Development and evaluation of a biocide release system for prolonged antifungal activity in finishing materials

This paper focuses on the use of modified nano-clay particles as a controlled release system for biocides from building materials. Different (model) biocides were incorporated in a biocide/nano-clay composite and subsequently the release of the biocides was monitored under different environmental conditions. In addition, the biocide/clay material was formulated into a model finishing material (gypsum) to evaluate the antifungal activity. Intercalation of biocides in modified nano-clays was found to significantly prolong the release of the biocide and prevent premature leaching of the biocide from the building material. Release rate of the biocide could be tuned by selection of the type of modification used for the nano-clay platelets. Even after prolonged leaching up to 45 days in artificial rain tests, gypsum samples containing biocide/clay composites did not show any fungal growth, whereas gypsum samples containing pure biocide had lost their antifungal activity after exposure to artificial rain for 7 days or more, demonstrating the potential of this technology for practical applications. The presented approach is very versatile, and may be used for a large variety of biocides and is envisioned to be applicable to different construction and finishing materials, including waterborne paints. To optimize the performance in a specific application area, the leaching or release process of the nano-clays should be known in the different application materials, and consequently requires alternative testing methods, e.g. methods which characterize the fungal growth as a function of release in more detail. Although correlation with practice requires further investigation, the presented method gives a good first indication for prolonged protection of building materials.     

Crystallographic, Thermoelectric, and Mechanical Properties of Polycrystalline Ba8Al x Si46−x Clathrates

The Al content dependence of crystallographic, thermoelectric, and mechanical properties is reported for polycrystalline Ba₈Al _x Si_46?x (nominal x = 15 to 17) clathrates prepared by combining arc melting and spark plasma sintering methods. The elastic constants and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), which are also important properties for designing thermoelectric devices, are presented. Powder x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) indicate that the type I clathrate is the major phase of the samples but impurity phases (mainly BaAl₂Si₂, Si, and Al) are included in the samples with high Al contents. The actual Al content x determined by EDX ranges from approximately 14 to 15. The absolute value of the Seebeck coefficient increases and the electrical conductivity decreases as the Al content increases. The changes in Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity are explained in terms of the dependence of the carrier concentration on the Al content. The elastic constants and the CTE of the samples depend weakly on the Al content. Some of the properties are compared with reported data of single crystals of Ba₈Al₁₆Ge₃₀, Ba₈Ga₁₆Ge₃₀, Sr₈Ga₁₆Ge₃₀, silicon, and germanium as standard references. The effective mass, Hall carrier mobility, and lattice thermal conductivity, which govern the transport properties, are determined to be ~ 2.4m ₀, ~ 7 cm² V^?1 s^?1, and ~ 1.3 W m^?1 K^?1, respectively, for actual Al content x of about 14.77. The thermoelectric figure of merit ZT is estimated to be about 0.35 at 900 K for actual Al content x of about 14.77.     

Architecture and Performance Comparison of High-speed Switch Networks

This paper evaluates and analyzes performance of the growable switch, bypass queue switch, and tandem banyan switch in ATM networks.     

Test of Inseparability Criteria for Squeezed Number States of the Radiation Field

We investigate the efficiency of inseparability criteria in detecting the entanglement properties of two-mode non-Gaussian states of the electromagnetic field. We focus our study on the relevant class of two-mode squeezed number states. These states combine the entangling capability of two-mode squeezers with the non-Gaussian character (nonclassicality) of number states. They allow for some exact analytical treatments, and include as a particular case the two-mode Gaussian squeezed vacuum. We show that the generalized PPT criterion recently proposed by Shchukin and Vogel, based on higher order statistical moments, is very efficient in detecting the entanglement for this class of non-Gaussian states.     

A compositional modelling and analysis framework for stochastic hybrid systems

The theory of hybrid systems is well-established as a model for real-world systems consisting of continuous behaviour and discrete control. In practice, the behaviour of such systems is also subject to uncertainties, such as measurement errors, or is controlled by randomised algorithms. These aspects can be modelled and analysed using stochastic hybrid systems. In this paper, we present HModest, an extension to the Modest modelling language—which is originally designed for stochastic timed systems without complex continuous aspects—that adds differential equations and inclusions as an expressive way to describe the continuous system evolution. Modest is a high-level language inspired by classical process algebras, thus compositional modelling is an integral feature. We define the syntax and semantics of HModest and show that it is a conservative extension of Modest that retains the compositional modelling approach. To allow the analysis of HModest models, we report on the implementation of a connection to recently developed tools for the safety verification of stochastic hybrid systems, and illustrate the language and the tool support with a set of small, but instructive case studies.     

Performability assessment by model checking of Markov reward models

This paper describes efficient procedures for model checking Markov reward models, that allow us to evaluate, among others, the performability of computer-communication systems. We present the logic CSRL (Continuous Stochastic Reward Logic) to specify performability measures. It provides flexibility in measure specification and paves the way for the numerical evaluation of a wide variety of performability measures. The formal measure specification in CSRL also often helps in reducing the size of the Markov reward models that need to be numerically analysed. The paper presents background on Markov-reward models, as well as on the logic CSRL (syntax and semantics), before presenting an important duality result between reward and time. We discuss CSRL model-checking algorithms, and present five numerical algorithms and their computational complexity for verifying time- and reward-bounded until-properties, one of the key operators in CSRL. The versatility of our approach is illustrated through a performability case study.