Ultra-strong, well-apodised Bragg gratings in chalcogenide rib waveguides

The first ultra-strong, near-perfect, raised-apodised Bragg gratings in As/sub 2/S/sub 3/ chalcogenide rib waveguides using /spl lambda/=532 nm light and a modified Sagnac holographic writing setup are demonstrated. Good agreement is achieved between the experimental results and the numerical modelling of the gratings using the transfer matrix analysis for thin film structures.     

Physical parameters of fiber affecting passage from the rumen

Our objective was to review the factors that affect fiber passage from the rumen. Rumen residence time and passage from the rumen are important in control of intake, digestibility, protein metabolism, and protein escape. Physical factors associated with particle size and particle specific gravity affect passage from the rumen. Although particles of 5 cm may pass through the reticulo-omasal orifice, most particles leaving the rumen are smaller than 1 mm. Polypropylene ribbon cut into 7-cm lengths, introduced into the rumen, markedly reduced intake and were ruminated to fine particle size before being passed. Materials with specific gravity less than 1.0 are ruminated extensively and are passed slowly. As specific gravity of plastic particles increase, rumination of particles is decreased and passage is increased. Particles with specific gravities between 1.17 and 1.42 pass most rapidly. Increasing specific gravities further results in a decline in passage and a further lowering of rumination of particles. Natural hay and fresh forages are hydrated in the rumen, which causes functional specific gravity to increase. Some factors that affect rate of change of functional specific gravity of forages have been investigated. Small particle size, autoclaved rumen fluid, buffer solutions, and specific salts increased the rate of change of functional specific gravity of particles. Understanding of these factors may enable us to make better decisions in managing ruminant productions systems.     

Crystallization of some anorthite-diopside glass precursors

Anorthite and diopside have been obtained from complete devitrification of glasses belonging to the quaternary system MgO-CaO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂. Microstructure, the natural trend of the nucleation mechanism and kinetic studies on the crystallization phenomenon have been investigated by means of optical and electron microscopies, thermal and thermomechanical techniques and X-ray powder diffractometry. All the glasses investigated show a complete crystallization starting from a simple surface nucleation process. The activation energy for the crystallization process proved to be higher than that for viscous flow, leading to an important aspect modification in the sample during ceramization. Thermal stability and physical properties of both glass and glass-ceramic materials have been tested, suggesting the possible use of these materials in industrial application.     

ESD–RF co-design methodology for the state of the art RF-CMOS blocks

This paper describes an approach to design ESD protection for integrated low noise amplifier (LNA) circuits used in narrowband transceiver front-ends. The RF constraints on the implementation of ESD protection devices are relaxed by co-designing the RF and the ESD blocks, considering them as one single circuit to optimise. The method is applied for the design of 0.25 μm CMOS LNA. Circuit protection levels higher than 3 kV HBM stress are achieved using conventional highly capacitive ggNMOS snapback devices. The methodology can be extended to other RF-CMOS circuits requiring ESD protection by merging the ESD devices in the functionality of the corresponding matching blocks.     

In-Situ observation on microfracture behavior ahead of the crack tip in 63Sn37Pb solder alloy

in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) tensile tests on as-cast and aged 63Sn37Pb solder alloys were conducted, and the fracture behavior in nanometer scale ahead of the crack tip was inspected and discussed. Results show that the fracture was completed by connecting the discontinuous cracks or voids. Dislocation behavior was concentrated along the grain boundaries for as-cast samples, and displayed mainly as dislocation climb. The crack was intergranular dominated under the lower strain rate. While remarkable mutual dislocation emission was detected in the aged solder. Transgranular cracks were dominant in the fractured area, and they propagated by linking up with the nanometer scale cracks ahead of the crack tips under the effective promotion of the inverse dislocation emission. At the same time, the partial interphase or intergranular cracks in the thinned area were also found. Under this condition, a new critical stress intensity factor K _c ^′ to define the mutual dislocation emission was proposed.     

Amorphous diffusion bonding of steel pipe and its impact toughness

An iron-based amorphous foil (FeNiCrSiB) was used as an interlayer for the amorphous diffusion bonding of low carbon steel pipes under argon flux. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the joint were analyzed using an electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA), tensile test, bending test and impact test. The results show that the joint microstructure resembles that of the base metal and no precipitates form at the joint. Melting point depressants (B, Si) diffuse far away from the joint and the base metal element is homogenous across the joint. The joint impact toughness is greater than the base metal toughness and the mechanical properties of the joint are similar around the pipe.     

三角函数型增长曲线预测油田开发指标

提出了用三角函数表示的一类用于油田开发指标预测的增长曲线共6条，从而进一步完善和丰富了现有的增长曲线法。提出和推导了它们的Np-t、Qt-t、Qt-Np关系式、（Np/NRmax)Qtmax准数计算式以及参数求解式。其特片研究表明，它们特征相近；（Np/NRamx)Qtmax变化范围为0-0.36785，属于峰值产量出现在油田开发初期的情况，其Qt-Np关系为一不对称的拱形曲线。提出了求取曲线参数的过原点重复线性回归法。双河油田的实例表明该方法有一定实用价值。     

A prospective investigation of the impact of childhood sexual abuse on the development of sexuality.

The sexual attitudes and activities of 77 sexually abused and 89 comparison women (mean age=20.41, SD=3.38) were assessed 10 years after disclosure in a longitudinal, prospective study of the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse. Abused participants were more preoccupied with sex, younger at first voluntary intercourse, more likely to have been teen mothers, and endorsed lower birth control efficacy than comparison participants. When psychological functioning earlier in development was examined, sexual preoccupation was predicted by anxiety, sexual aversion was predicted by childhood sexual behavior problems, and sexual ambivalence (simultaneous sexual preoccupation and sexual aversion) was predicted by pathological dissociation. Findings also indicate that biological father abuse may be associated with greater sexual aversion and sexual ambivalence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antimutagenic activity of phenolic compounds, oligosaccharides and quinolizidinic alkaloids from Lupinus campestris seeds.

There are some foods that contain mutagenic or carcinogenic agents, some of which occur naturally and others that may be formed during preparation or cooking. Several foods such as legumes, also contain natural antimutagens and/or anticarcinogens. Lupine is one such legume that contains high amounts of protein (40%) and oils (14%). About 90 species of lupine have been reported throughout Mexico. However, the use of this crop as a source of food has been limited by the presence of antinutritional agents such as phenolic compounds (PC), carbohydrates (CH) and quinolizidinic alkaloids (Qas). It has also been suggested that consuming these compounds can affect human health and may even reduce the risk of disease. The objective of this work was to determine the effect of PC, CH and Qas, isolated and quantified from Lupinus campestris on the mutagenicity of 1-nitropyrene (1-NP) as a model mutagen and we used the Salmonella typhimurium tester strain YG1024 by the Kado microsuspension method. The results indicate that L. campestris seeds have 11 mg (+)catechin equivalent g(-1) seed coat; 120.3 mg g(-1) seeds and 2.13 mg g(-1) seeds of PC, CH and Qas, respectively. 1-NP mutagenicity was inhibited by 86% for PC, 76% for CH and 75% for Qas at concentrations of 200, 512 and 13.6 microg/tube, respectively.     

The size refinement of Cu crystallites under mechanical processing conditions: a phenomenological modeling approach

A phenomenological model is developed for describing the kinetics of the crystallite size refinement process of Cu powder under mechanical treatment conditions. Based on the evidence that collisions represent the elementary events of energy transfer, the rate of crystallite size decrease is related on a statistical basis to the amount of powder trapped at each collision, to the number of collisions and to the collision energy. The mathematical approach allows for identifying the approximate functional form of the kinetic curves obtained at largely different impact energies. The values of the apparent kinetic constants and of the model parameters involved can be thus estimated by fitting the model curves to the experimental data. The results obtained provide a deeper insight into the details of the crystallite size refinement process.