Attenuation of second sound in bulk flowing He II

New measurements of second sound attenuation in bulk flowing He II are reported which extend to a region of higher Reynolds number. An expression for the attenuation explicitly containing the quantum vortex line density is developed which allows comparison with vortex line density data taken by other means. A bellows driven experimental apparatus is used to produce bulk flow velocities of 0 to 1 m/sec in a channel of 4.064 mm square internal cross section. Second sound pulses are produced by applying a square voltage pulse 200 s width and variable height to a strain gauge heater. The second sound pulses are detected with thin film sensors mounted 56 and 119 mm downstream. The velocity-dependent attenuation, measured as a function of bulk flow velocity at 1.5, 1.8, and 2.0 K, is compared with data from other researchers. The attenuation, and thus the vortex line density, appears to follow a gradual transition from laminar to turbulent behavior. Current theories do not account for the presence of quantized vortices in bulk flowing He II, where (v _n–v _s), and thus do not explain the observed second sound attentuation in this regime.     

Dewatering behaviour of water treatment sludges associated with contaminated site remediation in Antarctica

Sludge reduction and dewatering is an important aspect of water and waste water treatment. This is especially true in the case of Australia's Antarctic contaminated site remediation program, where the reduction in volume of wastes to be returned to Australia can lead to significant transport and handling cost savings. The dewatering characterisation of water treatment sludges from an Antarctic contaminated site was conducted using a theory of suspension dewatering developed by Buscall, Landman and White. This theory uses fundamental material properties of compressibility and permeability to determine the diffusivity of a suspension. Diffusivity is a useful property that can be used to directly compare the dewaterability of various sludges. In this investigation, several water treatment sludges were collected and characterised in the field to determine the impact of temperature and additives on compressibility, permeability and diffusivity. The Antarctic sludges were found to be less compressible and less permeable than materials such as mineral suspensions and alum water treatment sludges. Compressibility was found to decrease with the addition of powdered coagulation aids such as bentonite and chitosan.     

Isolation of two nitrogen-free toxins from tung kernels

Summary A procedure is described for isolating two nitrogen-free toxins from tung kernels and from press cake. Chick-feeding tests were used to determine which fraction was toxic at every separation. Both substances were highly toxic as 10-mg. doses killed 4-day old chicks. These substances were shown by chromatography on glass paper to be different and chromatography homogeneous, but also unstable. The elementary composition, hydroxyl content, saponification value, and specific rotation for the two toxins are given. One of the laboratories of the Southern Utilization Research and Development Division, Agricultural Research Service, U, S. Department of Agriculture.     

Ceramic Composites with Three-Dimensional Architectures Designed to Produce a Threshold Strength—II. Mechanical Observations

Finite element modeling and linear elastic fracture mechanics are used to model the residual stresses and failure stress of ceramic composites consisting of polyhedral alumina cores surrounded by thin alumina/mullite layers in residual compression. This type of composite architecture is expected to exhibit isotropic threshold strength behavior, in which the strength of the composite for a particular assumed flaw will be constant and independent of the orientation of tensile loading. The results of the modeling indicate that the strengths of such architectures will be higher than those of laminates of similar architectural dimensions that were previously found to exhibit threshold strength behavior for a particular flaw type. Flexural testing of the polyhedral architectures reveals that failure is dominated by processing defects found at junctions between the polyhedra. Fractography revealed the interaction of these defects with the residual stresses in the compressive layers that separate the polyhedra.     

Distribution of Matrix Cracks in a Uniaxial Ceramic Composite

Conventional shear-lag analyses of matrix cracking and debonding in uniaxial composites loaded in tension predict that the matrix stress varies only very slowly with position except near existing cracks. It therefore follows that the location of subsequent cracks is very sensitive to minor local variations in matrix strength, leading to significant statistical variation in crack spacing. This question is investigated using a discrete random process model of a composite and by direct experimental measurements of crack spacing. In the limit of a completely homogeneous composite, it is shown that the crack spacing distribution tends to an inverse square distribution between the theoretical maximum spacing and half that value. The random process model recovers this behavior in the limit and exhibits an approximately Weibull distribution of crack spacings when the matrix strength has significant variance. The theoretical predictions are compared with experimental results obtained for a unidirectional ceramic-matrix composite (SiC fibers in a calcium aluminosilicate matrix). The experimental results exhibit features similar to those predicted by the model and are compatible with a matrix strength whose standard deviation is of the order of 40% of the mean strength. An important point is that, with this magnitude of strength variation, the material exhibits a significant size effect and it is essential to take this into account in estimating the mean crack spacing from the corresponding mean matrix properties.     

Materials balance in a tung oil mill

Summary Weights were determined and analyses made of tung fruit milled and of all products leaving the mill for two runs of about 90 tons each in a commercial mill under normal operating conditions. Dry matter, oil, and nitrogen in the fruit were satisfactorily accounted for in products leaving the mill, 101% of the oil being accounted for in each run. This showed that the methods of analysis and sampling were accurate. Losses occurred principally in particles of kernels occluded with the hulls and in the screw-press cake. Seventy-eight and 82% of the oil in the fruit was recovered as filtered oil. Repressing the filter-press cake by adding it back to the stream of ground nuts just before they entered the screw-presses was not proven to be economical as at the end of the run just as much cake was on hand, and it had as high an oil content as if no filter cake had been fed back through the screw presses. Only about half as much oil could be filtered per filtration cycle, resulting in an increase in cost of labor and a decrease in filtering capacity. The apparent oil content of the screw-press cake decreases by about 2% after four to eight days as compared to its apparent oil content at the time of pressing because of polymerization. Thus, screw-press cake samples should be analyzed for oil as soon as possible after extrusion. Both of these laboratories are maintained by the Agricultural Research Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture.     

Three-year outcome after balloon aortic valvuloplasty. Insights into prognosis of valvular aortic stenosis

BACKGROUND: To identify predictors of long-term outcome after balloon aortic valvuloplasty, we analyzed data on 674 adults (mean age, 78 +/- 9 years; 56% were women) undergoing this procedure at 24 clinical centers who had a mean initial increase in aortic valve area of 0.3 cm2. METHODS AND RESULTS: Baseline data included clinical, echocardiographic, and catheterization variables. Follow-up data included mortality, cause of death, rehospitalization, 6-month echocardiography, and functional status. Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests were used to evaluate survival in subgroups. Multivariate Cox regression models were used to identify independent predictors of survival. Overall survival was 55% at 1 year, 35% at 2 years, and 23% at 3 years, with the majority of deaths (70%) classified as cardiac by an independent review committee. Rehospitalization was common (64%), although 61% of survivors at 2 years reported improved symptoms. Echocardiography at 6 months (n = 115) showed restenosis from the postprocedural valve area of 0.78 +/- 0.31 cm2 to 0.65 +/- 0.25 cm2 (P < .0001). With stepwise multivariate analysis, sequentially adding clinical, echocardiographic, and catheterization variables, the overall model identified independent predictors of survival as baseline functional status, baseline cardiac output, renal function, cachexia, female gender, left ventricular systolic function, and mitral regurgitation. Baseline and postprocedural variables were examined to identify which subgroup of patients has the best outcome after aortic valvuloplasty. A "lower-risk" subgroup (28% of the study population), defined by normal left ventricular systolic function and mild clinical functional limitation, had a 3-year survival of 36% compared with 17% in the remainder of the study group. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term survival after balloon aortic valvuloplasty is poor with 1- and 3-year survival rates of 55% and 23%, respectively. Although survivors report fewer symptoms, early restenosis and recurrent hospitalization are common.     

Inducing imperfections in germanium nanowires

Nanowires with inhomogeneous heterostructures such as polytypes and periodic twin boundaries are interesting due to their potential use as components for optical,electrical,and thermophysical applications.Additionally,the incorporation of metal impurities in semiconductor nanowires could substantially alter their electronic and optical properties.In this highlight article,we review our recent progress and understanding in the deliberate induction of imperfections,in terms of both twin boundaries and additional impurities in germanium nanowires for new/enhanced functionalities.The role of catalysts and catalyst-nanowire interfaces for the growth of engineered nanowires via a three-phase paradigm is explored.Three-phase bottom-up growth is a feasible way to incorporate and engineer imperfections such as crystal defects and impurities in semiconductor nanowires via catalyst and/or interfacial manipulation."Epitaxial defect transfer"process and catalyst-nanowire interfacial engineering are employed to induce twin defects parallel and perpendicular to the nanowire growth axis.By inducing and manipulating twin boundaries in the metal catalysts,twin formation and density are controlled in Ge nanowires.The formation of Ge polytypes is also observed in nanowires for the growth of highly dense lateral twin boundaries.Additionally,metal impurity in the form of Sn is injected and engineered via third-party metal catalysts resulting in above-equilibrium incorporation of Sn adatoms in Ge nanowires.Sn impurities are precipitated into Ge bi-layers during Ge nanowire growth,where the impurity Sn atoms become trapped with the deposition of successive layers,thus giving an extraordinary Sn content (＞6 at.％) in Ge nanowires.A larger amount of Sn impingement (＞9 at.％) is further encouraged by utilizing the eutectic solubility of Sn in Ge along with impurity trapping.     

Scanning optical microellipsometer for pure surface profiling

We describe a scanning optical interferometer that can simultaneously perform ellipsometry measurements and thus provides a true surface profile. This is accomplished by projecting the back focal plane of the objective lens onto a CCD array. The measured phase differences between the p- and s-polarization components are converted, by using a specially developed algorithm, to optical phase changes caused by material variations. The compensation process is then applied to extract the true profile of the object surface. Experimental results obtained with the system are shown.