Quantum-Noise-Limited Sensitivity Enhancement of a Passive Optical Cavity by a Fast-Light Medium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, David D.; Luckay, H. A.; Chang, Hongrok; Myneni, Krishna

2016-01-01

We demonstrate for a passive optical cavity containing a dispersive atomic medium, the increase in scale factor near the critical anomalous dispersion is not cancelled by mode broadening or attenuation, resulting in an overall increase in the predicted quantum-noise-limited sensitivity. Enhancements of over two orders of magnitude are measured in the scale factor, which translates to greater than an order-of-magnitude enhancement in the predicted quantum-noise-limited measurement precision, by temperature tuning a low-pressure vapor of non-interacting atoms in a low-finesse cavity close to the critical anomalous dispersion condition. The predicted enhancement in sensitivity is confirmed through Monte-Carlo numerical simulations.

VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS AS BREATH BIOMARKERS FOR ACTIVE AND PASSIVE SMOKING

EPA Science Inventory

Real-time breath measurement technology was used to investigate the suitability of some volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to serve as breath biomarkers for active and passive smoking and to measure actual exposures and resulting breath concentrations for persons exposed to toba...

Preparation of SiO2 Passivation Thin Film for Improved the Organic Light-Emitting Device Life Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Jeong Soo; Kim, Sang Mo; Kim, Kyung-Hwan

2011-08-01

To improve the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) lifetime, we prepared a SiO2 thin film for OLED passivation using a facing target sputtering (FTS) system as a function of oxygen gas flow rate and working pressure. The properties of the SiO2 thin film were examined by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), photoluminescence (PL) intensity measurement, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectrometry that As a result, we found that a SiO2 thin film is formed at a 2 sccm oxygen gas flow rate and results the minimum damage to the organic layer is observed at a 1 mTorr working pressure. Also, from the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), we observed that all of the as-deposited SiO2 thin films showed the ability of blocking moisture. After the properties were evaluated, an optimized SiO2 thin film was applied to OLED passivation. As a result, the property of the OLED fabricated by SiO2 passivation is similar to the OLED fabricated by glass passivation. However, the performance of OLED was degraded by enhancing of SiO2 passivation. This is the organic layer of the device is exposed to plasma for a prolonged period. Therefore, a method of minimizing damage to the organic layer and optimum conditions for what are important.

Evaluating the Relationship between Equilibrium Passive ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This review evaluates passive sampler uptake of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) as it relates to organism bioaccumulation in the water column and interstitial water. Fifty-five studies were found where both passive samplers and organism bioaccumulation were used to measured water quality. Of these investigations, 19 provided direct comparisons relating passive sampler concentrations and organism bioaccumulation. Passive sampling polymers included in the review were: low density polyethylene (LDPE); polyoxymethylene (POM); and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and organisms ranged from polychaetes and oligochaetes to bivalves, aquatic insects, and gastropods. Log-linear regressions correlating bioaccumulation (CL) and passive sampler concentration (CPS) were used to assess the strength of observed relationships. In general, the passive sampler concentrations resulted in statistically-significant, logarithmic, predictive relationships, most of which were within one to two orders of magnitude of measured bioaccumulation. Overall, bioaccumulation values were greater than passive sampler concentrations. A mean ratio of CL to CPS was 10.8 ± 18.4 (n = 609) for available data. Given that all studies presented resulted in a strong CL versus CPS relationship suggests that using passive sampling as a surrogate for organism bioaccumulation is viable when biomonitoring organisms are not available. Passive sampling based measurements can provide useful information for ma

Spatial analysis of volatile organic compounds in South Philadelphia using passive samplers

EPA Science Inventory

Select volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured in the vicinity of a petroleum refinery and related operations in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, using passive air sampling and laboratory analysis methods. Two-week, time-integrated samplers were deployed at 17 sites...

Effective interactions and dynamics of small passive particles in an active bacterial medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Semeraro, Enrico F.; Devos, Juliette M.; Narayanan, Theyencheri

2018-05-01

This article presents an investigation of the interparticle interactions and dynamics of submicron silica colloids suspended in a bath of motile Escherichia coli bacteria. The colloidal microstructure and dynamics were probed by ultra-small-angle x-ray scattering and multi-speckles x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, respectively. Both static and hydrodynamic interactions were obtained for different colloid volume fractions and bacteria concentrations as well as when the interparticle interaction potential was modified by the motility buffer. Results suggest that motile bacteria reduce the effective attractive interactions between passive colloids and enhance their dynamics at high colloid volume fractions. The enhanced dynamics under different static interparticle interactions can be rationalized in terms of an effective viscosity of the medium and unified by means of an empirical effective temperature of the system. While the influence of swimming bacteria on the colloid dynamics is significantly lower for small particles, the role of motility buffer on the static and dynamic interactions becomes more pronounced.

Evaluating the Relationship between Equilibrium Passive ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This Critcal Review evaluates passive sampler uptake of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) in water column and interstitial water exposures as a surrogate for organism bioaccumulation. Fifty-seven studies were found where both passive sampler uptake and organism bioaccumulation were measured and 19 of these investigations provided direct comparisons relating passive sampler uptake and organism bioaccumulation. Polymers compared included low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polyoxymethylene (POM), and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and organisms ranged from polychaetes and oligochaetes to bivalves, aquatic insects, and gastropods. Regression equations correlating bioaccumulation (CL) and passive sampler uptake (CPS) were used to assess the strength of observed relationships. Passive sampling based concentrations resulted in log–log predictive relationships, most of which were within one to 2 orders of magnitude of measured bioaccumulation. Mean coefficients of determination (r2) for LDPE, PDMS, and POM were 0.68, 0.76, and 0.58, respectively. For the available raw, untransformed data, the mean ratio of CL and CPS was 10.8 ± 18.4 (n = 609). Using passive sampling as a surrogate for organism bioaccumulation is viable when biomonitoring organisms are not available. Passive sampling based estimates of bioaccumulation provide useful information for making informed decisions about the bioavailability of HOCs. This review evaluates passive sampler uptake of hydrophobi

Multiple-layered effective medium approximation approach to modeling environmental effects on alumina passivated highly porous silicon nanostructured thin films measured by in-situ Mueller matrix ellipsometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mock, Alyssa; Carlson, Timothy; VanDerslice, Jeremy; Mohrmann, Joel; Woollam, John A.; Schubert, Eva; Schubert, Mathias

2017-11-01

Optical changes in alumina passivated highly porous silicon slanted columnar thin films during controlled exposure to toluene vapor are reported. Electron-beam evaporation glancing angle deposition and subsequent atomic layer deposition are utilized to deposit alumina passivated nanostructured porous silicon thin films. In-situ Mueller matrix generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry in an environmental cell is then used to determine changes in optical properties of the nanostructured thin films by inspection of individual Mueller matrix elements, each of which exhibit sensitivity to adsorption. The use of a multiple-layered effective medium approximation model allows for accurate description of the inhomogeneous nature of toluene adsorption onto alumina passivated highly porous silicon slanted columnar thin films.

[A cross sectional study of passive smoking of non-smoking women and analysis of influence factors on women passive smoking].

PubMed

Han, Jing-Xiu; Ma, Ling; Zhang, Hong-Wei; Liu, Xi; Zheng, Su-hua; Gan, De-kun; Fang, Jun

2006-09-01

To fund out the state of passive smoking of non-smoking women and search for measures of controlling women passive smoking. 3500 non-smoking women in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu city were interviewed. Analyses were performed by chi2 test Fisher test and ANOVA test. 92.7% passive smoking women exposure to ETS at home, 40.8% at workplace. 38.9% exposed to ETS from birthday, and 42.3% from 18 - 30 age. The average exposure time of passive smoking is (1.17 +/- 1.10) hours per day. The proportion of passive-smoking time over 2 hours at home is higher than work place. In passive-smoking group, the proportion of 30 - 50 age group, secondary education, married, merchant/service, principal of units, and manufacture/transport workers were higher than non-smoking group. 97.5% think that passive smoking is harmful to health, and the proportion of thinking passive smoking has severe harm to health in non-passive-smoking group is higher than passive-smoking group. 70.0% open windows when someone smokes around her, but only 16.9% ask the smokers do not smoke around her forwardly. Suppose that someone were smoking around yourself, the consciousness of avoiding passive smoking forwardly in non-passive-smoking group is stronger than passive-smoking group. 95.1% believe the content of smoking-harm propagandized by medium. The main places of controlling passive smoking are the home and the department, commerce, service, and manufacture/ transport workplace. The rate of passive smoking was influenced by the consciousness of the serious level of harms by passive smoking. Propagandizing the serious harm of passive smoking by medium and strengthening the consciousness of avoiding passive smoking were one of feasible measures to lower the rate of smoking and passive smoking.

[Influence of Natural Dissolved Organic Matter on the Passive Sampling Technique and its Application].

PubMed

Yu, Shang-yun; Zhou, Yan-mei

2015-08-01

This paper studied the effects of different concentrations of natural dissolved organic matter (DOM) on the passive sampling technique. The results showed that the presence of DOM affected the organic pollutant adsorption ability of the membrane. For lgK(OW), 3-5, DOM had less impact on the adsorption of organic matter by the membrane; for lgK(OW), > 5.5, DOM significantly increased the adsorption capacity of the membrane. Meanwhile, LDPE passive sampling technique was applied to monitor PAHs and PAEs in pore water of three surface sediments in Taizi River. All of the target pollutants were detected in varying degrees at each sampling point. Finally, the quotient method was used to assess the ecological risks of PAHs and PAEs. The results showed that fluoranthene exceeded the reference value of the aquatic ecosystem, meaning there was a big ecological risk.

Evaluating the Relationship between Equilibrium Passive ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This review evaluates passive sampler uptake of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) in water column and interstitial water exposures as a surrogate for organism bioaccumulation. Fifty-four studies were found where both passive sampler uptake and organism bioaccumulation were measured and 19 of these investigations provided direct comparisons relating passive sampler uptake and organism bioaccumulation. Polymers compared included low density polyethylene (LDPE), polyoxymethylene (POM), and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and organisms ranged from polychaetes and oligochaetes to bivalves, aquatic insects, and gastropods. Regression equations correlating bioaccumulation (CL) and passive sampler uptake (CPS) were used to assess the strength of observed relationships. Passive sampling based concentrations resulted in logarithmic predictive relationships, most of which were within one to two orders of magnitude of measured bioaccumulation. Mean coefficients of determination (r2) for LDPE, PDMS and POM were 0.68, 0.76 and 0.58, respectively. For the available raw data, the mean ratio of CL and CPS was 10.8 ± 18.4 (n = 609). This review concludes that in many applications passive sampling may serve as a reliable surrogate for biomonitoring organisms when biomonitoring organisms are not available. When applied properly, passive sampling based estimates of bioaccumulation provide useful information for making informed decisions about the bioavailability of HOCs

Improved Stability and Performance of Visible Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting on Solution-Processed Organic Semiconductor Thin Films by Ultrathin Metal Oxide Passivation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Lei; Yan, Danhua; Shaffer, David W.

Solution-processable organic semiconductors have potentials as visible photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting photoelectrodes due to their tunable small band gap and electronic energy levels, but they are typically limited by poor stability and photocatalytic activity. In this study, we demonstrate the direct visible PEC water oxidation on solution-processed organic semiconductor thin films with improved stability and performance by ultrathin metal oxide passivation layers. N-type fullerene-derivative thin films passivated by sub-2 nm ZnO via atomic layer deposition enabled the visible PEC water oxidation at wavelengths longer than 600 nm in harsh alkaline electrolyte environments with up to 30 μA/cm 2 photocurrents atmore » the thermodynamic water-oxidation equilibrium potential and the photoanode half-lifetime extended to ~1000 s. The systematic investigation reveals the enhanced water oxidation catalytic activity afforded by ZnO passivation and the charge tunneling governing the hole transfer through passivation layers. Further enhanced PEC performances were realized by improving the bottom ohmic contact to the organic semiconductor, achieving ~60 μA/cm 2 water oxidation photocurrent at the equilibrium potential, the highest values reported for organic semiconductor thin films to our knowledge. The improved stability and performance of passivated organic photoelectrodes and discovered design rationales provide useful guidelines for realizing the stable visible solar PEC water splitting based on organic semiconductor thin films.« less

Improved Stability and Performance of Visible Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting on Solution-Processed Organic Semiconductor Thin Films by Ultrathin Metal Oxide Passivation

DOE PAGES

Wang, Lei; Yan, Danhua; Shaffer, David W.; ...

2017-12-27

Solution-processable organic semiconductors have potentials as visible photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting photoelectrodes due to their tunable small band gap and electronic energy levels, but they are typically limited by poor stability and photocatalytic activity. In this study, we demonstrate the direct visible PEC water oxidation on solution-processed organic semiconductor thin films with improved stability and performance by ultrathin metal oxide passivation layers. N-type fullerene-derivative thin films passivated by sub-2 nm ZnO via atomic layer deposition enabled the visible PEC water oxidation at wavelengths longer than 600 nm in harsh alkaline electrolyte environments with up to 30 μA/cm 2 photocurrents atmore » the thermodynamic water-oxidation equilibrium potential and the photoanode half-lifetime extended to ~1000 s. The systematic investigation reveals the enhanced water oxidation catalytic activity afforded by ZnO passivation and the charge tunneling governing the hole transfer through passivation layers. Further enhanced PEC performances were realized by improving the bottom ohmic contact to the organic semiconductor, achieving ~60 μA/cm 2 water oxidation photocurrent at the equilibrium potential, the highest values reported for organic semiconductor thin films to our knowledge. The improved stability and performance of passivated organic photoelectrodes and discovered design rationales provide useful guidelines for realizing the stable visible solar PEC water splitting based on organic semiconductor thin films.« less

Environmental monitoring of selected pesticides and organic chemicals in urban stormwater recycling systems using passive sampling techniques.

PubMed

Page, Declan; Miotliński, Konrad; Gonzalez, Dennis; Barry, Karen; Dillon, Peter; Gallen, Christie

2014-03-01

Water recycling via aquifers has become a valuable tool to augment urban water supplies in many countries. This study reports the first use of passive samplers for monitoring of organic micropollutants in Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR). Five different configurations of passive samplers were deployed in a stormwater treatment wetland, groundwater monitoring wells and a recovery tank to capture a range of polar and non-polar micropollutants present in the system. The passive samplers were analysed for a suite of pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other chemicals. As a result, 17 pesticides and pesticide degradation products, 5 PAHs and 8 other organic chemicals including flame retardants and fragrances were detected in urban stormwater recharging Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) and an Aquifer Storage Transfer and Recovery (ASTR) system. Of the pesticides detected, diuron, metolachlor and chlorpyrifos were generally detected at the highest concentrations in one or more passive samplers, whereas chlorpyrifos, diuron, metolachlor, simazine, galaxolide and triallate were detected in multiple samplers. Fluorene was the PAH detected at the highest concentration and the flame retardant Tris(1-chloro-2-propyl)phosphate was the chemical detected in the greatest abundance at all sites. The passive samplers showed different efficiencies for capture of micropollutants with the Empore disc samplers giving the most reliable results. The results indicate generally low levels of organic micropollutants in the stormwater, as the contaminants detected were present at very low ng/L levels, generally two to four orders of magnitude below the drinking water guidelines (NHMRC, 2011). The efficiency of attenuation of these organic micropollutants during MAR was difficult to determine due to variations in the source water concentrations. Comparisons were made between different samplers, to give a field-based calibration where existing lab-based calibrations were

Environmental monitoring of selected pesticides and organic chemicals in urban stormwater recycling systems using passive sampling techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Page, Declan; Miotliński, Konrad; Gonzalez, Dennis; Barry, Karen; Dillon, Peter; Gallen, Christie

2014-03-01

Water recycling via aquifers has become a valuable tool to augment urban water supplies in many countries. This study reports the first use of passive samplers for monitoring of organic micropollutants in Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR). Five different configurations of passive samplers were deployed in a stormwater treatment wetland, groundwater monitoring wells and a recovery tank to capture a range of polar and non-polar micropollutants present in the system. The passive samplers were analysed for a suite of pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other chemicals. As a result, 17 pesticides and pesticide degradation products, 5 PAHs and 8 other organic chemicals including flame retardants and fragrances were detected in urban stormwater recharging Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) and an Aquifer Storage Transfer and Recovery (ASTR) system. Of the pesticides detected, diuron, metolachlor and chlorpyrifos were generally detected at the highest concentrations in one or more passive samplers, whereas chlorpyrifos, diuron, metolachlor, simazine, galaxolide and triallate were detected in multiple samplers. Fluorene was the PAH detected at the highest concentration and the flame retardant Tris(1-chloro-2-propyl)phosphate was the chemical detected in the greatest abundance at all sites. The passive samplers showed different efficiencies for capture of micropollutants with the Empore disc samplers giving the most reliable results. The results indicate generally low levels of organic micropollutants in the stormwater, as the contaminants detected were present at very low ng/L levels, generally two to four orders of magnitude below the drinking water guidelines (NHMRC, 2011). The efficiency of attenuation of these organic micropollutants during MAR was difficult to determine due to variations in the source water concentrations. Comparisons were made between different samplers, to give a field-based calibration where existing lab-based calibrations were

Passive sampling of bioavailable organic chemicals in Perry County, Missouri cave streams.

PubMed

Fox, J Tyler; Adams, Ginny; Sharum, Martin; Steelman, Karen L

2010-12-01

Two types of passive samplers--semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS)--were deployed in spring 2008 to assess bioavailable concentrations of aquatic contaminants in five cave streams and resurgences in Perry County, Missouri. Study sites represent areas of high cave biodiversity and the only known habitat for grotto sculpin (Cottus carolinae). Time-weighted average (TWA) water concentrations were calculated for 20 compounds (n = 9 SPMDs; n = 11 POCIS) originating primarily from agricultural sources, including two organochlorine insecticides, dieldrin and heptachlor epoxide, which were found at levels exceeding U.S. EPA criteria for the protection of aquatic life. GIS data were used to quantify and map sinkhole distribution and density within the study area. Infiltration of storm runoff and its influence on contaminant transport were also evaluated using land cover and hydrological data. This work provides evidence of cave stream contamination by a mix of organic chemicals and demonstrates the applicability of passive samplers for monitoring water quality in dynamic karst environments where rapid transmission of storm runoff makes instantaneous water sampling difficult.

Evaluating the Relationship between Equilibrium Passive ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Objectives. This review evaluates passive sampler uptake of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) in water column and interstitial water exposures as a surrogate for organism bioaccumulation. Approach/Activities. Fifty-five studies were found where both passive sampler uptake and organism bioaccumulation were measured and 19 of these investigations provided direct comparisons relating passive sampler uptake and organism bioaccumulation. Polymers compared included low density polyethylene (LDPE), polyoxymethylene (POM), and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and organisms ranged from polychaetes and oligochaetes to bivalves, aquatic insects, and gastropods. Regression equations correlating bioaccumulation (CL) and passive sampler uptake (CPS) were used to assess the strength of observed relationships. Results/Lessons Learned. Passive sampling based concentrations resulted in strong logarithmic regression relationships, most of which were within one to two orders of magnitude of measured bioaccumulation. Mean coefficients of determination (r2) for LDPE, PDMS and POM were 0.68, 0.76 and 0.58, respectively. For the available raw data, the mean ratio of CL and CPS was 10.8 ± 18.4 (n = 609). Passive sampler uptake and bioaccumulation were not found to be identical (i.e., CPS ≠ CL) but the logarithmic-based relationships between these values were consistently linear and predictive. This review concludes that in many applications passive sampling may serve as a

The Role of Organ of Corti Mass in Passive Cochlear Tuning

PubMed Central

de La Rochefoucauld, Ombeline; Olson, Elizabeth S.

2007-01-01

The mechanism for passive cochlear tuning remains unsettled. Early models considered the organ of Corti complex (OCC) as a succession of spring-mass resonators. Later, traveling wave models showed that passive tuning could arise through the interaction of cochlear fluid mass and OCC stiffness without local resonators. However, including enough OCC mass to produce local resonance enhanced the tuning by slowing and thereby growing the traveling wave as it approached its resonant segment. To decide whether the OCC mass plays a role in tuning, the frequency variation of the wavenumber of the cochlear traveling wave was measured (in vivo, passive cochleae) and compared to theoretical predictions. The experimental wavenumber was found by taking the phase difference of basilar membrane motion between two longitudinally spaced locations and dividing by the distance between them. The theoretical wavenumber was a solution of the dispersion relation of a three-dimensional cochlear model with OCC mass and stiffness as the free parameters. The experimental data were only well fit by a model that included OCC mass. However, as the measurement position moved from a best-frequency place of 40 to 12 kHz, the role of mass was diminished. The notion of local resonance seems to only apply in the very high-frequency region of the cochlea. PMID:17905841

Initial pH of medium affects organic acids production but do not affect phosphate solubilization.

PubMed

Marra, Leandro M; de Oliveira-Longatti, Silvia M; Soares, Cláudio R F S; de Lima, José M; Olivares, Fabio L; Moreira, Fatima M S

2015-06-01

The pH of the culture medium directly influences the growth of microorganisms and the chemical processes that they perform. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of the initial pH of the culture medium on the production of 11 low-molecular-weight organic acids and on the solubilization of calcium phosphate by bacteria in growth medium (NBRIP). The following strains isolated from cowpea nodules were studied: UFLA03-08 (Rhizobium tropici), UFLA03-09 (Acinetobacter sp.), UFLA03-10 (Paenibacillus kribbensis), UFLA03-106 (Paenibacillus kribbensis) and UFLA03-116 (Paenibacillus sp.). The strains UFLA03-08, UFLA03-09, UFLA03-10 and UFLA03-106 solubilized Ca3(PO4)2 in liquid medium regardless of the initial pH, although without a significant difference between the treatments. The production of organic acids by these strains was assessed for all of the initial pH values investigated, and differences between the treatments were observed. Strains UFLA03-09 and UFLA03-10 produced the same acids at different initial pH values in the culture medium. There was no correlation between phosphorus solubilized from Ca3(PO4)2 in NBRIP liquid medium and the concentration of total organic acids at the different initial pH values. Therefore, the initial pH of the culture medium influences the production of organic acids by the strains UFLA03-08, UFLA03-09, UFLA03-10 and UFLA03-106 but it does not affect calcium phosphate solubilization.

A rapidly equilibrating, thin film, passive water sampler for organic contaminants; characterization and field testing.

PubMed

St George, Tiffany; Vlahos, Penny; Harner, Tom; Helm, Paul; Wilford, Bryony

2011-02-01

Improving methods for assessing the spatial and temporal resolution of organic compound concentrations in marine environments is important to the sustainable management of our coastal systems. Here we evaluate the use of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) as a candidate polymer for thin-film passive sampling in waters of marine environments. Log K(EVA-W) partition coefficients correlate well (r(2) = 0.87) with Log K(OW) values for selected pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) where Log K(EVA-W) = 1.04 Log K(OW) + 0.22. EVA is a suitable polymer for passive sampling due to both its high affinity for organic compounds and its ease of coating at sub-micron film thicknesses on various substrates. Twelve-day field deployments were effective in detecting target compounds with good precision making EVA a potential multi-media fugacity meter. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Passivated p-type silicon: Hole injection tunable anode material for organic light emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, W. Q.; Ran, G. Z.; Xu, W. J.; Qin, G. G.

2008-02-01

We find that hole injection can be enhanced simply by selecting a lower-resistivity p-Si anode to match an electron injection enhancement for organic light emitting diodes with ultrathin-SiO2-layer-passivated p-Si anode (Si-OLED). For a Si-OLED with ordinary AlQ electron transport layer, the optimized resistivity of the p-Si anode is 40Ωcm; for that with n-doped Bphen electron transport layer, it decreases to 5Ωcm. Correspondingly, the maximum power efficiency increases from 0.3to1.9lm /W, even higher than that of an indium tin oxide control device (1.4lm/W). This passivated p-type silicon is a hole injection tunable anode material for OLED.

A novel active-passive sampling approach for measuring time-averaged concentrations of pollutants in water.

PubMed

Amato, Elvio D; Covaci, Adrian; Town, Raewyn M; Hereijgers, Jonas; Bellekens, Ben; Giacometti, Valentina; Breugelmans, Tom; Weyn, Maarten; Dardenne, Freddy; Bervoets, Lieven; Blust, Ronny

2018-06-14

Passive sampling with in situ devices offers several advantages over traditional sampling methods (i.e., discrete spot sampling), however, data interpretation from conventional passive samplers is hampered by difficulties in estimating the thickness of the diffusion layer at the sampler/medium interface (δ), often leading to inaccurate determinations of target analyte concentrations. In this study, the performance of a novel device combining active and passive sampling was investigated in the laboratory. The active-passive sampling (APS) device is comprised of a diffusion cell fitted with a pump and a flowmeter. Three receiving phases traditionally used in passive sampling devices (i.e., chelex resin, Oasis HLB, and silicone rubber), were incorporated in the diffusion cell and allowed the simultaneous accumulation of cationic metals, polar, and non-polar organic compounds, respectively. The flow within the diffusion cell was accurately controlled and monitored, and, combined with diffusion coefficients measurements, enabled the average δ to be estimated. Strong agreement between APS and time-averaged total concentrations measured in discrete water samples was found for most of the substances investigated. Accuracies for metals ranged between 87 and 116%, except Cu and Pb (∼50%), whilst accuracies between 64 and 101%, and 92 and 151% were achieved for polar and non-polar organic compounds, respectively. These results indicate that, via a well-defined in situ preconcentration step, the proposed APS approach shows promise for monitoring the concentration of a range of pollutants in water. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Liquid metal cooled nuclear reactors with passive cooling system

DOEpatents

Hunsbedt, Anstein; Fanning, Alan W.

1991-01-01

A liquid metal cooled nuclear reactor having a passive cooling system for removing residual heat resulting from fuel decay during reactor shutdown. The passive cooling system comprises a plurality of cooling medium flow circuits which cooperate to remove and carry heat away from the fuel core upon loss of the normal cooling flow circuit to areas external thereto.

Application of passive sampling for measuring dissolved concentrations of organic contaminants in the water column at three marine superfund sites.

PubMed

Burgess, Robert M; Lohmann, Rainer; Schubauer-Berigan, Joseph P; Reitsma, Pamela; Perron, Monique M; Lefkovitz, Lisa; Cantwell, Mark G

2015-08-01

Currently, there is an effort under way to encourage remedial project managers at contaminated sites to use passive sampling to collect freely dissolved concentrations (Cfree ) of hydrophobic organic contaminants to improve site assessments. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the use of passive sampling for measuring water column Cfree for several hydrophobic organic contaminants at 3 US Environmental Protection Agency Superfund sites. Sites investigated included New Bedford Harbor (New Bedford, MA, USA), Palos Verdes Shelf (Los Angeles, CA, USA), and Naval Station Newport (Newport, RI, USA); and the passive samplers evaluated were polyethylene, polydimethylsiloxane-coated solid-phase microextraction fibers, semipermeable membrane devices, and polyoxymethylene. In general, the different passive samplers demonstrated good agreement, with Cfree values varying by a factor of 2 to 3. Further, at New Bedford Harbor, where conventional water sample concentrations were also measured (i.e., grab samples), passive sampler-based Cfree values agreed within a factor of 2. These findings suggest that all of the samplers were experiencing and measuring similar Cfree during their respective deployments. Also, at New Bedford Harbor, a strong log-linear, correlative, and predictive relationship was found between polyethylene passive sampler accumulation and lipid-normalized blue mussel bioaccumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (r(2)  = 0.92, p < 0.05). The present study demonstrates the utility of passive sampling for generating scientifically accurate water column Cfree values, which is critical for making informed environmental management decisions at contaminated sediment sites. Published 2015 SETAC. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Modeling uptake of hydrophobic organic contaminants into polyethylene passive samplers.

PubMed

Thompson, Jay M; Hsieh, Ching-Hong; Luthy, Richard G

2015-02-17

Single-phase passive samplers are gaining acceptance as a method to measure hydrophobic organic contaminant (HOC) concentration in water. Although the relationship between the HOC concentration in water and passive sampler is linear at equilibrium, mass transfer models are needed for nonequilibrium conditions. We report measurements of organochlorine pesticide diffusion and partition coefficients with respect to polyethylene (PE), and present a Fickian approach to modeling HOC uptake by PE in aqueous systems. The model is an analytic solution to Fick's second law applied through an aqueous diffusive boundary layer and a polyethylene layer. Comparisons of the model with existing methods indicate agreement at appropriate boundary conditions. Laboratory release experiments on the organochlorine pesticides DDT, DDE, DDD, and chlordane in well-mixed slurries support the model's applicability to aqueous systems. In general, the advantage of the model is its application in the cases of well-agitated systems, low values of polyethylene-water partioning coefficients, thick polyethylene relative to the boundary layer thickness, and/or short exposure times. Another significant advantage is the ability to estimate, or at least bound, the needed exposure time to reach a desired CPE without empirical model inputs. A further finding of this work is that polyethylene diffusivity does not vary by transport direction through the sampler thickness.

Passive sampler for dissolved organic matter in freshwater environments.

PubMed

Lam, Buuan; Simpson, André J

2006-12-15

A passive sampler for the isolation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from freshwater environments is described. The sampler consists of a molecular weight selective membrane (1000 kDa) and an anion exchange resin (diethylaminoethylcellulose (DEAE-cellulose)). NMR indicates the samplers isolate DOM that is nearly indistinguishable from that isolated using the batch DEAE-cellulose procedure. In a comparative study DOM isolated from Lake Ontario cost approximately 0.30 dollars/mg to isolate using the passive samplers while DOM isolated using the traditional batch procedure cost approximately 8-10 dollars/mg. The samplers have been shown to be effective in a range of freshwater environments including a large inland lake (Lake Ontario), fast flowing tributary, and wetland. Large amounts (gram quantities of DOM) can be easily isolated by increasing the size or number of samplers deployed. Samplers are easy to construct, negate the need for pressure filtering, and also permit a range of temporal and spatial experiments that would be very difficult or impossible to perform using conventional approaches. For example, DOM can be monitored on a regular basis at numerous different locations, or samplers could be set at different depths in large lakes. Furthermore, they could potentially be deployed into hard to reach environments such as wells, groundwater aquifers, etc., and as they are easy to use, they can be mailed to colleagues or included with expeditions going to difficult to reach places such as the Arctic and Antarctic.

Comparison of Lichen, Conifer Needles, Passive Air Sampling Devices, and Snowpack as Passive Sampling Media to Measure Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds in Remote Atmospheres

PubMed Central

SCHRLAU, JILL E.; GEISER, LINDA; HAGEMAN, KIMBERLY J.; LANDERS, DIXON H.

2011-01-01

A wide range of semi-volatile organic compounds (SOCs), including pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), were measured in lichen, conifer needles, snowpack and XAD-based passive air sampling devices (PASDs) collected from 19 different U.S. national parks in order to compare the magnitude and mechanism of SOC accumulation in the different passive sampling media. Lichen accumulated the highest SOC concentrations, in part because of its long (and unknown) exposure period, while PASDs accumulated the lowest concentrations. However, only the PASD SOC concentrations can be used to calculate an average atmospheric gas-phase SOC concentration because the sampling rates are known and the media is uniform. Only the lichen and snowpack SOC accumulation profiles were statistically significantly correlated (r = 0.552, p-value <0.0001) because they both accumulate SOCs present in the atmospheric particle-phase. This suggests that needles and PASDs represent a different composition of the atmosphere than lichen and snowpack and that the interpretation of atmospheric SOC composition is dependent on the type of passive sampling media used. All four passive sampling media preferentially accumulated SOCs with relatively low air-water partition coefficients, while snowpack accumulated SOCs with higher log KOA values compared to the other media. Lichen accumulated more SOCs with log KOA > 10 relative to needles and showed a greater accumulation of particle-phase PAHs. PMID:22087860

Low-Temperature Process for Atomic Layer Chemical Vapor Deposition of an Al2O3 Passivation Layer for Organic Photovoltaic Cells.

PubMed

Kim, Hoonbae; Lee, Jihye; Sohn, Sunyoung; Jung, Donggeun

2016-05-01

Flexible organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells have drawn extensive attention due to their light weight, cost efficiency, portability, and so on. However, OPV cells degrade quickly due to organic damage by water vapor or oxygen penetration when the devices are driven in the atmosphere without a passivation layer. In order to prevent damage due to water vapor or oxygen permeation into the devices, passivation layers have been introduced through methods such as sputtering, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, and atomic layer chemical vapor deposition (ALCVD). In this work, the structural and chemical properties of Al2O3 films, deposited via ALCVD at relatively low temperatures of 109 degrees C, 200 degrees C, and 300 degrees C, are analyzed. In our experiment, trimethylaluminum (TMA) and H2O were used as precursors for Al2O3 film deposition via ALCVD. All of the Al2O3 films showed very smooth, featureless surfaces without notable defects. However, we found that the plastic flexible substrate of an OPV device passivated with 300 degrees C deposition temperature was partially bended and melted, indicating that passivation layers for OPV cells on plastic flexible substrates need to be formed at temperatures lower than 300 degrees C. The OPV cells on plastic flexible substrates were passivated by the Al2O3 film deposited at the temperature of 109 degrees C. Thereafter, the photovoltaic properties of passivated OPV cells were investigated as a function of exposure time under the atmosphere.

Three-input gate logic circuits on chemically assembled single-electron transistors with organic and inorganic hybrid passivation layers

PubMed Central

Majima, Yutaka; Hackenberger, Guillaume; Azuma, Yasuo; Kano, Shinya; Matsuzaki, Kosuke; Susaki, Tomofumi; Sakamoto, Masanori; Teranishi, Toshiharu

2017-01-01

Abstract Single-electron transistors (SETs) are sub-10-nm scale electronic devices based on conductive Coulomb islands sandwiched between double-barrier tunneling barriers. Chemically assembled SETs with alkanethiol-protected Au nanoparticles show highly stable Coulomb diamonds and two-input logic operations. The combination of bottom-up and top-down processes used to form the passivation layer is vital for realizing multi-gate chemically assembled SET circuits, as this combination enables us to connect conventional complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technologies via planar processes. Here, three-input gate exclusive-OR (XOR) logic operations are demonstrated in passivated chemically assembled SETs. The passivation layer is a hybrid bilayer of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and pulsed laser deposited (PLD) aluminum oxide (AlOx), and top-gate electrodes were prepared on the hybrid passivation layers. Top and two-side-gated SETs showed clear Coulomb oscillation and diamonds for each of the three available gates, and three-input gate XOR logic operation was clearly demonstrated. These results show the potential of chemically assembled SETs to work as logic devices with multi-gate inputs using organic and inorganic hybrid passivation layers. PMID:28634499

Three-input gate logic circuits on chemically assembled single-electron transistors with organic and inorganic hybrid passivation layers.

PubMed

Majima, Yutaka; Hackenberger, Guillaume; Azuma, Yasuo; Kano, Shinya; Matsuzaki, Kosuke; Susaki, Tomofumi; Sakamoto, Masanori; Teranishi, Toshiharu

2017-01-01

Single-electron transistors (SETs) are sub-10-nm scale electronic devices based on conductive Coulomb islands sandwiched between double-barrier tunneling barriers. Chemically assembled SETs with alkanethiol-protected Au nanoparticles show highly stable Coulomb diamonds and two-input logic operations. The combination of bottom-up and top-down processes used to form the passivation layer is vital for realizing multi-gate chemically assembled SET circuits, as this combination enables us to connect conventional complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technologies via planar processes. Here, three-input gate exclusive-OR (XOR) logic operations are demonstrated in passivated chemically assembled SETs. The passivation layer is a hybrid bilayer of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and pulsed laser deposited (PLD) aluminum oxide (AlO[Formula: see text]), and top-gate electrodes were prepared on the hybrid passivation layers. Top and two-side-gated SETs showed clear Coulomb oscillation and diamonds for each of the three available gates, and three-input gate XOR logic operation was clearly demonstrated. These results show the potential of chemically assembled SETs to work as logic devices with multi-gate inputs using organic and inorganic hybrid passivation layers.

Organic Chemistry: From the Interstellar Medium to the Solar System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sandford, Scott; Witteborn, Fred C. (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

This talk will review the various types of organic materials observed in different environments in the interstellar medium, discuss the processes by which these materials may have formed and been modified, and present the evidence supporting the contention that at least a fraction of this material survived incorporation, substantially unaltered, into our Solar System during its formation. The nature of this organic material is of direct interest to issues associated with the origin of life, both because this material represents a large fraction of the Solar System inventory of the biogenically-important elements, and because many of the compounds in this inventory have biogenic implications. Several specific examples of such molecules will be briefly discussed.

High-Efficiency Silicon/Organic Heterojunction Solar Cells with Improved Junction Quality and Interface Passivation.

PubMed

He, Jian; Gao, Pingqi; Ling, Zhaoheng; Ding, Li; Yang, Zhenhai; Ye, Jichun; Cui, Yi

2016-12-27

Silicon/organic heterojunction solar cells (HSCs) based on conjugated polymers, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), and n-type silicon (n-Si) have attracted wide attention due to their potential advantages of high efficiency and low cost. However, the state-of-the-art efficiencies are still far from satisfactory due to the inferior junction quality. Here, facile treatments were applied by pretreating the n-Si wafer in tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solution and using a capping copper iodide (CuI) layer on the PEDOT:PSS layer to achieve a high-quality Schottky junction. Detailed photoelectric characteristics indicated that the surface recombination was greatly suppressed after TMAH pretreatment, which increased the thickness of the interfacial oxide layer. Furthermore, the CuI capping layer induced a strong inversion layer near the n-Si surface, resulting in an excellent field effect passivation. With the collaborative improvements in the interface chemical and electrical passivation, a competitive open-circuit voltage of 0.656 V and a high fill factor of 78.1% were achieved, leading to a stable efficiency of over 14.3% for the planar n-Si/PEDOT:PSS HSCs. Our findings suggest promising strategies to further exploit the full voltage as well as efficiency potentials for Si/organic solar cells.

Effect of Organic and Inorganic Passivation in Quantum-Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells.

PubMed

de la Fuente, Mauricio Solis; Sánchez, Rafael S; González-Pedro, Victoria; Boix, Pablo P; Mhaisalkar, S G; Rincón, Marina E; Bisquert, Juan; Mora-Seró, Iván

2013-05-02

The effect of semiconductor passivation on quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSCs) has been systematically characterized for CdS and CdS/ZnS. We have found that passivation strongly depends on the passivation agent, obtaining an enhancement of the solar cell efficiency for compounds containing amine and thiol groups and, in contrast, a decrease in performance for passivating agents with acid groups. Passivation can induce a change in the position of TiO2 conduction band and also in the recombination rate and nature, reflected in a change in the β parameter. Especially interesting is the finding that β, and consequently the fill factor can be increased with the passivation treatment. Applying this strategy, record cells of 4.65% efficiency for PbS-based QDSCs have been produced.

Organizing an NGO-Sponsored English-Medium School in South India: Lessons Learned

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibb, Gordon S.

2012-01-01

This paper describes lessons learned from the first-year education efforts of Rising Star Outreach of India, a U.S.-based nongovernmental charitable organization (NGO) working with leprosy colonies in Tamil Nadu, India. In 2008, Rising Star Outreach established a residential school to provide English-medium schooling for 180 colony children in…

Biofiltration of methanol in an organic biofilter using peanut shells as medium.

PubMed

Ramirez-Lopez, E M; Corona-Hernandez, J; Avelar-Gonzalez, F J; Omil, F; Thalasso, F

2010-01-01

Biofiltration consists of a filter-bed of organic matter serving both as carrier for the active biomass and as nutrient supply, through which the polluted gas passes. The selection of a suitable medium material is of major importance to ensure optimum biofilter efficiency. Peanut shells are an agricultural byproduct locally available in large quantities at a low price in most tropical and sub-tropical countries. A previous study showed that peanut shells are physically and chemically suitable for biofiltration. This paper presents the results obtained during a six month biofiltration experiment using peanut shells as medium and methanol as air pollutant. It is shown that peanut shells are potentially suitable as biofiltration medium, since degradation rates of up to 30 kg MeOH/m(3)d with an empty bed residence time of 19s was obtained. The biofilter showed a good resistance to shock load and no operational problems were observed.

Ion exchange membranes as novel passive sampling material for organic ions: application for the determination of freely dissolved concentrations.

PubMed

Oemisch, Luise; Goss, Kai-Uwe; Endo, Satoshi

2014-11-28

Many studies in pharmacology, toxicology and environmental science require a method for determining the freely dissolved concentration of a target substance. A recently developed tool for this purpose is equilibrium passive sampling with polymeric materials. However, this method has rarely been applied to ionic organic substances, primarily due to limited availability of convenient sorption materials. This study introduces ion exchange membranes (IEMs) as a novel passive sampling material for organic ions. The partitioning of 4-ethylbenzene-1-sulfonate, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and pentachlorophenol to one anion exchange membrane (FAS) and of difenzoquat, nicotine and verapamil to one cation exchange membrane (FKS) was investigated. All test substances exhibited a sufficiently high affinity for the respective IEM with logarithmic IEM-water partition coefficients >2.3. Sorption equilibrium was established quickly, within several hours for the FAS membrane and within 1-3 days for the FKS membrane. For permanently charged substances the partitioning to the IEMs was independent of pH, but was influenced by the salt composition of the test solution. For all test substances sorption to IEM was dependent on the substance concentration. Bovine serum albumin-water partition coefficients determined by passive sampling with IEMs agree well with those determined by the conventional dialysis method. The results of this study indicate that IEMs exhibit the potential to measure freely dissolved concentrations of organic ions in a simple and time-saving manner. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Organic and inorganic passivation of p-type SnO thin-film transistors with different active layer thicknesses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, Yunxiu; Yang, Jia; Li, Yunpeng; Zhang, Jiawei; Wang, Qingpu; Song, Aimin; Xin, Qian

2018-07-01

Bottom gated thin-film transistors (TFTs) with various sputtered SnO active layer thicknesses ranging from 10 to 30 nm and different passivation layers have been investigated. The device with 20 nm SnO showed the highest on/off ratio of 1.7 × 104 and the smallest subthreshold swing of 8.43 V dec‑1, and the mobility (0.76 cm2 V‑1 s‑1) was only slightly lower than in TFTs with a thicker SnO layer. However, both the mobility and the on/off ratio of the 15 nm SnO TFT dropped significantly by one order of magnitude. This indicated a strong influence of the top surface on the carrier transport, and we thus applied an organic or an inorganic encapsulation material to passivate the top surface. In the 20 nm TFT, the on/off ratio was doubled after passivation. The performance of the 15 nm TFT was improved even more dramatically with the on/off ratio increased by one order of magnitude and the mobility increased also significantly. Our experiment shows that polymethyl methacrylate passivation is more effective to reduce the shallow trap states, and Al2O3 is more effective in reducing the deep traps in the SnO channel.

Monte Carlo study of out-of-field exposure in carbon-ion radiotherapy with a passive beam: Organ doses in prostate cancer treatment.

PubMed

Yonai, Shunsuke; Matsufuji, Naruhiro; Akahane, Keiichi

2018-04-23

The aim of this work was to estimate typical dose equivalents to out-of-field organs during carbon-ion radiotherapy (CIRT) with a passive beam for prostate cancer treatment. Additionally, sensitivity analyses of organ doses for various beam parameters and phantom sizes were performed. Because the CIRT out-of-field dose depends on the beam parameters, the typical values of those parameters were determined from statistical data on the target properties of patients who received CIRT at the Heavy-Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC). Using these typical beam-parameter values, out-of-field organ dose equivalents during CIRT for typical prostate treatment were estimated by Monte Carlo simulations using the Particle and Heavy-Ion Transport Code System (PHITS) and the ICRP reference phantom. The results showed that the dose decreased with distance from the target, ranging from 116 mSv in the testes to 7 mSv in the brain. The organ dose equivalents per treatment dose were lower than those either in 6-MV intensity-modulated radiotherapy or in brachytherapy with an Ir-192 source for organs within 40 cm of the target. Sensitivity analyses established that the differences from typical values were within ∼30% for all organs, except the sigmoid colon. The typical out-of-field organ dose equivalents during passive-beam CIRT were shown. The low sensitivity of the dose equivalent in organs farther than 20 cm from the target indicated that individual dose assessments required for retrospective epidemiological studies may be limited to organs around the target in cases of passive-beam CIRT for prostate cancer. Copyright © 2018 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Atypical language organization in temporal lobe epilepsy revealed by a passive semantic paradigm

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) is the most common type of focal epilepsy in adults and can be successfully cured by surgery. One of the main complications of this surgery however is a decline in language abilities. The magnitude of this decline is related to the degree of language lateralization to the left hemisphere. Most fMRI paradigms used to determine language dominance in epileptic populations have used active language tasks. Sometimes, these paradigms are too complex and may result in patient underperformance. Only a few studies have used purely passive tasks, such as listening to standard speech. Methods In the present study we characterized language lateralization in patients with MTLE using a rapid and passive semantic language task. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study 23 patients [12 with Left (LMTLE), 11 with Right mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (RMTLE)] and 19 healthy right-handed controls using a 6 minute long semantic task in which subjects passively listened to groups of sentences (SEN) and pseudo sentences (PSEN). A lateralization index (LI) was computed using a priori regions of interest of the temporal lobe. Results The LI for the significant contrasts produced activations for all participants in both temporal lobes. 81.8% of RMTLE patients and 79% of healthy individuals had a bilateral language representation for this particular task. However, 50% of LMTLE patients presented an atypical right hemispheric dominance in the LI. More importantly, the degree of right lateralization in LMTLE patients was correlated with the age of epilepsy onset. Conclusions The simple, rapid, non-collaboration dependent, passive task described in this study, produces a robust activation in the temporal lobe in both patients and controls and is capable of illustrating a pattern of atypical language organization for LMTLE patients. Furthermore, we observed that the atypical right-lateralization patterns in LMTLE patients was

Coal liquefaction in an inorganic-organic medium. [DOE patent application

DOEpatents

Vermeulen, T.; Grens, E.A. II; Holten, R.R.

Improved process for liquefaction of coal by contacting pulverized coal in an inorganic-organic medium solvent system containing a ZnCl/sub 2/ catalyst, a polar solvent with the structure RX where X is one of the elements O, N, S, or P, and R is hydrogen or a lower hydrocarbon radical; the solvent system can contain a hydrogen donor solvent (and must when RX is water) which is immiscible in the ZnCl/sub 2/ and is a hydroaromatic hydrocarbon selected from tetralin, dihydrophenanthrene, dihydroanthracene or a hydrogenated coal derived hydroaromatic hydrocarbon distillate fraction.

Photoinduced Field-Effect Passivation from Negative Carrier Accumulation for High-Efficiency Silicon/Organic Heterojunction Solar Cells.

PubMed

Liu, Zhaolang; Yang, Zhenhai; Wu, Sudong; Zhu, Juye; Guo, Wei; Sheng, Jiang; Ye, Jichun; Cui, Yi

2017-12-26

Carrier recombination and light management of the dopant-free silicon/organic heterojunction solar cells (HSCs) based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) are the critical factors in developing high-efficiency photovoltaic devices. However, the traditional passivation technologies can hardly provide efficient surface passivation on the front surface of Si. In this study, a photoinduced electric field was induced in a bilayer antireflective coating (ARC) of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and titanium oxide (TiO 2 ) films, due to formation of an accumulation layer of negative carriers (O 2 - species) under UV (sunlight) illumination. This photoinduced field not only suppressed the silicon surface recombination but also enhanced the built-in potential of HSCs with 84 mV increment. In addition, this photoactive ARC also displayed the outstanding light-trapping capability. The front PEDOT:PSS/Si HSC with the saturated O 2 - received a champion PCE of 15.51% under AM 1.5 simulated sunlight illumination. It was clearly demonstrated that the photoinduced electric field was a simple, efficient, and low-cost method for the surface passivation and contributed to achieve a high efficiency when applied in the Si/PEDOT:PSS HSCs.

A passive satellite deorbiting strategy for medium earth orbit using solar radiation pressure and the J2 effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lücking, Charlotte; Colombo, Camilla; McInnes, Colin R.

2012-08-01

The growing population of space debris poses a serious risk to the future of space flight. To effectively manage the increase of debris in orbit, end-of life disposal has become a key requirement for future missions. This poses a challenge for Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) spacecraft which require a large Δv to re-enter the atmosphere or reach the geostationary graveyard orbit. This paper further explores a passive strategy based on the joint effects of solar radiation pressure and the Earth's oblateness acting on a high area-to-mass-ratio object. The concept was previously presented as an analytical planar model. This paper uses a full 3D model to validate the analytical results numerically for equatorial circular orbits first, then investigating higher inclinations. It is shown that for higher inclinations the initial position of the Sun and right ascension of the ascending node become increasingly important. A region of very low required area-to-mass-ratio is identified in the parameter space of semi-major axis and inclination which occurs for altitudes below 10,000 km.

Amine-Based Passivating Materials for Enhanced Optical Properties and Performance of Organic-Inorganic Perovskites in Light-Emitting Diodes.

PubMed

Lee, Seungjin; Park, Jong Hyun; Lee, Bo Ram; Jung, Eui Dae; Yu, Jae Choul; Di Nuzzo, Daniele; Friend, Richard H; Song, Myoung Hoon

2017-04-20

The use of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites in optoelectronic applications are attracting an interest because of their outstanding characteristics, which enable a remarkable enhancement of device efficiency. However, solution-processed perovskite crystals unavoidably contain defect sites that cause hysteresis in perovskite solar cells (PeSCs) and blinking in perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs). Here, we report significant beneficial effects using a new treatment based on amine-based passivating materials (APMs) to passivate the defect sites of methylammonium lead tribromide (MAPbBr 3 ) through coordinate bonding between the nitrogen atoms and undercoordinated lead ions. This treatment greatly enhanced the PeLED's efficiency, with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 6.2%, enhanced photoluminescence (PL), a lower threshold for amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), a longer PL lifetime, and enhanced device stability. Using confocal microscopy, we observed the cessation of PL blinking in perovskite films treated with ethylenediamine (EDA) due to passivation of the defect sites in the MAPbBr 3 .

Radiative transfer in multilayered random medium with laminar structure - Green's function approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karam, M. A.; Fung, A. K.

1986-01-01

For a multilayered random medium with a laminar structure a Green's function approach is introduced to obtain the emitted intensity due to an arbitrary point source. It is then shown that the approach is applicable to both active and passive remote sensing. In active remote sensing, the computed radar backscattering cross section for the multilayered medium includes the effects of both volume multiple scattering and surface multiple scattering at the layer boundaries. In passive remote sensing, the brightness temperature is obtained for arbitrary temperature profiles in the layers. As an illustration the brightness temperature and reflectivity are calculated for a bounded layer and compared with results in the literature.

Synthetic versus serum-based medium for corneal preservation in organ culture: a comparative study between 2 different media.

PubMed

Parekh, Mohit; Ferrari, Stefano; Salvalaio, Gianni; Ponzin, Diego

2015-01-01

To study the effect of a synthetic medium and compare it with a serum-based medium for corneal preservation in organ culture using an overall quality assessment system. A randomized study with blinded observers was performed comparing parameters such as thickness, transparency, viable endothelial cell density (VECD), morphology, and overall quality (OQ) of the corneal tissues preserved in synthetic and a serum-based medium, respectively. Seven human paired corneas were randomly selected and assessed at day 0 (initial), day 2 (before organ culture), day 30 (before deturgescence/deswelling storage), and 48 hours post deswelling. Thickness was determined with optical coherence tomography and transparency with a validated, custom device. The morphology and VECD were observed after treating the tissues with trypan blue and sucrose. Data were compared using paired t tests with p<0.05 deemed significant. Parameters were similar at the initial stage between the groups with no statistically significant difference. However, after preservation in the deturgescent medium, the corneas stored in a serum-based medium showed a higher and statistically significant OQ value (p = 0.0317). The OQ of a serum-based medium was higher than that of the synthetic medium. A higher rate of transparency and reduction in thickness was observed in the serum-based medium at the end of the storage. Although complete synthetic media may have distinct advantages of being serum/animal-free, the quality of the cornea is of a reasonable concern when it is deemed for transplantation.

Passive mode locking of a Nd:YAG laser with a thin gelatine-film saturable absorber containing organic-dye J-aggregates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Avdeeva, V I; Shapiro, Boris I; Kuch'yanov, Aleksandr S

2003-06-30

Ultrashort pulses of duration {approx}13 ps are first obtained in a passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser with a negative feedback using a thin gelatine-film saturable absorber containing organic-dye J-aggregates. (control of laser radiation parameters)

Application of passive sorbent tube and canister samplers for volatile organic compounds at refinery fenceline locations in Whiting, Indiana

EPA Science Inventory

Select volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ambient air were measured at four fenceline sites at a petroleum refinery in Whiting, Indiana, USA using modified EPA Method 325 A/B with passive tubes and EPA Compendium Method TO-15 with canister samplers. One-week, time-integrated s...

Field Comparison of Passive Air Samplers with Reference Monitors for Ambient Volatile Organic Compounds and Nitrogen Dioxide Under Week-Long Integrals

EPA Science Inventory

This study evaluates performance of nitrogen dioxide NO₂ and volatile organic compounds (VOC) passive samplers with corresponding reference monitors at two sites in the Detroit, Michigan area during the summer of 2005.

Rat medium-term multi-organ carcinogenesis bioassay of Agaricus blazei Murrill fruit-body extract.

PubMed

Doi, Yuko; Furukawa, Fumio; Suguro, Mayuko; Ito, Hikaru; Imai, Norio; Nabae, Kyoko; Toda, Yosuke; Inatomi, Satoshi; Kinugasa, Satomi; Kobayashi, Hitoshi

2010-01-01

The modifying potential of Agaricus blazei Murrill fruit-body extract (ABFE) on tumor development was investigated in a medium-term multi-organ carcinogenesis bioassay. Male 6-week-old F344 rats were treated with N-nitrosodiethylamine (DEN), N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU), 1,2-dimethylhydrazine dihydrochloride (DMH), N-butyl-N-(hydroxybutyl)-nitrosamine (BBN), and diisopropanolnitrosamine (DHPN) for initiation (DMBDD treatment). After a 1-week withdrawal period, the animals received distilled water (vehicle control) or ABFE A, gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) at 0.8 mg/kg, ABFE B (GABA level of 3.0mg/kg) or ABFE C (GABA level of 12.0mg/kg) by gavage for 24 weeks. There were no effects of ABFE on survival rate, general condition, body weight, food and water consumption, and organ weights. The multiplicity of large intestinal nodules, smaller than 2mm was significantly increased in the ABFE C group with DMBDD treatment. However, there were no significantly inter-group differences in incidences of hyperplastic or neoplastic lesions in colon or other organs, or in immunohistochemically identified preneoplastic lesions in the liver. In conclusion, A. blazei Murrill fruit-body extract, even at a GABA level up to 12 mg/kg, did not exert modifying potential in the present medium-term multi-organ carcinogenesis bioassay in male F344 rats (DMBDD method). Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characteristics of plasma in culture medium generated by positive pulse voltage and effects of organic compounds on its characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Y.; Sato, T.; Yoshino, D.

2016-12-01

We describe a positive pulse voltage method for generating plasma in culture medium with a composition similar to biological fluids. We also describe the plasma’s characteristics, liquid quality, and the effect of organic compounds in the culture medium on the plasma characteristics through comparisons to a solution containing inorganic salts at the same concentrations as in the culture medium. Light emission with Na and OH spectra was observed within a vapor bubble produced by Joule heating at the tip of the electrode. A downward thermal flow and shock wave were caused by the behavior of the vapor bubble. The culture medium pH gradually increased from 7.9 to 8.3 over the discharge time of 300 s. H2O2 was generated 1.1 mg l-1 in the culture medium after discharge for 300 s, and this value was 0.5 mg l-1 lower than the inorganic salts solution which does not contain organic compounds. This study provides important data that will help facilitate more widespread application of plasma medicine.

Callus Induction from Various Organs of Dragon Fruit, Apple and Tomato on some Mediums.

PubMed

Rumiyati; Sismindari; Semiarti, Endang; Milasari, Asri Fajar; Sari, Dheatika Karina; Fitriana, Nia; Galuh, Sekar

2017-01-01

Dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp.), apple (Malus sylvestris Mill.) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) are high potential sources of antioxidant compounds such as phenolics. The compounds have the capability of protecting cells and tissues against free radicals. Secondary metabolite produced by callus cell culture from plant organs also acts as a source of antioxidants. This study aimed to determine the optimal ratio of sucrose and 2,4-D in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium for callus induction from different plant organ explants. With all of characteristic, callus can be used further for the development of natural cell regeneration agent. This study was conducted using analytical technique. Suitable explants were obtained. They were developed in various concentrations of combination between MS medium and 2,4-D. Callus growth, including their weight and surface was then measured and analyzed by using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Callus was able to grow from its explants in 5-7 days after induction process. They were clear in color and had friable texture. The highest value of fresh weight of dragon fruit callus was obtained through MS supplemented with 1 μL L-1 2,4-D and 30 g sucrose. However, apple and tomato callus induction and growth maintenance reached optimal medium on MS supplemented with 30 g sucrose and 2 μL L-1 2,4-D. Callus of apple, dragon fruit and tomato was maintained upon MS supplemented with 30-40 g sucrose and 1-2 μL L-1 2,4-D for optimum induction and growth. The optimization of growth medium will give advantages for further development of natural cell regeneration agent.

Purity and Cleanness of Aeorgel as a Cosmic Dust Capture Medium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tsou, P.; Fleming, R.; Lindley, P.; Craig, A.; Blake, D.

1994-01-01

The capability for capturing micrometeoroids intact through laboratory simulations [Tsou 1988] and in space [Tsou 1993] in passive underdense silica aerogel offers a valuable tool for cosmic dust research. The integrity of the sample handling medium can substantially modify the integrity of the sample. Intact capture is a violent hypervelocity event: the integrity of the capturing medium can cause even greater modification of the sample.

Stable Organic Monolayers on Oxide-Free Silicon/Germanium in a Supercritical Medium: A New Route to Molecular Electronics.

PubMed

Puniredd, Sreenivasa Reddy; Jayaraman, Sundaramurthy; Yeong, Sai Hooi; Troadec, Cedric; Srinivasan, M P

2013-05-02

Oxide-free Si and Ge surfaces have been passivated and modified with organic molecules by forming covalent bonds between the surfaces and reactive end groups of linear alkanes and aromatic species using single-step deposition in supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2). The process is suitable for large-scale manufacturing due to short processing times, simplicity, and high resistance to oxidation. It also allows the formation of monolayers with varying reactive terminal groups, thus enabling formation of nanostructures engineered at the molecular level. Ballistic electron emission microscopy (BEEM) spectra performed on the organic monolayer on oxide-free silicon capped by a thin gold layer reveals for the first time an increase in transmission of the ballistic current through the interface of up to three times compared to a control device, in contrast to similar studies reported in the literature suggestive of oxide-free passivation in SCCO2. The SCCO2 process combined with the preliminary BEEM results opens up new avenues for interface engineering, leading to molecular electronic devices.

Passive Sampling to Measure Baseline Dissolved Persistent Organic Pollutant Concentrations in the Water Column of the Palos Verdes Shelf Superfund Site

EPA Science Inventory

Passive sampling was used to deduce water concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the vicinity of a marine Superfund site on the Palos Verdes Shelf, California, USA. Pre-calibrated solid phase microextraction (SPME) fibers and polyethylene (PE) strips that were...

Effect of dissolved organic matter on pre-equilibrium passive sampling: A predictive QSAR modeling study.

PubMed

Lin, Wei; Jiang, Ruifen; Shen, Yong; Xiong, Yaxin; Hu, Sizi; Xu, Jianqiao; Ouyang, Gangfeng

2018-04-13

Pre-equilibrium passive sampling is a simple and promising technique for studying sampling kinetics, which is crucial to determine the distribution, transfer and fate of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in environmental water and organisms. Environmental water samples contain complex matrices that complicate the traditional calibration process for obtaining the accurate rate constants. This study proposed a QSAR model to predict the sampling rate constants of HOCs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and pesticides) in aqueous systems containing complex matrices. A homemade flow-through system was established to simulate an actual aqueous environment containing dissolved organic matter (DOM) i.e. humic acid (HA) and (2-Hydroxypropyl)-β-cyclodextrin (β-HPCD)), and to obtain the experimental rate constants. Then, a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model using Genetic Algorithm-Multiple Linear Regression (GA-MLR) was found to correlate the experimental rate constants to the system state including physicochemical parameters of the HOCs and DOM which were calculated and selected as descriptors by Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Chem 3D. The experimental results showed that the rate constants significantly increased as the concentration of DOM increased, and the enhancement factors of 70-fold and 34-fold were observed for the HOCs in HA and β-HPCD, respectively. The established QSAR model was validated as credible (R Adj. 2 =0.862) and predictable (Q 2 =0.835) in estimating the rate constants of HOCs for complex aqueous sampling, and a probable mechanism was developed by comparison to the reported theoretical study. The present study established a QSAR model of passive sampling rate constants and calibrated the effect of DOM on the sampling kinetics. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) for purification and extraction of silicone passive samplers used for the monitoring of organic pollutants.

PubMed

Brockmeyer, Berit; Kraus, Uta R; Theobald, Norbert

2015-12-01

Silicone passive samplers have gained an increasing attention as single-phased, practical and robust samplers for monitoring of organic contaminants in the aquatic environment in recent years. However, analytical challenges arise in routine application during the extraction of analytes as silicone oligomers are co-extracted and interfere severely during chemical analyses (e.g. gas chromatographic techniques). In this study, we present a fast, practical pre-cleaning method for silicone passive samplers applying accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) for the removal of silicone oligomers prior to the water deployment (hexane/dichloromethane, 100 °C, 70 min). ASE was also shown to be a very fast (10 min) and efficient extraction method for non-polar contaminants (non-exposed PRC recoveries 66-101 %) sampled by the silicone membrane. For both applications, temperature, extraction time and the solvent used for ASE have been optimized. Purification of the ASE extract was carried out by silica gel and high-pressure liquid size exclusion chromatography (HPLC-SEC). The silicone oligomer content was checked by total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (TXRF) in order to confirm the absence of the silicone oligomers prior to analysis of passive sampler extracts. The established method was applied on real silicone samplers from the North- and Baltic Sea and showed no matrix effects during analysis of organic pollutants. Internal laboratory standard recoveries were in the same range for laboratory, transport and exposed samplers (85-126 %).

Ultrastructural alterations in Phacus brachykentron (Euglenophyta) due to excess of organic matter in the culture medium.

PubMed

Nannavecchia, Paula; Tolivia, Analia; Conforti, Visitación

2014-03-01

Morphological and ultrastructural changes induced by exposure to excess of organic matter were analyzed in Phacus brachykentron (Pochm.). The cells were isolated from sites in Matanza River, Buenos Aires, Argentina, which have a high degree of organic matter contamination coming from waste waters discharges of the meat industry. Master strains were cultured on soil water medium and a toxicity bioassay was performed. As a result of the enriched medium, several morphological and ultrastructural cellular alterations were observed by optical, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy. Among these, we can point out changes in cell dimensions, remarkable widening of some pellicle bands, increased number and volume of paramylon grains, displacement of the nucleus from the central to the lateral position, some chloroplasts with their thylakoids disordered, and cell lysis. The response to organic enrichment was very fast, i.e. during the 48h of the bioassay. Therefore, any significant increase of organic matter would rapidly affect wild euglenoids. Our results suggest that the alterations observed, such as the presence of large intracellular paramylon bodies or the deformation of euglenoid cells in natural samples, have the potential to be used as environmental bioindicators. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modeling the transport of organic chemicals between polyethylene passive samplers and water in finite and infinite bath conditions.

PubMed

Tcaciuc, A Patricia; Apell, Jennifer N; Gschwend, Philip M

2015-12-01

Understanding the transfer of chemicals between passive samplers and water is essential for their use as monitoring devices of organic contaminants in surface waters. By applying Fick's second law to diffusion through the polymer and an aqueous boundary layer, the authors derived a mathematical model for the uptake of chemicals into a passive sampler from water, in finite and infinite bath conditions. The finite bath model performed well when applied to laboratory observations of sorption into polyethylene (PE) sheets for various chemicals (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs], and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane [DDT]) and at varying turbulence levels. The authors used the infinite bath model to infer fractional equilibration of PCB and DDT analytes in field-deployed PE, and the results were nearly identical to those obtained using the sampling rate model. However, further comparison of the model and the sampling rate model revealed that the exchange of chemicals was inconsistent with the sampling rate model for partially or fully membrane-controlled transfer, which would be expected in turbulent conditions or when targeting compounds with small polymer diffusivities and small partition coefficients (e.g., phenols, some pesticides, and others). The model can be applied to other polymers besides PE as well as other chemicals and in any transfer regime (membrane, mixed, or water boundary layer-controlled). Lastly, the authors illustrate practical applications of this model such as improving passive sampler design and understanding the kinetics of passive dosing experiments. © 2015 SETAC.

Passive swimming in viscous oscillatory flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jo, Ikhee; Huang, Yangyang; Zimmermann, Walter; Kanso, Eva

2016-12-01

Fluid-based locomotion at low Reynolds number is subject to the constraints of Purcell's scallop theorem: reciprocal shape kinematics identical under a time-reversal symmetry cannot cause locomotion. In particular, a single degree-of-freedom scallop undergoing opening and closing motions cannot swim. Most strategies for symmetry breaking and locomotion rely on direct control of the swimmer's shape kinematics. Less is known about indirect control via actuation of the fluid medium. To address how such indirect actuation strategies can lead to locomotion, we analyze a Λ -shaped model system analogous to Purcell's scallop but able to deform passively in oscillatory flows. Neutrally buoyant scallops undergo no net locomotion. We show that dense, elastic scallops can exhibit passive locomotion in zero-mean oscillatory flows. We examine the efficiency of swimming parallel to the background flow and analyze the stability of these motions. We observe transitions from stable to unstable swimming, including ordered transitions from fluttering to chaoticlike motions and tumbling. Our results demonstrate that flow oscillations can be used to passively actuate and control the motion of microswimmers, which may be relevant to applications such as surgical robots and cell sorting and manipulation in microfluidic devices.

Re-Active Passive devices for control of noise transmission through a panel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carneal, James P.; Giovanardi, Marco; Fuller, Chris R.; Palumbo, Dan

2008-01-01

Re-Active Passive devices have been developed to control low-frequency (<1000 Hz) noise transmission through a panel. These devices use a combination of active, re-active, and passive technologies packaged into a single unit to control a broad frequency range utilizing the strength of each technology over its best suited frequency range. The Re-Active Passive device uses passive constrained layer damping to cover relatively high-frequency range (>150 Hz), reactive distributed vibration absorber to cover the medium-frequency range (50-200 Hz), and active control for controlling low frequencies (<150 Hz). The actuator was applied to control noise transmission through a panel mounted in the Transmission Loss Test Facility at Virginia Tech. Experimental results are presented for the bare panel, and combinations of passive treatment, reactive treatment, and active control. Results indicate that three Re-Active Passive devices were able to increase the overall broadband (15-1000 Hz) transmission loss by 9.4 dB. These three devices added a total of 285 g to the panel mass of 6.0 kg, or approximately 5%, not including control electronics.

The diffuse interstellar bands: a tracer for organics in the diffuse interstellar medium?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salama, F.

1998-01-01

The diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) are absorption bands seen in the spectra of stars obscured by interstellar dust. DIBs are recognized as a tracer for free, organic molecules in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM). The potential molecular carriers for the DIBs are discussed with an emphasis on neutral and ionized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for which the most focused effort has been made to date. From the combined astronomical, laboratory and theoretical study, it is concluded that a distribution of free neutral and ionized complex organics (PAHs, fullerenes, unsaturated hydrocarbons) represents the most promising class of candidates to account for the DIBs. The case for aromatic hydrocarbons appears particularly strong. The implied widespread distribution of complex organics in the diffuse ISM bears profound implications for our understanding of the chemical complexity of the ISM, the evolution of prebiotic molecules and its impact on the origin and the evolution of life on early Earth through the exogenous delivery (cometary encounters and metoritic bombardments) of prebiotic organics.

Mesoscale Elucidation of Surface Passivation in the Li-Sulfur Battery Cathode.

PubMed

Liu, Zhixiao; Mukherjee, Partha P

2017-02-15

The cathode surface passivation caused by Li 2 S precipitation adversely affects the performance of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Li 2 S precipitation is a complicated mesoscale process involving adsorption, desorption and diffusion kinetics, which are affected profoundly by the reactant concentration and operating temperature. In this work, a mesoscale interfacial model is presented to study the growth of Li 2 S film on carbon cathode surface. Li 2 S film growth experiences nucleation, isolated Li 2 S island growth and island coalescence. The slow adsorption rate at small S 2- concentration inhibits the formation of nucleation seeds and the lateral growth of Li 2 S islands, which deters surface passivation. An appropriate operating temperature, especially in the medium-to-high temperature range, can also defer surface passivation. Fewer Li 2 S nucleation seeds form in such an operating temperature range, thereby facilitating heterogeneous growth and potentially inhibiting the lateral growth of the Li 2 S film, which may ultimately result in reduced surface passivation. The high specific surface area of the cathode microstructure is expected to mitigate the surface passivation.

Dosimeter for monitoring vapors and aerosols of organic compounds

DOEpatents

Vo-Dinh, Tuan

1987-01-01

A dosimeter is provided for collecting and detecting vapors and aerosols of organic compounds. The dosimeter comprises a lightweight, passive device that can be conveniently worn by a person as a badge or placed at a stationary location. The dosimeter includes a sample collector comprising a porous web treated with a chemical for inducing molecular displacement and enhancing phosphorescence. Compounds are collected onto the web by molecular diffusion. The web also serves as the sample medium for detecting the compounds by a room temperature phosphorescence technique.

End-of-Mission Passivation: Successes and Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Nicholas; Matney, Mark

2012-01-01

The passivation of spacecraft and launch vehicle orbital stages at end-of-mission has been a principal space debris mitigation measure world-wide since the 1980 s. Space vehicle passivation includes the removal of stored energies, especially those associated with propulsion and electrical power systems. Prior to 2007 the breakup of non-functioning, non-passivated space vehicles was the major source of hazardous debris in Earth orbit. The United Nations and the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee have both included passivation in their formal space debris mitigation guidelines. This often simple countermeasure has been adopted by many spacefaring countries and organizations and has undoubtedly prevented numerous major satellite breakups. For some existing space vehicle designs, passivation requires changes in hardware, software, and/or operational procedures. Questions about the permissible degree of passivation for both current and future space vehicles have arisen and are addressed herein. An important element to be considered is the potentially long period in which the space vehicle will remain in orbit, i.e., up to 25 years after mission termination in LEO and for centuries in orbits above LEO. Finally, the issue of passivation of space vehicles which have failed prematurely is addressed.

Calibration and field application of passive sampling for episodic exposure to polar organic pesticides in streams.

PubMed

Fernández, Diego; Vermeirssen, Etiënne L M; Bandow, Nicole; Muñoz, Katherine; Schäfer, Ralf B

2014-11-01

Rainfall-triggered runoff is a major driver of pesticide input in streams. Only few studies have examined the suitability of passive sampling to quantify such episodic exposures. In this study, we used Empore™ styrene-divinylbenzene reverse phase sulfonated disks (SDB disks) and event-driven water samples (EDS) to assess exposure to 15 fungicides and 4 insecticides in 17 streams in a German vineyard area during 4 rainfall events. We also conducted a microcosm experiment to determine the SDB-disk sampling rates and provide a free-software solution to derive sampling rates under time-variable exposure. Sampling rates ranged from 0.26 to 0.77 L d(-1) and time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations from 0.05 to 2.11 μg/L. The 2 sampling systems were in good agreement and EDS exceeded TWA concentrations on average by a factor of 3. Our study demonstrates that passive sampling is suitable to quantify episodic exposures from polar organic pesticides. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Influence of activation and blockade of NMDA receptors on extinction of passive avoidance response in mice with different levels of anxiety].

PubMed

Tomilenko, R A; Dubrovina, N I

2006-03-01

Influence of agonist (D-cycloserine) and antagonist (dizocilpine) N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors on learning and extinction of passive avoidance response in medium-, high-, and low-anxious mice was studied. In medium-anxious mice, D-cycloserine (30 mg/kg) although not changing learning accelerated development of extinction, whereas dizocilpine (0.15 mg/kg), while impairing passive avoidance learning, detained the extinction. In high-anxious mice with good retrieval of memory trace and absence of extinction, D-cycloserine was ineffective, whereas dizocilpine reduced learning and promoted retention of memory trace retrieval at the generated level on extinction. In low-anxious mice, D-cycloserine impaired learning and accelerated extinction, whereas dizocilpine completely blocked learning and retention of passive avoidance response.

Guidelines for Using Passive Samplers to Monitor Organic Contaminants at Superfund Sediment Sites

EPA Science Inventory

Passive samplers are monitoring tools that can provide faster, cheaper, and scientifically-sound information about the water column and interstitial water concentrations of contaminants of concern (COC) at Superfund sites. Often, the use of passive samplers is more effective tha...

Convective Self-Sustained Motion in Mixtures of Chemically Active and Passive Particles.

PubMed

Shklyaev, Oleg E; Shum, Henry; Yashin, Victor V; Balazs, Anna C

2017-08-15

We develop a model to describe the behavior of a system of active and passive particles in solution that can undergo spontaneous self-organization and self-sustained motion. The active particles are uniformly coated with a catalyst that decomposes the reagent in the surrounding fluid. The resulting variations in the fluid density give rise to a convective flow around the active particles. The generated fluid flow, in turn, drives the self-organization of both the active and passive particles into clusters that undergo self-sustained propulsion along the bottom wall of a microchamber. This propulsion continues until the reagents in the solution are consumed. Depending on the number of active and passive particles and the structure of the self-organized cluster, these assemblies can translate, spin, or remain stationary. We also illustrate a scenario in which the geometry of the container is harnessed to direct the motion of a self-organized, self-propelled cluster. The findings provide guidelines for creating autonomously moving active particles, or chemical "motors" that can transport passive cargo in microfluidic devices.

Dosimeter for monitoring vapors and aerosols of organic compounds

DOEpatents

Vo-Dinh, T.

1987-07-14

A dosimeter is provided for collecting and detecting vapors and aerosols of organic compounds. The dosimeter comprises a lightweight, passive device that can be conveniently worn by a person as a badge or placed at a stationary location. The dosimeter includes a sample collector comprising a porous web treated with a chemical for inducing molecular displacement and enhancing phosphorescence. Compounds are collected onto the web by molecular diffusion. The web also serves as the sample medium for detecting the compounds by a room temperature phosphorescence technique. 7 figs.

Understanding the rates of nonpolar organic chemical accumulation into passive samplers deployed in the environment: Guidance for passive sampler deployments.

PubMed

Apell, Jennifer N; Tcaciuc, A Patricia; Gschwend, Philip M

2016-07-01

Polymeric passive samplers have become a common method for estimating freely dissolved concentrations in environmental media. However, this approach has not yet been adopted by investigators conducting remedial investigations of contaminated environmental sites. Successful adoption of this sampling methodology relies on an understanding of how passive samplers accumulate chemical mass as well as developing guidance for the design and deployment of passive samplers. Herein, we outline the development of a simple mathematical relationship of the environmental, polymer, and chemical properties that control the uptake rate. This relationship, called a timescale, is then used to illustrate how each property controls the rate of equilibration in samplers deployed in the water or in the sediment. Guidance is also given on how to use the timescales to select an appropriate polymer, deployment time, and suite of performance reference compounds. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:486-492. © 2015 SETAC. © 2015 SETAC.

Passivation of Black Phosphorus via Self-Assembled Organic Monolayers by van der Waals Epitaxy.

PubMed

Zhao, Yinghe; Zhou, Qionghua; Li, Qiang; Yao, Xiaojing; Wang, Jinlan

2017-02-01

An effective passivation approach to protect black phosphorus (BP) from degradation based on multi-scale simulations is proposed. The self-assembly of perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride monolayers via van der Waals epitaxy on BP does not break the original electronic properties of BP. The passivation layer thickness is only 2 nm. This study opens up a new pathway toward fine passivation of BP. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Passive pavement-mounted acoustical linguistic drive alert system and method

DOEpatents

Kisner, Roger A.; Anderson, Richard L.; Carnal, Charles L.; Hylton, James O.; Stevens, Samuel S.

2001-01-01

Systems and methods are described for passive pavement-mounted acoustical alert of the occupants of a vehicle. A method of notifying a vehicle occupant includes providing a driving medium upon which a vehicle is to be driven; and texturing a portion of the driving medium such that the textured portion interacts with the vehicle to produce audible signals, the textured portion pattern such that a linguistic message is encoded into the audible signals. The systems and methods provide advantages because information can be conveyed to the occupants of the vehicle based on the location of the vehicle relative to the textured surface.

Mesoscale Elucidation of Surface Passivation in the Li–Sulfur Battery Cathode

DOE PAGES

Liu, Zhixiao; Mukherjee, Partha P.

2017-01-23

We report the cathode surface passivation caused by Li 2S precipitation adversely affects the performance of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Li 2S precipitation is a complicated mesoscale process involving adsorption, desorption and diffusion kinetics, which are affected profoundly by the reactant concentration and operating temperature. In this work, a mesoscale interfacial model is presented to study the growth of Li 2S film on carbon cathode surface. Li 2S film growth experiences nucleation, isolated Li 2S island growth and island coalescence. The slow adsorption rate at small S 2- concentration inhibits the formation of nucleation seeds and the lateral growth of Limore » 2S islands, which deters surface passivation. An appropriate operating temperature, especially in the medium-to-high temperature range, can also defer surface passivation. Fewer Li 2S nucleation seeds form in such an operating temperature range, which facilitates heterogeneous growth and thereby inhibits the lateral growth of the Li 2S film, which may also result in reduced surface passivation. Finally, the high specific surface area of the cathode microstructure is expected to mitigate the surface passivation.« less

Graphene-passivated cobalt as a spin-polarized electrode: growth and application to organic spintronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Guoqing; Tang, Guoqiang; Li, Tian; Pan, Guoxing; Deng, Zanhong; Zhang, Fapei

2017-03-01

The ferromagnetic electrode on which a clean high-quality electrode/interlayer interface is formed, is critical to achieve efficient injection of spin-dependent electrons in spintronic devices. In this work, we report on the preparation of graphene-passivated cobalt electrodes for application in vertical spin valves (SVs). In this strategy, high-quality monolayer and bi-layer graphene sheets have been grown directly on the crystal Co film substrates in a controllable process by chemical vapor deposition. The electrode is oxidation resistant and ensures a clean crystalline graphene/Co interface. The AlO x -based magnetic junction devices using such bottom electrodes, exhibit a negative tunnel magneto-resistance (TMR) of ca. 1.0% in the range of 5 K-300 K. Furthermore, we have also fabricated organic-based SVs employing a thin layer of fullerene C60 or an N-type polymeric semiconductor as the interlayer. The devices of both materials show a tunneling behavior of spin-polarized electron transport as well as appreciable TMR effect, demonstrating the high potential of such graphene-coated Co electrodes for organic-based spintronics.

Towards an improved soil moisture retrieval for organic-rich soils from SMOS passive microwave L-band observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bircher, Simone; Richaume, Philippe; Mahmoodi, Ali; Mialon, Arnaud; Fernandez-Moran, Roberto; Wigneron, Jean-Pierre; Demontoux, François; Jonard, François; Weihermüller, Lutz; Andreasen, Mie; Rautiainen, Kimmo; Ikonen, Jaakko; Schwank, Mike; Drusch, Mattias; Kerr, Yann H.

2017-04-01

From the passive L-band microwave radiometer onboard the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) space mission global surface soil moisture data is retrieved every 2 - 3 days. Thus far, the empirical L-band Microwave Emission of the Biosphere (L-MEB) radiative transfer model applied in the SMOS soil moisture retrieval algorithm is exclusively calibrated over test sites in dry and temperate climate zones. Furthermore, the included dielectric mixing model relating soil moisture to relative permittivity accounts only for mineral soils. However, soil moisture monitoring over the higher Northern latitudes is crucial since these regions are especially sensitive to climate change. A considerable positive feedback is expected if thawing of these extremely organic soils supports carbon decomposition and release to the atmosphere. Due to differing structural characteristics and thus varying bound water fractions, the relative permittivity of organic material is lower than that of the most mineral soils at a given water content. This assumption was verified by means of L-band relative permittivity laboratory measurements of organic and mineral substrates from various sites in Denmark, Finland, Scotland and Siberia using a resonant cavity. Based on these data, a simple empirical dielectric model for organic soils was derived and implemented in the SMOS Soil Moisture Level 2 Prototype Processor (SML2PP). Unfortunately, the current SMOS retrieved soil moisture product seems to show unrealistically low values compared to in situ soil moisture data collected from organic surface layers in North America, Europe and the Tibetan Plateau so that the impact of the dielectric model for organic soils cannot really be tested. A simplified SMOS processing scheme yielding higher soil moisture levels has recently been proposed and is presently under investigation. Furthermore, recalibration of the model parameters accounting for vegetation and roughness effects that were thus far only

Observations on persistent organic pollutants in indoor and outdoor air using passive polyurethane foam samplers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bohlin, Pernilla; Jones, Kevin C.; Tovalin, Horacio; Strandberg, Bo

Air quality data of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) indoors and outdoors are sparse or lacking in several parts of the world, often hampered by the cost and inconvenience of active sampling techniques. Cheap and easy passive air sampling techniques are therefore helpful for reconnaissance surveys. As a part of the Megacity Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations (MILAGRO) project in Mexico City Metropolitan Area in 2006, a range of POPs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)) were analyzed in polyurethane foam (PUF) disks used as passive samplers in indoor and outdoor air. Results were compared to those from samplers deployed simultaneously in Gothenburg (Sweden) and Lancaster (United Kingdom). Using sampling rates suggested in the literature, the sums of 13 PAHs in the different sites were estimated to be 6.1-180 ng m -3, with phenanthrene as the predominant compound. Indoor PAH levels tended to be higher in Gothenburg and outdoor levels higher in Mexico City. The sum of PCBs ranged 59-2100 ng m -3, and seemed to be highest indoors in Gothenburg and Lancaster. PBDE levels (sum of seven) ranged 0.68-620 ng m -3, with the highest levels found in some indoor locations. OCPs (i.e. DDTs, HCHs, and chlordanes) were widely dispersed both outdoors and indoors at all three studied areas. In Gothenburg all POPs tended to be higher indoors than outdoors, while indoor and outdoor levels in Mexico City were similar. This could be due to the influence of indoor and outdoor sources, air exchange rates, and lifestyle factors. The study demonstrates how passive samplers can provide quick and cheap reconnaissance data simultaneously at many locations which can shed light on sources and other factors influencing POP levels in air, especially for the gaseous fractions.

Evaluation of a passive optical based end of service life indicator (ESLI) for organic vapor respirator cartridges

PubMed Central

Checky, Melissa; Frankel, Kevin; Goddard, Denise; Johnson, Erik; Thomas, J. Christopher; Zelinsky, Maria; Javner, Cassidy

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT A passive visual end of service life indicator (ESLI) for certain organic vapors has been attached to the inside wall of an organic vapor respirator cartridge. The opposite side of the ESLI touches activated carbon inside the cartridge. During use, organic vapors moving through the cartridge adsorb into both the carbon and the ESLI. The cartridge body is clear so that when vapor concentrations meet a certain threshold, the user may observe the progressive development of an indicator bar down the side of the ESLI. The cartridge is deemed ready to change when any part of the indicator bar touches a marked end line. The performance of the ESLI was observed when the cartridge was tested against a variety of organic vapors, exposure concentrations above the minimum indication level, humidities, temperatures, flow rates, and mixtures. In all cases, the ESLI indicated end of service life with more than 10% cartridge service life remaining (which is a NIOSH test criteria). The results were also compared to mathematical predictions of cartridge service life. PMID:26418577

Development of a passive, in situ, integrative sampler for hydrophilic organic contaminants in aquatic environments

USGS Publications Warehouse

Alvarez, D.A.; Petty, J.D.; Huckins, J.N.; Jones-Lepp, T. L.; Getting, D.T.; Goddard, J.P.; Manahan, S.E.

2004-01-01

Increasingly it is being realized that a holistic hazard assessment of complex environmental contaminant mixtures requires data on the concentrations of hydrophilic organic contaminants including new generation pesticides, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and many chemicals associated with household, industrial, and agricultural wastes. To address this issue, we developed a passive in situ sampling device (the polar organic chemical integrative sampler [POCIS]) that integratively concentrates trace levels of complex mixtures of hydrophilic environmental contaminants, enables the determination of their time-weighted average water concentrations, and provides a method of estimating the potential exposure of aquatic organisms to the complex mixture of waterborne contaminants. Using a prototype sampler, linear uptake of selected herbicides and pharmaceuticals with log KowS < 4.0 was observed for up to 56 d. Estimation of the ambient water concentrations of chemicals of interest is achieved by using appropriate uptake models and determination of POCIS sampling rates for appropriate exposure conditions. Use of POCIS in field validation studies targeting the herbicide diuron in the United Kingdom resulted in the detection of the chemical at estimated concentrations of 190 to 600 ng/L. These values are in agreement with reported levels found in traditional grab samples taken concurrently.

Measurement of Passive Uptake Rates for Volatile Organic Compounds on Commercial Thermal Desorption Tubes and the Effect of Ozone on Sampling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maddalena, Randy; Parra, Amanda; Russell, Marion

Diffusive or passive sampling methods using commercially filled axial-sampling thermal desorption tubes are widely used for measuring volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air. The passive sampling method provides a robust, cost effective way to measure air quality with time-averaged concentrations spanning up to a week or more. Sampling rates for VOCs can be calculated using tube geometry and Fick’s Law for ideal diffusion behavior or measured experimentally. There is evidence that uptake rates deviate from ideal and may not be constant over time. Therefore, experimentally measured sampling rates are preferred. In this project, a calibration chamber with a continuous stirredmore » tank reactor design and constant VOC source was combined with active sampling to generate a controlled dynamic calibration environment for passive samplers. The chamber air was augmented with a continuous source of 45 VOCs ranging from pentane to diethyl phthalate representing a variety of chemical classes and physiochemical properties. Both passive and active samples were collected on commercially filled Tenax TA thermal desorption tubes over an 11-day period and used to calculate passive sampling rates. A second experiment was designed to determine the impact of ozone on passive sampling by using the calibration chamber to passively load five terpenes on a set of Tenax tubes and then exposing the tubes to different ozone environments with and without ozone scrubbers attached to the tube inlet. During the sampling rate experiment, the measured diffusive uptake was constant for up to seven days for most of the VOCs tested but deviated from linearity for some of the more volatile compounds between seven and eleven days. In the ozone experiment, both exposed and unexposed tubes showed a similar decline in terpene mass over time indicating back diffusion when uncapped tubes were transferred to a clean environment but there was no indication of significant loss by ozone reaction.« less

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Surface passivation of (100) InP by organic thiols and polyimide as characterized by steady-state photoluminescence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schvartzman, M.; Sidorov, V.; Ritter, D.; Paz, Y.

2001-10-01

A method for the passivation of indium phosphide, based on thiolated organic self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) that form highly ordered, close-packed structures on the semiconductor surface, is presented. It is shown that the intensity of steady-state photoluminescence (PL) of n-type InP wafers covered with the thiolated SAMs increases significantly (as much as 14-fold) upon their covering with the monolayers. The ease with which one can tailor the outer functional groups of the SAMs provides a way to connect this new class of passivators with standard encapsulators, such as polyimide. Indeed, the PL intensity of SAM-coated InP wafers was not altered upon their overcoating with polyimide, despite the high curing temperature of the polymer (200 °C).

Active and Passive Remote Sensing of Ice

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-01-26

92 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE S. FUNDING NUMBERS Active and Passive Remote Sensing of Ice NO0014-89-J-l 107 6. AUTHOR(S) 425f023-08 Prof. J.A. Kong 7... REMOTE SENSING OF ICE Sponsored by: Department of the Navy Office of Naval Research Contract number: N00014-89-J-1107 Research Organization: Center for...J. A. Kong Period covered: October 1, 1988 - November 30, 1992 St ACTIVE AND PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING OF ICE FINAL REPORT This annual report covers

Cell viability studies and operation in cellular culture medium of n-type organic field-effect transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barra, M.; Viggiano, D.; Di Capua, R.; Di Girolamo, F.; Santoro, F.; Taglialatela, M.; Cassinese, A.

2012-02-01

The possibility of the fabrication of organic devices suitable to be applied in bio-sensing fields depends largely on the availability of organic compounds displaying robust electrical properties even in aqueous solutions and effective biocompatibility features. In this paper, we report about the good cellular biocompatibility and the electrical response stability in an ionic medium of n-type organic transistors based on the recently developed PDI-8CN2 oligomer. The biocompatibility has been tested by analyzing the adhesion and viability of two different cell lines, human epithelial HeLa cells and murine neuronal F11 cells, on PDI-8CN2 films grown by organic molecular beam deposition (OMBD) on SiO2 substrates. The effect of film thickness on cell attachment was also tested. Uncoated SiO2 substrates were used as control surfaces and sexithiophene (T6) as device testing control. Moreover, the possible toxicity of -CN groups of PDI-8CN2 was tested on HeLa cell cultures, using PDI-8 and T6 molecules as controls. Results showed that, although at high concentration these organic compounds are toxic in solution, if they are presented in form of film, cell lines can attach and grow on them. The electrical response stability of PDI-8CN2 transistors in a cellular culture medium characterized by high concentrations of ionic species has been also investigated. For this purpose, low-voltage operation devices with VGS ranging from -5 V to 5 V, able to strongly reduce the influence of Faradaic currents coming from the electrical operation in an highly ionic environment, have been fabricated on 35 nm thick SiO2 layers and electrically characterized. These results are useful to experimentally define the main critical issues to be further addressed for the fabrication of reliable bio-sensors based on organic transistors.

Organic and inorganic selenium: IV. passive transfer of immunoglobulin from ewe to lamb.

PubMed

Stewart, W C; Bobe, G; Vorachek, W R; Stang, B V; Pirelli, G J; Mosher, W D; Hall, J A

2013-04-01

Newborn lambs depend on their dams for passive transfer of immunoglobulins, primarily IgG, for protection from harmful pathogens until their own immunological defenses have developed. Previous studies have suggested that supplementation with Se results in a modest increase in IgG concentration in serum of newborn calves and lambs. To evaluate the effect of the Se source and supplementation rate in ewes during pregnancy on passive transfer of IgG to their lambs, 210 Polypay, Suffolk, or Suffolk × Polypay cross ewes were divided into 7 treatment groups (n = 30 each) and drenched weekly with no Se, at the maximum FDA-allowed concentration with inorganic Na-selenite or organic Se-yeast (4.9 mg Se/wk), or with inorganic Na-selenite and organic Se-yeast at supranutritional concentrations (14.7 and 24.5 mg Se/wk). Ewe serum IgG concentrations were measured within 30 d of parturition, ewe colostrum and lamb serum IgG concentrations were measured at parturition before suckling, and lamb serum IgG concentrations were measured again at 48 h postnatal. Ewes receiving 24.5 mg Se/wk tended to have or had, independent of Se source, greater colostral IgG concentrations than ewes receiving 4.9 mg Se/wk overall (81.3 vs. 66.2 mg/mL; P = 0.08) and for Polypay ewes only (90.1 vs. 60.7 mg/mL; P = 0.03). Polypay ewes receiving Se-yeast at 24.5 mg Se/wk transferred a greater calculated total IgG amount to their lambs than Polypay ewes receiving Se-yeast at 4.9 mg Se/wk (15.5 vs. 11.6 g; P = 0.02), whereas the converse was true (interaction between Se source and dose concentration; P = 0.03) for Polypay ewes receiving inorganic Na-selenite at 24.5 mg Se/wk vs. Na-selenite at 4.9 mg/wk (11.6 vs. 15.7 g; P = 0.08). Our results suggest that supranutritional Se supplementation of Polypay ewes during pregnancy increases colostral IgG concentrations but that the optimal supplementation rate for IgG transfer from ewe to lamb may differ for Na-selenite and Se-yeast.

Highly reliable photosensitive organic-inorganic hybrid passivation layers for a-InGaZnO thin-film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bermundo, Juan Paolo; Ishikawa, Yasuaki; Yamazaki, Haruka; Nonaka, Toshiaki; Fujii, Mami N.; Uraoka, Yukiharu

2015-07-01

We report the fabrication of a photosensitive hybrid passivation material on amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) that greatly enhance its stability and improve its electrical characteristics. The hybrid passivation based on polysilsesquioxane is transparent and fabricated using a simple solution process. Because the passivation is photosensitive, dry etching was never performed during TFT fabrication. TFTs passivated with this material had a small threshold voltage shift of 0.5 V during positive bias stress, 0.5 V during negative bias stress, and -2.5 V during negative bias illumination stress. Furthermore, TFTs passivated by this layer were stable after being subjected to high relative humidity stress — confirming the superb barrier ability of the passivation. Analysis of secondary ion mass spectrometry showed that a large amount of hydrogen, carbon, and fluorine can be found in the channel region. We show that both hydrogen and fluorine reduced oxygen vacancies and that fluorine stabilized weak oxygen and hydroxide bonds. These results demonstrate the large potential of photosensitive hybrid passivation layers as effective passivation materials.

Organic transistors making use of room temperature ionic liquids as gating medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoyos, Jonathan Javier Sayago

The ability to couple ionic and electronic transport in organic transistors, based on pi conjugated organic materials for the transistor channel, can be particularly interesting to achieve low voltage transistor operation, i.e. below 1 V. The operation voltage in typical organic transistors based on conventional dielectrics (200 nm thick SiO2) is commonly higher than 10 V. Electrolyte-gated (EG) transistors, i.e. employing an electrolyte as the gating medium, permit current modulations of several orders of magnitude at relatively low gate voltages thanks to the exceptionally high capacitance at the electrolyte/transistor channel interface, in turn due to the low thickness (ca. 3 nm) of the electrical double layers forming at the electrolyte/semiconductor interface. Electrolytes based on room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) are promising in EG transistor applications for their high electrochemical stability and good ionic conductivity. The main motivation behind this work is to achieve low voltage operation in organic transistors by making use of RTILs as gating medium. First we demonstrate the importance of the gate electrode material in the EG transistor performance. The use of high surface area carbon gate electrodes limits undesirable electrochemical processes and renders unnecessary the presence of a reference electrode to monitor the channel potential. This was demonstrated using activated carbon as gate electrode, the electronic conducting polymer MEH-PPV, poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] channel material, and the ionic liquid [EMIM][TFSI] (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide), as gating medium. Using high surface area gate electrodes resulted in sub-1 V operation and charge carrier mobilities of (1.0 +/- 0.5) x 10-2 cm2V -1s-1. A challenge in the field of EG transistors is to decrease their response time, a consequence of the slow ion redistribution in the transistor channel upon application of electric

Screening of atmospheric short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in India and Pakistan using polyurethane foam based passive air sampler.

PubMed

Chaemfa, Chakra; Xu, Yue; Li, Jun; Chakraborty, Paromita; Hussain Syed, Jabir; Naseem Malik, Riffat; Wang, Yan; Tian, Chongguo; Zhang, Gan; Jones, Kevin C

2014-05-06

Production and use of chlorinated paraffins (CPs) have been increasing in India. Distribution of CPs in the area and vicinity have become a great concern due to their persistency and toxicity. Polyurethane foam based passive air samplers (PUF-PAS) was deployed in order to screen the presence of short- and medium- chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs) in the outdoor atmosphere at many sites in India (in winter 2006) and Pakistan (in winter 2011). Concentrations of SCCPs and MCCPs ranged from not detected (ND) to 47.4 and 0 to 38.2 ng m(-3) with means of 8.11 and 4.83 ng m(-3), respectively. Indian concentrations showed higher average levels of both SCCPs and MCCPs India (10.2 ng m(-3) and 3.62 ng m(-3)than the samples from Pakistan (5.13 ng m(-3) and 4.21 ng m(-3)). Relative abundance patterns of carbon number are C10 > C11 > C12 ∼ C13 for SCCPs and C14 > C15 > C16 C17 for MCCP with similarity to the profiles of samples from China, the biggest CPs producer in the world. Principal Component Analysis suggested that detected SCCPs and MCCPs in this study originated from the same emission source.

Advancing the Use of Passive Sampling in Risk Assessment and Management of Sediments Contaminated with Hydrophobic Organic Chemicals: Results of an International Ex Situ Passive Sampling Interlaboratory Comparison

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

This work presents the results of an international interlaboratory comparison on ex situ passive sampling in sediments. The main objectives were to map the state of the science in passively sampling sediments, identify sources of variability, provide recommendations and practical guidance for standardized passive sampling, and advance the use of passive sampling in regulatory decision making by increasing confidence in the use of the technique. The study was performed by a consortium of 11 laboratories and included experiments with 14 passive sampling formats on 3 sediments for 25 target chemicals (PAHs and PCBs). The resulting overall interlaboratory variability was large (a factor of ∼10), but standardization of methods halved this variability. The remaining variability was primarily due to factors not related to passive sampling itself, i.e., sediment heterogeneity and analytical chemistry. Excluding the latter source of variability, by performing all analyses in one laboratory, showed that passive sampling results can have a high precision and a very low intermethod variability (passive sampling, irrespective of the specific method used, is fit for implementation in risk assessment and management of contaminated sediments, provided that method setup and performance, as well as chemical analyses are quality-controlled. PMID:29488382

The effect of postoperative passive motion on rotator cuff healing in a rat model.

PubMed

Peltz, Cathryn D; Dourte, Leann M; Kuntz, Andrew F; Sarver, Joseph J; Kim, Soung-Yon; Williams, Gerald R; Soslowsky, Louis J

2009-10-01

Surgical repairs of torn rotator cuff tendons frequently fail. Immobilization has been shown to improve tissue mechanical properties in an animal model of rotator cuff repair, and passive motion has been shown to improve joint mechanics in animal models of flexor tendon repair. Our objective was to determine if daily passive motion would improve joint mechanics in comparison with continuous immobilization in a rat rotator cuff repair model. We hypothesized that daily passive motion would result in improved passive shoulder joint mechanics in comparison with continuous immobilization initially and that there would be no differences in passive joint mechanics or insertion site mechanical properties after four weeks of remobilization. A supraspinatus injury was created and was surgically repaired in sixty-five Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were separated into three postoperative groups (continuous immobilization, passive motion protocol 1, and passive motion protocol 2) for two weeks before all underwent a remobilization protocol for four weeks. Serial measurements of passive shoulder mechanics (internal and external range of motion and joint stiffness) were made before surgery and at two and six weeks after surgery. After the animals were killed, collagen organization and mechanical properties of the tendon-to-bone insertion site were determined. Total range of motion for both passive motion groups (49% and 45% of the pre-injury values) was less than that for the continuous immobilization group (59% of the pre-injury value) at two weeks and remained significantly less following four weeks of remobilization exercise. Joint stiffness at two weeks was increased for both passive motion groups in comparison with the continuous immobilization group. At both two and six weeks after repair, internal range of motion was significantly decreased whereas external range of motion was not. There were no differences between the groups in terms of collagen organization or mechanical

Electrochemical corrosion behaviour of dental/implant alloys in saline medium.

PubMed

Sharma, Mohit; Kumar, A V Ramesh; Singh, Nirbhay

2008-07-01

Dental alloys implanted in mouth are exposed to various aggressive conditions. Keeping this in view, corrosion behaviour of various dental alloys viz. Ni-Cr, Co-Cr, Cu-Ni-Al and commercially pure Ti (c.p. Ti) were studied in 3% NaCl medium by using Tafel polarization, cyclic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. EIS studies were carried out for different duration viz. 1 h, 1 day and 7 days to evaluate the stability of passive film and change in corrosion characteristics with time. It has been found that for Ni-Cr, Co-Cr (DRDO developed) and c.p. Ti the passive film characteristic changed with time whereas for Co-Cr (commercial) and Cu-Ni-Al alloys, the passive film characteristics remained same. From DC electrochemical studies various parameters viz. i(corr), E(corr), i(pass), E(pass) were evaluated. The corrosion rates were observed to be in the order Cu-Ni-Al > Co-Cr (commercial) > Ni-Cr > c.p. Ti > Co-Cr (DRDO).

Novozyme 435-catalyzed efficient acylation of 3-n-butylphthalide in organic medium.

PubMed

He, Laping; Sun, Jiong; Xu, Yan; Sun, Zhihao; Zheng, Changge

2008-01-01

Novozyme 435 could catalyze efficient acylation of 3-n-butylphthalide in organic medium. The conversion of 3-n-butylphthalide increased with the increase of hydrophobicity of solvent below that of hexane. The more available solvent was hexane. Salt hydride could control fixed water activity. The optimum water activity was 0.62. And the optimum of reaction time, velocity of agitation, dosage of Novozyme 435 and acetic anhydride to 3-n-butylphtrhalide molar ratio were 48 hours, 150 rpm, 8 mg/mL and 8:1, respectively. The conversion of 48.9% could be obtained at a water activity of 0.62 in hexane. Furthermore, Novozyme 435 had an enantioselective acylation of racemic 3-n-butylphthalide by original analysis.

Reliability and efficacy of organic passivation for polycrystalline silicon solar cells at room temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shinde, Onkar S.; Funde, Adinath M.; Jadkar, Sandesh R.; Dusane, Rajiv O.; Dhere, Neelkanth G.; Ghaisas, Subhash V.

2016-09-01

Oleylamine is used as a passivating layer instead of commercial high temperature SiNx. Oleylamine coating applied on the n-type emitter side with p-type base polycrystalline silicon solar cells at room temperature using a simple spin coating method. It has been observed that there is 16% increase in efficiency after Oleylamine coating. Further, the solar cell was subjected to standard characterization namely current-voltage measurement for electrical parameters and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to understand the interaction of emitter surface and passivating Oleylamine. However, the passivation layer is not stable due to the reaction between Oleylamine and ambient air content such as humidity and carbon dioxide. This degradation can be prevented with suitable overcoating.

Calculating the Diffusive Flux of Persistent Organic Pollutants between Sediments and the Water Column on the Palos Verdes Shelf Superfund Site using Polymeric Passive Samplers

EPA Science Inventory

Passive samplers were used to determine water concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the surface sediments and near-bottom water of a marine Superfund site on the Palos Verdes Shelf, California, USA. Measured concentrations in the porewater and water column at...

Assessment of PDMS-water partition coefficients: implications for passive environmental sampling of hydrophobic organic compounds

USGS Publications Warehouse

DiFilippo, Erica L.; Eganhouse, Robert P.

2010-01-01

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) has shown potential as an in situ passive-sampling technique in aquatic environments. The reliability of this method depends upon accurate determination of the partition coefficient between the fiber coating and water (Kf). For some hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs), Kf values spanning 4 orders of magnitude have been reported for polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and water. However, 24% of the published data examined in this review did not pass the criterion for negligible depletion, resulting in questionable Kf values. The range in reported Kf is reduced to just over 2 orders of magnitude for some polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) when these questionable values are removed. Other factors that could account for the range in reported Kf, such as fiber-coating thickness and fiber manufacturer, were evaluated and found to be insignificant. In addition to accurate measurement of Kf, an understanding of the impact of environmental variables, such as temperature and ionic strength, on partitioning is essential for application of laboratory-measured Kf values to field samples. To date, few studies have measured Kf for HOCs at conditions other than at 20 degrees or 25 degrees C in distilled water. The available data indicate measurable variations in Kf at different temperatures and different ionic strengths. Therefore, if the appropriate environmental variables are not taken into account, significant error will be introduced into calculated aqueous concentrations using this passive sampling technique. A multiparameter linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) was developed to estimate log Kf in distilled water at 25 degrees C based on published physicochemical parameters. This method provided a good correlation (R2 = 0.94) between measured and predicted log Kf values for several compound classes. Thus, an LSER approach may offer a reliable means of predicting log Kf for HOCs whose experimental log Kf values are presently unavailable. Future

Emerging investigator series: development and application of polymeric electrospun nanofiber mats as equilibrium-passive sampler media for organic compounds.

PubMed

Qian, Jiajie; Jennings, Brandon; Cwiertny, David M; Martinez, Andres

2017-11-15

We fabricated a suite of polymeric electrospun nanofiber mats (ENMs) and investigated their performance as next-generation passive sampler media for environmental monitoring of organic compounds. Electrospinning of common polymers [e.g., polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and polystyrene (PS), among others] yielded ENMs with reproducible control of nanofiber diameters (from 50 to 340 nm). The ENM performance was investigated initially with model hydrophilic (aniline and nitrobenzene) and hydrophobic (selected PCB congeners and dioxin) compounds, generally revealing fast chemical uptake into all of these ENMs, which was well described by a one compartment, first-order kinetic model. Typical times to reach 90% equilibrium (t 90% ) were ≤7 days under mixing conditions for all the ENMs and <0.5 days for the best performing materials under static (i.e., no mixing) conditions. Collectively, these short equilibrium timescales suggest that ENMs may be used in the field as an equilibrium-passive sampler, at least for our model compounds. Equilibrium partitioning coefficients (K ENM-W , L kg -1 ) averaged 2 and 4.7 log units for the hydrophilic and hydrophobic analytes, respectively. PAN, PMMA and PS were prioritized for additional studies because they exhibited not only the greatest capacity for simultaneous uptake of the entire model suite (log K ENM-W ∼1.5-6.2), but also fast uptake. For these optimized ENMs, the rates of uptake into PAN and PMMA were limited by aqueous phase diffusion to the nanofiber surface, and the rate-determining step for PS was analyte specific. Sorption isotherms also revealed that the environmental application of these optimized ENMs would occur within the linear uptake regime. We examined the ENM performance for the measurement of pore water concentrations from spiked soil and freshwater sediments. Soil and sediment studies not only yielded reproducible pore water concentrations and comparable values to other passive

Volatile organic compounds at two oil and natural gas production well pads in Colorado and Texas using passive samplers.

PubMed

Eisele, Adam P; Mukerjee, Shaibal; Smith, Luther A; Thoma, Eben D; Whitaker, Donald A; Oliver, Karen D; Wu, Tai; Colon, Maribel; Alston, Lillian; Cousett, Tamira A; Miller, Michael C; Smith, Donald M; Stallings, Casson

2016-04-01

A pilot study was conducted in application of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Methods 325A/B variant for monitoring volatile organic compounds (VOCs) near two oil and natural gas (ONG) production well pads in the Texas Barnett Shale formation and Colorado Denver-Julesburg Basin (DJB), along with a traffic-dominated site in downtown Denver, CO. As indicated in the EPA method, VOC concentrations were measured for 14-day sampling periods using passive-diffusive tube samplers with Carbopack X sorbent at fenceline perimeter and other locations. VOCs were significantly higher at the DJB well pad versus the Barnett well pad and were likely due to higher production levels at the DJB well pad during the study. Benzene and toluene were significantly higher at the DJB well pad versus downtown Denver. Except for perchloroethylene, VOCs measured at passive sampler locations (PSs) along the perimeter of the Barnett well pad were significantly higher than PSs farther away. At the DJB well pad, most VOC concentrations, except perchloroethylene, were significantly higher prior to operational changes than after these changes were made. Though limited, the results suggest passive samplers are precise (duplicate precision usually ≤10%) and that they can be useful to assess spatial gradients and operational conditions at well pad locations over time-integrated periods. Recently enacted EPA Methods 325A/B use passive-diffusive tube samplers to measure benzene at multiple fenceline locations at petrochemical refineries. This pilot study presents initial data demonstrating the utility of Methods 325A/B for monitoring at ONG facilities. Measurements revealed elevated concentrations reflective of production levels and spatial gradients of VOCs relative to source proximity at the Barnett well pad, as well as operational changes at the DJB well pad. Though limited, these findings indicate that Methods 325A/B can be useful in application to characterize VOCs at well pad

Strategies for monitoring the emerging polar organic contaminants in water with emphasis on integrative passive sampling.

PubMed

Söderström, Hanna; Lindberg, Richard H; Fick, Jerker

2009-01-16

Although polar organic contaminants (POCs) such as pharmaceuticals are considered as some of today's most emerging contaminants few of them are regulated or included in on-going monitoring programs. However, the growing concern among the public and researchers together with the new legislature within the European Union, the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (REACH) system will increase the future need of simple, low cost strategies for monitoring and risk assessment of POCs in aquatic environments. In this article, we overview the advantages and shortcomings of traditional and novel sampling techniques available for monitoring the emerging POCs in water. The benefits and drawbacks of using active and biological sampling were discussed and the principles of organic passive samplers (PS) presented. A detailed overview of type of polar organic PS available, and their classes of target compounds and field of applications were given, and the considerations involved in using them such as environmental effects and quality control were discussed. The usefulness of biological sampling of POCs in water was found to be limited. Polar organic PS was considered to be the only available, but nevertheless, an efficient alternative to active water sampling due to its simplicity, low cost, no need of power supply or maintenance, and the ability of collecting time-integrative samples with one sample collection. However, the polar organic PS need to be further developed before they can be used as standard in water quality monitoring programs.

Passive sampling methods for contaminated sediments: State of the science for organic contaminants

PubMed Central

Lydy, Michael J; Landrum, Peter F; Oen, Amy MP; Allinson, Mayumi; Smedes, Foppe; Harwood, Amanda D; Li, Huizhen; Maruya, Keith A; Liu, Jingfu

2014-01-01

This manuscript surveys the literature on passive sampler methods (PSMs) used in contaminated sediments to assess the chemical activity of organic contaminants. The chemical activity in turn dictates the reactivity and bioavailability of contaminants in sediment. Approaches to measure specific binding of compounds to sediment components, for example, amorphous carbon or specific types of reduced carbon, and the associated partition coefficients are difficult to determine, particularly for native sediment. Thus, the development of PSMs that represent the chemical activity of complex compound–sediment interactions, expressed as the freely dissolved contaminant concentration in porewater (Cfree), offer a better proxy for endpoints of concern, such as reactivity, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. Passive sampling methods have estimated Cfree using both kinetic and equilibrium operating modes and used various polymers as the sorbing phase, for example, polydimethylsiloxane, polyethylene, and polyoxymethylene in various configurations, such as sheets, coated fibers, or vials containing thin films. These PSMs have been applied in laboratory exposures and field deployments covering a variety of spatial and temporal scales. A wide range of calibration conditions exist in the literature to estimate Cfree, but consensus values have not been established. The most critical criteria are the partition coefficient between water and the polymer phase and the equilibrium status of the sampler. In addition, the PSM must not appreciably deplete Cfree in the porewater. Some of the future challenges include establishing a standard approach for PSM measurements, correcting for nonequilibrium conditions, establishing guidance for selection and implementation of PSMs, and translating and applying data collected by PSMs. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2014;10:167–178. © 2014 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of

A direct passive method for measuring water and contaminant fluxes in porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hatfield, Kirk; Annable, Michael; Cho, Jaehyun; Rao, P. S. C.; Klammler, Harald

2004-12-01

This paper introduces a new direct method for measuring water and contaminant fluxes in porous media. The method uses a passive flux meter (PFM), which is essentially a self-contained permeable unit properly sized to fit tightly in a screened well or boring. The meter is designed to accommodate a mixed medium of hydrophobic and/or hydrophilic permeable sorbents, which retain dissolved organic/inorganic contaminants present in the groundwater flowing passively through the meter. The contaminant mass intercepted and retained on the sorbent is used to quantify cumulative contaminant mass flux. The sorptive matrix is also impregnated with known amounts of one or more water soluble 'resident tracers'. These tracers are displaced from the sorbent at rates proportional to the groundwater flux; hence, in the current meter design, the resident tracers are used to quantify cumulative groundwater flux. Theory is presented and quantitative tools are developed to interpret the water flux from tracers possessing linear and nonlinear elution profiles. The same theory is extended to derive functional relationships useful for quantifying cumulative contaminant mass flux. To validate theory and demonstrate the passive flux meter, results of multiple box-aquifer experiments are presented and discussed. From these experiments, it is seen that accurate water flux measurements are obtained when the tracer used in calculations resides in the meter at levels representing 20 to 70 percent of the initial condition. 2,4-Dimethyl-3-pentanol (DMP) is used as a surrogate groundwater contaminant in the box aquifer experiments. Cumulative DMP fluxes are measured within 5% of known fluxes. The accuracy of these estimates generally increases with the total volume of water intercepted.

Nitride passivation reduces interfacial traps in atomic-layer-deposited Al2O3/GaAs (001) metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors using atmospheric metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aoki, T.; Fukuhara, N.; Osada, T.; Sazawa, H.; Hata, M.; Inoue, T.

2014-07-01

Using an atmospheric metal-organic chemical vapor deposition system, we passivated GaAs with AlN prior to atomic layer deposition of Al2O3. This AlN passivation incorporated nitrogen at the Al2O3/GaAs interface, improving the capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics of the resultant metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors (MOSCAPs). The C-V curves of these devices showed a remarkable reduction in the frequency dispersion of the accumulation capacitance. Using the conductance method at various temperatures, we extracted the interfacial density of states (Dit). The Dit was reduced over the entire GaAs band gap. In particular, these devices exhibited Dit around the midgap of less than 4 × 1012 cm-2eV-1, showing that AlN passivation effectively reduced interfacial traps in the MOS structure.

Re-active Passive (RAP) Devices for Control of Noise Transmission through a Panel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carneal, James P.; Giovanardi, Marco; Fuller, Chris R.; Palumbo, Daniel L.

2008-01-01

Re-Active Passive (RAP) devices have been developed to control low frequency (<1000 Hz) noise transmission through a panel. These devices use a combination of active, re-active, and passive technologies packaged into a single unit to control a broad frequency range utilizing the strength of each technology over its best suited frequency range. The RAP device uses passive constrained layer damping to cover the relatively high frequency range (>200 Hz), reactive distributed vibration absorber) to cover the medium frequency range (75 to 250 Hz), and active control for controlling low frequencies (<200 Hz). The device was applied to control noise transmission through a panel mounted in a transmission loss test facility. Experimental results are presented for the bare panel, and combinations of passive treatment, reactive treatment, and active control. Results indicate that three RAP devices were able to increase the overall broadband (15-1000 Hz) transmission loss by 9.4 dB. These three devices added a total of 285 grams to the panel mass of 6.0 kg, or approximately 5%, not including control electronics.

Microwave gain medium with negative refractive index.

PubMed

Ye, Dexin; Chang, Kihun; Ran, Lixin; Xin, Hao

2014-12-19

Artificial effective media are attractive because of the fantastic applications they may enable, such as super lensing and electromagnetic invisibility. However, the inevitable loss due to their strongly dispersive nature is one of the fundamental challenges preventing such applications from becoming a reality. In this study, we demonstrate an effective gain medium based on negative resistance, to overcompensate the loss of a conventional passive metamaterial, meanwhile keeping its original negative-index property. Energy conservation-based theory, full-wave simulation and experimental measurement show that a fabricated sample consisting of conventional sub-wavelength building blocks with embedded microwave tunnel diodes exhibits a band-limited Lorentzian dispersion simultaneously with a negative refractive index and a net gain. Our work provides experimental evidence to the assertion that a stable net gain in negative-index gain medium is achievable, proposing a potential solution for the critical challenge current metamateiral technology faces in practical applications.

Enhanced Organic Solar Cell Stability through the Effective Blocking of Oxygen Diffusion using a Self-Passivating Metal Electrode.

PubMed

Lee, Hansol; Jo, Sae Byeok; Lee, Hyo Chan; Kim, Min; Sin, Dong Hun; Ko, Hyomin; Cho, Kilwon

2016-03-08

A new and simple strategy for enhancing the stability of organic solar cells (OSCs) was developed by using self-passivating metal top electrodes. Systematic investigations on O2 permeability of Al top electrodes revealed that the main pathways for oxidation-induced degradation could be greatly suppressed by simply controlling the nanoscale morphology of the Al electrode. The population of nanoscale pinholes among Al grains, which critically decided the diffusion of O2 molecules toward the Al-organic interfaces that are vulnerable to oxidation, was successfully regulated by rapidly depositing Al or promoting lateral growth among the Al grains, accompanied by increasing the deposition thickness. Our observations suggested that the stability of OSCs with conventional architectures might be greatly enhanced simply by controlling the fabrication conditions of the Al top electrode, without the aid of additional secondary treatments. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Purity and cleanness of aerogel as a cosmic dust capture medium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tsou, P.; Fleming, R. H.; Lindley, P. M.; Craig, A. Y.; Blake, D.

1994-01-01

The capability for capturing micrometeoroids intact through laboratory simulations and in space in passive underdense silica aerogel offers a valuable tool for cosmic dust research. The integrity of the sample handling medium can substantially modify the integrity of the sample. Intact capture is a violent hypervelocity event: the integrity of the capturing medium can cause even greater modification of the sample. Doubts of the suitability of silica aerogel as a capture medium were raised at the 20th LPSC, and questions were raised again at the recent workshop on Particle Capture, Recovery, and Velocity Trajectory Measurement Technologies. Assessment of aerogel's volatile components and carbon contents have been made. We report the results of laboratory measurements of the purity and cleanliness of silica aerogel used for several Sample Return Experiments flown on the Get Away Special program.

The Effect of Fermentation Time with Probiotic Bacteria on Organic Fertilizer as Daphnia magna Cultured Medium towards Nutrient Quality, Biomass Production and Growth Performance Enhancement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Endar Herawati, Vivi; Agung Nugroho, Ristiawan; Pinandoyo; Darmanto, YS; Hutabarat, Johannes

2018-02-01

The nutrient quality and growth performance of D. magna are highly depend on the organic fertilizer which is used in its culture medium. The objective of this study was to identify the best fermentation time by using probiotic bacteria on organic fertilizer as mass culture medium to improve its nutrient quality, biomass production, and growth performance. This study was conducted using completely randomized experimental design with five treatments and three repetitions. Organic fertilizers used cultured medium with chicken manure, rejected bread and tofu waste fermented by probiotic bacteria then cultured for 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. The results showed that medium which used 25% chicken manure, 25% tofu waste and 50% rejected bread cultured for 28 days created the highest biomass production, population density and nutrient content of D. magna those are 233,980 ind/L for population density; 134.60 grams for biomass production, 0.574% specific growth rate; 68.06% protein content and 6.91% fat. The highest fatty acid profile is 4.83% linoleic and 3.54% linolenic acid. The highest essential amino acid is 53.94 ppm lysine. In general, the content of ammonia, DO, temperature, and pH during the study were in the good range of D. magna life. The conclusion of this research is medium which used 25% chicken manure, 25% tofu waste and 50% rejected bread cultured for 28 days created the highest biomass production, population and nutrient content of D. magna.

Effects of surface passivation on twin-free GaAs nanosheets.

PubMed

Arab, Shermin; Chi, Chun-Yung; Shi, Teng; Wang, Yuda; Dapkus, Daniel P; Jackson, Howard E; Smith, Leigh M; Cronin, Stephen B

2015-02-24

Unlike nanowires, GaAs nanosheets exhibit no twin defects, stacking faults, or dislocations even when grown on lattice mismatched substrates. As such, they are excellent candidates for optoelectronic applications, including LEDs and solar cells. We report substantial enhancements in the photoluminescence efficiency and the lifetime of passivated GaAs nanosheets produced using the selected area growth (SAG) method with metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Measurements are performed on individual GaAs nanosheets with and without an AlGaAs passivation layer. Both steady-state photoluminescence and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy are performed to study the optoelectronic performance of these nanostructures. Our results show that AlGaAs passivation of GaAs nanosheets leads to a 30- to 40-fold enhancement in the photoluminescence intensity. The photoluminescence lifetime increases from less than 30 to 300 ps with passivation, indicating an order of magnitude improvement in the minority carrier lifetime. We attribute these enhancements to the reduction of nonradiative recombination due to the compensation of surface states after passivation. The surface recombination velocity decreases from an initial value of 2.5 × 10(5) to 2.7 × 10(4) cm/s with passivation.

Medium pH, carbon and nitrogen concentrations modulate the phosphate solubilization efficiency of Penicillium purpurogenum through organic acid production.

PubMed

Scervino, J M; Papinutti, V L; Godoy, M S; Rodriguez, M A; Della Monica, I; Recchi, M; Pettinari, M J; Godeas, A M

2011-05-01

To study phosphate solubilization in Penicillium purpurogenum as function of medium pH, and carbon and nitrogen concentrations. Tricalcium phosphate (CP) solubilization efficiency of P. purpurogenum was evaluated at acid or alkaline pH using different C and N sources. Glucose- and (NH(4) )(2) SO(4) -based media showed the highest P solubilization values followed by fructose. P. purpurogenum solubilizing ability was higher in cultures grown at pH 6·5 than cultures at pH 8·5. Organic acids were detected in both alkaline and neutral media, but the relative percentages of each organic acid differed. Highest P release coincided with the highest organic acids production peak, especially gluconic acid. When P. purpurogenum grew in alkaline media, the nature and concentration of organic acids changed at different N and C concentrations. A factorial categorical experimental design showed that the highest P-solubilizing activity, coinciding with the highest organic acid production, corresponded to the highest C concentration and lowest N concentration. The results described in the present study show that medium pH and carbon and nitrogen concentrations modulate the P solubilization efficiency of P. purpurogenum through the production of organic acids and particularly that of gluconic acid. In the P solubilization optimization studies, glucose and (NH(4) )(2) SO(4) as C and N sources allowed a higher solubilization efficiency at high pH. This organism is a potentially proficient soil inoculant, especially in P-poor alkaline soils where other P solubilizers fail to release soluble P. Further work is necessary to elucidate whether these results can be extrapolated to natural soil ecosystems, where different pH values are present. Penicillium purpurogenum could be used to develop a bioprocess for the manufacture of phosphatic fertilizer with phosphate calcium minerals. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Applied Microbiology © 2011 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

High-pulse-energy passively Q-switched quasi-monolithic microchip lasers operating in the sub-100-ps pulse regime.

PubMed

Nodop, D; Limpert, J; Hohmuth, R; Richter, W; Guina, M; Tünnermann, A

2007-08-01

We present passively Q-switched microchip lasers with items bonded by spin-on-glass glue. Passive Q-switching is obtained by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. The laser medium is a Nd:YVO(4) crystal. These lasers generate pulse peak powers up to 20 kW at a pulse duration as short as 50 ps and pulse repetition rates of 166 kHz. At 1064 nm, a linear polarized transversal and longitudinal single-mode beam is emitted. To the best of our knowledge, these are the shortest pulses in the 1 microJ energy range ever obtained with passively Q-switched microchip lasers. The quasi-monolithic setup ensures stable and reliable performance.

Passivation effects on quantum dots prepared by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, Qilin; Maloney, Scott; Chen, Weimin; Poudyal, Uma; Wang, Wenyong

2016-06-01

ZnS is typically used to passivate semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) prepared by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method for solar cell applications, while for colloidal QDs, organic ligands are usually used for this passivation purpose. In this study we utilized oleylamine and oleic acid ligands, besides ZnS, to passivate QDs prepared by the SILAR approach, and investigated their effects on the incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) performance of the solar cells. It was observed that oleylamine passivation decreased device performance, while oleic acid passivation improved the IPCE of the cells. Redshift of the IPCE onset wavelength was also observed after oleic acid coating, which was attributed to the delocalization of excitons in the CdS QDs.

Passivating the sulfur vacancy in monolayer MoS2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Haichang; Kummel, Andrew; Robertson, John

2018-06-01

Various methods to passivate the sulfur vacancy in 2D MoS2 are modeled using density functional theory (DFT) to understand the passivation mechanism at an atomic scale. First, the organic super acid, bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide (TFSI) is a strong protonating agent, and it is experimentally found to greatly increase the photoluminescence efficiency. DFT simulations find that the effectiveness of passivation depends critically on the charge state and number of hydrogens donated by TFSI since this determines the symmetry of the defect complex. A symmetrical complex is formed by three hydrogen atoms bonding to the defect in a -1 charge state, and this gives no bandgap states and a Fermi level in the midgap. However, a charge state of +1 gives a lower symmetry complex with one state in the gap. One or two hydrogens also give complexes with gap states. Second, passivation by O2 can provide partial passivation by forming a bridge bond across the S vacancy, but it leaves a defect state in the lower bandgap. On the other hand, substitutional additions do not shift the vacancy states out of the gap.

Hurdles to organic quinone flow cells. Electrode passivation by quinone reduction in acetonitrile Li electrolytes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rueda-García, D.; Dubal, D. P.; Huguenin, F.; Gómez-Romero, P.

2017-05-01

The uses of quinones in Redox Flow Batteries (RFBs) has been mainly circumscribed to aqueous solutions (of derivatives with polar groups) despite a larger solubility and wider electrochemical window provided by organic media. The redox mechanism of quinones in protic media is simpler and better known than in aprotic media, where radical species are involved. This paper reports the behaviour of methyl-p-benzoquinone (MBQ) under electrochemical reduction conditions in a LiClO4sbnd CH3CN electrolyte and various working electrodes. We detected the reversible generation of a bright green coating on the working electrode and the subsequent formation of a polymer (the nature of which depends on the presence or absence of oxygen). These coatings prevent the regular redox process of methyl-p-benzoquinone from taking place on the surface of the electrode and is generated regardless of the electrode material used or the presence of O2 in solution. In addition to MBQ, the green passivating layer was also found for less sterically hindered quinones such as p-benzoquinone or 1,4-naphthoquinone, but not for anthraquinone. We have also shown the central role of Li+ in the formation of this green layer. This work provides important guidelines for the final use of quinones in RFBs with organic electrolytes.

Classification of passive auditory event-related potentials using discriminant analysis and self-organizing feature maps.

PubMed

Schönweiler, R; Wübbelt, P; Tolloczko, R; Rose, C; Ptok, M

2000-01-01

Discriminant analysis (DA) and self-organizing feature maps (SOFM) were used to classify passively evoked auditory event-related potentials (ERP) P(1), N(1), P(2) and N(2). Responses from 16 children with severe behavioral auditory perception deficits, 16 children with marked behavioral auditory perception deficits, and 14 controls were examined. Eighteen ERP amplitude parameters were selected for examination of statistical differences between the groups. Different DA methods and SOFM configurations were trained to the values. SOFM had better classification results than DA methods. Subsequently, measures on another 37 subjects that were unknown for the trained SOFM were used to test the reliability of the system. With 10-dimensional vectors, reliable classifications were obtained that matched behavioral auditory perception deficits in 96%, implying central auditory processing disorder (CAPD). The results also support the assumption that CAPD includes a 'non-peripheral' auditory processing deficit. Copyright 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Volume integral equation for electromagnetic scattering: Rigorous derivation and analysis for a set of multilayered particles with piecewise-smooth boundaries in a passive host medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yurkin, Maxim A.; Mishchenko, Michael I.

2018-04-01

We present a general derivation of the frequency-domain volume integral equation (VIE) for the electric field inside a nonmagnetic scattering object from the differential Maxwell equations, transmission boundary conditions, radiation condition at infinity, and locally-finite-energy condition. The derivation applies to an arbitrary spatially finite group of particles made of isotropic materials and embedded in a passive host medium, including those with edges, corners, and intersecting internal interfaces. This is a substantially more general type of scatterer than in all previous derivations. We explicitly treat the strong singularity of the integral kernel, but keep the entire discussion accessible to the applied scattering community. We also consider the known results on the existence and uniqueness of VIE solution and conjecture a general sufficient condition for that. Finally, we discuss an alternative way of deriving the VIE for an arbitrary object by means of a continuous transformation of the everywhere smooth refractive-index function into a discontinuous one. Overall, the paper examines and pushes forward the state-of-the-art understanding of various analytical aspects of the VIE.

Speed-of-light limitations in passive linear media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welters, Aaron; Avniel, Yehuda; Johnson, Steven G.

2014-08-01

We prove that well-known speed-of-light restrictions on electromagnetic energy velocity can be extended to a new level of generality, encompassing even nonlocal chiral media in periodic geometries, while at the same time weakening the underlying assumptions to only passivity and linearity of the medium (either with a transparency window or with dissipation). As was also shown by other authors under more limiting assumptions, passivity alone is sufficient to guarantee causality and positivity of the energy density (with no thermodynamic assumptions). Our proof is general enough to include a very broad range of material properties, including anisotropy, bianisotropy (chirality), nonlocality, dispersion, periodicity, and even delta functions or similar generalized functions. We also show that the "dynamical energy density" used by some previous authors in dissipative media reduces to the standard Brillouin formula for dispersive energy density in a transparency window. The results in this paper are proved by exploiting deep results from linear-response theory, harmonic analysis, and functional analysis that had previously not been brought together in the context of electrodynamics.

[Effects of straw returning combined with medium and microelements application on soil organic carbon sequestration in cropland.

PubMed

Jiang, Zhen Hui; Shi, Jiang Lan; Jia, Zhou; Ding, Ting Ting; Tian, Xiao Hong

2016-04-22

A 52-day incubation experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of maize straw decomposition with combined medium element (S) and microelements (Fe and Zn) application on arable soil organic carbon sequestration. During the straw decomposition, the soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) content and CO 2 -C mineralization rate increased with the addition of S, Fe and Zn, respectively. Also, the cumulative CO 2 -C efflux after 52-day laboratory incubation significantly increased in the treatments with S, or Fe, or Zn addition, while there was no significant reduction of soil organic carbon content in the treatments. In addition, Fe or Zn application increased the inert C pools and their proportion, and apparent balance of soil organic carbon, indicating a promoting effect of Fe or Zn addition on soil organic carbon sequestration. In contrast, S addition decreased the proportion of inert C pools and apparent balance of soil organic carbon, indicating an adverse effect of S addition on soil organic carbon sequestration. The results suggested that when nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers were applied, inclusion of S, or Fe, or Zn in straw incorporation could promote soil organic carbon mineralization process, while organic carbon sequestration was favored by Fe or Zn addition, but not by S addition.

Efficient kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols using an organic solvent-tolerant esterase in non-aqueous medium.

PubMed

Gao, Wenyuan; Fan, Haiyang; Chen, Lifeng; Wang, Hualei; Wei, Dongzhi

2016-07-01

To identify an esterase-mediated kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols in non-aqueous medium. An esterase, EST4, from a marine mud metagenomic library, showed high activity and enantioselectivity for the kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols in non-aqueous medium. Using 1-phenylethanol as the model alcohol, the effects of organic solvents, acyl donors, molar ratio, temperatures and biocatalyst loading on the kinetic resolution catalyzed by the EST4 whole-cell biocatalyst were investigated and optimized. The optimized methodology was effective on resolving 16 various racemic secondary alcohols in neat n-hexane, providing excellent enantiomeric excess (up to 99.9 % ee). Moreover, EST4 exhibited a strong tolerance for high substrate concentration (up to 1 M), and the optical purity of the desired secondary alcohols was kept above 99 % ee. The esterase EST4 is a promising biocatalyst for the enantioselective synthesis of various alcohols and esters with interesting practical applications.

Volatile organic compounds as breath biomarkers for active and passive smoking.

PubMed

Gordon, Sydney M; Wallace, Lance A; Brinkman, Marielle C; Callahan, Patrick J; Kenny, Donald V

2002-07-01

We used real-time breath measurement technology to investigate the suitability of some volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as breath biomarkers for active and passive smoking and to measure actual exposures and resulting breath concentrations for persons exposed to tobacco smoke. Experiments were conducted with five smoker/nonsmoker pairs. The target VOCs included benzene, 1,3-butadiene, and the cigarette smoke biomarker 2,5-dimethylfuran. This study includes what we believe to be the first measurements of 1,3-butadiene in smokers' and nonsmokers' breath. The 1,3-butadiene and 2,5-dimethylfuran peak levels in the smokers' breath were similar (360 and 376 microg/m(3), respectively); the average benzene peak level was 522 microg/m(3). We found higher peak values of the target chemicals and shorter residence times in the body than previously reported, probably because of the improved time resolution made possible by the continuous breath measurement method. The real-time breath analyzer also showed the presence of the chemicals after exposure in the breath of the nonsmokers, but at greatly reduced levels. Single breath samples collected in evacuated canisters and analyzed independently with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry confirmed the presence of the target compounds in the postexposure breath of the nonsmokers but indicated that there was some contamination of the breath analyzer measurements. This was likely caused by desorption of organics from condensed tar in the analyzer tubing and on the quartz fiber filter used to remove particles. We used the decay data from the smokers to estimate residence times for the target chemicals. A two-compartment exponential model generally gave a better fit to the experimental decay data from the smokers than a single-compartment model. Residence times for benzene, 1,3-butadiene, and 2,5-dimethylfuran ranged from 0.5 (1,3-butadiene) to 0.9 min (benzene) for tau1 and were essentially constant (14 min) for tau2. These findings

Optical filter finesses enhancement based on nested coupled cavities and active medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adib, George A.; Sabry, Yasser M.; Khalil, Diaa

2016-04-01

Optical filters with relatively large FSR and narrow linewidth are simultaneously needed for different applications. The ratio between the FSR and the 3-dB linewidth is given by finesse of the filter, which is solely determined by the different energy loss mechanisms limited by the technology advancement. In this work, we present a novel coupled-cavity configuration embedding an optical filter and a gain medium; allowing an overall finesse enhancement and simultaneous FSR and 3-dB linewidth engineering beyond the technological limits of the filter fabrication method. The configuration consists of two resonators. An active ring resonator comprises an optical gain medium and a passive resonator. In one configuration, the optical filter is the passive resonator itself. In a second configuration, the passive resonator is another ring resonator that embeds the optical filter. The presented configurations using a semiconductor optical amplifier are applied one time to a mechanically Fabry-Perot filter in the first presented configuration; and a second time to a fiber ring filter in the second presented configuration. The mechanical filter has an original 3-dB linewidth of 1nm and an FSR that is larger than 100nm while the enhanced linewidth is about 0.3nm. The fiber ring filter length is 4 m and directional coupler ratios of 90/10corresponding to a 3-dBlinewidth of about 4MHz and an FSR of 47 MHz. The enhanced 3- dBlinewidth of the overall filter configuration is 200kHz, demonstrating finesse enhancement up to20 times the original finesse of the filter.

Advancing the Use of Passive Sampling in Risk Assessment and Management of Sediments Contaminated with Hydrophobic Organic Chemicals: Results of an International Ex Situ Passive Sampling Interlaboratory Comparison

EPA Science Inventory

This work presents the results of an international interlaboratory comparison on ex situ passive sampling in sediments. The main objectives were to map the state of the science in passively sampling sediments, identify sources of variability, provide recommendations and practical...

Advancing the Use of Passive Sampling in Risk Assessment and Management of Sediments Contaminated with Hydrophobic Organic Chemicals: Results of an International Ex Situ Passive Sampling Interlaboratory Comparison

EPA Science Inventory

This work presents the results of an international interlaboratory comparison on ex situ passive sampling in sediments. The main objectives were to map the state of the science in passively sampling sediments, identify sources of variability, provide recommendations and practica...

Use of Passive Diffusion Samplers for Monitoring Volatile Organic Compounds in Ground Water

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harte, Philip T.; Brayton, Michael J.; Ives, Wayne

2000-01-01

Passive diffusion samplers have been tested at a number of sites where volatile organic compounds (VOC's) are the principal contaminants in ground water. Test results generally show good agreement between concentrations of VOC's in samples collected with diffusion samplers and concentrations in samples collected by purging the water from a well. Diffusion samplers offer several advantages over conventional and low-flow ground-water sampling procedures: * Elimination of the need to purge a well before collecting a sample and to dispose of contaminated water. * Elimination of cross-contamination of samples associated with sampling with non-dedicated pumps or sample delivery tubes. * Reduction in sampling time by as much as 80 percent of that required for 'purge type' sampling methods. * An increase in the frequency and spatial coverage of monitoring at a site because of the associated savings in time and money. The successful use of diffusion samplers depends on the following three primary factors: (1) understanding site conditions and contaminants of interest (defining sample objectives), (2) validating of results of diffusion samplers against more widely acknowledged sampling methods, and (3) applying diffusion samplers in the field.

Passivation effect on optical and electrical properties of molecular beam epitaxy-grown HgCdTe/CdTe/Si layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiran, Rajni; Mallick, Shubhrangshu; Hahn, Suk-Ryong; Lee, T. S.; Sivananthan, Sivalingam; Ghosh, Siddhartha; Wijewarnasuriya, P. S.

2006-06-01

The effects of passivation with two different passivants, ZnS and CdTe, and two different passivation techniques, physical vapor deposition (PVD) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), were quantified in terms of the minority carrier lifetime and extracted surface recombination velocity on both MBE-grown medium-wavelength ir (MWIR) and long-wavelength ir HgCdTe samples. A gradual increment of the minority carrier lifetime was reported as the passivation technique was changed from PVD ZnS to PVD CdTe, and finally to MBE CdTe, especially at low temperatures. A corresponding reduction in the extracted surface recombination velocity in the same order was also reported for the first time. Initial data on the 1/ f noise values of as-grown MWIR samples showed a reduction of two orders of noise power after 1200-Å ZnS deposition.

Comparison of a novel passive sampler to standard water-column sampling for organic contaminants associated with wastewater effluents entering a New Jersey stream

USGS Publications Warehouse

Alvarez, D.A.; Stackelberg, P.E.; Petty, J.D.; Huckins, J.N.; Furlong, E.T.; Zaugg, S.D.; Meyer, M.T.

2005-01-01

Four water samples collected using standard depth and width water-column sampling methodology were compared to an innovative passive, in situ, sampler (the polar organic chemical integrative sampler or POCIS) for the detection of 96 organic wastewater-related contaminants (OWCs) in a stream that receives agricultural, municipal, and industrial wastewaters. Thirty-two OWCs were identified in POCIS extracts whereas 9-24 were identified in individual water-column samples demonstrating the utility of POCIS for identifying contaminants whose occurrence are transient or whose concentrations are below routine analytical detection limits. Overall, 10 OWCs were identified exclusively in the POCIS extracts and only six solely identified in the water-column samples, however, repetitive water samples taken using the standard method during the POCIS deployment period required multiple trips to the sampling site and an increased number of samples to store, process, and analyze. Due to the greater number of OWCs detected in the POCIS extracts as compared to individual water-column samples, the ease of performing a single deployment as compared to collecting and processing multiple water samples, the greater mass of chemical residues sequestered, and the ability to detect chemicals which dissipate quickly, the passive sampling technique offers an efficient and effective alternative for detecting OWCs in our waterways for wastewater contaminants.

Actively Shaken In-Situ Passive Sampler Platform for Methylmercury and Organics

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-01

Figure 3.2- PRC dissipation and compound uptake kinetics generally assumed for the Performance Reference Compound (PRC) approach...dissipation and compound uptake kinetics generally assumed for the performance reference compound (PRC) approach. C(t) and C(ss) refer to target...under-equilibrated passive sampler measurements that need to be corrected for equilibrium, typically by extrapolation of the loss kinetics of

Function Clustering Self-Organization Maps (FCSOMs) for mining differentially expressed genes in Drosophila and its correlation with the growth medium.

PubMed

Liu, L L; Liu, M J; Ma, M

2015-09-28

The central task of this study was to mine the gene-to-medium relationship. Adequate knowledge of this relationship could potentially improve the accuracy of differentially expressed gene mining. One of the approaches to differentially expressed gene mining uses conventional clustering algorithms to identify the gene-to-medium relationship. Compared to conventional clustering algorithms, self-organization maps (SOMs) identify the nonlinear aspects of the gene-to-medium relationships by mapping the input space into another higher dimensional feature space. However, SOMs are not suitable for huge datasets consisting of millions of samples. Therefore, a new computational model, the Function Clustering Self-Organization Maps (FCSOMs), was developed. FCSOMs take advantage of the theory of granular computing as well as advanced statistical learning methodologies, and are built specifically for each information granule (a function cluster of genes), which are intelligently partitioned by the clustering algorithm provided by the DAVID_6.7 software platform. However, only the gene functions, and not their expression values, are considered in the fuzzy clustering algorithm of DAVID. Compared to the clustering algorithm of DAVID, these experimental results show a marked improvement in the accuracy of classification with the application of FCSOMs. FCSOMs can handle huge datasets and their complex classification problems, as each FCSOM (modeled for each function cluster) can be easily parallelized.

Organic-inorganic hybrid carbon dots for cell imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Huan; Zhang, Hongwen; Li, Jiayu; Tang, Yuying; Cao, Yu; Jiang, Yan

2018-04-01

In this paper, nitrogen-doped carbon dots (CDs) had been synthesized directly by one-step ultrasonic treatment under mild conditions. During the functionalization process, Octa-aminopropyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane hydrochloride salt (OA-POSS) was used as stabilizing and passivation agent, which lead to self-assembling of CDs in aqueous medium solution. OA-POSS was obtained via hydrolytic condensation of γ-aminopropyl triethoxy silane (APTES). The average size of CDs prepared was approximately 3.3 nm with distribution between 2.5 nm and 4.5 nm. The prepared organic-inorganic hybrid carbon dots have several characteristics such as photoluminescence emission wavelength, efficient cellular uptake, and good biocompatibility. The results indicate that OA-POSS can maintain the fluorescence properties of the carbon dots effectively, and reduced cytotoxicity provides the possibility for biomedical applications. More than 89% of the Hela cells were viable when incubated with 2 mg ml‑1 or lesser organic-inorganic hybrid carbon dots. Thus, it provides a potential for multicolor imaging with HeLa cells.

REAL-TIME EMISSION CHARACTERIZATION OF ORGANIC AIR TOXIC POLLUTANTS DURING STEADY STATE AND TRANSIENT OPERATION OF A MEDIUM DUTY DIESEL ENGINE

EPA Science Inventory

An on-line monitoring method, jet resonance-enhanced multi-photon ionization (REMPI) with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) was used to measure emissions of organic air toxics from a medium-duty (60 kW)diesel generator during transient and steady state operations. Emission...

Passive blast pressure sensor

DOEpatents

King, Michael J.; Sanchez, Roberto J.; Moss, William C.

2013-03-19

A passive blast pressure sensor for detecting blast overpressures of at least a predetermined minimum threshold pressure. The blast pressure sensor includes a piston-cylinder arrangement with one end of the piston having a detection surface exposed to a blast event monitored medium through one end of the cylinder and the other end of the piston having a striker surface positioned to impact a contact stress sensitive film that is positioned against a strike surface of a rigid body, such as a backing plate. The contact stress sensitive film is of a type which changes color in response to at least a predetermined minimum contact stress which is defined as a product of the predetermined minimum threshold pressure and an amplification factor of the piston. In this manner, a color change in the film arising from impact of the piston accelerated by a blast event provides visual indication that a blast overpressure encountered from the blast event was not less than the predetermined minimum threshold pressure.

Comparison of passive and active leisure activities and life satisfaction with aging.

PubMed

Cho, Dongwook; Post, Jay; Kim, Sung Kyeom

2018-03-01

Many older adults face limitations to participating in active leisure activities as a result of their physical constraints from aging. Passive leisure activities become alternative leisure activities for older adults as a result of limited physical capacity. The present study sought to determine whether there exists a difference in the frequency of participation in passive and active leisure activities, and the effect of participation in passive and active leisure activities on the life satisfaction level of old adults. A total of 460 participants aged 60-95 years were randomly selected from 21 sites in the USA. The Life Satisfaction Index - Z and the Meaningful Activity Participation Assessment were analyzed to examine older adults' life satisfaction and frequency of active or passive activities. The results showed that participation in passive leisure activities, such reading, talking on the telephone and watching TV/listening to the radio, is more frequent among older adults (P = 0.000). The regression coefficient found that club/organization or volunteering (P = 0.008), homemaking/maintenance (P = 0.017) and traveling (P = 0.017) for active leisure activities were statistically significant predictors of Life Satisfaction Index - Z for older adults. The current study shows that older adults spent much more times participating in passive leisure activities, such as radio/watching TV, talking on the phone and reading. The result also showed that active leisure activities, such as club/organization or volunteering, home making/maintenance and traveling, were significant predictors of life satisfaction for older adults controlling for covariates. The current study suggests marketing and programming plans to overcome the constraints that influence older adults' life satisfaction. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 380-386. © 2017 Japan Geriatrics Society.

A Cr4+:YAG passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 microchip laser for controllable high-order Hermite-Gaussian modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Jun; He, Yu; Bai, Sheng-Chuang; Ueda, Ken-ichi; Kaminskii, Alexander A.

2016-09-01

A nanosecond, high peak power, passively Q-switched laser for controllable Hermite-Gaussian (HG) modes has been achieved by manipulating the saturated inversion population inside the gain medium. The stable HG modes are generated in a Cr4+:YAG passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 microchip laser by applying a tilted pump beam. The asymmetrical saturated inversion population distribution inside the Nd:YVO4 crystal for desirable HG modes is manipulated by choosing the proper pump beam diameter and varying pump power. A HG9,8 mode passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 microchip laser with average output power of 265 mW has been obtained. Laser pulses with a pulse width of 7.3 ns and peak power of over 1.7 kW working at 21 kHz have been generated in the passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 microchip laser.

Applicability of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyethersulfone (PES) as passive samplers of more hydrophobic organic compounds in intertidal estuarine environments.

PubMed

Posada-Ureta, Oscar; Olivares, Maitane; Delgado, Alejandra; Prieto, Ailette; Vallejo, Asier; Irazola, Mireia; Paschke, Albrecht; Etxebarria, Nestor

2017-02-01

The uptake calibration of three passive samplers, stir-bars, MESCO/stir-bars and polyethersulfone tubes (PES t ), was assessed in seawater at different salinities for 17 organic compounds including organochlorine compounds, pesticides, phthalates, musk fragrances and triclosan. The calibration procedure was accomplished by exposing the samplers to a continuous flow of fortified seawater for up to 14days under laboratory conditions. Prior to the exposure, stir-bars and MESCO/stir-bars were loaded with a known amount of deuterated PAH mixture as performance reference compounds (PRC). For most of the studied compounds, the sampling rates (Rs, mL·day -1 ) were determined for each sampler at two salinities (15 and 30‰) and two nominal concentrations (25 and 50ng·L -1 ). Among the tested devices, though PES can be an outstanding cheap alternative to other passive samplers, naked or free stir-bars provided the best results in terms of uptake rates (i.e., the Rs values ranged from 30 to 350mL·day -1 ). Regarding the variation of the salinity, the Rs values obtained with naked stir-bars were statistically comparable in the full range of salinities (0-30‰) but the values obtained with MESCO/stir-bars and PES t were salinity dependent. Consequently, only stir-bars assured the required robustness to be used as passive samplers in intertidal estuarine environments. Finally, the stir-bars were applied to estimate the time-weighted average concentration of some of those contaminants in the feeding seawater of the experimental aquaria at the Plentzia Marine Station (Basque Country) and low levels of musks fragrances (0.1-0.2ng·L -1 ) were estimated. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interlanguage Passive Construction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simargool, Nirada

2008-01-01

Because the appearance of the passive construction varies cross linguistically, differences exist in the interlanguage (IL) passives attempted by learners of English. One such difference is the widely studied IL pseudo passive, as in "*new cars must keep inside" produced by Chinese speakers. The belief that this is a reflection of L1 language…

Networked Virtual Organizations: A Chance for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises on Global Markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cellary, Wojciech

Networked Virtual Organizations (NVOs) are a right answer to challenges of globalized, diversified, and dynamic contemporary economy. NVOs need more than e-trade and outsourcing, namely, they need out-tasking and e-collaboration. To out-task, but retain control on the way a task is performed by an external partner, two integrations are required: (1) integration of computer management systems of enterprises cooperating within an NVO; and (2) integration of cooperating representatives of NVO member enterprises into a virtual team. NVOs provide a particular chance to Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) to find their place on global markets and to play a significant role on them. Requirements for SMEs to be able to successfully join an NVO are analyzed in the paper.

Passive monitoring using traffic noise recordings - case study on the Steinachtal Bridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salvermoser, Johannes; Stähler, Simon; Hadziioannou, Céline

2015-04-01

Civil structures age continuously. The early recognition of potentially critical damages is an important economical issue, but also one of public safety. Continuous tracking of small changes in the medium by using passive methods would offer an extension to established active non-destructive testing procedures at relatively low cost. Here we present a case study of structural monitoring using continuous recordings of traffic noise on a 200 meter long reinforced concrete highway bridge in Germany. Over two months of continuos geophone records are used in the frequency range of 2-8 Hz. Using passive image interferometry, evaluation of hourly cross-correlations between recordings at pairs of receivers yield velocity variations in the range of -1.5% to +2.1%. We were able to correlate our outcomes with temperature measurements of the same two month period. The measured velocity changes scale with the temperature variations with on average a dv/v of 0.064% per degree Celsius. This value is in accordance with other studies of concrete response to temperature, confirming that we are able to observe subtle changes with physical origin. It is shown that traffic noise is temporally homogenenous enough to fulfill the requirements of passive image interferometry.

Field application of passive SBSE for the monitoring of pesticides in surface waters.

PubMed

Assoumani, A; Coquery, M; Liger, L; Mazzella, N; Margoum, C

2015-03-01

Spot sampling lacks representativeness for monitoring organic contaminants in most surface waters. Passive sampling has emerged as a cost-effective complementary sampling technique. We recently developed passive stir bar sorptive extraction (passive SBSE), with Twister from Gerstel, for monitoring moderately hydrophilic to hydrophobic pesticides (2.18 < log K ow < 5.11) in surface water. The aims of the present study were to assess this new passive sampler for the determination of representative average concentrations and to evaluate the contamination levels of two French rivers. Passive SBSE was evaluated for the monitoring of 16 pesticides in two rivers located in a small vineyard watershed during two 1-month field campaigns in spring 2010 and spring 2011. Passive SBSE was applied for periods of 1 or 2 weeks during the field campaigns and compared with spot sampling and weekly average automated sampling. The results showed that passive SBSE could achieve better time-representativeness than spot sampling and lower limits of quantification than automated sampling coupled with analytical SBSE for the pesticides studied. Finally, passive SBSE proved useful for revealing spatial and temporal variations in pesticide contamination of both rivers and the impact of rainfall and runoff on the river water quality.

Passive air sampling theory for semivolatile organic compounds.

PubMed

Bartkow, Michael E; Booij, Kees; Kennedy, Karen E; Müller, Jochen F; Hawker, Darryl W

2005-07-01

The mathematical modelling underlying passive air sampling theory can be based on mass transfer coefficients or rate constants. Generally, these models have not been inter-related. Starting with basic models, the exchange of chemicals between the gaseous phase and the sampler is developed using mass transfer coefficients and rate constants. Importantly, the inter-relationships between the approaches are demonstrated by relating uptake rate constants and loss rate constants to mass transfer coefficients when either sampler-side or air-side resistance is dominating chemical exchange. The influence of sampler area and sampler volume on chemical exchange is discussed in general terms and as they relate to frequently used parameters such as sampling rates and time to equilibrium. Where air-side or sampler-side resistance dominates, an increase in the surface area of the sampler will increase sampling rates. Sampling rates are not related to the sampler/air partition coefficient (K(SV)) when air-side resistance dominates and increase with K(SV) when sampler-side resistance dominates.

Surface passivation for tight-binding calculations of covalent solids.

PubMed

Bernstein, N

2007-07-04

Simulation of a cluster representing a finite portion of a larger covalently bonded system requires the passivation of the cluster surface. We compute the effects of an explicit hybrid orbital passivation (EHOP) on the atomic structure in a model bulk, three-dimensional, narrow gap semiconductor, which is very different from the wide gap, quasi-one-dimensional organic molecules where most passivation schemes have been studied in detail. The EHOP approach is directly applicable to minimal atomic orbital basis methods such as tight-binding. Each broken bond is passivated by a hybrid created from an explicitly expressed linear combination of basis orbitals, chosen to represent the contribution of the missing neighbour, e.g. a sp(3) hybrid for a single bond. The method is tested by computing the forces on atoms near a point defect as a function of cluster geometry. We show that, compared to alternatives such as pseudo-hydrogen passivation, the force on an atom converges to the correct bulk limit more quickly as a function of cluster radius, and that the force is more stable with respect to perturbations in the position of the cluster centre. The EHOP method also obviates the need for parameterizing the interactions between the system atoms and the passivating atoms. The method is useful for cluster calculations of non-periodic defects in large systems and for hybrid schemes that simulate large systems by treating finite regions with a quantum-mechanical model, coupled to an interatomic potential description of the rest of the system.

Surface passivation for tight-binding calculations of covalent solids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernstein, N.

2007-07-01

Simulation of a cluster representing a finite portion of a larger covalently bonded system requires the passivation of the cluster surface. We compute the effects of an explicit hybrid orbital passivation (EHOP) on the atomic structure in a model bulk, three-dimensional, narrow gap semiconductor, which is very different from the wide gap, quasi-one-dimensional organic molecules where most passivation schemes have been studied in detail. The EHOP approach is directly applicable to minimal atomic orbital basis methods such as tight-binding. Each broken bond is passivated by a hybrid created from an explicitly expressed linear combination of basis orbitals, chosen to represent the contribution of the missing neighbour, e.g. a sp3 hybrid for a single bond. The method is tested by computing the forces on atoms near a point defect as a function of cluster geometry. We show that, compared to alternatives such as pseudo-hydrogen passivation, the force on an atom converges to the correct bulk limit more quickly as a function of cluster radius, and that the force is more stable with respect to perturbations in the position of the cluster centre. The EHOP method also obviates the need for parameterizing the interactions between the system atoms and the passivating atoms. The method is useful for cluster calculations of non-periodic defects in large systems and for hybrid schemes that simulate large systems by treating finite regions with a quantum-mechanical model, coupled to an interatomic potential description of the rest of the system.

Feasibility study of a passive aeration reactor equipped with vertical pipes for compost stabilization of cow manure.

PubMed

Sylla, Youssouf Boundou; Kuroda, Masao; Yamada, Masayuki; Matsumoto, Naoko

2006-10-01

Pilot-scale composting was carried out with cow manure to evaluate the performances of two passive aeration systems: a conventional passive aeration system equipped with horizontal pipes and an unusual passive aeration method based on air delivery by means of vertical pipes. The effects of both types of passive aeration apparatus were investigated in order to determine the degree of composting rate by continuously monitoring temperature, moisture content, organic matter, electrical conductivity, pH and C/N ratio in the piles. Temperatures in the range of thermophily (55-65 degrees C) were reached in all runs within 1-2 days then lasting for about 1 week, a span long enough for pathogen abatement. Results suggest that passive aeration carried out by vertical pipes is more effective for air delivery into compost piles than conventional passive aeration of air adduction with horizontal pipes. The variation in the number of vertical pipes was revealed to be an important parameter for the control of composting rate and temperature. Composting rates estimated from the heat balance equation were substantially in agreement with those computed through the conversion ratio of total organic matter decrement. The conversion ratios and composting rates obtained in this study using passive aeration with vertical pipes were well aligned with those found using forced air delivery systems.

Nitride passivation reduces interfacial traps in atomic-layer-deposited Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/GaAs (001) metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors using atmospheric metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aoki, T., E-mail: aokit@sc.sumitomo-chem.co.jp; Fukuhara, N.; Osada, T.

2014-07-21

Using an atmospheric metal-organic chemical vapor deposition system, we passivated GaAs with AlN prior to atomic layer deposition of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. This AlN passivation incorporated nitrogen at the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/GaAs interface, improving the capacitance-voltage (C–V) characteristics of the resultant metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors (MOSCAPs). The C–V curves of these devices showed a remarkable reduction in the frequency dispersion of the accumulation capacitance. Using the conductance method at various temperatures, we extracted the interfacial density of states (D{sub it}). The D{sub it} was reduced over the entire GaAs band gap. In particular, these devices exhibited D{sub it} around the midgap ofmore » less than 4 × 10{sup 12} cm{sup −2}eV{sup −1}, showing that AlN passivation effectively reduced interfacial traps in the MOS structure.« less

Molecular Monolayers for Electrical Passivation and Functionalization of Silicon-Based Solar Energy Devices.

PubMed

Veerbeek, Janneke; Firet, Nienke J; Vijselaar, Wouter; Elbersen, Rick; Gardeniers, Han; Huskens, Jurriaan

2017-01-11

Silicon-based solar fuel devices require passivation for optimal performance yet at the same time need functionalization with (photo)catalysts for efficient solar fuel production. Here, we use molecular monolayers to enable electrical passivation and simultaneous functionalization of silicon-based solar cells. Organic monolayers were coupled to silicon surfaces by hydrosilylation in order to avoid an insulating silicon oxide layer at the surface. Monolayers of 1-tetradecyne were shown to passivate silicon micropillar-based solar cells with radial junctions, by which the efficiency increased from 8.7% to 9.9% for n + /p junctions and from 7.8% to 8.8% for p + /n junctions. This electrical passivation of the surface, most likely by removal of dangling bonds, is reflected in a higher shunt resistance in the J-V measurements. Monolayers of 1,8-nonadiyne were still reactive for click chemistry with a model catalyst, thus enabling simultaneous passivation and future catalyst coupling.

Characterization and Application of Passive Samplers for Monitoring of Pesticides in Water.

PubMed

Ahrens, Lutz; Daneshvar, Atlasi; Lau, Anna E; Kreuger, Jenny

2016-08-03

Five different water passive samplers were calibrated under laboratory conditions for measurement of 124 legacy and current used pesticides. This study provides a protocol for the passive sampler preparation, calibration, extraction method and instrumental analysis. Sampling rates (RS) and passive sampler-water partition coefficients (KPW) were calculated for silicone rubber, polar organic chemical integrative sampler POCIS-A, POCIS-B, SDB-RPS and C18 disk. The uptake of the selected compounds depended on their physicochemical properties, i.e., silicone rubber showed a better uptake for more hydrophobic compounds (log octanol-water partition coefficient (KOW) > 5.3), whereas POCIS-A, POCIS-B and SDB-RPS disk were more suitable for hydrophilic compounds (log KOW < 0.70).

Passive Residential Houses with the Accumulation Properties of Ground as a Heat Storage Medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ochab, Piotr; Kokoszka, Wanda; Kogut, Janusz; Skrzypczak, Izabela; Szyszka, Jerzy; Starakiewicz, Aleksander

2017-12-01

Solar radiation is the primary source of life energy on Earth. The irradiance of the upper atmosphere is about 1360 W/m2, and it is estimated that about 1000 W/m2 reaches the ground. Long-term storage of heat energy is related to the use of a suitable thermal energy carrier. It may be either artificial or natural water tank, or artificial gravel-water tank, or aquifer or soil. It is justified to store the generated energy in large heating systems due to the nature of solar thermal energy. Typically, in such a solution storage space is a large solar collector farm. The reason for this is the proportionally small unit profits, which only in the case of large number of units provides sufficient energy that can be accumulated. It should be noted that Poland, a country located in a temperate and less harsh climate such as Scandinavia and Canada, has a relatively high potential for solar revenue. In the last decade, it has caused mainly small and individual heating installations. However, much of the municipal and industrial economy continues to rely on energy from non-renewable resources. This is due not only to the lack of a high-efficiency alternative to non-renewable energy resources, but also to the thermal state of buildings throughout the country, where old buildings require thermomodernization. This has the effect of both polluting the environment and the occurrence of smog, as well as pollutants in water and soil. This directly affects the occurrence of civilization diseases and other societal health problems. Therefore, the surplus of thermal clean energy that occurs during the spring and summer period should not only be used on a regular basis, but also stored for later winter use. The paper presents the concept of housing estate, which consists of 32 twin housing units. The solid character of buildings consistently refers to passive construction, and the materials meet the requirements for the passive buildings.

Method of passivating semiconductor surfaces

DOEpatents

Wanlass, Mark W.

1990-01-01

A method of passivating Group III-V or II-VI semiconductor compound surfaces. The method includes selecting a passivating material having a lattice constant substantially mismatched to the lattice constant of the semiconductor compound. The passivating material is then grown as an ultrathin layer of passivating material on the surface of the Group III-V or II-VI semiconductor compound. The passivating material is grown to a thickness sufficient to maintain a coherent interface between the ultrathin passivating material and the semiconductor compound. In addition, a device formed from such method is also disclosed.

Radio Frequency Interference Detection for Passive Remote Sensing Using Eigenvalue Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schoenwald, Adam; Kim, Seung-Jun; Mohammed-Tano, Priscilla

2017-01-01

Radio frequency interference (RFI) can corrupt passive remote sensing measurements taken with microwave radiometers. With the increasingly utilized spectrum and the push for larger bandwidth radiometers, the likelihood of RFI contamination has grown significantly. In this work, an eigenvalue-based algorithm is developed to detect the presence of RFI and provide estimates of RFI-free radiation levels. Simulated tests show that the proposed detector outperforms conventional kurtosis-based RFI detectors in the low-to-medium interferece-to-noise-power-ratio (INR) regime under continuous wave (CW) and quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) RFIs.

Radio Frequency Interference Detection for Passive Remote Sensing Using Eigenvalue Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schoenwald, Adam J.; Kim, Seung-Jun; Mohammed, Priscilla N.

2017-01-01

Radio frequency interference (RFI) can corrupt passive remote sensing measurements taken with microwave radiometers. With the increasingly utilized spectrum and the push for larger bandwidth radiometers, the likelihood of RFI contamination has grown significantly. In this work, an eigenvalue-based algorithm is developed to detect the presence of RFI and provide estimates of RFI-free radiation levels. Simulated tests show that the proposed detector outperforms conventional kurtosis-based RFI detectors in the low-to-medium interference-to-noise-power-ratio (INR) regime under continuous wave (CW) and quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) RFIs.

A passive ozone sampler based on a reaction with nitrite.

PubMed

Koutrakis, P; Wolfson, J M; Bunyaviroch, A; Froehlich, S

1994-02-01

Standard ozone monitoring techniques utilize large, heavy, and expensive instruments that are not easily adapted for personal or microenvironmental monitoring. For large-scale monitoring projects that examine spatial variations of a pollutant and human exposure assessments, passive sampling devices can provide the methodology to meet monitoring and statistical goals. Recently, we developed a coated filter for ozone collection that we used in a commercially available passive sampling device. Successful preliminary results merited further validation tests, which are presented in this report. The passive ozone sampler used in field and laboratory experiments consists of a badge clip supporting a barrel-shaped body that contains two coated glass fiber filters. The principle component of the coating is nitrite ion, which in the presence of ozone is oxidized to nitrate ion on the filter medium (NO2- + O3 produces NO3- + O2). After sample collection, the filters were extracted with ultrapure water and analyzed for nitrate ion by ion chromatography. The results from laboratory and field validation tests indicated excellent agreement between the passive method and standard ozone monitoring techniques. We determined that relative humidity (ranging from 10% to 80%) and temperature (ranging from 0 degrees C to 40 degrees C) at typical ambient ozone levels (40 to 100 parts per billion) do not influence sampler performance. Face velocity and sampler orientation with respect to wind direction were found to affect the sampler's collection rate of ozone. Using a protective cup, which acts as both a wind screen and a rain cover, we were able to obtain a constant collection rate over a wide range of wind speeds.

Treating inertia in passive microbead rheology.

PubMed

Indei, Tsutomu; Schieber, Jay D; Córdoba, Andrés; Pilyugina, Ekaterina

2012-02-01

The dynamic modulus G(*) of a viscoelastic medium is often measured by following the trajectory of a small bead subject to Brownian motion in a method called "passive microbead rheology." This equivalence between the positional autocorrelation function of the tracer bead and G(*) is assumed via the generalized Stokes-Einstein relation (GSER). However, inertia of both bead and medium are neglected in the GSER so that the analysis based on the GSER is not valid at high frequency where inertia is important. In this paper we show how to treat both contributions to inertia properly in one-bead passive microrheological analysis. A Maxwell fluid is studied as the simplest example of a viscoelastic fluid to resolve some apparent paradoxes of eliminating inertia. In the original GSER, the mean-square displacement (MSD) of the tracer bead does not satisfy the correct initial condition. If bead inertia is considered, the proper initial condition is realized, thereby indicating an importance of including inertia, but the MSD oscillates at a time regime smaller than the relaxation time of the fluid. This behavior is rather different from the original result of the GSER and what is observed. What is more, the discrepancy from the GSER result becomes worse with decreasing bead mass, and there is an anomalous gap between the MSD derived by naïvely taking the zero-mass limit in the equation of motion and the MSD for finite bead mass as indicated by McKinley et al. [J. Rheol. 53, 1487 (2009)]. In this paper we show what is necessary to take the zero-mass limit of the bead safely and correctly without causing either the inertial oscillation or the anomalous gap, while obtaining the proper initial condition. The presence of a very small purely viscous element can be used to eliminate bead inertia safely once included in the GSER. We also show that if the medium contains relaxation times outside the window where the single-mode Maxwell behavior is observed, the oscillation can be

Passive Endwall Treatments for Enhancing Stability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hathaway, Michael D.

2007-01-01

These lecture notes were presented at the von Karman Institutes lecture series on Advances in Axial Compressor Aerodynamics, May 2006. They provide a fairly extensive overview of what's been learned from numerous investigations of various passive casing endwall technologies that have been proposed for alleviating the stall limiting physics associated with the compressor endwall flow field. The lecture notes are organized to give an appreciation for the inventiveness and understanding of the earliest compressor technologists and to provide a coherent thread of understanding that has arisen out of the early investigations. As such the lecture notes begin with a historical overview of casing treatments from their infancy through the earliest proposed concepts involving blowing, suction and flow recirculation. A summary of lessons learned from these early investigations is provided at the end of this section. The lecture notes then provide a somewhat more in-depth overview of recent advancements in the development of passive casing treatments from the late 1990's through 2006, including advancements in understanding the flow mechanism of circumferential groove casing treatments, and the development of discrete tip injection and self-recirculating casing treatments. At the conclusion of the lecture notes a final summary of lessons learned throughout the history of the development of passive casing treatments is provided. Finally, a list of future needs is given. It is hoped that these lecture notes will be a useful reference for future research endeavors to improve our understanding of the fluid physics of passive casing treatments and how they act to enhance compressor stability, and that they will perhaps provide a springboard for future research activities in this area of interest

Corrosion behaviour of Al-Fe-Ti-V medium entropy alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bodunrin, M. O.; Obadele, B. A.; Chown, L. H.; Olubambi, P. A.

2017-12-01

Alloys containing up to four multi-principal elements in equiatomic ratios are referred to as medium entropy alloys (MEA). These alloys have attracted the interest of many researchers due to the superior mechanical properties it offers over the traditional alloys. The design approach of MEA often results to simple solid solution with either body centered cubic; face centered cubic structures or both. As the consideration for introducing the alloys into several engineering application increases, there have been efforts to study the corrosion behaviour of these alloys. Previous reports have shown that some of these alloys are more susceptible to corrosion when compared with traditional alloys due to lack of protective passive film. In this research, we have developed AlFeTiV medium entropy alloys containing two elements (Ti and Al) that readily passivate when exposed to corrosive solutions. The alloys were produced in vacuum arc furnace purged with high purity argon. Open circuit potential and potentiodynamic polarisation tests were used to evaluate the corrosion behaviour of the as-cast AlFeTiV alloy in 3.5 wt% NaCl and 1 M H2SO4. The corrosion performance of the alloy was compared with Ti-6Al-4V alloy tested under similar conditions. The results show that unlike in Ti-6Al-4V alloy, the open circuit potential of the AlFeTiV alloy move towards the negative values in both 3.5 wt% NaCl and 1 M H2SO4 solutions indicating that self-activation occurred rapidly on immersion. Anodic polarisation of the alloys showed that AlFeTiV alloy exhibited a narrow range of passivity in both solutions. In addition, the alloys exhibited lower Ecorr and higher Icorr when compared with traditional Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The traditional Ti-6Al-4V alloy showed superior corrosion resistant to the AlFeTiV alloy in both 3.5 wt.% NaCl and 1 M H2SO4 solutions.

Competing effects of particle and medium inertia on particle diffusion in viscoelastic materials, and their ramifications for passive microrheology.

PubMed

Indei, Tsutomu; Schieber, Jay D; Córdoba, Andrés

2012-04-01

We analyze the appropriate form for the generalized Stokes-Einstein relation (GSER) for viscoelastic solids and fluids when bead inertia and medium inertia are taken into account, which we call the inertial GSER. It was previously shown for Maxwell fluids that the Basset (or Boussinesq) force arising from medium inertia can act purely dissipatively at high frequencies, where elasticity of the medium is dominant. In order to elucidate the cause of this counterintuitive result, we consider Brownian motion in a purely elastic solid where ordinary Stokes-type dissipation is not possible. The fluctuation-dissipation theorem requires the presence of a dissipative mechanism for the particle to experience fluctuating Brownian forces in a purely elastic solid. We show that the mechanism for such dissipation arises from the radiation of elastic waves toward the system boundaries. The frictional force associated with this mechanism is the Basset force, and it exists only when medium inertia is taken into consideration in the analysis of such a system. We consider first a one-dimensional harmonic lattice where all terms in the generalized Langevin equation--i.e., the elastic term, the memory kernel, and Brownian forces-can be found analytically from projection-operator methods. We show that the dissipation is purely from radiation of elastic waves. A similar analysis is made on a particle in a continuum, three-dimensional purely elastic solid, where the memory kernel is determined from continuum mechanics. Again, dissipation arises only from radiation of elastic shear waves toward infinite boundaries when medium inertia is taken into account. If the medium is a viscoelastic solid, Stokes-type dissipation is possible in addition to radiational dissipation so that the wave decays at the penetration depth. Inertial motion of the bead couples with the elasticity of the viscoelastic material, resulting in a possible resonant oscillation of the mean-square displacement (MSD) of the

Passive appendages generate drift through symmetry breaking

PubMed Central

Lācis, U.; Brosse, N.; Ingremeau, F.; Mazzino, A.; Lundell, F.; Kellay, H.; Bagheri, S.

2014-01-01

Plants and animals use plumes, barbs, tails, feathers, hairs and fins to aid locomotion. Many of these appendages are not actively controlled, instead they have to interact passively with the surrounding fluid to generate motion. Here, we use theory, experiments and numerical simulations to show that an object with a protrusion in a separated flow drifts sideways by exploiting a symmetry-breaking instability similar to the instability of an inverted pendulum. Our model explains why the straight position of an appendage in a fluid flow is unstable and how it stabilizes either to the left or right of the incoming flow direction. It is plausible that organisms with appendages in a separated flow use this newly discovered mechanism for locomotion; examples include the drift of plumed seeds without wind and the passive reorientation of motile animals. PMID:25354545

Method of passivating semiconductor surfaces

DOEpatents

Wanlass, M.W.

1990-06-19

A method is described for passivating Group III-V or II-VI semiconductor compound surfaces. The method includes selecting a passivating material having a lattice constant substantially mismatched to the lattice constant of the semiconductor compound. The passivating material is then grown as an ultrathin layer of passivating material on the surface of the Group III-V or II-VI semiconductor compound. The passivating material is grown to a thickness sufficient to maintain a coherent interface between the ultrathin passivating material and the semiconductor compound. In addition, a device formed from such method is also disclosed.

Passive Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bojesen, Emile

2018-01-01

This paper does not present an advocacy of a passive education as opposed to an active education nor does it propose that passive education is in any way 'better' or more important than active education. Through readings of Maurice Blanchot, Jacques Derrida and B.S. Johnson, and gentle critiques of Jacques Rancière and John Dewey, passive…

[Effect of phosphate and organic acid addition on passivation of simulated Pb contaminated soil and the stability of the product].

PubMed

Zuo, Ji-Chao; Gao, Ting-Ting; Su, Xiao-Juan; Wan, Tian-Ying; Hu, Hong-Qing

2014-10-01

Organic acids can improve the phosphorus availability, influence the immobilization of heavy metals in soil, and has very complicated function in phosphorus activation and heavy metal passivation. This research took simulated Pb contaminated soil as material, phosphate and citric acid as remediation matter, adopted BCR continuous extraction, 0.01 mol · L(-1) CaCl2 and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) to evaluate the remediation effect. Besides, malic acid and NaNO3 were taken as desorption reagents to discuss the stability of the phosphorus-citric acid-Pb system. The results showed that: in the absence of citric acid, the amount of acid extracted Pb decreased along with the increase of P concentration; when the P concentration was 100 and 400 mg · kg(-1), acid extractable Pb increased with the increasing of citric acid concentration. However, residual Pb changed in the opposite direction from acid extractable Pb. The phenomenon showed that P improved the bioavailability of Pb, while citric acid had the opposite effect. With a certain organic acid concentration, extractable Pb contents extracted by 0.01 mol · L(-1) CaCl2 and TCLP both decreased with the increasing P concentration, therefore, P had immobilization effect on Pb in contaminated soil. But at a fixed P concentration, extractable Pb contents by 0.01 mol · L(-1) CaCl2 and TCLP changed in the opposite trend with the increasing citric acid concentration. The desorption rate of Pb in soil increased with the increasing malic acid concentration, the decreasing pH and the increasing ionic strength. The desorption extent of Pb in soil with P only was lower than that with both P and citric acid. But the stability of Pb passivated by the former was higher.

Hydrogenation of passivated contacts

DOEpatents

Nemeth, William; Yuan, Hao-Chih; LaSalvia, Vincenzo; Stradins, Pauls; Page, Matthew R.

2018-03-06

Methods of hydrogenation of passivated contacts using materials having hydrogen impurities are provided. An example method includes applying, to a passivated contact, a layer of a material, the material containing hydrogen impurities. The method further includes subsequently annealing the material and subsequently removing the material from the passivated contact.

Controllable self-induced passivation of hybrid lead iodide perovskites toward high performance solar cells.

PubMed

Chen, Qi; Zhou, Huanping; Song, Tze-Bin; Luo, Song; Hong, Ziruo; Duan, Hsin-Sheng; Dou, Letian; Liu, Yongsheng; Yang, Yang

2014-07-09

To improve the performance of the polycrystalline thin film devices, it requires a delicate control of its grain structures. As one of the most promising candidates among current thin film photovoltaic techniques, the organic/inorganic hybrid perovskites generally inherit polycrystalline nature and exhibit compositional/structural dependence in regard to their optoelectronic properties. Here, we demonstrate a controllable passivation technique for perovskite films, which enables their compositional change, and allows substantial enhancement in corresponding device performance. By releasing the organic species during annealing, PbI2 phase is presented in perovskite grain boundaries and at the relevant interfaces. The consequent passivation effects and underlying mechanisms are investigated with complementary characterizations, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), time-resolved photoluminescence decay (TRPL), scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM), and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS). This controllable self-induced passivation technique represents an important step to understand the polycrystalline nature of hybrid perovskite thin films and contributes to the development of perovskite solar cells judiciously.

Automating Battlefield Event Reporting Using Conceptual Spaces and Fuzzy Logic for Passive Speech Interpretation

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-01

SPACES AND FUZZY LOGIC FOR PASSIVE SPEECH INTERPRETATION Katie T. McConky Research Scientist CUBRC Buffalo, NY, U.S.A. mcconky@cubrc.org...ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) CUBRC ,4455 Genesee Street, Suite 106,Buffalo,NY,14225 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING

The role of passive sampling in monitoring the environmental impacts of produced water discharges from the Norwegian oil and gas industry.

PubMed

Hale, Sarah E; Oen, Amy M P; Cornelissen, Gerard; Jonker, Michiel T O; Waarum, Ivar-Kristian; Eek, Espen

2016-10-15

Stringent and periodic iteration of regulations related to the monitoring of chemical releases from the offshore oil and gas industry requires the use of ever changing, rapidly developing and technologically advancing techniques. Passive samplers play an important role in water column monitoring of produced water (PW) discharge to seawater under Norwegian regulation, where they are used to; i) measure aqueous concentrations of pollutants, ii) quantify the exposure of caged organisms and investigate PW dispersal, and iii) validate dispersal models. This article summarises current Norwegian water column monitoring practice and identifies research and methodological gaps for the use of passive samplers in monitoring. The main gaps are; i) the range of passive samplers used should be extended, ii) differences observed in absolute concentrations accumulated by passive samplers and organisms should be understood, and iii) the link between PW discharge concentrations and observed acute and sub-lethal ecotoxicological end points in organisms should be investigated. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of water chemistry and natural organic matter on active and passive uptake of inorganic mercury by gills of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

PubMed

Klinck, Joel; Dunbar, Michael; Brown, Stephanie; Nichols, Joel; Winter, Anna; Hughes, Christopher; Playle, Richard C

2005-03-25

To distinguish physiologically regulated uptake from passive uptake of inorganic Hg in fish, rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were exposed to inorganic Hg (0.5, 1, or 2 microM total Hg) in ion-poor water with various treatments. Addition of ions to the water (mM concentrations of Ca, K, Cl) did not consistently alter Hg accumulation by trout gills, although there was a trend to higher Hg accumulation at higher ion concentrations. The apical Ca channel blockers Verapamil and lanthanum also did not consistently affect Hg accumulation by trout gills. Pre-treatment of trout with the Na channel blocker Phenamil decreased Hg uptake by about half. These results suggest a combination of physiologically regulated and passive uptake of Hg by trout gills. Strong complexing agents of Hg (EDTA, NTA, ethylenediamine, cysteine) decreased Hg-binding by trout gills in a dose-dependent manner. From these data, a conditional equilibrium binding constant for Hg to the gills was estimated as logK(Hg-gill) = 18.0, representing very strong binding of Hg to the gills. This value is a first step in creating a biotic ligand model (BLM) for inorganic Hg and fish. Natural organic matter (2-10 mg C/L) also decreased Hg-binding by trout gills, although mM concentrations of Na, K, and Cl interfered with this effect. At low concentrations of these ions, natural organic matter samples isolated from various sources bound Hg to similar degrees, as judged by Hg accumulation by trout gills. A conditional binding constant to natural organic matter (NOM) was estimated as logK(Hg-NOM) = 18.0 with about 0.5 micromol binding sites per mg C, representing strong binding of Hg to NOM.

Quantitative passive soil vapor sampling for VOCs--Part 4: Flow-through cell.

PubMed

McAlary, Todd; Groenevelt, Hester; Seethapathy, Suresh; Sacco, Paolo; Crump, Derrick; Tuday, Michael; Schumacher, Brian; Hayes, Heidi; Johnson, Paul; Parker, Louise; Górecki, Tadeusz

2014-05-01

This paper presents a controlled experiment comparing several quantitative passive samplers for monitoring concentrations of volatile organic compound (VOC) vapors in soil gas using a flow-through cell. This application is simpler than conventional active sampling using adsorptive tubes because the flow rate does not need to be precisely measured and controlled, which is advantageous because the permeability of subsurface materials affects the flow rate and the permeability of geologic materials is highly variable. Using passive samplers in a flow-through cell, the flow rate may not need to be known exactly, as long as it is sufficient to purge the cell in a reasonable time and minimize any negative bias attributable to the starvation effect. An experiment was performed in a 500 mL flow-through cell using a two-factor, one-half fraction fractional factorial test design with flow rates of 80, 670 and 930 mL min(-1) and sample durations of 10, 15 and 20 minutes for each of five different passive samplers (passive Automatic Thermal Desorption Tube, Radiello®, SKC Ultra, Waterloo Membrane Sampler™ and 3M™ OVM 3500). A Summa canister was collected coincident with each passive sampler and analyzed by EPA Method TO-15 to provide a baseline for comparison of the passive sampler concentrations. The passive sampler concentrations were within a factor of 2 of the Summa canister concentrations in 32 of 35 cases. Passive samples collected at the low flow rate and short duration showed low concentrations, which is likely attributable to insufficient purging of the cell after sampler placement.

High-nitrogen compost as a medium for organic container-grown crops.

PubMed

Raviv, Michael; Oka, Yuji; Katan, Jaacov; Hadar, Yitzhak; Yogev, Anat; Medina, Shlomit; Krasnovsky, Arkady; Ziadna, Hammam

2005-03-01

Compost was tested as a medium for organic container-grown crops. Nitrogen (N) loss during composting of separated cow manure (SCM) was minimized using high C/N (wheat straw, WS; grape marc, GM) or a slightly acidic (orange peels, OP) additives. N conservation values in the resultant composts were 82%, 95% and 98% for GM-SCM, OP-SCM and WS-SCM, respectively. Physical characteristics of the composts were compatible with use as growing media. The nutritional contribution of the composts was assessed using cherry tomato (Lycopersicon esculantum Mill.) and by means of incubation experiments. Media were either unfertilized or fertilized with guano (sea-bird manure). Plant responses suggest that N availability is the main variable affecting growth. Unfertilized OP-SCM and WS-SCM supplied the N needed for at least 4 months of plant growth. Root-galling index (GI) of tomato roots and number of eggs of the nematode Meloidogyne javanica were reduced by the composts, with the highest reduction obtained by OP-SCM and WS-SCM, at 50% concentrations. These composts, but not peat, reduced the incidence of crown and root-rot disease in tomato as well as the population size of the causal pathogen, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici.

Adaptive spatial combining for passive time-reversed communications.

PubMed

Gomes, João; Silva, António; Jesus, Sérgio

2008-08-01

Passive time reversal has aroused considerable interest in underwater communications as a computationally inexpensive means of mitigating the intersymbol interference introduced by the channel using a receiver array. In this paper the basic technique is extended by adaptively weighting sensor contributions to partially compensate for degraded focusing due to mismatch between the assumed and actual medium impulse responses. Two algorithms are proposed, one of which restores constructive interference between sensors, and the other one minimizes the output residual as in widely used equalization schemes. These are compared with plain time reversal and variants that employ postequalization and channel tracking. They are shown to improve the residual error and temporal stability of basic time reversal with very little added complexity. Results are presented for data collected in a passive time-reversal experiment that was conducted during the MREA'04 sea trial. In that experiment a single acoustic projector generated a 24-PSK (phase-shift keyed) stream at 200400 baud, modulated at 3.6 kHz, and received at a range of about 2 km on a sparse vertical array with eight hydrophones. The data were found to exhibit significant Doppler scaling, and a resampling-based preprocessing method is also proposed here to compensate for that scaling.

Organic contaminant separator

DOEpatents

Del Mar, P.

1993-12-28

A process is presented of sample preparation prior to analysis for the concentration of an organic contaminant in an aqueous medium by (a) passing an initial aqueous medium including a minor amount of the organic contaminant through a composite tube comprised of a blend of a polyolefin and a polyester, the composite tube having an internal diameter of from about 0.1 to about 2.0 millimeters and being of sufficient length to permit the organic contaminant to adhere to the composite tube, (b) passing a solvent through the composite tube. The solvent is capable of separating the adhered organic contaminant from the composite tube. Further, an extraction apparatus is presented for sample preparation prior to analysis for the concentration of an organic contaminant in an aqueous medium. The apparatus includes a composite tube comprised of a blend of a polyolefin and a polyester. The composite tube has an internal diameter of from about 0.1 to about 2.0 millimeters and has sufficient length to permit an organic contaminant contained within an aqueous medium passed therethrough to adhere to the composite tube. 2 figures.

Identification of non-streptococcal organisms from human dental plaque grown on the Streptococcus-selective medium mitis-salivarius agar.

PubMed

Kim, Yeon-Hee; Lee, Si Young

2015-02-01

Mitis-salivarius (MS) agar has been used widely in microbial epidemiological studies because oral viridans streptococci can be selectively grown on this medium. Even though the previous findings reported the limited selecting power of MS agar for streptococcus strains, the identities of non-streptococcal strains from human oral samples which can grow on this medium are not clear yet. In this study, we identified non-streptococcal organisms grown on MS agar plates by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene. Eighty bacterial colonies on MS plates were isolated from plaque samples, and bacterial identification was achieved with the rapid ID 32 Strep system and mini API reader. The bacterial colonies identified as non-streptococci by the API system were selected for further identification. The 16S rRNA gene was amplified by PCR and verified using DNA sequencing analysis for identification. Sequences were compared with those of reference organisms in the genome database of the National Center for Biotechnology Information using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). Among the 11 isolated non-streptococcal strains on MS plates, 3 strains were identified as Actinomyces naeslundii, 7 strains were identified as Actinomyces oris and 1 strain were identified as Actinomyces sp. using Blastn. In this study, we showed that some oral Actinomyces species can grow on Streptococcus-selective MS agar plates. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Germanium oxide removal by citric acid and thiol passivation from citric acid-terminated Ge(100).

PubMed

Collins, Gillian; Aureau, Damien; Holmes, Justin D; Etcheberry, Arnaud; O'Dwyer, Colm

2014-12-02

Many applications of germanium (Ge) are underpinned by effective oxide removal and surface passivation. This important surface treatment step often requires H-X (X = Cl, Br, I) or HF etchants. Here, we show that aqueous citric acid solutions are effective in the removal of GeOx. The stability of citric acid-treated Ge(100) is compared to HF and HCl treated surfaces and analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Further Ge surface passivation was investigated by thiolation using alkane monothiols and dithiols. The organic passivation layers show good stability with no oxide regrowth observed after 3 days of ambient exposure.

Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} layers for the in-situ passivation of GaN-based HEMT structures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yunin, P. A., E-mail: yunin@ipmras.ru; Drozdov, Yu. N.; Drozdov, M. N.

2015-11-15

A method for the in situ passivation of GaN-based structures with silicon nitride in the growth chamber of a metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) reactor is described. The structural and electrical properties of the obtained layers are investigated. The in situ and ex situ passivation of transistor structures with silicon nitride in an electron-beam-evaporation device are compared. It is shown that ex situ passivation changes neither the initial carrier concentration nor the mobility. In situ passivation makes it possible to protect the structure surface against uncontrollable degradation upon the finishing of growth and extraction to atmosphere. In the inmore » situ passivated structure, the carrier concentration increases and the mobility decreases. This effect should be taken into account when manufacturing passivated GaN-based transistor structures.« less

Study of the interaction of inorganic and organic compounds of cell culture medium with a Ti surface.

PubMed

Burgos-Asperilla, L; García-Alonso, M C; Escudero, M L; Alonso, C

2010-02-01

The interaction between Ti and each component of Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium was studied in depth using different techniques, such as the measurement of the corrosion potential, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and polarization curves. The characterization of metal surfaces was carried out by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The adsorption process of each component was studied using the quartz crystal balance (QCM). The QCM and XPS results reveal that the adsorption kinetics for phosphate and calcium ions is slow. However, the bovine serum albumin (BSA) totally covers the Ti surface rapidly. Because the passive film (titanium oxide) has acidic hydroxyl groups, the calcium ions would have a bridging effect on the electrostatic adsorption of phosphate ions as well as that of BSA. The polarization curves reveal that the adsorbed glucose permits the ionic diffusion of the oxygen to the electrode, while the BSA and fetal bovine serum (FBS) adsorbed after 7 days of immersion act as a diffusive barrier. The impedance measurement and data fitting to the electrical equivalent circuit model show that the resistance of the proteins/TiO(2) interface, for Ti immersed in FBS, is higher than those obtained for BSA, due to the proteins present in the solution as well as the fact that the adsorbed proteins on the surface are greater.

Commentary on "Capturing the Evasive Passive"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lillo-Martin, Diane; Snyder, William

2009-01-01

Passives has been the focus of much research in language acquisition since the 1970s. It has been clear from this research that young children seldom produce passives spontaneously, particularly "long" or "full" passives with a by-phrase; and they usually perform poorly on experimental tests of the comprehension of passives, especially passives of…

Report from the Passive Microwave Data Set Management Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Armstrong, Ed; Conover, Helen; Goodman, Michael; Krupp, Brian; Liu, Zhong; Moses, John; Ramapriyan, H. K.; Scott, Donna; Smith, Deborah; Weaver, Ronald

2011-01-01

Passive microwave data sets are some of the most important data sets in the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), providing data as far back as the early 1970s. The widespread use of passive microwave (PM) radiometer data has led to their collection and distribution over the years at several different Earth science data centers. The user community is often confused by this proliferation and the uneven spread of information about the data sets. In response to this situation, a Passive Microwave Data Set Management Workshop was held 17 ]19 May 2011 at the Global Hydrology Resource Center, sponsored by the NASA Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project. The workshop attendees reviewed all primary (Level 1 ]3) PM data sets from NASA and non ]NASA sensors held by NASA Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), as well as high ]value data sets from other NASA ]funded organizations. This report provides the key findings and recommendations from the workshop as well as detailed tabluations of the datasets considered.

Passivation-free solid state battery

DOEpatents

Abraham, K.M.; Peramunage, D.

1998-06-16

This invention pertains to passivation-free solid-state rechargeable batteries composed of Li{sub 4}Ti{sub 5}O{sub 12} anode, a solid polymer electrolyte and a high voltage cathode. The solid polymer electrolyte comprises a polymer host, such as polyacrylonitrile, poly(vinyl chloride), poly(vinyl sulfone), and poly(vinylidene fluoride), plasticized by a solution of a Li salt in an organic solvent. The high voltage cathode includes LiMn{sub 2}O{sub 4}, LiCoO{sub 2}, LiNiO{sub 2} and LiV{sub 2}O{sub 5} and their derivatives. 5 figs.

Passivation-free solid state battery

DOEpatents

Abraham, Kuzhikalail M.; Peramunage, Dharmasena

1998-01-01

This invention pertains to passivation-free solid-state rechargeable batteries composed of Li.sub.4 Ti.sub.5 O.sub.12 anode, a solid polymer electrolyte and a high voltage cathode. The solid polymer electrolyte comprises a polymer host, such as polyacrylonitrile, poly(vinyl chloride), poly(vinyl sulfone), and poly(vinylidene fluoride), plasticized by a solution of a Li salt in an organic solvent. The high voltage cathode includes LiMn.sub.2 O.sub.4, LiCoO.sub.2, LiNiO.sub.2 and LiV.sub.2 O.sub.5 and their derivatives.

Production of Normal Mammalian Organ Culture Using a Medium Containing Mem-Alpha, Leibovitz L 15, Glucose Galactose Fructose

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodwin, Thomas J. (Inventor); Wolf, David A. (Inventor); Spaulding, Glenn F. (Inventor); Prewett, Tacey L. (Inventor)

1999-01-01

Normal mammalian tissue and the culturing process has been developed for the three groups of organ, structural and blood tissue. The cells are grown in vitro under micro- gravity culture conditions and form three dimensional cells aggregates with normal cell function. The microgravity culture conditions may be microgravity or simulated microgravity created in a horizontal rotating wall culture vessel. The medium used for culturing the cells, especially a mixture of epithelial and mesenchymal cells contains a mixture of Mem-alpha and Leibovits L15 supplemented with glucose, galactose and fructose.

The use of passive membrane samplers to assess organic contaminant inputs at five coastal sites in west Maui, Hawaii

USGS Publications Warehouse

Campbell, Pamela L.; Prouty, Nancy G.; Storlazzi, Curt; D'antonio, Nicole

2017-07-26

Five passive membrane samplers were deployed for 28 continuous days at select sites along and near the west Maui coastline to assess organic compounds and contaminant inputs to diverse, shallow coral reef ecosystems. Daily and weekly fluctuations in such inputs were captured on the membranes using integrative sampling. The distribution of organic compounds observed at these five coastal sites showed considerable variation; with high concentrations of terrestrially sourced organic compounds such as C29 sterols and high molecular weight n-alkanes at the strongly groundwater-influenced Kahekili vent site. In comparison, the coastal sites were presumably influenced more by seasonal surface and stream water runoff and therefore had marine-sourced organic compounds and fewer pharmaceuticals and personal care products. The direct correlation to upstream land-use practices was not obvious and may require additional wet-season sampling. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products as well as flame retardants were detected at all sites, and the Kahekili vent site had the highest number of detections. Planned future work must also determine the organic compound and contaminant concentrations adsorbed onto water column particulate matter, because it may also be an important vector for contaminant transport to coral reef ecosystems. The impact of contaminants per individual (such as fecundity and metabolism) as well as per community (such as species abundance and diversity) is necessary for an accurate assessment of environmental stress. Results presented herein provide current contaminant inputs to select nearshore environments along the west Maui coastline captured during the dry season, and they can be useful to aid potential future evaluations and (or) comparisons.

Combined effect of starch/montmorillonite coating and passive MAP in antioxidant activity, total phenolics, organic acids and volatile of fresh-cut carrots.

PubMed

Guimarães, Isabela Costa; dos Reis, Kelen Cristina; Menezes, Evandro Galvão Tavares; Borges, Paulo Rogério Siriano; Rodrigues, Ariel Costa; Leal, Renato; Hernandes, Thais; de Carvalho, Elisângela Helena Nunes; Vilas Boas, Eduardo Valério de Barros

2016-01-01

This work evaluates fresh-cut carrots (FCC) coated with montmorillonite (MMT) subjected to passive modified atmosphere packaging. Carrots were sanitized, cooled, peeled and sliced. Half of the FCC were coated with MMT nanoparticle film and the other half were not. All FCCs were packed in a polypropylene rigid tray, covered with a polypropylene rigid lid or sealed with polyethylene + propylene film, in four treatments (RL, rigid lid; RLC, rigid lid + coating; ST, sealed tray; STC, sealed tray + coating). FCCs were stored at 4 °C and were analyzed weekly for 4 weeks (total antioxidant activity by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl method and the β-carotene/linoleic acid, phenolic compounds, organic acids and volatile compounds). The use of coating film with starch nanoparticles and a modified atmosphere leads to the preservation of the total antioxidant activity, the volatile and organic acids of FCC.

Surface Passivation in Empirical Tight Binding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Yu; Tan, Yaohua; Jiang, Zhengping; Povolotskyi, Michael; Klimeck, Gerhard; Kubis, Tillmann

2016-03-01

Empirical Tight Binding (TB) methods are widely used in atomistic device simulations. Existing TB methods to passivate dangling bonds fall into two categories: 1) Method that explicitly includes passivation atoms is limited to passivation with atoms and small molecules only. 2) Method that implicitly incorporates passivation does not distinguish passivation atom types. This work introduces an implicit passivation method that is applicable to any passivation scenario with appropriate parameters. This method is applied to a Si quantum well and a Si ultra-thin body transistor oxidized with SiO2 in several oxidation configurations. Comparison with ab-initio results and experiments verifies the presented method. Oxidation configurations that severely hamper the transistor performance are identified. It is also shown that the commonly used implicit H atom passivation overestimates the transistor performance.

The Identification of Complex Organic Molecules in the Interstellar Medium: Using Lasers and Matrix Isolation Spectroscopy to Simulate the Interstellar Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, Bradley M.

1998-01-01

The Astrochemistry Group at NASA Ames Research Center is interested in the identification of large organic molecules in the interstellar medium Many smaller organic species (e.g. hydrocarbons, alcohols, etc.) have been previously identified by their radiofrequency signature due to molecular rotations. However, this becomes increasingly difficult to observe as the size of the molecule increases. Our group in interested in the identification of the carriers of the Diffuse Interstellar Bands (absorption features observed throughout the visible and near-infrared in the spectra of stars, due to species in the interstellar medium). Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and related molecules are thought to be good candidates for these carriers. Laboratory experiments am performed at Ames to simulate the interstellar environment, and to compare spectra obtained from molecules in the laboratory to those derived astronomically. We are also interested in PAHs with respect to their possible connection to the UIR (Unidentified infrared) and ERE (Extended Red Emission) bands - emission features found to emanate from particular regions of our galaxy (e.g. Orion nebula, Red Rectangle, etc.). An old, "tried and proven spectroscopic technique, matrix isolation spectroscopy creates molecular conditions ideal for performing laboratory astrophysics.

Development of Solid Ceramic Dosimeters for the Time-Integrative Passive Sampling of Volatile Organic Compounds in Waters.

PubMed

Bonifacio, Riza Gabriela; Nam, Go-Un; Eom, In-Yong; Hong, Yong-Seok

2017-11-07

Time-integrative passive sampling of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in water can now be accomplished using a solid ceramic dosimeter. A nonporous ceramic, which excludes the permeation of water, allowing only gas-phase diffusion of VOCs into the resin inside the dosimeter, effectively captured the VOCs. The mass accumulation of 11 VOCs linearly increased with time over a wide range of aqueous-phase concentrations (16.9 to 1100 μg L -1 ), and the linearity was dependent upon the Henry's constant (H). The average diffusivity of the VOCs in the solid ceramic was 1.46 × 10 -10 m 2 s -1 at 25 °C, which was 4 orders of magnitude lower than that in air (8.09 × 10 -6 m 2 s -1 ). This value was 60% greater than that in the water-permeable porous ceramic (0.92 × 10 -10 m 2 s -1 ), suggesting that its mass accumulation could be more effective than that of porous ceramic dosimeters. The mass accumulation of the VOCs in the solid ceramic dosimeter increased in the presence of salt (≥0.1 M) and with increasing temperature (4 to 40 °C) but varied only slightly with dissolved organic matter concentration. The solid ceramic dosimeter was suitable for the field testing and measurement of time-weighted average concentrations of VOC-contaminated waters.

Evaluating PCB Bioavailability Using Passive Samplers and Mussles at a Contaminated Sediment Site

EPA Science Inventory

Passive samplers, including semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs), solid phase microextraction (SPME) and polyethylene devices (PEDs), provide innovative tools for measuring hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) originating from contaminated waters and sediments. Because the...

Passive Sampling in Regulatory Chemical Monitoring of Nonpolar Organic Compounds in the Aquatic Environment

EPA Science Inventory

We reviewed compliance monitoring requirements in the European Union (EU), the United States(USA), and the Oslo-Paris Convention for the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR), and evaluated if these are met by passive sampling methods for nonpola...

Influence of organic matter on the transport of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in a ferric oxyhydroxide-coated quartz sand saturated porous medium

USGS Publications Warehouse

Abudalo, R.A.; Ryan, J.N.; Harvey, R.W.; Metge, D.W.; Landkamer, Lee L.

2010-01-01

To assess the effect of organic matter on the transport of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in a geochemically heterogeneous saturated porous medium, we measured the breakthrough and collision efficiencies of oocysts as a function of dissolved organic matter concentration in a flow-through column containing ferric oxyhydroxide-coated sand. We characterized the surface properties of the oocysts and ferric oxyhydroxide-coated sand using microelectrophoresis and streaming potential, respectively, and the amount of organic matter adsorbed on the ferric oxyhydroxide-coated sand as a function of the concentration of dissolved organic matter (a fulvic acid isolated from Florida Everglades water). The dissolved organic matter had no significant effect on the zeta potential of the oocysts. Low concentrations of dissolved organic matter were responsible for reversing the charge of the ferric oxyhydroxide-coated sand surface from positive to negative. The charge reversal and accumulation of negative charge on the ferric oxyhydroxide-coated sand led to increases in oocyst breakthrough and decreases in oocyst collision efficiency with increasing dissolved organic matter concentration. The increase in dissolved organic matter concentration from 0 to 20 mg L-1 resulted in a two-fold decrease in the collision efficiency. ?? 2009 Elsevier Ltd.

Passivation Of High-Temperature Superconductors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vasquez, Richard P.

1991-01-01

Surfaces of high-temperature superconductors passivated with native iodides, sulfides, or sulfates formed by chemical treatments after superconductors grown. Passivating compounds nearly insoluble in and unreactive with water and protect underlying superconductors from effects of moisture. Layers of cuprous iodide and of barium sulfate grown. Other candidate passivating surface films: iodides and sulfides of bismuth, strontium, and thallium. Other proposed techniques for formation of passivating layers include deposition and gas-phase reaction.

Measure Guideline: Passive Vents

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berger, David; Neri, Robin

2016-02-05

This document addresses the use of passive vents as a source of outdoor air in multifamily buildings. The challenges associated with implementing passive vents and the factors affecting performance are outlined. A comprehensive design methodology and quantified performance metrics are provided. Two hypothetical design examples are provided to illustrate the process. This document is intended to be useful to designers, decision-makers, and contractors implementing passive ventilation strategies. It is also intended to be a resource for those responsible for setting high-performance building program requirements, especially pertaining to ventilation and outdoor air. To ensure good indoor air quality, a dedicated sourcemore » of outdoor air is an integral part of high-performance buildings. Presently, there is a lack of guidance pertaining to the design and installation of passive vents, resulting in poor system performance. This report details the criteria necessary for designing, constructing, and testing passive vent systems to enable them to provide consistent and reliable levels of ventilation air from outdoors.« less

Municipal waste stabilization in a reactor with an integrated active and passive aeration system.

PubMed

Kasinski, Slawomir; Slota, Monika; Markowski, Michal; Kaminska, Anna

2016-04-01

To test whether an integrated passive and active aeration system could be an effective solution for aerobic decomposition of municipal waste in technical conditions, a full-scale composting reactor was designed. The waste was actively aerated for 5d, passively aerated for 35 d, and then actively aerated for 5d, and the entire composting process was monitored. During the 45-day observation period, changes in the fractional, morphological and physico-chemical characteristics of the waste at the top of the reactor differed from those in the center of the reactor. The fractional and morphological analysis made during the entire process of stabilization, showed the total reduction of organic matter measured of 82 wt% and 86 wt% at the respective depths. The reduction of organic matter calculated using the results of Lost of Ignition (LOI) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) showed, respectively, 40.51-46.62% organic matter loss at the top and 45.33-53.39% in the center of the reactor. At the end of the process, moisture content, LOI and TOC at the top were 3.29%, 6.10% and 4.13% higher, respectively, than in the center. The results showed that application of passive aeration in larger scale simultaneously allows the thermophilic levels to be maintained during municipal solid waste composting process while not inhibiting microbial activity in the reactor. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Calibrated Passive Sampling--Multi-plot Field Measurements of NH3 Emissions with a Combination of Dynamic Tube Method and Passive Samplers.

PubMed

Pacholski, Andreas

2016-03-21

Agricultural ammonia (NH3) emissions (90% of total EU emissions) are responsible for about 45% airborne eutrophication, 31% soil acidification and 12% fine dust formation within the EU15. But NH3 emissions also mean a considerable loss of nutrients. Many studies on NH3 emission from organic and mineral fertilizer application have been performed in recent decades. Nevertheless, research related to NH3 emissions after application fertilizers is still limited in particular with respect to relationships to emissions, fertilizer type, site conditions and crop growth. Due to the variable response of crops to treatments, effects can only be validated in experimental designs including field replication for statistical testing. The dominating ammonia loss methods yielding quantitative emissions require large field areas, expensive equipment or current supply, which restricts their application in replicated field trials. This protocol describes a new methodology for the measurement of NH3 emissions on many plots linking a simple semi-quantitative measuring method used in all plots, with a quantitative method by simultaneous measurements using both methods on selected plots. As a semi-quantitative measurement method passive samplers are used. The second method is a dynamic chamber method (Dynamic Tube Method) to obtain a transfer quotient, which converts the semi-quantitative losses of the passive sampler to quantitative losses (kg nitrogen ha(-1)). The principle underlying this approach is that passive samplers placed in a homogeneous experimental field have the same NH3 absorption behavior under identical environmental conditions. Therefore, a transfer co-efficient obtained from single passive samplers can be used to scale the values of all passive samplers used in the same field trial. The method proved valid under a wide range of experimental conditions and is recommended to be used under conditions with bare soil or small canopies (<0.3 m). Results obtained from

Techniques for active passivation

DOEpatents

Roscioli, Joseph R.; Herndon, Scott C.; Nelson, Jr., David D.

2016-12-20

In one embodiment, active (continuous or intermittent) passivation may be employed to prevent interaction of sticky molecules with interfaces inside of an instrument (e.g., an infrared absorption spectrometer) and thereby improve response time. A passivation species may be continuously or intermittently applied to an inlet of the instrument while a sample gas stream is being applied. The passivation species may have a highly polar functional group that strongly binds to either water or polar groups of the interfaces, and once bound presents a non-polar group to the gas phase in order to prevent further binding of polar molecules. The instrument may be actively used to detect the sticky molecules while the passivation species is being applied.

Passive Smoking and Risk of Breast Cancer in the California Teachers Study*†‡

PubMed Central

Reynolds, Peggy; Goldberg, Debbie; Hurley, Susan; Nelson, David O.; Largent, Joan; Henderson, Katherine D.; Bernstein, Leslie

2010-01-01

Background Although recent reviews have suggested active smoking to be a risk factor for breast cancer, the association with passive smoke exposure remains controversial. This risk association was explored in a large prospective study of women, the California Teachers Study. Methods Detailed lifetime information on passive smoke exposure by setting (home, work, or social) and by age of exposure were collected in 1997 from 57,523 women who were lifetime nonsmokers and had no history of breast cancer. In the ensuing decade, a total of 1,754 women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Cox proportional hazards models were fit to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) associated with several lifetime passive smoke exposure metrics. Results For all breast cancer, measures of higher lifetime passive smoking intensity and duration were associated with non-statistically significant HRs of 1.11 to 1.14. For postmenopausal women, HRs for lifetime low, medium and high cumulative exposure were 1.17 (95%CI 0.91, 1.49), 1.19 (95%CI 0.93, 1.53), and 1.26 (95% CI 0.99, 1.60). For women exposed in adulthood (age ≥20) risk was elevated at the highest level of cumulative exposure (HR=1.18, 95% CI 1.00, 1.40), primarily among postmenopausal women (HR=1.25, 95% CI 1.01, 1.56). A statistically significant dose response was detected when analysis was restricted to women with moderate to high levels of passive smoke exposure. Conclusion These results suggest that cumulative exposures to high levels of side stream smoke may increase breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women who themselves have never smoked tobacco products. PMID:19959687

Continuous-wave organic dye lasers and methods

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shapira, Ofer; Chua, Song-Liang; Zhen, Bo

2014-09-16

An organic dye laser produces a continuous-wave (cw) output without any moving parts (e.g., without using flowing dye streams or spinning discs of solid-state dye media to prevent photobleaching) and with a pump beam that is stationary with respect to the organic dye medium. The laser's resonant cavity, organic dye medium, and pump beam are configured to excite a lasing transition over a time scale longer than the associated decay lifetimes in the organic dye medium without photobleaching the organic dye medium. Because the organic dye medium does not photobleach when operating in this manner, it may be pumped continuouslymore » so as to emit a cw output beam. In some examples, operation in this manner lowers the lasing threshold (e.g., to only a few Watts per square centimeter), thereby facilitating electrical pumping for cw operation.« less

Passive cavitation imaging with ultrasound arrays

PubMed Central

Salgaonkar, Vasant A.; Datta, Saurabh; Holland, Christy K.; Mast, T. Douglas

2009-01-01

A method is presented for passive imaging of cavitational acoustic emissions using an ultrasound array, with potential application in real-time monitoring of ultrasound ablation. To create such images, microbubble emissions were passively sensed by an imaging array and dynamically focused at multiple depths. In this paper, an analytic expression for a passive image is obtained by solving the Rayleigh–Sommerfield integral, under the Fresnel approximation, and passive images were simulated. A 192-element array was used to create passive images, in real time, from 520-kHz ultrasound scattered by a 1-mm steel wire. Azimuthal positions of this target were accurately estimated from the passive images. Next, stable and inertial cavitation was passively imaged in saline solution sonicated at 520 kHz. Bubble clusters formed in the saline samples were consistently located on both passive images and B-scans. Passive images were also created using broadband emissions from bovine liver sonicated at 2.2 MHz. Agreement was found between the images and source beam shape, indicating an ability to map therapeutic ultrasound beams in situ. The relation between these broadband emissions, sonication amplitude, and exposure conditions are discussed. PMID:20000921

Passive cavitation imaging with ultrasound arrays.

PubMed

Salgaonkar, Vasant A; Datta, Saurabh; Holland, Christy K; Mast, T Douglas

2009-12-01

A method is presented for passive imaging of cavitational acoustic emissions using an ultrasound array, with potential application in real-time monitoring of ultrasound ablation. To create such images, microbubble emissions were passively sensed by an imaging array and dynamically focused at multiple depths. In this paper, an analytic expression for a passive image is obtained by solving the Rayleigh-Sommerfield integral, under the Fresnel approximation, and passive images were simulated. A 192-element array was used to create passive images, in real time, from 520-kHz ultrasound scattered by a 1-mm steel wire. Azimuthal positions of this target were accurately estimated from the passive images. Next, stable and inertial cavitation was passively imaged in saline solution sonicated at 520 kHz. Bubble clusters formed in the saline samples were consistently located on both passive images and B-scans. Passive images were also created using broadband emissions from bovine liver sonicated at 2.2 MHz. Agreement was found between the images and source beam shape, indicating an ability to map therapeutic ultrasound beams in situ. The relation between these broadband emissions, sonication amplitude, and exposure conditions are discussed.

Evaluation of passive diffusion bag and dialysis samplers in selected wells at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, July 2001

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vroblesky, Don A.; Pravecek, Tasha

2002-01-01

Field comparisons of chemical concentrations obtained from dialysis samplers, passive diffusion bag samplers, and low-flow samplers showed generally close agreement in most of the 13 wells tested during July 2001 at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. The data for chloride, sulfate, iron, alkalinity, arsenic, and methane appear to show that the dialysis samplers are capable of accurately collecting a passive sample for these constituents. In general, the comparisons of volatile organic compound concentrations showed a relatively close correspondence between the two different types of diffusion samples and between the diffusion samples and the low-flow samples collected in most wells. Divergence appears to have resulted primarily from the pumping method, either producing a mixed sample or water not characteristic of aquifer water moving through the borehole under ambient conditions. The fact that alkalinity was not detected in the passive diffusion bag samplers, highly alkaline waters without volatilization loss from effervescence, which can occur when a sample is acidified for preservation. Both dialysis and passive diffusion bag samplers are relatively inexpensive and can be deployed rapidly and easily. Passive diffusion bag samplers are intended for sampling volatile organic compounds only, but dialysis samplers can be used to sample both volatile organic compounds and inorganic solutes. Regenerated cellulose dialysis samplers, however, are subject to biodegradation and probably should be deployed no sooner than 2 weeks prior to recovery. 1 U.S. Geological Survey, Columbia, South Carolina. 2 Air Florce Center for Environmental Excellence, San Antionio, Texas.

Passive detection of vehicle loading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKay, Troy R.; Salvaggio, Carl; Faulring, Jason W.; Salvaggio, Philip S.; McKeown, Donald M.; Garrett, Alfred J.; Coleman, David H.; Koffman, Larry D.

2012-01-01

The Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Laboratory (DIRS) at the Rochester Institute of Technology, along with the Savannah River National Laboratory is investigating passive methods to quantify vehicle loading. The research described in this paper investigates multiple vehicle indicators including brake temperature, tire temperature, engine temperature, acceleration and deceleration rates, engine acoustics, suspension response, tire deformation and vibrational response. Our investigation into these variables includes building and implementing a sensing system for data collection as well as multiple full-scale vehicle tests. The sensing system includes; infrared video cameras, triaxial accelerometers, microphones, video cameras and thermocouples. The full scale testing includes both a medium size dump truck and a tractor-trailer truck on closed courses with loads spanning the full range of the vehicle's capacity. Statistical analysis of the collected data is used to determine the effectiveness of each of the indicators for characterizing the weight of a vehicle. The final sensing system will monitor multiple load indicators and combine the results to achieve a more accurate measurement than any of the indicators could provide alone.

Passive potassium transport in low potassium sheep red cells: dependence upon cell volume and chloride.

PubMed Central

Dunham, P B; Ellory, J C

1981-01-01

The major pathway of passive K influx (ouabain-insensitive) was characterized in low-K type (LK) red cells of sheep. 1. Passive K transport in these cells was highly sensitive to variations in cell volume; it increased threefold or more in cells swollen osmotically by 10%, and decreased up to twofold in cells shrunken 5-10%. Active K influx was insensitive to changes in cell volume. Three different methods for varying cell volume osmotically all gave similar results. 2. The volume-sensitive pathway was specific for K in that Na influx did not vary with changes in cell volume. 3. The volume-sensitive K influx was a saturable function of external K concentration. It was slightly inhibited by Na, whereas K influx in shrunken cells was unaffected by Na. 4. Passive K influx was dependent on the major anion in the medium in that replacement of Cl with any of six other anions resulted in a reduction of K influx by 50-80% (replacement of Cl by Br caused an increase in K influx). The activation of K influx by Cl followed sigmoid kinetics. 5. Passive K influx is inhibited by anti-L antibody. The antibody affected only that portion of influx which was Cl-dependent and volume-sensitve. Of the subfractions of the antibody, it is anti-L1 which inhibits passive K transport. 6. Pretreatment of cells with iodoacetamide reduced the sensitivity of K influx to cell volume in that the influx was reduced in swollen IAA-treated cells and increased in shrunken IAA-cells. 7. Intracellular Ca has no role in altering passive K transport in LK sheep cells. Therefore, the major pathway of passive K transport in LK sheep red cells is sensitive to changes in cell volume, specific for K, dependent on Cl, and inhibited by anti-L1 antibody, The minor pathway, observed in shrunken cells, has none of these properties. PMID:6798197

Organic containment separator

DOEpatents

Del Mar, Peter

1995-01-01

A process of sample preparation prior to analysis for the concentration of an organic contaminant in an aqueous medium by (a) passing an initial aqueous medium including a minor amount of the organic contaminant through a composite tube including a polymeric base material selected from the group of polyolefins and polyfluorocarbons and particles of a carbon allotrope material adfixed to the inner wall of the polymeric base material, the composite tube having an internal diameter of from about 0.1 to about 2.0 millimeters and being of sufficient length to permit the organic contaminant to adhere to the composite tube, (b) passing a solvent through the composite tube, said solvent capable of separating the adhered organic contaminant from the composite tube. Further, an extraction apparatus for sample preparation prior to analysis for the concentration of an organic contaminant in an aqueous medium, said apparatus including a composite tube including a polymeric base material selected from the group of polyolefins and polyfluorocarbons and particles of a carbon allotrope material adfixed to the inner wall of the polymeric base material, the composite tube having an internal diameter of from about 0.1 to about 2.0 millimeters and being of sufficient length to permit an organic contaminant contained within an aqueous medium passed therethrough to adhere to the composite tube is disclosed.

Organic contaminant separator

DOEpatents

Mar, Peter D.

1994-01-01

A process of sample preparation prior to analysis for the concentration of an organic contaminant in an aqueous medium by (a) passing an initial aqueous medium including a minor amount of the organic contaminant through a composite tube including a polymeric base material selected from the group of polyolefins and polyfluorocarbons and particles of a carbon allotrope material adfixed to the inner wall of the polymeric base material, the composite tube having an internal diameter of from about 0.1 to about 2.0 millimeters and being of sufficient length to permit the organic contaminant to adhere to the composite tube, (b) passing a solvent through the composite tube, said solvent capable of separating the adhered organic contaminant from the composite tube. Further, an extraction apparatus for sample preparation prior to analysis for the concentration of an organic contaminant in an aqueous medium, said apparatus including a composite tube including a polymeric base material selected from the group of polyolefins and polyfluorocarbons and particles of a carbon allotrope material adfixed to the inner wall of the polymeric base material, the composite tube having an internal diameter of from about 0.1 to about 2.0 millimeters and being of sufficient length to permit an organic contaminant contained within an aqueous medium passed therethrough to adhere to the composite tube is disclosed.

Tropospheric Passive Remote Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keafer, L. S., Jr. (Editor)

1982-01-01

The long term role of airborne/spaceborne passive remote sensing systems for tropospheric air quality research and the identification of technology advances required to improve the performance of passive remote sensing systems were discussed.

Buckling, stiffening, and negative dissipation in the dynamics of a biopolymer in an active medium

PubMed Central

Kikuchi, Norio; Ehrlicher, Allen; Koch, Daniel; Käs, Josef A.; Ramaswamy, Sriram; Rao, Madan

2009-01-01

We present a generic theory for the dynamics of a stiff filament under tension, in an active medium with orientational correlations, such as a microtubule in contractile actin. In sharp contrast to the case of a passive medium, we find the filament can stiffen, and possibly oscillate or buckle, depending on both the contractile or tensile nature of the activity and the filament-medium anchoring interaction. We also demonstrate a strong violation of the fluctuation–dissipation (FD) relation in the effective dynamics of the filament, including a negative FD ratio. Our approach is also of relevance to the dynamics of axons, and our model equations bear a remarkable formal similarity to those in recent work [Martin P, Hudspeth AJ, Juelicher F (2001) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:14380–14385] on auditory hair cells. Detailed tests of our predictions can be made by using a single filament in actomyosin extracts or bacterial suspensions. PMID:19901332

Comparison of marine sampling methods for organic contaminants: Passive samplers, water extractions, and live oyster deployment.

PubMed

Raub, Kristin B; Vlahos, Penny; Whitney, Michael

2015-08-01

Laboratory and field trials evaluated the efficacy of three methods of detecting aquatic pesticide concentrations. Currently used pesticides: atrazine, metolachlor, and diazinon and legacy pesticide dieldrin were targeted. Pesticides were extracted using solid-phase extraction (SPE) of water samples, titanium plate passive samplers coated in ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and eastern oysters (Crassostrea viginica) as biosamplers. A laboratory study assessed the extraction efficiencies and precision of each method. Passive samplers yielded the highest precision of the three methods (RSD: 3-14% EVA plates; 19-60% oysters; and 25-56% water samples). Equilibrium partition coefficients were derived. A significant relationship was found between the concentration in oyster tissue and the ambient aquatic concentration. In the field (Housatonic River, CT (U.S.)) water sampling (n = 5) detected atrazine at 1.61-7.31 μg L(-1), oyster sampling (n = 2×15) detected dieldrin at n.d.-0.096 μg L(-1) SW and the passive samplers (n = 5×3) detected atrazine at 0.97-3.78 μg L(-1) SW and dieldrin at n.d.-0.68 μg L(-1) SW. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An investigation into the effective surface passivation of quantum dots by a photo-assisted chemical method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joo, So-Yeong; Park, Hyun-Su; Kim, Do-yeon; Kim, Bum-Sung; Lee, Chan Gi; Kim, Woo-Byoung

2018-01-01

In this study, we have developed an effective amino passivation process for quantum dots (QDs) at room temperature and have investigated a passivation mechanism using a photo-assisted chemical method. As a result of the reverse reaction of the H2O molecules, the etching kinetics of the photo-assisted chemical method increased upon increasing the 3-amino-1-propanol (APOL)/H2O ratio of the etching solution. Photon-excited electron-hole pairs lead to strong bonding between the organic and surface atoms of the QDs, and results in an increase of the quantum yield (QY%). This passivation method is also applicable to CdSe/ZnSe core/shell structures of QDs, due to the passivation of mid-gap defects states at the interface. The QY% of the as-synthesized CdSe QDs is dramatically enhanced by the amino passivation from 37% to 75% and the QY% of the CdSe/ZnSe core/shell QDs is also improved by ˜28%.

Multiple mechanisms quench passive spiral galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fraser-McKelvie, Amelia; Brown, Michael J. I.; Pimbblet, Kevin; Dolley, Tim; Bonne, Nicolas J.

2018-02-01

We examine the properties of a sample of 35 nearby passive spiral galaxies in order to determine their dominant quenching mechanism(s). All five low-mass (M⋆ < 1 × 1010 M⊙) passive spiral galaxies are located in the rich Virgo cluster. This is in contrast to low-mass spiral galaxies with star formation, which inhabit a range of environments. We postulate that cluster-scale gas stripping and heating mechanisms operating only in rich clusters are required to quench low-mass passive spirals, and ram-pressure stripping and strangulation are obvious candidates. For higher mass passive spirals, while trends are present, the story is less clear. The passive spiral bar fraction is high: 74 ± 15 per cent, compared with 36 ± 5 per cent for a mass, redshift and T-type matched comparison sample of star-forming spiral galaxies. The high mass passive spirals occur mostly, but not exclusively, in groups, and can be central or satellite galaxies. The passive spiral group fraction of 74 ± 15 per cent is similar to that of the comparison sample of star-forming galaxies at 61 ± 7 per cent. We find evidence for both quenching via internal structure and environment in our passive spiral sample, though some galaxies have evidence of neither. From this, we conclude no one mechanism is responsible for quenching star formation in passive spiral galaxies - rather, a mixture of mechanisms is required to produce the passive spiral distribution we see today.

Monodispersed fabrication and dielectric studies on ethylenediamine passivated α-manganese dioxide nanorods

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Joseph, A. Martin; Kumar, R. Thilak, E-mail: manojthilak@yahoo.com

2016-09-15

Highlights: • Monodispersed ethylenediamine (EDA) passivated α-MnO{sub 2} nanorods were fabricated by inexpensive wet chemical method. • FTIR analysis indicated that surface passivation is strongly influenced by the introduction of the organic ligand. • XRD and HR-SEM revealed the structure and morphology of the fabricated α-MnO{sub 2} nanorods with an average size of about 40 × 200 nm. • Dielectric studies pointed out that the fabricated α-MnO{sub 2} is semiconducting in nature with resistivity, ρ = 1.46 to 5.76 × 10{sup 3} Ωcm. • The optical energy gap for the fabricated α-MnO{sub 2} nanorods is found to be around 1.37more » eV. - Abstract: In this present work, pure α-MnO{sub 2} nanorods were fabricated by the reduction of 0.2 m/L of KMnO{sub 4} with 0.2 m/L of Na{sub 2}S{sub 2}O{sub 3}·5H{sub 2}O and by passivating with the organic ligand Ethylenediamine (EDA). The structural, functional, morphological and chemical composition of the nanorods were investigated by X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR), High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscope (HR-SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (EDX). The XRD analysis indicated high crystalline nature of the product and FTIR confirmed the contribution of the organic ligand in surface passivation. HR-SEM image revealed the morphology of the α-MnO{sub 2} nanorods with an average size of about 40 × 200 nm. EDX confirmed the presence of Mn and O in the material. UV–visible spectrophotometery was used to determine the absorption behavior of the nanorods and an indirect band gap of 1.37 eV was acquired by Taucplot. Dielectric studies were carried out using Broadband Dielectric Spectrometer(BDS) and the resistivity was found to be around the semiconductor range (ρ = 1.46 to 5.76 × 10{sup 3} Ωcm).« less

Chinese Passives: Transformational or Lexical?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Jiuwu; Wen, Xiaohong

Analysis of Chinese passive constructions indicates two types. The first is a verbal or syntactic passive because it is derived through a transformational rule. The second is a lexical passive that has certain properties in common with the predicate adjectives in both Chinese and English and is derived through the semantic function and in lexical…

Thick-Filament Strain and Interfilament Spacing in Passive Muscle: Effect of Titin-Based Passive Tension

PubMed Central

Irving, Thomas; Wu, Yiming; Bekyarova, Tanya; Farman, Gerrie P.; Fukuda, Norio; Granzier, Henk

2011-01-01

We studied the effect of titin-based passive tension on sarcomere structure by simultaneously measuring passive tension and low-angle x-ray diffraction patterns on passive fiber bundles from rabbit skinned psoas muscle. We used a stretch-hold-release protocol with measurement of x-ray diffraction patterns at various passive tension levels during the hold phase before and after passive stress relaxation. Measurements were performed in relaxing solution without and with dextran T-500 to compress the lattice toward physiological levels. The myofilament lattice spacing was measured in the A-band (d1,0) and Z-disk (dZ) regions of the sarcomere. The axial spacing of the thick-filament backbone was determined from the sixth myosin meridional reflection (M6) and the equilibrium positions of myosin heads from the fourth myosin layer line peak position and the I1,1/I1,0 intensity ratio. Total passive tension was measured during the x-ray experiments, and a differential extraction technique was used to determine the relations between collagen- and titin-based passive tension and sarcomere length. Within the employed range of sarcomere lengths (∼2.2–3.4 μm), titin accounted for >80% of passive tension. X-ray results indicate that titin compresses both the A-band and Z-disk lattice spacing with viscoelastic behavior when fibers are swollen after skinning, and elastic behavior when the lattice is reduced with dextran. Titin also increases the axial thick-filament spacing, M6, in an elastic manner in both the presence and absence of dextran. No changes were detected in either I1,1/I1,0 or the position of peaks on the fourth myosin layer line during passive stress relaxation. Passive tension and M6 measurements were converted to thick-filament compliance, yielding a value of ∼85 m/N, which is several-fold larger than the thick-filament compliance determined by others during the tetanic tension plateau of activated intact muscle. This difference can be explained by the fact

26 CFR 1.1398-1 - Treatment of passive activity losses and passive activity credits in individuals' title 11 cases.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 11 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Treatment of passive activity losses and passive... to Individuals' Title 11 Cases § 1.1398-1 Treatment of passive activity losses and passive activity... and rules of general application. For purposes of this section— (1) Passive activity and former...

Assessing cellulolysis in passive treatment systems for mine drainage: a modified enzyme assay.

PubMed

McDonald, Corina M; Gould, W Douglas; Lindsay, Matthew B J; Blowes, David W; Ptacek, Carol J; Condon, Peter D

2013-01-01

A modified cellulase enzyme assay was developed to monitor organic matter degradation in passive treatment systems for mine drainage. This fluorogenic substrate method facilitates assessment of exo-(1,4)-β-D-glucanase, endo-(1,4)-β-D-glucanase, and β-glucosidase, which compose an important cellulase enzyme system. The modified method was developed and refined using samples of organic carbon-amended mine tailings from field experiments where sulfate reduction was induced as a strategy for managing water quality. Sample masses (3 g) and the number of replicates ( ≥ 3) were optimized. Matrix interferences within these metal-rich samples were found to be insignificant. Application of this modified cellulase assay method provided insight into the availability and degradation of organic carbon within the amended tailings. Results of this study indicate that cellulase enzyme assays can be applied to passive treatment systems for mine drainage, which commonly contain elevated concentrations of metals. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Passive Sampling Methods for Contaminated Sediments: Practical Guidance for Selection, Calibration, and Implementation

EPA Science Inventory

This article provides practical guidance on the use of passive sampling methods(PSMs) that target the freely dissolved concentration (Cfree) for improved exposure assessment of hydrophobic organic chemicals in sediments. Primary considerations for selecting a PSM for a specific a...

Evaluating the precision of passive sampling methods using PRCs in the water column

EPA Science Inventory

Low-Density polyethylene (LDPE) sheets are often used as passive samplers for aquatic environmental monitoring to measure the dissolved concentrations of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs). HOCs that are freely dissolved in water (Cfree) will partition into the LDPE until a ...

Passivation of surface states in the ZnO nanowire with thermally evaporated copper phthalocyanine for hybrid photodetectors.

PubMed

Chen, Qi; Ding, Huaiyi; Wu, Yukun; Sui, Mengqiao; Lu, Wei; Wang, Bing; Su, Wenming; Cui, Zheng; Chen, Liwei

2013-05-21

The adsorption of O2/H2O molecules on the ZnO nanowire (NW) surface results in the long lifetime of photo-generated carriers and thus benefits ZnO NW-based ultraviolet photodetectors by suppressing the dark current and improving the photocurrent gain, but the slow adsorption process also leads to slow detector response time. Here we show that a thermally evaporated copper phthalocyanine film is effective in passivating surface trap states of ZnO NWs. As a result, the organic/inorganic hybrid photodetector devices exhibit simultaneously improved photosensitivity and response time. This work suggests that it could be an effective way in interfacial passivation using organic/inorganic hybrid structures.

A XPS Study of the Passivity of Stainless Steels Influenced by Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Guocun

The influence of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) on the passivity of type 304 and 317L stainless steels (SS) was investigated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), microbiological and electrochemical techniques. Samples were exposed to SRB, and then the resultant surfaces were analyzed by XPS, and the corrosion resistance by potentiodynamic polarization in deaerated 0.1 M HCl. To further understand their passivity, the SRB-exposed samples were analyzed by XPS after potentiostatic polarization at a passive potential in the hydrochloric solution. The characterization was performed under two surface conditions: unrinsed and rinsed by deaerated alcohol and deionized water. Comparisons were made with control samples immersed in uninoculated medium. SRB caused a severe loss of the passivity of 304 SS through sulfide formation and possible additional activation to form hexavalent chromium. The sulfides included FeS, FeS_2, Cr_2S _3, NiS and possibly Fe_ {rm 1-x}S. The interaction took place nonuniformly, resulting in undercutting of the passive film and preferential hydration of inner surface layers. The bacterial activation of the Cr^{6+ }^ecies was magnified by subsequent potentiostatic polarization. In contrast, 317L SS exhibited a limited passivity. The sulfides were formed mainly in the outer layers. Although Cr^{6+}^ecies were observed after the exposure, they were dissolved upon polarization. Since 317L SS has a higher Mo content, its higher passivity was ascribed to Mo existing as molybdate on the surface and Mo^{5+} species in the biofilm. Consequently, the interaction of SRB with Mo was studied. It was observed that molybdate could be retained on the surfaces of Mo coupons by corrosion products. In the presence of SRB, however, a considerable portion of the molybdate interacted with intermediate sulfur -containing proteins, forming Mo(V)-S complexes and reducing bacterial growth and sulfate reduction. The limited insolubility of the Mo(V)-S complexes in 0

Evaluation of layered and mixed passive treatment systems for acid mine drainage.

PubMed

Jeen, Sung-Wook; Mattson, Bruce

2016-11-01

Laboratory column tests for passive treatment systems for mine drainage from a waste rock storage area were conducted to evaluate suitable reactive mixture, system configuration, effects of influent water chemistry, and required residence time. Five columns containing straw, chicken manure, mushroom compost, and limestone (LS), in either layered or mixed configurations, were set up to simulate the treatment system. The results showed that all of the five columns removed metals of concern (i.e. Al, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Ni, and Zn) with a residence time of 15 h and greater. Reaction mechanisms responsible for the removal of metals may include sulfate reduction and subsequent sulfide precipitation, precipitation of secondary carbonates and hydroxides, co-precipitation, and sorption on organic substrates and secondary precipitates. The results suggest that the mixed systems containing organic materials and LS perform better than the layered systems, sequentially treated by organic and LS layers, due to the enhanced pH adjustment, which is beneficial to bacterial activity and precipitation of secondary minerals. The column tests provide a basis for the design of a field-scale passive treatment system, such as a reducing and alkalinity producing system or a permeable reactive barrier.

Antireflection/Passivation Step For Silicon Cell

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crotty, Gerald T.; Kachare, Akaram H.; Daud, Taher

1988-01-01

New process excludes usual silicon oxide passivation. Changes in principal electrical parameters during two kinds of processing suggest antireflection treatment almost as effective as oxide treatment in passivating cells. Does so without disadvantages of SiOx passivation.

Passive Signals from Aggressive Methods: The Origin and Implications of Organic Material in a Carbonate Stromatolite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petryshyn, V.; Bailey, J.; Stamps, B. W.; Stevenson, B. S.; Corsetti, F. A.

2017-12-01

Microbial activity can play a role in the construction of carbonate features like stromatolites and thrombolites, but determining whether microbes were directly or indirectly involved in the formation can be difficult—an endeavor that becomes more difficult as geologic time passes and organic signals degrade. In order to assess our ability to decipher the role of microbes in stromatolite formation, DNA (geologically short-lived) and alkanes (potentially geologically long-lived) were extracted and analyzed from finely-laminated Holocene carbonate stromatolites of Walker Lake, Nevada. The stromatolitic laminations were typically between 50 and 100 microns thick. The surrounding sediment and lake water was also sampled, for comparison. SSU rRNA gene sequencing suggests that a large percentage (25-40 % relative abundance) of the microbial community found within the stromatolite is comprised of ambient lake algae, not known to form stromatolite-building mats given their size vs. stromatolite lamination thickness, rather than the usual taxa associated with the formation of stromatolites. Other minor taxa were identified, including the bacterial families Cyanobacteria, Flavobacteriaceae, and Rhodobacteraceae. Mirroring the DNA results, the carbon isotopic compositions of the alkanes were largely indistinguishable from the limnic biomass dominated by lake algae. The results suggest that organic matter was passively incorporated into the carbonate structure from the lake as it accreted. Although evidence of life was abundant in the stromatolite, a direct role (builders) or even an indirect role (tenants) is difficult to establish, as the 16S/18S and lipid biomarkers appear to simply originate from the water column (squatters) and not from a unique microbial mat. In the absence of in situ analyses during the formation of the stromatolite, it may be difficult to disentangle the builders from the tenants and/or squatters based solely on molecular or organic geochemical data

Rear-Sided Passivation by SiNx:H Dielectric Layer for Improved Si/PEDOT:PSS Hybrid Heterojunction Solar Cells.

PubMed

Sun, Yiling; Gao, Pingqi; He, Jian; Zhou, Suqiong; Ying, Zhiqin; Yang, Xi; Xiang, Yong; Ye, Jichun

2016-12-01

Silicon/organic hybrid solar cells have recently attracted great attention because they combine the advantages of silicon (Si) and the organic cells. In this study, we added a patterned passivation layer of silicon nitride (SiNx:H) onto the rear surface of the Si substrate in a Si/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) ( PSS) hybrid solar cell, enabling an improvement of 0.6 % in the power conversion efficiency (PCE). The addition of the SiNx:H layer boosted the open circuit voltage (V oc) from 0.523 to 0.557 V, suggesting the well-passivation property of the patterned SiNx:H thin layer that was created by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and lithography processes. The passivation properties that stemmed from front PSS, rear-SiNx:H, front PSS/rear-SiNx:H, etc. are thoroughly investigated, in consideration of the process-related variations.

Visualizing Molecular Diffusion through Passive Permeability Barriers in Cells: Conventional and Novel Approaches

PubMed Central

Lin, Yu-Chun; Phua, Siew Cheng; Lin, Benjamin; Inoue, Takanari

2013-01-01

Diffusion barriers are universal solutions for cells to achieve distinct organizations, compositions, and activities within a limited space. The influence of diffusion barriers on the spatiotemporal dynamics of signaling molecules often determines cellular physiology and functions. Over the years, the passive permeability barriers in various subcellular locales have been characterized using elaborate analytical techniques. In this review, we will summarize the current state of knowledge on the various passive permeability barriers present in mammalian cells. We will conclude with a description of several conventional techniques and one new approach based on chemically-inducible diffusion trap (C-IDT) for probing permeable barriers. PMID:23731778

A simple method for characterizing passive and active neuronal properties: application to striatal neurons.

PubMed

Lepora, Nathan F; Blomeley, Craig P; Hoyland, Darren; Bracci, Enrico; Overton, Paul G; Gurney, Kevin

2011-11-01

The study of active and passive neuronal dynamics usually relies on a sophisticated array of electrophysiological, staining and pharmacological techniques. We describe here a simple complementary method that recovers many findings of these more complex methods but relies only on a basic patch-clamp recording approach. Somatic short and long current pulses were applied in vitro to striatal medium spiny (MS) and fast spiking (FS) neurons from juvenile rats. The passive dynamics were quantified by fitting two-compartment models to the short current pulse data. Lumped conductances for the active dynamics were then found by compensating this fitted passive dynamics within the current-voltage relationship from the long current pulse data. These estimated passive and active properties were consistent with previous more complex estimations of the neuron properties, supporting the approach. Relationships within the MS and FS neuron types were also evident, including a graduation of MS neuron properties consistent with recent findings about D1 and D2 dopamine receptor expression. Application of the method to simulated neuron data supported the hypothesis that it gives reasonable estimates of membrane properties and gross morphology. Therefore detailed information about the biophysics can be gained from this simple approach, which is useful for both classification of neuron type and biophysical modelling. Furthermore, because these methods rely upon no manipulations to the cell other than patch clamping, they are ideally suited to in vivo electrophysiology. © 2011 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience © 2011 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Interior design for passive solar homes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Breen, J. C.

1981-07-01

The increasing emphasis on refinement of passive solar systems brought recognition to interior design as an integral part of passive solar architecture. Interior design can be used as a finetuning tool minimizing many of the problems associated with passive solar energy use in residential buildings. In addition, treatment of interior space in solar model homes may be a prime factor in determining sales success. A new style of interior design is evolving in response to changes in building from incorporating passive solar design features. The psychology behind passive solar architecture is reflected in interiors, and selection of interior components increasingly depends on the functional suitably of various interior elements.

Calibrated Passive Sampling - Multi-plot Field Measurements of NH3 Emissions with a Combination of Dynamic Tube Method and Passive Samplers

PubMed Central

Pacholski, Andreas

2016-01-01

Agricultural ammonia (NH3) emissions (90% of total EU emissions) are responsible for about 45% airborne eutrophication, 31% soil acidification and 12% fine dust formation within the EU15. But NH3 emissions also mean a considerable loss of nutrients. Many studies on NH3 emission from organic and mineral fertilizer application have been performed in recent decades. Nevertheless, research related to NH3 emissions after application fertilizers is still limited in particular with respect to relationships to emissions, fertilizer type, site conditions and crop growth. Due to the variable response of crops to treatments, effects can only be validated in experimental designs including field replication for statistical testing. The dominating ammonia loss methods yielding quantitative emissions require large field areas, expensive equipment or current supply, which restricts their application in replicated field trials. This protocol describes a new methodology for the measurement of NH3 emissions on many plots linking a simple semi-quantitative measuring method used in all plots, with a quantitative method by simultaneous measurements using both methods on selected plots. As a semi-quantitative measurement method passive samplers are used. The second method is a dynamic chamber method (Dynamic Tube Method) to obtain a transfer quotient, which converts the semi-quantitative losses of the passive sampler to quantitative losses (kg nitrogen ha-1). The principle underlying this approach is that passive samplers placed in a homogeneous experimental field have the same NH3 absorption behavior under identical environmental conditions. Therefore, a transfer co-efficient obtained from single passive samplers can be used to scale the values of all passive samplers used in the same field trial. The method proved valid under a wide range of experimental conditions and is recommended to be used under conditions with bare soil or small canopies (<0.3 m). Results obtained from

Driving mechanisms of passive and active transport across cellular membranes as the mechanisms of cell metabolism and development as well as the mechanisms of cellular distance reactions on hormonal expression and the immune response.

PubMed

Ponisovskiy, M R

2011-01-01

The article presents mechanisms of cell metabolism, cell development, cell activity, and maintenance of cellular stability. The literature is reviewed from the point of view of these concepts. The balance between anabolic and catabolic processes induces chemical potentials in the extracellular and intracellular media. The chemical potentials of these media are defined as the driving forces of both passive and active transport of substances across cellular membranes. The driving forces of substance transport across cellular membranes as in cellular metabolism and in immune responses and hormonal expressions are considered in the biochemical and biophysical models, reflecting the mechanisms for maintenance of stability of the internal medium and internal energy of an organism. The interactions of passive transport and active transport of substances across cellular walls promote cell proliferation, as well as the mechanism of cellular capacitors, promoting remote reactions across distance for hormonal expression and immune responses. The offered concept of cellular capacitors has given the possibility to explain the mechanism of remote responses of cells to new situations, resulting in the appearance of additional agents. The biophysical model develops an explanation of some cellular functions: cellular membrane action have been identified with capacitor action, based on the similarity of the structures and as well as on similarity of biophysical properties of electric data that confirm the action of the compound-specific interactions of cells within an organism, promoting hormonal expressions and immune responses to stabilize the thermodynamic system of an organism. Comparison of a cellular membrane action to a capacitor has given the possibility for the explanations of exocytosis and endocytosis mechanisms, internalization of the receptor-ligand complex, selection as a receptor reaction to a ligand by immune responses or hormonal effects, reflecting cellular

Surface correlation behaviors of metal-organic Langmuir-Blodgett films on differently passivated Si(001) surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bal, J. K.; Kundu, Sarathi

2013-03-01

Langmuir-Blodgett films of standard amphiphilic molecules like nickel arachidate and cadmium arachidate are grown on wet chemically passivated hydrophilic (OH-Si), hydrophobic (H-Si), and hydrophilic plus hydrophobic (Br-Si) Si(001) surfaces. Top surface morphologies and height-difference correlation functions g(r) with in-plane separation (r) are obtained from the atomic force microscopy studies. Our studies show that deposited bilayer and trilayer films have self-affine correlation behavior irrespective of different passivations and different types of amphiphilic molecules, however, liquid like correlation coexists only for a small part of r, which is located near the cutoff length (1/κ) or little below the correlation length ξ obtained from the liquid like and self-affine fitting, respectively. Thus, length scale dependent surface correlation behavior is observed for both types of Langmuir-Blodgett films. Metal ion specific interactions (ionic, covalent, etc.,) in the headgroup and the nature of the terminated bond (polar, nonpolar, etc.,) of Si surface are mainly responsible for having different correlation parameters.

Results of a Demonstration Assessment of Passive System Reliability Utilizing the Reliability Method for Passive Systems (RMPS)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bucknor, Matthew; Grabaskas, David; Brunett, Acacia

2015-04-26

Advanced small modular reactor designs include many advantageous design features such as passively driven safety systems that are arguably more reliable and cost effective relative to conventional active systems. Despite their attractiveness, a reliability assessment of passive systems can be difficult using conventional reliability methods due to the nature of passive systems. Simple deviations in boundary conditions can induce functional failures in a passive system, and intermediate or unexpected operating modes can also occur. As part of an ongoing project, Argonne National Laboratory is investigating various methodologies to address passive system reliability. The Reliability Method for Passive Systems (RMPS), amore » systematic approach for examining reliability, is one technique chosen for this analysis. This methodology is combined with the Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) approach to assess the reliability of a passive system and the impact of its associated uncertainties. For this demonstration problem, an integrated plant model of an advanced small modular pool-type sodium fast reactor with a passive reactor cavity cooling system is subjected to a station blackout using RELAP5-3D. This paper discusses important aspects of the reliability assessment, including deployment of the methodology, the uncertainty identification and quantification process, and identification of key risk metrics.« less

Passivation of bimetallic catalysts used in water treatment: prevention and reactivation.

PubMed

Chen, Jianming; Gillham, Robert W; Gui, Lai

2013-01-01

With respect to degradation rates and the range in contaminants treated, bimetals such as Ni-Fe or Pd-Fe generally outperform unamended granular iron. However, the catalytic enhancement is generally short-lived, lasting from a few days to months. To take advantage of the significant benefits of bimetals, this study aims at developing an effective method for the rejuvenation of passivated bimetals and alternatively, the prevention of rapid reactivity loss of bimetals. Because the most likely cause of Ni-Fe and Pd-Fe passivation is the deposition of iron oxide films over the catalyst sites, it is hypothesized that removal of the iron oxide films will restore the lost reactivity or avoiding the deposition of iron oxide films will prevent passivation. Two organic ligands (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and [s,s]-ethylenediaminedisuccinate acid ([s,s]-EDDS)) and two acids (citric acid and sulphuric acid) were tested as possible chemical reagents for both passivation rejuvenation and prevention. Trichloroethene (TCE) and Ni-Fe were chosen as probes for chlorinated solvents and bimetals respectively. The test was carried out using small glass columns packed with Ni-Fe. TCE solution containing a single reagent at various concentrations was pumped through the Ni-Fe columns with a residence time in the Ni-Fe of about 6.6 min. TCE concentrations in the influent and effluent were measured to evaluate the performance of each chemical reagent. The results show that (i) for passivated Ni-Fe, flushing with a low concentration of acid or ligand solution without mechanical mixing can fully restore the lost reactivity; and (ii) for passivation prevention, adding a small amount of a ligand or an acid to the feed solution can successfully prevent or at least substantially reduce Ni-Fe passivation. All four chemicals tested are effective in both rejuvenation and prevention, but sulphuric acid and citric acid are considered to be the most practical reagents due to their

Passive and active floating torque during swimming.

PubMed

Kjendlie, Per-Ludvik; Stallman, Robert Keig; Stray-Gundersen, James

2004-10-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of passive underwater torque on active body angle with the horizontal during front crawl swimming and to assess the effect of body size on passive torque and active body angle. Additionally, the effects of passive torque, body angle and hydrostatic lift on maximal sprinting performance were addressed. Ten boys [aged 11.7 (0.8) years] and 12 male adult [aged 21.4 (3.7) years] swimmers volunteered to participate. Their body angle with the horizontal was measured at maximal velocity, and at two submaximal velocities using an underwater video camera system. Passive torque and hydrostatic lift were measured during an underwater weighing procedure, and the center of mass and center of volume were determined. The results showed that passive torque correlated significantly with the body angle at a velocity 63% of v(max) ( alpha(63) r=-0.57), and that size-normalized passive torque correlated significantly with the alpha(63) and alpha(77) (77% of v(max)) with r=-0.59 and r=-0.54 respectively. Hydrostatic lift correlated with alpha(63) with r=-0.45. The negative correlation coefficients are suggested to be due to the adults having learned to overcome passive torque when swimming at submaximal velocities by correcting their body angle. It is concluded that at higher velocities the passive torque and hydrostatic lift do not influence body angle during swimming. At a velocity of 63% of v(max), hydrostatic lift and passive torque influences body angle. Passive torque and size-normalized passive torque increases with body size. When corrected for body size, hydrostatic lift and passive torque did not influence the maximal sprinting velocity.

The link between exercise and titin passive stiffness.

PubMed

Lalande, Sophie; Mueller, Patrick J; Chung, Charles S

2017-09-01

What is the topic of this review? This review focuses on how in vivo and molecular measurements of cardiac passive stiffness can predict exercise tolerance and how exercise training can reduce cardiac passive stiffness. What advances does it highlight? This review highlights advances in understanding the relationship between molecular (titin-based) and in vivo (left ventricular) passive stiffness, how passive stiffness modifies exercise tolerance, and how exercise training may be therapeutic for cardiac diseases with increased passive stiffness. Exercise can help alleviate the negative effects of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular co-morbidities associated with sedentary behaviour; this may be especially true in diseases that are associated with increased left ventricular passive stiffness. In this review, we discuss the inverse relationship between exercise tolerance and cardiac passive stiffness. Passive stiffness is the physical property of cardiac muscle to produce a resistive force when stretched, which, in vivo, is measured using the left ventricular end diastolic pressure-volume relationship or is estimated using echocardiography. The giant elastic protein titin is the major contributor to passive stiffness at physiological muscle (sarcomere) lengths. Passive stiffness can be modified by altering titin isoform size or by post-translational modifications. In both human and animal models, increased left ventricular passive stiffness is associated with reduced exercise tolerance due to impaired diastolic filling, suggesting that increased passive stiffness predicts reduced exercise tolerance. At the same time, exercise training itself may induce both short- and long-term changes in titin-based passive stiffness, suggesting that exercise may be a treatment for diseases associated with increased passive stiffness. Direct modification of passive stiffness to improve exercise tolerance is a potential therapeutic approach. Titin passive stiffness itself may

Corrosion behavior of Alloy 690 and Alloy 693 in simulated nuclear high level waste medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samantaroy, Pradeep Kumar; Suresh, Girija; Paul, Ranita; Kamachi Mudali, U.; Raj, Baldev

2011-11-01

Nickel based alloys are candidate materials for the storage of high level waste (HLW) generated from reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. In the present investigation Alloy 690 and Alloy 693 are assessed by potentiodynamic anodic polarization technique for their corrosion behavior in 3 M HNO 3, 3 M HNO 3 containing simulated HLW and in chloride medium. Both the alloys were found to possess good corrosion resistance in both the media at ambient condition. Microstructural examination was carried out by SEM for both the alloys after electrolytic etching. Compositional analysis of the passive film formed on the alloys in 3 M HNO 3 and 3 M HNO 3 with HLW was carried out by XPS. The surface of Alloy 690 and Alloy 693, both consists of a thin layer of oxide of Ni, Cr, and Fe under passivation in both the media. The results of investigation are presented in the paper.

Most energetic passive states.

PubMed

Perarnau-Llobet, Martí; Hovhannisyan, Karen V; Huber, Marcus; Skrzypczyk, Paul; Tura, Jordi; Acín, Antonio

2015-10-01

Passive states are defined as those states that do not allow for work extraction in a cyclic (unitary) process. Within the set of passive states, thermal states are the most stable ones: they maximize the entropy for a given energy, and similarly they minimize the energy for a given entropy. Here we find the passive states lying in the other extreme, i.e., those that maximize the energy for a given entropy, which we show also minimize the entropy when the energy is fixed. These extremal properties make these states useful to obtain fundamental bounds for the thermodynamics of finite-dimensional quantum systems, which we show in several scenarios.

Characterization of five passive sampling devices for monitoring of pesticides in water.

PubMed

Ahrens, Lutz; Daneshvar, Atlasi; Lau, Anna E; Kreuger, Jenny

2015-07-31

Five different passive sampler devices were characterized under laboratory conditions for measurement of 124 legacy and current used pesticides in water. In addition, passive sampler derived time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations were compared to time-integrated active sampling in the field. Sampling rates (RS) and passive sampler-water partition coefficients (KPW) were calculated for individual pesticides using silicone rubber (SR), polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS)-A, POCIS-B, Chemcatcher(®) SDB-RPS and Chemcatcher(®) C18. The median RS (Lday(-1)) decreased as follows: SR (0.86)>POCIS-B (0.22)>POCIS-A (0.18)>Chemcatcher(®) SDB-RPS (0.05)>Chemcatcher(®) C18 (0.02), while the median logKPW (Lkg(-1)) decreased as follows: POCIS-B (4.78)>POCIS-A (4.56)>Chemcatcher(®) SDB-RPS (3.17)>SR (3.14)>Chemcatcher(®)C18 (2.71). The uptake of the selected compounds depended on their physicochemical properties, i.e. SR showed a better uptake for more hydrophobic compounds (log octanol-water partition coefficient (KOW)>5.3), whereas POCIS-A, POCIS-B and Chemcatcher(®) SDB-RPS were more suitable for hydrophilic compounds (logKOW<0.70). Overall, the comparison between passive sampler and time-integrated active sampler concentrations showed a good agreement and the tested passive samplers were suitable for capturing compounds with a wide range of KOW's in water. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anomalously slow relaxation of the system of liquid clusters in a disordered nanoporous medium according to the self-organized criticality scenario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borman, V. D.; Tronin, V. N.; Byrkin, V. A.

2016-04-01

We propose a physical model of a relaxation of states of clusters of nonwetting liquid confined in a random nanoporous medium. The relaxation is occurred by the self-organized criticality (SOC) scenario. Process is characterized by waiting for fluctuation necessary for overcoming of a local energy barrier with the subsequent avalanche hydrodynamic extrusion of the liquid by surface forces of the nonwetting frame. The dependence of the interaction between local configurations on the number of filled pores belonging to the infinite percolation cluster of filled pores serves as an internal feedback initiating the SOC process. The calculations give a power-law time dependence of the relative volume θ of the confined liquid θ ∼t-ν (ν ∼ 0.2) as in the picture of relaxation in the mean field approximation. The model of the relaxation of the porous medium with the nonwetting liquid demonstrates possible mechanisms and scenarios of SOC for relaxation of other disordered systems.

[The corrosion of pure iron in five different mediums].

PubMed

Xu, Li; Zhu, Shengfa; Huang, Nan; Li, Xinchang; Zhang, Yu

2009-08-01

The sectional test was adopted in this study to investigate the corrosion of pure iron in 0.15 mol/L NaCl solution, Ringer solution, PBS(-) solution, SBF solution and M199 cell culture medium at three different times. The result shows that different mediums have different corrosion effects on pure iron. The arrangement according to the medium's corrosion ability from the strongest to weakest is 0.15 mol/L NaCl solution (Ringer solution), PBS(-) solution, SBF solution and M199 cell culture medium. The results of scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrum analyses show that the addition of HPO4(2-), H2POC4-, Ca2+, Mg2+, SO4(2-) and the organic component can inhibit the corrosion to some degree.

Passivity-based Robust Control of Aerospace Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kelkar, Atul G.; Joshi, Suresh M. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

This report provides a brief summary of the research work performed over the duration of the cooperative research agreement between NASA Langley Research Center and Kansas State University. The cooperative agreement which was originally for the duration the three years was extended by another year through no-cost extension in order to accomplish the goals of the project. The main objective of the research was to develop passivity-based robust control methodology for passive and non-passive aerospace systems. The focus of the first-year's research was limited to the investigation of passivity-based methods for the robust control of Linear Time-Invariant (LTI) single-input single-output (SISO), open-loop stable, minimum-phase non-passive systems. The second year's focus was mainly on extending the passivity-based methodology to a larger class of non-passive LTI systems which includes unstable and nonminimum phase SISO systems. For LTI non-passive systems, five different passification. methods were developed. The primary effort during the years three and four was on the development of passification methodology for MIMO systems, development of methods for checking robustness of passification, and developing synthesis techniques for passifying compensators. For passive LTI systems optimal synthesis procedure was also developed for the design of constant-gain positive real controllers. For nonlinear passive systems, numerical optimization-based technique was developed for the synthesis of constant as well as time-varying gain positive-real controllers. The passivity-based control design methodology developed during the duration of this project was demonstrated by its application to various benchmark examples. These example systems included longitudinal model of an F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) for pitch axis control, NASA's supersonic transport wind tunnel model, ACC benchmark model, 1-D acoustic duct model, piezo-actuated flexible link model, and NASA

Passive-solar homes for Texas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garrison, M. L.

1982-06-01

Acceptance of passive solar technologies has been slow within the conventional building trades in Texas because it is a common misconception that solar is expensive, and data on local applications is severely limited or nonexistent. It is the purpose of this solar development to move passive solar design into the mainstream of public acceptance by helping to overcome and eliminate these barriers. Specifically, the goal is to develop a set of regional climatic building standards to help guide the conventional building trade toward the utilization of soft energy systems which will reduce overall consumption at a price and convenience most Texans can afford. To meet this objective, eight sample passive design structures are presented. These designs represent state of the art regional applications of passive solar space conditioning. The methodology used in the passive solar design process included: analysis of regional climatic data; analysis of historical regional building prototypes; determination of regional climatic design priorities and assets; prototypical design models for the discretionary housing market; quantitative thermal analysis of prototypical designs; and construction drawings of building prototypes.

Assembly of bipolar microtubule structures by passive cross-linkers and molecular motors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johann, D.; Goswami, D.; Kruse, K.

2016-06-01

During cell division, sister chromatids are segregated by the mitotic spindle, a bipolar assembly of interdigitating antiparallel polar filaments called microtubules. The spindle contains the midzone, a stable region of overlapping antiparallel microtubules, that is essential for maintaining bipolarity. Although a lot is known about the molecular players involved, the mechanism underlying midzone formation and maintenance is still poorly understood. We study the interaction of polar filaments that are cross-linked by molecular motors moving directionally and by passive cross-linkers diffusing along microtubules. Using a particle-based stochastic model, we find that the interplay of motors and passive cross-linkers can generate a stable finite overlap between a pair of antiparallel polar filaments. We develop a mean-field theory to study this mechanism in detail and investigate the influence of steric interactions between motors and passive cross-linkers on the overlap dynamics. In the presence of interspecies steric interactions, passive cross-linkers mimic the behavior of molecular motors and stable finite overlaps are generated even for non-cross-linking motors. Finally, we develop a mean-field theory for a bundle of aligned polar filaments and show that they can self-organize into a spindlelike pattern. Our work suggests possible ways as to how cells can generate spindle midzones and control their extensions.

Formulation of multifunctional oil-in-water nanosized emulsions for active and passive targeting of drugs to otherwise inaccessible internal organs of the human body.

PubMed

Tamilvanan, Shunmugaperumal

2009-10-20

Oil-in-water (o/w) type nanosized emulsions (NE) have been widely investigated as vehicles/carrier for the formulation and delivery of drugs with a broad range of applications. A comprehensive summary is presented on how to formulate the multifunctional o/w NE for active and passive targeting of drugs to otherwise inaccessible internal organs of the human body. The NE is classified into three generations based on its development over the last couple of decades to make ultimately a better colloidal carrier for a target site within the internal and external organs/parts of the body, thus allowing site-specific drug delivery and/or enhanced drug absorption. The third generation NE has tremendous application for drug absorption enhancement and for 'ferrying' compounds across cell membranes in comparison to its first and second generation counterparts. Furthermore, the third generation NE provides an interesting opportunity for use as drug delivery vehicles for numerous therapeutics that can range in size from small molecules to macromolecules.

Visualizing molecular diffusion through passive permeability barriers in cells: conventional and novel approaches.

PubMed

Lin, Yu-Chun; Phua, Siew Cheng; Lin, Benjamin; Inoue, Takanari

2013-08-01

Diffusion barriers are universal solutions for cells to achieve distinct organizations, compositions, and activities within a limited space. The influence of diffusion barriers on the spatiotemporal dynamics of signaling molecules often determines cellular physiology and functions. Over the years, the passive permeability barriers in various subcellular locales have been characterized using elaborate analytical techniques. In this review, we will summarize the current state of knowledge on the various passive permeability barriers present in mammalian cells. We will conclude with a description of several conventional techniques and one new approach based on chemically inducible diffusion trap (CIDT) for probing permeable barriers. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Corrosion behavior of HPT-deformed TiNi alloys in cell culture medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shri, D. N. Awang; Tsuchiya, K.; Yamamoto, A.

2017-09-01

In recent years there are growing interest in fabrication of bulk nanostructured metals and alloys by using severe plastic deformation (SPD) techniques as new alternative in producing bulk nanocrystalline materials. These techniques allows for processing of bulk, fully dense workpiece with ultrafine grains. Metal undergoes SPD processing in certain techniques such as high pressure torsion (HPT), equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) or multi-directional forging (MDF) are subjected to extensive hydrostatic pressure that may be used to impart a very high strain to the bulk solid without the introduction of any significant change in overall dimension of the sample. The change in the structure (small grain size and high-volume fraction of grain boundaries) of the material may result in the corrosion behavior different from that of the coarse-grained material. Electrochemical measurements were done to understand the corrosion behavior of TiNi alloys before and after HPT deformation. The experiment was carried out using standard three electrode setup (a sample as working electrode; a platinum wire as a counter electrode and a saturated calomel electrode in saturated KCl as a reference electrode) with the surface area of 26.42 mm2 exposed to the EMEM+10% FBS cell culture medium. The measurements were performed in an incubator with controlled environment at 37 °C and 5% CO2, simulating the cell culture condition. The potential of the specimen was monitored over 1 hour, and the stabilized potential was used as the open-circuit potential (EOCP). Potentiodynamic curves were scanned in the potential range from -0.5 V to 1.5 V relative to the EOCP, at a rate of 0.5 mV/s. The result of OCP-time measurement done in the cell culture medium shows that the OCP of HPT-deformed samples shifts towards to the more positive rather than that of BHPT samples. The OCP of deformed samples were ennobled to more than +70 mV for Ti-50mol%. The shift of OCP towards the nobler direction

Passive control of a biventricular assist device with compliant inflow cannulae.

PubMed

Gregory, Shaun David; Pearcy, Mark John; Timms, Daniel

2012-08-01

Rotary ventricular assist device (VAD) support of the cardiovascular system is susceptible to suction events due to the limited preload sensitivity of these devices. This may be of particular concern with rotary biventricular support (BiVAD) where the native, flow balancing Starling response is diminished in both ventricles. The reliability of sensor and sensorless-based control systems which aim to control VAD flow based on preload has limitations, and, thus, an alternative solution is desired. This study introduces a compliant inflow cannula (CIC) which could improve the preload sensitivity of a rotary VAD by passively altering VAD flow depending on preload. To evaluate the design, both the CIC and a standard rigid inflow cannula were inserted into a mock circulation loop to enable biventricular heart failure support using configurations of atrial and ventricular inflow, and arterial outflow cannulation. A range of left (LVAD) and right VAD (RVAD) rotational speeds were tested as well as step changes in systemic/pulmonary vascular resistance to alter relative preloads, with resulting flow rates recorded. Simulated suction events were observed, particularly at higher VAD speeds, during support with the rigid inflow cannula, while the CIC prevented suction events under all circumstances. The compliant section passively restricted its internal diameter as preload was reduced, which increased the VAD circuit resistance and thus reduced VAD flow. Therefore, a CIC could potentially be used as a passive control system to prevent suction events in rotary left, right, and biventricular support. © 2012, Copyright the Authors. Artificial Organs © 2012, International Center for Artificial Organs and Transplantation and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

High-throughput countercurrent microextraction in passive mode.

PubMed

Xie, Tingliang; Xu, Cong

2018-05-15

Although microextraction is much more efficient than conventional macroextraction, its practical application has been limited by low throughputs and difficulties in constructing robust countercurrent microextraction (CCME) systems. In this work, a robust CCME process was established based on a novel passive microextractor with four units without any moving parts. The passive microextractor has internal recirculation and can efficiently mix two immiscible liquids. The hydraulic characteristics as well as the extraction and back-extraction performance of the passive CCME were investigated experimentally. The recovery efficiencies of the passive CCME were 1.43-1.68 times larger than the best values achieved using cocurrent extraction. Furthermore, the total throughput of the passive CCME developed in this work was about one to three orders of magnitude higher than that of other passive CCME systems reported in the literature. Therefore, a robust CCME process with high throughputs has been successfully constructed, which may promote the application of passive CCME in a wide variety of fields.

Passive sampling methods for contaminated sediments: State of the science for metals

PubMed Central

Peijnenburg, Willie JGM; Teasdale, Peter R; Reible, Danny; Mondon, Julie; Bennett, William W; Campbell, Peter GC

2014-01-01

“Dissolved” concentrations of contaminants in sediment porewater (Cfree) provide a more relevant exposure metric for risk assessment than do total concentrations. Passive sampling methods (PSMs) for estimating Cfree offer the potential for cost-efficient and accurate in situ characterization of Cfree for inorganic sediment contaminants. In contrast to the PSMs validated and applied for organic contaminants, the various passive sampling devices developed for metals, metalloids, and some nonmetals (collectively termed “metals”) have been exploited to a limited extent, despite recognized advantages that include low detection limits, detection of time-averaged trends, high spatial resolution, information about dissolved metal speciation, and the ability to capture episodic events and cyclic changes that may be missed by occasional grab sampling. We summarize the PSM approaches for assessing metal toxicity to, and bioaccumulation by, sediment-dwelling biota, including the recognized advantages and limitations of each approach, the need for standardization, and further work needed to facilitate broader acceptance and application of PSM-derived information by decision makers. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2014;10:179–196. © 2014 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC. Key Points Passive sampling methods (PSMs) offer the potential for cost-efficient and accurate in situ characterization of the dissolved concentrations for inorganic sediment contaminants. PSMs are useful for evaluating the geochemical behavior of metals in surficial sediments, including determination of fluxes across the sediment-water interface, and post-depositional changes in metal speciation. Few studies have tried to link PSM responses in sediments to metal uptake and toxicity responses in benthic organisms. There is a clear need for further studies. Future PSMs could be designed to mimic saturable kinetics, which

Passive Sensor Materials Based on Liquid Crystals

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-12

REPORT Passive Sensor Materials based on Liquid Crystals 14. ABSTRACT 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: Research supported by this grant entitled “Passive...Sensor Materials Based on Liquid Crystals” revolved around an investigation of liquid crystalline materials for use in passive sensors for chemical... based on Liquid Crystals Report Title ABSTRACT Research supported by this grant entitled “Passive Sensor Materials Based on Liquid Crystals” revolved

Low temperature cured poly-siloxane passivation for highly reliable a-InGaZnO thin-film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshida, Naofumi; Bermundo, Juan Paolo; Ishikawa, Yasuaki; Nonaka, Toshiaki; Taniguchi, Katsuto; Uraoka, Yukiharu

2018-05-01

Low temperature processable passivation materials are necessary to fabricate highly reliable amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFT) on organic substrates for flexible device applications. We investigated 3 types of poly-siloxane (Poly-SX) passivation layers fabricated by a solution process and cured at low temperatures (180 °C) for a-IGZO TFTs. This passivation layer greatly improves the stability of the a-IGZO device even after being subjected to positive (PBS) and negative bias stress (NBS). The field effect mobility (μ) of MePhQ504010 passivated on the TFT reached 8.34 cm2/Vs and had a small threshold voltage shift of 0.9 V after PBS, -0.8 V after NBS without the hump phenomenon. Furthermore, we analyzed the hydrogen and hydroxide states in the a-IGZO layer by secondary ion mass spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the cause of excellent electrical properties despite the curing performed at a low temperature. These results show the potential of the solution processed Poly-SX passivation layer for flexible devices.

Passive Microwave Rainfall Estimates from the GPM Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kummerow, Christian; Petkovic, Veljko

2017-04-01

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission was launched in February 2014 as a joint mission between JAXA from Japan and NASA from the United States. GPM carries a state of the art dual-frequency precipitation radar and a multi-channel passive microwave radiometer that acts not only to enhance the radar's retrieval capability, but also as a reference for a constellation of existing satellites carrying passive microwave sensors. In March of 2016, GPM released Version 4 of its precipitation products that consists of radar, radiometer, and combined radar/radiometer products. The precipitation products from these sensors or sensor combination are consistent by design and show relatively minor differences in the mean global sense. Closer examination of the biases, however, reveals regional biases between active and passive sensors that can be directly related top the nature of the convection. By looking at cloud systems instead of individual satellite pixels, the relationship between biases and the large scale environmental state become obvious. Organized convection, which occurs more readily in regimes with large Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) and shear tend to drive biases in different directions than isolated convection. This is true over both land and ocean. This talk will present the latest findings and explore these discrepancies from a physical perspective in order to gain some understanding between cloud structures, information content, and retrieval differences. This analysis will be used to then drive a bigger picture of how GPM's latest results inform the Global Water and Energy budgets.

Satellite Remote Sensing: Passive-Microwave Measurements of Sea Ice

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parkinson, Claire L.; Zukor, Dorothy J. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Satellite passive-microwave measurements of sea ice have provided global or near-global sea ice data for most of the period since the launch of the Nimbus 5 satellite in December 1972, and have done so with horizontal resolutions on the order of 25-50 km and a frequency of every few days. These data have been used to calculate sea ice concentrations (percent areal coverages), sea ice extents, the length of the sea ice season, sea ice temperatures, and sea ice velocities, and to determine the timing of the seasonal onset of melt as well as aspects of the ice-type composition of the sea ice cover. In each case, the calculations are based on the microwave emission characteristics of sea ice and the important contrasts between the microwave emissions of sea ice and those of the surrounding liquid-water medium.

Visuomotor learning by passive motor experience

PubMed Central

Sakamoto, Takashi; Kondo, Toshiyuki

2015-01-01

Humans can adapt to unfamiliar dynamic and/or kinematic transformations through the active motor experience. Recent studies of neurorehabilitation using robots or brain-computer interface (BCI) technology suggest that passive motor experience would play a measurable role in motor recovery, however our knowledge of passive motor learning is limited. To clarify the effects of passive motor experience on human motor learning, we performed arm reaching experiments guided by a robotic manipulandum. The results showed that the passive motor experience had an anterograde transfer effect on the subsequent motor execution, whereas no retrograde interference was confirmed in the ABA paradigm experiment. This suggests that the passive experience of the error between visual and proprioceptive sensations leads to the limited but actual compensation of behavior, although it is fragile and cannot be consolidated as a persistent motor memory. PMID:26029091

The risk of radiation-induced second cancers in the high to medium dose region: a comparison between passive and scanned proton therapy, IMRT and VMAT for pediatric patients with brain tumors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moteabbed, Maryam; Yock, Torunn I.; Paganetti, Harald

2014-06-01

The incidence of second malignant tumors is a clinically observed adverse late effect of radiation therapy, especially in organs close to the treatment site, receiving medium to high doses (>2.5 Gy). For pediatric patients, choosing the least toxic radiation modality is of utmost importance, due to their high radiosensitivity and small size. This study aims to evaluate the risk of second cancer incidence in the vicinity of the primary radiation field, for pediatric patients with brain/head and neck tumors and compare four treatment modalities: passive scattering and pencil beam scanning proton therapy (PPT and PBS), intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). For a cohort of six pediatric patients originally treated with PPT, additional PBS, IMRT and VMAT plans were created. Dose distributions from these plans were used to calculate the excess absolute risk (EAR) and lifetime attributable risk (LAR) for developing a second tumor in soft tissue and skull. A widely used risk assessment formalism was employed and compared with a linear model based on recent clinical findings. In general, LAR was found to range between 0.01%-2.8% for PPT/PBS and 0.04%-4.9% for IMRT/VMAT. PBS was associated with the lowest risk for most patients using carcinoma and sarcoma models, whereas IMRT and VMAT risks were comparable and the highest among all modalities. The LAR for IMRT/VMAT relative to PPT ranged from 1.3-4.6 for soft tissue and from 3.5-9.5 for skull. Larger absolute LAR was observed for younger patients and using linear risk models. The number of fields used in proton therapy and IMRT had minimal effect on the risk. When planning treatments and deciding on the treatment modality, the probability of second cancer incidence should be carefully examined and weighed against the possibility of developing acute side effects for each patient individually.

An improved medium for the anaerobic growth of Paracoccus denitrificans Pd1222

PubMed Central

Hahnke, Stefanie M.; Moosmann, Philipp; Erb, Tobias J.; Strous, Marc

2014-01-01

Paracoccus denitrificans is a well studied model organism with respect to its aerobic and anaerobic respiratory enzymes. However, until now, the growth medium for this organism has not been optimized for anaerobic growth. In particular, the requirements of P. denitrificans for trace elements (TEs) are not well known. In the present study we aimed to improve growth rates of P. denitrificans Pd1222 on a defined medium under anoxic conditions. We designed media containing different combinations of TEs at various concentrations, and tested their performance against previously reported media. Our results suggest that growth rate and yield depend on the availability and concentration of TEs in the medium. A chelated TE solution was more suitable than an acidified TE solution. Highest growth rates were achieved with medium comprising the TEs iron, manganese, molybdenum, copper and zinc ranging from 0.1 to 9 μM. On this medium, P. denitrificans Pd1222 grew with a generation time of 4.4 h under anoxic conditions and 2.8 h under oxic conditions. Diauxic growth was clearly shown with respect to nitrate and nitrite reduction under anoxic conditions. PMID:24550891

An improved medium for the anaerobic growth of Paracoccus denitrificans Pd1222.

PubMed

Hahnke, Stefanie M; Moosmann, Philipp; Erb, Tobias J; Strous, Marc

2014-01-01

Paracoccus denitrificans is a well studied model organism with respect to its aerobic and anaerobic respiratory enzymes. However, until now, the growth medium for this organism has not been optimized for anaerobic growth. In particular, the requirements of P. denitrificans for trace elements (TEs) are not well known. In the present study we aimed to improve growth rates of P. denitrificans Pd1222 on a defined medium under anoxic conditions. We designed media containing different combinations of TEs at various concentrations, and tested their performance against previously reported media. Our results suggest that growth rate and yield depend on the availability and concentration of TEs in the medium. A chelated TE solution was more suitable than an acidified TE solution. Highest growth rates were achieved with medium comprising the TEs iron, manganese, molybdenum, copper and zinc ranging from 0.1 to 9 μM. On this medium, P. denitrificans Pd1222 grew with a generation time of 4.4 h under anoxic conditions and 2.8 h under oxic conditions. Diauxic growth was clearly shown with respect to nitrate and nitrite reduction under anoxic conditions.

A comparison of the original Rappaport medium (R medium) and the Rappaport-Vassiliadis medium (RV medium) in the isolation of salmonellae from meat products.

PubMed Central

Vassiliadis, P.; Kalapothaki, V.; Mavrommati, C.; Trichopoulos, D.

1984-01-01

The Rappaport-Vassiliadis enrichment medium (RV medium) in 10 ml quantities (RV/43 degrees C, 10 ml) inoculated with 0.1 ml of pre-enrichment medium (P medium) was found more efficient in the isolation of salmonellae from 409 pre-enriched samples (mainly meat products), than the original Rappaport medium incubated at 43 degrees C (R/43 degrees C) and the RV medium in 5 ml quantities (RV/43 degrees C, 5 ml) inoculated with 0.01 ml of P medium (P less than 0.001, in both instances). Therefore, the inoculum from pre-enriched foods should not be less than 0.1 ml in 10 ml of RV medium. The RV/43 degrees, 10 ml was also better (P less than 0.01) in detecting samples containing salmonellas than the original Rappaport medium incubated at 37 degrees C (R/37 degrees C, 10 ml) and the modification R25 of R medium incubated at 37 degrees C. The R25 modification was used in 10 ml quantities (R25/37 degrees C, 10 ml) inoculated with 0.1 ml of P medium and in 5 ml quantities (R25/37 degrees, 5 ml) inoculated with 0.01 ml of P medium. The last two R25 procedures were of the same efficiency in isolating salmonellas from meat products. PMID:6747286

Screen printed passive components for flexible power electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ostfeld, Aminy E.; Deckman, Igal; Gaikwad, Abhinav M.; Lochner, Claire M.; Arias, Ana C.

2015-10-01

Additive and low-temperature printing processes enable the integration of diverse electronic devices, both power-supplying and power-consuming, on flexible substrates at low cost. Production of a complete electronic system from these devices, however, often requires power electronics to convert between the various operating voltages of the devices. Passive components—inductors, capacitors, and resistors—perform functions such as filtering, short-term energy storage, and voltage measurement, which are vital in power electronics and many other applications. In this paper, we present screen-printed inductors, capacitors, resistors and an RLC circuit on flexible plastic substrates, and report on the design process for minimization of inductor series resistance that enables their use in power electronics. Printed inductors and resistors are then incorporated into a step-up voltage regulator circuit. Organic light-emitting diodes and a flexible lithium ion battery are fabricated and the voltage regulator is used to power the diodes from the battery, demonstrating the potential of printed passive components to replace conventional surface-mount components in a DC-DC converter application.

Screen printed passive components for flexible power electronics

PubMed Central

Ostfeld, Aminy E.; Deckman, Igal; Gaikwad, Abhinav M.; Lochner, Claire M.; Arias, Ana C.

2015-01-01

Additive and low-temperature printing processes enable the integration of diverse electronic devices, both power-supplying and power-consuming, on flexible substrates at low cost. Production of a complete electronic system from these devices, however, often requires power electronics to convert between the various operating voltages of the devices. Passive components—inductors, capacitors, and resistors—perform functions such as filtering, short-term energy storage, and voltage measurement, which are vital in power electronics and many other applications. In this paper, we present screen-printed inductors, capacitors, resistors and an RLC circuit on flexible plastic substrates, and report on the design process for minimization of inductor series resistance that enables their use in power electronics. Printed inductors and resistors are then incorporated into a step-up voltage regulator circuit. Organic light-emitting diodes and a flexible lithium ion battery are fabricated and the voltage regulator is used to power the diodes from the battery, demonstrating the potential of printed passive components to replace conventional surface-mount components in a DC-DC converter application. PMID:26514331

Screen printed passive components for flexible power electronics.

PubMed

Ostfeld, Aminy E; Deckman, Igal; Gaikwad, Abhinav M; Lochner, Claire M; Arias, Ana C

2015-10-30

Additive and low-temperature printing processes enable the integration of diverse electronic devices, both power-supplying and power-consuming, on flexible substrates at low cost. Production of a complete electronic system from these devices, however, often requires power electronics to convert between the various operating voltages of the devices. Passive components-inductors, capacitors, and resistors-perform functions such as filtering, short-term energy storage, and voltage measurement, which are vital in power electronics and many other applications. In this paper, we present screen-printed inductors, capacitors, resistors and an RLC circuit on flexible plastic substrates, and report on the design process for minimization of inductor series resistance that enables their use in power electronics. Printed inductors and resistors are then incorporated into a step-up voltage regulator circuit. Organic light-emitting diodes and a flexible lithium ion battery are fabricated and the voltage regulator is used to power the diodes from the battery, demonstrating the potential of printed passive components to replace conventional surface-mount components in a DC-DC converter application.

Microwave scattering and emission from a half-space anisotropic random medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mudaliar, Saba; Lee, Jay Kyoon

1990-12-01

This paper is a sequel to an earlier paper (Lee and Mudaliar, 1988) where the backscattering coefficients of a half-space anisotropic random medium were obtained. Here the bistatic scattering coefficients are calculated by solving the modified radiative transfer equations under a first-order approximation. The effects of multiple scattering on the results are observed. Emissivities are calculated and compared with those obtained using the Born approximation (single scattering). Several interesting properties of the model are brought to notice using numerical examples. Finally, as an application, the theory is used to interpret the passive remote sensing data of multiyear sea ice in the microwave frequency range. A quite close agreement between theoretical prediction and the measured data is found.

Climate-Specific Passive Building Standards

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wright, Graham S.; Klingenberg, Katrin

2015-07-29

In 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized the value of performance-based passive building standards when it joined with Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) to promote DOE’s Challenge Home program in tandem with the PHIUS+ Certification program. Since then, the number of passive building projects that have been certified under the partnership has grown exponentially because of some synergy. Passive building represents a well-developed approach to arrive at the envelope basis for zero energy and energy-positive projects by employing performance-based criteria and maximizing cost-effective savings from conservation before implementing renewable energy technologies. The Challenge Home program evolved into themore » Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program in a move toward 1) attaining zero energy and 2) including active renewable energy generation such as photovoltaics (PV)—toward the zero energy goal.« less

Using woven carbon fiber fabric to construct gradient porous structure for passive direct methanol fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Wei; Hu, Jinyi; Zhou, Bo; Deng, Jun; Zhang, Zhaochun; Tang, Yong

2015-09-01

The passive direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is a promising candidate power source for portable applications but has to deal with many technical challenges before practical use. This study presents a preliminary investigation on the use of a woven carbon fiber fabric (WCFF) for constructing a gradient porous structure based on the traditional design. The WCFF, carbon paper and carbon-black micro porous layer (MPL) combine into a carbon-based assembly which acts as a mass-transfer-controlling medium at the anode of a passive DMFC. Results show that this novel setup is able to significantly improve the cell performance and facilitate high-concentration operation. A maximum power density of 16.4 mWcm-2 is obtained when two layers of the WCFF are used at a methanol concentration of 8M. This work provides an effective method for using concentrated methanol with no need for major change of the fuel cell configuration.

Atomic Scale Understanding of Poly-Si/SiO2/c-Si Passivated Contacts: Passivation Degradation Due to Metallization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aguiar, Jeffery A.; Young, David; Lee, Benjamin

2016-11-21

The key attributes for achieving high efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells include class leading developments in the ability to approach the theoretical limits of silicon solar technology (29.4% efficiency). The push for high efficiency devices is further compounded with the clear need for passivation to reduce recombination at the metal contacts. At the same time there is stringent requirement to retain the same material device quality, surface passivation, and performance characteristics following subsequent processing. The development of passivated silicon cell structures that retain active front and rear surface passivation and overall material cell quality is therefore a relevant and activemore » area of development. To address the potential outcomes of metallization on passivated silicon stack, we report on some common microstructural features of degradation due to metallization for a series of silicon device stacks. A fundamental materials understanding of the metallization process on retaining high-efficiency passivated Si devices is therefore gained over these series of results.« less

FIELD METHOD COMPARISON BETWEEN PASSIVE AIR SAMPLERS AND CONTINUOUS MONITORS FOR VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS AND NO2 IN EL PASO, TEXAS, USA

EPA Science Inventory

Passive sampling of gas-phase air toxics and criteria pollutants has become an attractive monitoring method in human exposure studies due to the relatively low sampling cost and ease of use. This study evaluates the performance of Model 3300 Ogawa(TM) Passive NO2 Samplers and 3...

Adsorption of molecular additive onto lead halide perovskite surfaces: A computational study on Lewis base thiophene additive passivation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Lei; Yu, Fengxi; Chen, Lihong; Li, Jingfa

2018-06-01

Organic additives, such as the Lewis base thiophene, have been successfully applied to passivate halide perovskite surfaces, improving the stability and properties of perovskite devices based on CH3NH3PbI3. Yet, the detailed nanostructure of the perovskite surface passivated by additives and the mechanisms of such passivation are not well understood. This study presents a nanoscopic view on the interfacial structure of an additive/perovskite interface, consisting of a Lewis base thiophene molecular additive and a lead halide perovskite surface substrate, providing insights on the mechanisms that molecular additives can passivate the halide perovskite surfaces and enhance the perovskite-based device performance. Molecular dynamics study on the interactions between water molecules and the perovskite surfaces passivated by the investigated additive reveal the effectiveness of employing the molecular additives to improve the stability of the halide perovskite materials. The additive/perovskite surface system is further probed via molecular engineering the perovskite surfaces. This study reveals the nanoscopic structure-property relationships of the halide perovskite surface passivated by molecular additives, which helps the fundamental understanding of the surface/interface engineering strategies for the development of halide perovskite based devices.

Protection of passive radio frequencies used for earth exploration by satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rochard, Guy

2004-10-01

Space-borne passive sensing of the Earth"s surface and atmosphere has an essential and increasing importance in Earth Observation. The impressive progress recently made or shortly expected in weather analysis, warning and forecasts (in particular for dangerous weather phenomena as rain and floods, storms, cyclones, droughts) as well as in the study and prediction of climate change, is mainly attributable to the spaceborne observations. On this basis, economic studies show that meteorological services have a high positive impact on a wide range of economic activities, notwithstanding safety of life and property aspects. Space-borne passive sensing feeds crucial observational data to numerical weather predction models run on the most advanced super-computers that are operated by a few global forecasting centers. All meteorological and environmental satellite organizations operate these crucial remote-sensing missions as part of the GOS of the World Weather Watch and others... Spaceborne passive sensing for meterological applications is performed in frequency bands allocated to the Earth Exploration-Satellite Service. This is named "EESS passive" in the ITU-R Radio Regulations. The appropriate bands are uniquely determined by the physical properties (e.g. molecular resonance) of constituents of the atmosphere, and are therefore one of the unique natural resources (similarly to Radio Astronomy bands). Passive measurements at several frequencies in the microwave spectrum must be made simultaneously in order to extract the individual contribution of the geophysical parameter of interest. Bands below 100 GHz are of particular importance to provide an "all-weather" capability since many clouds are almost transparent at these frequencies. Along this line, the two first figures below about zenithal opacity describes respectively the atmosphere optical thickness due to water vapor and dry components in the frequency range 1 to 275 GHz and 275 GHz to 1000 GHz on which have

Quantitative passive soil vapor sampling for VOCs--part 1: theory.

PubMed

McAlary, Todd; Wang, Xiaomin; Unger, Andre; Groenevelt, Hester; Górecki, Tadeusz

2014-03-01

Volatile organic compounds are the primary chemicals of concern at many contaminated sites and soil vapor sampling and analysis is a valuable tool for assessing the nature and extent of contamination. Soil gas samples are typically collected by applying vacuum to a probe in order to collect a whole-gas sample, or by drawing gas through a tube filled with an adsorbent (active sampling). There are challenges associated with flow and vacuum levels in low permeability materials, and leak prevention and detection during active sample collection can be cumbersome. Passive sampling has been available as an alternative to conventional gas sample collection for decades, but quantitative relationships between the mass of chemicals sorbed, the soil vapor concentrations, and the sampling time have not been established. This paper presents transient and steady-state mathematical models of radial vapor diffusion to a drilled hole and considerations for passive sampler sensitivity and practical sampling durations. The results indicate that uptake rates in the range of 0.1 to 1 mL min(-1) will minimize the starvation effect for most soil moisture conditions and provide adequate sensitivity for human health risk assessment with a practical sampling duration. This new knowledge provides a basis for improved passive soil vapour sampler design.

Passive magnetic bearing configurations

DOEpatents

Post, Richard F [Walnut Creek, CA

2011-01-25

A journal bearing provides vertical and radial stability to a rotor of a passive magnetic bearing system when the rotor is not rotating and when it is rotating. In the passive magnetic bearing system, the rotor has a vertical axis of rotation. Without the journal bearing, the rotor is vertically and radially unstable when stationary, and is vertically stable and radially unstable when rotating.

Lipid-Based Passivation in Nanofluidics

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Stretching DNA in nanochannels is a useful tool for direct, visual studies of genomic DNA at the single molecule level. To facilitate the study of the interaction of linear DNA with proteins in nanochannels, we have implemented a highly effective passivation scheme based on lipid bilayers. We demonstrate virtually complete long-term passivation of nanochannel surfaces to a range of relevant reagents, including streptavidin-coated quantum dots, RecA proteins, and RecA–DNA complexes. We show that the performance of the lipid bilayer is significantly better than that of standard bovine serum albumin-based passivation. Finally, we show how the passivated devices allow us to monitor single DNA cleavage events during enzymatic degradation by DNase I. We expect that our approach will open up for detailed, systematic studies of a wide range of protein–DNA interactions with high spatial and temporal resolution. PMID:22432814

Citric Acid Passivation of Stainless Steel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yasensky, David; Reali, John; Larson, Chris; Carl, Chad

2009-01-01

Passivation is a process for cleaning and providing corrosion protection for stainless steel. Currently, on Kennedy Space Center (KSC), only parts passivated with nitric acid are acceptable for use. KSC disposes of approximately 125gal of concentrated nitric acid per year, and receives many parts from vendors who must also dispose of used nitric acid. Unfortunately, nitric acid presents health and environmental hazards. As a result, several recent industry studies have examined citric acid as an alternative. Implementing a citric acid-based passivation procedure would improve the health and environmental safety aspects of passivation process. However although there is a lack of published studies that conclusively prove citric acid is a technically sound passivation agent. In 2007, NASA's KSC Materials Advisory Working Group requested the evaluation of citric acid in place of nitric acid for passivation of parts at KSC. United Space Alliance Materials & Processes engineers have developed a three-phase test plan to evaluate citric acid as an alternative to nitric acid on three stainless steels commonly used at KSC: UNS S30400, S41000, and S17400. Phases 1 and 2 will produce an optimized citric acid treatment based on results from atmospheric exposure at NASA's Beach Corrosion Facility. Phase 3 will compare the optimized solution(s) with nitric acid treatments. If the results indicate that citric acid passivates as well or better than nitric acid, NASA intends to approve this method for parts used at the Kennedy Space Center.

Graphene quantum dot incorporated perovskite films: passivating grain boundaries and facilitating electron extraction.

PubMed

Fang, Xiang; Ding, Jianning; Yuan, Ningyi; Sun, Peng; Lv, Minghang; Ding, Guqiao; Zhu, Chong

2017-02-22

Organic-inorganic halide perovskites have emerged as attractive materials for use in photovoltaic cells. Owing to the existence of dangling bonds at the grain boundaries between perovskite crystals, minimizing the charge recombination at the surface or grain boundaries by passivating these trap states has been identified to be one of the most important strategies for further optimization of device performance. Previous reports have mainly focused on surface passivation by inserting special materials such as graphene or fullerene between the electron transfer layer and the perovskite film. Here, we report an enhanced efficiency of mesoscopic perovskite solar cells by using graphene quantum dots (GQDs) to passivate the grain boundaries of CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 . The highest efficiency (17.62%) is achieved via decoration with 7% GQDs, which is an 8.2% enhancement with respect to a pure perovskite based device. Various analyses including electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, time-resolved photoluminescence decay and open-circuit voltage decay measurements are employed in investigating the mechanism behind the improvement in device performance. The findings reveal two important roles played by GQDs in promoting the performance of perovskite solar cells - that GQDs are conducive to facilitating electron extraction and can effectively passivate the electron traps at the perovskite grain boundaries.

Uncertainties in monitoring of SVOCs in air caused by within-sampler degradation during active and passive air sampling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melymuk, Lisa; Bohlin-Nizzetto, Pernilla; Prokeš, Roman; Kukučka, Petr; Přibylová, Petra; Vojta, Šimon; Kohoutek, Jiří; Lammel, Gerhard; Klánová, Jana

2017-10-01

Degradation of semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) occurs naturally in ambient air due to reactions with reactive trace gases (e.g., ozone, NOx). During air sampling there is also the possibility for degradation of SVOCs within the air sampler, leading to underestimates of ambient air concentrations. We investigated the possibility of this sampling artifact in commonly used active and passive air samplers for seven classes of SVOCs, including persistent organic pollutants (POPs) typically covered by air monitoring programs, as well as SVOCs of emerging concern. Two active air samplers were used, one equipped with an ozone denuder and one without, to compare relative differences in mass of collected compounds. Two sets of passive samplers were also deployed to determine the influence of degradation during longer deployment times in passive sampling. In active air samplers, comparison of the two sampling configurations suggested degradation of particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), with concentrations up to 2× higher in the denuder-equipped sampler, while halogenated POPs did not have clear evidence of degradation. In contrast, more polar, reactive compounds (e.g., organophosphate esters and current use pesticides) had evidence of losses in the sampler with denuder. This may be caused by the denuder itself, suggesting sampling bias for these compounds can be created when typical air sampling apparatuses are adapted to limit degradation. Passive air samplers recorded up to 4× higher concentrations when deployed for shorter consecutive sampling periods, suggesting that within-sampler degradation may also be relevant in passive air monitoring programs.

On Emulation of Flueric Devices in Excitable Chemical Medium

PubMed Central

Adamatzky, Andrew

2016-01-01

Flueric devices are fluidic devices without moving parts. Fluidic devices use fluid as a medium for information transfer and computation. A Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) medium is a thin-layer spatially extended excitable chemical medium which exhibits travelling excitation wave-fronts. The excitation wave-fronts transfer information. Flueric devices compute via jets interaction. BZ devices compute via excitation wave-fronts interaction. In numerical model of BZ medium we show that functions of key flueric devices are implemented in the excitable chemical system: signal generator, and, xor, not and nor Boolean gates, delay elements, diodes and sensors. Flueric devices have been widely used in industry since late 1960s and are still employed in automotive and aircraft technologies. Implementation of analog of the flueric devices in the excitable chemical systems opens doors to further applications of excitation wave-based unconventional computing in soft robotics, embedded organic electronics and living technologies. PMID:27997561

On Emulation of Flueric Devices in Excitable Chemical Medium.

PubMed

Adamatzky, Andrew

2016-01-01

Flueric devices are fluidic devices without moving parts. Fluidic devices use fluid as a medium for information transfer and computation. A Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) medium is a thin-layer spatially extended excitable chemical medium which exhibits travelling excitation wave-fronts. The excitation wave-fronts transfer information. Flueric devices compute via jets interaction. BZ devices compute via excitation wave-fronts interaction. In numerical model of BZ medium we show that functions of key flueric devices are implemented in the excitable chemical system: signal generator, and, xor, not and nor Boolean gates, delay elements, diodes and sensors. Flueric devices have been widely used in industry since late 1960s and are still employed in automotive and aircraft technologies. Implementation of analog of the flueric devices in the excitable chemical systems opens doors to further applications of excitation wave-based unconventional computing in soft robotics, embedded organic electronics and living technologies.

Technical - Economic Research for Passive Buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miniotaite, Ruta

2017-10-01

A newly constructed passive house must save 80 % of heat resources; otherwise it is not a passive house. The heating energy demand of a passive building is less than 15 kWh/m2 per year. However, a passive house is something more than just an energy-saving house. This concept involves sustainable, high-quality, valuable, healthy and durable construction. Features of a passive house: high insulation of envelope components, high-quality windows, good tightness of the building, regenerative ventilation system and elimination of thermal bridges. The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) 61 requires all new public buildings to become near-zero energy buildings by 2019 and will be extended to all new buildings by 2021. This concept involves sustainable, high-quality, valuable, healthy and durable construction. Foundation, walls and roofs are the most essential elements of a house. The type of foundation for a private house is selected considering many factors. The article examines technological and structural solutions for passive buildings foundation, walls and roofs. The technical-economic comparison of the main structures of a passive house revealed that it is cheaper to install an adequately designed concrete slab foundation than to build strip or pile foundation and the floor separately. Timber stud walls are the cheapest wall option for a passive house and 45-51% cheaper compared to other options. The comparison of roofs and ceilings showed that insulation of the ceiling is 25% more efficient than insulation of the roof. The comparison of the main envelope elements efficiency by multiple-criteria evaluation methods showed that it is economically feasible to install concrete slab on ground foundation, stud walls with sheet cladding and a pitched roof with insulated ceiling.

Local oscillator induced degradation of medium-term stability in passive atomic frequency standards

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dick, G. John; Prestage, John D.; Greenhall, Charles A.; Maleki, Lute

1990-01-01

As the performance of passive atomic frequency standards improves, a new limitation is encountered due to frequency fluctuations in an ancillary local oscillator (L.O.). The effect is due to time variation in the gain of the feedback which compensates L.O. frequency fluctuations. The high performance promised by new microwave and optical trapped ion standards may be severely compromised by this effect. Researchers present an analysis of this performance limitation for the case of sequentially interrogated standards. The time dependence of the sensitivity of the interrogation process to L.O. frequency fluctuations is evaluated for single-pulse and double-pulse Ramsey RF interrogation and for amplitude modulated pulses. The effect of these various time dependencies on performance of the standard is calculated for an L.O. with frequency fluctuations showing a typical 1/f spectral density. A limiting 1/sq. root gamma dependent deviation of frequency fluctuations is calculated as a function of pulse lengths, dead time, and pulse overlap. Researchers also present conceptual and hardware-oriented solutions to this problem which achieve a much more nearly constant sensitivity to L.O. fluctuations. Solutions involve use of double-pulse interrogation; alternate interrogation of multiple traps so that the dead time of one trap can be covered by operation of the other; and the use of double-pulse interrogation for two traps, so that during the time of the RF pulses, the increasing sensitivity of one trap tends to compensate for the decreasing sensitivity of the other. A solution making use of amplified-modulated pulses is also presented which shows nominally zero time variation.

Application of theoretical models to active and passive remote sensing of saline ice

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Han, H. C.; Kong, J. A.; Shin, R. T.; Nghiem, S. V.; Kwok, R.

1992-01-01

The random medium model is used to interpret the polarimetric active and passive measurements of saline ice. The ice layer is described as a host ice medium embedded with randomly distributed inhomogeneities, and the underlying sea water is considered as a homogeneous half-space. The scatterers in the ice layer are modeled with an ellipsoidal correlation function. The orientation of the scatterers is vertically aligned and azimuthally random. The strong permittivity fluctuation theory is used to calculate the effective permittivity and the distorted Born approximation is used to obtain the polarimetric scattering coefficients. Thermal emissions based on the reciprocity and energy conservation principles are calculated. The effects of the random roughness at the air-ice, and ice-water interfaces are explained by adding the surface scattering to the volume scattering return incoherently. The theoretical model, which has been successfully applied to analyze the radar backscatter data of first-year sea ice, is used to interpret the measurements performed in the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory's CRRELEX program.

Application of theoretical models to active and passive remote sensing of saline ice

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Han, H. C.; Kong, Jin AU; Shin, Robert T.; Nghiem, Son V.; Kwok, R.

1992-01-01

The random medium model is used to interpret the polarimetric active and passive measurements of saline ice. The ice layer is described as a host ice medium embedded with randomly distributed inhomogeneities, and the underlying sea water is considered as a homogeneous half-space. The scatterers in the ice layer are modeled with an ellipsoidal correlation function. The orientation of the scatterers is vertically aligned and azimuthally random. The strong permittivity fluctuation theory is employed to calculate the effective permittivity and the distorted Born approximation is used to obtain the polarimetric scattering coefficients. We also calculate the thermal emissions based on the reciprocity and energy conservation principles. The effects of the random roughness at the air-ice, and ice-water interfaces are accounted for by adding the surface scattering to the volume scattering return incoherently. The above theoretical model, which has been successfully applied to analyze the radar backscatter data of the first-year sea ice near Point Barrow, AK, is used to interpret the measurements performed in the CRRELEX program.

Measuring freely dissolved water concentrations of PCBs using LDPE passive samplers and performance reference compounds (PRCs)

EPA Science Inventory

Low-Density polyethylene (LDPE) sheets are often used as passive samplers for aquatic environmental monitoring to measure the dissolved concentrations of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs). These concentrations are then used to evaluate the potential for ecological and human...

An Event-Structural Account of Passive Acquisition in Korean

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Kwee-Ock; Lee, Youngjoo

2008-01-01

Some peculiar properties of children's passives have long been observed in various languages such as an asymmetry between actional passives and nonactional passives. These peculiarities have been accounted for under the hypothesis that children's early passives are adjectival, and as such exhibit properties of adjectival passives in adult grammar.…

Enlightened Use of Passive Voice in Technical Writing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trammell, M. K.

1981-01-01

The passive voice as a normal, acceptable, and established syntactic form in technical writing is defended. Passive/active verb ratios, taken from sources including 'antipassivist' text books, are considered. The suitability of the passive voice in technical writing which involves unknown or irrelevant agents is explored. Three 'myths' that the passive (1) utilizes an abnormal and artificial word order, (2) is lifeless, and (3) is indirect are considered. Awkward and abnormal sounding examples encountered in text books are addressed in terms of original context. Unattractive or incoherent passive sentences are explained in terms of inappropriate conversion from active sentences having (1) short nominal or pronominal subjects or (2) verbs with restrictions on their passive use.

Asymptotic Stability of Interconnected Passive Non-Linear Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Isidori, A.; Joshi, S. M.; Kelkar, A. G.

1999-01-01

This paper addresses the problem of stabilization of a class of internally passive non-linear time-invariant dynamic systems. A class of non-linear marginally strictly passive (MSP) systems is defined, which is less restrictive than input-strictly passive systems. It is shown that the interconnection of a non-linear passive system and a non-linear MSP system is globally asymptotically stable. The result generalizes and weakens the conditions of the passivity theorem, which requires one of the systems to be input-strictly passive. In the case of linear time-invariant systems, it is shown that the MSP property is equivalent to the marginally strictly positive real (MSPR) property, which is much simpler to check.

Development of a passively Q-switched Nd:YAG microchip laser for use in the Satellite Laser Ranging 2000 project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gompers, Samuel Leo

Presently, NASA is designing a replacement for its existing satellite laser ranging systems. These systems are used to measure Earth-satellite distances, tectonic plate movement, variations in rotational motion and other geodetic phenomena. Satellite Laser Ranging 2000 (SLR2000) is envisioned as a fully automated, sub- centimeter accuracy, eye-safe, low-cost replacement to the current SLR systems. It is expected to overcome present limitations by operating autonomously; being free of optical, chemical or electrical hazards; and having a greater average time between failures. Expected shot range precision is about one centimeter with normal point precision of better than three centimeters. This system will have twenty-four hour tracking coverage. SLR2000 specifications dictate operation at visible wavelengths with eye-safe energies on the order of one hundred microjoules and repetition rates on the order of two kilohertz. The optical subsystem of SLR2000 includes a passively Q- switched Nd:YAG microlaser. Passive Q-switching will be achieved using a saturable absorber and offers a number of advantages over the mode-locked lasers currently used in ranging stations: no need for long resonators with tight thermal control; no electro-optic switch required for single pulse selection; saturable absorbers precluding the use of carcinogenic dyes and solvents; and RF drive frequency electronics not tied to the resonator length of the laser cavity. The presented work describes the research and development of a prototype laser used to produce the energies, repetition rates and pulsewidths required for SLR2000. Optimization theories and models were applied to the laser design in order to accurately predict and assess performance characteristics of both gain medium and saturable absorber. Data were obtained which illustrated the affect of pump laser saturation and thermal lensing of the gain medium. Important laboratory skills and techniques were acquired in the design and

26 CFR 1.469-2 - Passive activity loss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 6 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Passive activity loss. 1.469-2 Section 1.469-2...) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Taxable Year for Which Deductions Taken § 1.469-2 Passive activity loss. (a)-(c... passive activity unless the interest in property was used in a passive activity for either— (1) 20 percent...

21 CFR 888.3025 - Passive tendon prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Passive tendon prosthesis. 888.3025 Section 888...) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3025 Passive tendon prosthesis. (a) Identification. A passive tendon prosthesis is a device intended to be implanted made of silicon elastomer or a...

21 CFR 888.3025 - Passive tendon prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Passive tendon prosthesis. 888.3025 Section 888...) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3025 Passive tendon prosthesis. (a) Identification. A passive tendon prosthesis is a device intended to be implanted made of silicon elastomer or a...

DEVELOPMENT OF A PASSIVE, IN SITU, INTEGRATIVE ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Until recently, hydrophobic, bioconcentratable compounds have been the primary focus of most environmental organic contaminant investigations, There is an increasing realization that a holistic hazard assessment of complex environmental contaminant mixtures requires data on the concentrations of hydrophilic organic contaminants as well. This group of compounds includes a wide variety of chemicals, including potentially endocrine disrupting and estrogenic contaminants which have been shown to contribute to numerous abnormalities such as impaired reproduction in aquatic organisms exposed in environmental waters. To address this issue, we developed a passive, in situ, sampling device (the Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Sampler or POCIS) which integratively concentrates trace levels of complex mixtures of hydrophilic environmental contaminants, enables the determination of their time-weighted average water concentrations and provides a screening assessment of the toxicological significance of the complex mixture of waterborne contaminants. Using a prototype sampler (effective membrane sampling surface area = 18.2 cm 2) linear uptake of selected herbicides and pharmaceuticals was observed for up to 56 days. Estimation of the ambient water concentrations of chemicals of interest is achieved by using appropriate uptake models and determination of POCIS chemical sampling rates. The research focused on in the subtasks is the development and application of state-of

Handbook on passive thermal control coatings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mookherji, T. K.; Hayes, J. D.

1973-01-01

A handbook of passive thermal control surfaces data pertaining to the heat transfer requirements of spacecraft is presented. Passive temperature control techniques and the selection of control surfaces are analyzed. The space environmental damage mechanisms in passive thermal control surfaces are examined. Data on the coatings for which technical information is available are presented in tabular form. Emphasis was placed on consulting only those references where the experimental simulation of the space environment appeared to be more appropriate.

A holistic passive integrative sampling approach for assessing the presence and potential impacts of waterborne environmental contaminants

USGS Publications Warehouse

Petty, J.D.; Huckins, J.N.; Alvarez, D.A.; Brumbaugh, W. G.; Cranor, W.L.; Gale, R.W.; Rastall, A.C.; Jones-Lepp, T. L.; Leiker, T.J.; Rostad, C. E.; Furlong, E.T.

2004-01-01

As an integral part of our continuing research in environmental quality assessment approaches, we have developed a variety of passive integrative sampling devices widely applicable for use in defining the presence and potential impacts of a broad array of contaminants. The semipermeable membrane device has gained widespread use for sampling hydrophobic chemicals from water and air, the polar organic chemical integrative sampler is applicable for sequestering waterborne hydrophilic organic chemicals, the stabilized liquid membrane device is used to integratively sample waterborne ionic metals, and the passive integrative mercury sampler is applicable for sampling vapor phase or dissolved neutral mercury species. This suite of integrative samplers forms the basis for a new passive sampling approach for assessing the presence and potential toxicological significance of a broad spectrum of environmental contaminants. In a proof-of-concept study, three of our four passive integrative samplers were used to assess the presence of a wide variety of contaminants in the waters of a constructed wetland, and to determine the effectiveness of the constructed wetland in removing contaminants. The wetland is used for final polishing of secondary-treatment municipal wastewater and the effluent is used as a source of water for a state wildlife area. Numerous contaminants, including organochlorine pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organophosphate pesticides, and pharmaceutical chemicals (e.g., ibuprofen, oxindole, etc.) were detected in the wastewater. Herein we summarize the results of the analysis of the field-deployed samplers and demonstrate the utility of this holistic approach.

Thermal analysis of Malaysian double storey housing - low/medium cost unit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Normah, M. G.; Lau, K. Y.; Yusoff, S. Mohd.

2012-06-01

Almost half of the total energy used today is consumed in buildings. In the tropical climate, air-conditioning a housing unit takes much of the energy bill. Malaysia is no exception. Malaysian double storey terrace housing is popular among developers and buyers. Surveys have shown that housing occupants are much dissatisfied with the thermal comfort and artificial cooling is often sought. The objective of this study is to assess the thermal comfort of the low and medium-cost double storey housing in the area surrounding Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. A simulation program using the Weighting Factor Method calculates the heat transfer interaction, temperature distribution, and PMV level in three types of housing units in relation to the size. Fanger's PMV model based on ISO Standard 7730 is used here because it accounts for all parameters that affect the thermal sensation of a human within its equation. Results showed that both the low and medium-cost housing units studied are out of the comfortable range described by ASHRAE Standard 55 with the units all complied with the local bylaws. In view of the uncertainties in energy supply, future housing units should consider natural ventilation as part of the passive energy management.

Health Conditions and Passive Suicidal Ideation in the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe

PubMed Central

Morton, Kimberly; Turiano, Nicholas A.; Fiske, Amy

2016-01-01

Objectives: To examine the associations between health conditions and passive suicidal ideation in middle-aged and older adults. Method: Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted on data from 35,664 middle-aged and older adults from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe. Mediation analyses were also conducted to test the roles of disability and depression in risk of ideation. Results: After including demographic variables, disability, depression, and other health conditions as covariates, heart attack, diabetes/high blood sugar, chronic lung disease, arthritis, ulcer, and hip/femoral fractures were associated with increased odds of passive suicidal ideation. When grouped by organ systems, conditions affecting the endocrine, respiratory, and musculoskeletal systems were associated with increased odds of passive suicidal ideation, as was the total number of conditions. Individuals with greater numbers of health conditions exhibited greater levels of disability and depression, which partially explained the increased risk of passive suicidal ideation among those with more health conditions. Discussion: Certain specific health conditions, as well as total number of conditions, are associated with passive suicidal ideation in middle age and older adulthood. Health is a critical risk factor for suicidal ideation in late life and should be further studied in this particularly at-risk population. PMID:27013533

Intrahippocampal Insulin Improves Memory in a Passive-Avoidance Task in Male Wistar Rats

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babri, Shirin; Badie, Hamid Gholamipour; Khamenei, Saeed; Seyedlar, Mehdi Ordikhani

2007-01-01

The main impacts of insulin favor the peripheral organs. Although it functions as a neuropeptide, insulin possesses also some central effects. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of intrahippocampal infusion of insulin on passive avoidance learning in healthy male rats. Thirty male wistar rats were divided into three groups (n = 10…

Does e-cigarette consumption cause passive vaping?

PubMed

Schripp, T; Markewitz, D; Uhde, E; Salthammer, T

2013-02-01

Electronic cigarette consumption ('vaping') is marketed as an alternative to conventional tobacco smoking. Technically, a mixture of chemicals containing carrier liquids, flavors, and optionally nicotine is vaporized and inhaled. The present study aims at the determination of the release of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and (ultra)fine particles (FP/UFP) from an e-cigarette under near-to-real-use conditions in an 8-m(3) emission test chamber. Furthermore, the inhaled mixture is analyzed in small chambers. An increase in FP/UFP and VOC could be determined after the use of the e-cigarette. Prominent components in the gas-phase are 1,2-propanediol, 1,2,3-propanetriol, diacetin, flavorings, and traces of nicotine. As a consequence, 'passive vaping' must be expected from the consumption of e-cigarettes. Furthermore, the inhaled aerosol undergoes changes in the human lung that is assumed to be attributed to deposition and evaporation. The consumption of e-cigarettes marks a new source for chemical and aerosol exposure in the indoor environment. To evaluate the impact of e-cigarettes on indoor air quality and to estimate the possible effect of passive vaping, information about the chemical characteristics of the released vapor is needed. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Development of Verbal Passive in Williams Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perovic, Alexandra; Wexler, Kenneth

2010-01-01

Purpose: To experimentally investigate knowledge of passives of actional ("hold") and psychological ("love") verbs in children with Williams syndrome (WS). Passives are usually reported to be in line with mental age in WS. However, studies usually focus on passives of actional verbs only. Method: Twenty-six children with WS, ages 6-16, and 3…

Demonstration of Passive Fuel Cell Thermal Management Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burke, Kenneth A.; Jakupca, Ian; Colozza, Anthony; Wynne, Robert; Miller, Michael; Meyer, Al; Smith, William

2012-01-01

The NASA Glenn Research Center is developing advanced passive thermal management technology to reduce the mass and improve the reliability of space fuel cell systems for the NASA Exploration program. The passive thermal management system relies on heat conduction within highly thermally conductive cooling plates to move the heat from the central portion of the cell stack out to the edges of the fuel cell stack. Using the passive approach eliminates the need for a coolant pump and other cooling loop components within the fuel cell system which reduces mass and improves overall system reliability. Previous development demonstrated the performance of suitable highly thermally conductive cooling plates and integrated heat exchanger technology to collect the heat from the cooling plates (Ref. 1). The next step in the development of this passive thermal approach was the demonstration of the control of the heat removal process and the demonstration of the passive thermal control technology in actual fuel cell stacks. Tests were run with a simulated fuel cell stack passive thermal management system outfitted with passive cooling plates, an integrated heat exchanger and two types of cooling flow control valves. The tests were run to demonstrate the controllability of the passive thermal control approach. Finally, successful demonstrations of passive thermal control technology were conducted with fuel cell stacks from two fuel cell stack vendors.

26 CFR 1.1398-1 - Treatment of passive activity losses and passive activity credits in individuals' title 11 cases.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 11 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Treatment of passive activity losses and passive activity credits in individuals' title 11 cases. 1.1398-1 Section 1.1398-1 Internal Revenue... (CONTINUED) Rules Relating to Individuals' Title 11 Cases § 1.1398-1 Treatment of passive activity losses and...

Passive motion reduces vestibular balance and perceptual responses

PubMed Central

Fitzpatrick, Richard C; Watson, Shaun R D

2015-01-01

With the hypothesis that vestibular sensitivity is regulated to deal with a range of environmental motion conditions, we explored the effects of passive whole-body motion on vestibular perceptual and balance responses. In 10 subjects, vestibular responses were measured before and after a period of imposed passive motion. Vestibulospinal balance reflexes during standing evoked by galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) were measured as shear reaction forces. Perceptual tests measured thresholds for detecting angular motion, perceptions of suprathreshold rotation and perceptions of GVS-evoked illusory rotation. The imposed conditioning motion was 10 min of stochastic yaw rotation (0.5–2.5 Hz ≤ 300 deg s−2) with subjects seated. This conditioning markedly reduced reflexive and perceptual responses. The medium latency galvanic reflex (300–350 ms) was halved in amplitude (48%; P = 0.011) but the short latency response was unaffected. Thresholds for detecting imposed rotation more than doubled (248%; P < 0.001) and remained elevated after 30 min. Over-estimation of whole-body rotation (30–180 deg every 5 s) before conditioning was significantly reduced (41.1 to 21.5%; P = 0.033). Conditioning reduced illusory vestibular sensations of rotation evoked by GVS (mean 113 deg for 10 s at 1 mA) by 44% (P < 0.01) and the effect persisted for at least 1 h (24% reduction; P < 0.05). We conclude that a system of vestibular sensory autoregulation exists and that this probably involves central and peripheral mechanisms, possibly through vestibular efferent regulation. We propose that failure of these regulatory mechanisms at different levels could lead to disorders of movement perception and balance control during standing. Key points Human activity exposes the vestibular organs to a wide dynamic range of motion. We aimed to discover whether the CNS regulates sensitivity to vestibular afference during exposure to ambient motion. Balance and perceptual

VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS MEASURED IN DEARS PASSIVE SAMPLERS

EPA Science Inventory

A suite of 27 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were monitored in personal exposures, indoors and outdoors of participant's residences, and at a central community site during the DEARS summer 2004 monitoring season. The list of VOCs focused on compounds typically associated with ...

Energy extraction from a semi-passive flapping-foil turbine with active heave and passive pitch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boudreau, Matthieu; Dumas, Guy; Gunther, Kevin; CFD Laboratory LMFN Team

2017-11-01

Due to the inherent complexity of the mechanisms needed to prescribe the heaving and the pitching motions of optimal flapping-foil turbines, several research groups are now investigating the potential of using unconstrained passive motions. The amplitude, the phase and the frequency of such free motions are thus the result of the interaction of the blade with the flow and its elastic supports, namely springs and dampers. In parallel with our current study on fully-passive flapping-foil turbines, we investigate in this work the possibility of using a semi-passive turbine. Unlike previous semi-passive turbines studied in the literature, we propose a turbine with a passive pitching motion and an active heaving motion constrained to be a sine wave with desired amplitude and frequency. As most of the energy extracted by flapping-foil turbines comes from the heaving motion, it is natural to connect an electric generator to this degree of freedom, thereby allowing one to constrain this motion. It is found that large-amplitude pitching motions leading to a considerable energy extraction can arise under different circumstances and mechanisms, either forced by the heaving motion or driven by an instability of the pitching motion itself. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Tyler Lewis Clean Energy Research Foundation, Calcul Québec and Compute Canada.

Silicon surface passivation by silicon nitride deposition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olsen, L. C.

1984-01-01

Silicon nitride deposition was studied as a method of passivation for silicon solar cell surfaces. The following three objectives were the thrust of the research: (1) the use of pecvd silicon nitride for passivation of silicon surfaces; (2) measurement techniques for surface recombination velocity; and (3) the importance of surface passivation to high efficiency solar cells.

Large resource development projects as markets for passive solar technologies. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roze-Benson, R V

1980-12-01

A basic premise of this study is that large resource development projects provide a major market opportunity for passive solar manufactured buildings. The primary objectives of the work are to document selected resource development projects and identify their potential housing needs and development schedules, to contact resource industry representatives and assess some of the processes and motivations behind their involvement in housing decisions, and to provide passive solar manufactured buildings producers with results of these steps as early initial market intelligence. The intent is to identify not only the industries, location of their planned projects, and their likely worker housingmore » needs, but also the individuals involved in making housing-related decisions. The 56 identified projects are located within 18 states and cover 11 types of resources. The report documents individual projects, provides protections of total worker-related housing needs, and presents overviews of resource development company involvement in the new construction market. In addition, the report profiles three organizations that expressed a strong interest in implementing the use of low-cost passive solar manufactured buildings in resource-development-related activities.« less

A comparison between minerals-modified glutamate medium and lauryl tryptose lactose broth for the enumeration of Escherichia coli and coliform organisms in water by the multiple tube method.

PubMed Central

1980-01-01

In a multi-laboratory trial, minerals-modified glutamate medium (MMGM) was compared with lauryl tryptose lactose broth (LTLB) in the multiple tube method for the enumeration of coliform organisms, including Escherichia coli, in water. Samples of raw and chlorinated waters yielded a total of 2313 positive tube-reactions with MMGM and 2174 with LTLB. These were interpreted either as E. coli; other coliform organisms; or as false positive reactions. The results at first reading (18 or 24 h) and at 48 h have been analysed statistically in terms of (i) most probable numbers of coliform organisms; (ii) positive reactions and their interpretation; and (iii) whether or not the sample yielded any E. coli or other coliform organisms. All three analyses indicated the same trends. For the detection of E. coli in raw waters LTLB was better than MMGM at 18-24 h, but MMGM was better at 48 h with waters containing small numbers of coliform organisms; for raw waters with greater numbers of organisms, both media performed equally well. Analysis of a subset of samples read at both 18 and 24 h indicated that the superiority of LTLB over MMGM with raw waters disappeared by 24 h. For chlorinated waters, LTLB yielded more positive gas reactions at 18-24 h, but fewer of these were E. coli than with MMGM; at 48 h MMGM was clearly better than LTLB for total coliform organisms including E. coli--especially if the numbers were small. MMGM therefore remains the medium of choice for the detection of E. coli as an indicator of faecal contamination of chlorinated drinking water supplies. It is also better for the detection of small numbers of E. coli in other waters. PMID:6762395

Characterization of two passive air samplers for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

PubMed

Ahrens, Lutz; Harner, Tom; Shoeib, Mahiba; Koblizkova, Martina; Reiner, Eric J

2013-12-17

Two passive air sampler (PAS) media were characterized under field conditions for the measurement of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in the atmosphere. The PASs, consisting of polyurethane foam (PUF) and sorbent-impregnated PUF (SIP) disks, were deployed for over one year in parallel with high volume active air samplers (HV-AAS) and low volume active air samplers (LV-AAS). Samples were analyzed for perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs), perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids (PFSAs), fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), fluorotelomer methacrylates (FTMACs), fluorotelomer acrylates (FTACs), perfluorooctane sulfonamides (FOSAs), and perfluorooctane sulfonamidoethanols (FOSEs). Sampling rates and the passive sampler medium (PSM)-air partition coefficient (KPSM-A) were calculated for individual PFASs. Sampling rates were similar for PFASs present in the gas phase and particle phase, and the linear sampling rate of 4 m(-3) d(-1) is recommended for calculating effective air sample volumes in the SIP-PAS and PUF-PAS for PFASs except for the FOSAs and FOSEs in the PUF-PAS. SIP disks showed very good performance for all tested PFASs while PUF disks were suitable only for the PFSAs and their precursors. Experiments evaluating the suitability of different isotopically labeled fluorinated depuration compounds (DCs) revealed that (13)C8-perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was suitable for the calculation of site-specific sampling rates. Ambient temperature was the dominant factor influencing the seasonal trend of PFASs.

Discreet passive explosive detection through 2-sided waveguided fluorescence

DOEpatents

Harper, Ross James [Stillwater, OK; la Grone, Marcus [Cushing, OK; Fisher, Mark [Stillwater, OK

2011-10-18

The current invention provides a passive sampling device suitable for collecting and detecting the presence of target analytes. In particular, the passive sampling device is suitable for detecting nitro-aromatic compounds. The current invention further provides a passive sampling device reader suitable for determining the collection of target analytes. Additionally, the current invention provides methods for detecting target analytes using the passive sampling device and the passive sampling device reader.

An enhanced surface passivation effect in InGaN/GaN disk-in-nanowire light emitting diodes for mitigating Shockley-Read-Hall recombination.

PubMed

Zhao, Chao; Ng, Tien Khee; Prabaswara, Aditya; Conroy, Michele; Jahangir, Shafat; Frost, Thomas; O'Connell, John; Holmes, Justin D; Parbrook, Peter J; Bhattacharya, Pallab; Ooi, Boon S

2015-10-28

We present a detailed study of the effects of dangling bond passivation and the comparison of different sulfide passivation processes on the properties of InGaN/GaN quantum-disk (Qdisk)-in-nanowire based light emitting diodes (NW-LEDs). Our results demonstrated the first organic sulfide passivation process for nitride nanowires (NWs). The results from Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) measurements, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that octadecylthiol (ODT) effectively passivated the surface states, and altered the surface dynamic charge, and thereby recovered the band-edge emission. The effectiveness of the process with passivation duration was also studied. Moreover, we also compared the electro-optical performance of NW-LEDs emitting at green wavelength before and after ODT passivation. We have shown that the Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) non-radiative recombination of NW-LEDs can be greatly reduced after passivation by ODT, which led to a much faster increasing trend of quantum efficiency and higher peak efficiency. Our results highlighted the possibility of employing this technique to further design and produce high performance NW-LEDs and NW-lasers.

Passive fit and accuracy of three dental implant impression techniques.

PubMed

Al Quran, Firas A; Rashdan, Bashar A; Zomar, AbdelRahman A Abu; Weiner, Saul

2012-02-01

To reassess the accuracy of three impression techniques relative to the passive fit of the prosthesis. An edentulous maxillary cast was fabricated in epoxy resin with four dental implants embedded and secured with heat-cured acrylic resin. Three techniques were tested: closed tray, open tray nonsplinted, and open tray splinted. One light-cured custom acrylic tray was fabricated for each impression technique, and transfer copings were attached to the implants. Fifteen impressions for each technique were prepared with medium-bodied consistency polyether. Subsequently, the impressions were poured in type IV die stone. The distances between the implants were measured using a digital micrometer. The statistical analysis of the data was performed with ANOVA and a one-sample t test at a 95% confidence interval. The lowest mean difference in dimensional accuracy was found within the direct (open tray) splinted technique. Also, the one-sample t test showed that the direct splinted technique has the least statistical significant difference from direct nonsplinted and indirect (closed tray) techniques. All discrepancies were less than 100 Μm. Within the limitations of this study, the best accuracy of the definitive prosthesis was achieved when the impression copings were splinted with autopolymerized acrylic resin, sectioned, and rejoined. However, the errors associated with all of these techniques were less than 100 Μm, and based on the current definitions of passive fit, they all would be clinically acceptable.

Modeling of Passive Forces of Machine Tool Covers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolar, Petr; Hudec, Jan; Sulitka, Matej

The passive forces acting against the drive force are phenomena that influence dynamical properties and precision of linear axes equipped with feed drives. Covers are one of important sources of passive forces in machine tools. The paper describes virtual evaluation of cover passive forces using the cover complex model. The model is able to compute interaction between flexible cover segments and sealing wiper. The result is deformation of cover segments and wipers which is used together with measured friction coefficient for computation of cover total passive force. This resulting passive force is dependent on cover position. Comparison of computational results and measurement on the real cover is presented in the paper.

Using paired visual and passive acoustic surveys to estimate passive acoustic detection parameters for harbor porpoise abundance estimates.

PubMed

Jacobson, Eiren K; Forney, Karin A; Barlow, Jay

2017-01-01

Passive acoustic monitoring is a promising approach for monitoring long-term trends in harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) abundance. Before passive acoustic monitoring can be implemented to estimate harbor porpoise abundance, information about the detectability of harbor porpoise is needed to convert recorded numbers of echolocation clicks to harbor porpoise densities. In the present study, paired data from a grid of nine passive acoustic click detectors (C-PODs, Chelonia Ltd., United Kingdom) and three days of simultaneous aerial line-transect visual surveys were collected over a 370 km 2 study area. The focus of the study was estimating the effective detection area of the passive acoustic sensors, which was defined as the product of the sound production rate of individual animals and the area within which those sounds are detected by the passive acoustic sensors. Visually estimated porpoise densities were used as informative priors in a Bayesian model to solve for the effective detection area for individual harbor porpoises. This model-based approach resulted in a posterior distribution of the effective detection area of individual harbor porpoises consistent with previously published values. This technique is a viable alternative for estimating the effective detection area of passive acoustic sensors when other experimental approaches are not feasible.

Improving Toxicity Assessment of Pesticide Mixtures: The Use of Polar Passive Sampling Devices Extracts in Microalgae Toxicity Tests

PubMed Central

Kim Tiam, Sandra; Fauvelle, Vincent; Morin, Soizic; Mazzella, Nicolas

2016-01-01

Complexity of contaminants exposure needs to be taking in account for an appropriate evaluation of risks related to mixtures of pesticides released in the ecosystems. Toxicity assessment of such mixtures can be made through a variety of toxicity tests reflecting different level of biological complexity. This paper reviews the recent developments of passive sampling techniques for polar compounds, especially Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Samplers (POCIS) and Chemcatcher® and the principal assessment techniques using microalgae in laboratory experiments. The progresses permitted by the coupled use of such passive samplers and ecotoxicology testing as well as their limitations are presented. Case studies combining passive sampling devices (PSD) extracts and toxicity assessment toward microorganisms at different biological scales from single organisms to communities level are presented. These case studies, respectively, aimed (i) at characterizing the “toxic potential” of waters using dose-response curves, and (ii) at performing microcosm experiments with increased environmental realism in the toxicant exposure in term of cocktail composition and concentration. Finally perspectives and limitations of such approaches for future applications in the area of environmental risk assessment are discussed. PMID:27667986

76 FR 72875 - Passive Activity Losses and Credits Limited

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-28

... Passive Activity Losses and Credits Limited AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION... losses from passive activities. Section 469(b) permits passive losses disallowed in one year to be carried over to the next year. Section 469(c)(1) provides that a passive activity means any activity which...

Antibodies against viruses: passive and active immunization

PubMed Central

Law, Mansun; Hangartner, Lars

2008-01-01

Summary of recent advances Antibodies, through passive or active immunization, play a central role in prophylaxis against many infectious agents. While neutralization is a primary function of antibodies in protection against most viruses, the relative contribution of Fc-dependent and complement-dependent antiviral activities of antibodies was found to vary between different viruses in recent studies. The multiple hit model explains how antibodies neutralize viruses and recent data on the stoichiometry of antibody neutralization suggest that the organization of viral surface proteins on viruses, in addition to virus size, influences the level of antibody occupancy required for neutralization. These new findings will improve our strategies in therapeutic antibody engineering and rational vaccine design. PMID:18577455

Interferometric inversion for passive imaging and navigation

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-05-01

AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2017-0096 Interferometric inversion for passive imaging and navigation Laurent Demanet MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Final...COVERED (From - To) Feb 2015-Jan 2017 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Interferometric inversion for passive imaging and navigation 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER...Grant title: Interferometric inversion for passive imaging and navigation • Grant number: FA9550-15-1-0078 • Period: Feburary 2015 - January 2017

Temperature initiated passive cooling system

DOEpatents

Forsberg, C.W.

1994-11-01

A passive cooling system for cooling an enclosure only when the enclosure temperature exceeds a maximum standby temperature comprises a passive heat transfer loop containing heat transfer fluid having a particular thermodynamic critical point temperature just above the maximum standby temperature. An upper portion of the heat transfer loop is insulated to prevent two phase operation below the maximum standby temperature. 1 fig.

Temperature initiated passive cooling system

DOEpatents

Forsberg, Charles W.

1994-01-01

A passive cooling system for cooling an enclosure only when the enclosure temperature exceeds a maximum standby temperature comprises a passive heat transfer loop containing heat transfer fluid having a particular thermodynamic critical point temperature just above the maximum standby temperature. An upper portion of the heat transfer loop is insulated to prevent two phase operation below the maximum standby temperature.

Substrate and Passivation Techniques for Flexible Amorphous Silicon-Based X-ray Detectors

PubMed Central

Marrs, Michael A.; Raupp, Gregory B.

2016-01-01

Flexible active matrix display technology has been adapted to create new flexible photo-sensing electronic devices, including flexible X-ray detectors. Monolithic integration of amorphous silicon (a-Si) PIN photodiodes on a flexible substrate poses significant challenges associated with the intrinsic film stress of amorphous silicon. This paper examines how altering device structuring and diode passivation layers can greatly improve the electrical performance and the mechanical reliability of the device, thereby eliminating one of the major weaknesses of a-Si PIN diodes in comparison to alternative photodetector technology, such as organic bulk heterojunction photodiodes and amorphous selenium. A dark current of 0.5 pA/mm2 and photodiode quantum efficiency of 74% are possible with a pixelated diode structure with a silicon nitride/SU-8 bilayer passivation structure on a 20 µm-thick polyimide substrate. PMID:27472329

Substrate and Passivation Techniques for Flexible Amorphous Silicon-Based X-ray Detectors.

PubMed

Marrs, Michael A; Raupp, Gregory B

2016-07-26

Flexible active matrix display technology has been adapted to create new flexible photo-sensing electronic devices, including flexible X-ray detectors. Monolithic integration of amorphous silicon (a-Si) PIN photodiodes on a flexible substrate poses significant challenges associated with the intrinsic film stress of amorphous silicon. This paper examines how altering device structuring and diode passivation layers can greatly improve the electrical performance and the mechanical reliability of the device, thereby eliminating one of the major weaknesses of a-Si PIN diodes in comparison to alternative photodetector technology, such as organic bulk heterojunction photodiodes and amorphous selenium. A dark current of 0.5 pA/mm² and photodiode quantum efficiency of 74% are possible with a pixelated diode structure with a silicon nitride/SU-8 bilayer passivation structure on a 20 µm-thick polyimide substrate.

Anomalous scaling of passive scalars in rotating flows.

PubMed

Rodriguez Imazio, P; Mininni, P D

2011-06-01

We present results of direct numerical simulations of passive scalar advection and diffusion in turbulent rotating flows. Scaling laws and the development of anisotropy are studied in spectral space, and in real space using an axisymmetric decomposition of velocity and passive scalar structure functions. The passive scalar is more anisotropic than the velocity field, and its power spectrum follows a spectral law consistent with ~ k[Please see text](-3/2). This scaling is explained with phenomenological arguments that consider the effect of rotation. Intermittency is characterized using scaling exponents and probability density functions of velocity and passive scalar increments. In the presence of rotation, intermittency in the velocity field decreases more noticeably than in the passive scalar. The scaling exponents show good agreement with Kraichnan's prediction for passive scalar intermittency in two dimensions, after correcting for the observed scaling of the second-order exponent.

A Field Evaluation of Performance Reference Compound Based Estimates of Cfree Using Water Column Deployed Passive Samplers

EPA Science Inventory

Low-Density polyethylene (LDPE) sheets are often used as passive samplers for aquatic environmental monitoring to measure the freely dissolved concentrations of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs). HOCs that are freely dissolved in water (Cfree) will partition into the LDPE u...

Wireless passive radiation sensor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pfeifer, Kent B; Rumpf, Arthur N; Yelton, William G

2013-12-03

A novel measurement technique is employed using surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices, passive RF, and radiation-sensitive films to provide a wireless passive radiation sensor that requires no batteries, outside wiring, or regular maintenance. The sensor is small (<1 cm.sup.2), physically robust, and will operate unattended for decades. In addition, the sensor can be insensitive to measurement position and read distance due to a novel self-referencing technique eliminating the need to measure absolute responses that are dependent on RF transmitter location and power.

Comparing the Accumulation of PCBs by Passive Samplers and Mussels from the Water Column at a Contaminated Sediment Site

EPA Science Inventory

Passive samplers, including semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs), solid phase microextraction (SPME) and polyethylene devices (PEDs), provide innovative tools for measuring hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) originating from contaminated waters and sediments. Because the...

Vertical Diffusivities of Active and Passive Tracers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Canuto, V. M.; Cheng, Y.; Howard, A. M.

2010-01-01

The climate models that include a carbon-cycle need the vertical diffusivity of a passive tracer. Since an expression for the latter is not available, it has been common practice to identify it with that of salt. The identification is questionable since T, S are active, not passive tracers. We present the first derivation of the diffusivity of a passive tracer in terms of Ri (Richardson number) and Rq (density ratio, ratio of salinity over temperature z-gradients). The following results have emerged: (a) The passive tracer diffusivity is an algebraic function of Ri, Rq. (b) In doubly stable regimes (DS, partial derivative of T with respect to z > 0, partial derivative of S with respect to z < 0), the passive scalar diffusivity is nearly the same as that of salt/heat for any values of Rq < 0 and Ri > 0. (c) In DC regimes (diffusive convection, partial derivative of T with respect to z < 0, partial derivative of S with respect to z < 0, Rq > 1), the passive scalar diffusivity is larger than that of salt. At Ri = O(1), it can be more than twice as large. (d) In SF regimes (salt fingers, partial derivative of T with respect to z > 0, partial derivative of S with respect to z > 0, Rq < 1), the passive scalar diffusivity is smaller than that of salt. At Ri = O(1), it can be less than half of it. (e) The passive tracer diffusivity predicted at the location of NATRE (North Atlantic Tracer Release Experiment) is discussed. (f) Perhaps the most relevant conclusion is that the common identification of the tracer diffusivity with that of salt is valid only in DS regimes. In the Southern Ocean, where there is the largest CO2 absorption, the dominant regime is diffusive convection discussed in (c) above.

Development of polyurethane-based passive samplers for ambient monitoring of urban-use insecticides in water.

PubMed

Liao, Chunyang; Richards, Jaben; Taylor, Allison R; Gan, Jay

2017-12-01

Widespread use of insecticides for the control of urban pests such as ants, termites, and spiders has resulted in contamination and toxicity in urban aquatic ecosystems in different regions of the world. Passive samplers are a convenient and integrative tool for in situ monitoring of trace contaminants in surface water. However, the performance of a passive sampler depends closely on its affinity for the target analytes, making passive samplers highly specific to the types of contaminants being monitored. The goal of this study was to develop a passive sampler compatible with a wide range of insecticides, including the strongly hydrophobic pyrethroids and the weakly hydrophobic fipronil and organophosphates. Of six candidate polymeric thin films, polyurethane film (PU) was identified to be the best at enriching the test compounds. The inclusion of stable isotope labeled analogs as performance reference compounds (PRCs) further allowed the use of PU film for pyrethroids under non-equilibrium conditions. The PU sampler was tested in a large aquarium with circulatory water flow, and also deployed at multiple sites in surface streams in southern California. The concentrations of pesticides derived from the PU sampler ranged from 0.5 to 18.5 ng/L, which were generally lower than the total chemical concentration measured by grab samples, suggesting that suspended particles and dissolved organic matter in water rendered them less available. The influence of suspended particles and dissolved organic matter on bioavailability was more pronounced for pyrethroids than for fipronils. The results show that the developed PU film sampler, when coupled with PRCs, may be used for rapid and sensitive in-situ monitoring of a wide range of insecticides in surface water. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Antenna for passive RFID tags

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schiopu, Paul; Manea, Adrian; Cristea, Ionica; Grosu, Neculai; Vladescu, Marian; Craciun, Anca-Ileana; Craciun, Alexandru

2015-02-01

Minuscule devices, called RFID tags are attached to objects and persons and emit information which positioned readers may capture wirelessly. Many methods of identification have been used, but that of most common is to use a unique serial number for identification of person or object. RFID tags can be characterized as either active or passive [1,2]. Traditional passive tags are typically in "sleep" state until awakened by the reader's emitted field. In passive tags, the reader's field acts to charge the capacitor that powers the badge and this can be a combination of antenna and barcodes obtained with SAW( Surface Acoustic Wave) devices [1,2,3] . The antenna in an RFID tag is a conductive element that permits the tag to exchange data with the reader. The paper contribution are targeted to antenna for passive RFID tags. The electromagnetic field generated by the reader is somehow oriented by the reader antenna and power is induced in the tag only if the orientation of the tag antenna is appropriate. A tag placed orthogonal to the reader yield field will not be read. This is the reason that guided manufacturers to build circular polarized antenna capable of propagating a field that is alternatively polarized on all planes passing on the diffusion axis. Passive RFID tags are operated at the UHF frequencies of 868MHz (Europe) and 915MHz (USA) and at the microwave frequencies of 2,45 GHz and 5,8 GHz . Because the tags are small dimensions, in paper, we present the possibility to use circular polarization microstrip antenna with fractal edge [2].

Passive cooling during transport of asphyxiated term newborns

PubMed Central

O’Reilly, Deirdre; Labrecque, Michelle; O’Melia, Michael; Bacic, Janine; Hansen, Anne; Soul, Janet S

2014-01-01

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of passive cooling during transport of asphyxiated newborns. Study Design Retrospective medical record review of newborns with perinatal asphyxia transported for hypothermia between July 2007 and June 2010. Results Forty-three newborns were transported, 27 of whom were passively cooled. Twenty (74%) passively cooled newborns arrived with axillary temperature between 32.5 and 34.5 °C. One newborn (4%) arrived with a subtherapeutic temperature, and 6 (22%) had temperatures >34.5 °C. Time from birth to hypothermia was significantly shorter among passively cooled newborns compared with newborns not cooled (215 vs. 327 minutes, p<0.01), even though time from birth to arrival was similar (252 vs. 259 minutes, p=0.77). There were no significant adverse events related to passive cooling. Conclusions Exclusive passive cooling for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy results in significantly earlier achievement of effective therapeutic hypothermia without significant adverse events. PMID:23154670

Active subjects of passive monitoring: responses to a passive monitoring system in low-income independent living

PubMed Central

BERRIDGE, CLARA

2016-01-01

Passive monitoring technology is beginning to be reimbursed by third-party payers in the United States of America. Given the low voluntary uptake of these technologies on the market, it is important to understand the concerns and perspectives of users, former users and non-users. In this paper, the range of ways older adults relate to passive monitoring in low-income independent-living residences is presented. This includes experiences of adoption, non-adoption, discontinuation and creative ‘misuse’. The analysis of interviews reveals three key insights. First, assumptions built into the technology about how older adults live present a problem for many users who experience unwanted disruptions and threats to their behavioural autonomy. Second, resident response is varied and challenges the dominant image of residents as passive subjects of a passive monitoring system. Third, the priorities of older adults (e.g. safety, autonomy, privacy, control, contact) are more diverse and multi-faceted than those of the housing organisation staff and family members (e.g. safety, efficiency) who drive the passive monitoring intervention. The tension between needs, desires and the daily lives of older adults and the technological solutions offered to them is made visible by their active responses, including resistance to them. This exposes the active and meaningful qualities of older adults’ decisions and practices. PMID:28239211

Low cost passive solar adobe house

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1981-12-21

A brief description, photographs, and cost breakdown of a hybrid direct-gain passive solar adobe house constructed in the City of El Paso, Texas. The 3-panel active solar domestic hot water system acts as a back-up to the direct gain passive system.

Passive Solar Heating Residences.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-07-01

concerned, as long as the basic system falls within one of the passive concepts, then it is a passive system. If a fan can increase the system~s...wood walls and roof is R-22, in the block walls (urea-formaldahyde foam sprayed in wall cavity) is R-30, and a 4" styro- foam board at the slab edge (R...is based cn 1,000 BTU/sq. ft./day, which is a clear day value. The south windows have reflectors which will increase the energy gained (30% by Steve

Extracting atmospheric turbulence and aerosol characteristics from passive imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reinhardt, Colin N.; Wayne, D.; McBryde, K.; Cauble, G.

2013-09-01

Obtaining accurate, precise and timely information about the local atmospheric turbulence and extinction conditions and aerosol/particulate content remains a difficult problem with incomplete solutions. It has important applications in areas such as optical and IR free-space communications, imaging systems performance, and the propagation of directed energy. The capability to utilize passive imaging data to extract parameters characterizing atmospheric turbulence and aerosol/particulate conditions would represent a valuable addition to the current piecemeal toolset for atmospheric sensing. Our research investigates an application of fundamental results from optical turbulence theory and aerosol extinction theory combined with recent advances in image-quality-metrics (IQM) and image-quality-assessment (IQA) methods. We have developed an algorithm which extracts important parameters used for characterizing atmospheric turbulence and extinction along the propagation channel, such as the refractive-index structure parameter C2n , the Fried atmospheric coherence width r0 , and the atmospheric extinction coefficient βext , from passive image data. We will analyze the algorithm performance using simulations based on modeling with turbulence modulation transfer functions. An experimental field campaign was organized and data were collected from passive imaging through turbulence of Siemens star resolution targets over several short littoral paths in Point Loma, San Diego, under conditions various turbulence intensities. We present initial results of the algorithm's effectiveness using this field data and compare against measurements taken concurrently with other standard atmospheric characterization equipment. We also discuss some of the challenges encountered with the algorithm, tasks currently in progress, and approaches planned for improving the performance in the near future.

Passive Superconducting Shielding: Experimental Results and Computer Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Warner, B. A.; Kamiya, K.

2003-01-01

Passive superconducting shielding for magnetic refrigerators has advantages over active shielding and passive ferromagnetic shielding in that it is lightweight and easy to construct. However, it is not as easy to model and does not fail gracefully. Failure of a passive superconducting shield may lead to persistent flux and persistent currents. Unfortunately, modeling software for superconducting materials is not as easily available as is software for simple coils or for ferromagnetic materials. This paper will discuss ways of using available software to model passive superconducting shielding.

Configurations and calibration methods for passive sampling techniques.

PubMed

Ouyang, Gangfeng; Pawliszyn, Janusz

2007-10-19

Passive sampling technology has developed very quickly in the past 15 years, and is widely used for the monitoring of pollutants in different environments. The design and quantification of passive sampling devices require an appropriate calibration method. Current calibration methods that exist for passive sampling, including equilibrium extraction, linear uptake, and kinetic calibration, are presented in this review. A number of state-of-the-art passive sampling devices that can be used for aqueous and air monitoring are introduced according to their calibration methods.

Print media coverage of research on passive smoking

PubMed Central

Kennedy, G.; Bero, L.

1999-01-01

OBJECTIVE—To assess the extent and content of newspaper and magazine coverage of research on passive smoking.
DESIGN—Content analysis of newspaper and magazine articles.
SUBJECTS—Articles reporting on passive smoking research published in newspapers (n = 180) or magazines (n = 92) between January 1981 and December 1994.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES—Numbers of articles, conclusions of articles, sources quoted, numbers and characteristics of research studies cited, presence of tobacco advertising.
RESULTS—The number of newspaper and magazine articles reporting on passive smoking research increased from four in 1981 to 57 in 1992 and 32 in 1994. Sixty-two per cent (168/272) of articles concluded that the research on passive smoking is controversial. Tobacco industry representatives were quoted significantly more often in newspaper articles (52%, 94/180) than magazine articles (12%, 11/92) (p<0.0001). Of 121 different research studies cited in the lay press articles, only 15 were from tobacco-industry sponsored projects or publications. In magazines, acceptance of tobacco industry advertising was associated with the conclusion that research on passive smoking is controversial (p<0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS—Although research on the harmful effects of passive smoking accumulated between 1981 and 1994, lay press coverage of the research maintained that the science was controversial. Few research studies were cited to support the industry's claim that passive smoking is not harmful to health. However, tobacco industry representatives who were critical of the research methods used to study the health effects of passive smoking were frequently quoted.


Keywords: environmental tobacco smoke; media; passive smoking PMID:10599568

Cellular automaton formulation of passive scalar dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, Hudong; Matthaeus, William H.

1987-01-01

Cellular automata modeling of the advection of a passive scalar in a two-dimensional flow is examined in the context of discrete lattice kinetic theory. It is shown that if the passive scalar is represented by tagging or 'coloring' automation particles a passive advection-diffusion equation emerges without use of perturbation expansions. For the specific case of the hydrodynamic lattice gas model of Frisch et al. (1986), the diffusion coefficient is calculated by perturbation.

Columbia County Habitat for Humanity Passive Townhomes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None, None

2016-03-01

Columbia County Habitat for Humanity (CCHH) (New York, Climate Zone 5A) built a pair of townhomes to Passive House Institute U.S. (PHIUS+ 2015) criteria to explore approaches for achieving Passive House performance (specifically with respect to exterior wall, space-conditioning, and ventilation strategies) within the labor and budget context inherent in a Habitat for Humanity project. CCHH’s goal is to eventually develop a cost-justified Passive House prototype design for future projects.

Propulsion by passive filaments and active flagella near boundaries.

PubMed

Evans, Arthur A; Lauga, Eric

2010-10-01

Confinement and wall effects are known to affect the kinematics and propulsive characteristics of swimming microorganisms. When a solid body is dragged through a viscous fluid at constant velocity, the presence of a wall increases fluid drag, and thus the net force required to maintain speed has to increase. In contrast, recent optical trapping experiments have revealed that the propulsive force generated by human spermatozoa is decreased by the presence of boundaries. Here, we use a series of simple models to analytically elucidate the propulsive effects of a solid boundary on passively actuated filaments and model flagella. For passive flexible filaments actuated periodically at one end, the presence of the wall is shown to increase the propulsive forces generated by the filaments in the case of displacement-driven actuation, while it decreases the force in the case of force-driven actuation. In the case of active filaments as models for eukaryotic flagella, we demonstrate that the manner in which a solid wall affects propulsion cannot be known a priori, but is instead a nontrivial function of the flagellum frequency, wavelength, its material characteristics, the manner in which the molecular motors self-organize to produce oscillations (prescribed activity model or self-organized axonemal beating model), and the boundary conditions applied experimentally to the tethered flagellum. In particular, we show that in some cases, the increase in fluid friction induced by the wall can lead to a change in the waveform expressed by the flagella, which results in a decrease in their propulsive force.

Passive Thermal Management of Foil Bearings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bruckner, Robert J. (Inventor)

2015-01-01

Systems and methods for passive thermal management of foil bearing systems are disclosed herein. The flow of the hydrodynamic film across the surface of bearing compliant foils may be disrupted to provide passive cooling and to improve the performance and reliability of the foil bearing system.

Passive ice freezing-releasing heat pipe

DOEpatents

Gorski, Anthony J.; Schertz, William W.

1982-01-01

A heat pipe device has been developed which permits completely passive ice formation and periodic release of ice without requiring the ambient temperature to rise above the melting point of water. This passive design enables the maximum amount of cooling capacity to be stored in the tank.

Can Passive Touch Be Better than Active Touch? A Comparison of Active and Passive Tactile Maze Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Barry L.; And Others

1981-01-01

In a comparison of the performance of active and passive mechanically yoked subjects who learned their way through a tactile maze, it was shown that active subjects made more errors and took a greater number of trials to reach criterion than did passive subjects. (Author)

Medium factors on anaerobic production of rhamnolipids by Pseudomonas aeruginosa SG and a simplifying medium for in situ microbial enhanced oil recovery applications.

PubMed

Zhao, Feng; Zhou, Jidong; Han, Siqin; Ma, Fang; Zhang, Ying; Zhang, Jie

2016-04-01

Aerobic production of rhamnolipid by Pseudomonas aeruginosa was extensively studied. But effect of medium composition on anaerobic production of rhamnolipid by P. aeruginosa was unknown. A simplifying medium facilitating anaerobic production of rhamnolipid is urgently needed for in situ microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). Medium factors affecting anaerobic production of rhamnolipid were investigated using P. aeruginosa SG (Genbank accession number KJ995745). Medium composition for anaerobic production of rhamnolipid by P. aeruginosa is different from that for aerobic production of rhamnolipid. Both hydrophobic substrate and organic nitrogen inhibited rhamnolipid production under anaerobic conditions. Glycerol and nitrate were the best carbon and nitrogen source. The commonly used N limitation under aerobic conditions was not conducive to rhamnolipid production under anaerobic conditions because the initial cell growth demanded enough nitrate for anaerobic respiration. But rhamnolipid was also fast accumulated under nitrogen starvation conditions. Sufficient phosphate was needed for anaerobic production of rhamnolipid. SO4(2-) and Mg(2+) are required for anaerobic production of rhamnolipid. Results will contribute to isolation bacteria strains which can anaerobically produce rhamnolipid and medium optimization for anaerobic production of rhamnolipid. Based on medium optimization by response surface methodology and ions composition of reservoir formation water, a simplifying medium containing 70.3 g/l glycerol, 5.25 g/l NaNO3, 5.49 g/l KH2PO4, 6.9 g/l K2HPO4·3H2O and 0.40 g/l MgSO4 was designed. Using the simplifying medium, 630 mg/l of rhamnolipid was produced by SG, and the anaerobic culture emulsified crude oil to EI24 = 82.5 %. The simplifying medium was promising for in situ MEOR applications.

Passivated niobium cavities

DOEpatents

Myneni, Ganapati Rao [Yorktown, VA; Hjorvarsson, Bjorgvin [Lagga Arby, SE; Ciovati, Gianluigi [Newport News, VA

2006-12-19

A niobium cavity exhibiting high quality factors at high gradients is provided by treating a niobium cavity through a process comprising: 1) removing surface oxides by plasma etching or a similar process; 2) removing hydrogen or other gases absorbed in the bulk niobium by high temperature treatment of the cavity under ultra high vacuum to achieve hydrogen outgassing; and 3) assuring the long term chemical stability of the niobium cavity by applying a passivating layer of a superconducting material having a superconducting transition temperature higher than niobium thereby reducing losses from electron (cooper pair) scattering in the near surface region of the interior of the niobium cavity. According to a preferred embodiment, the passivating layer comprises niobium nitride (NbN) applied by reactive sputtering.

Passive soil gas technique for investigating soil and groundwater plume emanating from volatile organic hydrocarbon at Bazian oil refinery site.

PubMed

Hamamin, Dara Faeq

2018-05-01

The current work is an attempt to illustrate the importance of using passive soil gas as an innovative investigation technique in the assessment of soil and groundwater pollutions that emanates from volatile hydrocarbon activities in newly emerging countries. Bazian Oil Refinery as one of the largest refinery in Iraqi Kurdistan Region produces 40,000 barrels a day and provides a wide range of petroleum products for daily consumption. The types and scale of different process that happen in this industrial site have led to concerns with regard to its impact on both the soil and groundwater the vicinity of the factory. The researcher conducted a combined sampling design with a dual-phased extraction procedure for soil vapor and groundwater samples in order to assess the susceptibility of the subsurface to pollution with hydrocarbon. The aims were to characterize potential source(s), map the areal extent of the site which is at risk to be affected with the identified9 hydrocarbon compounds and vapor. A collection kit from Beacon Environmental Service was used to collect a total number of 50 passive soil vapors in the first step of work. To extrapolate results, five shallow boring for soils and six for water sampling were carefully observed. The selection of the sampling points was based on the results revealed by the PSG survey that showed significant quantities of analyzed organic hydrocarbon for a follow-up investigation. The matrices were analyzed by ALS Laboratory to target more than 40 VOCs and SVOCs. The plan was to make the mass to concentration tie-in for the selected analyzed compounds (Benzene, Toluene, and Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons) from the PSG in mass (nanograms) with both the soil and water samples in concentration. The results revealed that the PSG technique is unique in identifying the source and extent of soil and groundwater pollutions plume. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Silicone rubber selection for passive sampling of pesticides in water.

PubMed

Martin, A; Margoum, C; Randon, J; Coquery, M

2016-11-01

Silicone rubber can extract organic compounds with a broad range of polarities (logKow>2-3) from aqueous samples. Such compounds include substances of major concern in the protection of aquatic ecosystems and human health, e.g. pesticides. Silicone rubbers (SRs) with various characteristics have been successfully used in sorptive methods for water sample extraction in the laboratory (SPME, SBSE), and for passive sampling in aquatic environments. However, only few studies have evaluated variability in organic compound sorption due to the origin of SRs, particularly for pesticides. The aim of this study was to select an SR for the extraction of pesticides from water samples by passive sampling. To this end we measured the impact of seven SR formulations on sorption capacity, defined by the partition coefficient (Ksw). Kinetic experiments and sorption isotherms were performed to determine extraction recovery as a selection criterion for SRs, and pesticide partition coefficients. Very large differences in affinity for pesticides were found between two kinds of SRs: "Polymerized SR kits" and "Manufactured SRs". One SR was chosen among the "Manufactured SRs", and the Ksw values of 21 pesticides were determined, filling a gap in the literature (1.50

Passive film growth on titanium alloys: physicochemical and biologic considerations.

PubMed

Eliades, T

1997-01-01

The role of reactive oxygen derivatives (hydroxy peroxide, hydroxyl radical, and singlet oxygen) on the precipitation of inorganic and organic complexes onto the surface of titanium implant alloys is discussed in this review. In addition, the effect of possible implication of several biologic entities surrounding the implant on the implant-tissue interface constituents is described. Evidence from relevant studies suggests that local microenvironmental byproducts and factors associated with the inflammatory response resulting from the implant-induced tissue insult may enhance the expressivity of the inherent, clinically important property of titanium to form oxides. Growth of titanium oxide may be explained through several processes derived from biologic, thermodynamic, and electrochemical approaches. The models proposed to interpret this phenomenon are often contradictory, demonstrating inward or outward from the bulk material passive film growth, with increasing or self-limiting levels of oxide formation as a function of time. However, in vivo observations are consistent with aging-induced thickening of the complexes precipitated on the implant material surface. This review attempts to clarify several critical issues pertaining to passive film formation and kinetics on titanium-alloy surfaces.

The potential of flow-through microdialysis for probing low-molecular weight organic anions in rhizosphere soil solution.

PubMed

Sulyok, Michael; Miró, Manuel; Stingeder, Gerhard; Koellensperger, Gunda

2005-08-01

In this paper, flow-through microdialysis is presented as a novel analytical tool for automatic sampling of low molecular weight organic anions (LMWOA), such as oxalate and citrate, in solid samples of environmental concern. The microsampling methodology involves the implantation of dedicated capillary-type probes offering unrivalled spatial resolution (ca. 200μm) in definite soil sites. These passive samplers are aimed at monitoring local processes, such as the release of organic acids occurring in the rhizosphere environment, in nearly real-time. The influence of chemical and physical variables (composition and flow rate of the perfusion liquid, ionic strength and pH of the outer medium and presence of metal ions therein) was assessed in vitro using liquid-phase assays. On the other hand, the resistance of the external solid medium to mass transfer, and the actual applicability of in vivo calibration methods were investigated using quartz sand as an inert model soil. Microdialysers furnished with 3cm long semipermeable tubular membranes were perfused with 0.01M NaNO 3 at a flow rate of 2.0μl/min, yielding dialysis recoveries ≥45% for both assayed LMWOAs in simulated background soil electrolyte solutions, and ≥24% in the interstitial liquid of complex solid samples. Full knowledge of the fate of LMWOAs in soils was obtained through the application of stimulus-response approaches that mimic the discrete exudation pulses of roots. Highly time-resolved microdialysates were used to discern readily available species such as free carboxylic anions and LMW metal-organic acid complexes from adsorbed, precipitated or mineralised analyte species in a variety of soil samples containing variable amounts of organic matter, exchangeable cations and different levels of metal pollution.

Hydrodynamic interactions between a self-rotation rotator and passive particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ouyang, Zhenyu; Lin, Jian-Zhong; Ku, Xiaoke

2017-10-01

In this paper, we numerically investigate the hydrodynamic interaction between a self-rotation rotator and passive particles in a two-dimensional confined cavity at two typical Reynolds numbers according to the different flow features. Both the fluid-particle interaction and particle-particle interaction through fluid media are taken into consideration. The results show that from the case of a rotator and one passive particle to the case of a rotator and two passive particles, the system becomes much more complex because the relative displacement between the rotator and the passive particles and the velocity of passive particles are strongly dependent on the Reynolds number and the initial position of passive particles. For the system of two particles, the passive particle gradually departs from the rotator although its relative displacement to the rotator exhibits a periodic oscillation at the lower Reynolds number. Furthermore, the relative distance between the two particles and the rotator's rotational frequency are responsible for the oscillation amplitude and frequency of the passive particle's velocity. For the system of three particles, the passive particle's velocities exhibit a superposition of a large amplitude oscillation and a small amplitude oscillation at the lower Reynolds number, and the large amplitude oscillation will disappear at the higher Reynolds number. The change of the included angle of the two passive particles is dependent on the initial positions of the passive particles at the lower Reynolds number, whereas the included angle of the two passive particles finally approaches a fixed value at the higher Reynolds number. It is interesting that the two passive particles periodically approach and depart from each other when the included angle is not equal to π, while all the three particles (including the rotator) keep the positions in a straight line when the included angle is equal to π because the interference between two passive

Operation of passive membrane systems for drinking water treatment.

PubMed

Oka, P A; Khadem, N; Bérubé, P R

2017-05-15

The widespread adoption of submerged hollow fibre ultrafiltration (UF) for drinking water treatment is currently hindered by the complexity and cost of these membrane systems, especially in small/remote communities. Most of the complexity is associated with auxiliary fouling control measures, which include backwashing, air sparging and chemical cleaning. Recent studies have demonstrated that sustained operation without fouling control measures is possible, but little is known regarding the conditions under which extended operation can be sustained with minimal to no fouling control measures. The present study investigated the contribution of different auxiliary fouling control measures to the permeability that can be sustained, with the intent of minimizing the mechanical and operational complexity of submerged hollow fiber UF membrane systems while maximizing their throughput capacity. Sustained conditions could be achieved without backwashing, air sparging or chemical cleaning (i.e. passive operation), indicating that these fouling control measures can be eliminated, substantially simplifying the mechanical and operational complexity of submerged hollow fiber UF systems. The adoption of hydrostatic pressure (i.e. gravity) to provide the driving force for permeation further reduced the system complexity. Approximately 50% of the organic material in the raw water was removed during treatment. The sustained passive operation and effective removal of organic material was likely due to the microbial community that established itself on the membrane surface. The permeability that could be sustained was however only approximately 20% of that which can be maintained with fouling control measures. Retaining a small amount of air sparging (i.e. a few minutes daily) and incorporating a daily 1-h relaxation (i.e. permeate flux interruption) period prior to sparging more than doubled the permeability that could be sustained. Neither the approach used to interrupt the permeate

Equilibrium Passive Sampling of POP in Lipid-Rich and Lean Fish Tissue: Quality Control Using Performance Reference Compounds.

PubMed

Rusina, Tatsiana P; Carlsson, Pernilla; Vrana, Branislav; Smedes, Foppe

2017-10-03

Passive sampling is widely used to measure levels of contaminants in various environmental matrices, including fish tissue. Equilibrium passive sampling (EPS) of persistent organic pollutants (POP) in fish tissue has been hitherto limited to application in lipid-rich tissue. We tested several exposure methods to extend EPS applicability to lean tissue. Thin-film polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) passive samplers were exposed statically to intact fillet and fish homogenate and dynamically by rolling with cut fillet cubes. The release of performance reference compounds (PRC) dosed to passive samplers prior to exposure was used to monitor the exchange process. The sampler-tissue exchange was isotropic, and PRC were shown to be good indicators of sampler-tissue equilibration status. The dynamic exposures demonstrated equilibrium attainment in less than 2 days for all three tested fish species, including lean fish containing 1% lipid. Lipid-based concentrations derived from EPS were in good agreement with lipid-normalized concentrations obtained using conventional solvent extraction. The developed in-tissue EPS method is robust and has potential for application in chemical monitoring of biota and bioaccumulation studies.

The Passive in 3- and 4-Year-Olds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Barros Pereira Rubin, Maraci Coelho

2009-01-01

This paper argues that analyzing the patterns of individual subject performance in tests of comprehension of passives might give insight into how little children interpret passives: 3 and 4 year-olds seem to go through a range of passive interpretation, that varies from actual comprehension to total non-comprehension. The fact that some small…

Polarimetric passive remote sensing of periodic surfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Veysoglu, Murat E.; Yueh, H. A.; Shin, R. T.; Kong, J. A.

1991-01-01

The concept of polarimetry in active remote sensing is extended to passive remote sensing. The potential use of the third and fourth Stokes parameters U and V, which play an important role in polarimetric active remote sensing, is demonstrated for passive remote sensing. It is shown that, by the use of the reciprocity principle, the polarimetric parameters of passive remote sensing can be obtained through the solution of the associated direct scattering problem. These ideas are applied to study polarimetric passive remote sensing of periodic surfaces. The solution of the direct scattering problem is obtained by an integral equation formulation which involves evaluation of periodic Green's functions and normal derivative of those on the surface. Rapid evaluation of the slowly convergent series associated with these functions is observed to be critical for the feasibility of the method. New formulas, which are rapidly convergent, are derived for the calculation of these series. The study has shown that the brightness temperature of the Stokes parameter U can be significant in passive remote sensing. Values as high as 50 K are observed for certain configurations.

Passive exposure to nicotine from e-cigarettes.

PubMed

Gallart-Mateu, D; Elbal, L; Armenta, S; de la Guardia, M

2016-05-15

A procedure based on the use of ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), after liquid-liquid microextraction (LLME), has been successfully employed for the determination of passive exposure to nicotine from cigarette and e-cigarette smoking. Nicotine has been determined in exhaled breath and oral fluids of both, active and passive smokers. The aforementioned studies, made in closed environments, evidenced that the exhaled breath after conventional blend cigarette smoke provides nicotine levels of the order of 220 ng per puff, in the case of experienced smokers, being exhaled only 32 ng in the case of e-cigarettes. On the other hand, the nicotine amount in oral fluids of passive vapers was between 8 and 14 µg L(-1) lower than the average value of 38±14 µg L(-1) found for passive smokers of rolling tobacco and clearly lower than the 79±36 µg L(-1) obtained from passive smokers of classical yellow blend. This study was also placed in the frame of the verification of the e-cigarettes composition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Highly efficient passive mode locking of Nd:Lu2.9Gd0.1Al5O12 garnet crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di, J. Q.; Xu, X. D.; Xia, C. T.; Tan, W. D.; Zhang, J.; Tang, D. Y.; Li, D. Z.; Zhou, D. H.; Wu, F.; Xu, J.

2013-05-01

Passive mode locking of Nd:Lu2.9Gd0.1Al5O12 (Nd:LuGdAG) crystal lasers was experimentally investigated. Stable mode-locked pulses with pulse widths as short as 9.7 ps were obtained for the Nd:LuGdAG crystal; the corresponding maximum output powers were 0.93 W while the mode-locked slope efficiencies were 43%, among the highest efficiencies ever reported for Nd3+ ps lasers. The results demonstrate that Nd:LuGdAG garnet crystal is a promising gain medium for efficient picosecond laser use.

Air Bursting Munition ABM Medium Calibre Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-04-18

NDIA 45th Annual Fuze Conference - Long Beach, CA - April 16-18, 2001 Folie 1 P2 15548 BB, P-VP/FD/11, © 2001 Oerlikon Contraves AG, Zürich...Switzerland Air Bursting Munition ABM Medium Calibre Applications Allan Buckley & Pierre Freymond Oerlikon Contraves Pyrotec AG CH-8050 Zurich...Project Number Task Number Work Unit Number Performing Organization Name(s) and Address(es) Oerlikon Contraves Pyrotec AG CH-8050 Zurich / Switzerland

Climate-Specific Passive Building Standards

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wright, Graham S.; Klingenberg, Katrin

2015-07-01

Passive design principles (super insulation, airtight envelopes, elimination of thermal bridges, etc.) - pioneered in North America in the 70s and 80s and refined in Europe in the 90s have proven to be universally effective to significantly reduce heating and cooling loads. However, a single, rigid performance metric developed in Germany has led to limited uptake of passive building principles in many regions of the United States. It has also, in many cases, promoted some design decisions that had negative effects on economic feasibility and thermal comfort. This study's main objective is to validate (in a theoretical sense) verifiable, climate-specificmore » passive standards and space conditioning criteria that retain ambitious, environmentally-necessary energy reduction targets and are economically feasible, such standards provide designers an ambitious but achievable performance target on the path to zero.« less

Discreet passive explosive detection through 2-sided wave guided fluorescence

DOEpatents

Harper, Ross James; la Grone, Marcus; Fisher, Mark

2012-10-16

The current invention provides a passive sampling device suitable for collecting and detecting the presence of target analytes. In particular, the passive sampling device is suitable for detecting nitro-aromatic compounds. The current invention further provides a passive sampling device reader suitable for determining the collection of target analytes. Additionally, the current invention provides methods for detecting target analytes using the passive sampling device and the passive sampling device reader.

Calculating the diffusive flux of persistent organic pollutants between sediments and the water column on the Palos Verdes shelf superfund site using polymeric passive samplers.

PubMed

Fernandez, Loretta A; Lao, Wenjian; Maruya, Keith A; Burgess, Robert M

2014-04-01

Passive samplers were deployed to the seafloor at a marine Superfund site on the Palos Verdes Shelf, California, USA, and used to determine water concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the surface sediments and near-bottom water. A model of Fickian diffusion across a thin water boundary layer at the sediment-water interface was used to calculate flux of contaminants due to molecular diffusion. Concentrations at four stations were used to calculate the flux of DDE, DDD, DDMU, and selected PCB congeners from sediments to the water column. Three passive sampling materials were compared: PE strips, POM strips, and SPME fibers. Performance reference compounds (PRCs) were used with PE and POM to correct for incomplete equilibration, and the resulting POP concentrations, determined by each material, agreed within 1 order of magnitude. SPME fibers, without PRC corrections, produced values that were generally much lower (1 to 2 orders of magnitude) than those measured using PE and POM, indicating that SPME may not have been fully equilibrated with waters being sampled. In addition, diffusive fluxes measured using PE strips at stations outside of a pilot remedial sand cap area were similar to those measured at a station inside the capped area: 240 to 260 ng cm(-2) y(-1) for p,p'-DDE. The largest diffusive fluxes of POPs were calculated at station 8C, the site where the highest sediment concentrations have been measured in the past, 1100 ng cm(-2) y(-1) for p,p'-DDE.

Aldehyde emissions from particleboard and medium density fiberboard products

Treesearch

Melissa G. D. Baumann; Linda F. Lorenz; Stuart A. Batterman; Guo-Zheng Zhang

2000-01-01

Indoor air quality problems resulting from the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have become an issue of increasing concern. Emissions from building and furnishing materials, which are frequently constructed from particleboard and medium density fiberboard (MDF), are a potentially important contributor of indoor VOCs. In this research, VOC emissions from...

Circulating Organ-Specific MicroRNAs Serve as Biomarkers in Organ-Specific Diseases: Implications for Organ Allo- and Xeno-Transplantation

PubMed Central

Zhou, Ming; Hara, Hidetaka; Dai, Yifan; Mou, Lisha; Cooper, David K. C.; Wu, Changyou; Cai, Zhiming

2016-01-01

Different cell types possess different miRNA expression profiles, and cell/tissue/organ-specific miRNAs (or profiles) indicate different diseases. Circulating miRNA is either actively secreted by living cells or passively released during cell death. Circulating cell/tissue/organ-specific miRNA may serve as a non-invasive biomarker for allo- or xeno-transplantation to monitor organ survival and immune rejection. In this review, we summarize the proof of concept that circulating organ-specific miRNAs serve as non-invasive biomarkers for a wide spectrum of clinical organ-specific manifestations such as liver-related disease, heart-related disease, kidney-related disease, and lung-related disease. Furthermore, we summarize how circulating organ-specific miRNAs may have advantages over conventional methods for monitoring immune rejection in organ transplantation. Finally, we discuss the implications and challenges of applying miRNA to monitor organ survival and immune rejection in allo- or xeno-transplantation. PMID:27490531

Evaluation research of small and medium-sized enterprise informatization on big data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Na

2017-09-01

Under the background of big data, key construction of small and medium-sized enterprise informationization level was needed, but information construction cost was large, while information cost of inputs can bring benefit to small and medium-sized enterprises. This paper established small and medium-sized enterprise informatization evaluation system from hardware and software security level, information organization level, information technology application and the profit level, and information ability level. The rough set theory was used to brief indexes, and then carry out evaluation by support vector machine (SVM) model. At last, examples were used to verify the theory in order to prove the effectiveness of the method.

Silicone passive equilibrium samplers as 'chemometers' in eels and sediments of a Swedish lake.

PubMed

Jahnke, Annika; Mayer, Philipp; McLachlan, Michael S; Wickström, Håkan; Gilbert, Dorothea; MacLeod, Matthew

2014-03-01

Passive equilibrium samplers deployed in two or more media of a system and allowed to come to equilibrium can be viewed as 'chemometers' that reflect the difference in chemical activities of contaminants between the media. We applied silicone-based equilibrium samplers to measure relative chemical activities of seven 'indicator' polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorobenzene in eels and sediments from a Swedish lake. Chemical concentrations in eels and sediments were also measured using exhaustive extraction methods. Lipid-normalized concentrations in eels were higher than organic carbon-normalized concentrations in sediments, with biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) of five PCBs ranging from 2.7 to 12.7. In contrast, chemical activities of the same pollutants inferred by passive sampling were 3.5 to 31.3 times lower in eels than in sediments. The apparent contradiction between BSAFs and activity ratios is consistent with the sorptive capacity of lipids exceeding that of sediment organic carbon from this ecosystem by up to 50-fold. Factors that may contribute to the elevated activity in sediments are discussed, including slower response of sediments than water to reduced emissions, sediment diagenesis and sorption to phytoplankton. The 'chemometer' approach has the potential to become a powerful tool to study the thermodynamic controls on persistent organic chemicals in the environment and should be extended to other environmental compartments.

Passive sampler for PM10-2.5 aerosol.

PubMed

Leith, David; Sommerlatt, Darrell; Boundy, Maryanne G

2007-03-01

This study investigates the use of a small passive sampler for aerosol particles to determine particulate matter (PM)10-2.5 concentrations in outdoor air. The passive sampler collects particles by gravity, diffusion, and convective diffusion onto a glass coverslip that is then examined with an optical microscope; digital images are processed with free software and the resultant PM10-2.5 concentrations determined. Both the samplers and the analyses are relatively inexpensive. Passive samplers were collocated with Federal Reference Method (FRM) samplers in Chapel Hill, NC; Phoenix, AZ; and Birmingham, AL; for periods from 5 to 15 days. Particles consisted primarily of inorganic dusts at some sites and a mix of industrial and inorganic materials at other sites. Measured concentrations ranged from < 10 microg/m3 to approximately 40 microg/m3. Overall, PM10-2.5 concentrations measured with the passive samplers were within approximately 1 standard deviation of concentrations measured with the FRM samplers. Concentrations determined with passive samplers depend on assumptions about particle density and shape factors and may also depend somewhat on local wind speed and turbulence; accurate values for these parameters may not be known. The degree of agreement between passive and FRM concentrations measured here suggests that passive measurements may not be overly dependent on accurate knowledge of these parameters.

Fully Passive Wireless Acquisition of Neuropotentials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwerdt, Helen N.

The ability to monitor electrophysiological signals from the sentient brain is requisite to decipher its enormously complex workings and initiate remedial solutions for the vast amount of neurologically-based disorders. Despite immense advancements in creating a variety of instruments to record signals from the brain, the translation of such neurorecording instrumentation to real clinical domains places heavy demands on their safety and reliability, both of which are not entirely portrayed by presently existing implantable recording solutions. In an attempt to lower these barriers, alternative wireless radar backscattering techniques are proposed to render the technical burdens of the implant chip to entirely passive neurorecording processes that transpire in the absence of formal integrated power sources or powering schemes along with any active circuitry. These radar-like wireless backscattering mechanisms are used to conceive of fully passive neurorecording operations of an implantable microsystem. The fully passive device potentially manifests inherent advantages over current wireless implantable and wired recording systems: negligible heat dissipation to reduce risks of brain tissue damage and minimal circuitry for long term reliability as a chronic implant. Fully passive neurorecording operations are realized via intrinsic nonlinear mixing properties of the varactor diode. These mixing and recording operations are directly activated by wirelessly interrogating the fully passive device with a microwave carrier signal. This fundamental carrier signal, acquired by the implant antenna, mixes through the varactor diode along with the internal targeted neuropotential brain signals to produce higher frequency harmonics containing the targeted neuropotential signals. These harmonics are backscattered wirelessly to the external interrogator that retrieves and recovers the original neuropotential brain signal. The passive approach removes the need for internal power

26 CFR 1.469-3T - Passive activity credit (temporary).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 6 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Passive activity credit (temporary). 1.469-3T... TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES Taxable Year for Which Deductions Taken § 1.469-3T Passive activity credit (temporary). (a) Computation of passive activity credit. The taxpayer's passive activity credit...

26 CFR 1.469-3T - Passive activity credit (temporary).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 6 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Passive activity credit (temporary). 1.469-3T... TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Taxable Year for Which Deductions Taken § 1.469-3T Passive activity credit (temporary). (a) Computation of passive activity credit. The taxpayer's passive activity...

Appearance of colonies of Prototheca on CHROMagar Candida medium.

PubMed

Casal, M; Linares, M J; Solís, F; Rodríguez, F C

1997-01-01

The microorganisms capable of producing opportunist infections include the yeast-like organisms of the genus Candida, and the unicellular algae of the genus Prototheca, which share common features and can, therefore, lead to confusion. Their colonies are almost identical and they grow in the same culture media used routinely in mycology. CHROMagar Candida is a new chromogenic differential isolation medium that facilitates the presumptive differentiation of some of the most clinically important yeast-like organisms. To our knowledge, the use of CHROMagar Candida with Prototheca spp. has not been reported in the literature. This report describes the growth of 151 strains of Prototheca on CHROMagar Candida compared to the growth of a total of 326 well-characterized yeast organisms of the genera Candida, Cryptococcus, Trichosporon, Geotrichum, and Saccharomyces. It is clinically relevant to note that algae of the genus Prototheca (P. wickerhamii, P. zopfii, and P. stagnora) and of the genus Candida parapsilosis produced similar cream-colored colonies on CHROMagar Candida medium. Based on their growth on CHROMagar, a new species of Candida is described, C. zeylanoides, which has blue-green colonies. The colonies of two species of Trichosporon are also differentiated: the blue-green colonies of T. beigelii and the pink colonies of T. capitatum.

Reverse Non-Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics Demonstrate That Surface Passivation Controls Thermal Transport at Semiconductor-Solvent Interfaces.

PubMed

Hannah, Daniel C; Gezelter, J Daniel; Schaller, Richard D; Schatz, George C

2015-06-23

We examine the role played by surface structure and passivation in thermal transport at semiconductor/organic interfaces. Such interfaces dominate thermal transport in semiconductor nanomaterials owing to material dimensions much smaller than the bulk phonon mean free path. Utilizing reverse nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, we calculate the interfacial thermal conductance (G) between a hexane solvent and chemically passivated wurtzite CdSe surfaces. In particular, we examine the dependence of G on the CdSe slab thickness, the particular exposed crystal facet, and the extent of surface passivation. Our results indicate a nonmonotonic dependence of G on ligand-grafting density, with interfaces generally exhibiting higher thermal conductance for increasing surface coverage up to ∼0.08 ligands/Å(2) (75-100% of a monolayer, depending on the particular exposed facet) and decreasing for still higher coverages. By analyzing orientational ordering and solvent penetration into the ligand layer, we show that a balance of competing effects is responsible for this nonmonotonic dependence. Although the various unpassivated CdSe surfaces exhibit similar G values, the crystal structure of an exposed facet nevertheless plays an important role in determining the interfacial thermal conductance of passivated surfaces, as the density of binding sites on a surface determines the ligand-grafting densities that may ultimately be achieved. We demonstrate that surface passivation can increase G relative to a bare surface by roughly 1 order of magnitude and that, for a given extent of passivation, thermal conductance can vary by up to a factor of ∼2 between different surfaces, suggesting that appropriately tailored nanostructures may direct heat flow in an anisotropic fashion for interface-limited thermal transport.

Synthetic laser medium

DOEpatents

Stokowski, S.E.

1987-10-20

A laser medium is particularly useful in high average power solid state lasers. The laser medium includes a chromium dopant and preferably neodymium ions as codopant, and is primarily a gadolinium scandium gallium garnet, or an analog thereof. Divalent cations inhibit spiral morphology as large boules from which the laser medium is derived are grown, and a source of ions convertible between a trivalent state and a tetravalent state at a low ionization energy are in the laser medium to reduce an absorption coefficient at about one micron wavelength otherwise caused by the divalent cations. These divalent cations and convertible ions are dispersed in the laser medium. Preferred convertible ions are provided from titanium or cerium sources.

Synthetic laser medium

DOEpatents

Stokowski, Stanley E.

1989-01-01

A laser medium is particularly useful in high average power solid state lasers. The laser medium includes a chormium dopant and preferably neodymium ions as codopant, and is primarily a gadolinium scandium gallium garnet, or an analog thereof. Divalent cations inhibit spiral morphology as large boules from which the laser medium is derived are grown, and a source of ions convertible between a trivalent state and a tetravalent state at a low ionization energy are in the laser medium to reduce an absorption coefficient at about one micron wavelength otherwise caused by the divalent cations. These divalent cations and convertible ions are dispersed in the laser medium. Preferred convertible ions are provided from titanium or cerium sources.

Passive cooling system for a vehicle

DOEpatents

Hendricks, Terry Joseph; Thoensen, Thomas

2005-11-15

A passive cooling system for a vehicle (114) transfers heat from an overheated internal component, for example, an instrument panel (100), to an external portion (116) of the vehicle (114), for example, a side body panel (126). The passive cooling system includes one or more heat pipes (112) having an evaporator section (118) embedded in the overheated internal component and a condenser section (120) at the external portion (116) of the vehicle (114). The evaporator (118) and condenser (120) sections are in fluid communication. The passive cooling system may also include a thermally conductive film (140) for thermally connecting the evaporator sections (118) of the heat pipes (112) to each other and to the instrument panel (100).

Passive Cooling System for a Vehicle

DOEpatents

Hendricks, T. J.; Thoensen, T.

2005-11-15

A passive cooling system for a vehicle (114) transfers heat from an overheated internal component, for example, an instrument panel (100), to an external portion (116) of the vehicle (114), for example, a side body panel (126). The passive cooling system includes one or more heat pipes (112) having an evaporator section (118) embedded in the overheated internal component and a condenser section (120) at the external portion (116) of the vehicle (114). The evaporator (118) and condenser (120) sections are in fluid communication. The passive cooling system may also include a thermally conductive film (140) for thermally connecting the evaporator sections (118) of the heat pipes (112) to each other and to the instrument panel (100).

Labile, dissolved and particulate PAHs and trace metals in wastewater: passive sampling, occurrence, partitioning in treatment plants.

PubMed

Gourlay-Francé, C; Bressy, A; Uher, E; Lorgeoux, C

2011-01-01

The occurrence and the partitioning of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and seven metals (Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) were investigated in activated sludge wastewater treatment plants by means of passive and active sampling. Concentrations total dissolved and particulate contaminants were determined in wastewater at several points across the treatment system by means of grab sampling. Truly dissolved PAHs were sampled by means of semipermeable membrane devices. Labile (inorganic and weakly complexed) dissolved metals were also sampled using the diffusive gradient in thin film technique. This study confirms the robustness and the validity of these two passive sampling techniques in wastewater. All contaminant concentrations decreased in wastewater along the treatment, although dissolved and labile concentrations sometimes increased for substances with less affinity with organic matter. Solid-liquid and dissolved organic matter/water partitioning constants were estimated. The high variability of both partitioning constants for a simple substance and the poor relation between K(D) and K(OW) shows that the binding capacities of particles and organic matter are not uniform within the treatment and that other process than equilibrium sorption affect contaminant repartition and fate in wastewater.

Fractal Folding and Medium Viscoelasticity Contribute Jointly to Chromosome Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polovnikov, K. E.; Gherardi, M.; Cosentino-Lagomarsino, M.; Tamm, M. V.

2018-02-01

Chromosomes are key players of cell physiology, their dynamics provides valuable information about its physical organization. In both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, the short-time motion of chromosomal loci has been described with a Rouse model in a simple or viscoelastic medium. However, little emphasis has been put on the influence of the folded organization of chromosomes on the local dynamics. Clearly, stress propagation, and thus dynamics, must be affected by such organization, but a theory allowing us to extract such information from data, e.g., on two-point correlations, is lacking. Here, we describe a theoretical framework able to answer this general polymer dynamics question. We provide a scaling analysis of the stress-propagation time between two loci at a given arclength distance along the chromosomal coordinate. The results suggest a precise way to assess folding information from the dynamical coupling of chromosome segments. Additionally, we realize this framework in a specific model of a polymer whose long-range interactions are designed to make it fold in a fractal way and immersed in a medium characterized by subdiffusive fractional Langevin motion with a tunable scaling exponent. This allows us to derive explicit analytical expressions for the correlation functions.

Passive inhalation of cocaine.

PubMed

Cone, E J; Yousefnejad, D; Hillsgrove, M J; Holicky, B; Darwin, W D

1995-10-01

Six healthy male volunteers were exposed to the vapor of 100 and 200 mg freebase cocaine heated to a temperature of 200 degrees C in an unventilated room (12,600-L volume) for a period of 1 h. No pharmacological effects were detected as a result of the exposure. Blood specimens collected immediately following exposure were negative for cocaine and metabolites. Urine specimens analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry contained peak concentrations of benzoylecgonine that ranged from 22 to 123 ng/mL. The peak excretion time for benzoylecgonine following passive exposure was approximately 5 h. The amount of cocaine inhaled by the subjects during passive exposure was estimated from room air measurements of cocaine to be approximately 0.25 mg. The total amount of cocaine (cocaine plus metabolites) excreted in urine by the six subjects ranged from 0.04 to 0.21 mg. For comparison, the six subjects also received an intravenous injection of 1 mg cocaine hydrochloride. Four of six subjects screened positive (300-ng/mL cutoff concentration) following the injection, indicating that the minimum amount of cocaine in these subjects necessary to produce positive results was approximately 1 mg. A second passive inhalation study was undertaken in which specimens were collected from research staff who assisted in a series of experimental studies with "crack" (freebase cocaine) smokers. The research staff remained in close vicinity while the crack smokers smoked three doses of freebase cocaine (12.5, 25, and 50 mg) over a period of 4 h. As a result, staff members were passively exposed to sidestream smoke from crack pipes and to breath exhalation from the crack smokers. Urine specimens from the staff members contained a maximum of 6 ng/mL benzoylecgonine. Only traces (less than 1 ng/mL) of cocaine were detected in any specimen. Overall, these studies demonstrated that individuals exposed to cocaine smoke under naturalistic or artificial conditions absorbed small amounts of

Advanced Aerodynamic Design of Passive Porosity Control Effectors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunter, Craig A.; Viken, Sally A.; Wood, Richard M.; Bauer, Steven X. S.

2001-01-01

This paper describes aerodynamic design work aimed at developing a passive porosity control effector system for a generic tailless fighter aircraft. As part of this work, a computational design tool was developed and used to layout passive porosity effector systems for longitudinal and lateral-directional control at a low-speed, high angle of attack condition. Aerodynamic analysis was conducted using the NASA Langley computational fluid dynamics code USM3D, in conjunction with a newly formulated surface boundary condition for passive porosity. Results indicate that passive porosity effectors can provide maneuver control increments that equal and exceed those of conventional aerodynamic effectors for low-speed, high-alpha flight, with control levels that are a linear function of porous area. This work demonstrates the tremendous potential of passive porosity to yield simple control effector systems that have no external moving parts and will preserve an aircraft's fixed outer mold line.

Folding in and out: passive morphing in flapping wings.

PubMed

Stowers, Amanda K; Lentink, David

2015-03-25

We present a new mechanism for passive wing morphing of flapping wings inspired by bat and bird wing morphology. The mechanism consists of an unactuated hand wing connected to the arm wing with a wrist joint. Flapping motion generates centrifugal accelerations in the hand wing, forcing it to unfold passively. Using a robotic model in hover, we made kinematic measurements of unfolding kinematics as functions of the non-dimensional wingspan fold ratio (2-2.5) and flapping frequency (5-17 Hz) using stereo high-speed cameras. We find that the wings unfold passively within one to two flaps and remain unfolded with only small amplitude oscillations. To better understand the passive dynamics, we constructed a computer model of the unfolding process based on rigid body dynamics, contact models, and aerodynamic correlations. This model predicts the measured passive unfolding within about one flap and shows that unfolding is driven by centrifugal acceleration induced by flapping. The simulations also predict that relative unfolding time only weakly depends on flapping frequency and can be reduced to less than half a wingbeat by increasing flapping amplitude. Subsequent dimensional analysis shows that the time required to unfold passively is of the same order of magnitude as the flapping period. This suggests that centrifugal acceleration can drive passive unfolding within approximately one wingbeat in small and large wings. Finally, we show experimentally that passive unfolding wings can withstand impact with a branch, by first folding and then unfolding passively. This mechanism enables flapping robots to squeeze through clutter without sophisticated control. Passive unfolding also provides a new avenue in morphing wing design that makes future flapping morphing wings possibly more energy efficient and light-weight. Simultaneously these results point to possible inertia driven, and therefore metabolically efficient, control strategies in bats and birds to morph or recover

Global Passivity in Microscopic Thermodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uzdin, Raam; Rahav, Saar

2018-04-01

The main thread that links classical thermodynamics and the thermodynamics of small quantum systems is the celebrated Clausius inequality form of the second law. However, its application to small quantum systems suffers from two cardinal problems. (i) The Clausius inequality does not hold when the system and environment are initially correlated—a commonly encountered scenario in microscopic setups. (ii) In some other cases, the Clausius inequality does not provide any useful information (e.g., in dephasing scenarios). We address these deficiencies by developing the notion of global passivity and employing it as a tool for deriving thermodynamic inequalities on observables. For initially uncorrelated thermal environments the global passivity framework recovers the Clausius inequality. More generally, global passivity provides an extension of the Clausius inequality that holds even in the presences of strong initial system-environment correlations. Crucially, the present framework provides additional thermodynamic bounds on expectation values. To illustrate the role of the additional bounds, we use them to detect unaccounted heat leaks and weak feedback operations ("Maxwell demons") that the Clausius inequality cannot detect. In addition, it is shown that global passivity can put practical upper and lower bounds on the buildup of system-environment correlations for dephasing interactions. Our findings are highly relevant for experiments in various systems such as ion traps, superconducting circuits, atoms in optical cavities, and more.

Organic fuel cells and fuel cell conducting sheets

DOEpatents

Masel, Richard I.; Ha, Su; Adams, Brian

2007-10-16

A passive direct organic fuel cell includes an organic fuel solution and is operative to produce at least 15 mW/cm.sup.2 when operating at room temperature. In additional aspects of the invention, fuel cells can include a gas remover configured to promote circulation of an organic fuel solution when gas passes through the solution, a modified carbon cloth, one or more sealants, and a replaceable fuel cartridge.

'That proves my point': How mediums reconstrue disconfirmation in medium-sitter interactions.

PubMed

Enoksen, Anette Einan; Dickerson, Paul

2018-04-01

Previous research has examined how the talk of mediums attends to the epistemological status of their readings. Such work has identified that mediums frequently use question-framed propositions that are typically confirmed by the sitter, thereby conferring epistemological status on the medium. This study seeks to investigate what happens when the sitter disconfirms the propositions of the medium. The study focuses on the ways in which such disconfirmation can be responded to such that it is reconstrued as evidence of the psychic nature of the medium's reading. Televised demonstrations of psychic readings involving British and US mediums and their sitters are analysed. The results suggest that mediums rework disconfirmation as proof in several ways: first, by emphasizing the different access that sitter and medium have to knowledge (e.g., about the future); second, as evidence that the medium has access to the actual voice of the deceased (and may therefore mishear what the deceased has said to them); and third, as revealing an important truth that has hitherto been concealed from the sitter. The implications of these findings are considered for cases where speakers bring different and potentially competing, epistemological resources to an interaction. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

A selective medium for the isolation of Microbacterium species in oral cavities.

PubMed

Tsuzukibashi, Osamu; Uchibori, Satoshi; Kobayashi, Taira; Saito, Masanori; Umezawa, Koji; Ohta, Mitsuhiro; Shinozaki-Kuwahara, Noriko

2015-09-01

The genus Microbacterium has been isolated from the environment, dairy goods, and human clinical specimens. Although, in our previous studies, some Microbacterium species were infrequently detected in oral samples collected from humans, there is currently no report that these organisms, which are capable of causing serious systemic infections, were isolated from the human oral cavity. The aim of the present study was to develop a selective medium to isolate the representative Microbacterium species most frequently detected in human clinical specimens, and reveal the distribution of individual Microbacterium species in the oral cavity. The growth recoveries of representative Microbacterium species on the selective medium, designated as MSM, were sufficient. Moreover, the growth of other representative oral bacteria was markedly inhibited on the selective medium. The proportion of Microbacterium species in the saliva samples of 60 subjects, 20 of whom were removable denture wearers, was then examined. The proportion of these organisms was also examined in environmental samples obtained by swabbing 20 washstands. PCR primers were designed for representative Microbacterium species. The genus Microbacterium was detected in 45% of the saliva and denture plaque samples collected from the twenty removable denture wearers, but was absent in the saliva of the forty non-denture wearers. On the other hand, these organisms were detected in all environmental samples. The genus Microbacterium accounted for 0.00003%, 0.0001%, and 12.6% of the total cultivable bacteria number on the BHI medium in the saliva and denture plaque samples of removable denture wearers and in the environmental samples, respectively. The most predominant Microbacterium species in all positive samples was Microbacterium oxydans. These results indicated that the genus Microbacterium was not a part of the normal flora in the human oral cavity, except for subjects wearing dentures that were contaminated by the

Sustainability of the prevention of passive infant smoking within well-baby clinics.

PubMed

Crone, M R; Verlaan, M; Willemsen, M C; van Soelen, P; Reijneveld, S A; Sing, R A Hira; Paulussen, T G W M

2006-04-01

This study assessed the antecedents of continued use of an education program to prevent passive smoking in infants. It consists of a booklet for parents and a manual for health professionals describing a five-step procedure for discussing passive smoking. A questionnaire was sent to 67 managers, 670 nurses, and 335 physicians working in well-baby clinics (response rate: 70%, 53%, 47% respectively). Questions concerned the completeness of use, level of institutionalization, and characteristics of the organization, the user, and the dissemination strategy. Seventy-one percent of nurses and 42% of physicians worked with the program. They foremost provided the first three steps of the five-step procedure. Physicians' completeness of use was related to their perceived responsibility in providing this education, and nurses' use was related to their perceived self-efficacy, responsibility, training attendance, participation in the adoption decision, and level of institutionalization. Diffusion efforts should focus on improving the completeness of use and level of institutionalization.

Electrical properties of GaAs metal–oxide–semiconductor structure comprising Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} gate oxide and AlN passivation layer fabricated in situ using a metal–organic vapor deposition/atomic layer deposition hybrid system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aoki, Takeshi, E-mail: aokit@sc.sumitomo-chem.co.jp; Fukuhara, Noboru; Osada, Takenori

2015-08-15

This paper presents a compressive study on the fabrication and optimization of GaAs metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) structures comprising a Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} gate oxide, deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD), with an AlN interfacial passivation layer prepared in situ via metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The established protocol afforded self-limiting growth of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} in the atmospheric MOCVD reactor. Consequently, this enabled successive growth of MOCVD-formed AlN and ALD-formed Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} layers on the GaAs substrate. The effects of AlN thickness, post-deposition anneal (PDA) conditions, and crystal orientation of the GaAs substrate on the electrical properties of the resultingmore » MOS capacitors were investigated. Thin AlN passivation layers afforded incorporation of optimum amounts of nitrogen, leading to good capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics with reduced frequency dispersion. In contrast, excessively thick AlN passivation layers degraded the interface, thereby increasing the interfacial density of states (D{sub it}) near the midgap and reducing the conduction band offset. To further improve the interface with the thin AlN passivation layers, the PDA conditions were optimized. Using wet nitrogen at 600 °C was effective to reduce D{sub it} to below 2 × 10{sup 12} cm{sup −2} eV{sup −1}. Using a (111)A substrate was also effective in reducing the frequency dispersion of accumulation capacitance, thus suggesting the suppression of traps in GaAs located near the dielectric/GaAs interface. The current findings suggest that using an atmosphere ALD process with in situ AlN passivation using the current MOCVD system could be an efficient solution to improving GaAs MOS interfaces.« less

Post-exercise cortical depression following repetitive passive finger movement.

PubMed

Otsuka, Ryohei; Sasaki, Ryoki; Tsuiki, Shota; Kojima, Sho; Onishi, Hideaki

2017-08-24

This study aimed to clarify the influence of range of repetitive passive finger movement on corticospinal excitability. Thirteen healthy subjects participated in this study. Passive index finger adduction-abduction movements were performed from 15° abduction to 15° adduction, 15° abduction to 0°, 0° to 15° adduction, and 15° adduction to 30° adduction, each at 15°/s for 10min on separate days. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation and M- and F-waves were measured before and after each repetitive passive index finger movement protocol to evaluate changes in corticospinal excitability. MEP amplitude significantly decreased after all passive movements, while F-wave amplitude, F-wave persistence, and M-wave amplitude remained stable. These results suggest that cortical excitability decreases after repetitive passive movement. However, the range of repetitive passive movement does not markedly influence the magnitude of cortical depression. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anti-collision radio-frequency identification system using passive SAW tags

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorokin, A. V.; Shepeta, A. P.

2017-06-01

Modern multi sensor systems should have high operating speed and resistance to climate impacts. Radiofrequency systems use passive SAW tags for identification items and vehicles. These tags find application in industry, traffic remote control systems, and railway remote traffic control systems for identification and speed measuring. However, collision of the passive SAW RFID tags hinders development passive RFID SAW technology in Industry. The collision problem for passive SAW tags leads for incorrect identification and encoding each tag. In our researching, we suggest approach for identification of several passive SAW tags in collision case.

Microrobot with passive diamagnetic levitation for microparticle manipulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Lin; Zhang, Shengyuan; Jiang, Yonggang; Zhang, Deyuan; Arai, Fumihito

2017-12-01

In this paper, an innovative microrobot with passive diamagnetic levitation is presented. Based on theoretical analysis, finite element method simulation, and experiments, the shape of pyrolytic graphite is redesigned, which improves the stability of passive diamagnetic levitation significantly. Therefore, passive diamagnetic levitation is able to be applied for 3-D control of the microrobot. Compared with the traditional microrobots driven by permanent magnets in a microfluidic chip, the microrobot made of pyrolytic graphite and driven by magnetic force has two advantages, no friction and 3-D control, which is able to expand the scope of the microrobot applications. Finally, the microrobot with passive diamagnetic levitation was demonstrated by being encapsulated in a microfluidic chip for microparticle manipulations.

Nonlocal modification and quantum optical generalization of effective-medium theory for metamaterials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wubs, Martijn; Yan, Wei; Amooghorban, Ehsan; Mortensen, N. Asger

2013-09-01

A well-known challenge for fabricating metamaterials is to make unit cells significantly smaller than the operating wavelength of light, so one can be sure that effective-medium theories apply. But do they apply? Here we show that nonlocal response in the metal constituents of the metamaterial leads to modified effective parameters for strongly subwavelength unit cells. For infinite hyperbolic metamaterials, nonlocal response gives a very large finite upper bound to the optical density of states that otherwise would diverge. Moreover, for finite hyperbolic metamaterials we show that nonlocal response affects their operation as superlenses, and interestingly that sometimes nonlocal theory predicts the better imaging. Finally, we discuss how to describe metamaterials effectively in quantum optics. Media with loss or gain have associated quantum noise, and the question is whether the effective index is enough to describe this quantum noise effectively. We show that this is true for passive metamaterials, but not for metamaterials where loss is compensated by linear gain. For such loss-compensated metamaterials we present a quantum optical effective medium theory with an effective noise photon distribution as an additional parameter. Interestingly, we find that at the operating frequency, metamaterials with the same effective index but with different amounts of loss compensation can be told apart in quantum optics.

Application of passive sampling in assessing the occurrence and risk of antibiotics and endocrine disrupting chemicals in the Yangtze Estuary, China.

PubMed

Shi, X; Zhou, J L; Zhao, H; Hou, L; Yang, Y

2014-09-01

Polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS) was used in assessing the occurrence and risk of 12 widely used antibiotics and 5 most potent endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the Yangtze Estuary, China. During laboratory validation, the kinetics of pollutant uptake by POCIS were linear, and the sampling rates of most compounds were raised by flow rate and salinity, reaching the highest values at salinity 14‰. The sampling rates varied with the target compounds with the EDCs showing the highest values (overall average=0.123Ld(-1)), followed by chloramphenicols (0.100Ld(-1)), macrolides (0.089Ld(-1)), and finally sulfonamides (0.056Ld(-1)). Validation in the Yangtze Estuary in 2013 showed that the field sampling rates were significantly greater for all compounds except bisphenol A, in comparison to laboratory results, and high-frequency spot sampling is critical for fully validating the passive sampler. The field studies show that antibiotics were widely detected in the Yangtze Estuary, with concentrations varying from below quantification to 1613ngL(-1), suggesting their widespread use and persistence in estuarine waters. The dominating pollutants in July were sulfonamides with a total concentration of 258ngL(-1) and in October were macrolides with a total concentration of 350ngL(-1). The calculation of risk quotient suggested that sulfapyridine, sulfaquinoxaline and erythromycin-H2O may have caused medium damage to sensitive organisms such as fish. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Aspects and Some Results on Passivity and Positivity of Dynamic Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De la Sen, M.

2017-12-01

This paper is devoted to discuss certain aspects of passivity results in dynamic systems and the characterization of the regenerative systems counterparts. In particular, the various concepts of passivity as standard passivity, strict input passivity, strict output passivity and very strict passivity (i.e. joint strict input and output passivity) are given and related to the existence of a storage function and a dissipation function. Later on, the obtained results are related to external positivity of systems and positivity or strict positivity of the transfer matrices and transfer functions in the time-invariant case. On the other hand, it is discussed how to achieve or how eventually to increase the passivity effects via linear feedback by the synthesis of the appropriate feed-forward or feedback controllers or, simply, by adding a positive parallel direct input-output matrix interconnection gain.

Passive damping in EDS maglev systems.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rote, D. M.

2002-05-03

There continues to be strong interest in the subjects of damping and drag forces associated with electrodynamic suspension (EDS) systems. While electromagnetic drag forces resist the forward motion of a vehicle and therefore consume energy, damping forces control, at least in part, the response of the vehicle to disturbances. Ideally, one would like to reduce the drag forces as much as possible while retaining adequate damping forces to insure dynamic stability and satisfactory ride quality. These two goals turn out to be difficult to achieve in practice. It is well known that maglev systems tend to be intrinsically under damped.more » Consequently it is often necessary in a practical system design to enhance the damping passively or actively. For reasons of cost and simplicity, it is desirable to rely as much as possible on passive damping mechanisms. In this paper, rough estimates are made of the passive damping and drag forces caused by various mechanisms in EDS systems. No attention will be given to active control systems or secondary suspension systems which are obvious ways to augment passive damping mechanisms if the latter prove to be inadequate.« less

Two types of fundamental luminescence of ionization-passive electrons and holes in optical dielectrics—Intraband-electron and interband-hole luminescence (theoretical calculation and comparison with experiment)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vaisburd, D. I.; Kharitonova, S. V.

1997-11-01

A short high-power pulse of ionizing radiation creates a high concentration of nonequilibrium electrons and holes in a dielectric. They quickly lose their energy, generating a multiplicity of secondary quasiparticles: electron—hole pairs, excitons, plasmons, phonons of all types, and others. When the kinetic energy of an electron becomes less that some value EΔ≈(1.3-2)Eg it loses the ability to perform collisional ionization and electron excitations of the dielectric medium. Such an electron is said to be ionization-passive. It relaxes to the bottom of the lower conduction band by emitting phonons. Similarly a hole becomes ionization-passive when it “floats up” above some level EH and loses the ability for Auger ionization of the dielectric medium. It continues to float upward to the ceiling of the upper valance band only by emitting phonons. The concentrations of ionization-passive electrons and holes are larger by several orders of magnitude than those of the active electrons and holes and consequently make of a far larger contribution to many kinetic processes such as luminescence. Intraband and interband quantum transitions make the greatest contribution to the fundamental (independent of impurities and intrinsic defects) electromagnetic radiation of ionization-passive electrons and holes. Consequently the brightest types of purely fundamental luminescence of strongly nonequilibrium electrons and holes are intraband and interband luminescence. These forms of luminescence, discovered relatively recently, carry valuable information on the high-energy states of the electrons in the conduction band and of the holes in the valence band of a dielectric. Experimental investigations of these types of luminescence were made, mainly on alkali halide crystals which were excited by nanoseconal pulses of high-current-density electrons and by two-photon absorption of the ultraviolet harmonics of pulsed laser radiation beams of nanosecond and picosecond duration. The

Medium-Bandgap Small-Molecule Donors Compatible with Both Fullerene and Nonfullerene Acceptors.

PubMed

Huo, Yong; Yan, Cenqi; Kan, Bin; Liu, Xiao-Fei; Chen, Li-Chuan; Hu, Chen-Xia; Lau, Tsz-Ki; Lu, Xinhui; Sun, Chun-Lin; Shao, Xiangfeng; Chen, Yongsheng; Zhan, Xiaowei; Zhang, Hao-Li

2018-03-21

Much effort has been devoted to the development of new donor materials for small-molecule organic solar cells due to their inherent advantages of well-defined molecular weight, easy purification, and good reproducibility in photovoltaic performance. Herein, we report two small-molecule donors that are compatible with both fullerene and nonfullerene acceptors. Both molecules consist of an (E)-1,2-di(thiophen-2-yl)ethane-substituted (TVT-substituted) benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene (BDT) as the central unit, and two rhodanine units as the terminal electron-withdrawing groups. The central units are modified with either alkyl side chains (DRBDT-TVT) or alkylthio side chains (DRBDT-STVT). Both molecules exhibit a medium bandgap with complementary absorption and proper energy level offset with typical acceptors like PC 71 BM and IDIC. The optimized devices show a decent power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.87% for small-molecule organic solar cells and 6.63% for nonfullerene all small-molecule organic solar cells. Our results reveal that rationally designed medium-bandgap small-molecule donors can be applied in high-performance small-molecule organic solar cells with different types of acceptors.

Collagen content does not alter the passive mechanical properties of fibrotic skeletal muscle in mdx mice

PubMed Central

Smith, Lucas R.

2014-01-01

Many skeletal muscle diseases are associated with progressive fibrosis leading to impaired muscle function. Collagen within the extracellular matrix is the primary structural protein providing a mechanical scaffold for cells within tissues. During fibrosis collagen not only increases in amount but also undergoes posttranslational changes that alter its organization that is thought to contribute to tissue stiffness. Little, however, is known about collagen organization in fibrotic muscle and its consequences for function. To investigate the relationship between collagen content and organization with muscle mechanical properties, we studied mdx mice, a model for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) that undergoes skeletal muscle fibrosis, and age-matched control mice. We determined collagen content both histologically, with picosirius red staining, and biochemically, with hydroxyproline quantification. Collagen content increased in the mdx soleus and diaphragm muscles, which was exacerbated by age in the diaphragm. Collagen packing density, a parameter of collagen organization, was determined using circularly polarized light microscopy of picosirius red-stained sections. Extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus muscle had proportionally less dense collagen in mdx muscle, while the diaphragm did not change packing density. The mdx muscles had compromised strength as expected, yet only the EDL had a significantly increased elastic stiffness. The EDL and diaphragm had increased dynamic stiffness and a change in relative viscosity. Unexpectedly, passive stiffness did not correlate with collagen content and only weakly correlated with collagen organization. We conclude that muscle fibrosis does not lead to increased passive stiffness and that collagen content is not predictive of muscle stiffness. PMID:24598364

Integrated passive/active vibration absorber for multi-story buildings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee-Glauser, Gina J.; Ahmadi, Goodarz; Horta, Lucas G.

1995-01-01

Passive isolator, active vibration absorber, and an integrated passive/active (hybrid) control are studied for their effectiveness in reducing structural vibration under seismic excitations. For the passive isolator, a laminated rubber bearing base isolator which has been studied and used extensively by researchers and seismic designers is considered. An active vibration absorber concept, which can provide guaranteed closed-loop stability with minimum knowledge of the controlled system, is used to reduce the passive isolator displacement and to suppress the top floor vibration. A three-story building model is used for the numerical simulation. The performance of an active vibration absorber and a hybrid vibration controller in reducing peak structural responses is compared with the passively isolated structural response and with absence of vibration control systems under the N00W component of El Centro 1940 and N90W component of the Mexico City earthquake excitation records. The results show that the integrated passive/active vibration control system is most effective in suppressing the peak structural acceleration for the El Centro 1940 earthquake when compared with the passive or active vibration absorber alone. The active vibration absorber, however, is the only system that suppresses the peak acceleration of the structure for the Mexico City 1985 earthquake.

21 CFR 888.3025 - Passive tendon prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Passive tendon prosthesis. 888.3025 Section 888.3025 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3025 Passive tendon prosthesis. (a...

21 CFR 888.3025 - Passive tendon prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Passive tendon prosthesis. 888.3025 Section 888.3025 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3025 Passive tendon prosthesis. (a...

21 CFR 888.3025 - Passive tendon prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Passive tendon prosthesis. 888.3025 Section 888.3025 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3025 Passive tendon prosthesis. (a...

Passive chevron replicator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oeffinger, Thomas R. (Inventor); Tocci, Leonard R. (Inventor)

1977-01-01

There is described a passive replicator device to be used in magnetic bubble domain systems. The replicator is passive, i.e., does not require an active element such as a current source or the like, and both propagates and replicates bubble domains. In a preferred embodiment, the replicator uses chevron type elements arranged in an appropriate pattern so as to interact with a pair of propagation paths wherein bubble domains are propagated. A bubble in one propagation path is routinely transferred therealong and, concurrently, replicated by the instant device into another propagation path. A plurality of elements arranged in juxtaposition to the chevrons assists in controlling the propagation of the bubbles through the respective propagation paths and, at the appropriate time, provides a cutting action wherein a bubble which is elongated between the chevrons of the two propagation paths is split into two separate bubbles.

Energetic Passivity of the Human Ankle Joint.

PubMed

Lee, Hyunglae; Hogan, Neville

2016-12-01

Understanding the passive or nonpassive behavior of the neuromuscular system is important to design and control robots that physically interact with humans, since it provides quantitative information to secure coupled stability while maximizing performance. This has become more important than ever apace with the increasing demand for robotic technologies in neurorehabilitation. This paper presents a quantitative characterization of passive and nonpassive behavior of the ankle of young healthy subjects, which provides a baseline for future studies in persons with neurological impairments and information for future developments of rehabilitation robots, such as exoskeletal devices and powered prostheses. Measurements using a wearable ankle robot actuating 2 degrees-of-freedom of the ankle combined with curl analysis and passivity analysis enabled characterization of both quasi-static and steady-state dynamic behavior of the ankle, unavailable from single DOF studies. Despite active neuromuscular control over a wide range of muscle activation, in young healthy subjects passive or dissipative ankle behavior predominated.

Passively Q-switched and mode-locked dual-wavelength Nd:GGG laser with Cr4+:YAG as a saturable absorber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Hongwei; Zhao, Shengzhi; Li, Yufei; Yang, Kejian; Li, Guiqiu; Li, Dechun; Zhao, Jia; Qiao, Wenchao; Li, Tao; Feng, Chuansheng; Zhang, Haijuan

2014-03-01

By using neodymium-doped gadolinium gallium garnet (Nd:GGG) as a laser medium, a simultaneously passively Q-switched and mode-locked (QML) dual-wavelength laser with Cr4+:YAG as a saturable absorber is presented. The laser simultaneously oscillated at 1061 nm and 1063 nm, corresponding to a frequency difference of 0.53 THz. QML pulses with nearly 100% modulation depth were observed. The mode-locked pulse duration underneath the Q-switched envelope was estimated to be about 908 ps. The experimental results indicated that the dual-wavelength QML Nd:GGG laser can be an excellent candidate for the generation of THz waves.

Passivation of high temperature superconductors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vasquez, Richard P. (Inventor)

1991-01-01

The surface of high temperature superconductors such as YBa2Cu3O(7-x) are passivated by reacting the native Y, Ba and Cu metal ions with an anion such as sulfate or oxalate to form a surface film that is impervious to water and has a solubility in water of no more than 10(exp -3) M. The passivating treatment is preferably conducted by immersing the surface in dilute aqueous acid solution since more soluble species dissolve into the solution. The treatment does not degrade the superconducting properties of the bulk material.

A flexible layout design method for passive micromixers.

PubMed

Deng, Yongbo; Liu, Zhenyu; Zhang, Ping; Liu, Yongshun; Gao, Qingyong; Wu, Yihui

2012-10-01

This paper discusses a flexible layout design method of passive micromixers based on the topology optimization of fluidic flows. Being different from the trial and error method, this method obtains the detailed layout of a passive micromixer according to the desired mixing performance by solving a topology optimization problem. Therefore, the dependence on the experience of the designer is weaken, when this method is used to design a passive micromixer with acceptable mixing performance. Several design disciplines for the passive micromixers are considered to demonstrate the flexibility of the layout design method for passive micromixers. These design disciplines include the approximation of the real 3D micromixer, the manufacturing feasibility, the spacial periodic design, and effects of the Péclet number and Reynolds number on the designs obtained by this layout design method. The capability of this design method is validated by several comparisons performed between the obtained layouts and the optimized designs in the recently published literatures, where the values of the mixing measurement is improved up to 40.4% for one cycle of the micromixer.

In situ passivation of GaAsP nanowires.

PubMed

Himwas, C; Collin, S; Rale, P; Chauvin, N; Patriarche, G; Oehler, F; Julien, F H; Travers, L; Harmand, J-C; Tchernycheva, M

2017-12-08

We report on the structural and optical properties of GaAsP nanowires (NWs) grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. By adjusting the alloy composition in the NWs, the transition energy was tuned to the optimal value required for tandem III-V/silicon solar cells. We discovered that an unintentional shell was also formed during the GaAsP NW growth. The NW surface was passivated by an in situ deposition of a radial Ga(As)P shell. Different shell compositions and thicknesses were investigated. We demonstrate that the optimal passivation conditions for GaAsP NWs (with a gap of 1.78 eV) are obtained with a 5 nm thick GaP shell. This passivation enhances the luminescence intensity of the NWs by 2 orders of magnitude and yields a longer luminescence decay. The luminescence dynamics changes from single exponential decay with a 4 ps characteristic time in non-passivated NWs to a bi-exponential decay with characteristic times of 85 and 540 ps in NWs with GaP shell passivation.

Factors that influence muscle shear modulus during passive stretch.

PubMed

Koo, Terry K; Hug, François

2015-09-18

Although elastography has been increasingly used for evaluating muscle shear modulus associated with age, sex, musculoskeletal, and neurological conditions, its physiological meaning is largely unknown. This knowledge gap may hinder data interpretation, limiting the potential of using elastography to gain insights into muscle biomechanics in health and disease. We derived a mathematical model from a widely-accepted Hill-type passive force-length relationship to gain insight about the physiological meaning of resting shear modulus of skeletal muscles under passive stretching, and validated the model by comparing against the ex-vivo animal data reported in our recent work (Koo et al. 2013). The model suggested that resting shear modulus of a slack muscle is a function of specific tension and parameters that govern the normalized passive muscle force-length relationship as well as the degree of muscle anisotropy. The model also suggested that although the slope of the linear shear modulus-passive force relationship is primarily related to muscle anatomical cross-sectional area (i.e. the smaller the muscle cross-sectional area, the more the increase in shear modulus to result in the same passive muscle force), it is also governed by the normalized passive muscle force-length relationship and the degree of muscle anisotropy. Taken together, although muscle shear modulus under passive stretching has a strong linear relationship with passive muscle force, its actual value appears to be affected by muscle's mechanical, material, and architectural properties. This should be taken into consideration when interpreting the muscle shear modulus values. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Valorization of a pharmaceutical organic sludge through different composting treatments.

PubMed

Cucina, Mirko; Tacconi, Chiara; Sordi, Simone; Pezzolla, Daniela; Gigliotti, Giovanni; Zadra, Claudia

2018-04-01

Nowadays, the agricultural reuse of pharmaceutical sludge is still limited due to environmental and agronomic issues (e.g. low stabilization of the organic matter, phytotoxicity). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the characteristics of a pharmaceutical sludge derived from the daptomycin production and to study the possibility of improving its quality through composting. The pharmaceutical sludge showed high content of macronutrients (e.g. total Kjeldahl N content was 38 g kg -1 ), but it was also characterized by high salinity (7.9 dS m -1 ), phytotoxicity (germination index was 36.7%) and a low organic matter stabilization. Two different mixtures were prepared (mixture A: 70% sludge + 30% wood chips w/w, mixture B: 45% sludge + 45% wood chips + 10% cereal straw w/w) and treated through static composting using two different aeration systems: active and passive aeration. The mixtures resulted in the production of two different compost, and the evolution of process management parameters was different. The low total solids and organic matter content of mixture A led to the failure of the process. The addition of cereal straw in mixture B resulted in increased porosity and C/N ratio and, consequently, in an optimal development of the composting process (e.g. the final organic matter loss was 54.1% and 63.1% for the passively and actively aerated treatment, respectively). Both passively and actively aerated composting of mixture B improved the quality of the pharmaceutical sludge, by increasing its organic matter stabilization and removing phytotoxicity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the construction, comparison, and variability of airsheds for interpreting semivolatile organic compounds in passively sampled air.

PubMed

Westgate, John N; Wania, Frank

2011-10-15

Air mass origin as determined by back trajectories often aids in explaining some of the short-term variability in the atmospheric concentrations of semivolatile organic contaminants. Airsheds, constructed by amalgamating large numbers of back trajectories, capture average air mass origins over longer time periods and thus have found use in interpreting air concentrations obtained by passive air samplers. To explore some of their key characteristics, airsheds for 54 locations on Earth were constructed and compared for roundness, seasonality, and interannual variability. To avoid the so-called "pole problem" and to simplify the calculation of roundness, a "geodesic grid" was used to bin the back-trajectory end points. Departures from roundness were seen to occur at all latitudes and to correlate significantly with local slope but no strong relationship between latitude and roundness was revealed. Seasonality and interannual variability vary widely enough to imply that static models of transport are not sufficient to describe the proximity of an area to potential sources of contaminants. For interpreting an air measurement an airshed should be generated specifically for the deployment time of the sampler, especially when investigating long-term trends. Samples taken in a single season may not represent the average annual atmosphere, and samples taken in linear, as opposed to round, airsheds may not represent the average atmosphere in the area. Simple methods are proposed to ascertain the significance of an airshed or individual cell. It is recommended that when establishing potential contaminant source regions only end points with departure heights of less than ∼700 m be considered.

Interfacial Passivation of the p-Doped Hole-Transporting Layer Using General Insulating Polymers for High-Performance Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells.

PubMed

Zhang, Fan; Song, Jun; Hu, Rui; Xiang, Yuren; He, Junjie; Hao, Yuying; Lian, Jiarong; Zhang, Bin; Zeng, Pengju; Qu, Junle

2018-05-01

Organic-inorganic lead halide perovskite solar cells (PVSCs), as a competing technology with traditional inorganic solar cells, have now realized a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 22.1%. In PVSCs, interfacial carrier recombination is one of the dominant energy-loss mechanisms, which also results in the simultaneous loss of potential efficiency. In this work, for planar inverted PVSCs, the carrier recombination is dominated by the dopant concentration in the p-doped hole transport layers (HTLs), since the F4-TCNQ dopant induces more charge traps and electronic transmission channels, thus leading to a decrease in open-circuit voltages (V OC ). This issue is efficiently overcome by inserting a thin insulating polymer layer (poly(methyl methacrylate) or polystyrene) as a passivation layer with an appropriate thickness, which allows for increases in the V OC without significantly sacrificing the fill factor. It is believed that the passivation layer attributes to the passivation of interfacial recombination and the suppression of current leakage at the perovskite/HTL interface. By manipulating this interfacial passivation technique, a high PCE of 20.3% is achieved without hysteresis. Consequently, this versatile interfacial passivation methodology is highly useful for further improving the performance of planar inverted PVSCs. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Passive sampling methods for contaminated sediments: Scientific rationale supporting use of freely dissolved concentrations

PubMed Central

Mayer, Philipp; Parkerton, Thomas F; Adams, Rachel G; Cargill, John G; Gan, Jay; Gouin, Todd; Gschwend, Philip M; Hawthorne, Steven B; Helm, Paul; Witt, Gesine; You, Jing; Escher, Beate I

2014-01-01

Passive sampling methods (PSMs) allow the quantification of the freely dissolved concentration (Cfree) of an organic contaminant even in complex matrices such as sediments. Cfree is directly related to a contaminant's chemical activity, which drives spontaneous processes including diffusive uptake into benthic organisms and exchange with the overlying water column. Consequently, Cfree provides a more relevant dose metric than total sediment concentration. Recent developments in PSMs have significantly improved our ability to reliably measure even very low levels of Cfree. Application of PSMs in sediments is preferably conducted in the equilibrium regime, where freely dissolved concentrations in the sediment are well-linked to the measured concentration in the sampler via analyte-specific partition ratios. The equilibrium condition can then be assured by measuring a time series or a single time point using passive samplers with different surface to volume ratios. Sampling in the kinetic regime is also possible and generally involves the application of performance reference compounds for the calibration. Based on previous research on hydrophobic organic contaminants, it is concluded that Cfree allows a direct assessment of 1) contaminant exchange and equilibrium status between sediment and overlying water, 2) benthic bioaccumulation, and 3) potential toxicity to benthic organisms. Thus, the use of PSMs to measure Cfree provides an improved basis for the mechanistic understanding of fate and transport processes in sediments and has the potential to significantly improve risk assessment and management of contaminated sediments. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2014;10:197–209. © 2014 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC. PMID:24288295

Incremental passivity and output regulation for switched nonlinear systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pang, Hongbo; Zhao, Jun

2017-10-01

This paper studies incremental passivity and global output regulation for switched nonlinear systems, whose subsystems are not required to be incrementally passive. A concept of incremental passivity for switched systems is put forward. First, a switched system is rendered incrementally passive by the design of a state-dependent switching law. Second, the feedback incremental passification is achieved by the design of a state-dependent switching law and a set of state feedback controllers. Finally, we show that once the incremental passivity for switched nonlinear systems is assured, the output regulation problem is solved by the design of global nonlinear regulator controllers comprising two components: the steady-state control and the linear output feedback stabilising controllers, even though the problem for none of subsystems is solvable. Two examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Active and Passive Sport Interests of Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stensaasen, Svein

1980-01-01

A study dealing with the sport interests of adolescents reveals significant relationships between different passive sport interests, and a relationship of active and passive sport interests which decreases with age and depends to some degree on social background. The study upholds previously determined relationships between sex and sport activity.…

The German Passive: Analysis and Teaching Technique.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffen, T. D.

1981-01-01

Proposes an analysis of German passive based upon internal structure rather than translation conventions from Latin and Greek. Claims that this approach leads to a description of the perfect participle as an adjectival complement, which eliminates the classification of a passive voice for German and simplifies the learning task. (MES)

Active and Passive Remote Sensing of Ice.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-09-01

This is a report on the progress that has been made in the study of active and passive remote sensing of ice during the period of February 1, 1984...the emissivities as functions of viewing angles and polarizations. They are used to interpret the passive microwave remote sensing data from

Active and Passive Remote Sensing of Ice.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-01-01

This is a report on the progress that has been made in the study of active and passive remote sensing of ice during the period of August 1, 1984...active and passive microwave remote sensing , (2) used the strong fluctuation theory and the fluctuation-dissipation theorem to calculate the brightness

Spiral passive electromagnetic sensor (SPES) for smart sensing and de-icing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iervolino, Onorio; Meo, Michele

2015-04-01

The objective of this work was to develop a wireless Spiral Passive Electromagnetic Sensor (SPES) to monitor the complex permittivity of a surrounding medium. The sensor is a self-resonating planar pattern of electrically conductive material. Investigation were conducted to demonstrate the capability of the SPES to monitor humidity and temperature gradients, and acting as an ice protection tool. An oscillating signal is used to interrogate remotely the sensor with a single loop antenna or wiring it directly to a spectrum analyser and monitoring the backscattering signal. The excited sensor responds with its own resonant frequency, amplitude and bandwidth that can be correlated to physical quantities to be monitored. Our studies showed the capability of the sensor to monitor temperature and humidity changes in composite materials and uniformly produce induction heating when the conductive path is activated by an external electric power supply that can be used for deicing of aircraft structures.

Importance of medium chain fatty acids in animal nutrition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baltić, B.; Starčević, M.; Đorđević, J.; Mrdović, B.; Marković, R.

2017-09-01

Fats in animal and human nutrition are a common subject of research. These studies most often pay attention to particular fat groups (saturated, unsaturated, polyunsaturated fats or fats grouped by the length of their fatty acid chains into short, medium or long chain fatty acids). Medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) have two main sources: milk and coconut oil. To date, research has shown these acids have positive effects on health, production, feed digestibility and lower body and muscle fats in broilers and swine. MCFAs possess antibacterial, anticoccidial and antiviral effects. Also, it has been proven that these acids act synergistically if they are used together with organic acids, essential oils, or probiotics. Nowadays, commercial MCFA products are available for use in animal nutrition as feed additives.

Quantitative Frequency-Domain Passive Cavitation Imaging

PubMed Central

Haworth, Kevin J.; Bader, Kenneth B.; Rich, Kyle T.; Holland, Christy K.; Mast, T. Douglas

2017-01-01

Passive cavitation detection has been an instrumental technique for measuring cavitation dynamics, elucidating concomitant bioeffects, and guiding ultrasound therapies. Recently, techniques have been developed to create images of cavitation activity to provide investigators with a more complete set of information. These techniques use arrays to record and subsequently beamform received cavitation emissions, rather than processing emissions received on a single-element transducer. In this paper, the methods for performing frequency-domain delay, sum, and integrate passive imaging are outlined. The method can be applied to any passively acquired acoustic scattering or emissions, including cavitation emissions. In order to compare data across different systems, techniques for normalizing Fourier transformed data and converting the data to the acoustic energy received by the array are described. A discussion of hardware requirements and alternative imaging approaches are additionally outlined. Examples are provided in MATLAB. PMID:27992331

Variation in active and passive resource inputs to experimental pools: mechanisms and possible consequences for food webs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kraus, Johanna M.; Pletcher, Leanna T.; Vonesh, James R.

2010-01-01

1. Cross-ecosystem movements of resources, including detritus, nutrients and living prey, can strongly influence food web dynamics in recipient habitats. Variation in resource inputs is thought to be driven by factors external to the recipient habitat (e.g. donor habitat productivity and boundary conditions). However, inputs of or by ‘active’ living resources may be strongly influenced by recipient habitat quality when organisms exhibit behavioural habitat selection when crossing ecosystem boundaries. 2. To examine whether behavioural responses to recipient habitat quality alter the relative inputs of ‘active’ living and ‘passive’ detrital resources to recipient food webs, we manipulated the presence of caged predatory fish and measured biomass, energy and organic content of inputs to outdoor experimental pools of adult aquatic insects, frog eggs, terrestrial plant matter and terrestrial arthropods. 3. Caged fish reduced the biomass, energy and organic matter donated to pools by tree frog eggs by ∼70%, but did not alter insect colonisation or passive allochthonous inputs of terrestrial arthropods and plant material. Terrestrial plant matter and adult aquatic insects provided the most energy and organic matter inputs to the pools (40–50%), while terrestrial arthropods provided the least (7%). Inputs of frog egg were relatively small but varied considerably among pools and over time (3%, range = 0–20%). Absolute and proportional amounts varied by input type. 4. Aquatic predators can strongly affect the magnitude of active, but not passive, inputs and that the effect of recipient habitat quality on active inputs is variable. Furthermore, some active inputs (i.e. aquatic insect colonists) can provide similar amounts of energy and organic matter as passive inputs of terrestrial plant matter, which are well known to be important. Because inputs differ in quality and the trophic level they subsidise, proportional changes in input type could have

Is Children's Acquisition of the Passive a Staged Process? Evidence from Six- and Nine-Year-Olds' Production of Passives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Messenger, Katherine; Branigan, Holly P.; McLean, Janet F.

2012-01-01

We report a syntactic priming experiment that examined whether children's acquisition of the passive is a staged process, with acquisition of constituent structure preceding acquisition of thematic role mappings. Six-year-olds and nine-year-olds described transitive actions after hearing active and passive prime descriptions involving the same or…

New insights into the passive force enhancement in skeletal muscles.

PubMed

Lee, Eun-Jeong; Joumaa, Venus; Herzog, Walter

2007-01-01

The steady-state isometric force following active stretching of a muscle is always greater than the steady-state isometric force obtained in a purely isometric contraction at the same length. This phenomenon has been termed "residual force enhancement" and it is associated with an active and a passive component. The origin of these components remains a matter of scientific debate. The purpose of this work was to test the hypothesis that the passive component of the residual force enhancement is caused by a passive structural element. In order to achieve this purpose, single fibers (n=6) from the lumbrical muscles of frog (Rana pipiens) were isolated and attached to a force transducer and a motor that could produce computer-controlled length changes. The passive force enhancement was assessed for three experimental conditions: in a normal Ringer's solution, and after the addition of 5 and 15mM 2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM) which inhibits force production in a dose-dependent manner. If our hypothesis was correct, one would expect the passive force enhancement to be unaffected following BDM application. However, we found that increasing concentrations of BDM decreased the isometric forces, increased the normalized residual force enhancement, and most importantly for this study, increased the passive force enhancement. Furthermore, BDM decreased the rate of force relaxation after deactivation following active stretching of fibers, passive stretching in the Ringer's and BDM conditions produced the same passive force-sarcomere length relationship, and passive force enhancement required activation and force production. These results led to the conclusion that the passive force enhancement cannot be caused by a structural component exclusively as had been assumed up to date, but must be associated, directly or indirectly, with cross-bridge attachments upon activation and the associated active force.

PAH toxicity at aqueous solubility in the fish embryo test with Danio rerio using passive dosing.

PubMed

Seiler, Thomas-Benjamin; Best, Nina; Fernqvist, Margit Møller; Hercht, Hendrik; Smith, Kilian E C; Braunbeck, Thomas; Mayer, Philipp; Hollert, Henner

2014-10-01

As part of the risk assessment process within REACh, prior to manufacturing and distribution of chemical substances their (eco)toxicological impacts have to be investigated. The fish embryo toxicity test (FET) with the zebrafish Danio rerio has gained a high significance as an in vitro alternative to animal testing in (eco)toxicology. However, for hydrophobic organic chemicals it remains a technical challenge to ensure constant freely dissolved concentration at the maximum exposure level during such biotests. Passive dosing with PDMS silicone was thus applied to control the freely dissolved concentration of ten PAHs at their saturation level in the FET. The experiments gave repeatable results, with the toxicity of the PAHs generally increasing with the maximum chemical activities of the PAHs. HPLC analysis confirmed constant exposure at the saturation level. In additional experiments, fish embryos without direct contact to the silicone surface showed similar mortalities as those exposed with direct contact to the silicone. Silicone oil overlaying the water phase as a novel passive dosing phase had no observable effects on the development of the fish embryos until hatching. This study provides further data to support the close relationship between the chemical activity and the toxicity of hydrophobic organic compounds. Passive dosing from PDMS silicone enabled reliable toxicity testing of (highly) hydrophobic substances at aqueous solubility, providing a practical way to control toxicity exactly at the maximum exposure level. This approach is therefore expected to be useful as a cost-effective initial screening of hydrophobic chemicals for potential adverse effects to freshwater vertebrates. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Passive appendages improve the maneuverability of fish-like robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pollard, Beau; Tallapragada, Phanindra

2017-11-01

It is known that the passive mechanics of fish appendages play a role in the high efficiency of their swimming. A well known example of this is the experimental demonstration that a dead fish could swim upstream. However little is known about the role if any of passive deformations of a fish-like body that could aid in its maneuverability. Part of the difficulty investigating this lies in clearly separating the role of actuated body deformations and passive deformations in response to the fluid structure interaction. In this paper we compare the maneuverability of several fish shaped robotic models that possess varying numbers of passive appendages with a fish shaped robot that has no appendages. All the robots are propelled by the oscillations of an internal momentum wheel thereby eliminating any active deformations of the body. Our experiments clearly reveal the significant improvement in maneuverability of robots with passive appendages. In the broader context of swimming robots our experiments show that passive mechanisms could be useful to provide mechanical feedback that can help maneuverability and obstacle avoidance along with propulsive efficiency. This work was partly supported by a Grant from the NSF CMMI 1563315.

Evaluation of active and passive transport processes in corneas extracted from preserved rabbit eyes.

PubMed

Majumdar, Soumyajit; Hingorani, Tushar; Srirangam, Ramesh

2010-04-01

In vitro transcorneal permeability studies are an important screening tool in drug development. The objective of this research is to examine the feasibility of using corneas isolated from preserved rabbit eyes as a model for permeability evaluation. Eyes from male New Zealand White rabbits were used immediately or were stored overnight in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or Hanks balanced salt solution (HBSS) over wet ice. Integrity of isolated corneas was evaluated by measuring the TEER and by determining the permeability of paracellular and transcellular markers. Active transport was assessed by measuring transcorneal permeability of selected amino acids. Esterase activity was estimated using p-nitrophenyl assay. In all cases, corneas from freshly enucleated eyes were compared to those isolated from the day-old preserved eyes. Transcellular and paracellular passive diffusion was not affected by the storage medium and observed to be similar in the fresh and preserved eye models. However, amino acid transporters demonstrated lower functional activity in corneas excised from eyes preserved in PBS. Moreover, preserved eyes displayed almost 1.5-fold lower esterase activity in the corneal tissue. Thus, corneas isolated from day-old eyes, preserved in HBSS, closely mimics freshly excised rabbit corneas in terms of both active and passive transport characteristics but possesses slightly reduced enzymatic activity. 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association

Through-Space Ultrafast Photoinduced Electron Transfer Dynamics of a C70-Encapsulated Bisporphyrin Covalent Organic Polyhedron in a Low-Dielectric Medium.

PubMed

Ortiz, Michael; Cho, Sung; Niklas, Jens; Kim, Seonah; Poluektov, Oleg G; Zhang, Wei; Rumbles, Garry; Park, Jaehong

2017-03-29

Ultrafast photoinduced electron transfer (PIET) dynamics of a C 70 -encapsulated bisporphyrin covalent organic polyhedron hybrid (C 70 @COP-5) is studied in a nonpolar toluene medium with fluorescence and transient absorption spectroscopies. This structurally rigid donor (D)-acceptor (A) molecular hybrid offers a new platform featuring conformationally predetermined cofacial D-A orientation with a fixed edge-to-edge separation, R EE (2.8 Å), without the aid of covalent bonds. Sub-picosecond PIET (τ ET ≤ 0.4 ps) and very slow charge recombination (τ CR ≈ 600 ps) dynamics are observed. The origin of these dynamics is discussed in terms of enhanced D-A coupling (V = 675 cm -1 ) and extremely small reorganization energy (λ ≈ 0.18 eV), induced by the intrinsic structural rigidity of the C 70 @COP-5 complex.

Transport and mixing in strongly coupled dusty plasma medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dharodi, Vikram; Das, Amita; Patel, Bhavesh

2016-10-01

The generalized hydrodynamic (GHD) fluid model has been employed to study the transport and mixing properties of Dusty plasma medium in strong coupling limit. The response of lighter electron and ion species to the dust motion is taken to be instantaneous i.e. inertia-less. Thus the electron and ion density are presumed to follow the Boltzman relation. In the incompressible limit (i-GHD) the model supports Transverse Shear wave in contrast to the Hydrodynamic fluids. It has been shown that the presence of these waves leads to a better mixing of fluid in this case. Several cases of flow configuration have been considered for the study. The transport and mixing attributes have been quantified by studying the dynamical evolution of tracer particles in the system. The diffusion and clustering of these test particles are directly linked to the mixing characteristic of a medium. The displacement of these particles provides for a quantitative estimate of the diffusion coefficient of the medium. It is shown that these test particles often organize themselves in spatially inhomogeneous pattern leading to the phenomena of clustering.

48 CFR 211.275 - Passive radio frequency identification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Passive radio frequency identification. 211.275 Section 211.275 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS... Requirements Documents 211.275 Passive radio frequency identification. ...

Passive Optical Locking Techniques for Diode Lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Quan

1995-01-01

Most current diode-based nonlinear frequency converters utilize electronic frequency locking techniques. However, this type of locking technique typically involves very complex electronics, and suffers the 'power-drop' problem. This dissertation is devoted to the development of an all-optical passive locking technique that locks the diode laser frequency to the external cavity resonance stably without using any kind of electronic servo. The amplitude noise problem associated with the strong optical locking has been studied. Single-mode operation of a passively locked single-stripe diode with an amplitude stability better than 1% has been achieved. This passive optical locking technique applies to broad-area diodes as well as single-stripe diodes, and can be easily used to generate blue light. A schematic of a milliwatt level blue laser based on the single-stripe diode locking technique has been proposed. A 120 mW 467 nm blue laser has been built using the tapered amplifier locking technique. In addition to diode-based blue lasers, this passive locking technique has applications in nonlinear frequency conversions, resonant spectroscopy, particle counter devices, telecommunications, and medical devices.

Passive range estimation using dual baseline triangulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pieper, Ronald J.; Cooper, Alfred W.; Pelegris, G.

1996-03-01

Modern combat systems based on active radar sensing suffer disadvantages against low-flying targets in cluttered backgrounds. Use of passive infrared sensors with these systems, either in cooperation or as an alternative, shows potential for improving target detection and declaration range for targets crossing the horizon. Realization of this potential requires fusion of target position data from dissimilar sensors, or passive sensor measurement of target range. The availability of passive sensors that can supply both range and bearing data on such targets would significantly extend the robustness of an integrated ship self-defense system. This paper considers a new method of range determination with passive sensors based on the principle of triangulation, extending the principle to two orthogonal baselines. The performance of single or double baseline triangulation depends on sensor bearing precision and direction to target. An expression for maximum triangulation range at a required accuracy is derived as a function of polar angle relative to the center of the dual-baseline system. Limitations in the dual- baseline model due to the geometrically assessed horizon are also considered.

[The consequences of passive smoking in adults].

PubMed

Trédaniel, J; Savinelli, F; Vignot, S; Bousquet, G; Le Maignan, C; Misset, J-L

2006-04-01

Passive smoking is the involuntary inhalation by a non-smoker of smoke generated in his neighbourhood by one or more smokers. The effect of this exposure is already generally recognised in children. In adults the induction of chronic obstructive lung disease has not been demonstrated. This is no longer the case for ischaemic heart disease and lung cancer where the effect of passive exposure of non-smokers to cigarette smoke is recognised. The biological plausibility together with the concordance of results obtained over successive years, as well as the large numbers of patients included in the studies, lead to a confident conclusion that the risks in adult non-smokers are increased by the order of 25%. There is no evidence that bias affects the conclusions reached and the World Health Organisation has recently classified passive smoking as being carcinogenic in man. As a result of these data prevention of passive exposure to cigarette smoke should be part of a larger framework of smoking prevention, especially among the young.

Hydrogen passivation of polycrystalline silicon thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scheller, L.-P.; Weizman, M.; Simon, P.; Fehr, M.; Nickel, N. H.

2012-09-01

The influence of post-hydrogenation on the electrical and optical properties of solid phase crystallized polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) was examined. The passivation of grain-boundary defects was measured as a function of the passivation time. The silicon dangling-bond concentration decreases with increasing passivation time due to the formation of Si-H complexes. In addition, large H-stabilized platelet-like clusters are generated. The influence of H on the electrical properties was investigated using temperature dependent conductivity and Hall-effect measurements. For poly-Si on Corning glass, the dark conductivity decreases upon hydrogenation, while it increases when the samples are fabricated on silicon-nitride covered Borofloat glass. Hall-effect measurements reveal that for poly-Si on Corning glass the hole concentration and the mobility decrease upon post-hydrogenation, while a pronounced increase is observed for poly-Si on silicon-nitride covered Borofloat glass. This indicates the formation of localized states in the band gap, which is supported by sub band-gap absorption measurments. The results are discussed in terms of hydrogen-induced defect passivation and generation mechanisms.

Passive immunization of pigeons against trichomoniasis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kocan, R.M.

1970-01-01

Nonimmune homing pigeons Columba livia were infected with the Jones' Barn strain of Trichomonas gallinae and subsequently transfused with plasma from acute or chronically infected pigeons harboring one of 3 different strains of T. gallinae. The transfusions were either a single 2 mi dose given one day after inoculation or three 1 ml doses given 0, 5, and 10 days after inoculation. Plasma from pigeons harboring any of the 3 strains was capable of passively immunizing nonimmune birds. All birds which were immunized with plasma from infected pigeons survived until killed at the end of the test period and no visceral lesions were found on necropsy but trichomonads were present in the oropharynx. All controls (untreated or transfused with normal plasma) died of visceral trichomoniasis. Immune plasma produced some lysis of trichomonads in vitro, and inhibition of motility and vacuolization occurred in some of the non-lysed organisms. The overall lytic activity in vitro affected less than 10% of the suspended trichomonads.

Active and passive vibration suppression for space structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hyland, David C.

1991-01-01

The relative benefits of passive and active vibration suppression for large space structures (LSS) are discussed. The intent is to sketch the true ranges of applicability of these approaches using previously published technical results. It was found that the distinction between active and passive vibration suppression approaches is not as sharp as might be thought at first. The relative simplicity, reliability, and cost effectiveness touted for passive measures are vitiated by 'hidden costs' bound up with detailed engineering implementation issues and inherent performance limitations. At the same time, reliability and robustness issues are often cited against active control. It is argued that a continuum of vibration suppression measures offering mutually supporting capabilities is needed. The challenge is to properly orchestrate a spectrum of methods to reap the synergistic benefits of combined advanced materials, passive damping, and active control.

Dioxin analysis in water by using a passive sampler and CALUX bioassay.

PubMed

Addeck, Amr; Croes, Kim; Van Langenhove, Kersten; Denison, Michael; Elskens, Marc; Baeyens, Willy

2012-01-15

Passive sampling of organic pollutants is a new trend in environmental monitoring and analysis. Passive samplers are being developed to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional snapshot sampling approach. The ceramic toximeter is a promising passive sampler for monitoring dioxin-contaminated surface and ground waters. It consists of an alumina cylinder lined with a thin coating of titania and a pore diameter of 0.05 μm. The cylinder serves as a diffusion barrier limiting the analyte transport to molecular diffusion only, as well as a container for a selective trapping material of a high capacity and affinity towards the chemical(s) of concern. The cylinder is closed from both sides with PTFE caps. The ceramic toximeter was filled with activated carbon as the trapping material and has been tested in vitro for the sampling of dioxin-contaminated water. In addition, the utilization of the CALUX bioassay technique for analyzing the trapped dioxin has greatly reduced the time and costs for dioxin scanning in aqueous media. Exposure times varied between 1 and 7 days in a solution of 1.35 ng-TCDDL(-1) (TCDD is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin). The mean effective molecular diffusion coefficient of TCDD in the toximeter amounts to 11.9×10(-6)m(2)d(-1) while the minimum concentration detectable in an aquatic system after 30 days of exposure amounts to 0.89 pg-TCDDL(-1). Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cardiovascular remodeling induced by passive smoking.

PubMed

Minicucci, Marcos F; Azevedo, Paula S; Paiva, Sergio A R; Zornoff, Leonardo A M

2009-12-01

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common cause of death in many developed countries. The major risk factors for CHD are smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, and lack of physical activity. Importantly, passive smoke also increases the risk for CHD. The mechanisms involved in the effects of passive smoke in CHD are complex and include endothelial dysfunction, lipoprotein modification, increased inflammation and platelet activation. Recently, several studies have shown that exposure to tobacco smoke can result in cardiac remodeling and compromised cardiac function. Potential mechanisms for these alterations are neurohumoral activation, oxidative stress, and MAPK activation. Although the vascular effects of cigarette smoke exposure are well known, the effects of tobacco smoking on the heart have received less attention. Therefore, this review will focus on the recent findings as to the effects of passive smoking in acute and chronic phases of vascular and cardiac remodeling.

Passive infrared bullet detection and tracking

DOEpatents

Karr, Thomas J.

1997-01-01

An apparatus and method for passively detecting a projectile such as, for example, a bullet using a passive infrared detector. A passive infrared detector is focused onto a region in which a projectile is expected to be located. Successive images of infrared radiation in the region are recorded. Background infrared radiation present in the region is suppressed such that second successive images of infrared radiation generated by the projectile as the projectile passes through the region are produced. A projectile path calculator determines the path and other aspects of the projectile by using the second successive images of infrared radiation generated by the projectile. The present invention, in certain embodiments, also determines the origin of the path of the projectile and takes a photograph of the area surrounding the origin and/or fires at least one projectile at the area surrounding the origin of the path of the projectile.

Passive infrared bullet detection and tracking

DOEpatents

Karr, T.J.

1997-01-21

An apparatus and method for passively detecting a projectile such as, for example, a bullet using a passive infrared detector. A passive infrared detector is focused onto a region in which a projectile is expected to be located. Successive images of infrared radiation in the region are recorded. Background infrared radiation present in the region is suppressed such that second successive images of infrared radiation generated by the projectile as the projectile passes through the region are produced. A projectile path calculator determines the path and other aspects of the projectile by using the second successive images of infrared radiation generated by the projectile. The present invention, in certain embodiments, also determines the origin of the path of the projectile and takes a photograph of the area surrounding the origin and/or fires at least one projectile at the area surrounding the origin of the path of the projectile. 9 figs.

Passive Magnetic Bearing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Studer, P. A.

1983-01-01

Magnetic bearing for limited rotation devices requires no feedback control system to sense and correct shaft position. Passive Magnetic Torsion Bearing requires no power supply and has no rubbing parts. Torsion wire restrains against axial instability. Magnetic flux geometry chosen to assure lateral stability with radial restoring force that maintains alignment.

Dispersion Polymerization of Polystyrene Particles Using Alcohol as Reaction Medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Young-Sang; Shin, Cheol Hwan; Han, Sujin

2016-02-01

In this study, monodisperse polystyrene nanospheres were prepared by dispersion polymerization using alcohol as reaction medium to prepare colloidal clusters of the latex beads. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and 2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyltrimethylammonium chloride (MTC) were used as dispersion stabilizer and comonomer, respectively. The particle size could be controlled by adjusting the reactant compositions such as the amount of stabilizer, comonomer, and water in the reactant mixture. The size and monodispersity of the polymeric particles could be also controlled by changing the reaction medium with different alcohols other than ethanol or adjusting the polymerization temperature. The synthesized particles could be self-organized inside water-in-oil emulsion droplets by evaporation-driven self-assembly to produce colloidal clusters of the polymeric nanospheres.

Interfacial electronic structure of a hybrid organic-inorganic optical upconverter device: The role of interface states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, K. Y. F.; Helander, M. G.; Lu, Z. H.

2009-04-01

Organic-inorganic hybrid heterojunctions are critical for the integration of organic electronics with traditional Si and III-V semiconductor microelectronics. The amorphous nature of organic semiconductors eliminates the stringent lattice-matching requirements in semiconductor monolithic growth. However, as of yet it is unclear what driving forces dictate the energy-level alignment at hybrid organic-inorganic heterojunctions. Using photoelectron spectroscopy we investigate the energy-level alignment at the hybrid organic-inorganic heterojunction formed between S-passivated InP(100) and several commonly used hole injection/transport molecules, namely, copper phthalocyanine (CuPc), N ,N'-diphenyl-N ,N'-bis-(1-naphthyl)-1-1'-biphenyl-4,4'-diamine (α-NPD), and fullerene (C60). The energy-level alignment at the hybrid organic-inorganic heterojunction is found to be consistent with traditional interface dipole theory, originally developed to describe Schottky contacts. Contrary to conventional wisdom, hole injection from S-passivated InP(100) into an organic semiconductor is found to originate from interface states at or near the Fermi level, rather than from the valance band maximum of the semiconductor. As a result the barrier height for hole injection is defined by the offset between the surface Fermi level of the S-passivated InP(100) and the highest occupied molecular orbital of the organic. This finding sheds new light on the unusual trend in device performance reported in literature for such hybrid organic-inorganic heterojunction devices.

Laboratory evaluation of two passive alcohol sensor devices

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1988-12-01

Passive alcohol sensing devices are designed to detect the presence of alcohol in a person's normally-expelled breath; they are "passive" in that one is not required to blow into a mouthpiece as with conventional breath test devices. The National Hig...

Sampling trace organic compounds in water: a comparison of a continuous active sampler to continuous passive and discrete sampling methods

USGS Publications Warehouse

Coes, Alissa L.; Paretti, Nicholas V.; Foreman, William T.; Iverson, Jana L.; Alvarez, David A.

2014-01-01

A continuous active sampling method was compared to continuous passive and discrete sampling methods for the sampling of trace organic compounds (TOCs) in water. Results from each method are compared and contrasted in order to provide information for future investigators to use while selecting appropriate sampling methods for their research. The continuous low-level aquatic monitoring (CLAM) sampler (C.I.Agent® Storm-Water Solutions) is a submersible, low flow-rate sampler, that continuously draws water through solid-phase extraction media. CLAM samplers were deployed at two wastewater-dominated stream field sites in conjunction with the deployment of polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) and the collection of discrete (grab) water samples. All samples were analyzed for a suite of 69 TOCs. The CLAM and POCIS samples represent time-integrated samples that accumulate the TOCs present in the water over the deployment period (19–23 h for CLAM and 29 days for POCIS); the discrete samples represent only the TOCs present in the water at the time and place of sampling. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling and cluster analysis were used to examine patterns in both TOC detections and relative concentrations between the three sampling methods. A greater number of TOCs were detected in the CLAM samples than in corresponding discrete and POCIS samples, but TOC concentrations in the CLAM samples were significantly lower than in the discrete and (or) POCIS samples. Thirteen TOCs of varying polarity were detected by all of the three methods. TOC detections and concentrations obtained by the three sampling methods, however, are dependent on multiple factors. This study found that stream discharge, constituent loading, and compound type all affected TOC concentrations detected by each method. In addition, TOC detections and concentrations were affected by the reporting limits, bias, recovery, and performance of each method.

Sampling trace organic compounds in water: a comparison of a continuous active sampler to continuous passive and discrete sampling methods.

PubMed

Coes, Alissa L; Paretti, Nicholas V; Foreman, William T; Iverson, Jana L; Alvarez, David A

2014-03-01

A continuous active sampling method was compared to continuous passive and discrete sampling methods for the sampling of trace organic compounds (TOCs) in water. Results from each method are compared and contrasted in order to provide information for future investigators to use while selecting appropriate sampling methods for their research. The continuous low-level aquatic monitoring (CLAM) sampler (C.I.Agent® Storm-Water Solutions) is a submersible, low flow-rate sampler, that continuously draws water through solid-phase extraction media. CLAM samplers were deployed at two wastewater-dominated stream field sites in conjunction with the deployment of polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) and the collection of discrete (grab) water samples. All samples were analyzed for a suite of 69 TOCs. The CLAM and POCIS samples represent time-integrated samples that accumulate the TOCs present in the water over the deployment period (19-23 h for CLAM and 29 days for POCIS); the discrete samples represent only the TOCs present in the water at the time and place of sampling. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling and cluster analysis were used to examine patterns in both TOC detections and relative concentrations between the three sampling methods. A greater number of TOCs were detected in the CLAM samples than in corresponding discrete and POCIS samples, but TOC concentrations in the CLAM samples were significantly lower than in the discrete and (or) POCIS samples. Thirteen TOCs of varying polarity were detected by all of the three methods. TOC detections and concentrations obtained by the three sampling methods, however, are dependent on multiple factors. This study found that stream discharge, constituent loading, and compound type all affected TOC concentrations detected by each method. In addition, TOC detections and concentrations were affected by the reporting limits, bias, recovery, and performance of each method. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Significance of likes: Analysing passive interactions on Facebook during campaigning

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

With more and more political candidates using social media for campaigning, researchers are looking at measuring the effectiveness of this medium. Most research, however, concentrates on the bare count of likes (or twitter mentions) in an attempt to correlate social media presence and winning. In this paper, we propose a novel method, Interaction Strength Plot (IntS) to measure the passive interactions between a candidate’s posts on Facebook and the users (liking the posts). Using this method on original Malaysian General Election (MGE13) and Australian Federal Elections (AFE13) Facebook Pages (FP) campaign data, we label an FP as performing well if both the posting frequency and the likes gathered are above average. Our method shows that over 60% of the MGE13 candidates and 85% of the AFE13 candidates studied in this paper had under-performing FP. Some of these FP owners would have been identified as popular based on bare count. Thus our performance chart is a vital step forward in measuring the effectiveness of online campaigning. PMID:28622350

Significance of likes: Analysing passive interactions on Facebook during campaigning.

PubMed

Khairuddin, Mohammad Adib; Rao, Asha

2017-01-01

With more and more political candidates using social media for campaigning, researchers are looking at measuring the effectiveness of this medium. Most research, however, concentrates on the bare count of likes (or twitter mentions) in an attempt to correlate social media presence and winning. In this paper, we propose a novel method, Interaction Strength Plot (IntS) to measure the passive interactions between a candidate's posts on Facebook and the users (liking the posts). Using this method on original Malaysian General Election (MGE13) and Australian Federal Elections (AFE13) Facebook Pages (FP) campaign data, we label an FP as performing well if both the posting frequency and the likes gathered are above average. Our method shows that over 60% of the MGE13 candidates and 85% of the AFE13 candidates studied in this paper had under-performing FP. Some of these FP owners would have been identified as popular based on bare count. Thus our performance chart is a vital step forward in measuring the effectiveness of online campaigning.

Open Source Software in Medium Size Organizations: Key Factors for Adoption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Solomon, Jerry T.

2010-01-01

For-profit organizations are constantly evaluating new technologies to gain competitive advantage. One such technology, application software, has changed significantly over the past 25 years with the introduction of Open Source Software (OSS). In contrast to commercial software that is developed by private companies and sold to organizations, OSS…

A passivity criterion for sampled-data bilateral teleoperation systems.

PubMed

Jazayeri, Ali; Tavakoli, Mahdi

2013-01-01

A teleoperation system consists of a teleoperator, a human operator, and a remote environment. Conditions involving system and controller parameters that ensure the teleoperator passivity can serve as control design guidelines to attain maximum teleoperation transparency while maintaining system stability. In this paper, sufficient conditions for teleoperator passivity are derived for when position error-based controllers are implemented in discrete-time. This new analysis is necessary because discretization causes energy leaks and does not necessarily preserve the passivity of the system. The proposed criterion for sampled-data teleoperator passivity imposes lower bounds on the teleoperator's robots dampings, an upper bound on the sampling time, and bounds on the control gains. The criterion is verified through simulations and experiments.

Polymer optics for the passive infrared

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Claytor, Richard N.

2016-10-01

An important, but largely invisible, area of polymer optics involves sensing the motion of warm objects. It can be further subdivided into optics for security, for energy conservation, and for convenience; the area has become known as optics for the passive infrared. The passive infrared is generally known as the 8 to 14 μm region of the optical spectrum. The region's roots are in the traditional infrared technology of many decades ago; there is a coincident atmospheric window, although that has little relevance to many short-range applications relevant to polymer optics. Regrettably, there is no polymer material ideally suited to the passive infrared, but one material is generally superior to other candidates. The inadequacy of this material makes the Fresnel lens important. Polymer optics for the passive infrared were first introduced in the 1970s. Patents from that period will be shown, as well as early examples. The unfamiliar names of the pioneering companies and their technical leaders will be mentioned. The 1980s and 90s brought a new and improved lens type, and rapid growth. Pigments for visible-light appearance and other reasons were introduced; one was a spectacular failure. Recent advances include faster lenses, a new groove structure, additional pigments, and lens-mirror combinations. New sensor types are also being introduced. Finally, some unique and inventive applications will be discussed.

Measured neutron and gamma spectra from californium-252 in a tissue-equivalent medium.

PubMed

Elson, H R; Stupar, T A; Shapiro, A; Kereiakes, J G

1979-01-01

A method of experimentally obtaining both neutron and gamma-ray spectra in a scattering medium is described. The method utilizes a liquid-organic scintillator (NE-213) coupled with a pulse-shape discrimination circuit. This allows the separation of the neutron-induced pulse-height data from the gamma-ray pulse-height data. Using mathematical unfolding techniques, the two sets of pulse-height data were transformed to obtain the neutron and gamma-ray energy spectra. A small spherical detector was designed and constructed to reduce the errors incurred by attempting spectral measurements in a scattering medium. Demonstration of the utility of the system to obtain the neutron and gamma-ray spectra in a scattering medium was performed by characterizing the neutron and gamma-ray spectra at various sites about a 3.7-microgram (1.5 cm active length) californium-252 source in a tissue-equivalent medium.

Immunizations: Active vs. Passive

MedlinePlus

... Listen Español Text Size Email Print Share Immunizations: Active vs. Passive Page Content Article Body Pediatricians can protect your child by administering not only active immunizations , but sometimes they can use what physicians ...

Self-organized, effective medium black silicon antireflection structures for silicon optics in the mid-infrared

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steglich, Martin; Käsebier, Thomas; Kley, Ernst-Bernhard; Tünnermann, Andreas

2016-09-01

Thanks to its high quality and low cost, silicon is the material of choice for optical devices operating in the mid-infrared (MIR; 2 μm to 6 μm wavelength). Unfortunately in this spectral region, the refractive index is comparably high (about 3.5) and leads to severe reflection losses of about 30% per interface. In this work, we demonstrate that self-organized, statistical Black Silicon structures, fabricated by Inductively Coupled Plasma Reactive Ion Etching (ICP-RIE), can be used to effectively suppress interface reflection. More importantly, it is shown that antireflection can be achieved in an image-preserving, non-scattering way. This enables Black Silicon antireflection structures (ARS) for imaging applications in the MIR. It is demonstrated that specular transmittances of 97% can be easily achieved on both flat and curved substrates, e.g. lenses. Moreover, by a combined optical and morphological analysis of a multitude of different Black Silicon ARS, an effective medium criterion for the examined structures is derived that can also be used as a design rule for maximizing sample transmittance in a desired wavelength range. In addition, we show that the mechanical durability of the structures can be greatly enhanced by coating with hard dielectric materials like diamond-like carbon (DLC), hence enabling practical applications. Finally, the distinct advantages of statistical Black Silicon ARS over conventional AR layer stacks are discussed: simple applicability to topological substrates, absence of thermal stress and cost-effectiveness.

77 FR 19531 - 7(a) Loan Program; Eligible Passive Companies

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-02

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 13 CFR Part 120 RIN 3245-AG48 7(a) Loan Program; Eligible Passive... Company in connection with an SBA-guaranteed loan to an Eligible Passive Company. DATES: This rule is... prohibits such assistance to entities engaged in passive investment or real estate development, or which do...

In situ passive sampling of sediments in the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund site: Replicability, comparison with ex situ measurements, and use of data.

PubMed

Apell, Jennifer N; Gschwend, Philip M

2016-11-01

Superfund sites with sediments contaminated by hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) can be difficult to characterize because of the complex nature of sorption to sediments. Porewater concentrations, which are often used to model transport of HOCs from the sediment bed into overlying water, benthic organisms, and the larger food web, are traditionally estimated using sediment concentrations and sorption coefficients estimated using equilibrium partitioning (EqP) theory. However, researchers have begun using polymeric samplers to determine porewater concentrations since this method does not require knowledge of the sediment's sorption properties. In this work, polyethylene passive samplers were deployed into sediments in the field (in situ passive sampling) and mixed with sediments in the laboratory (ex situ active sampling) that were contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The results show that porewater concentrations based on in situ and ex situ sampling generally agreed within a factor of two, but in situ concentrations were consistently lower than ex situ porewater concentrations. Imprecision arising from in situ passive sampling procedures does not explain this bias suggesting that field processes like bioirrigation may cause the differences observed between in situ and ex situ polymeric samplers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Significantly enhanced thermal conductivity of indium arsenide nanowires via sulfur passivation.

PubMed

Xiong, Yucheng; Tang, Hao; Wang, Xiaomeng; Zhao, Yang; Fu, Qiang; Yang, Juekuan; Xu, Dongyan

2017-10-16

In this work, we experimentally investigated the effect of sulfur passivation on thermal transport in indium arsenide (InAs) nanowires. Our measurement results show that thermal conductivity can be enhanced by a ratio up to 159% by sulfur passivation. Current-voltage (I-V) measurements were performed on both unpassivated and S-passivated InAs nanowires to understand the mechanism of thermal conductivity enhancement. We observed a remarkable improvement in electrical conductivity upon sulfur passivation and a significant contribution of electrons to thermal conductivity, which account for the enhanced thermal conductivity of the S-passivated InAs nanowires.

13 CFR 120.111 - What conditions must an Eligible Passive Company satisfy?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Passive Company satisfy? 120.111 Section 120.111 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS LOANS Policies Applying to All Business Loans Ineligible Businesses and Eligible Passive Companies § 120.111 What conditions must an Eligible Passive Company satisfy? An Eligible Passive Company...

13 CFR 120.111 - What conditions must an Eligible Passive Company satisfy?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Passive Company satisfy? 120.111 Section 120.111 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS LOANS Policies Applying to All Business Loans Ineligible Businesses and Eligible Passive Companies § 120.111 What conditions must an Eligible Passive Company satisfy? An Eligible Passive Company...

Load attenuating passively adaptive wind turbine blade

DOEpatents

Veers, Paul S.; Lobitz, Donald W.

2003-01-07

A method and apparatus for improving wind turbine performance by alleviating loads and controlling the rotor. The invention employs the use of a passively adaptive blade that senses the wind velocity or rotational speed, and accordingly modifies its aerodynamic configuration. The invention exploits the load mitigation prospects of a blade that twists toward feather as it bends. The invention includes passively adaptive wind turbine rotors or blades with currently preferred power control features. The apparatus is a composite fiber horizontal axis wind-turbine blade, in which a substantial majority of fibers in the blade skin are inclined at angles of between 15 and 30 degrees to the axis of the blade, to produces passive adaptive aeroelastic tailoring (bend-twist coupling) to alleviate loading without unduly jeopardizing performance.

Load attenuating passively adaptive wind turbine blade

DOEpatents

Veers, Paul S.; Lobitz, Donald W.

2003-01-01

A method and apparatus for improving wind turbine performance by alleviating loads and controlling the rotor. The invention employs the use of a passively adaptive blade that senses the wind velocity or rotational speed, and accordingly modifies its aerodynamic configuration. The invention exploits the load mitigation prospects of a blade that twists toward feather as it bends. The invention includes passively adaptive wind turbine rotors or blades with currently preferred power control features. The apparatus is a composite fiber horizontal axis wind-turbine blade, in which a substantial majority of fibers in the blade skin are inclined at angles of between 15 and 30 degrees to the axis of the blade, to produces passive adaptive aeroelastic tailoring (bend-twist coupling) to alleviate loading without unduly jeopardizing performance.

Association between passive smoking and salivary markers related to periodontitis.

PubMed

Nishida, Nobuko; Yamamoto, Yumiko; Tanaka, Muneo; Maeda, Kazuhiko; Kataoka, Kosuke; Nakayama, Kunio; Morimoto, Kanehisa; Shizukuishi, Satoshi

2006-10-01

The mechanism of passive smoking in terms of development of periodontitis has not been investigated. This study examined the effect of passive smoking on salivary markers related to periodontitis. Periodontal status was evaluated on the basis of probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level in 273 workers. Salivary marker levels were determined by enzyme assay including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Six periodontal pathogens in saliva were assessed using real-time PCR methodology. Non-, passive and active smokers were defined as subjects exhibiting salivary cotinine levels of 0 (53 subjects), 1-7 (118) and > or = 8 ng/ml (102). Levels of salivary markers, including IL-1beta, lactoferrin, albumin and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), were elevated significantly in passive smokers relative to non-smokers. Additionally, these marker levels, with the exception of IL-1beta, decreased significantly in active smokers in comparison with passive smokers. However, no meaningful differences in percentages of periodontal pathogens were observed between non- and passive smokers. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed for each marker utilizing age, gender, cotinine level and periodontal status as independent variables. IL-1beta, albumin and AST were independently associated with cotinine level. Passive smoke exposure leads to elevation of IL-1beta, albumin and AST levels in saliva.

An Agile Methodology for Implementing Service-Oriented Architecture in Small and Medium Sized Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laidlaw, Gregory

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of Lean/Agile principles, using action research to develop and deploy new technology for Small and Medium sized enterprises. The research case was conducted at the Lapeer County Sheriff's Department and involves the initial deployment of a Service Oriented Architecture to alleviate the data…

Tuning the Reversibility of Mg Anodes via Controlled Surface Passivation by H 2O/Cl – in Organic Electrolytes

DOE PAGES

Connell, Justin G.; Genorio, Bostjan; Lopes, Pietro Papa; ...

2016-10-17

Developing a new generation of battery chemistries is a critical challenge to moving beyond current Li-ion technologies. In this work, we introduce a surface-science-based approach for understanding the complex phenomena controlling the reversibility of Mg anodes for Mg-ion batteries. In addition, we identify the profound impact of trace levels of H 2O (≤3 ppm) on the kinetics of Mg deposition and determine that passive films of MgO and Mg(OH) 2 are formed only after Mg deposition ceases, rather than continuously during Mg reduction. We also find that Cl – inhibits passivation through the formation of adsorbed Cl – (Mg–Cl(ad)) and/ormore » MgCl 2 on the surface, as well as through a dynamic competition with H 2O in the double layer. In conclusion, this surface-science-based approach goes well beyond Mg anodes, highlighting the need for more in-depth understanding of electrolyte chemistries before a new generation of efficient and reversible battery technologies can be realized.« less

Sources and distribution of organic compounds using passive samplers in Lake Mead national recreation area, Nevada and Arizona, and their implications for potential effects on aquatic biota.

PubMed

Rosen, Michael R; Alvarez, David A; Goodbred, Steven L; Leiker, Thomas J; Patiño, Reynaldo

2010-01-01

The delineation of lateral and vertical gradients of organic contaminants in lakes is hampered by low concentrationsand nondetection of many organic compounds in water. Passive samplers (semipermeable membrane devices [SPMDs] and polar organic chemical integrative samplers [POCIS]) are well suited for assessing gradients because they can detect synthetic organic compounds (SOCs) at pg L(-1) concentrations. Semi-permeable membrane devices and POCIS were deployed in Lake Mead, at two sites in Las Vegas Wash, at four sites across Lake Mead, and in the Colorado River downstream from Hoover Dam. Concentrations of hydrophobic SOCs were highest in Las Vegas Wash downstream from waste water and urban inputs and at 8 m depth in Las Vegas Bay (LVB) where Las Vegas Wash enters Lake Mead. The distribution of hydrophobic SOCs showed a lateral distribution across 10 km of Lake Mead from LVB to Boulder Basin. To assess possible vertical gradient SOCs, SPMDs were deployed at 4-m intervals in 18 m of water in LVB. Fragrances and legacy SOCs were found at the greatest concentrations at the deepest depth. The vertical gradient of SOCs indicated that contaminants were generally confined to within 6 m of the lake bottom during the deployment interval. The high SOC concentrations, warmer water temperatures, and higher total dissolved solids concentrations at depth are indicative of a plume of Las Vegas Wash water moving along the lake bottom. The lateral and vertical distribution of SOCs is discussed in the context of other studies that have shown impaired health of fish exposed to SOCs.

Lewis Base Passivation of Hybrid Halide Perovskites Slows Electron-Hole Recombination: Time-Domain Ab Initio Analysis.

PubMed

Liu, Lihong; Fang, Wei-Hai; Long, Run; Prezhdo, Oleg V

2018-03-01

Nonradiative electron-hole recombination plays a key role in determining photon conversion efficiencies in solar cells. Experiments demonstrate significant reduction in the recombination rate upon passivation of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite with Lewis base molecules. Using nonadiabatic molecular dynamics combined with time-domain density functional theory, we find that the nonradiative charge recombination is decelerated by an order of magnitude upon adsorption of the molecules. Thiophene acts by the traditional passivation mechanism, forcing electron density away from the surface. In contrast, pyridine localizes the electron at the surface while leaving it energetically near the conduction band edge. This is because pyridine creates a stronger coordinative bond with a lead atom of the perovskite and has a lower energy unoccupied orbital compared with thiophene due to the more electronegative nitrogen atom relative to thiophene's sulfur. Both molecules reduce two-fold the nonadiabatic coupling and electronic coherence time. A broad range of vibrational modes couple to the electronic subsystem, arising from inorganic and organic components. The simulations reveal the atomistic mechanisms underlying the enhancement of the excited-state lifetime achieved by the perovskite passivation, rationalize the experimental results, and advance our understanding of charge-phonon dynamics in perovskite solar cells.

Partitioning of fluoranthene between free and bound forms in stormwater runoff and other urban discharges using passive dosing.

PubMed

Birch, Heidi; Mayer, Philipp; Lützhøft, Hans-Christian Holten; Mikkelsen, Peter Steen

2012-11-15

Partitioning of fluoranthene in stormwater runoff and other urban discharges was measured by a new analytical method based on passive dosing. Samples were collected at the inlet (n = 11) and outlet (n = 8) from a stormwater retention pond in Albertslund (Denmark), and for comparison samples were also obtained at a municipal wastewater treatment plant, a power plant, a contaminated site and a waste deposit in Copenhagen (n = 1 at each site). The freely dissolved concentration of (14)C-fluoranthene in the samples was controlled by equilibrium partitioning from a pre-loaded polymer and the total sample concentration measured. The measurements yielded free fractions of fluoranthene in stormwater in the range 0.04-0.15 in the inlet during the first part of the runoff events increasing to 0.3-0.5 at the end of the events and in the outlet from the retention pond. The enhanced capacity of the different stormwater samples for carrying fluoranthene was 2-23 relative to pure water and decreasing during rain events. The enhanced capacity of stormwater showed a different relationship with suspended solid concentrations than the other types of urban discharges. Partitioning of fluoranthene to dissolved organic carbon was lower than partitioning to particulate organic carbon. Partitioning of fluoranthene to particulate organic matter in the 19 stormwater samples yielded a log K(POM) of 5.18. The presented results can be used in stormwater quality modeling and assessment of efficiency of stormwater treatment systems. This work also shows the potential of the passive dosing method to obtain conversion factors between total concentrations, which are needed for comparison with water quality criteria, and freely dissolved concentrations, which are more related to toxicity and obtained by the use of most passive samplers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Highly air stable passivation of graphene based field effect devices.