Thermal Conductivity of Yttria–Zirconia Single Crystals, Determined with Spatially Resolved Infrared Thermography

The thermal diffusivity of yttria–zirconia (Y₂O₃–ZrO₂) single crystals, with YO_1.5 concentrations in the range of 0–60 mol%, has been determined using a new method that is based on spatially resolved (20 μm) infrared mapping of a modulated thermal field. The decreasing trend of the thermal conductivity ( K ), as a function of the YO_1.5 content (up to 20 mol%), can be described using a model based on a Debye approach that has been modified by introducing a cut-off length for the phonon mean free path. At higher concentrations, K increases, as a result of a possible ordering of the point defects.     

Nuclear DNA origin of cytochrome c oxidase deficiency in Leigh's syndrome: genetic evidence based on patient's-derived rho degrees transformants

Defects of the respiratory chain carrying out oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) are the biochemical hallmark of human mitochondrial disorders. Faulty OXPHOS can be due to mutations in either nuclear or mitochondrial genes, that are involved in the synthesis of individual respiratory subunits or in their post-translational control. The most common mitochondrial disorder of infancy and childhood is Leigh's syndrome, a severe encephalopathy, often associated with a defect of cytochrome c oxidase (COX). In order to demonstrate which genome is primarily involved in COX-deficient (COX(-))-Leigh's syndrome, we generated two lines of transmitochondrial cybrids. The first was obtained by fusing nuclear DNA-less cytoplasts derived from normal fibroblasts, with mitochondrial DNA-less (rho degree) transformant fibroblasts derived from a patient with COX(-))-Leigh's syndrome. The second cybrid line was obtained by fusing rho degree cells derived from 143B.TK- human osteosarcoma cells, with cytoplasts derived from the same patient. The first cybrid line showed a specific and severe COX(-) phenotype, while in the second all the respiratory chain complexes, including COX, were normal. These results indicate that the COX defect in our patient is due to a mutation of a nuclear gene. The use of cybrids obtained from 'customized', patient-derived rho degree cells can have wide applications in the identification of respiratory chain defects originated by nuclear DNA-encoded mutations, and in the study of nuclear DNA-mitochondrial DNA interactions.     

The epistemology of conceptual clustering: KBG,an implementation

This paper analyzes differences between a numeric and symbolic approach to inductive inference. It shows the importance of existing structures in the acquisition of further knowledge, including statistical confirmation. We present a new way of looking at Hempel's paradox, in which both existing structures and statistical confirmation play a role in order to decrease the harm it does to learning. We point out some of the most important structures, and we illustrate how uncertainty does blur but does not destroy these structures. We conclude that pure symbolic as well as pure statistical learning is not realistic, but the integration of the two points of view is the key to future progress, but it is far from trivial. Our system KBG is a first-order logic conceptual clustering system; thus it builds knowledge structures out of unrelated examples. We describe the choices done in KBG in order to build these structures, using both numeric and symbolic types of knowledge. Our argument gives us firm grounds to contradict Carnap's view that induction is nothing but uncertain deduction, and to propose a refinement to Popper's purely deductive view of the growth of science. In our view, progressive organization of knowledge plays an essential role in the growth of new (inductive) scientific theories, that will be confirmed later, quite in the Popperian way.     

Soybean allergen detection methods--a comparison study

Soybean containing products are widely consumed, thus reliable methods for detection of soy in foods are needed in order to make appropriate risk assessment studies to adequately protect soy allergic patients. Six methods were compared using eight food products with a declared content of soy: a direct sandwich ELISA based on polyclonal rabbit antibody (ab) to raw soy flakes, a commercial and an in-house competitive ELISA both based on ab to denatured, 'renatured' soy protein, an enzyme-allergosorbent test (EAST) inhibition based on two sera from soy allergic patients, histamine release (HR) using basophils passively sensitized with patient serum and a PCR method detecting soy DNA. Eight food products were selected as model foods to test the performance of the methods. There was an overall good agreement between the methods in terms of ranks of soy content but not the quantity. The sandwich ELISA aimed at native soy proteins had the lowest detection limit of 0.05 ppm, but only identified soy in 5/8 products, and generally in lower amounts compared to other methods. The competitive ELISA had a higher detection limit of 21 ppm, but seemed more successful in detecting processed soy. Only HR, EAST inhibition and PCR detected soy in all eight products. In spite of a general good correlation in terms of ranks of soy content, more than a single method may be necessary to confirm the presence of soy in foods.     

Parametric study of an excimer-pumped, nitrogen Raman shifter for lidar applications

A krypton fluoride (KrF) excimer-pumped, nitrogen Raman shifter has been studied for use in a wavelength-optimized solar-blind Raman lidar. First Stokes conversion efficiencies (248 ? 263 nm) as high as 12% have been observed in N2:He gas mixtures. Both oscillator-amplifier and self-seeded configurations were investigated. Wavelength-dependent effects were investigated with a Nd:YAG laser operating at 532 and 266 nm. A comparison of KrF- and Nd:YAG-pumped Raman shifting has shown that the beam quality of the excimer laser was a major factor in limiting the maximum first Stokes conversion efficiency.     

Plasma‐induced graft polymerization of acrylic acid onto poly(ethylene terephthalate) films

The graft polymerization of acrylic acid was carried out onto poly(ethylene terephthalate) films that had been pretreated with argon plasma and subsequently exposed to oxygen to create peroxides. The influence of synthesis conditions, such as plasma treatment time, plasma power, monomer concentration, temperature, and the presence of Mohr's salt, on the degree of grafting was investigated. The observed initial increase in grafting with monomer concentration accelerated at about 20% monomer. The grafting reached a maximum at 40% monomer and subsequently decreased with further increases in monomer concentration. The reaction temperature had a pronounced effect on the degree of grafting. The initial rate of grafting increased with increasing temperature, but the degree of grafting showed a maximum at 50°C. The activation energy of the grafting obtained from an Arrhenius plot was 29.1 kJ/mol. The addition of Mohr's salt to the reaction medium not only led to a homopolymer‐free grafting reaction but also diminished the degree of grafting. The degree of grafting increased with increasing plasma power and plasma treatment time. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 81: 2993–3001, 2001     

Effect of direct-current plasma fluctuations on in-flight particle parameters: Part II

This paper is the continuation of previous work,^[1] in which plasma fluctuations were shown to produce significant time-dependent variations in the in-flight particle temperature and velocity, as well as in the number of detected particles. In this paper, the impact of the plasma fluctuations on the coating microstructure and deposition efficiency is demonstrated. Alumina coatings and deposition efficiencies, obtained with two sets of spray conditions showing similar in-flight particle conditions (velocity and temperature) with the DPV-2000 but displaying very different voltage fluctuations, are compared. The coating produced in the less stable plasma condition (C-I) is found to be more porous and contains a larger number of unmelted particles than the other coating produced in more steady plasma conditions (C-II). Moreover, condition C-I yields a significantly lower deposition efficiency. Such large discrepancies must be traced back to the physical characteristics of the particle jet. Laser illumination of the particle jet is used to probe particles too cold to be detected by pyrometric means. Cold particles are found in a much larger proportion in C-I than in C-II. They are ascribed to particles that are injected when the plasma is in a low enthalpy state. Periodic time-dependent variations in the in-flight characteristics of cold and hot particles, synchronous with the voltage fluctuations, are revealed.