Piezoelectric properties of PVDF-conjugated polymer nanofibers

This study presents the development and characterization of PVDF-conjugated polymer nanofiber-based systems. Five different conducting polymers (CPs) were synthesized successfully and used to create the nanofiber systems. The CPs used are polyaniline (PANI), polypyrrole (PPY), polyindole (PIN), polyanthranilic acid (PANA), and polycarbazole (PCZ). Nanofiber systems were produced utilizing the Forcespinning® technique. The nanofiber systems were developed by mechanical stretching. No electrical field or post-process poling was used in the nanofiber systems. The morphology, structure, electrochemical and piezoelectric performance was characterized. All of the nanofiber PVDF/CP systems displayed higher piezoelectric performance than the fine fiber PVDF systems. The PVDF/PPY nanofiber system displays the highest piezoelectric performance of 15.56 V. The piezoelectric performance of the PVDF/CP nanofiber systems favors potential for an attractive source of energy where highly flexible membranes could be used in power actuators, sensors and portable, and wireless devices to mention some.     

Preparation and properties of heavy-metal halide glasses

We have studied the effect of In³⁺, Pb²⁺, Gd³⁺, and Cl (heavier ions) substitutions for Al³⁺, Ba²⁺, La³⁺, and F^? on the crystallization stability and UV/IR optical properties of HBLAN fluorohafnatc glasses (HfF₄-BaF₂-LaF₃-AlF₃-NaF system). We obtained stable glasses containing InF₃ and BaCl₂ instead of AlF₃ and BaF₂, respectively, and offering increased IR transmission. The presence of CCl₄ in the process atmosphere and the removal of oxygen-containing impurities via directional solidification are shown to have an advantageous effect on the optical quality of the glasses. The fluoride-chloride glasses are capable of accommodating about 1.5 times higher levels of rare-earth activators in comparison with their fluoride analogs.     

Trends in registered psychiatric morbidity and forecasting psychotropic drug needs in Bulgarian hospitals

Registered psychiatric morbidity in Bulgaria as a whole and particularly in Plovdiv, the second largest region of the country, was assessed. Three aspects of psychotropic drug usage were analysed, namely, changes in registered psychotropic drugs, the prescribed daily dose (PDD) values for 2 years, and the preferred therapeutic schemes, and drug usage and needs in a psychiatric hospital with 365 beds. This was done by time series analysis for evaluation of psychiatric morbidity and drug consumption data, calculation of PDD for psychotropic medicines, and, based on a modification of the World Health Organization's morbidity method, assessment and prediction of drug use and needs in Plovdiv hospital. The results indicated that the registered morbidity had increased by 4% over the period 1989-93 to 2,427 psychiatric patients per 100,000 people. The increased consumption of especially benzodiazepines and sedative medicines was analyzed. Diazepam was prescribed the most often (91.1%), followed by levomepromazine (86.4%), haloperidol (82.7%), etc. Future drug consumption in Plovdiv hospital is expected to decrease because therapeutic practice in hospitals has been revised and improved on the basis of the World Health Organization's recommendations.     

On regional nonlinear H-filtering

The structure of the nonlinear H^∞-filter in the neighborhood of the estimated trajectory is investigated and a bound on the size of the neighborhood that allows this structure is determined, both for finite and infinite horizons. Riccati inequalities that depend on the estimated trajectory are derived for finding the filter gain matrix and an algorithm for calculating the bound on the size of the above neighborhood is presented. Explicit formulas are obtained in the infinite horizon case for the minimum achievable disturbance attenuation level, the size of the neighborhood, and the corresponding filter gain.     

Contribution of K. A. Andrianov to the development of heat-resistant adhesives

Listed are the grades of heat-resistant adhesives developed under the Andrianov’s scientific guidance at the All-Russia Institute of Aviation Materials on the basis of organosilicon polymers.     

Reconstruction of radiation situation at Chernobyl NPP service area on the basis of γ-ray spectrometric analysis of soil samples and published data

Reconstruction of the radiation situation in areas subjected to nuclear accidents was done with an example of the Chernobyl accident (1986) on the basis of the radionuclidic composition of soil samples. The radionuclidic composition of γ-emitters was determined 19 years after the accident in a pulverescent sandstone sample collected in July 1986 at a distance of 1.5 km from the 4th block. Using reference data and data from original papers, reconstruction of the radionuclidic composition of the sample is done on the first ten days after the accident, and possible variations of the γ-radiation dose rate were determined within the framework of the thin film model. Based on the results obtained, variations of the absorbed dose of γ-radiation in 10 days are estimated, which is necessary for making urgent decisions in the initial period after the accident. The results are well consistent with the published data on the dose rates, validating the decision on evacuation of the people from Pripyat town and from the 30-km exclusion zone.     

An efficient implementation of certain iterative refinement preconditioners

Preconditioned iterative methods of conjugate gradient type for solving elliptic and parabolic problems discretized on grids wth local refinement are considered. The sparsity pattern of the residuals computed throughout the iterative process is investigated. It turns out that they are nonzero only near the interface nodes between the coarse-and fine-grids. This observation is used to formulate the preconditioned CG, and when the matrix is not symmetric as in the parabolic case—the generalized CG and GMRES methods, thus substantially saving storage and computation.     

Increasing the corrosion resistance of equipment due to the use of film-forming amines

Results of a study of tube specimens cut from hot-water boilers show that film-forming octadecyl amine (ODA) used in the process of preservation removes deposition from the surface of the metal. An ODA film is preserved on the surface after repeated washing of the latter with hot water. The concentration of chlorides at the surface of the metal after treatment with ODA is lower than before the treatment. __________ Translated from élektricheskie Stantsii, No. 11, November 2005, pp. 15–18.     

In-vitro iron dialysability from legumes: Influence of phytate and extrusion cooking

In-vitro iron dialysability from five Italian legumes (mottled bean, white bean, faba bean, chickpea, lentil) and the influence of phytate and extrusion cooking on it were evaluated. Iron dialysability was 2·3 and 2·4% in mottled and white bean respectively, 1·2% infaba bean, 2·7% in chickpea and 1·1% in lentil. After extrusion cooking the flours showed a marked iron contamination and a decrease in iron dialysability, but these changes were significant only for mottled bean. Enzymic phytate removal induced an increase in iron dialysability > 100% in all the raw legumes except mottled bean which showed an increase of only 57%. This finding indicates that, although phytate consistently modifies iron dialysability, it is difficult to identify a quantitative relationship between phytate content and iron dialysability.