Determination of the elastic properties of a barrier film on aluminium by Brillouin spectroscopy

The surface wave dispersion for a barrier oxide film on aluminium has been determined from surface Brillouin scattering measurements carried out on films of thicknesses of 0.2, 0.35 and 0.45 μm. The measured velocities of the generalised Rayleigh mode, the pseudo interfacial mode and of several Lamb modes conform to simulations performed for stiffening layers [1]. The longitudinal velocity and the shear velocity of the layer have been calculated from the experimental dispersion curve.     

3D Ln–Ag (Ln = Nd; Eu) coordination polymers based on N- and O-donor ligands: Synthesis, crystal structures and luminescence

The self-assembly of isonicotinic acid with metal salts under hydrothermal conditions gave two isostructural 3D 4d–4f coordination polymers, Ln₂Ag₄(OX)(IN)₆(H₂O)_1.5 · 2(ClO₄) [Ln = Nd (1); Eu (2), OX = oxalic acid, IN = isonicotinic acid]. Compounds 1 and 2 are 3D coordination frameworks via 2D layers built by carboxylate groups of isonicotinic acid and oxalate ligands coordinating to metal centers and completing the linear linker by silver ions. Furthermore, the luminescent properties of complex 2 have also been investigated.     

Christmas and mortality: Death dip, no; death rise, yes.

Research interest in the area of death and dying has recently been focused on the timing of death in connection with certain events. In the present study, we explored the death-dip/death-rise phenomenon. Specifically, we analyzed patterns of mortality around Christmas. Using day and week as the unit of analysis, we analyzed almost 300,000 deaths from natural causes recorded in Ohio from 1979 to 1981. The data supported the death-rise after Christmas but did not support the death-dip prior to Christmas. This pattern was observed when controlling for sex, race, marital status, age, cause of death, and death year (i.e., 1979, 1980, or 1981). In addition, we examined the average daily temperatures for the analyzed period to rule out the influence of seasonal variation on the timing of death. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A synthesis method for multicomponent distillation sequences with fewer columns

An easy‐to‐use matrix‐based method for the systematic synthesis of distillation configurations using less than n‐1 columns to separate any zeotropic n‐component feed into n product streams is described. The method is easily extended to obtain additional thermally coupled configurations. The only information needed to generate the configurations is the number of components in the feed, or equivalently, the number of distinct composition final product streams. We have successfully enumerated configurations for feeds containing up to eight components. This has resulted in a large number of hitherto unknown configurations even for four‐component separations. Some of the novel configurations generated using the method have substantially lower heat duty than the previously known fewer column configurations for a four‐component feed separation. Therefore, it is essential to include these novel configurations in the search space to find the optimal distillation configuration with fewer columns for a given application. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 58: 2479–2494, 2012     

APIC position paper: hepatitis C exposure in the health care setting. Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc (APIC), is a multidisciplinary, voluntary, international organization of professionals who practice infection control and the application of epidemiology in all health settings. APIC is an international leader in prevention and control of infection transmission.