Phenol adsorption on porous and non-porous carbons

Phenol physisorption on a series of porous and non-porous amorphous carbons was studied at 298 K. Grand Canonical Monte Carlo computer simulations were performed to simulate phenol adsorption from the gas phase. Phenol is adsorbed in a solid-like state within the pores and there is no well-developed multilayer regime. The ‘t’ plot method was adapted to phenol adsorption and the results obtained are in agreement with the model solids employed. The simulated adsorption isotherms were compared with experimental results obtained for adsorption from aqueous solutions of phenol. BET surface areas were calculated. Other characteristics of the adsorption system analyzed were: adsorption energy distribution functions, density profiles, distribution of molecules according to gas-solid energy, and local isotherms.     

Ultrasonography in dentistry

This paper reviews diagnostic applications of ultrasound to dentistry, or dental ultrasonography, beginning with pioneering work of the 1960s up through present lines of research. Clinical, in vivo applications that are of direct interest to dental practice are reviewed here, including measurements of enamel thickness and periodontal pocket depth. In vitro research that involves destructive tooth preparation or procedures, such as sound speed measurements or scanning acoustic microscopy, also are included. Although dental ultrasonography has been studied for over 40 years, most methods are not quite ready for routine clinical use, and there remains much opportunity for diagnostic ultrasonography to significantly impact the practice of dentistry.     

Position broadening effect in hot-electron transport

We utilize the Kadanoff-Baym-Keldysh methods to develop a formalism appropriate for high, homogeneous fields. The aim is to derive a spectral density model which can account for both the energy dependence of the collision rate and the intracollisional field effect in a relatively simple and rigorous way. We solve the appropriate Dyson's equation in the first Born approximation for the case of scattering mechanisms described by a momentum-independent self-energy. We obtain an analytical expression for the spectral density and derive an integral equation for the correlation function G^<, which is proportional to the density of particles. We show that the field, acting in conjunction with the phonons, leads to an effective quantization of the energy in the direction of the electric field suggesting the presence of a novel quantum effect consisting in a discontinuous trajectory of the electron along this direction.     

Fuzzy classification of roof fall predictors in microseismic monitoring

Microseismic monitoring involves placing geophones on the rock surfaces of a mine to record seismic activity. Classification of microseismic mine data can be used to predict seismic events in a mine to mitigate mining hazards, such as roof falls, where properly bolting and bracing the roof is often an insufficient method of preventing weak roofs from destabilizing. In this study, six months of recorded acoustic waveforms from microseismic monitoring in a Pennsylvania limestone mine were analyzed using classification techniques to predict roof falls. Fuzzy classification using features selected for computational ease was applied on the mine data. Both large roof fall events could be predicted using a Roof Fall Index (RFI) metric calculated from the results of the fuzzy classification. RFI was successfully used to resolve the two significant roof fall events and predicted both events by at least 15 h before visual signs of the roof falls were evident.     

High-frequency scattering by objects buried in lossy media

The uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (UTD) is extended so that it can be used to calculate the scattering from an object buried in a lossy medium. First, the accuracy of this high frequency method is examined by comparing numerical results for the scattering by a polygonal cylinder in a lossy medium of infinite extent with calculations based on a method of moments (MoM) solution. Next, the more difficult scattering problem of a polygonal cylinder in a lossy half space is treated. The UTD solution for the unbounded region is employed together with the fields of rays introduced by the interface between air and the lossy medium to obtain expressions for the scattered field in air and in the lossy medium     

Newborns discriminate the rhythm of multisyllabic stressed words.

Three experiments were run to test whether newborns were able to discriminate different stress patterns in multisyllabic stressed Italian words that varied both in consonants and in number of syllables. A high-amplitude sucking procedure was adopted in which the experimental group heard 2 sets of stimuli alternating minute by minute, whereas the control group heard only a single set of stimuli. The results showed that stress patterns were discriminated in 2 disyllabic phonetically unvaried words (Exp 1), in 2 trisyllabic consonant-varied words (Exp 2), and in 2 sets of disyllabic words varied in consonants within and between words (Exp 3). The alternation procedure proved to be suitable for examining newborns' abilities of discrimination and categorization. It also lowered the participants' rejection rate compared with the classic habituation procedure. The present results suggest that newborns are sensitive to words' rhythm, as carried by stress patterns, and that this prosodic information is salient even in the presence of substantial consonant variation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of young infants' perceptual representations of speech sounds.

The present study examined the ability of newborns and 2-month-olds to detect phonetic differences between syllables. By relying on the modified high-amplitude sucking procedure, which did not permit the infants to use a simple same–different response, the present experiments tapped the perceptual representations of the speech sounds. Infants as young as a few days old displayed some capacity to represent differences in a set of syllables varying in their phonetic composition, although there was no convincing evidence that their representations were structured in terms of phonetic segments. Finally, evidence of developmental changes in speech processing were noted for the first time with infants in this age range. The change noted was a tendency from global toward more specific representations on the part of the older infants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)