Allowed and forbidden transition parameters for Fe XXII

Radiative transitions for photo-excitations and de-excitations in Fe XXII are studied in the relativistic Breit-Pauli approximation. A comprehensive set of fine structure energy levels, oscillator strengths (f), line strengths (S), and radiative decay rates (A) for electric dipole (E1), same spin multiplicity and intercombination, fine structure transitions is presented. These are obtained from the first calculations in the close coupling approximation using the Breit-Pauli R-matrix method for this ion, all existing theoretical results having been obtained from various other atomic structure calculations. The present work obtains a set of 771 fine structure energy levels with n ? 10, l ? 9, and 1/2 ? J ? 17/2, only 52 of which have been observed. The f, S, and A values are reported for 70,372 allowed E1 transitions, exceeding by far those published previously. The calculated fine structure levels have been identified spectroscopically using a procedure based on quantum defect analysis. The energies agree with the available observed energies to within less than one to a few percent. The A values for E1 transitions are in good agreement with other existing values for most transitions. Using the atomic structure code SUPERSTRUCTURE (SS), S and A values are also presented for 38,215 forbidden transitions of the types electric quadrupole (E2), electric octupole (E3), magnetic dipole (M1), and magnetic quadrupole (M2) among 274 fine structure levels formed from 25 configurations with orbitals ranging from 1s to 4f. Some of these levels lie above the ionization limit and hence can form autoionizing lines. Such lines for 1s-2p K_α transitions have been observed in experiments. The energies from the SS calculations agree with observed energies within a few percent. The A values for E2 and M1 transitions agree very well with the available values. The atomic parameters for both allowed and forbidden transitions should be applicable for diagnostics as well as complete spectral modeling in the X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical regimes of astrophysical and laboratory plasmas.     

Electrochemical preparation and characterization of conducting copolymer/silica composite

A composite based on organic copolymer and inorganic oxide, polyaniline/poly o‐toluidine/silica (PANI/POT/SiO₂), has been synthesized successfully by a simple electrochemical method. The composite film was found to be deposited on a Pt substrate by sweeping the potential between ?0.2 and +1.0 V versus a saturated calomel electrode with a scan rate of 100 mV/s. The polymeric composite film thus obtained was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, conductance measurement, and cyclic voltammetry techniques. Incorporation of silica in the copolymer results a clear difference in surface morphology compared with the bulk homo‐ and copolymers. Further evidence of silica in the composite was achieved by infrared spectral analysis. Indeed, a chemical analysis of the composite matrix showed a content of as high as 25% SiO₂ in the composite thus prepared. Based on the results of cyclic voltammetric analysis, the composite electrode as prepared was found to show good electrochemical stability even at high positive potentials. It also exhibited excellent electroactivity even after incorporation of silica in the matrix. The electroactive composite film was thus examined as electrode modifier to study the redox behavior of ferrous/ferric (Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺) and hydroquinone/benzoquinone (H₂Q/Q) couples. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Display and analysis of historical and instrumental seismological data pertaining to India and adjoining regions,using the Java-based software application—‘Kampan 2006’

The seismological records of past events provide insight into the seismic activities in an area. They help in preparing long-term plans to manage earthquake disasters. We present a system to display and analyse historical seismological data using the Java-based software application Kampan 2006. This interactive multi-purpose tool can display and analyse seismological data with a simple click of the mouse. The design and development of Kampan 2006 strictly followed the concepts of software engineering. We used the programming capabilities of Java to the fullest extent in developing Kampan 2006.     

Does diversity at undergraduate institutions influence student outcomes?

Using two separate samples, this study establishes and replicates a model of the influence of two types of educational diversity on student outcomes. Study 1, using survey data regarding undergraduate experiences from a volunteer sample of 1,963 incoming law students, confirms measurement models for diversity and outcome constructs and tests models predicting student outcomes from Classroom Diversity and Contact Diversity. Study 2 utilizes data from a nationally representative sample of 6,100 incoming law students to replicate results from Study 1. Both studies find a positive relationship between diversity and educational outcomes. Results suggest that institutions of higher education should support informal interactions between students of diverse backgrounds and should encourage students to enroll in courses dealing with diversity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A study of titanium thin films in transmission laser micro-joining of titanium-coated glass to polyimide

Electron beam evaporation (EB-PVD) and cathodic arc physical vapor deposition (CA-PVD) techniques were used for the preparation of titanium (Ti) thin films onto Pyrex borosilicate 7740 glass wafers and the deposited films were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. The microstructure and surface morphology of the films were studied as a function of the film deposition techniques. Film properties such as, adherence, microstructure and roughness were interconnected to the laser joint strength between Ti coated glass wafers and polyimide films. Ti thin films on glass had a natural oxide layer on the surface as found from XPS. AFM study showed the formation of a uniform Ti coating consisted of packed crystallites with average size of 35 nm by EB-PVD. The root-mean-square surface roughness of the films was 1-2 nm. Whereas, films prepared by CA-PVD had crystallites with an average size of 120 nm and defects in the form of macro-particles which is a common attribute of this deposition system. The surface roughness of the film was 125 nm. The laser joint strength was found to be influenced by the Ti film quality on the glass substrate.     

Synthesis,characterization of poly (4-benzyloxyphenylmethacrylate) and its copolymer with butyl methacrylate and determination of monomer reactivity ratios

The monomer 4-benzyloxyphenylmethacrylate (4-BOPMA) was synthesized by reacting 4-benzyloxy phenol dissolved in methylethylketone (MEK) with methacryloyl chloride in the presence of triethylamine. The homopolymer and various copolymers of 4-BOPMA with butylmethacrylate (BMA) were synthesized by the free radical polymerization in MEK at 70?±?1?°C in nitrogen atmosphere using benzoylperoxide as initiator. The homopolymer and copolymers were characterized by various spectral techniques like IR, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR spectroscopic techniques. The molecular weights of the polymers were determined by gel permeation chromatography. The glass transition temperatures of polymers were determined by differential scanning calorimeter. The thermal stability of the polymers was performed by thermo gravimetric analysis in inert atmosphere. The monomer reactivity ratios were determined using the conventional linearization methods such as Fineman–Ross (r₁?=?0.438, r₂?=?0.2323), Kelen Tüdös (r₁?=?0.4648, r₂?=?0.2992) and extended Kelen Tüdös (r₁?=?0.4489, r₂?=?0.2616).     

Selenium-based amorphous silicon flat-panel digital X-ray imager for protein crystallography

This work proposes a large-area detector for protein crystallography based on an amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin film transistor (TFT) pixel-array backplane and an overlying amorphous selenium (a-Se) photoconductor for direct conversion of incident X-rays into an image charge. To achieve high sensitivity, avalanche multiplication in a-Se is adopted to make the detector sensitive to each incident X-ray. The use of a-Si:H technology enables large-area imaging of protein diffraction patterns at less expense compared to existing charge coupled device (CCD) and imaging plate (IP) detectors. In addition, a theoretical analysis shows that the detector exhibits fast readout speed (readout time <1 s), high dynamic range (~10˚), high sensitivity (~1 X-ray photon), and high detective quantum efficiency (~.7), thus validating its suitability for protein crystallography.