Time Dependent Effects in Surface Tension Measurements of an Industrial Fe‐alloy

The surface tension of an industrial FeC‐alloy containing Si, Mn and S in the few atomic per cent range was measured by the oscillating drop method in ground based electromagnetic levitation and under reduced gravity conditions on board a parabolic flight. The results from the parabolic flight exhibited a large variation between different heating cycles and a discrepancy with the ground based experiments with regard to the value of the surface tension at the liquidus temperature and the temperature coefficient. The variation of the surface tension temperature coefficient is interpreted as resulting from the loss of volatile surface active components such as S and Si in subsequent heating cycles. The results demonstrate the importance of the time scale of the measurement and ambient atmosphere for surface tension measurements of industrial alloys containing volatile surface active components. For comparison with the experimental values the surface tension and segregation were modelled using different models. As a result of the analysis, the surface tension as a function of temperature best representing the starting industrial alloy is obtained as σ(T) = 1.52–1.53 10^‐4 (T–1752K) Nm^‐1.     

NaTaO3 composite ceramics - A new thermoelectric material for energy generation

Increasing energy demand requires the energy harvesting of any dispersed energy in combustion machines, nuclear, geothermal, photovoltaic or solar-thermal devices by thermoelectric materials. NaTaO₃ composite material is suggested in this paper for the first time as such material with reasonable high figure-of-merit in the temperature range from 750 to 1273 K. While pure NaTaO₃ with perovskite crystal structure is an insulator, ceramic NaTaO₃-Fe₂O₃ (n-type) and NaTaO₃-Ag (p-type) composites in mixtures around 30 mol.% are semiconductors with Seebeck coefficients of −250 and 70 mV/K as measured in a self-built device even under closed circuit condtions. The electric conductivity for the n-type material increases from 0.02 mS/m at 773 K to 200 mS/m at 1273 K leading to a power factor of ZT > 4.5 * 10⁻⁶ at 900 K and ΔT = 500 K. This material was found by ab initio calculations using the VASP program. The reason for the high Seebeck coefficient is the large effective mass of NaTaO₃ m^*/m₀ = 12, the main factor determining the thermoelectric performance. It is also confirmed, that Fe atoms as dopants enter the Ta-site of NaTaO₃, up to 8 at.%, and reduces the bandgap.     

Conversion of carbon into CF4 for SI-traceable measurements of absolute carbon isotope amount ratios: a feasibility study

The feasibility of performing SI-traceable carbon isotope amount ratio measurements following conversion of carbon into CF4 was studied. A procedure for the direct fluorination of carbon with elemental fluorine was developed, and the conversion step was checked for losses, blank contributions, and the absence of systematic isotope effects. Gas chromatography was used to identify and quantify the gaseous fluorination products and to isolate CF4 from byproducts. After fluorination of graphite carbon, CF4 and perfluoroalkanes with up to six carbon atoms were observed as reaction products. Within an uncertainty of 10%, the graphite carbon was fully recovered in the gaseous carbon fluorides, with the main product being CF4 (80-90%) and C2F6 as the major byproduct. The fluorination and GC procedures were found to introduce an alteration not bigger than 0.03 +/- 0.04/1000 on the isotopic composition of CF4. Carbon blank contributions introduced during the fluorination procedure were below 0.5% relative to a typical sample of 4 mg of carbon. For two of the materials investigated, the carbon isotope ratios measured on a differential mass spectrometer were reproducible within a standard deviation of approximately 0.1/1000 for several individual fluorinations. For these materials, the developed fluorination procedure is a straightforward process, which can be used as a foundation to establish SI-traceable measurements of carbon isotope amount ratios. However, for the third graphite material the formation of byproducts (C2F6-C6F14) was found to induce significant isotopic fractionation.     

A Mixed-Mode BIST Scheme Based on Folding Compression

In this paper a new scheme of mixed mode scan-based BIST is presented with complete fault coverage,and some new concepts of folding set and computing are introduced.This scheme applies single feedback polynomial of LFSR for generation pseudo-random patterns as well as for compressing and extending seeds of folding sets and an LFSR, where we encode seed of folding set as an initial seed of LFSR .Moreover these new techniques are 100% compatible with scan design .Experimental results show that the proposed scheme outperforms previously published approaches based on the reseeding of LFRSRs.     

High defect coverage with low-power test sequences in a BISTenvironment

A new technique, random single-input change (RSIC) test generation, generates low-power test patterns that provide a high level of defect coverage during low-power BIST of digital circuits. The authors propose a parallel BIST implementation of the RSIC generator and analyze its area-overhead impact     

Biosynthesis of phytochelatins in the fission yeast. Phytochelatin synthesis: a second role for the glutathione synthetase gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe

By complementation screening of a cadmium-sensitive Schizosaccharomyces pombe mutant deficient in phytochelatin synthesis, but with 44% of the wild-type glutathione content, we cloned a DNA fragment involved in phytochelatin synthesis. Sequence analysis revealed that it encodes the second enzyme involved in glutathione (GSH) biosynthesis, glutathione synthetase (GSH2) (E.C.6.3.2.3, Wang and Oliver, 1997). The mutant allele shows a single base-pair exchange at the 3' end of the reading frame leading to a single amino acid change from glycine to aspartate. This mutation leads to a significant reduction of phytochelatin synthesis, whereas glutathione synthesis is impaired to a far lesser extent. Complementation with the Arabidopsis thaliana GSH2 cDNA led to a partial restoration of phytochelatin synthesis. These data strongly suggest that the GSH2 gene encodes a bifunctional enzyme that is able to catalyse both the synthesis of GSH by adding glycine to the dipeptide (gammaGlu-Cys) and the synthesis of phytochelatins. The sequence has been submitted to EMBL, Accession No. Y08414.     

Crystallization during polymerization of selenium from the vapour phase

The kinetics of crystal growth of trigonal selenium from the vapour phase has been studied between 440.5 and 473.0K at vapour pressures ranging from 34.4 to 293 Pa. The crystal growth was found to be dependent upon the supercooling to the 2.5 power, in contrast to melt crystallization which has an exponential supercooling dependence. From the vapour pressure—growth rate correlation there is evidence that the active species in crystallization is Se₂. Crystallization of Se from the gas phase is an example of crystallization during polymerization.     

The motion machine of Samuel Theodor Quellmalz

In 1735 the physician Samuel Theodor Quellmalz invented a machine which imitated the movements of a horse and was designed for medical treatment as well as general fitness. The invention paradigmaticlly characterizes the dominant medical discourse of that time and demonstrates a new confidence in technical innovations     

MRT letter: Nanoscopy of protein colocalization in living cells by STED and GSDIM

We report the use of superresolution fluorescence microscopy for studying the nanoscale distribution of protein colocalization in living mammalian cells. Nanoscale imaging is attained both by a targeted and a stochastic fluorescence on-off switching superresolution method, namely by stimulated emission depletion (STED) and ground state depletion microscopy followed by individual molecular return (GSDIM), respectively. Analysis of protein colocalization is performed by bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC). Specifically, a nonfluorescent fragment of the yellow fluorescent protein Citrine is fused to tubulin while a counterpart nonfluorescent fragment is fused to the microtubulin-associated protein MAP2 such that fluorescence is reconstituted on contact of the fragment-carrying proteins. Images with resolution down to 65 nm prove a powerful new way for studying protein colocalization in living cells at the nanoscale.     

High-throughput battery materials testing based on test cell arrays and dispense/jet printed electrodes

A cost effective and reliable technology for the fabrication of electrochemical test-cell arrays for battery materials research, based on batch-fabricated glass micro packages was developed and tested. Jet dispensing was investigated for the first time as a process for fabricating battery electrode arrays and separators and compared to micro dispense printing. The process shows the reproducibility over the whole range of investigated materials and battery cell structures that is required for battery materials research. Such setup gives rise to a significantly improved reliability and reproducibility of electrochemical experiments. Cost-effective fabrication of our test chips by batch processing allows for their single-use in electrochemical experiments, thereby preventing contamination issues due to repeated use as in conventional laboratory test cells. In addition, the integration of micro pseudo reference electrodes is demonstrated. Thus, the test cell array together with the developed electrode/electrolyte deposition technology provide a highly efficient tool for speedy combinatorial and high throughput testing of battery materials on a system level (full cell tests). Experimental results are shown for the microfabrication of lithium-ion test cells with help of several electrode and binder materials. The influence of jetting parameters on electrode lateral dimensions and thickness, reproducibility of the electrode mass as well as the use of integrated micro-reference electrodes for impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry measurements in micro cells are presented in detail.