Multiscale investigation of graphene layers on 6H-SiC(000-1)

In this article, a multiscale investigation of few graphene layers grown on 6H-SiC(000-1) under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions is presented. At 100-μm scale, the authors show that the UHV growth yields few layer graphene (FLG) with an average thickness given by Auger spectroscopy between 1 and 2 graphene planes. At the same scale, electron diffraction reveals a significant rotational disorder between the first graphene layer and the SiC surface, although well-defined preferred orientations exist. This is confirmed at the nanometer scale by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Finally, STM (at the nm scale) and Raman spectroscopy (at the μm scale) show that the FLG stacking is turbostratic, and that the domain size of the crystallites ranges from 10 to 100 nm. The most striking result is that the FLGs experience a strong compressive stress that is seldom observed for graphene grown on the C face of SiC substrates.     

Acute effects of a glucose energy drink on behavioral control.

There has been a dramatic rise in the consumption of glucose energy drinks (e.g., Amp, Monster, and Red Bull) in the past decade, particularly among high school and college students. However, little laboratory research has examined the acute objective and subjective effects of energy drinks. The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects of a glucose energy drink (Red Bull) on cognitive functioning. Participants (N = 80) were randomly assigned to one of five conditions: 1.8 ml/kg energy drink, 3.6 ml/kg energy drink, 5.4 ml/kg energy drink, placebo beverage, or no drink. Participants completed a well-validated behavioral control task (the cued go/no-go task) and subjective measures of stimulation, sedation, and mental fatigue both before and 30 minutes following beverage administration. The results indicated that compared with the placebo and no drink conditions, the energy drink doses decreased reaction times on the behavioral control task, increased subjective ratings of stimulation and decreased ratings of mental fatigue. Greatest improvements in reaction times and subjective measures were observed with the lowest dose and improvements diminished as the dose increased. The findings suggest that energy drink consumption can improve cognitive performance on a behavioral control task, potentially explaining the dramatic rise in popularity of these controversial new beverages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perception of traditional food products in six European regions using free word association

A total of 721 consumers were interviewed in order to obtain and compare consumer-driven associations to the word “Traditional”, in a food context, in six European regions. Participants, who were individually interviewed, had to state the first words that came into their mind when the word “Traditional” was verbally presented. Frequencies of occurrence of associations were obtained and analysed by means of simple correspondence analysis. The different word associations obtained were classified in 55 classes and then grouped in ten principal dimensions by triangulation. In general, southern European regions tended to associate the concept of “Traditional” more frequently with broad concepts such as heritage, culture or history. Central and Nordic European regions tended to focus mainly on practical issues such as convenience, health or appropriateness. As a final outcome of the analyses, a consensus conceptual map of traditional food products was obtained. The empirical findings of this qualitative exploratory free word association test provide valuable insights for product positioning, innovation and new developments in the traditional food market.     

Computation of low Mach thermical flows with implicit upwind methods

In order to apply a Godunov method to steady and unsteady thermical flows, we first present a truncation error analysis which proves that the Turkel preconditioned Roe splitting is applicable to flows modelized by the classical low Mach number model, including thermics. The impact of the Turkel preconditioning on the first-order/second-order pseudo-Newton algorithm (referred in the literature as the defect-correction iteration) is also analysed. Implicit methods for steady flow resolution and for accurate unsteady time advancing are proposed and studied. Numerical illustrations involve the natural convection in a square box and a flow around a perforated wall inspired by helicopter engine applications.     

Interstitial fauna in newly‐created floodplain canals of a large regulated river

Artificial drainage canals are often dug in large river floodplains to prevent winter inundation when groundwater level increases. Nothing is known about the biodiversity of the interstitial fauna of these artificial aquatic systems. The water chemistry and interstitial fauna of four drainage canals along the River Rhône (dug 11–15 years ago) were sampled in July during 3 years (1995–1997). A total of 53 taxa were found, with both epigean and hypogean organisms, and some rare phreatobites previously considered as absent from this sector of the Rhône. The faunal assemblage is characterized by limited temporal variations between the 3 successive years. Differences in interstitial fauna composition between the four drainage canals were mostly linked to oxygen availability and to heterogeneity in water origin (true ground water or surface water infiltration through embankment). Low oxygen content results in poorly diversified assemblages, which are always dominated by the same small set of species. In contrast, heterogeneity in water origin resulted in elevated faunal diversity. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical analysis of the influence of two-phase flow mass and heat transfer on n-heptane autoignition

This paper investigates the influence of liquid fuel presence on the autoignition of n-heptane/air mixtures over a wide range of conditions encountered in internal combustion engines. To this end, evaporating droplet physics and skeletal chemistry mechanisms are simultaneously solved considering a homogeneous constant-pressure reactor. A skeletal mechanism is introduced to account for specific kinetics behavior in the Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) region. The impact of mass and heat source terms during evaporation is emphasized by comparing a two-phase flow scenario with a purely gaseous case. The competition between fuel vapor availability and the evaporation-induced gas temperature decrease is specific to two-phase flow autoignition. On the one hand, droplet evaporation delay restricts the gaseous local fuel/air equivalence ratio and consequently the kinetics runaway. On the other hand, temperature reduction due to evaporation may either reduce or enhance chemical reactivity, depending on the local thermodynamic conditions lying either inside or outside the NTC region. By simultaneously accounting for evaporation source terms and skeletal chemistry, we can reproduce the already experimentally observed transformation of the NTC region into a Zero Temperature Coefficient (ZTC) region depending on thermodynamic conditions and droplet size. The ZTC phenomenon appears when combustion heat-release starts before complete droplet evaporation. Since the ZTC behavior can be captured using the point source approach, in which droplets are considered only as zero-dimensional source terms of mass and energy, the present results pave the way for future exploration of NTC chemistry in sprays with a direct numerical simulation of discrete particles considering detailed chemistry and turbulent flows.     

Dense and homogeneous MOX fuel pellets manufactured using the freeze granulation route

MOX fuels (UO₂-PuO₂) are used in light water nuclear reactors of several countries and are also potential candidates for the fast neutron reactors. Industrial MOX is currently manufactured by a dry route process, involving steps with fine powders. To reduce dusting, enhance MOX powder flow properties, and decrease manufacturing scrap rate, a new wet route process is investigated: the freeze granulation of concentrated water-based powder suspensions having optimized rheology and dispersion properties. Highly flowable, dustless, and easy-to-press MOX granules have been elaborated. Sintering green compacts made of such granules gives highly dense and defect-free pellets that have a very homogeneous U-Pu spatial distribution, thus improving the fuel characteristics. Indeed, MOX fuels devoid of large Pu-rich aggregates are thought to have a better behavior under irradiation in reactors by limiting/preventing the formation of the typical high burnup structure.     

Laboratory study of electro-coagulation-flotation for water treatment

An electro-coagulation-flotation process has been developed for water treatment. This involved an electrolytic reactor with aluminium electrodes and a separation/flotation tank. The water to be treated passed through the reactor and was subjected to coagulation/flotation, by Al(III) ions dissolved from the electrodes, the resulting flocs floating after being captured by hydrogen gas bubbles generated at cathode surfaces. Apparent current efficiencies for Al dissolution as aqueous Al(III) species at pH 6.5 and 7.8 were greater than unity. This was due to additional reactions occurring in parallel with Al dissolution: oxygen reduction at anodes and cathodes, and hydrogen evolution at cathodes, resulting in net (i.e. oxidation + reduction) currents at both anodes and cathodes. The specific electrical energy consumption of the reactor for drinking water treatment was as low as 20 kWh (kg Al)(-1) for current densities of 10-20A m(-2). The water treatment performance of the electrocoagulation process was found to be superior to that of conventional coagulation with aluminium sulphate for treating a model-coloured water, with 20% more dissolved organic carbon (DOC) being removed for the same Al(III) dose. However, for a lowland surface water sample, the two processes achieved a similar performance for DOC and UV-absorbance removal. In addition, an up-flow electrocoagulator configuration performed better than a horizontal flow configuration, with both bipolar and monopolar electrodes.