RAPID THERMAL ANNEALING OF CoxN

This research studied the structure and the electrical resistivity after rapid thermal annealing of Co_xN thin film deposited by unbalanced radiofrequency magnetron-reactive sputtering (in 6:4 Ar + N₂ mixture) at low pressure (6.7 × 10^-1 Pa) with the use of a magnetized plasma. An improvement of structure and lower sheet resistivity after annealing at 500°C for 15-60 sec was observed. At higher temperatures, decomposition of Co_xN and growth of CoSi were observed.     

Low-temperature synthesis of magnetically recoverable,superparamagnetic, photocatalytic,nanocomposite particles

A new, simple, low-temperature method for the synthesis of superparamagnetic, photocatalytic, nanocomposite particles for applications in the decomposition of pollutants in water is presented. The method is based on the coating of clusters of superparamagnetic maghemite (γ-Fe₂O₃) nanoparticles with a photocatalytic anatase layer using the hydrolysis of aqueous TiOSO₄. The clusters of an appropriate size between 100 and 200 nm form by the simultaneous agglomeration of the aminopropyl-triethoxy-silane-grafted maghemite nanoparticles with a size of approximately 15 nm in a suspension of diluted TiOSO₄. During a sudden increase of pH with the addition of NaOH the titania is heterogeneously nucleated at the cluster surfaces. If the hydrolysis was conducted at an elevated temperature of 90 °C, the titania layer was nanocrystalline anatase. The composition of the nanocomposite particles, i.e., the thickness of the anatase layer, can be controlled simply by changing the starting TiOSO₄/Fe₂O₃ ratio for low titania contents, and by multiple coatings to get high titania contents. The photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposites was evaluated in the photocatalytic decomposition of formic acid. The activity seems to increase with an increase in the thickness and the crystallinity of the anatase coating, whereas it decreased after the calcination of the as-synthesized nanocomposite. The coating of the maghemite nanoparticles with a thin layer of insulating silica also slightly improves the photocatalytic activity.     

Intermediate temperature heat release in an HCCI engine fueled by ethanol/n-heptane mixtures: An experimental and modeling study

This study examines intermediate temperature heat release (ITHR) in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines using blends of ethanol and n-heptane. Experiments were performed over the range of 0–50% n-heptane liquid volume fractions, at equivalence ratios 0.4 and 0.5, and intake pressures from 1.4 bar to 2.2 bar. ITHR was induced in the mixtures containing predominantly ethanol through the addition of small amounts of n-heptane. After a critical threshold, additional n-heptane content yielded low temperature heat release (LTHR). A method for quantifying the amount of heat released during ITHR was developed by examining the second derivative of heat release, and this method was then used to identify trends in the engine data. The combustion process inside the engine was modeled using a single-zone HCCI model, and good qualitative agreement of pre-ignition pressure rise and heat release rate was found between experimental and modeling results using a detailed n-heptane/ethanol chemical kinetic model. The simulation results were used to identify the dominant reaction pathways contributing to ITHR, as well as to verify the chemical basis behind the quantification of the amount of ITHR in the experimental analysis. The dominant reaction pathways contributing to ITHR were found to be H-atom abstraction from n-heptane by OH and the addition of fuel radicals to O₂.     

Accounting for dynamics in attribute-importance and for competitor performance to enhance reliability of BPNN-based importance-performance analysis

Importance-performance analysis (IPA) is a decision-support tool used in prioritizing quality improvements of products/services. Recently, back-propagation neural network (BPNN)-based approaches have been proposed to deal with the problem of asymmetric effects in customer satisfaction formation. Though reliability of IPA is increased by the integration of BPNN, shortcomings of the analytical framework remain that (a) it does not provide insight into forms and degrees of these asymmetric effects, (b) it does not account for differences between the relevance and determinance of quality attributes, and (c) it neglects the competitor dimension in attribute-prioritization. Since all these issues have important managerial implications, the authors of this study propose an extended BPNN-based IPA that uses a multidimensional operationalization of attribute-importance, and that considers competitive performance levels. Using data from an airline satisfaction survey, an empirical test reveals that the proposed approach significantly outperforms conventional BPNN-based IPA. In particular, conventional BPNN-IPA would mislead managerial action with regard to 3 out of 8 quality components (37.5%).     

The hydrothermal synthesis of super-paramagnetic barium hexaferrite particles

Superparamagnetic Ba-hexaferrite nanoparticles were prepared using modified hydrothermal synthesis. The precursor and hydroxide [OH⁻] concentrations were optimized and the synthesis temperature and time were drastically reduced. The size and the morphology of synthesized nanoparticles was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. The crystal structure of the nanoparticles was characterized by X-ray diffraction data. Powders synthesized at 160 °C exhibit a bimodal particle size distribution while those synthesized at T_S = 150 °C show a monomodal particle size distribution. Zero-field-cooling (ZFC) and field-cooling (FC) magnetization measurements were performed using a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer from 2 to 300 K to investigate the magnetic properties of nanoparticles. The FC/ZFC magnetization measurements showed a typical superparamagnetic behavior. The synthesized superparamagnetic particles exhibit a disc-like shape, in average 11 nm wide and 3 nm thick with a room temperature magnetization of approximately 10 Am²/kg at 5 T.     

Fabrication of porous mullite-based ceramic bricks from Al-rich water treatment sludge and kaolinitic-based clay

A large quantity of water treatment sludge (WTS) is generated yearly from Ghana's Weija water treatment plant. The sludge contains some heavy metals and other toxic chemicals, which must be managed to minimize environmental impact. In the current work, WTS was mixed with varying quantities of kaolinitic-based clays (kaolin and lithomargic clays) to produce porous mullite-based bricks. The bricks were fired at 1200°C for 1 h, and their properties were determined. Lithomargic clay-based mixtures had less dimensional variation and were suitable to produce near-net shape bricks compared to WTS-based bricks. The addition of WTS increased the linear firing shrinkage and apparent porosity whilst decreasing bulk density and compressive strength. Porous mullite-based bricks fabricated from lithomargic clay exhibited high compressive strength (6.3 MPa) at 10 wt.% WTS addition. The highest apparent porosity of 27% was attained at 40 wt.% WTS addition with compressive strength of 5.1 MPa and thermal conductivity of .5 W/m K.     

Persistent Fibroadipogenic Progenitor Expansion Following Transient DUX4 Expression Provokes a Profibrotic State in a Mouse Model for FSHD

FSHD is caused by loss of silencing of the DUX4 gene, but the DUX4 protein has not yet been directly detected immunohistologically in affected muscle, raising the possibility that DUX4 expression may occur at time points prior to obtaining adult biopsies for analysis, with consequent perturbations of muscle being responsible for disease progression. To test the extent to which muscle can regenerate following DUX4-mediated degeneration, we employed an animal model with reversible DUX4 expression, the iDUX4pA;HSA mouse. We find that muscle histology does recover substantially after DUX4 expression is switched off, with the extent of recovery correlating inversely with the duration of prior DUX4 expression. However, despite fairly normal muscle histology, and recovery of most cytological parameters, the fibroadipogenic progenitor compartment, which is significantly elevated during bouts of fiber-specific DUX4 expression, does not return to basal levels, even many weeks after a single burst of DUX4 expression. We find that muscle that has recovered from a DUX4 burst acquires a propensity for severe fibrosis, which can be revealed by subsequent cardiotoxin injuries. These results suggest that a past history of DUX4 expression leads to maintained pro-fibrotic alterations in the cellular physiology of muscle, with potential implications for therapeutic approaches.