Urban adolescents' constructions of supports and barriers to educational and career attainment.

This study presents the educational and career goals and perceptions of supports and barriers related to these goals as described in semistructured interviews of 16 students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds attending 9th grade at an urban public high school in a large Northeastern city. Using consensual qualitative research (CQR) methodology (C. E. Hill et al., 2005), the authors identified categories and subcategories to students' perceptions of barriers and supports. The findings highlight students' understanding of how their proximal contexts serve potentially as both supports and barriers. Implications for educational and career interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An example of facade colour design of mass housing

The colours and architectural characteristics of building facades are the major factors affecting the general appearance of cities. When cities are examined from various perspectives, first impressions are obtained from the geometrical forms and facade colours of buildings. The facade colour arrangements should reflect the features of the region and buildings. In this context various features of natural and artificial environments such as plant life, water elements, climate, and historical texture should be examined, and a facade colour arrangement should be designed according to the examination results. In addition, the other factors effective in determining the colour and style of a building, such as social‐cultural background of the society and traditional and natural building materials, should not be forgotten because in some regions traditional buildings with special construction styles, materials, and colours create a specific identity for the settlements and cities. The aims of this article are to elucidate the colour contrast, colour arrangement, and colour design stages of mass housing and to explain the colour design of Bizimkent Mass Housing, which was constructed in a new dwelling zone in Istanbul, Turkey, as an example of such an arrangement. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 27, 291–299, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.10068     

TiO(2) fibers enhance film integrity and photovoltaic performance for electrophoretically deposited dye solar cell photoanodes

Nanoparticulated TiO(2) fibers as one-dimensional long structures were introduced into TiO(2) P25 nanoparticle films using coelectrophoretic deposition. This prevented the usual crack formation occurring in wet coatings, and resulted in less porosity and higher roughness factor of the films that provided more favorable conditions for electron transport. The films used as the photoanode of a dye solar cell (DSC) produced 65% higher photovoltaic efficiency. TiO(2) fibers can be excellent binders in single-step, organic-free electrophoretic deposition of TiO(2) for DSC photoanode.     

Second law analysis of wind turbine power plants: Cesme, Izmir example

In this study, the energy and exergy efficiency results of the Wind Turbine Power Plants (WTPPs) are presented. Exergy, energy and technical availability analysis are performed. The case study includes the actual system data taken from the system in Cesme, Izmir WTPP. General energy, exergy and other performance parameters are also presented. Investigated WTPP is Turkey’s first installed (1998) wind plant (1.50 MW) located in Izmir. Exergy efficiency of the power plant found to be between 0% and 68.20%. The monthly average technical availabilities are 96.11%, 98.71%, 98.52% for turbine 1, turbine 2, and turbine 3, respectively. Furthermore, authors developed some correlations, which are capable of predicting the values of exergy efficiencies of the WTPP for different power factor value.     

The loyal member effect: On the preference for ingroup members who engage in exclusive relations with the ingroup.

The goal of this article was to investigate an indirect form of intergroup differentiation in children in the context of racial attitudes: the preference for ingroup members who interact positively with other ingroup members rather than with outgroup members. Study 1 confirmed this general hypothesis with preschool and 1st-grade children, demonstrating that respondents preferred the ingroup member who played only with other ingroup members, evaluated this child more positively, and felt more similar to him or her. Studies 2 and 3 tested the boundary conditions of the phenomenon. Study 4 analyzed developmental changes demonstrating that the effect is no longer observed among 9- to 11-year-old children. Overall, these studies suggest that engaging in positive interactions with the outgroup might have its costs in terms of a relative devaluation and rejection by one's peers. Results are discussed by stressing the importance of intragroup processes for the regulation of intergroup relations among very young children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Solution behavior of Na sulfonated polystyrene: Dipole moment determinations

Solution behavior of Na sulfonated polystyrene (NaSPS) ionomers with different percentages of sulfonate was studied by viscosity and dipole moment measurements. Two solvents of different character were chosen, i.e. dioxane (? = 2.22) and dimethyl formamide (DMF, ? = 36) and their mixtures. The reduced viscosity as a function of concentration in polar solvents reflects the ‘polyelectrolyte’ behaviour of the ionomers. Mean-squared dipole moment (<μ²>/x) values were calculated over a temperature range of 20–100°C, in dioxane and in a mixture of 4% DMF in dioxane. The results confirm the ‘polyelectrolyte’ behavior of ionomers by the addition of a small amount of polar cosolvent. The effect of increasing temperature on <μ²>/x in the DMF-dioxane mixture is attributed to the formation of a coordination complex.     

Quantum transport of pseudospin-polarized Dirac fermions in gapped graphene nanostructures

We investigate the unusual features of the quantum transport in gapped monolayer graphene, which is in a pseudospin symmetry-broken state with a net perpendicular pseudomagnetization. Using these pseudoferromagnets (PFs), we propose a perfect pseudospin valve effect that can be used for realizing pseudospintronics in monolayer graphene. The peculiarity of the associated effects of pseudospin injection and pseudospin accumulation are also studied. We further demonstrate the determining effect of the sublattice pseudospin degree of freedom on Andreev reflection and the associated proximity effect in hybrid structures of PFs and a superconductor in S/PF and PF/S/PF geometries. In particular, we find a peculiar Andreev reflection that is associated with an inversion of the z component of the carriers pseudospin vector. Our results show that the gapped normal graphene behaves like a ferromagnetic graphene and the effect of the pseudospin degree of freedom in gapped graphene is as important as the spin in a ferromagnetic graphene.     

Valorisation of almond shell waste in ultrasonic biomordanted dyeing: alternatives to metallic mordants

An agroindustrial waste, outer green shell of almond fruit has been valorised as a novel natural dye using chemical solvent-free extraction, small amount of metallic mordants, one-bath biomordanted dyeing, ultrasonic medium, auxiliary-free dyeing and washing. The main objective of this study is to evaluate biomordants vs. metallic mordants depending on heating system both in extraction and dyeing and to reveal alternatives to metallic mordants. Effects of conventional- and ultrasound-assisted systems on dyeing and fastness properties were investigated. Wool fabrics dyed using metallic mordants (alum, iron II sulphate, copper II sulphate and potassium dichromate) were compared with the samples dyed in conjunction with biomordants [powder of valex (acorn of Quercus ithaburensis ssp. macrolepis), pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) rind, rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and thuja (Thuja orientalis) leaves] in terms of colour yield, colour coordinates and fastness properties. Heating system had significant effects on dyeing and fastness results. Power ultrasound did not present any advantage in colour yield increment while it presented different effects on fastness values depending on mordant and process type of which ultrasound was applied. Some biomordants could be replaced with metallic mordants depending on their types and heating system. They could produce completely different colour gamuts just like metallic mordants.