Crystallization of glass in fireclay refractories; part III: Detailed study on the mullite crystal size in the ‘synthetic’ glass

Poor-grade fireclay products contain substantial amount of glass. A glass of similar composition was synthesized, nucleated and heat-treated for crystallization of mullite. The size and size-distribution of mullite crystals, the rate of change of size and the aspect ratio of the crystals were investigated in relation to the nucleating agents and temperature.     

Hyaluronic acid induced hyaluronic acid binding protein phosphorylation and inositol triphosphate formation in lymphocytes

In this report, the role of 34 kDa HA-binding protein in hyaluronic acid-induced cellular signalling in lymphocytes has been examined. The binding of 125I-HA to lymphocytes in vivo was found to be inhibited by pre-incubation of the cells with anti-34 kDa HA-binding protein antibodies, thus confirming 34 kDa HA-binding protein as the specific HA-receptor in lymphocytes. This observation was substantiated by anti-34 kDa HA-binding protein antibodies immunoblotting and 125I-HA ligand blotting of lymphocytes cell lysate. The HA-induced cell aggregation, tyrosine phosphorylation and cytoskeletal protein phosphorylation demonstrate the HA-induced early cellular signalling events in lymphocytes. Further, to study the involvement of 34 kDa HA-binding protein in mitogen induced lymphocyte signalling, we studied in vivo phosphorylation and secondary messenger formation. The enhanced 34 kDa HA-binding protein phosphorylation by HA and the inhibition of cellular aggregation and IP3 formation by anti-HA-binding protein antibodies revealed that 34 kDa HA-binding protein is one of the potential mediators in HA-induced signal transduction.     

Current-voltage characteristics of molecular conductors: two versus three terminal

Addresses the question of whether a "rigid molecule" (one which does not deform in an external field) used as the conducting channel in a standard three-terminal MOSFET configuration can offer any performance advantage relative to a standard silicon MOSFET. A self-consistent solution of coupled quantum transport and Poisson's equations shows that even for extremely small channel lengths (about 1 nm), a "well-tempered" molecular FET demands much the same electrostatic considerations as a "well-tempered" conventional MOSFET. In other words, we show that just as in a conventional MOSFET, the gate oxide thickness needs to be much smaller than the channel length (length of the molecule) for the gate control to be effective. Furthermore, we show that a rigid molecule with metallic source and drain contacts has a temperature independent subthreshold slope much larger than 60 mV/decade, because the metal-induced gap states in the channel prevent it from turning off abruptly. However, this disadvantage can be overcome by using semiconductor contacts because of their band-limited nature.     

A NEW APPROACH FOR THE CLASSIFICATION AND ENUMERATION OF UNIQUE REACTION ROUTES AND UNIQUE OVERALL REACTIONS IN MULTIPLE CHEMICAL REACTION SYSTEMS

The methodology of response reactions (RERs) introduced earlier from thermodynamic and kinetic considerations is used in this work to develop a new algorithm for the classification and enumeration of unique/direct reaction routes (RRs) and overall reactions (ORs). According to the RERs approach, a unique set of both RRs and ORs may be generated starting from any conceivable set of linearly independent RRs and ORs. In particular, the direct ORs may be most conveniently enumerated starting from the formula matrix of the terminal species (reactants and products), i.e., without any relation to the elementary reactions comprising the detailed mechanism. Depending on the type of ORs produced by the RRs one can distinguish between two distinct types of direct RRs. Namely, one option is to define a direct RR by specifying the intermediate species that need to be eliminated. This type of RR is referred to as Milner RRs. The other option is to require the direct RRs to produce RERs, thus resulting in RRs referred to as Happel-Sellers RRs.     

Quality, Environmental, and Health and Safety Management Systems for Construction Engineering

The philosophy behind quality, environmental, and safety (QES) management systems is a concept that has been accepted by various contractors. Furthermore, a process has been developed insuring that the output produced conforms to customer satisfaction without violating any environmental, health, and safety rules and regulations. An effective QES program not only assures a quality product but also reduces costs, and enhances productivity. It is a top down process, i.e., top management together with line management and other employees develop the program and motivate all personnel to accept the process. Important functions to take under consideration are (1) explain and clarify the quality, environmental, and safety performance expected; (2) involve employees in decision-making and problem solving; (3) describe the consequences of poor quality and unsafe/unhealthy work conditions; (4) establish QES goals and provide feedback on performance; (5) provide a self-monitoring system; and (6) recognize and reinforce good performance and develop a reward system. This paper presents a discussion of the development of a portion of a QES management system which has been employed by a medium to large size construction company. In particular, Items 1–4, listed above, are described in detail.     

Inference for pth‐order random coefficient integer‐valued autoregressive processes

Abstract. A pth‐order random coefficient integer‐valued autoregressive [RCINAR(p)] model is proposed for count data. Stationarity and ergodicity properties are established. Maximum likelihood, conditional least squares, modified quasi‐likelihood and generalized method of moments are used to estimate the model parameters. Asymptotic properties of the estimators are derived. Simulation results on the comparison of the estimators are reported. The models are applied to two real data sets.