Low-voltage terahertz quantum-cascade lasers based on LO-phonon-assisted interminiband transitions

A report is presented on GaAs/(Al,Ga)As terahertz (THz) quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs) based on alternating photon and longitudinal optical (LO) phonon-assisted transitions between quasi-minibands. The design is optimised for low threshold current densities and low operating voltages, resulting in reduced ohmic heating during continuous-wave (CW) operation. The QCLs exhibit lasing over a broad range of frequencies from 2.91 to 3.21 THz. Using single-plasmon waveguides, pulsed operation up to 114 K and CW operation up to 65 K has been achieved.     

Supercritical wood impregnation

The use of supercritical fluids for delivering biocides into wood and wood composites is an attractive technique because of the high penetration capacity of these solvents compared to the liquids used in conventional treatment methods. During the past two decades supercritical wood impregnation has moved from lab scale to commercial scale.This review presents an overview of the main research efforts that has been carried out within the field of supercritical wood impregnation. Results and conclusions of research within four main categories, i.e. (1) effects of impregnation on physical properties of samples, (2) retention and distribution of biocide in impregnated samples, (3) biological performance of impregnated samples, and (4) mathematical modeling of supercritical impregnation are reviewed and discussed.     

Detection of polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid in human malignant prostate tissue by 1D and 2D high-resolution magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy

Object  

Polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acids (PUFAs) have been shown to promote prostate cancer. Here, we describe the use of HRMAS NMR spectroscopy to detect omega-6 PUFA species in prostate tissues.     

Hydro reservoir handling in Norway before and after deregulation

The Norwegian Energy Act that came into force in 1991 deregulated the electricity market and removed the former obligation power companies had to supply electricity to the geographical area they were responsible for. Hence producers can supply electricity on the basis of profitability. In 2007 the Energy Act was evaluated by the Government. As a part of this, a study concerning hydro reservoir handling before and after deregulation was carried out by SINTEF. Public statistics show that average hydro reservoir levels measured in per cent of reservoir capacity have been reduced after 1990. We have used the power-market model EMPS¹ (EFI's Multi-area Power-market Simulator) to analyze if this reduction can be explained by natural variation in climatic variables or by structural changes that have occurred after 1990. Simulation results show that the reduced reservoir levels cannot be explained by natural variation in climatic variables. Structural changes such as increased transmission capacities can, however, explain some of the reduction. Our study does not indicate that the present reservoir handling gives reservoir levels that are too low. In this paper we also describe the stochastic dynamic optimization problem for long-term hydropower scheduling, and we explain how this problem actually is solved by the EMPS model.     

Social influence during the initial phase of a fire evacuation—Analysis of evacuation experiments in a cinema theatre

Unannounced evacuation experiments in a cinema theatre were analysed. The analysis focused on investigating if people are influenced by others during the initial phase of a fire evacuation. This type of influence is called social influence. Three separate behaviour types were identified and studied and the recognition and pre-movement time was measured. The results suggest that social influence is an important factor and that it becomes more important when the fire cue, e.g., the alarm, is unclear or uninformative. Results also indicate that social influence increases with decreasing distance between visitors. This result implies that individuals are influenced more by people who are close than by people who are further away.     

Adhesion Between Hydrated Aluminium and Ethylene Copolymers Containing Methoxy Silane Groups

The peel strength between ethylene copolymers and aluminium has been investigated. The polymers were ordinary LDPE, copolymer with butyl acrylate (EBA), copolymer with vinyltrimethoxysilane (EVS), and copolymer with both comonomers (EVSBA). The aluminium was modified by hydration in boiling water up to 120 s. The strength of melt-pressed laminates was tested with a T-peel test and the failure mechanism was evaluated by FTIR and SEM. The hydration leads to a porous pseudoboehmite with an increased content of Al-OH groups, which causes considerable increases in peel strength for all polymers, in particular for EVS and EVSBA. The mode of failure varied between adhesive and cohesive depending on the surfaces. The introduced porosity contributes with mechanical keying while the Al-OH groups enable polar interactions for EBA and the formation of interfacial covalent bonds for EVS and EVSBA.     

Chemorheology of carboxyl terminated polybutadienes with different antioxidants

An investigation of chemorheological properties has been made on two types of carboxyl terminated polybutadienes (CTPB), HC-434, and Butarez CTL. Curing of CTPB has been done with an imine, MAPO. Films have been cast and cured and then cut into strips. Some of these strips have been extracted with acetone and then two types of antioxidants were added, phenyl-beta-naphthylamine (PBN) and methylenebis-(4-methyl-6-tert-butyl)-phenol (BKF). Continuous stress relaxation measurements and intermittent measurements of stress have been made at a temperature of 110°C. The results show that Butarez CTL seems to have better ageing properties than HC-434 even when the same type of antioxidant has been added to the polymers. The most effective antioxidant of the two tested is BKF, which balances scission reactions and crosslinking reactions in a better way than PBN.     

Comparison of isolation procedures for essential oils

Summary The influence of the time of distillation on the composition of the essential oils isolated from seed of ajowan, caraway, coriander, and cumin was investigated. The oils were isolated by distillation, as well as by simultaneous distillation-extraction. It was observed that the order of recovery of the oil constituents was determined by their solubility in the distillation water. Hence, the oxygenated compounds, although with higher boiling points, distilled before the hydrocarbons. In comparison, data are included for the oils obtained by solvent extraction from ground seed of the same species. In these cases the proportion of hydro carbons was higher than in the distilled oils. There was also evidence to suggest thatp-cymene in the oils of ajowan and cumin was partly an artefact of distillation.

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Vergleich von Isolierungsverfahren ätherischer ÖleII. Ajowan, Künunel, Koriander und Kreuzkümmel

Zusammenfassung Der Einfluß der Destillationsäuer auf die Zusammensetzung der ätherischen Öle von Ajowan, Kümmel, Koriander und Kreuzkümmel wurde untersucht. Die Öle wurden sowohl durch Destillation als auch durch ein Destillation-Extraktionsverfahren isoliert. Es wurde gezeigt, daß die Reihenfolge der Ölbestandteile während der Destillation bestimmt wurde von ihrer Löslichkeit im Destillationswasser, weshalb die höher siedenden sauerstoffhaltigen Komponenten schneller als die Kohlenwasserstoffe übergehen.Zum Vergleich wurden Angaben aufgenommen für Öle, die mit organischen Lösungsmitteln aus gemahlenen Früchten extrahiert worden waren. In diesen Fällen war die Menge der Kohlenwasserstoffe höher als bei den destillierten Ölen. Es gibt Hinweise dafür, daßp-Cymol in Ajowan- und Kreuzkümmelöl teilweise ein Artefakt der Destillation ist.

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Part I: Chem. Mikrobiol. Technol. Lebensm. (in press)     

Snowmobile fatalities aspects on preventive measures from a 25-year review

During October 1973 through May 1998, 157 snowmobile fatalities were autopsied in Northern Sweden, including 131 riders, 15 passengers, six occupants with unknown position and five victims pulled by a snowmobile. Most fatalities occurred during March and April (41%), on weekends/holidays (75%), between 18:00 and 02:00 h (59%), during darkness (63%), in clear weather (84%) and at leisure time (94%). The median age was 39 years and 92% were men. The most common causes of death were blunt trauma (53%) and drowning (38%). A total of 64% were inebriated by alcohol, with a mean blood alcohol concentration of 1.7 g/l. More inebriated victims were found during weekends/holidays than on weekdays (75 vs. 51%) and during nighttime than during daytime (92 vs. 52). Driving into water was the most common event (38%) followed by collisions with immobile objects (20%). Alcohol and speeding were the most common contributors to the crashes, while flotation snowmobile suit and helmet use were considered to be the most important injury prevention factors.     

Procurement Bidding in First-Price and Second-Price,Sealed-Bid Auctions within the Common-Value Paradigm

Within the common-value paradigm, I examine the magnitude of the differencein expected outcome between first-price and second-price, sealed-bid auctions.I limit myself to two empirical specifications of bidders' signals: Weibulland normal distribution. The optimal bid functions and the expected procurer'scost under both auction formats are derived. Simultions are undertaken toanalyze the impact that random draws of signals have on the differences inoutcome from the two auction formats. Using estimates from structuralestimation in previous empirical work on first-price auction data, whereWeibull and normal distributions of signals have been applied, thehypothetical expected gain from switching from a first-price, sealed-bidauction to a second-price, sealed-bid auction mechanism is computed.