling’ (ASR + OP) for the determination of ground state energies of these superstructures in terms of effective pair interactions up to the fourth nearest neighbour pairs. The ordering behaviour of the four competing fcc-based superstructures has been studied using the mean-field-based ‘static concentration wave’ (SCW) model in terms of the free energy-order parameter plots (Landau plots) and the free energy-composition plots. The instability domains with respect to concentration fluctuations, both short wavelength (ordering) and long wavelength (clustering) have been identified from these calculations. This information has been used to predict the sequence of transformation events in the Ni-Mo alloys undergoing ordering and/or clustering and the results are compared with those obtained experimentally.     

Electrothermal Response and Functional Characteristics of Barium Ferrocyanide–Based Squibs

In an attempt to replace toxic ingredients like lead ferrocyanide (LFCN) in electrical squibs, experiments were conducted by using barium ferrocyanide (BFCN) as an ingredient of squib composition. Electrothermal response (ETR), functional characteristics such as no-fire current (NFC) and all-fire current (AFC), were studied and compared with lead ferrocyanide-based squibs. Threshold firing currents were determined using the Bruceton staircase method. The squibs were also subjected to accelerated ageing and performance was evaluated. The results indicate better performance of barium ferrocyanide squibs to electrothermal response and a higher threshold no fire current, making it comparatively safe to handle as compared to lead ferrocyanide–based squibs. The results of accelerated ageing indicate a reasonable shelf life. ETR technique is found to be a good diagnostic tool for quality control.     

Microbend losses in singlemode optical fibers: theoretical andexperimental investigation

A systematic study of microbend effects in singlemode optical fibers is presented. An algorithm is developed to characterize optical attenuation as a function of the spatial period of the microbend deformation. Optical attenuation peaks are described in terms of central wavelength, amplitude, and spectral width. An excellent correlation is shown between the experimental results and the theoretical predictions, with nominal errors of less than 2.5%     

Effect of Malonaldehyde on the Rheological Properties of Wheat Flour

The addition of malonaldehyde (MA) results in significant changes in the visco-elastic behaviour of wheat flour dough. Incorporation of MA in wheat flour also enhances its rate of maturation during subsequent storage. After storage, MA treated wheat flour had lesser extensibility and higher resistance, dough development time and stability than the untreated sample. Altered visco-elastic behaviour of wheat flour has been explained by the reaction of MA with sulphohydryl and amino groups.     

Histological and biochemical changes in the female genital tract of rats and mice after methallibure treatment

Methallibure administration caused reduction of gonadal weights in female rats and mice indicative of suppression of pituitary gonadotrophins. In the ovaries of the methallibure treated females, there was a great atresia of the follicles and of the corpora lutea. Methalbure caused atrophic changes in the endometrial lining of the vagina. Uterine horns became thin after methallibure treatment. A significant decrease in protein, RNA and sialic acid concentration in uterus and vagina was observed following methallibure treatment. Uterus of treated animals showed decreased glycogen contents. Histological and biochemical changes in the female genital tract of rats and mice suggested that the drug caused antifertility effect due to its possible antiestrogenic action.     

Use of the least squares criterion in the finite element formulation

This paper presents a new method of formulating the finite element relationships based on the least squares criterion. To overcome the high degree of inter-element continuity, a method of reducing the original governing differential equation to a set of equivalent system of first-order differential equations is proposed. The validity of the method is demonstrated by means of several numerical examples. In particular, application of the method to problems with unknown variational functionals is considered.     

Diffusion length determination in thin film CdS/CuInSe2 solar cells by the EBIC method

Minority carrier diffusion lengths in thin film p-CuInSe₂ and n-CdS were determined from the decay of the short-circuit current generated by the electron beam of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for different accelerating voltages. The bulk diffusion lengths were determined taking into account the surface recombination velocity at the scanned surface: they were 0.6 μm in CuInSe₂ and 1.17 μm in CdS.     

Determination of Solvent Contamination and Characterization of Ultrafine HNS Particles after Solvent Recrystallization

Solvent–antisolvent recrystallization employed for size reduction of HNS has been described and the effect of various parameters such as stirring rate, effect of antisolvent type, antisolvent temperature, ultrasonication, etc. was investigated. Purified HNS, produced by hot solvent recrystallization of production grade crude HNS, of mean particle size ∼95 μm was used for preparation of ultrafine particles of HNS. Solvent contamination in terms of residual solvent was determined by ¹H NMR and GC‐MS analysis. In addition, ultrafine HNS has been characterized for purity (HPLC, ¹H NMR), particle size and shape (PSA and SEM), specific surface area (BET analysis), thermal behavior (TGA, DSC), sensitivity (impact, friction), etc. The results have been compared with C‐HNS. UF‐HNS was >99% pure with mean particle size <1 μm. SEM showed submicrometer size rods like particles of HNS as the final material.