On the formation of blisters in annealed hydrogenated a-Si layers

Differently hydrogenated radio frequency-sputtered a-Si layers have been studied by infrared (IR) spectroscopy as a function of the annealing time at 350°C with the aim to get a deeper understanding of the origin of blisters previously observed by us in a-Si/a-Ge multilayers prepared under the same conditions as the ones applied to the present a-Si layers. The H content varied between 10.8 and 17.6 at.% as measured by elastic recoil detection analysis. IR spectroscopy showed that the concentration of the clustered (Si-H)_n groups and of the (Si-H₂)_n (n ≥ 1) polymers increased at the expense of the Si-H mono-hydrides with increasing annealing time, suggesting that there is a corresponding increase of the volume of micro-voids whose walls are assumed from literature to be decorated by the clustered mono-hydride groups and polymers. At the same time, an increase in the size of surface blisters was observed. Also, with increasing annealing time, the total concentration of bonded H of any type decreases, indicating that H is partially released from its bonds to Si. It is argued that the H released from the (Si-H)_n complexes and polymers at the microvoid surfaces form molecular H₂ inside the voids, whose size increases upon annealing because of the thermal expansion of the H₂ gas, eventually producing plastic surface deformation in the shape of blisters.     

Phase Transfer Catalysis with Quaternary Ammonium Type Gemini Surfactants: <Emphasis Type="Italic">O</Emphasis>-Alkylation of Isovanillin

In this paper, O-alkylation of isovanillin with unusual phase transfer catalysts alkandiyl-α,ω-bis(dimethylalkylammonium bromide) dimeric surfactants (also known as gemini surfactants) is described. Some dimeric surfactants with simple hydrophobic alkyl chains and others with hydrophobic alkyl chains containing ester functionalities with different lengths were synthesized and characterized in our laboratory. The alkylation of isovanillin with alkyl halide was successively carried out in the presence of potassium carbonate and a phase transfer catalyst in tetrahydrofuran. The same reactions were also performed with both the traditional phase transfer catalyst tetrabutylammonium bromide and without any catalyst. The results were compared with those of dimeric surfactants. Consequently, it was expressed that alkandiyl-α,ω-bis(dimethylalkylammonium bromide) dimeric surfactants successively exhibit the character of phase transfer catalysts through environmentally friendly procedures under mild conditions. The most significant feature of this work is that dimeric surfactants have been determined to act as phase transfer agents.     

Measurement and Modelling of NO Fluxes on Maize and Wheat Crops During their Growing Seasons: Effect of Crop Management

Fertilized agricultural soils are a significant source of NO, a gas involved in tropospheric ozone formation. The aims of the research reported here were to measure NO fluxes over the length of the growing season of wheat and maize crops, and to build a model of soil NO emissions from arable land. Field experiments were carried out on a 1-ha field divided into two parts. The first one was cropped with wheat and harvested in late July, 2002, whereas the second part was sown with maize and harvested in October. The wheat and maize received 130 kg N ha⁻¹ and 140 kg N ha⁻¹, respectively. For each crop, NO fluxes were measured during 10 months every 2 weeks using manual closed chambers, and continuously with a wind tunnel immediately after nitrogen fertilization. Fertilizer application significantly affected NO emissions: the largest NO emissions were recorded a few days after nitrogen application. This delay depended on the kinetics of nitrogen incorporation in the soil, as influenced by rainfall. The emissions measured on the maize field (2.6% of the fertilizer amount applied) were more important than those on the wheat field (1.0% of the fertilizer amount applied), owing to differences in timing of nitrogen application, with respect to climate and crop growth. Relationships between soil nitrification rate and NO emission obtained from laboratory incubations, and experimental data appeared useful and relevant to predict NO emissions at the field-scale.     

Effects of particle arrangement and particle damage on the mechanical response of metal matrix nanocomposites: A numerical analysis

The spatial distribution of reinforcement particles has a significant effect on the mechanical response and damage evolution of metal matrix composites (MMCs). It is observed that particle clustering leads to higher flow stress, earlier particle damage, as well as lower overall failure strain. In recent years, experimental studies have shown that reducing the size of particles to the nanoscale dramatically increases the mechanical strength of MMCs even at low particle volume fractions. However, the effects of particle distribution and particle damage on the mechanical response of these metal matrix nanocomposites, which may be different from that observed in normal MMCs, has not been widely explored. In this paper, these effects are investigated numerically using plane strain discrete dislocation simulations. The results show that non-clustered random and highly clustered particle arrangements result in the highest and lowest flow stress, respectively. The effect of particle fracture on the overall response of the nanocomposite is also more significant for non-clustered random and mildly clustered particle arrangements, in which particle damage begins earlier and the fraction of damaged particles is higher, compared to regular rectangular and highly clustered arrangements.     

Effects of Some Metals and Chelating Agents on Patulin Degradation by Ozone

The efficiency of ozone treatment for degradation of the mycotoxin patulin in the presence of various metal ions was evaluated in model systems. An initial patulin concentration of 250 μg/L was ozonated and residual ozone concentration was about 0.17±0.01 mg/L at the end of the experiment. Patulin showed a weak resistance to ozone, because up to 98% of this toxin was oxidized in only one minute. Degradation rates in the presence of calcium, aluminum, copper and zinc were almost the same in the absence of these metals. However, degradation of patulin was reduced from 98 to 37% when the concentration of manganese increased from 0 to 3 mg/L. Patulin was almost completely degraded in the absence of iron, while the degradation was only 8.5% in the presence of 0.5 mg/L of iron. These results have revealed that manganese and iron significantly reduce the detoxification of patulin by ozone. Agents such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and sodium polyphosphate effectively chelated iron and increased the degradation rate of patulin. None of the tested agents were able to chelate manganese and to enhance patulin degradation by ozone.     

Mitochondrial transmission during mating in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is determined by mitochondrial fusion and fission and the intramitochondrial segregation of mitochondrial DNA

To gain insight into the process of mitochondrial transmission in yeast, we directly labeled mitochondrial proteins and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and observed their fate after the fusion of two cells. To this end, mitochondrial proteins in haploid cells of opposite mating type were labeled with different fluorescent dyes and observed by fluorescence microscopy after mating of the cells. Parental mitochondrial protein markers rapidly redistributed and colocalized throughout zygotes, indicating that during mating, parental mitochondria fuse and their protein contents intermix, consistent with results previously obtained with a single parentally derived protein marker. Analysis of the three-dimensional structure and dynamics of mitochondria in living cells with wide-field fluorescence microscopy indicated that mitochondria form a single dynamic network, whose continuity is maintained by a balanced frequency of fission and fusion events. Thus, the complete mixing of mitochondrial proteins can be explained by the formation of one continuous mitochondrial compartment after mating. In marked contrast to the mixing of parental mitochondrial proteins after fusion, mtDNA (labeled with the thymidine analogue 5-bromodeoxyuridine) remained distinctly localized to one half of the zygotic cell. This observation provides a direct explanation for the genetically observed nonrandom patterns of mtDNA transmission. We propose that anchoring of mtDNA within the organelle is linked to an active segregation mechanism that ensures accurate inheritance of mtDNA along with the organelle.     

A priori evaluation of dynamic subgrid models of turbulence in square duct flow

A priori tests of two dynamic subgrid-scale (SGS) turbulence models have been performed using a highly resolved direct numerical simulation database for the case of turbulent incompressible flow in a straight duct of square cross-section. The model testing is applied only to the homogeneous flow direction where grid filtering can be applied without the introduction of commutation errors. The first SGS model is the dynamic (Smagorinsky/eddy viscosity) SGS model (DSM) developed by Germano et al. [1] while the second is the dynamic two parameter (mixed) model (DTM) developed by Salvetti and Banerjee [2]. For the Smagorinsky model we have used both the Fourier cut-off filter and a modified Gaussian filter which has the property that it removes aliasing errors in consistent a priori model-testing for spectral-based datasets. Results largely consistent with those found for plane channel flow are observed but with some slight differences in the corner regions. As found in prior studies of this sort, there is a very poor correlation of the modelled and exact subgrid-scale dissipation in the case of the DSM. The DSM over-predicts subgrid-scale dissipation on average. Instantaneously, the model provides an inaccurate representation of subgrid-scale dissipation, in general underestimating the magnitude by approximately one order of magnitude. On the other hand, the DTM shows excellent agreement with the exact SGS dissipation over most of the duct cross-section with a correlation coefficient of approximately 09.     

Remote flood monitoring system based on plastic optical fibres and wireless motes

This paper summarises an effort in the development of a remote flood monitoring system based on plastic optical fibre (POF) sensors and a wireless mote network. The wireless mote, comprising of a network of MICA2DOT™ units, was used as a platform to monitor and record the signal from the POF sensors and transmit this information to a base station wirelessly. A prototype of the integrated wireless POF sensor unit has been constructed, rendering it possible to deploy the autonomous unit remotely at multiple monitoring points as required. A flood monitoring simulation was carried out in a 24 m × 10 m × 0.9 m wave basin where four of these wireless optical fibre mote sensors were used to detect the rising water level in the basin. The novelty of the work lies in the successful integration of the wireless platform to a POF-based liquid level sensor and the subsequent demonstration of the prototype of the system for the purposes of flood monitoring applications.The sensing principle of the POF sensor developed here is well-known and is based on the loss of total internal reflection of the optical signal as the sensor probe comes in contact with the liquid. Compared to optical fibre-based sensors reported previously in the literature, the probe profile used in this study differs in terms of its simplicity in design, while exhibiting an excellent signal intensity loss ratio without the need for additional attachments to the probe such as optical prisms. The tests carried out showed that the POF sensor is capable of detecting a variety of fluids. Exhibiting good signal stability, the sensor also detects the liquid level reliably when the liquid rises or falls to the predetermined level. The responsiveness of the optical fibre sensor was evaluated by simulating different rates at which the liquid rises by immersing the sensor tip into the liquid and vice-versa at various speeds ranging from 1 mm/min to 500 mm/min.     

Functionalization of low molecular weight atactic polypropylenePart I. Spectroscopic studies

Summary Low molecular weight atactic polypropylene (APP) was functionalized with 4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol (eugenol), 4-allyl-1,2-dimethoxybenzene (DMAB), 4-propenylanisole(trans-anethole), cis-2,4,5-trimethoxypropenylbenzene (β-asarone) and 4-allyl-2,6-dimethoxyphenol (ADMP) in the presence of dicumyl peroxide (DCP) at 170°C. Amount of grafted eugenol, DMAB and anethole on APP and characterization of the products were carried by UV-VIS and FTIR spectroscopies respectively. The effects of the reaction time, concentrations of the functional compounds and DCP on the extent of grafting were examined. Received: 8 June 1999/Revised version: 31 August 1999/Accepted: 31 August 1999     

A New Active Micro-Mixing Strategy

An active micro-mixing strategy through forcing the flow by synthetic wall jets is proposed. It is based on the interaction of induced streamwise vortices in a specific way. There is a spanwise shift between two quasi-streamwise vortices in such a way that one of them compresses the wall normal vorticity layer created by the other, leading to the generation of new wall normal vortical structures. The latter are subsequently tilted by the shear to give birth to new small-scale longitudinal active structures that are efficient in mixing. The feasibility of this strategy is shown through direct numerical simulations of high spatial and temporal resolution.