Solar radiation climate in Malawi

Recently, Diabaté et al. [Diabaté, L., Blanc, Ph., Wald, L., 2004. Solar climate in Africa. Solar Energy 76, 733–744] created a map of solar radiation climate in Africa using clearness index for 62 sites. They established a solar climate class II located in Malawi and Madagascar. However, their analysis did not include any irradiation data from a site in Malawi. In this study, the solar radiation climate of Malawi has been studied using long-term global radiation data from a local site. The mean monthly (K_tm) and seasonal (K_ts) daily clearness indices for the site were computed. It is observed that K_tm has two maxima in a year (K_tm = 0.58 in May and K_tm = 0.64 in September), in close conformity with findings of Diabaté et al. (2004). Other results are presented and discussed.     

Charge transfer resistance of spray deposited and compressed counter electrodes for dye-sensitized nanoparticle solar cells on plastic substrates

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to determine the effective charge transfer resistances of porous dye-sensitized solar cell counter electrodes prepared by low-temperature spray deposition and compression of conductive carbon and platinized Sb-doped SnO₂ powders on indium tin oxide-coated plastic substrates. The charge transfer resistances were 0.5–2 and 8–13 Ω cm², respectively, when using 3-methoxypropionitrile as the electrolyte solvent. The manufacturing method used lends itself to produce mechanically stable and even-quality electrodes in an easy and fast manner.     

Preparation of an anion‐exchange adsorbent by the radiation‐induced grafting of vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium chloride onto cotton cellulose and its application for protein adsorption

Poly(vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium chloride)‐graft‐cotton cellulose, an anion‐exchange matrix, was synthesized by a mutual radiation‐induced grafting technique with a ⁶⁰Co γ‐radiation source. The grafted matrix was characterized by grafting yield estimation, elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The grafting yield decreased with the increase in the dose rate. However, the grafting yield and nitrogen content of grafted samples increased almost linearly with an increase in the total irradiation dose. To evaluate the performance of the grafted anion‐exchange matrix, the protein adsorption and elution behavior were investigated in a continuous column process under various experimental conditions, with bovine serum albumin used as a model protein. The binding and elution behavior of the anion‐exchange matrix depended on different experimental parameters, such as the grafting yield, ionic strength, pH of the medium, and amount of protein loaded. From a breakthrough curve, the equilibrium binding capacity and elution percentage of the grafted anion‐exchange matrix were estimated to be 40 mg/g and 94%, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 5512–5521, 2006     

Non‐reflecting artificial boundaries for transient scalar wave propagation in a two‐dimensional infinite homogeneous layer

This paper presents an exact non‐reflecting boundary condition for dealing with transient scalar wave propagation problems in a two‐dimensional infinite homogeneous layer. In order to model the complicated geometry and material properties in the near field, two vertical artificial boundaries are considered in the infinite layer so as to truncate the infinite domain into a finite domain. This treatment requires the appropriate boundary conditions, which are often referred to as the artificial boundary conditions, to be applied on the truncated boundaries. Since the infinite extension direction is different for these two truncated vertical boundaries, namely one extends toward x →∞ and another extends toward x→‐ ∞, the non‐reflecting boundary condition needs to be derived on these two boundaries. Applying the variable separation method to the wave equation results in a reduction in spatial variables by one. The reduced wave equation, which is a time‐dependent partial differential equation with only one spatial variable, can be further changed into a linear first‐order ordinary differential equation by using both the operator splitting method and the modal radiation function concept simultaneously. As a result, the non‐reflecting artificial boundary condition can be obtained by solving the ordinary differential equation whose stability is ensured. Some numerical examples have demonstrated that the non‐reflecting boundary condition is of high accuracy in dealing with scalar wave propagation problems in infinite and semi‐infinite media. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

超Jaynes-Cummings模型中的原子置于热辐射场时的相干特性

超Jaynes一Cummings模型中的两能级原子置于热辐射场。通过求解原子与热辐射场相互作用过程中原子约化密度算符非对角元．精确得出子原子相干性的衰变规律。研究了在相互作用系统中外加驱动场时可保持原子的相干性，此时外加驱动场的时间演化与原子的跃迁频率、原子偶极矩、热库的温度和k模光子频率等因素有关。     

Influence of a Jump in the Power of Laser Radiation on Its Measurement

Simulation and investigation of the effect of an isolated jump on realization of the unit of power of laser radiation and dissemination of the size of the unit are considered. Results are obtained by means of a newly developed algorithm that characterizes the behavior of the mean value of a signal and the standard deviation of a system as functions of the parameters of a jump in the power of laser radiation and the length and amplitude of the jump. If information concerning the time when a jump occurs is available, the proposed algorithm makes it possible to take into account how a jump affects the ultimate result of a measurement.     

同步辐射光刻技术

同步辐射光刻有希望代替传统光刻技术,用于0.25μm以下图形的超精细加工。本文叙述了它的原理、相关技术的开发现状和工艺应用。     

Improved cellulase production by stable Clostridium cellulolyticum mutants

Methods for the production of mutants of the cellulase producer Clostridium cellulolyticum ATCC 35319 were examined using an agar plate screening technique. Spontaneous and UV light-induced mutants were isolated, some of which exhibited a high level of both endoglucanase and exoglucanase activities as assayed using CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose) and PNPCb (paranitrophenyi-β-cellobioside) respectively. The volumetric enzyme activities were up to 2.5 times those of the wild strain.     

Synthesis and characterization of radiation grafted copolymer for removal of nonionic organic contaminants

Nonionic organic contaminants such as phenol, benzene, and toluene from contaminated wastewater on laboratory scale can be effectively sorbed by cellulosic wood pulp sheet incorporated with three polar functional groups. The synthesis was carried out by graft copolymerization reaction of N,N‐dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate with methacrylic acid onto wood pulp. The preparation conditions at which the grafting process proceeds homogeneously are determined. Characterization and some selected properties of the original and grafted wood pulp were evaluated using FTIR and scanning electron microscope, also, the removal of phenol, benzene, and toluene on laboratory scale was investigated by using gas chromatography. It was found that phenol shows the highest removal percent than that of benzene and toluene. The efficiency of removal of the nonionic contaminants is found to be 97%, which shows a great promise for its applicability in the removal of organic contaminates from wastewater. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 3589–3595, 2006