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Sample records for enable integrated metal

  1. Novel in situ mechanical testers to enable integrated metal surface micro-machines.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Follstaedt, David Martin; de Boer, Maarten Pieter; Kotula, Paul Gabriel; Hearne, Sean Joseph; Foiles, Stephen Martin; Buchheit, Thomas Edward; Dyck, Christopher William

    2005-10-01

    The ability to integrate metal and semiconductor micro-systems to perform highly complex functions, such as RF-MEMS, will depend on developing freestanding metal structures that offer improved conductivity, reflectivity, and mechanical properties. Three issues have prevented the proliferation of these systems: (1) warpage of active components due to through-thickness stress gradients, (2) limited component lifetimes due to fatigue, and (3) low yield strength. To address these issues, we focus on developing and implementing techniques to enable the direct study of the stress and microstructural evolution during electrodeposition and mechanical loading. The study of stress during electrodeposition of metal thin films is being accomplished by integrating a multi-beam optical stress sensor into an electrodeposition chamber. By coupling the in-situ stress information with ex-situ microstructural analysis, a scientific understanding of the sources of stress during electrodeposition will be obtained. These results are providing a foundation upon which to develop a stress-gradient-free thin film directly applicable to the production of freestanding metal structures. The issues of fatigue and yield strength are being addressed by developing novel surface micromachined tensile and bend testers, by interferometry, and by TEM analysis. The MEMS tensile tester has a ''Bosch'' etched hole to allow for direct viewing of the microstructure in a TEM before, during, and after loading. This approach allows for the quantitative measurements of stress-strain relations while imaging dislocation motion, and determination of fracture nucleation in samples with well-known fatigue/strain histories. This technique facilitates the determination of the limits for classical deformation mechanisms and helps to formulate a new understanding of the mechanical response as the grain sizes are refined to a nanometer scale. Together, these studies will result in a science

  2. Lithography for enabling advances in integrated circuits and devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garner, C Michael

    2012-08-28

    Because the transistor was fabricated in volume, lithography has enabled the increase in density of devices and integrated circuits. With the invention of the integrated circuit, lithography enabled the integration of higher densities of field-effect transistors through evolutionary applications of optical lithography. In 1994, the semiconductor industry determined that continuing the increase in density transistors was increasingly difficult and required coordinated development of lithography and process capabilities. It established the US National Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors and this was expanded in 1999 to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors to align multiple industries to provide the complex capabilities to continue increasing the density of integrated circuits to nanometre scales. Since the 1960s, lithography has become increasingly complex with the evolution from contact printers, to steppers, pattern reduction technology at i-line, 248 nm and 193 nm wavelengths, which required dramatic improvements of mask-making technology, photolithography printing and alignment capabilities and photoresist capabilities. At the same time, pattern transfer has evolved from wet etching of features, to plasma etch and more complex etching capabilities to fabricate features that are currently 32 nm in high-volume production. To continue increasing the density of devices and interconnects, new pattern transfer technologies will be needed with options for the future including extreme ultraviolet lithography, imprint technology and directed self-assembly. While complementary metal oxide semiconductors will continue to be extended for many years, these advanced pattern transfer technologies may enable development of novel memory and logic technologies based on different physical phenomena in the future to enhance and extend information processing.

  3. Integrated Photonics Enabled by Slow Light

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mørk, Jesper; Chen, Yuntian; Ek, Sara

    2012-01-01

    In this talk we will discuss the physics of slow light in semiconductor materials and in particular the possibilities offered for integrated photonics. This includes ultra-compact slow light enabled optical amplifiers, lasers and pulse sources.......In this talk we will discuss the physics of slow light in semiconductor materials and in particular the possibilities offered for integrated photonics. This includes ultra-compact slow light enabled optical amplifiers, lasers and pulse sources....

  4. Integrating Fiber Optic Strain Sensors into Metal Using Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hehr, Adam; Norfolk, Mark; Wenning, Justin; Sheridan, John; Leser, Paul; Leser, Patrick; Newman, John A.

    2018-03-01

    Ultrasonic additive manufacturing, a rather new three-dimensional (3D) printing technology, uses ultrasonic energy to produce metallurgical bonds between layers of metal foils near room temperature. This low temperature attribute of the process enables integration of temperature sensitive components, such as fiber optic strain sensors, directly into metal structures. This may be an enabling technology for Digital Twin applications, i.e., virtual model interaction and feedback with live load data. This study evaluates the consolidation quality, interface robustness, and load sensing limits of commercially available fiber optic strain sensors embedded into aluminum alloy 6061. Lastly, an outlook on the technology and its applications is described.

  5. Versatile Surface Functionalization of Metal-Organic Frameworks through Direct Metal Coordination with a Phenolic Lipid Enables Diverse Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhu, Wei [Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Xiang, Guolei [Univ. of Cambridge (United Kingdom); Shang, Jin [Univ. of Hong Kong (China); Guo, Jimin [Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Motevalli, Benyamin [Monash Univ., Clayton, VIC (Australia); Durfee, Paul [Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Agola, Jacob Ongudi [Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Coker, Eric N. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Brinker, C. Jeffrey [Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2018-02-22

    Here, a novel strategy for the versatile functionalization of the external surface of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has been developed based on the direct coordination of a phenolic-inspired lipid molecule DPGG (1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-galloyl) with metal nodes/sites surrounding MOF surface. X-ray diffraction and Argon sorption analysis prove that the modified MOF particles retain their structural integrity and porosity after surface modification. Density functional theory calculations reveal that strong chelation strength between the metal sites and the galloyl head group of DPGG is the basic prerequisite for successful coating. Due to the pH-responsive nature of metal-phenol complexation, the modification process is reversible by simple washing in weak acidic water, showing an excellent regeneration ability for water-stable MOFs. Moreover, the colloidal stability of the modified MOFs in the nonpolar solvent allows them to be further organized into 2 dimensional MOF or MOF/polymer monolayers by evaporation-induced interfacial assembly conducted on an air/water interface. Lastly, the easy fusion of a second functional layer onto DPGG-modified MOF cores, enabled a series of MOF-based functional nanoarchitectures, such as MOFs encapsulated within hybrid supported lipid bilayers (so-called protocells), polyhedral core-shell structures, hybrid lipid-modified-plasmonic vesicles and multicomponent supraparticles with target functionalities, to be generated. for a wide range of applications.

  6. Ultrasensitive mass sensor fully integrated with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor circuitry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Forsén, Esko Sebastian; Abadal, G.; Ghatnekar-Nilsson, S.

    2005-01-01

    Nanomechanical resonators have been monolithically integrated on preprocessed complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chips. Fabricated resonator systems have been designed to have resonance frequencies up to 1.5 MHz. The systems have been characterized in ambient air and vacuum conditions...... and display ultrasensitive mass detection in air. A mass sensitivity of 4 ag/Hz has been determined in air by placing a single glycerine drop, having a measured weight of 57 fg, at the apex of a cantilever and subsequently measuring a frequency shift of 14.8 kHz. CMOS integration enables electrostatic...

  7. Highly Stable Operation of Lithium Metal Batteries Enabled by the Formation of a Transient High Concentration Electrolyte Layer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zheng, Jianming; Yan, Pengfei; Mei, Donghai; Engelhard, Mark H.; Cartmell, Samuel S.; Polzin, Bryant; Wang, Chong M.; Zhang, Jiguang; Xu, Wu

    2016-02-08

    Lithium (Li) metal has been extensively investigated as an anode for rechargeable battery applications due to its ultrahigh specific capacity and the lowest redox potential. However, significant challenges including dendrite growth and low Coulombic efficiency are still hindering the practical applications of rechargeable Li metal batteries. Here, we demonstrate that long-term cycling of Li metal batteries can be realized by the formation of a transient high concentration electrolyte layer near the surface of Li metal anode during high rate discharge process. The highly concentrated Li+ ions in this transient layer will immediately solvate with the available solvent molecules and facilitate the formation of a stable and flexible SEI layer composed of a poly(ethylene carbonate) framework integrated with other organic/inorganic lithium salts. This SEI layer largely suppresses the corrosion of Li metal anode by free organic solvents and enables the long-term operation of Li metal batteries. The fundamental findings in this work provide a new direction for the development and operation of Li metal batteries that could be operated at high current densities for a wide range of applications.

  8. Multi-target electrochemical biosensing enabled by integrated CMOS electronics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rothe, J; Lewandowska, M K; Heer, F; Frey, O; Hierlemann, A

    2011-01-01

    An integrated electrochemical measurement system, based on CMOS technology, is presented, which allows the detection of several analytes in parallel (multi-analyte) and enables simultaneous monitoring at different locations (multi-site). The system comprises a 576-electrode CMOS sensor chip, an FPGA module for chip control and data processing, and the measurement laptop. The advantages of the highly versatile system are demonstrated by two applications. First, a label-free, hybridization-based DNA sensor is enabled by the possibility of large-scale integration in CMOS technology. Second, the detection of the neurotransmitter choline is presented by assembling the chip with biosensor microprobe arrays. The low noise level enables a limit of detection of, e.g., 0.3 µM choline. The fully integrated system is self-contained: it features cleaning, functionalization and measurement functions without the need for additional electrical equipment. With the power supplied by the laptop, the system is very suitable for on-site measurements

  9. Integration issues of high-k and metal gate into conventional CMOS technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, S.C.; Zhang, Z.; Huffman, C.; Bae, S.H.; Sim, J.H.; Kirsch, P.; Majhi, P.; Moumen, N.; Lee, B.H.

    2006-01-01

    Issues surrounding the integration of Hf-based high-k dielectrics with metal gates in a conventional CMOS flow are discussed. The careful choice of a gate stack process as well as optimization of other CMOS process steps enables robust CMOSFETs with a wide process latitude. HfO 2 of a 2 nm physical thickness shows complete suppression of transient charge trapping resulting from a significant reduction in film volume as well as kinetically suppressed crystallization. Metal thickness is also critical when optimizing physical stress effects and minimizing dopant diffusion. A high temperature anneal after source and drain implantation in a conventional CMOSFET process reduces the interface state density and improves electron mobility

  10. A Fully Non-Metallic Gas Turbine Engine Enabled by Additive Manufacturing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grady, Joseph E.; Halbig, Michael C.; Singh, Mrityunjay

    2015-01-01

    In a NASA Aeronautics Research Institute (NARI) sponsored program entitled "A Fully Non-Metallic Gas Turbine Engine Enabled by Additive Manufacturing", evaluation of emerging materials and additive manufacturing technologies was carried out. These technologies may enable fully non-metallic gas turbine engines in the future. This paper highlights the results of engine system trade studies which were carried out to estimate reduction in engine emissions and fuel burn enabled due to advanced materials and manufacturing processes. A number of key engine components were identified in which advanced materials and additive manufacturing processes would provide the most significant benefits to engine operation. In addition, feasibility of using additive manufacturing technologies to fabricate gas turbine engine components from polymer and ceramic matrix composite were demonstrated. A wide variety of prototype components (inlet guide vanes (IGV), acoustic liners, engine access door) were additively manufactured using high temperature polymer materials. Ceramic matrix composite components included first stage nozzle segments and high pressure turbine nozzle segments for a cooled doublet vane. In addition, IGVs and acoustic liners were tested in simulated engine conditions in test rigs. The test results are reported and discussed in detail.

  11. Multi-omic data integration enables discovery of hidden biological regularities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ebrahim, Ali; Brunk, Elizabeth; Tan, Justin

    2016-01-01

    Rapid growth in size and complexity of biological data sets has led to the 'Big Data to Knowledge' challenge. We develop advanced data integration methods for multi- level analysis of genomic, transcriptomic, ribosomal profiling, proteomic and fluxomic data. First, we show that pairwise integration...... of primary omics data reveals regularities that tie cellular processes together in Escherichia coli: the number of protein molecules made per mRNA transcript and the number of ribosomes required per translated protein molecule. Second, we show that genome- scale models, based on genomic and bibliomic data......, enable quantitative synchronization of disparate data types. Integrating omics data with models enabled the discovery of two novel regularities: condition invariant in vivo turnover rates of enzymes and the correlation of protein structural motifs and translational pausing. These regularities can...

  12. Integrating Touch-Enabled and Mobile Devices into Contemporary Mathematics Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meletiou-Mavrotheris, Maria, Ed.; Mavrou, Katerina, Ed.; Paparistodemou, Efi, Ed.

    2015-01-01

    Despite increased interest in mobile devices as learning tools, the amount of available primary research studies on their integration into mathematics teaching and learning is still relatively small due to the novelty of these technologies. "Integrating Touch-Enabled and Mobile Devices into Contemporary Mathematics Education" presents…

  13. Baseline Assessment and Prioritization Framework for IVHM Integrity Assurance Enabling Capabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Eric G.; DiVito, Benedetto L.; Jacklin, Stephen A.; Miner, Paul S.

    2009-01-01

    Fundamental to vehicle health management is the deployment of systems incorporating advanced technologies for predicting and detecting anomalous conditions in highly complex and integrated environments. Integrated structural integrity health monitoring, statistical algorithms for detection, estimation, prediction, and fusion, and diagnosis supporting adaptive control are examples of advanced technologies that present considerable verification and validation challenges. These systems necessitate interactions between physical and software-based systems that are highly networked with sensing and actuation subsystems, and incorporate technologies that are, in many respects, different from those employed in civil aviation today. A formidable barrier to deploying these advanced technologies in civil aviation is the lack of enabling verification and validation tools, methods, and technologies. The development of new verification and validation capabilities will not only enable the fielding of advanced vehicle health management systems, but will also provide new assurance capabilities for verification and validation of current generation aviation software which has been implicated in anomalous in-flight behavior. This paper describes the research focused on enabling capabilities for verification and validation underway within NASA s Integrated Vehicle Health Management project, discusses the state of the art of these capabilities, and includes a framework for prioritizing activities.

  14. The GEOSS solution for enabling data interoperability and integrative research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nativi, Stefano; Mazzetti, Paolo; Craglia, Max; Pirrone, Nicola

    2014-03-01

    Global sustainability research requires an integrative research effort underpinned by digital infrastructures (systems) able to harness data and heterogeneous information across disciplines. Digital data and information sharing across systems and applications is achieved by implementing interoperability: a property of a product or system to work with other products or systems, present or future. There are at least three main interoperability challenges a digital infrastructure must address: technological, semantic, and organizational. In recent years, important international programs and initiatives are focusing on such an ambitious objective. This manuscript presents and combines the studies and the experiences carried out by three relevant projects, focusing on the heavy metal domain: Global Mercury Observation System, Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), and INSPIRE. This research work recognized a valuable interoperability service bus (i.e., a set of standards models, interfaces, and good practices) proposed to characterize the integrative research cyber-infrastructure of the heavy metal research community. In the paper, the GEOSS common infrastructure is discussed implementing a multidisciplinary and participatory research infrastructure, introducing a possible roadmap for the heavy metal pollution research community to join GEOSS as a new Group on Earth Observation community of practice and develop a research infrastructure for carrying out integrative research in its specific domain.

  15. How Enterprise Architecture Maturity Enables Post-merger IT Integration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Törmer, Robert Lorenz; Henningsson, Stefan

    2017-01-01

    advances the argument that a company’s pre-existing Enterprise Architecture decisively shapes the capability to implement post-merger IT integration and subsequently realize benefits from M&A. Our multiple-case study investigates three acquisition cases and develops an explanatory theory of how Enterprise...... Architecture maturity enables the implementation of distinct integration strategies. The results do not only enrich the academic literature on M&A, but also show the strategic value of Enterprise Architecture maturity....

  16. Training and operation of an integrated neuromorphic network based on metal-oxide memristors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prezioso, M.; Merrikh-Bayat, F.; Hoskins, B. D.; Adam, G. C.; Likharev, K. K.; Strukov, D. B.

    2015-05-01

    Despite much progress in semiconductor integrated circuit technology, the extreme complexity of the human cerebral cortex, with its approximately 1014 synapses, makes the hardware implementation of neuromorphic networks with a comparable number of devices exceptionally challenging. To provide comparable complexity while operating much faster and with manageable power dissipation, networks based on circuits combining complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (CMOSs) and adjustable two-terminal resistive devices (memristors) have been developed. In such circuits, the usual CMOS stack is augmented with one or several crossbar layers, with memristors at each crosspoint. There have recently been notable improvements in the fabrication of such memristive crossbars and their integration with CMOS circuits, including first demonstrations of their vertical integration. Separately, discrete memristors have been used as artificial synapses in neuromorphic networks. Very recently, such experiments have been extended to crossbar arrays of phase-change memristive devices. The adjustment of such devices, however, requires an additional transistor at each crosspoint, and hence these devices are much harder to scale than metal-oxide memristors, whose nonlinear current-voltage curves enable transistor-free operation. Here we report the experimental implementation of transistor-free metal-oxide memristor crossbars, with device variability sufficiently low to allow operation of integrated neural networks, in a simple network: a single-layer perceptron (an algorithm for linear classification). The network can be taught in situ using a coarse-grain variety of the delta rule algorithm to perform the perfect classification of 3 × 3-pixel black/white images into three classes (representing letters). This demonstration is an important step towards much larger and more complex memristive neuromorphic networks.

  17. CMOS Enabled Microfluidic Systems for Healthcare Based Applications

    KAUST Repository

    Khan, Sherjeel M.; Gumus, Abdurrahman; Nassar, Joanna M.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

    2018-01-01

    With the increased global population, it is more important than ever to expand accessibility to affordable personalized healthcare. In this context, a seamless integration of microfluidic technology for bioanalysis and drug delivery and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology enabled data-management circuitry is critical. Therefore, here, the fundamentals, integration aspects, and applications of CMOS-enabled microfluidic systems for affordable personalized healthcare systems are presented. Critical components, like sensors, actuators, and their fabrication and packaging, are discussed and reviewed in detail. With the emergence of the Internet-of-Things and the upcoming Internet-of-Everything for a people-process-data-device connected world, now is the time to take CMOS-enabled microfluidics technology to as many people as possible. There is enormous potential for microfluidic technologies in affordable healthcare for everyone, and CMOS technology will play a major role in making that happen.

  18. CMOS Enabled Microfluidic Systems for Healthcare Based Applications

    KAUST Repository

    Khan, Sherjeel M.

    2018-02-27

    With the increased global population, it is more important than ever to expand accessibility to affordable personalized healthcare. In this context, a seamless integration of microfluidic technology for bioanalysis and drug delivery and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology enabled data-management circuitry is critical. Therefore, here, the fundamentals, integration aspects, and applications of CMOS-enabled microfluidic systems for affordable personalized healthcare systems are presented. Critical components, like sensors, actuators, and their fabrication and packaging, are discussed and reviewed in detail. With the emergence of the Internet-of-Things and the upcoming Internet-of-Everything for a people-process-data-device connected world, now is the time to take CMOS-enabled microfluidics technology to as many people as possible. There is enormous potential for microfluidic technologies in affordable healthcare for everyone, and CMOS technology will play a major role in making that happen.

  19. Potentials and challenges of integration for complex metal oxides in CMOS devices and beyond

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Y; Pham, C; Chang, J P

    2015-01-01

    This review focuses on recent accomplishments on complex metal oxide based multifunctional materials and the potential they hold in advancing integrated circuits. It begins with metal oxide based high-κ materials to highlight the success of their integration since 45 nm complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) devices. By simultaneously offering a higher dielectric constant for improved capacitance as well as providing a thicker physical layer to prevent the quantum mechanical tunnelling of electrons, high-κ materials have enabled the continued down-scaling of CMOS based devices. The most recent technology driver has been the demand to lower device power consumption, which requires the design and synthesis of novel materials, such as complex metal oxides that exhibit remarkable tunability in their ferromagnetic, ferroelectric and multiferroic properties. These properties make them suitable for a wide variety of applications such as magnetoelectric random access memory, radio frequency band pass filters, antennae and magnetic sensors. Single-phase multiferroics, while rare, offer unique functionalities which have motivated much scientific and technological research to ascertain the origins of their multiferroicity and their applicability to potential devices. However, due to the weak magnetoelectric coupling for single-phase multiferroics, engineered multiferroic composites based on magnetostrictive ferromagnets interfacing piezoelectrics or ferroelectrics have shown enhanced multiferroic behaviour from effective strain coupling at the interface. In addition, nanostructuring of the ferroic phases has demonstrated further improvement in the coupling effect. Therefore, single-phase and engineered composite multiferroics consisting of complex metal oxides are reviewed in terms of magnetoelectric coupling effects and voltage controlled ferromagnetic properties, followed by a review on the integration challenges that need to be overcome to realize the

  20. Dual Carbon-Confined SnO2 Hollow Nanospheres Enabling High Performance for the Reversible Storage of Alkali Metal Ions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Qiong; Shao, Qi; Li, Qiang; Duan, Qian; Li, Yanhui; Wang, Heng-Guo

    2018-04-25

    To explore a universal electrode material for the high-performance electrochemical storage of Li + , Na + , and K + ions remains a big challenge. Herein, we propose a "trinity" strategy to coat the SnO 2 hollow nanospheres using the dual carbon layer from the polydopamine-derived nitrogen-doped carbon and graphene. Thereinto, hollow structures with sufficient void space could buffer the volume expansion, whereas dual carbon-confined strategy could not only elastically prevent the aggregation of nanoparticle and ensure the structural integrity but also immensely improve the conductivity and endow high rate properties. Benefiting from the effective strategy and specific structure, the dual carbon-confined SnO 2 hollow nanosphere (denoted as G@C@SnO 2 ) can serve as the universal host material for alkali metal ions and enable their rapid and reversible storage. As expected, the resulting G@C@SnO 2 as a universal anode material shows reversible alkali-metal-ion storage with high performance. We believe this that strategy could pave the way for constructing other metal-oxide-based dual carbon-confined high-performance materials for the future energy storage applications.

  1. An IoT-enabled supply chain integration framework : empirical case studies

    OpenAIRE

    Wakenshaw, Susan Y. L.; Maple, Carsten; Chen, Daqiang; Micillo, Rosario

    2017-01-01

    Supply chain integration is crucial for supply chain performance, particularly in industry 4.0. With the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) and the use of cyber-physical systems, supply chain integration needs to be greatly enhanced. In this paper, we explore supply integration (process and application) in the supply chain network enabled by IoT. Using the case study method, we investigate technical and business applications of IoT in supply chains and how it can interface with the pro...

  2. Development of integrated metallic container

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Teper, B.

    1985-01-01

    Several alternative designs of the integrated metallic container are being investigated in an effort to obtain an optimal integrated system for transportation, storage and disposal of used fuel from CANDU Nuclear Generating Stations. Three specific designs having thin-wall, medium and thick-walls are being proposed in more detail. A novel, simplified closure system is introduced. Some economic consideration is also presented. Many ideas presented in the report deviate from the currently pursued methodology. They are presented here as an alternative for future considerations

  3. Metal-interconnection-free integration of InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes with AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Chao; Cai, Yuefei; Liu, Zhaojun; Ma, Jun; Lau, Kei May, E-mail: eekmlau@ust.hk [Photonics Technology Center, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon (Hong Kong)

    2015-05-04

    We report a metal-interconnection-free integration scheme for InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes (LEDs) and AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) by combining selective epi removal (SER) and selective epitaxial growth (SEG) techniques. SER of HEMT epi was carried out first to expose the bottom unintentionally doped GaN buffer and the sidewall GaN channel. A LED structure was regrown in the SER region with the bottom n-type GaN layer (n-electrode of the LED) connected to the HEMTs laterally, enabling monolithic integration of the HEMTs and LEDs (HEMT-LED) without metal-interconnection. In addition to saving substrate real estate, minimal interface resistance between the regrown n-type GaN and the HEMT channel is a significant improvement over metal-interconnection. Furthermore, excellent off-state leakage characteristics of the driving transistor can also be guaranteed in such an integration scheme.

  4. Metal-interconnection-free integration of InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes with AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Chao; Cai, Yuefei; Liu, Zhaojun; Ma, Jun; Lau, Kei May

    2015-01-01

    We report a metal-interconnection-free integration scheme for InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes (LEDs) and AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) by combining selective epi removal (SER) and selective epitaxial growth (SEG) techniques. SER of HEMT epi was carried out first to expose the bottom unintentionally doped GaN buffer and the sidewall GaN channel. A LED structure was regrown in the SER region with the bottom n-type GaN layer (n-electrode of the LED) connected to the HEMTs laterally, enabling monolithic integration of the HEMTs and LEDs (HEMT-LED) without metal-interconnection. In addition to saving substrate real estate, minimal interface resistance between the regrown n-type GaN and the HEMT channel is a significant improvement over metal-interconnection. Furthermore, excellent off-state leakage characteristics of the driving transistor can also be guaranteed in such an integration scheme

  5. Epoxy Chip-in-Carrier Integration and Screen-Printed Metalization for Multichannel Microfluidic Lab-on-CMOS Microsystems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Lin; Yin, Heyu; Mason, Andrew J

    2018-04-01

    The integration of biosensors, microfluidics, and CMOS instrumentation provides a compact lab-on-CMOS microsystem well suited for high throughput measurement. This paper describes a new epoxy chip-in-carrier integration process and two planar metalization techniques for lab-on-CMOS that enable on-CMOS electrochemical measurement with multichannel microfluidics. Several design approaches with different fabrication steps and materials were experimentally analyzed to identify an ideal process that can achieve desired capability with high yield and low material and tool cost. On-chip electrochemical measurements of the integrated assembly were performed to verify the functionality of the chip-in-carrier packaging and its capability for microfluidic integration. The newly developed CMOS-compatible epoxy chip-in-carrier process paves the way for full implementation of many lab-on-CMOS applications with CMOS ICs as core electronic instruments.

  6. CMOS Enabled Microfluidic Systems for Healthcare Based Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Sherjeel M; Gumus, Abdurrahman; Nassar, Joanna M; Hussain, Muhammad M

    2018-04-01

    With the increased global population, it is more important than ever to expand accessibility to affordable personalized healthcare. In this context, a seamless integration of microfluidic technology for bioanalysis and drug delivery and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology enabled data-management circuitry is critical. Therefore, here, the fundamentals, integration aspects, and applications of CMOS-enabled microfluidic systems for affordable personalized healthcare systems are presented. Critical components, like sensors, actuators, and their fabrication and packaging, are discussed and reviewed in detail. With the emergence of the Internet-of-Things and the upcoming Internet-of-Everything for a people-process-data-device connected world, now is the time to take CMOS-enabled microfluidics technology to as many people as possible. There is enormous potential for microfluidic technologies in affordable healthcare for everyone, and CMOS technology will play a major role in making that happen. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  7. Broadband integrated mid infrared light sources as enabling technology for point of care mid-infrared spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-08-20

    AFRL-AFOSR-JP-TR-2017-0061 Broadband integrated mid-infrared light sources as enabling technology for point-of-care mid- infrared spectroscopy Alex...mid-infrared light sources as enabling technology for point-of-care mid-infrared spectroscopy 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b.  GRANT NUMBER FA2386-16-1-4037...Broadband integrated mid-infrared light sources as enabling technology for point-of-care mid- infrared spectroscopy ” Date: 16th August 2017 Name

  8. DNA-Enabled Integrated Molecular Systems for Computation and Sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-05-21

    Computational devices can be chemically conjugated to different strands of DNA that are then self-assembled according to strict Watson − Crick binding rules... DNA -Enabled Integrated Molecular Systems for Computation and Sensing Craig LaBoda,† Heather Duschl,† and Chris L. Dwyer*,†,‡ †Department of...guided folding of DNA , inspired by nature, allows designs to manipulate molecular-scale processes unlike any other material system. Thus, DNA can be

  9. INTEGRAL FIELD SPECTROSCOPY OF SUPERNOVA EXPLOSION SITES: CONSTRAINING THE MASS AND METALLICITY OF THE PROGENITORS. I. TYPE Ib AND Ic SUPERNOVAE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuncarayakti, Hanindyo; Maeda, Keiichi [Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), Todai Institutes for Advanced Study, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583 (Japan); Doi, Mamoru; Morokuma, Tomoki; Hashiba, Yasuhito [Institute of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0015 (Japan); Aldering, Greg [Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Arimoto, Nobuo [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0015 (Japan); Pereira, Rui [CNRS/IN2P3, Institut de Physique Nucleaire de Lyon, 4 Rue Enrico Fermi, F-69622 Villeurbanne Cedex (France); Usuda, Tomonori, E-mail: hanindyo.kuncarayakti@ipmu.jp [Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 650 North A' ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States)

    2013-08-01

    Integral field spectroscopy of 11 Type Ib/Ic supernova (SN Ib/Ic) explosion sites in nearby galaxies has been obtained using UH88/SNIFS and Gemini-N/GMOS. The use of integral field spectroscopy enables us to obtain both spatial and spectral information about the explosion site, enabling the identification of the parent stellar population of the SN progenitor star. The spectrum of the parent population provides metallicity determination via strong-line method and age estimation obtained via comparison with simple stellar population models. We adopt this information as the metallicity and age of the SN progenitor, under the assumption that it was coeval with the parent stellar population. The age of the star corresponds to its lifetime, which in turn gives the estimate of its initial mass. With this method we were able to determine both the metallicity and initial (zero-age main sequence) mass of the progenitor stars of SNe Ib and Ic. We found that on average SN Ic explosion sites are more metal-rich and younger than SN Ib sites. The initial mass of the progenitors derived from parent stellar population age suggests that SN Ic has more massive progenitors than SN Ib. In addition, we also found indication that some of our SN progenitors are less massive than {approx}25 M{sub Sun }, indicating that they may have been stars in a close binary system that have lost their outer envelope via binary interactions to produce SNe Ib/Ic, instead of single Wolf-Rayet stars. These findings support the current suggestions that both binary and single progenitor channels are in effect in producing SNe Ib/Ic. This work also demonstrates the power of integral field spectroscopy in investigating SN environments and active star-forming regions.

  10. Advanced metal artifact reduction MRI of metal-on-metal hip resurfacing arthroplasty implants: compressed sensing acceleration enables the time-neutral use of SEMAC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fritz, Jan; Thawait, Gaurav K.; Fritz, Benjamin; Raithel, Esther; Nittka, Mathias; Gilson, Wesley D.; Mont, Michael A.

    2016-01-01

    Compressed sensing (CS) acceleration has been theorized for slice encoding for metal artifact correction (SEMAC), but has not been shown to be feasible. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that CS-SEMAC is feasible for MRI of metal-on-metal hip resurfacing implants. Following prospective institutional review board approval, 22 subjects with metal-on-metal hip resurfacing implants underwent 1.5 T MRI. We compared CS-SEMAC prototype, high-bandwidth TSE, and SEMAC sequences with acquisition times of 4-5, 4-5 and 10-12 min, respectively. Outcome measures included bone-implant interfaces, image quality, periprosthetic structures, artifact size, and signal- and contrast-to-noise ratios (SNR and CNR). Using Friedman, repeated measures analysis of variances, and Cohen's weighted kappa tests, Bonferroni-corrected p-values of 0.005 and less were considered statistically significant. There was no statistical difference of outcomes measures of SEMAC and CS-SEMAC images. Visibility of implant-bone interfaces and pseudocapsule as well as fat suppression and metal reduction were ''adequate'' to ''good'' on CS-SEMAC and ''non-diagnostic'' to ''adequate'' on high-BW TSE (p < 0.001, respectively). SEMAC and CS-SEMAC showed mild blur and ripple artifacts. The metal artifact size was 63 % larger for high-BW TSE as compared to SEMAC and CS-SEMAC (p < 0.0001, respectively). CNRs were sufficiently high and statistically similar, with the exception of CNR of fluid and muscle and CNR of fluid and tendon, which were higher on intermediate-weighted high-BW TSE (p < 0.005, respectively). Compressed sensing acceleration enables the time-neutral use of SEMAC for MRI of metal-on-metal hip resurfacing implants when compared to high-BW TSE and image quality similar to conventional SEMAC. (orig.)

  11. Advanced metal artifact reduction MRI of metal-on-metal hip resurfacing arthroplasty implants: compressed sensing acceleration enables the time-neutral use of SEMAC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fritz, Jan; Thawait, Gaurav K. [Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Section of Musculoskeletal Radiology, Baltimore, MD (United States); Fritz, Benjamin [University of Freiburg, Department of Radiology, Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany); Raithel, Esther; Nittka, Mathias [Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen (Germany); Gilson, Wesley D. [Siemens Healthcare USA, Inc., Baltimore, MD (United States); Mont, Michael A. [Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Cleveland, OH (United States)

    2016-10-15

    Compressed sensing (CS) acceleration has been theorized for slice encoding for metal artifact correction (SEMAC), but has not been shown to be feasible. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that CS-SEMAC is feasible for MRI of metal-on-metal hip resurfacing implants. Following prospective institutional review board approval, 22 subjects with metal-on-metal hip resurfacing implants underwent 1.5 T MRI. We compared CS-SEMAC prototype, high-bandwidth TSE, and SEMAC sequences with acquisition times of 4-5, 4-5 and 10-12 min, respectively. Outcome measures included bone-implant interfaces, image quality, periprosthetic structures, artifact size, and signal- and contrast-to-noise ratios (SNR and CNR). Using Friedman, repeated measures analysis of variances, and Cohen's weighted kappa tests, Bonferroni-corrected p-values of 0.005 and less were considered statistically significant. There was no statistical difference of outcomes measures of SEMAC and CS-SEMAC images. Visibility of implant-bone interfaces and pseudocapsule as well as fat suppression and metal reduction were ''adequate'' to ''good'' on CS-SEMAC and ''non-diagnostic'' to ''adequate'' on high-BW TSE (p < 0.001, respectively). SEMAC and CS-SEMAC showed mild blur and ripple artifacts. The metal artifact size was 63 % larger for high-BW TSE as compared to SEMAC and CS-SEMAC (p < 0.0001, respectively). CNRs were sufficiently high and statistically similar, with the exception of CNR of fluid and muscle and CNR of fluid and tendon, which were higher on intermediate-weighted high-BW TSE (p < 0.005, respectively). Compressed sensing acceleration enables the time-neutral use of SEMAC for MRI of metal-on-metal hip resurfacing implants when compared to high-BW TSE and image quality similar to conventional SEMAC. (orig.)

  12. A web-enabled system for integrated assessment of watershed development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dymond, R.; Lohani, V.; Regmi, B.; Dietz, R.

    2004-01-01

    Researchers at Virginia Tech have put together the primary structure of a web enabled integrated modeling system that has potential to be a planning tool to help decision makers and stakeholders in making appropriate watershed management decisions. This paper describes the integrated system, including data sources, collection, analysis methods, system software and design, and issues of integrating the various component models. The integrated system has three modeling components, namely hydrology, economics, and fish health, and is accompanied by descriptive 'help files.' Since all three components have a related spatial aspect, GIS technology provides the integration platform. When completed, a user will access the integrated system over the web to choose pre-selected land development patterns to create a 'what if' scenario using an easy-to-follow interface. The hydrologic model simulates effects of the scenario on annual runoff volume, flood peaks of various return periods, and ground water recharge. The economics model evaluates tax revenue and fiscal costs as a result of a new land development scenario. The fish health model evaluates effects of new land uses in zones of influence to the health of fish populations in those areas. Copyright ASCE 2004.

  13. Integration services to enable regional shared electronic health records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliveira, Ilídio C; Cunha, João P S

    2011-01-01

    eHealth is expected to integrate a comprehensive set of patient data sources into a coherent continuum, but implementations vary and Portugal is still lacking on electronic patient data sharing. In this work, we present a clinical information hub to aggregate multi-institution patient data and bridge the information silos. This integration platform enables a coherent object model, services-oriented applications development and a trust framework. It has been instantiated in the Rede Telemática de Saúde (www.RTSaude.org) to support a regional Electronic Health Record approach, fed dynamically from production systems at eight partner institutions, providing access to more than 11,000,000 care episodes, relating to over 350,000 citizens. The network has obtained the necessary clearance from the Portuguese data protection agency.

  14. Metal contact engineering and registration-free fabrication of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor integrated circuits using aligned carbon nanotubes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Chuan; Ryu, Koungmin; Badmaev, Alexander; Zhang, Jialu; Zhou, Chongwu

    2011-02-22

    Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) operation is very desirable for logic circuit applications as it offers rail-to-rail swing, larger noise margin, and small static power consumption. However, it remains to be a challenging task for nanotube-based devices. Here in this paper, we report our progress on metal contact engineering for n-type nanotube transistors and CMOS integrated circuits using aligned carbon nanotubes. By using Pd as source/drain contacts for p-type transistors, small work function metal Gd as source/drain contacts for n-type transistors, and evaporated SiO(2) as a passivation layer, we have achieved n-type transistor, PN diode, and integrated CMOS inverter with an air-stable operation. Compared with other nanotube n-doping techniques, such as potassium doping, PEI doping, hydrazine doping, etc., using low work function metal contacts for n-type nanotube devices is not only air stable but also integrated circuit fabrication compatible. Moreover, our aligned nanotube platform for CMOS integrated circuits shows significant advantage over the previously reported individual nanotube platforms with respect to scalability and reproducibility and suggests a practical and realistic approach for nanotube-based CMOS integrated circuit applications.

  15. Plasmonic modulator based on thin metal-semiconductor-metal waveguide with gain core

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Babicheva, Viktoriia; Malureanu, Radu; Lavrinenko, Andrei

    2013-01-01

    We focus on plasmonic modulators with a gain core to be implemented as active nanodevices in photonic integrated circuits. In particular, we analyze metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) waveguides with InGaAsP-based active material layers. A MSM waveguide enables high field localization and therefore...

  16. Research on Computer Integrated Manufacturing of Sheet Metal Parts for Lithium Battery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pan Wei-Min

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Lithium battery has been widely used as the main driving force of the new energy vehicle in recent years. Sheet metal parts are formed by means of pressure forming techniques with the characteristics of light weight, small size and high structural strength. The sheet metal forming has higher productivity and material utilization than the mechanical cutting, therefore sheet metal parts are widely used in many fields, such as modern automotive industry, aviation, aerospace, machine tools, instruments and household appliances. In this paper, taking a complex lithium battery box as an example, the integrated manufacturing of sheet metal parts is studied, and the digital integrated design and manufacturing process system is proposed. The technology is studied such as sheet metal design, unfolding, sheet nesting and laser cutting, CNC turret punch stamping programming, CNC bending etc. The feasibility of the method is verified through the examples of products and the integrated manufacturing of sheet metal box is completed.

  17. Thermodynamically self-consistent integral equations and the structure of liquid metals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pastore, G.; Kahl, G.

    1987-01-01

    We discuss the application of the new thermodynamically self-consistent integral equations for the determination of the structural properties of liquid metals. We present a detailed comparison of the structure (S(q) and g(r)) for models of liquid alkali metals as obtained from two thermodynamically self-consistent integral equations and some published exact computer simulation results; the range of states extends from the triple point to the expanded metal. The theories which only impose thermodynamic self-consistency without any fitting of external data show an excellent agreement with the simulation results, thus demonstrating that this new type of integral equation is definitely superior to the conventional ones (hypernetted chain, Percus-Yevick, mean spherical approximation, etc). (author)

  18. Development of a metallic high integrity container

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haelsig, R.T.

    1986-01-01

    Nuclear Packaging, a Pacific Nuclear Company, developed a metallic high integrity container (HIC) for the burial of low level radioactive waste. This class of container has received the most extensive review of any burial container licensed in the United States. It is also the first container that has been licensed to meet the requirements of Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulations 10CFR61. The design and subsequent review considered 300 years corrosion at a depth of 55 feet with no degradation of container structural integrity. The design also included a technical requirement that the container possess a positive vent that would exclude moisture. The alloy that was selected, allows for significant flexibility in container size and configuration which is essential to accommodating the various waste forms. This allowed the development of containers in various sizes and with a variety of closures, that accommodate the internal dimensions of various shipping shields and help minimize radiation exposure during packaging operations. The material used in the metallic container is high corrosion resistant which reduces the need for strict chemical controls at the waste generating facility. This acts to ease the operational requirements in the treatment of several waste streams. The design result is a family of metallic High Integrity Containers (HIC)s that meet all the performance criteria imposed by the regulations, as well as provide a disposable waste container with good transportation efficiency and minimum operational constraints

  19. Plasmonic engineering of metal-oxide nanowire heterojunctions in integrated nanowire rectification units

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, Luchan; Zhou, Y. Norman, E-mail: liulei@tsinghua.edu.cn, E-mail: nzhou@uwaterloo.ca [Department of Mechanical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Centre for Advanced Materials Joining, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada); Zou, Guisheng; Liu, Lei, E-mail: liulei@tsinghua.edu.cn, E-mail: nzhou@uwaterloo.ca [Department of Mechanical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Duley, Walt W. [Centre for Advanced Materials Joining, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada); Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada)

    2016-05-16

    We show that irradiation with femtosecond laser pulses can produce robust nanowire heterojunctions in coupled non-wetting metal-oxide Ag-TiO{sub 2} structures. Simulations indicate that joining arises from the effect of strong plasmonic localization in the region of the junction. Strong electric field effects occur in both Ag and TiO{sub 2} resulting in the modification of both surfaces and an increase in wettability of TiO{sub 2}, facilitating the interconnection of Ag and TiO{sub 2} nanowires. Irradiation leads to the creation of a thin layer of highly defected TiO{sub 2} in the contact region between the Ag and TiO{sub 2} nanowires. The presence of this layer allows the formation of a heterojunction and offers the possibility of engineering the electronic characteristics of interfacial structures. Rectifying junctions with single and bipolar properties have been generated in Ag-TiO{sub 2} nanowire circuits incorporating asymmetrical and symmetrical interfacial structures, respectively. This fabrication technique should be applicable for the interconnection of other heterogeneous metal-oxide nanowire components and demonstrates that femtosecond laser irradiation enables interfacial engineering for electronic applications of integrated nanowire structures.

  20. Plasmonic engineering of metal-oxide nanowire heterojunctions in integrated nanowire rectification units

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Luchan; Zou, Guisheng; Liu, Lei; Duley, Walt W.; Zhou, Y. Norman

    2016-05-01

    We show that irradiation with femtosecond laser pulses can produce robust nanowire heterojunctions in coupled non-wetting metal-oxide Ag-TiO2 structures. Simulations indicate that joining arises from the effect of strong plasmonic localization in the region of the junction. Strong electric field effects occur in both Ag and TiO2 resulting in the modification of both surfaces and an increase in wettability of TiO2, facilitating the interconnection of Ag and TiO2 nanowires. Irradiation leads to the creation of a thin layer of highly defected TiO2 in the contact region between the Ag and TiO2 nanowires. The presence of this layer allows the formation of a heterojunction and offers the possibility of engineering the electronic characteristics of interfacial structures. Rectifying junctions with single and bipolar properties have been generated in Ag-TiO2 nanowire circuits incorporating asymmetrical and symmetrical interfacial structures, respectively. This fabrication technique should be applicable for the interconnection of other heterogeneous metal-oxide nanowire components and demonstrates that femtosecond laser irradiation enables interfacial engineering for electronic applications of integrated nanowire structures.

  1. Enabling collaboration on semiformal mathematical knowledge by semantic web integration

    CERN Document Server

    Lange, C

    2011-01-01

    Mathematics is becoming increasingly collaborative, but software does not sufficiently support that: Social Web applications do not currently make mathematical knowledge accessible to automated agents that have a deeper understanding of mathematical structures. Such agents exist but focus on individual research tasks, such as authoring, publishing, peer-review, or verification, instead of complex collaboration workflows. This work effectively enables their integration by bridging the document-oriented perspective of mathematical authoring and publishing, and the network perspective of threaded

  2. An Integrated Conceptual Framework for RFID Enabled Healthcare

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaurav Gupta

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Radio frequency identification (RFID technology is a wireless communication technology that facilitates automatic identification and data capture without human intervention. Since 2000s, RFID applications in the health care industry are increasing.  RFID has brought many improvements in areas like patient care, patient safety, equipment tracking, resource utilization, processing time reduction and so on. On the other hand, often deployment of RFID is questioned on the issues like high capital investment, technological complexity, and privacy concerns. Exploration of existing literature indicates the presence of works on the topics like asset management, patient management, staff management, institutional advantages, and organizational issues. However, most of the works are focused on a particular issue. Still now, scholarly attempts to integrate all the facades of RFID-enabled healthcare are limited. In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework that represents the scope for implementation of this technology and the various dimensions of RFID-enabled healthcare and demonstrate them in detail. Also, we have discussed the critical issues that can prove to be potential barriers to its successful implementation and current approaches to resolving these. We also discuss some of the regulatory initiatives encouraging its adoption in the healthcare industry. Also, we have highlighted the future research opportunities in this domain.

  3. US/DOE Man-Machine Integration program for liquid metal reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    D'Zmura, A.P.; Seeman, S.E.

    1985-03-01

    The United States Department of Energy (DOE) Man-Machine Integration program was started in 1980 as an addition to the existing Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor safety base technology program. The overall goal of the DOE program is to enhance the operational safety of liquid metal reactors by optimum integration of humans and machines in the overall reactor plant system and by application of the principles of human-factors engineering to the design of equipment, subsystems, facilities, operational aids, procedures and environments. In the four years since its inception the program has concentrated on understanding the control process for Liquid Metal Reactors (LMRs) and on applying advanced computer concepts to this process. This paper describes the products that have been developed in this program, present computer-related programs, and plans for the future

  4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Implementation of eHealth Enabled Integrated Care

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Keijser, Wouter Alexander; Penterman, L; van Montfort, Augustinus P.W.P.; Smits, Jacco Gerardus Wilhelmus Leonardus; Wilderom, Celeste P.M.

    2017-01-01

    Introduction: ‘E-health enabled integrated care’ (eHEIC) has high potential to improve quality of care, widen access and increase efficiency. Experts and scholars increasingly report about difficulties of sustainable eHEIC implementation. These reports indicate in particular ‘human factors’ often

  5. ZnO buffer layer for metal films on silicon substrates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ihlefeld, Jon

    2014-09-16

    Dramatic improvements in metallization integrity and electroceramic thin film performance can be achieved by the use of the ZnO buffer layer to minimize interfacial energy between metallization and adhesion layers. In particular, the invention provides a substrate metallization method utilizing a ZnO adhesion layer that has a high work of adhesion, which in turn enables processing under thermal budgets typically reserved for more exotic ceramic, single-crystal, or metal foil substrates. Embodiments of the present invention can be used in a broad range of applications beyond ferroelectric capacitors, including microelectromechanical systems, micro-printed heaters and sensors, and electrochemical energy storage, where integrity of metallized silicon to high temperatures is necessary.

  6. IT-Enabled Integration of Renewables: A Concept for the Smart Power Grid

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sauter Thilo

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The wide utilisation of information and communication technologies is hoped to enable a more efficient and sustainable operation of electric power grids. This paper analyses the benefits of smart power grids for the integration of renewable energy resources into the existing grid infrastructure. Therefore, the concept of a smart power grid is analysed, and it is shown that it covers more than for example, time-of-use energy tariffs. Further, the communication technologies used for smart grids are discussed, and the challenge of interoperability between the smart grid itself and its active contributors such as functional buildings is shown. A significant share of electrical energy demand is and will be constituted by large functional buildings that are mostly equipped with automation systems and therefore enable a relatively simple IT integration into smart grids. This large potential of thermal storages and flexible consumption processes might be a future key to match demand and supply under the presence of a high share of fluctuating generation from renewables.

  7. Integrated and Intelligent Manufacturing: Perspectives and Enablers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yubao Chen

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available With ever-increasing market competition and advances in technology, more and more countries are prioritizing advanced manufacturing technology as their top priority for economic growth. Germany announced the Industry 4.0 strategy in 2013. The US government launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP in 2011 and the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI in 2014. Most recently, the Manufacturing USA initiative was officially rolled out to further “leverage existing resources... to nurture manufacturing innovation and accelerate commercialization” by fostering close collaboration between industry, academia, and government partners. In 2015, the Chinese government officially published a 10-year plan and roadmap toward manufacturing: Made in China 2025. In all these national initiatives, the core technology development and implementation is in the area of advanced manufacturing systems. A new manufacturing paradigm is emerging, which can be characterized by two unique features: integrated manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing. This trend is in line with the progress of industrial revolutions, in which higher efficiency in production systems is being continuously pursued. To this end, 10 major technologies can be identified for the new manufacturing paradigm. This paper describes the rationales and needs for integrated and intelligent manufacturing (i2M systems. Related technologies from different fields are also described. In particular, key technological enablers, such as the Internet of Things and Services (IoTS, cyber-physical systems (CPSs, and cloud computing are discussed. Challenges are addressed with applications that are based on commercially available platforms such as General Electric (GE’s Predix and PTC’s ThingWorx.

  8. Viewing Integrated-Circuit Interconnections By SEM

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawton, Russel A.; Gauldin, Robert E.; Ruiz, Ronald P.

    1990-01-01

    Back-scattering of energetic electrons reveals hidden metal layers. Experiment shows that with suitable operating adjustments, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) used to look for defects in aluminum interconnections in integrated circuits. Enables monitoring, in situ, of changes in defects caused by changes in temperature. Gives truer picture of defects, as etching can change stress field of metal-and-passivation pattern, causing changes in defects.

  9. Integrating Technology into Instruction at a Public University in Kyrgyzstan: Barriers and Enablers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muhametjanova, Gulshat; Cagiltay, Kursat

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine enablers and barriers to the technology integration into education based on the example of the situation at the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University as reported by students and instructors. The study employed the mixed-methods research design, combining data obtained from 477 student and 57 instructor…

  10. Enabling Technologies for Smart Grid Integration and Interoperability of Electric Vehicles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martinenas, Sergejus

    Conventional, centralized power plants are being replaced by intermittent, distributed renewable energy sources, thus raising the concern about the stability of the power grid in its current state. All the while, electrification of all forms of transportation is increasing the load...... for successful EV integration into the smart grid, as a smart, mobile distributed energy resource. The work is split into three key topics: enabling technologies, grid service applications and interoperability issues. The current state of e-mobility technologies is surveyed. Technologies and protocols...... EVs to not only mitigate their own effects on the grid, but also provide value to grid operators, locally as well as system wide. Finally, it is shown that active integration of EVs into the smart grid, is not only achievable, but is well on its way to becoming a reality....

  11. An integrated semiconductor device enabling non-optical genome sequencing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rothberg, Jonathan M; Hinz, Wolfgang; Rearick, Todd M; Schultz, Jonathan; Mileski, William; Davey, Mel; Leamon, John H; Johnson, Kim; Milgrew, Mark J; Edwards, Matthew; Hoon, Jeremy; Simons, Jan F; Marran, David; Myers, Jason W; Davidson, John F; Branting, Annika; Nobile, John R; Puc, Bernard P; Light, David; Clark, Travis A; Huber, Martin; Branciforte, Jeffrey T; Stoner, Isaac B; Cawley, Simon E; Lyons, Michael; Fu, Yutao; Homer, Nils; Sedova, Marina; Miao, Xin; Reed, Brian; Sabina, Jeffrey; Feierstein, Erika; Schorn, Michelle; Alanjary, Mohammad; Dimalanta, Eileen; Dressman, Devin; Kasinskas, Rachel; Sokolsky, Tanya; Fidanza, Jacqueline A; Namsaraev, Eugeni; McKernan, Kevin J; Williams, Alan; Roth, G Thomas; Bustillo, James

    2011-07-20

    The seminal importance of DNA sequencing to the life sciences, biotechnology and medicine has driven the search for more scalable and lower-cost solutions. Here we describe a DNA sequencing technology in which scalable, low-cost semiconductor manufacturing techniques are used to make an integrated circuit able to directly perform non-optical DNA sequencing of genomes. Sequence data are obtained by directly sensing the ions produced by template-directed DNA polymerase synthesis using all-natural nucleotides on this massively parallel semiconductor-sensing device or ion chip. The ion chip contains ion-sensitive, field-effect transistor-based sensors in perfect register with 1.2 million wells, which provide confinement and allow parallel, simultaneous detection of independent sequencing reactions. Use of the most widely used technology for constructing integrated circuits, the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process, allows for low-cost, large-scale production and scaling of the device to higher densities and larger array sizes. We show the performance of the system by sequencing three bacterial genomes, its robustness and scalability by producing ion chips with up to 10 times as many sensors and sequencing a human genome.

  12. Evaluation of the in situ, time-integrated DGT technique by monitoring changes in heavy metal concentrations in estuarine waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dunn, R.J.K.; Teasdale, P.R.; Warnken, J.; Jordan, M.A.; Arthur, J.M.

    2007-01-01

    Various natural and anthropogenic processes influence heavy metal concentrations within estuaries. In situ, time-integrated DGT measurements made over concurrent tidal phases found significantly higher concentrations of Cu (probability p = 0.017), Zn (p = 0.003) and Ni (p = 0.003) during the flood phase, because the incoming tide passes several point sources. DGT-reactive Cu concentrations significantly decreased with increased tidal-flushing and vice versa within a marina (correlation r = -0.788, p = 0.02). DGT measurements also recorded significant increases in Cu (4 out of 4 sites, p < 0.001) and Zn (3 out of 4 sites, p ≤ 0.015) after a 24 mm rainfall event. Finally, DGT-reactive Cu increased significantly (p < 0.001) during peak boating times, due to increased numbers of Cu-antifouled boats. This study demonstrates that, with judicious selection of deployment times, DGT measurements enable changes in heavy metal concentrations to be related to various cycles and events within estuaries. - Demonstration of the usefulness of DGT as a monitoring tool for heavy metals in dynamic estuaries

  13. An ultra-dense integrated linkage map for hexaploid chrysanthemum enables multi-allelic QTL analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Geest, van Geert; Bourke, Peter M.; Voorrips, Roeland E.; Marasek-Ciolakowska, Agnieszka; Liao, Yanlin; Post, Aike; Meeteren, van Uulke; Visser, Richard G.F.; Maliepaard, Chris; Arens, Paul

    2017-01-01

    Key message: We constructed the first integrated genetic linkage map in a polysomic hexaploid. This enabled us to estimate inheritance of parental haplotypes in the offspring and detect multi-allelic QTL.Abstract: Construction and use of linkage maps are challenging in hexaploids with polysomic

  14. Development Trends And Economic Assessment Of The Integration Processes On The Metals Market

    OpenAIRE

    Romanova, Olga A.; Makarov, Eduard V.

    2018-01-01

    The article examines the integration process from the perspective of three dimensions, which characterize the increase in quantity and appearance of new relationships; strength, character and stability of emerging communications; dynamics and the proper form of the process. The authors identify the development trends of the integration processes in the metals market and provide justification for the breaking of the period of Russian metal trading for 1991–2016 into five stages of development....

  15. The Role of Laser Additive Manufacturing Methods of Metals in Repair, Refurbishment and Remanufacturing - Enabling Circular Economy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leino, Maija; Pekkarinen, Joonas; Soukka, Risto

    Circular economy is an economy model where products, components, and materials are aimed to be kept at their highest utility and value at all times. Repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing processes are procedures aiming at returning the value of the product during its life cycle. Additive manufacturing (AM) is expected to be an enabling technology in circular economy based business models. One of AM process that enables repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing is Directed Energy Deposition. Respectively Powder Bed Fusion enables manufacturing of replacement components on demand. The aim of this study is to identify the current research findings and state of art of utilizing AM in repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing processes of metallic products. The focus is in identifying possibilities of AM in promotion of circular economy and expected environmental benefits based on the found literature. Results of the study indicate significant potential in utilizing AM in repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing activities.

  16. Demonstration of an N7 integrated fab process for metal oxide EUV photoresist

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Simone, Danilo; Mao, Ming; Kocsis, Michael; De Schepper, Peter; Lazzarino, Frederic; Vandenberghe, Geert; Stowers, Jason; Meyers, Stephen; Clark, Benjamin L.; Grenville, Andrew; Luong, Vinh; Yamashita, Fumiko; Parnell, Doni

    2016-03-01

    Inpria has developed a directly patternable metal oxide hard-mask as a robust, high-resolution photoresist for EUV lithography. In this paper we demonstrate the full integration of a baseline Inpria resist into an imec N7 BEOL block mask process module. We examine in detail both the lithography and etch patterning results. By leveraging the high differential etch resistance of metal oxide photoresists, we explore opportunities for process simplification and cost reduction. We review the imaging results from the imec N7 block mask patterns and its process windows as well as routes to maximize the process latitude, underlayer integration, etch transfer, cross sections, etch equipment integration from cross metal contamination standpoint and selective resist strip process. Finally, initial results from a higher sensitivity Inpria resist are also reported. A dose to size of 19 mJ/cm2 was achieved to print pillars as small as 21nm.

  17. Spoked-ring microcavities: enabling seamless integration of nanophotonics in unmodified advanced CMOS microelectronics chips

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wade, Mark T.; Shainline, Jeffrey M.; Orcutt, Jason S.; Ram, Rajeev J.; Stojanovic, Vladimir; Popovic, Milos A.

    2014-03-01

    We present the spoked-ring microcavity, a nanophotonic building block enabling energy-efficient, active photonics in unmodified, advanced CMOS microelectronics processes. The cavity is realized in the IBM 45nm SOI CMOS process - the same process used to make many commercially available microprocessors including the IBM Power7 and Sony Playstation 3 processors. In advanced SOI CMOS processes, no partial etch steps and no vertical junctions are available, which limits the types of optical cavities that can be used for active nanophotonics. To enable efficient active devices with no process modifications, we designed a novel spoked-ring microcavity which is fully compatible with the constraints of the process. As a modulator, the device leverages the sub-100nm lithography resolution of the process to create radially extending p-n junctions, providing high optical fill factor depletion-mode modulation and thereby eliminating the need for a vertical junction. The device is made entirely in the transistor active layer, low-loss crystalline silicon, which eliminates the need for a partial etch commonly used to create ridge cavities. In this work, we present the full optical and electrical design of the cavity including rigorous mode solver and FDTD simulations to design the Qlimiting electrical contacts and the coupling/excitation. We address the layout of active photonics within the mask set of a standard advanced CMOS process and show that high-performance photonic devices can be seamlessly monolithically integrated alongside electronics on the same chip. The present designs enable monolithically integrated optoelectronic transceivers on a single advanced CMOS chip, without requiring any process changes, enabling the penetration of photonics into the microprocessor.

  18. Physical masking process for integrating micro metallic structures on polymer substrate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Islam, Mohammad Aminul; Hansen, Hans Nørgaard

    2009-01-01

    plasmon devices need micro metallic structures on a polymer substrate with an uniform metal layer thickness in the nanometer range. A well known fabrication process to achieve such metallic surface pattern on polymer substrate is photolithography which involves an expensive mask and toxic chemicals......Integration of micro metallic structures in polymer devices is a broad multi-disciplinary research field, consisting of various combinations of mechanical, chemical and physical fabrication methods. Each of the methods has its specific advantages and disadvantages. Some applications like surface....... The current study shows a novel approach for fabricating thin micro metallic structures on polymer substrates using a simple physical mask and a PVD equipment. The new process involves fewer process steps, it is cost effective and suitable for high volume industrial production. Current study suggests...

  19. Roll-to-Roll Nanoforming of Metals Using Laser-Induced Superplasticity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goswami, Debkalpa; Munera, Juan C; Pal, Aniket; Sadri, Behnam; Scarpetti, Caio Lui P G; Martinez, Ramses V

    2018-05-24

    This Letter describes a low-cost, scalable nanomanufacturing process that enables the continuous forming of thin metallic layers with nanoscale accuracy using roll-to-roll, laser-induced superplasticity (R2RLIS). R2RLIS uses a laser shock to induce the ultrahigh-strain-rate deformation of metallic films at room temperature into low-cost polymeric nanomolds, independently of the original grain size of the metal. This simple and inexpensive nanoforming method does not require access to cleanrooms and associated facilities, and can be easily implemented on conventional CO 2 lasers, enabling laser systems commonly used for rapid prototyping or industrial cutting and engraving to fabricate uniform and three-dimensional crystalline metallic nanostructures over large areas. Tuning the laser power during the R2RLIS process enables the control of the aspect ratio and the mechanical and optical properties of the fabricated nanostructures. This roll-to-roll technique successfully fabricates mechanically strengthened gold plasmonic nanostructures with aspect ratios as high as 5 that exhibit high oxidation resistance and strong optical field enhancements. The CO 2 laser used in R2RLIS can also integrate the fabricated nanostructures on transparent flexible substrates with robust interfacial contact. The ability to fabricate ultrasmooth metallic nanostructures using roll-to-roll manufacturing enables the large scale production, at a relatively low-cost, of flexible plasmonic devices toward emerging applications.

  20. Organising to Enable Innovation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brink, Tove

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this conceptual paper is to reveal how organising can enable innovation across organisational layers and organisational units. This approach calls for a cross-disciplinary literature review. The aim is to provide an integrated understanding of innovation in an organisational approach....... The findings reveal a continous organising process between individual/ team creativity and organisational structures/control to enable innovation at firm level. Organising provides a dynamic approach and contains the integrated reconstruction of creativity, structures and boundaries for enhanced balance...... of explorative and exploitative learning in uncertain environments. Shedding light on the cross-disciplinary theories to organise innovation provides a contribution at the firm level to enable innovation....

  1. All-dielectric resonant cavity-enabled metals with broadband optical transparency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zhengqi; Zhang, Houjiao; Liu, Xiaoshan; Pan, Pingping; Liu, Yi; Tang, Li; Liu, Guiqiang

    2017-06-01

    Metal films with broadband optical transparency are desirable in many optoelectronic devices, such as displays, smart windows, light-emitting diodes and infrared detectors. As bare metal is opaque to light, this issue of transparency attracts great scientific interest. In this work, we proposed and demonstrated a feasible and universal approach for achieving broadband optical transparent (BOT) metals by utilizing all-dielectric resonant cavities. Resonant dielectrics provide optical cavity modes and couple strongly with the surface plasmons of the metal film, and therefore produce a broadband near-unity optical transparent window. The relative enhancement factor (EF) of light transmission exceeds 3400% in comparison with that of pure metal film. Moreover, the transparent metal motif can be realized by other common metals including gold (Au), silver (Ag) and copper (Cu). These optical features together with the fully retained electric and mechanical properties of a natural metal suggest that it will have wide applications in optoelectronic devices.

  2. Silicon-Based Technology for Integrated Waveguides and mm-Wave Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jovanovic, Vladimir; Gentile, Gennaro; Dekker, Ronald

    2015-01-01

    IC processing is used to develop technology for silicon-filled millimeter-wave-integrated waveguides. The front-end process defines critical waveguide sections and enables integration of dedicated components, such as RF capacitors and resistors. Wafer gluing is used to strengthen the mechanical...... support and deep reactive-ion etching forms the waveguide bulk with smooth and nearly vertical sidewalls. Aluminum metallization covers the etched sidewalls, fully enclosing the waveguides in metal from all sides. Waveguides are fabricated with a rectangular cross section of 560 μm x 280 μm. The measured...

  3. Energy efficiency with QoS control in dynamic optical networks with SDN enabled integrated control plane

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Jiayuan; Chen, Xin; Phillips, Chris

    2014-01-01

    The paper presents energy efficient routing algorithms based on a novel integrated control plane platform. The centralized control plane structure enables the use of flexible heuristic algorithms for route selection in optical networks. Differentiated routing for various traffic types is used in ...

  4. Trends And Economic Assessment Of Integration Processes At The Metal Market

    OpenAIRE

    Olga Aleksandrovna Romanova; Eduard Vyacheslavovich Makarov

    2015-01-01

    The article discussed the integration process from the perspective of three dimensions that characterize the corresponding increase in the number and appearance of new relationships; strength, character, and stability of emerging communications; dynamics and the appropriate form of the process. In the article, trends of development of integration processes in metallurgy are identified, identification of five stages of development in Russian metal trading are justified. We propose a s...

  5. SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY: TaN wet etch for application in dual-metal-gate integration technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yongliang, Li; Qiuxia, Xu

    2009-12-01

    Wet-etch etchants and the TaN film method for dual-metal-gate integration are investigated. Both HF/HN O3/H2O and NH4OH/H2O2 solutions can etch TaN effectively, but poor selectivity to the gate dielectric for the HF/HNO3/H2O solution due to HF being included in HF/HNO3/H2O, and the fact that TaN is difficult to etch in the NH4OH/H2O2 solution at the first stage due to the thin TaOxNy layer on the TaN surface, mean that they are difficult to individually apply to dual-metal-gate integration. A two-step wet etching strategy using the HF/HNO3/H2O solution first and the NH4OH/H2O2 solution later can fully remove thin TaN film with a photo-resist mask and has high selectivity to the HfSiON dielectric film underneath. High-k dielectric film surfaces are smooth after wet etching of the TaN metal gate and MOSCAPs show well-behaved C-V and Jg-Vg characteristics, which all prove that the wet etching of TaN has little impact on electrical performance and can be applied to dual-metal-gate integration technology for removing the first TaN metal gate in the PMOS region.

  6. Integrated Pathology Informatics Enables High-Quality Personalized and Precision Medicine: Digital Pathology and Beyond.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Volynskaya, Zoya; Chow, Hung; Evans, Andrew; Wolff, Alan; Lagmay-Traya, Cecilia; Asa, Sylvia L

    2018-03-01

    - The critical role of pathology in diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction demands high-quality subspecialty diagnostics that integrates information from multiple laboratories. - To identify key requirements and to establish a systematic approach to providing high-quality pathology in a health care system that is responsible for services across a large geographic area. - This report focuses on the development of a multisite pathology informatics platform to support high-quality surgical pathology and hematopathology using a sophisticated laboratory information system and whole slide imaging for histology and immunohistochemistry, integrated with ancillary tools, including electron microscopy, flow cytometry, cytogenetics, and molecular diagnostics. - These tools enable patients in numerous geographic locations access to a model of subspecialty pathology that allows reporting of every specimen by the right pathologist at the right time. The use of whole slide imaging for multidisciplinary case conferences enables better communication among members of patient care teams. The system encourages data collection using a discrete data synoptic reporting module, has implemented documentation of quality assurance activities, and allows workload measurement, providing examples of additional benefits that can be gained by this electronic approach to pathology. - This approach builds the foundation for accurate big data collection and high-quality personalized and precision medicine.

  7. The resonance integral of thorium metal rods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hellstrand, E; Weitman, J

    1960-03-15

    The resonance integral for thorium metal rods of different diameters has been determined by the activation method. The irradiations took place in the central channel of the reactor R1, where the energy dependence of the neutron flux had earlier been investigated with a fast chopper up to about 1 keV. The absolute calibration was made with gold as a standard. The true resonance integral for gold was taken from the literature as 1,500 {+-} 35 b. The experimental values for thorium were fitted to two alternative expressions with the following results: RI = (1.70 + 15.9{radical}(S/M)) {+-} 5.5%; RI 17.3{radical}(S/M + 0.06) {+-} 5.5 %. The measurements were made for S/M values in the range 0.14 - 0.87 cm{sup 2}/g. The main contribution to the margin of errors arises from the uncertainties in the cross sections used and in the correction for the departure of the neutron energy distribution from the 1/E form.

  8. Chemistry integrated circuit: chemical system on a complementary metal oxide semiconductor integrated circuit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakazato, Kazuo

    2014-03-28

    By integrating chemical reactions on a large-scale integration (LSI) chip, new types of device can be created. For biomedical applications, monolithically integrated sensor arrays for potentiometric, amperometric and impedimetric sensing of biomolecules have been developed. The potentiometric sensor array detects pH and redox reaction as a statistical distribution of fluctuations in time and space. For the amperometric sensor array, a microelectrode structure for measuring multiple currents at high speed has been proposed. The impedimetric sensor array is designed to measure impedance up to 10 MHz. The multimodal sensor array will enable synthetic analysis and make it possible to standardize biosensor chips. Another approach is to create new functional devices by integrating molecular systems with LSI chips, for example image sensors that incorporate biological materials with a sensor array. The quantum yield of the photoelectric conversion of photosynthesis is 100%, which is extremely difficult to achieve by artificial means. In a recently developed process, a molecular wire is plugged directly into a biological photosynthetic system to efficiently conduct electrons to a gold electrode. A single photon can be detected at room temperature using such a system combined with a molecular single-electron transistor.

  9. DERIVING METALLICITIES FROM THE INTEGRATED SPECTRA OF EXTRAGALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTERS USING THE NEAR-INFRARED CALCIUM TRIPLET

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Foster, Caroline; Forbes, Duncan A.; Proctor, Robert N.; Spitler, Lee R.; Strader, Jay; Brodie, Jean P.

    2010-01-01

    The Ca II triplet (CaT) feature in the near-infrared has been employed as a metallicity indicator for individual stars as well as integrated light of Galactic globular clusters (GCs) and galaxies with varying degrees of success, and sometimes puzzling results. Using the DEIMOS multi-object spectrograph on Keck we obtain a sample of 144 integrated light spectra of GCs around the brightest group galaxy NGC 1407 to test whether the CaT index can be used as a metallicity indicator for extragalactic GCs. Different sets of single stellar population models make different predictions for the behavior of the CaT as a function of metallicity. In this work, the metallicities of the GCs around NGC 1407 are obtained from CaT index values using an empirical conversion. The measured CaT/metallicity distributions show unexpected features, the most remarkable being that the brightest red and blue GCs have similar CaT values despite their large difference in mean color. Suggested explanations for this behavior in the NGC 1407 GC system are (1) the CaT may be affected by a population of hot blue stars, (2) the CaT may saturate earlier than predicted by the models, and/or (3) color may not trace metallicity linearly. Until these possibilities are understood, the use of the CaT as a metallicity indicator for the integrated spectra of extragalactic GCs will remain problematic.

  10. ESTABLISHING SUSTAINABLE US HEV/PHEV MANUFACTURING BASE: STABILIZED LITHIUM METAL POWDER, ENABLING MATERIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY FOR HIGH ENERGY LI-ION BATTERIES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yakovleva, Marina

    2012-12-31

    FMC Lithium Division has successfully completed the project “Establishing Sustainable US PHEV/EV Manufacturing Base: Stabilized Lithium Metal Powder, Enabling Material and Revolutionary Technology for High Energy Li-ion Batteries”. The project included design, acquisition and process development for the production scale units to 1) produce stabilized lithium dispersions in oil medium, 2) to produce dry stabilized lithium metal powders, 3) to evaluate, design and acquire pilot-scale unit for alternative production technology to further decrease the cost, and 4) to demonstrate concepts for integrating SLMP technology into the Li- ion batteries to increase energy density. It is very difficult to satisfy safety, cost and performance requirements for the PHEV and EV applications. As the initial step in SLMP Technology introduction, industry can use commercially available LiMn2O4 or LiFePO4, for example, that are the only proven safer and cheaper lithium providing cathodes available on the market. Unfortunately, these cathodes alone are inferior to the energy density of the conventional LiCoO2 cathode and, even when paired with the advanced anode materials, such as silicon composite material, the resulting cell will still not meet the energy density requirements. We have demonstrated, however, if SLMP Technology is used to compensate for the irreversible capacity in the anode, the efficiency of the cathode utilization will be improved and the cost of the cell, based on the materials, will decrease.

  11. Evolution of the liquid metal reactor: The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.

    1989-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) concept has been under development at Argonne National Laboratory since 1984. A key feature of the IFR concept is the metallic fuel. Metallic fuel was the original choice in early liquid metal reactor development. Solid technical accomplishments have been accumulating year after year in all aspects of the IFR development program. But as we make technical progress, the ultimate potential offered by the IFR concept as a next generation advanced reactor becomes clearer and clearer. The IFR concept can meet all three fundamental requirements needed in a next generation reactor. This document discusses these requirements: breeding, safety, and waste management. 5 refs., 4 figs

  12. Enabling model customization and integration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Minho; Fishwick, Paul A.

    2003-09-01

    Until fairly recently, the idea of dynamic model content and presentation were treated synonymously. For example, if one was to take a data flow network, which captures the dynamics of a target system in terms of the flow of data through nodal operators, then one would often standardize on rectangles and arrows for the model display. The increasing web emphasis on XML, however, suggests that the network model can have its content specified in an XML language, and then the model can be represented in a number of ways depending on the chosen style. We have developed a formal method, based on styles, that permits a model to be specified in XML and presented in 1D (text), 2D, and 3D. This method allows for customization and personalization to exert their benefits beyond e-commerce, to the area of model structures used in computer simulation. This customization leads naturally to solving the bigger problem of model integration - the act of taking models of a scene and integrating them with that scene so that there is only one unified modeling interface. This work focuses mostly on customization, but we address the integration issue in the future work section.

  13. Exploring the integration of the human as a flexibility factor in CPS enabled manufacturing environments: Methodology and results

    OpenAIRE

    Fantini, P.; Tavola, G.; Taisch, M.; Barbosa, José; Leitão, Paulo; Liu, Y.; Sayed, M.S.; Lohse, N.

    2016-01-01

    Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) are expected to shape the evolution of production towards the fourth industrial revolution named Industry 4.0. The increasing integration of manufacturing processes and the strengthening of the autonomous capabilities of manufacturing systems make investigating the role of humans a primary research objective in view of emerging social and demographic megatrends. Understanding how the employees can be better integrated to enable increased flexibility in manufacturi...

  14. A review of the Technologies Enabling Agile Manufacturing program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gray, W.H.; Neal, R.E.; Cobb, C.K.

    1996-10-01

    Addressing a technical plan developed in consideration with major US manufacturers, software and hardware providers, and government representatives, the Technologies Enabling Agile Manufacturing (TEAM) program is leveraging the expertise and resources of industry, universities, and federal agencies to develop, integrate, and deploy leap-ahead manufacturing technologies. One of the TEAM program`s goals is to transition products from design to production faster, more efficiently, and at less cost. TEAM`s technology development strategy also provides all participants with early experience in establishing and working within an electronic enterprise that includes access to high-speed networks and high-performance computing and storage systems. The TEAM program uses the cross-cutting tools it collects, develops, and integrates to demonstrate and deploy agile manufacturing capabilities for three high-priority processes identified by industry: material removal, sheet metal forming, electro-mechanical assembly. This paper reviews the current status of the TEAM program with emphasis upon TEAM`s information infrastructure.

  15. Method for Evaluating the Corrosion Resistance of Aluminum Metallization of Integrated Circuits under Multifactorial Influence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolomiets, V. I.

    2018-03-01

    The influence of complex influence of climatic factors (temperature, humidity) and electric mode (supply voltage) on the corrosion resistance of metallization of integrated circuits has been considered. The regression dependence of the average time of trouble-free operation t on the mentioned factors has been established in the form of a modified Arrhenius equation that is adequate in a wide range of factor values and is suitable for selecting accelerated test modes. A technique for evaluating the corrosion resistance of aluminum metallization of depressurized CMOS integrated circuits has been proposed.

  16. Trends And Economic Assessment Of Integration Processes At The Metal Market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Aleksandrovna Romanova

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The article discussed the integration process from the perspective of three dimensions that characterize the corresponding increase in the number and appearance of new relationships; strength, character, and stability of emerging communications; dynamics and the appropriate form of the process. In the article, trends of development of integration processes in metallurgy are identified, identification of five stages of development in Russian metal trading are justified. We propose a step by step way to implement the integration process, developed a methodical approach to assessing the feasibility of economic integration processes steel producers and steel traders, including three consecutive stages of its implementing respectively, the principles of reflexive control, entropy approach, the traditional assessment of mergers and acquisitions. The algorithm for the practical realization of the author’s approach, which allows to identify the optimal trajectory of the integration process as a series of horizontal and vertical integration steps is developed.

  17. A new integrated evaluation method of heavy metals pollution control during melting and sintering of MSWI fly ash.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Rundong; Li, Yanlong; Yang, Tianhua; Wang, Lei; Wang, Weiyun

    2015-05-30

    Evaluations of technologies for heavy metal control mainly examine the residual and leaching rates of a single heavy metal, such that developed evaluation method have no coordination or uniqueness and are therefore unsuitable for hazard control effect evaluation. An overall pollution toxicity index (OPTI) was established in this paper, based on the developed index, an integrated evaluation method of heavy metal pollution control was established. Application of this method in the melting and sintering of fly ash revealed the following results: The integrated control efficiency of the melting process was higher in all instances than that of the sintering process. The lowest integrated control efficiency of melting was 56.2%, and the highest integrated control efficiency of sintering was 46.6%. Using the same technology, higher integrated control efficiency conditions were all achieved with lower temperatures and shorter times. This study demonstrated the unification and consistency of this method. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Impact of metal-ion contaminated silica particles on gate oxide integrity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rink, Ingrid; Wali, F.; Knotter, D.M.

    2009-01-01

    The impact of metal-ion contamination (present on wafer surface before oxidation) on gate oxide integrity (GOI) is well known in literature, which is not the case for clean silica particles [1, 2]. However, it is known that particles present in ultra-pure water (UPW) decrease the random yield in

  19. Toward genome-enabled mycology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hibbett, David S; Stajich, Jason E; Spatafora, Joseph W

    2013-01-01

    Genome-enabled mycology is a rapidly expanding field that is characterized by the pervasive use of genome-scale data and associated computational tools in all aspects of fungal biology. Genome-enabled mycology is integrative and often requires teams of researchers with diverse skills in organismal mycology, bioinformatics and molecular biology. This issue of Mycologia presents the first complete fungal genomes in the history of the journal, reflecting the ongoing transformation of mycology into a genome-enabled science. Here, we consider the prospects for genome-enabled mycology and the technical and social challenges that will need to be overcome to grow the database of complete fungal genomes and enable all fungal biologists to make use of the new data.

  20. Analysis of the metallic containment integrity of Angra I

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Costa, J.R.

    1981-01-01

    The main goal of this work is to evaluate the pressure and temperature long-term behavior inside the metalic containment of a PWR building subjected to a postulated loss-of-coolant accident. The computer program used was CONDRU 4. Calculations were made for Angra I plant assuming the ocurrence of the worst accident to the containment integrity. The results obtained from CONDRU were compared with those from CONTEMPT-LT and COCO, which are codes similar to CONDRU. (Author) [pt

  1. A flow-through cell with integrated coulometric pH actuator

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bohm, S.; Olthuis, Wouter; Bergveld, Piet

    1998-01-01

    A flow-through cell with integrated coulometric actuator capable of controlling the pH of a flowing liquid is presented. The cell, consisting of a rectangular channel with a noble metal actuator electrode deposited on the bottom, enables the titration of a moving liquid without the need for pumps

  2. The temperature coefficient of the resonance integral for uranium metal and oxide

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blomberg, P; Hellstrand, E; Homer, S

    1960-06-15

    The temperature coefficient of the resonance integral in uranium metal and oxide has been measured over a wide temperature range for rods with three different diameters. The results for metal agree with most earlier results from activation measurements but differ as much as a factor of two from results obtained with reactivity methods. For oxide only one measurement has been reported recently. Our value is considerably lower than the result of that measurement. The experiments will continue in order to find the reason for the large discrepancy mentioned above.

  3. The temperature coefficient of the resonance integral for uranium metal and oxide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blomberg, P.; Hellstrand, E.; Homer, S.

    1960-06-01

    The temperature coefficient of the resonance integral in uranium metal and oxide has been measured over a wide temperature range for rods with three different diameters. The results for metal agree with most earlier results from activation measurements but differ as much as a factor of two from results obtained with reactivity methods. For oxide only one measurement has been reported recently. Our value is considerably lower than the result of that measurement. The experiments will continue in order to find the reason for the large discrepancy mentioned above

  4. Nanomaterial-Enabled Wearable Sensors for Healthcare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Shanshan; Swetha, Puchakayala; Zhu, Yong

    2018-01-01

    Highly sensitive wearable sensors that can be conformably attached to human skin or integrated with textiles to monitor the physiological parameters of human body or the surrounding environment have garnered tremendous interest. Owing to the large surface area and outstanding material properties, nanomaterials are promising building blocks for wearable sensors. Recent advances in the nanomaterial-enabled wearable sensors including temperature, electrophysiological, strain, tactile, electrochemical, and environmental sensors are presented in this review. Integration of multiple sensors for multimodal sensing and integration with other components into wearable systems are summarized. Representative applications of nanomaterial-enabled wearable sensors for healthcare, including continuous health monitoring, daily and sports activity tracking, and multifunctional electronic skin are highlighted. Finally, challenges, opportunities, and future perspectives in the field of nanomaterial-enabled wearable sensors are discussed. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  5. Characterization, integration and reliability of HfO2 and LaLuO3 high-κ/metal gate stacks for CMOS applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nichau, Alexander

    2013-01-01

    The continued downscaling of MOSFET dimensions requires an equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of the gate stack below 1 nm. An EOT below 1.4 nm is hereby enabled by the use of high-κ/metal gate stacks. LaLuO 3 and HfO 2 are investigated as two different high-κ oxides on silicon in conjunction with TiN as the metal electrode. LaLuO 3 and its temperature-dependent silicate formation are characterized by hard X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (HAXPES). The effective attenuation length of LaLuO 3 is determined between 7 and 13 keV to enable future interface and diffusion studies. In a first investigation of LaLuO 3 on germanium, germanate formation is shown. LaLuO 3 is further integrated in a high-temperature MOSFET process flow with varying thermal treatment. The devices feature drive currents up to 70μA/μm at 1μm gate length. Several optimization steps are presented. The effective device mobility is related to silicate formation and thermal budget. At high temperature the silicate formation leads to mobility degradation due to La-rich silicate formation. The integration of LaLuO 3 in high-T processes delicately connects with the optimization of the TiN metal electrode. Hereby, stoichiometric TiN yields the best results in terms of thermal stability with respect to Si-capping and high-κ oxide. Different approaches are presented for a further EOT reduction with LaLuO 3 and HfO 2 . Thereby the thermodynamic and kinetic predictions are employed to estimate the behavior on the nanoscale. Based on thermodynamics, excess oxygen in the gate stack, especially in oxidized metal electrodes, is identified to prevent EOT scaling below 1.2 nm. The equivalent oxide thickness of HfO 2 gate stacks is scalable below 1 nm by the use of thinned interfacial SiO 2 . The prevention of oxygen incorporation into the metal electrode by Si-capping maintains the EOT after high temperature annealing. Redox systems are employed within the gate electrode to decrease the EOT of HfO 2 gate stacks

  6. Integration Science and Technology of Silicon-Based Ceramics and Composites:Technical Challenges and Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, M.

    2013-01-01

    Ceramic integration technologies enable hierarchical design and manufacturing of intricate ceramic and composite parts starting with geometrically simpler units that are subsequently joined to themselves and/or to metals to create components with progressively higher levels of complexity and functionality. However, for the development of robust and reliable integrated systems with optimum performance for high temperature applications, detailed understanding of various thermochemical and thermomechanical factors is critical. Different technical approaches are required for the integration of ceramic to ceramic and ceramic to metal systems. Active metal brazing, in particular, is a simple and cost-effective method to integrate ceramic to metallic components. Active braze alloys usually contain a reactive filler metal (e.g., Ti, Cr, V, Hf etc) that promotes wettability and spreading by inducing chemical reactions with the ceramics and composites. In this presentation, various examples of brazing of silicon nitride to themselves and to metallic systems are presented. Other examples of joining of ceramic composites (C/SiC and SiC/SiC) using ceramic interlayers and the resulting microstructures are also presented. Thermomechanical characterization of joints is presented for both types of systems. In addition, various challenges and opportunities in design, fabrication, and testing of integrated similar (ceramic-ceramic) and dissimilar (ceramic-metal) material systems will be discussed. Potential opportunities and need for the development of innovative design philosophies, approaches, and integrated system testing under simulated application conditions will also be presented.

  7. GLOBULAR CLUSTER ABUNDANCES FROM HIGH-RESOLUTION, INTEGRATED-LIGHT SPECTROSCOPY. II. EXPANDING THE METALLICITY RANGE FOR OLD CLUSTERS AND UPDATED ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Colucci, Janet E.; Bernstein, Rebecca A.; McWilliam, Andrew [The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara St., Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States)

    2017-01-10

    We present abundances of globular clusters (GCs) in the Milky Way and Fornax from integrated-light (IL) spectra. Our goal is to evaluate the consistency of the IL analysis relative to standard abundance analysis for individual stars in those same clusters. This sample includes an updated analysis of seven clusters from our previous publications and results for five new clusters that expand the metallicity range over which our technique has been tested. We find that the [Fe/H] measured from IL spectra agrees to ∼0.1 dex for GCs with metallicities as high as [Fe/H] = −0.3, but the abundances measured for more metal-rich clusters may be underestimated. In addition we systematically evaluate the accuracy of abundance ratios, [X/Fe], for Na i, Mg i, Al i, Si i, Ca i, Ti i, Ti ii, Sc ii, V i, Cr i, Mn i, Co i, Ni i, Cu i, Y ii, Zr i, Ba ii, La ii, Nd ii, and Eu ii. The elements for which the IL analysis gives results that are most similar to analysis of individual stellar spectra are Fe i, Ca i, Si i, Ni i, and Ba ii. The elements that show the greatest differences include Mg i and Zr i. Some elements show good agreement only over a limited range in metallicity. More stellar abundance data in these clusters would enable more complete evaluation of the IL results for other important elements.

  8. Payment reform in the patient-centered medical home: Enabling and sustaining integrated behavioral health care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Benjamin F; Ross, Kaile M; Davis, Melinda M; Melek, Stephen P; Kathol, Roger; Gordon, Patrick

    2017-01-01

    The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a promising framework for the redesign of primary care and more recently specialty care. As defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the PCMH framework has 5 attributes: comprehensive care, patient-centered care, coordinated care, accessible services, and quality and safety. Evidence increasingly demonstrates that for the PCMH to best achieve the Triple Aim (improved outcomes, decreased cost, and enhanced patient experience), treatment for behavioral health (including mental health, substance use, and life stressors) must be integrated as a central tenet. However, challenges to implementing the PCMH framework are compounded for real-world practitioners because payment reform rarely happens concurrently. Nowhere is this more evident than in attempts to integrate behavioral health clinicians into primary care. As behavioral health clinicians find opportunities to work in integrated settings, a comprehensive understanding of payment models is integral to the dialogue. This article describes alternatives to the traditional fee for service (FFS) model, including modified FFS, pay for performance, bundled payments, and global payments (i.e., capitation). We suggest that global payment structures provide the best fit to enable and sustain integrated behavioral health clinicians in ways that align with the Triple Aim. Finally, we present recommendations that offer specific, actionable steps to achieve payment reform, complement PCMH, and support integration efforts through policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  9. The enhancement of heavy metal removal from polluted river water treatment by integrated carbon-aluminium electrodes using electrochemical method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yussuf, N. M.; Embong, Z.; Abdullah, S.; Masirin, M. I. M.; Tajudin, S. A. A.; Ahmad, S.; Sahari, S. K.; Anuar, A. A.; Maxwell, O.

    2018-01-01

    The heavy metal removal enhancement from polluted river water was investigated using two types of electrodes consist of integrated carbon-aluminium and a conventional aluminium plate electrode at laboratory-scale experiments. In the integrated electrode systems, the aluminium electrode surface was coated with carbon using mixed slurry containing carbon black, polyvinyl acetate and methanol. The electrochemical treatment was conducted on the parameter condition of 90V applied voltage, 3cm of electrode distance and 60 minutes of electrolysis operational time. Surface of both electrodes was investigated for pre and post electrolysis treatment by using SEM-EDX analytical technique. Comparison between both of the electrode configuration exhibits that more metals were accumulated on carbon integrated electrode surfaces for both anode and cathode, and more heavy metals were detected on the cathode. The atomic percentage of metals distributed on the cathode conventional electrode surface consist of Al (94.62%), Zn (1.19%), Mn (0.73%), Fe (2.81%) and Cu (0.64%), while on the anode contained O (12.08%), Al (87.63%) and Zn (0.29%). Meanwhile, cathode surface of integrated electrode was accumulated with more metals; O (75.40%), Al (21.06%), Zn (0.45%), Mn (0.22), Fe (0.29%), Cu (0.84%), Pb (0.47%), Na (0.94%), Cr (0.08%), Ni (0.02%) and Ag (0.22%), while on anode contain Al (3.48%), Fe (0.49 %), C (95.77%), and Pb (0.26%). According to this experiment, it was found that integrated carbon-aluminium electrodes have a great potential to accumulate more heavy metal species from polluted water compare to the conventional aluminium electrode. Here, heavy metal accumulation process obviously very significant on the cathode surface.

  10. GHz modulation enabled using large extinction ratio waveguide-modulator integrated with 404 nm GaN laser diode

    KAUST Repository

    Shen, Chao

    2017-01-30

    A 404-nm emitting InGaN-based laser diode with integrated-waveguide-modulator showing a large extinction ratio of 11.3 dB was demonstrated on semipolar (2021) plane GaN substrate. The device shows a low modulation voltage of −2.5 V and ∼ GHz −3 dB bandwidth, enabling 1.7 Gbps data transmission.

  11. GHz modulation enabled using large extinction ratio waveguide-modulator integrated with 404 nm GaN laser diode

    KAUST Repository

    Shen, Chao; Lee, Changmin; Ng, Tien Khee; Speck, James S.; Nakamura, Shuji; DenBaars, Steven P.; Alyamani, Ahmed Y.; Eldesouki, Munir M.; Ooi, Boon S.

    2017-01-01

    A 404-nm emitting InGaN-based laser diode with integrated-waveguide-modulator showing a large extinction ratio of 11.3 dB was demonstrated on semipolar (2021) plane GaN substrate. The device shows a low modulation voltage of −2.5 V and ∼ GHz −3 dB bandwidth, enabling 1.7 Gbps data transmission.

  12. Manufacture and evaluation of integrated metal-oxide electrode prototype for corrosion monitoring in high temperature water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hashimoto, Yoshinori; Tani, Jun-ichi

    2014-01-01

    We have developed an integrated metal-oxide (M/O) electrode based on an yttria-stabilized-zirconia-(YSZ)-membrane M/O electrode, which was used as a reference electrode for corrosion monitoring in high temperature water. The YSZ-membrane M/O electrode can operate at high temperatures because of the conductivity of YSZ membrane tube. We cannot utilize it for long term monitoring at a wide range of temperatures. It also has a braze juncture between the YSZ membrane and metal tubes, which may corrode in high-temperature water. This corrosion should be prevented to improve the performance of the M/O electrode. An integrated M/O electrode was developed (i.e., integrated metal-oxide electrode, IMOE) to eliminate the braze juncture and increase the conductivity of YSZ. These issues should be overcome to improve the performance of M/O electrode. So we have developed two type of IMOE prototype with sputter - deposition or thermal oxidation. In this paper we will present and discuss the performance of our IMOEs in buffer solution at room temperature. (author)

  13. Integrated oil production and upgrading using molten alkali metal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon, John Howard

    2016-10-04

    A method that combines the oil retorting process (or other process needed to obtain/extract heavy oil or bitumen) with the process for upgrading these materials using sodium or other alkali metals. Specifically, the shale gas or other gases that are obtained from the retorting/extraction process may be introduced into the upgrading reactor and used to upgrade the oil feedstock. Also, the solid materials obtained from the reactor may be used as a fuel source, thereby providing the heat necessary for the retorting/extraction process. Other forms of integration are also disclosed.

  14. Integrated bio-photonics to revolutionize health care enabled through PIX4life and PIXAPP

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jans, Hilde; O'Brien, Peter; Artundo, Iñigo; Porcel, Marco A. G.; Hoofman, Romano; Geuzebroek, Douwe; Dumon, Pieter; van der Vliet, Marcel; Witzens, Jeremy; Bourguignon, Eric; Van Dorpe, Pol; Lagae, Liesbet

    2018-02-01

    Photonics has become critical to life sciences. However, the field is far from benefiting fully from photonics' capabilities. Today, bulky and expensive optical systems dominate biomedical photonics, even though robust optical functionality can be realized cost-effectively on single photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Such chips are commercially available mostly for telecom applications, and at infrared wavelengths. Although proof-of-concept demonstrations for PICs in life sciences, using visible wavelengths are abundant, the gating factor for wider adoption is limited in resource capacity. Two European pilot lines, PIX4life and PIXAPP, were established to facilitate European R and D in biophotonics, by helping European companies and universities bridge the gap between research and industrial development. Through creation of an open-access model, PIX4life aims to lower barriers to entry for prototyping and validating biophotonics concepts for larger scale production. In addition, PIXAPP enables the assembly and packaging of photonic integrated circuits.

  15. Vertically integrated, three-dimensional nanowire complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor circuits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nam, SungWoo; Jiang, Xiaocheng; Xiong, Qihua; Ham, Donhee; Lieber, Charles M

    2009-12-15

    Three-dimensional (3D), multi-transistor-layer, integrated circuits represent an important technological pursuit promising advantages in integration density, operation speed, and power consumption compared with 2D circuits. We report fully functional, 3D integrated complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuits based on separate interconnected layers of high-mobility n-type indium arsenide (n-InAs) and p-type germanium/silicon core/shell (p-Ge/Si) nanowire (NW) field-effect transistors (FETs). The DC voltage output (V(out)) versus input (V(in)) response of vertically interconnected CMOS inverters showed sharp switching at close to the ideal value of one-half the supply voltage and, moreover, exhibited substantial DC gain of approximately 45. The gain and the rail-to-rail output switching are consistent with the large noise margin and minimal static power consumption of CMOS. Vertically interconnected, three-stage CMOS ring oscillators were also fabricated by using layer-1 InAs NW n-FETs and layer-2 Ge/Si NW p-FETs. Significantly, measurements of these circuits demonstrated stable, self-sustained oscillations with a maximum frequency of 108 MHz, which represents the highest-frequency integrated circuit based on chemically synthesized nanoscale materials. These results highlight the flexibility of bottom-up assembly of distinct nanoscale materials and suggest substantial promise for 3D integrated circuits.

  16. AFC-Enabled Simplified High-Lift System Integration Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartwich, Peter M.; Dickey, Eric D.; Sclafani, Anthony J.; Camacho, Peter; Gonzales, Antonio B.; Lawson, Edward L.; Mairs, Ron Y.; Shmilovich, Arvin

    2014-01-01

    The primary objective of this trade study report is to explore the potential of using Active Flow Control (AFC) for achieving lighter and mechanically simpler high-lift systems for transonic commercial transport aircraft. This assessment was conducted in four steps. First, based on the Common Research Model (CRM) outer mold line (OML) definition, two high-lift concepts were developed. One concept, representative of current production-type commercial transonic transports, features leading edge slats and slotted trailing edge flaps with Fowler motion. The other CRM-based design relies on drooped leading edges and simply hinged trailing edge flaps for high-lift generation. The relative high-lift performance of these two high-lift CRM variants is established using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solutions to the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations for steady flow. These CFD assessments identify the high-lift performance that needs to be recovered through AFC to have the CRM variant with the lighter and mechanically simpler high-lift system match the performance of the conventional high-lift system. Conceptual design integration studies for the AFC-enhanced high-lift systems were conducted with a NASA Environmentally Responsible Aircraft (ERA) reference configuration, the so-called ERA-0003 concept. These design trades identify AFC performance targets that need to be met to produce economically feasible ERA-0003-like concepts with lighter and mechanically simpler high-lift designs that match the performance of conventional high-lift systems. Finally, technical challenges are identified associated with the application of AFC-enabled highlift systems to modern transonic commercial transports for future technology maturation efforts.

  17. Integrated simulation of continuous-scale and discrete-scale radiative transfer in metal foams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xia, Xin-Lin; Li, Yang; Sun, Chuang; Ai, Qing; Tan, He-Ping

    2018-06-01

    A novel integrated simulation of radiative transfer in metal foams is presented. It integrates the continuous-scale simulation with the direct discrete-scale simulation in a single computational domain. It relies on the coupling of the real discrete-scale foam geometry with the equivalent continuous-scale medium through a specially defined scale-coupled zone. This zone holds continuous but nonhomogeneous volumetric radiative properties. The scale-coupled approach is compared to the traditional continuous-scale approach using volumetric radiative properties in the equivalent participating medium and to the direct discrete-scale approach employing the real 3D foam geometry obtained by computed tomography. All the analyses are based on geometrical optics. The Monte Carlo ray-tracing procedure is used for computations of the absorbed radiative fluxes and the apparent radiative behaviors of metal foams. The results obtained by the three approaches are in tenable agreement. The scale-coupled approach is fully validated in calculating the apparent radiative behaviors of metal foams composed of very absorbing to very reflective struts and that composed of very rough to very smooth struts. This new approach leads to a reduction in computational time by approximately one order of magnitude compared to the direct discrete-scale approach. Meanwhile, it can offer information on the local geometry-dependent feature and at the same time the equivalent feature in an integrated simulation. This new approach is promising to combine the advantages of the continuous-scale approach (rapid calculations) and direct discrete-scale approach (accurate prediction of local radiative quantities).

  18. An Aqueous Metal-ion Capacitor with Oxidised Carbon Nanotubes and Metallic Zinc Electrodes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuheng Tian

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available An aqueous metal ion capacitor comprising of a zinc anode, an oxidized carbon nanotubes (oCNTs cathode and a zinc sulfate electrolyte is reported. Since the shuttling cation is Zn2+, this typical metal ion capacitor is named as zinc-ion capacitor (ZIC. The ZIC integrates the divalent zinc stripping/plating chemistry with the surface-enabled pseudocapacitive cation adsorption/desorption on oCNTs. The surface chemistry and crystallographic structure of oCNTs were extensively characterized by combining X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. The function of the surface oxygen groups in surface cation storage was elucidated by a series of electrochemical measurement and the surface-enabled ZIC showed better performance than the ZIC with an un-oxidized CNT cathode. The reaction mechanism at the oCNT cathode involves the additional reversible Faradaic process, while the CNTs merely show electric double layer capacitive behavior involving a non-Faradaic process. The aqueous hybrid ZIC comprising the oCNT cathode exhibited a specific capacitance of 20 mF cm-2 (corresponding to 53 F g-1 in the range of 0-1.8 V at 10 mV s-1 and a stable cycling performance up to 5000 cycles.

  19. An Aqueous Metal-Ion Capacitor with Oxidized Carbon Nanotubes and Metallic Zinc Electrodes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tian, Yuheng; Amal, Rose; Wang, Da-Wei, E-mail: da-wei.wang@unsw.edu.au [School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW (Australia)

    2016-10-03

    An aqueous metal ion capacitor comprising of a zinc anode, oxidized carbon nanotubes (oCNTs) cathode, and a zinc sulfate electrolyte is reported. Since the shuttling cation is Zn{sup 2+}, this typical metal ion capacitor is named as zinc-ion capacitor (ZIC). The ZIC integrates the divalent zinc stripping/plating chemistry with the surface-enabled pseudocapacitive cation adsorption/desorption on oCNTs. The surface chemistry and crystallographic structure of oCNTs were extensively characterized by combining X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray powder diffraction. The function of the surface oxygen groups in surface cation storage was elucidated by a series of electrochemical measurement and the surface-enabled ZIC showed better performance than the ZIC with an un-oxidized CNT cathode. The reaction mechanism at the oCNT cathode involves the additional reversible Faradaic process, while the CNTs merely show electric double layer capacitive behavior involving a non-Faradaic process. The aqueous hybrid ZIC comprising the oCNT cathode exhibited a specific capacitance of 20 mF cm{sup −2} (corresponding to 53 F g{sup −1}) in the range of 0–1.8 V at 10 mV s{sup −1} and a stable cycling performance up to 5000 cycles.

  20. Metal Enhanced Fluorescence on Super-Hydrophobic Clusters of Gold Nanoparticles

    KAUST Repository

    Battista, Edmondo; Coluccio, Maria Laura; Alabastri, Alessandro; Barberio, Marianna; Causa, Filippo; Netti, Paolo Antonio; Di Fabrizio, Enzo M.; Gentile, Francesco

    2016-01-01

    We used optical lithography, electroless deposition and deep reactive ion etching techniques to realize arrays of super-hydrophobic gold nanoparticles arranged in a hierarchical structure. At the micro-scale, silicon-micro pillars in the chip permit to manipulate and concentrate biological solutions, at the nano-scale, gold nanoparticles enable metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF) effects, whereby fluorescence signal of fluorophores in close proximity to a rough metal surface is amplified by orders of magnitude. Here, we demonstrated the device in the analysis of fluorescein derived gold-binding peptides (GBP-FITC). While super-hydrophobic schemes and MEF effects have been heretofore used in isolation, their integration in a platform may advance the current state of fluorescence-based sensing technology in medical diagnostics and biotechnology. This scheme may be employed in protein microarrays where the increased sensitivity of the device may enable the early detection of cancer biomarkers or other proteins of biomedical interest.

  1. Metal Enhanced Fluorescence on Super-Hydrophobic Clusters of Gold Nanoparticles

    KAUST Repository

    Battista, Edmondo

    2016-12-15

    We used optical lithography, electroless deposition and deep reactive ion etching techniques to realize arrays of super-hydrophobic gold nanoparticles arranged in a hierarchical structure. At the micro-scale, silicon-micro pillars in the chip permit to manipulate and concentrate biological solutions, at the nano-scale, gold nanoparticles enable metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF) effects, whereby fluorescence signal of fluorophores in close proximity to a rough metal surface is amplified by orders of magnitude. Here, we demonstrated the device in the analysis of fluorescein derived gold-binding peptides (GBP-FITC). While super-hydrophobic schemes and MEF effects have been heretofore used in isolation, their integration in a platform may advance the current state of fluorescence-based sensing technology in medical diagnostics and biotechnology. This scheme may be employed in protein microarrays where the increased sensitivity of the device may enable the early detection of cancer biomarkers or other proteins of biomedical interest.

  2. Nanoconstruction by welding individual metallic nanowires together using nanoscale solder

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng, Y; Inkson, B J; Cullis, A G

    2010-01-01

    This work presents a new bottom-up nanowelding technique enabling building blocks to be assembled and welded together into complex 3D nanostructures using nanovolumes of metal solder. The building blocks of gold nanowires, (Co 72 Pt 28 /Pt) n multilayer nanowires, and nanosolder Sn 99 Au 1 alloy nanowires were successfully fabricated by a template technique. Individual metallic nanowires were picked up and assembled together. Conductive nanocircuits were then welded together using similar or dissimilar nanosolder material. At the weld sites, nanoscale volumes of a chosen metal are deposited using nanosolder of a sacrificial nanowire, which ensures that the nanoobjects to be bonded retain their structural integrity. The whole nanowelding process is clean, controllable and reliable, and ensures both mechanically strong and electrically conductive contacts.

  3. Fabrication of integrated metallic MEMS devices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yalcinkaya, Arda Deniz; Ravnkilde, Jan Tue; Hansen, Ole

    2002-01-01

    A simple and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible fabrication technique for microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices is presented. The fabrication technology makes use of electroplated metal layers. Among the fabricated devices, high quality factor microresonators are characteri......A simple and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible fabrication technique for microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices is presented. The fabrication technology makes use of electroplated metal layers. Among the fabricated devices, high quality factor microresonators...

  4. Enabling graphene nanoelectronics.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pan, Wei; Ohta, Taisuke; Biedermann, Laura Butler; Gutierrez, Carlos; Nolen, C. M.; Howell, Stephen Wayne; Beechem Iii, Thomas Edwin; McCarty, Kevin F.; Ross, Anthony Joseph, III

    2011-09-01

    Recent work has shown that graphene, a 2D electronic material amenable to the planar semiconductor fabrication processing, possesses tunable electronic material properties potentially far superior to metals and other standard semiconductors. Despite its phenomenal electronic properties, focused research is still required to develop techniques for depositing and synthesizing graphene over large areas, thereby enabling the reproducible mass-fabrication of graphene-based devices. To address these issues, we combined an array of growth approaches and characterization resources to investigate several innovative and synergistic approaches for the synthesis of high quality graphene films on technologically relevant substrate (SiC and metals). Our work focused on developing the fundamental scientific understanding necessary to generate large-area graphene films that exhibit highly uniform electronic properties and record carrier mobility, as well as developing techniques to transfer graphene onto other substrates.

  5. Electrolyte additive enabled fast charging and stable cycling lithium metal batteries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zheng, Jianming; Engelhard, Mark H.; Mei, Donghai; Jiao, Shuhong; Polzin, Bryant J.; Zhang, Ji-Guang; Xu, Wu

    2017-03-01

    Lithium (Li) metal battery is an attractive energy storage system owing to the ultrahigh specific capacity and the lowest redox potential of Li metal anode. However, safety concern associated with dendrite growth and limited cycle life especially at a high charge current density are two critical challenges hindering the practical applications of rechargeable Li metal batteries. Here, we report for the first time that an optimal amount (0.05 M) of LiPF6 as additive in the LiTFSI-LiBOB dual-salt/carbonate-based electrolyte can significantly enhance the charging capability and the long-term cycle life of Li metal batteries with a moderately high cathode loading of 1.75 mAh cm-2. Unprecedented stable-cycling (97.1% capacity retention after 500 cycles) along with very limited increase in electrode over-potential has been achieved at a high current density of 1.75 mA cm-2. This unparalleled fast charging and stable cycling performance is contributed from both the stabilized Al cathode current collector, and, more importantly, the robust and conductive SEI layer formed on Li metal anode in the presence of the LiPF6 additive.

  6. The Impact Of Integrated Parameters In The Manga Local Mass-Metallicity Relation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrera-Ballesteros, Jorge K.

    2016-09-01

    We present the surface mass density - gas metallicity (Σ_*-Z) relation for more than 500,000 spatially-resolved star-forming regions from a sample of 617 disk galaxies included in the MaNGA survey. We find a tight relation between these local properties with higher metallicities as the surface density increases, resembling a scaled-down version of the relation found previously for their integrated counterparts. This relation expands over three orders of magnitude in the surface mass and a factor of 8 in metallicity. Our large sample allows us to study the impact of global properties in this local relation. In particular, we find that for most disk galaxies the Σ_*-Z relation does not depend on the total stellar mass. Even more, for a large fraction of our sample (log(M_*/M_{⊙}) > 9.2) the observed metallicity gradients are well reproduced by the mass density gradients and the Σ_*-Z relation. We also find that this relation does not change significantly within the range of redshifts span by our sample. Our results suggest as the predominant scenario for metal enrichment as gas been recycled locally at shorter timescales in comparison to other global processes such as gas accretion or outflows.

  7. Integrating EDDS-enhanced washing with low-cost stabilization of metal-contaminated soil from an e-waste recycling site.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beiyuan, Jingzi; Tsang, Daniel C W; Ok, Yong Sik; Zhang, Weihua; Yang, Xin; Baek, Kitae; Li, Xiang-Dong

    2016-09-01

    While chelant-enhanced soil washing has been widely studied for metal extraction from contaminated soils, there are concerns about destabilization and leaching of residual metals after remediation. This study integrated 2-h soil washing enhanced by biodegradable ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS) and 2-month stabilization using agricultural waste product (soybean stover biochar pyrolyzed at 300 and 700 °C), industrial by-product (coal fly ash (CFA)), and their mixture. After integration with 2-month stabilization, the leachability and mobility of residual metals (Cu, Zn, and Pb) in the field-contaminated soil were significantly reduced, especially for Cu, in comparison with 2-h EDDS washing alone. This suggested that the metals destabilized by EDDS-washing could be immobilized by subsequent stabilization with biochar and CFA. Moreover, when the remediation performance was evaluated for phytoavailability and bioaccessibility, prior EDDS washing helped to achieve a greater reduction in the bioavailable fraction of metals than sole stabilization treatment. This was probably because the weakly-bound metals were first removed by EDDS washing before stabilization. Both individual and combined applications of biochar and CFA showed comparable effectiveness regardless of the difference in material properties, possibly due to the high level of amendments (150 ton ha(-1)). Based on the mobility and bioaccessibility results, the estimated human health risk (primarily resulting from Pb) could be mitigated to an acceptable level in water consumption pathway or reduced by half in soil ingestion pathway. These results suggest that an integration of EDDS washing with soil stabilization can alleviate post-remediation impacts of residual metals in the treated soil. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. A review on robotic fish enabled by ionic polymer-metal composite artificial muscles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Zheng

    2017-01-01

    A novel actuating material, which is lightweight, soft, and capable of generating large flapping motion under electrical stimuli, is highly desirable to build energy-efficient and maneuverable bio-inspired underwater robots. Ionic polymer-metal composites are important category of electroactive polymers, since they can generate large bending motions under low actuation voltages. IPMCs are ideal artificial muscles for small-scale and bio-inspired robots. This paper takes a system perspective to review the recent work on IPMC-enabled underwater robots, from modeling, fabrication, and bio-inspired design perspectives. First, a physics-based and control-oriented model of IPMC actuator will be reviewed. Second, a bio-inspired robotic fish propelled by IPMC caudal fin will be presented and a steady-state speed model of the fish will be demonstrated. Third, a novel fabrication process for 3D actuating membrane will be introduced and a bio-inspired robotic manta ray propelled by two IPMC pectoral fins will be demonstrated. Fourth, a 2D maneuverable robotic fish propelled by multiple IPMC fin will be presented. Last, advantages and challenges of using IPMC artificial muscles in bio-inspired robots will be concluded.

  9. Hawaii Utility Integration Initiatives to Enable Wind (Wind HUI) Final Technical Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dora Nakafuji; Lisa Dangelmaier; Chris Reynolds

    2012-07-15

    To advance the state and nation toward clean energy, Hawaii is pursuing an aggressive Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), 40% renewable generation and 30% energy efficiency and transportation initiatives by 2030. Additionally, with support from federal, state and industry leadership, the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI) is focused on reducing Hawaii's carbon footprint and global warming impacts. To keep pace with the policy momentum and changing industry technologies, the Hawaiian Electric Companies are proactively pursuing a number of potential system upgrade initiatives to better manage variable resources like wind, solar and demand-side and distributed generation alternatives (i.e. DSM, DG). As variable technologies will continue to play a significant role in powering the future grid, practical strategies for utility integration are needed. Hawaiian utilities are already contending with some of the highest penetrations of renewables in the nation in both large-scale and distributed technologies. With island grids supporting a diverse renewable generation portfolio at penetration levels surpassing 40%, the Hawaiian utilities experiences can offer unique perspective on practical integration strategies. Efforts pursued in this industry and federal collaborative project tackled challenging issues facing the electric power industry around the world. Based on interactions with a number of western utilities and building on decades of national and international renewable integration experiences, three priority initiatives were targeted by Hawaiian utilities to accelerate integration and management of variable renewables for the islands. The three initiatives included: Initiative 1: Enabling reliable, real-time wind forecasting for operations by improving short-term wind forecasting and ramp event modeling capabilities with local site, field monitoring; Initiative 2: Improving operators situational awareness to variable resources via real-time grid condition

  10. Monolithically integrated Helmholtz coils by 3-dimensional printing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Longguang [Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Michigan–Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); Abedini-Nassab, Roozbeh; Yellen, Benjamin B., E-mail: yellen@duke.edu [Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Michigan–Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, P.O. Box 90300, Hudson Hall, Durham, North Carolina 27708 (United States)

    2014-06-23

    3D printing technology is of great interest for the monolithic fabrication of integrated systems; however, it is a challenge to introduce metallic components into 3D printed molds to enable broader device functionality. Here, we develop a technique for constructing a multi-axial Helmholtz coil by injecting a eutectic liquid metal Gallium Indium alloy (EGaIn) into helically shaped orthogonal cavities constructed in a 3D printed block. The tri-axial solenoids each carry up to 3.6 A of electrical current and produce magnetic field up to 70 G. Within the central section of the coil, the field variation is less than 1% and is in agreement with theory. The flow rates and critical pressures required to fill the 3D cavities with liquid metal also agree with theoretical predictions and provide scaling trends for filling the 3D printed parts. These monolithically integrated solenoids may find future applications in electronic cell culture platforms, atomic traps, and miniaturized chemical analysis systems based on nuclear magnetic resonance.

  11. Monolithically integrated Helmholtz coils by 3-dimensional printing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Longguang; Abedini-Nassab, Roozbeh; Yellen, Benjamin B.

    2014-01-01

    3D printing technology is of great interest for the monolithic fabrication of integrated systems; however, it is a challenge to introduce metallic components into 3D printed molds to enable broader device functionality. Here, we develop a technique for constructing a multi-axial Helmholtz coil by injecting a eutectic liquid metal Gallium Indium alloy (EGaIn) into helically shaped orthogonal cavities constructed in a 3D printed block. The tri-axial solenoids each carry up to 3.6 A of electrical current and produce magnetic field up to 70 G. Within the central section of the coil, the field variation is less than 1% and is in agreement with theory. The flow rates and critical pressures required to fill the 3D cavities with liquid metal also agree with theoretical predictions and provide scaling trends for filling the 3D printed parts. These monolithically integrated solenoids may find future applications in electronic cell culture platforms, atomic traps, and miniaturized chemical analysis systems based on nuclear magnetic resonance.

  12. Relationships between seminal plasma metals/metalloids and semen quality, sperm apoptosis and DNA integrity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yi-Xin; Wang, Peng; Feng, Wei; Liu, Chong; Yang, Pan; Chen, Ying-Jun; Sun, Li; Sun, Yang; Yue, Jing; Gu, Long-Jie; Zeng, Qiang; Lu, Wen-Qing

    2017-05-01

    This study aimed to investigate the relationships between environmental exposure to metals/metalloids and semen quality, sperm apoptosis and DNA integrity using the metal/metalloids levels in seminal plasma as biomarkers. We determined 18 metals/metalloids in seminal plasma using an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry among 746 men recruited from a reproductive medicine center. Associations of these metals/metalloids with semen quality (n = 746), sperm apoptosis (n = 331) and DNA integrity (n = 404) were evaluated using multivariate linear and logistic regression models. After accounting for multiple comparisons and confounders, seminal plasma arsenic (As) quartiles were negatively associated with progressive and total sperm motility using multivariable linear regression analysis, which were in accordance with the trends for increased odds ratios (ORs) for below-reference semen quality parameters in the logistic models. We also found inverse correlations between cadmium (Cd) quartiles and progressive and total sperm motility, whereas positive correlations between zinc (Zn) quartiles and sperm concentration, between copper (Cu) and As quartiles and the percentage of tail DNA, between As and selenium (Se) quartiles and tail extent and tail distributed moment, and between tin (Sn) categories and the percentage of necrotic spermatozoa (all P trend <0.05). These relationships remained after the simultaneous consideration of various elements. Our results indicate that environmental exposure to As, Cd, Cu, Se and Sn may impair male reproductive health, whereas Zn may be beneficial to sperm concentration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Molecular Beam Epitaxy Growth of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yue, Ruoyu

    The exponential growth of Si-based technology has finally reached its limit, and a new generation of devices must be developed to continue scaling. A unique class of materials, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD), have attracted great attention due to their remarkable optical and electronic properties at the atomic thickness scale. Over the past decade, enormous efforts have been put into TMD research for application in low-power devices. Among these studies, a high-quality TMD synthesis method is essential. Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) can enable high-quality TMD growth by combining high purity elemental sources and an ultra-high vacuum growth environment, together with the back-end-of-line compatible growth temperatures. Although many TMD candidates have been grown by MBE with promising microstructure, the limited grain size (improvement in grain size was achieved through this study. Results from both experiment and simulation showed that reducing the growth rate, enabled by high growth temperature and low metal flux, is vital to nucleation density control. Meanwhile, providing a chalcogen-rich growth environment will promote larger grain lateral growth by suppressing vertical growth. Applying the knowledge learned from the nucleation study, we sucessfully integrated the MBE-grown WSe2 into Si complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible field-effect transistors (FETs). Excellent transport properties, such as field effect hole mobilities (40 cm 2/V·s) with orders of magnitude improvement over the reported values of MBE-grown TMDs, are shown. These studies provide a comprehensive understanding of the MBE synthesis of TMDs and devices, indicating the great potential of integrating TMDs into CMOS process flows for the future electronics.

  14. Integrated Microanalytical System for Simultaneous Voltammetric Measurements of Free Metal Ion Concentrations in Natural Waters

    OpenAIRE

    Noël, Stéphane; Tercier-Waeber, Mary-Lou; Lin, Lin; Buffle, Jacques; Guenat, Olivier; Koudelka-Hep, Milena

    2007-01-01

    A complexing gel integrated microelectrode (CGIME) for direct measurements of free metal ion concentrations in natural waters has been developed. It is prepared by the successive deposition of microlayers of a chelating resin, an antifouling agarose gel and Hg on a 100-interconnected Ir-based microelectrode array. The trace metals of interest are in a first step accumulated on the chelating resin in proportion to their free ion concentration in solution, then released in acidic solution and d...

  15. Electrolyte additive enabled fast charging and stable cycling lithium metal batteries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zheng, Jianming; Engelhard, Mark H.; Mei, Donghai; Jiao, Shuhong; Polzin, Bryant J.; Zhang, Ji-Guang; Xu, Wu

    2017-03-01

    Batteries using lithium (Li) metal as anodes are considered promising energy storage systems because of their high energy densities. However, safety concerns associated with dendrite growth along with limited cycle life, especially at high charge current densities, hinder their practical uses. Here we report that an optimal amount (0.05 M) of LiPF6 as an additive in LiTFSI-LiBOB dual-salt/carbonate-solvent-based electrolytes significantly enhances the charging capability and cycling stability of Li metal batteries. In a Li metal battery using a 4-V Li-ion cathode at a moderately high loading of 1.75mAh cm(-2), a cyclability of 97.1% capacity retention after 500 cycles along with very limited increase in electrode overpotential is accomplished at a charge/discharge current density up to 1.75 mA cm(-2). The fast charging and stable cycling performances are ascribed to the generation of a robust and conductive solid electrolyte interphase at the Li metal surface and stabilization of the Al cathode current collector.

  16. Boundary-integral equation formulation for time-dependent inelastic deformation in metals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kumar, V; Mukherjee, S

    1977-01-01

    The mathematical structure of various constitutive relations proposed in recent years for representing time-dependent inelastic deformation behavior of metals at elevated temperatues has certain features which permit a simple formulation of the three-dimensional inelasticity problem in terms of real time rates. A direct formulation of the boundary-integral equation method in terms of rates is discussed for the analysis of time-dependent inelastic deformation of arbitrarily shaped three-dimensional metallic bodies subjected to arbitrary mechanical and thermal loading histories and obeying constitutive relations of the kind mentioned above. The formulation is based on the assumption of infinitesimal deformations. Several illustrative examples involving creep of thick-walled spheres, long thick-walled cylinders, and rotating discs are discussed. The implementation of the method appears to be far easier than analogous BIE formulations that have been suggested for elastoplastic problems.

  17. Barriers and enablers to the use of high-fidelity patient simulation manikins in nurse education: an integrative review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Ghareeb, Amal Z; Cooper, Simon J

    2016-01-01

    This integrative review identified, critically appraised and synthesised the existing evidence on the barriers and enablers to using high-fidelity human patient simulator manikins (HPSMs) in undergraduate nursing education. In nursing education, specifically at the undergraduate level, a range of low to high-fidelity simulations have been used as teaching aids. However, nursing educators encounter challenges when introducing new teaching methods or technology, despite the prevalence of high-fidelity HPSMs in nursing education. An integrative review adapted a systematic approach. Medline, CINAHL plus, ERIC, PsychINFO, EMBASE, SCOPUS, Science Direct, Cochrane database, Joanna Brigge Institute, ProQuest, California Simulation Alliance, Simulation Innovative Recourses Center and the search engine Google Scholar were searched. Keywords were selected and specific inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied. The review included all research designs for papers published between 2000 and 2015 that identified the barriers and enablers to using high-fidelity HPSMs in undergraduate nursing education. Studies were appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme criteria. Thematic analysis was undertaken and emergent themes were extracted. Twenty-one studies were included in the review. These studies adopted quasi-experimental, prospective non-experimental and descriptive designs. Ten barriers were identified, including "lack of time," "fear of technology" and "workload issues." Seven enablers were identified, including "faculty training," "administrative support" and a "dedicated simulation coordinator." Barriers to simulation relate specifically to the complex technologies inherent in high-fidelity HPSMs approaches. Strategic approaches that support up-skilling and provide dedicated technological support may overcome these barriers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Performance of metallic fuels in liquid-metal fast reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seidel, B.R.; Walters, L.C.; Kittel, J.H.

    1984-01-01

    Interest in metallic fuels for liquid-metal fast reactors has come full circle. Metallic fuels are once again a viable alternative for fast reactors because reactor outlet temperature of interest to industry are well within the range where metallic fuels have demonstrated high burnup and reliable performance. In addition, metallic fuel is very tolerant of off-normal events of its high thermal conductivity and fuel behavior. Futhermore, metallic fuels lend themselves to compact and simplified reprocessing and refabrication technologies, a key feature in a new concept for deployment of fast reactors called the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR). The IFR concept is a metallic-fueled pool reactor(s) coupled to an integral-remote reprocessing and fabrication facility. The purpose of this paper is to review recent metallic fuel performance, much of which was tested and proven during the twenty years of EBR-II operation

  19. Low-loss integrated electrical surface plasmon source with ultra-smooth metal film fabricated by polymethyl methacrylate ‘bond and peel’ method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Wenjie; Hu, Xiaolong; Zou, Qiushun; Wu, Shaoying; Jin, Chongjun

    2018-06-01

    External light sources are mostly employed to functionalize the plasmonic components, resulting in a bulky footprint. Electrically driven integrated plasmonic devices, combining ultra-compact critical feature sizes with extremely high transmission speeds and low power consumption, can link plasmonics with the present-day electronic world. In an effort to achieve this prospect, suppressing the losses in the plasmonic devices becomes a pressing issue. In this work, we developed a novel polymethyl methacrylate ‘bond and peel’ method to fabricate metal films with sub-nanometer smooth surfaces on semiconductor wafers. Based on this method, we further fabricated a compact plasmonic source containing a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide with an ultra-smooth metal surface on a GaAs-based light-emitting diode wafer. An increase in propagation length of the SPP mode by a factor of 2.95 was achieved as compared with the conventional device containing a relatively rough metal surface. Numerical calculations further confirmed that the propagation length is comparable to the theoretical prediction on the MIM waveguide with perfectly smooth metal surfaces. This method facilitates low-loss and high-integration of electrically driven plasmonic devices, thus provides an immediate opportunity for the practical application of on-chip integrated plasmonic circuits.

  20. Simple and accurate model for voltage-dependent resistance of metallic carbon nanotube interconnects: An ab initio study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamacli, Serhan; Avci, Mutlu

    2009-01-01

    In this work, development of a voltage dependent resistance model for metallic carbon nanotubes is aimed. Firstly, the resistance of metallic carbon nanotube interconnects are obtained from ab initio simulations and then the voltage dependence of the resistance is modeled through regression. Self-consistent non-equilibrium Green's function formalism combined with density functional theory is used for calculating the voltage dependent resistance of metallic carbon nanotubes. It is shown that voltage dependent resistances of carbon nanotubes can be accurately modeled as a polynomial function which enables rapid integration of carbon nanotube interconnect models into electronic design automation tools.

  1. Characterization, integration and reliability of HfO{sub 2} and LaLuO{sub 3} high-κ/metal gate stacks for CMOS applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nichau, Alexander

    2013-07-15

    The continued downscaling of MOSFET dimensions requires an equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of the gate stack below 1 nm. An EOT below 1.4 nm is hereby enabled by the use of high-κ/metal gate stacks. LaLuO{sub 3} and HfO{sub 2} are investigated as two different high-κ oxides on silicon in conjunction with TiN as the metal electrode. LaLuO{sub 3} and its temperature-dependent silicate formation are characterized by hard X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (HAXPES). The effective attenuation length of LaLuO{sub 3} is determined between 7 and 13 keV to enable future interface and diffusion studies. In a first investigation of LaLuO{sub 3} on germanium, germanate formation is shown. LaLuO{sub 3} is further integrated in a high-temperature MOSFET process flow with varying thermal treatment. The devices feature drive currents up to 70μA/μm at 1μm gate length. Several optimization steps are presented. The effective device mobility is related to silicate formation and thermal budget. At high temperature the silicate formation leads to mobility degradation due to La-rich silicate formation. The integration of LaLuO{sub 3} in high-T processes delicately connects with the optimization of the TiN metal electrode. Hereby, stoichiometric TiN yields the best results in terms of thermal stability with respect to Si-capping and high-κ oxide. Different approaches are presented for a further EOT reduction with LaLuO{sub 3} and HfO{sub 2}. Thereby the thermodynamic and kinetic predictions are employed to estimate the behavior on the nanoscale. Based on thermodynamics, excess oxygen in the gate stack, especially in oxidized metal electrodes, is identified to prevent EOT scaling below 1.2 nm. The equivalent oxide thickness of HfO{sub 2} gate stacks is scalable below 1 nm by the use of thinned interfacial SiO{sub 2}. The prevention of oxygen incorporation into the metal electrode by Si-capping maintains the EOT after high temperature annealing. Redox systems are employed within the

  2. Fiber optic/cone penetrometer system for subsurface heavy metals detection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saggese, S.; Greenwell, R.

    1995-01-01

    The objective of this project is to develop an integrated fiber optic sensor/cone penetrometer system to analyze the heavy metals content of the subsurface. This site characterization tool will use an optical fiber cable assembly which delivers high power laser energy to vaporize and excite a sample in-situ and return the emission spectrum from the plasma produced for chemical analysis. The chemical analysis technique, often referred to as laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), has recently shown to be an effective method for the quantitative analysis of contaminants soils. By integrating the fiber optic sensor with the cone penetrometer, we anticipate that the resultant system will enable in-situ, low cost, high resolution, real-time subsurface characterization of numerous heavy metal soil contaminants simultaneously. There are several challenges associated with the integration of the LIBS sensor and cone penetrometer. One challenge is to design an effective means of optically accessing the soil via the fiber probe in the penetrometer. A second challenge is to develop the fiber probe system such that the resultant emission signal is adequate for quantitative analysis. Laboratory techniques typically use free space delivery of the laser to the sample. The high laser powers used in the laboratory cannot be used with optical fibers, therefore, the effectiveness of the LIBS system at the laser powers acceptable to fiber delivery must be evaluated. The primary objectives for this project are: (1) Establish that a fiber optic LIBS technique can be used to detect heavy metals to the required concentration levels; (2) Design and fabricate a fiber optic probe for integration with the penetrometer system for the analysis of heavy metals in soil samples; (3) Design, fabricate, and test an integrated fiber/penetrometer system; (4) Fabricate a rugged, field deployable laser source and detection hardware system; and (6) Demonstrate the prototype in field deployments

  3. Nonplanar Nanoscale Fin Field Effect Transistors on Textile, Paper, Wood, Stone, and Vinyl via Soft Material-Enabled Double-Transfer Printing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rojas, Jhonathan P; Torres Sevilla, Galo A; Alfaraj, Nasir; Ghoneim, Mohamed T; Kutbee, Arwa T; Sridharan, Ashvitha; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

    2015-05-26

    The ability to incorporate rigid but high-performance nanoscale nonplanar complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) electronics with curvilinear, irregular, or asymmetric shapes and surfaces is an arduous but timely challenge in enabling the production of wearable electronics with an in situ information-processing ability in the digital world. Therefore, we are demonstrating a soft-material enabled double-transfer-based process to integrate flexible, silicon-based, nanoscale, nonplanar, fin-shaped field effect transistors (FinFETs) and planar metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) on various asymmetric surfaces to study their compatibility and enhanced applicability in various emerging fields. FinFET devices feature sub-20 nm dimensions and state-of-the-art, high-κ/metal gate stacks, showing no performance alteration after the transfer process. A further analysis of the transferred MOSFET devices, featuring 1 μm gate length, exhibits an ION value of nearly 70 μA/μm (VDS = 2 V, VGS = 2 V) and a low subthreshold swing of around 90 mV/dec, proving that a soft interfacial material can act both as a strong adhesion/interposing layer between devices and final substrate as well as a means to reduce strain, which ultimately helps maintain the device's performance with insignificant deterioration even at a high bending state.

  4. Integration Science and Technology of Advanced Ceramics for Energy and Environmental Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, M.

    2012-01-01

    The discovery of new and innovative materials has been known to culminate in major turning points in human history. The transformative impact and functional manifestation of new materials have been demonstrated in every historical era by their integration into new products, systems, assemblies, and devices. In modern times, the integration of new materials into usable products has a special relevance for the technological development and economic competitiveness of industrial societies. Advanced ceramic technologies dramatically impact the energy and environmental landscape due to potential wide scale applications in all aspects of energy production, storage, distribution, conservation, and efficiency. Examples include gas turbine propulsion systems, fuel cells, thermoelectrics, photovoltaics, distribution and transmission systems based on superconductors, nuclear power generation, and waste disposal. Robust ceramic integration technologies enable hierarchical design and manufacturing of intricate ceramic components starting with geometrically simpler units that are subsequently joined to themselves and/or to metals to create components with progressively higher levels of complexity and functionality. However, for the development of robust and reliable integrated systems with optimum performance under different operating conditions, the detailed understanding of various thermochemical and thermomechanical factors is critical. Different approaches are required for the integration of ceramic-metal and ceramic-ceramic systems across length scales (macro to nano). In this presentation, a few examples of integration of ceramic to metals and ceramic to ceramic systems will be presented. Various challenges and opportunities in design, fabrication, and testing of integrated similar (ceramic-ceramic) and dissimilar (ceramic-metal) material systems will be discussed. Potential opportunities and need for the development of innovative design philosophies, approaches, and

  5. Finite element modeling simulation-assisted design of integrated microfluidic chips for heavy metal ion stripping analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hong, Ying; Zou, Jianhua; Ge, Gang; Xiao, Wanyue; Shao, Jinjun; Dong, Xiaochen; Gao, Ling

    2017-01-01

    In this article, a transparent integrated microfluidic device composed of a 3D-printed thin-layer flow cell (3D-PTLFC) and an S-shaped screen-printed electrode (SPE) has been designed and fabricated for heavy metal ion stripping analysis. A finite element modeling (FEM) simulation is employed to optimize the shape of the electrode, the direction of the inlet pipeline, the thin-layer channel height and the sample flow rate to enhance the electron-enrichment efficiency for stripping analysis. The results demonstrate that the S-shaped SPE configuration matches the channel in 3D-PTLFC perfectly for the anodic stripping behavior of the heavy metal ions. Under optimized conditions, a wide linear range of 1–80 µ g l −1 is achieved for Pb 2+ detection with a limit of 0.3 µ g l −1 for the microfluidic device. Thus, the obtained integrated microfluidic device proves to be a promising approach for heavy metal ions stripping analysis with low cost and high performance. (paper)

  6. Integrated DWPF Melter System (IDMS) campaign report: The first two noble metals operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hutson, N.D.; Zamecnik, J.R.; Smith, M.E.; Miller, D.H.; Ritter, J.A.

    1991-01-01

    The Integrated DWPF Melter System (IDMS) is designed and constructed to provide an engineering-scale representation of the DWPF melter and its associated feed preparation and off-gas systems. The facility is the first pilot-scale melter system capable of processing mercury, and flowsheet levels of halides and noble metals. In order to characterize the processing of noble metals (Pd, Rh, Ru, and Ag) on a large scale, the IDMS will be operated batchstyle for at least nine feed preparation cycles. The first two of these operations are complete. The major observation to date occurred during the second run when significant amounts of hydrogen were evolved during the feed preparation cycle. The runs were conducted between June 7, 1990 and March 8, 1991. This time period included nearly six months of ''fix-up'' time when forced air purges were installed on the SRAT MFT and other feed preparation vessels to allow continued noble metals experimentation

  7. Integration of a terahertz quantum cascade laser with a hollow waveguide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wanke, Michael C [Albuquerque, NM; Nordquist, Christopher D [Albuquerque, NM

    2012-07-03

    The present invention is directed to the integration of a quantum cascade laser with a hollow waveguide on a chip to improve both the beam pattern and manufacturability. By coupling the QCL output into a single-mode rectangular waveguide the radiation mode structure can be known and the propagation, manipulation, and broadcast of the QCL radiation can then be entirely controlled by well-established rectangular waveguide techniques. By controlling the impedance of the interface, enhanced functions, such as creating amplifiers, efficient coupling to external cavities, and increasing power output from metal-metal THz QCLs, are also enabled.

  8. 5G-Enabled Tactile Internet

    OpenAIRE

    Simsek, Meryem; Aijaz, Adnan; Dohler, Mischa; Sachs, Joachim; Fettweis, Gerhard

    2016-01-01

    The long-term ambition of the Tactile Internet is to enable a democratization of skill, and how it is being delivered globally. An integral part of this is to be able to transmit touch in perceived real-time, which is enabled by suitable robotics and haptics equipment at the edges, along with an unprecedented communications network. The fifth generation (5G) mobile communications systems will underpin this emerging Internet at the wireless edge. This paper presents the most important technolo...

  9. Laser Direct Writing and Selective Metallization of Metallic Circuits for Integrated Wireless Devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Jinguang; Lv, Chao; Watanabe, Akira

    2018-01-10

    Portable and wearable devices have attracted wide research attention due to their intimate relations with human daily life. As basic structures in the devices, the preparation of high-conductive metallic circuits or micro-circuits on flexible substrates should be facile, cost-effective, and easily integrated with other electronic units. In this work, high-conductive carbon/Ni composite structures were prepared by using a facile laser direct writing method, followed by an electroless Ni plating process, which exhibit a 3-order lower sheet resistance of less than 0.1 ohm/sq compared to original structures before plating, showing the potential for practical use. The carbon/Ni composite structures exhibited a certain flexibility and excellent anti-scratch property due to the tight deposition of Ni layers on carbon surfaces. On the basis of this approach, a wireless charging and storage device on a polyimide film was demonstrated by integrating an outer rectangle carbon/Ni composite coil for harvesting electromagnetic waves and an inner carbon micro-supercapacitor for energy storage, which can be fast charged wirelessly by a commercial wireless charger. Furthermore, a near-field communication (NFC) tag was prepared by combining a carbon/Ni composite coil for harvesting signals and a commercial IC chip for data storage, which can be used as an NFC tag for practical application.

  10. Cladding failure margins for metallic fuel in the integral fast reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bauer, T.H.; Fenske, G.R.; Kramer, J.M.

    1987-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) concept being developed at Argonne National Laboratory has prompted a renewed interest in uranium-based metal alloys as a fuel for sodium-cooled fast reactors. In this paper we will present recent measurements of cladding eutectic penetration rates for the ternary IFR alloy and will compare these results with earlier eutectic penetration data for other fuel and cladding materials. A method for calculating failure of metallic fuel pins is developed by combining cladding deformation equations with a large strain analysis where the hoop stress is calculated using the instantaneous wall thickness as determined from correlations of the eutectic penetration-rate data. This method is applied to analyze the results of in-reactor and out-of-reactor fuel pin failure tests on uranium-fissium alloy EBR-II Mark-II driver fuel. In the final section of this paper we extend the calculations to consider the failure of IFR ternary fuel under reactor accident conditions. (orig./GL)

  11. Cladding failure margins for metallic fuel in the integral fast reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bauer, T.H.; Fenske, G.R.; Kramer, J.M.

    1987-01-01

    The reference fuel for Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is a ternary U-Pu-Zr alloy with a low swelling austenitic or ferritic stainless steel cladding. It is known that low melting point eutectics may form in such metallic fuel-cladding systems which could contribute to cladding failure under accident conditions. This paper will present recent measurements of cladding eutectic penetration rates for the ternary IFR alloy and will compare these results with earlier eutectic penetration data for other fuel and cladding materials. A method for calculating failure of metallic fuel pins is developed by combining cladding deformation equations with a large strain analysis where the hoop stress is calculated using the instantaneous wall thickness as determined from correlations of the eutectic penetration-rate data. This method is applied to analyze the results of in-reactor and out-of-reactor fuel pin failure tests on uranium-fissium alloy EBR-II Mark-II driver fuel

  12. Broadband image sensor array based on graphene-CMOS integration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goossens, Stijn; Navickaite, Gabriele; Monasterio, Carles; Gupta, Shuchi; Piqueras, Juan José; Pérez, Raúl; Burwell, Gregory; Nikitskiy, Ivan; Lasanta, Tania; Galán, Teresa; Puma, Eric; Centeno, Alba; Pesquera, Amaia; Zurutuza, Amaia; Konstantatos, Gerasimos; Koppens, Frank

    2017-06-01

    Integrated circuits based on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (CMOS) are at the heart of the technological revolution of the past 40 years, enabling compact and low-cost microelectronic circuits and imaging systems. However, the diversification of this platform into applications other than microcircuits and visible-light cameras has been impeded by the difficulty to combine semiconductors other than silicon with CMOS. Here, we report the monolithic integration of a CMOS integrated circuit with graphene, operating as a high-mobility phototransistor. We demonstrate a high-resolution, broadband image sensor and operate it as a digital camera that is sensitive to ultraviolet, visible and infrared light (300-2,000 nm). The demonstrated graphene-CMOS integration is pivotal for incorporating 2D materials into the next-generation microelectronics, sensor arrays, low-power integrated photonics and CMOS imaging systems covering visible, infrared and terahertz frequencies.

  13. Gate-first integration of tunable work function metal gates of different thicknesses into high-k metal gates CMOS FinFETs for multi- VTh engineering

    KAUST Repository

    Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa; Smith, Casey Eben; Harris, Harlan Rusty; Young, Chadwin; Tseng, Hsinghuang; Jammy, Rajarao

    2010-01-01

    Gate-first integration of tunable work function metal gates of different thicknesses (320 nm) into high-k/metal gates CMOS FinFETs was demonstrated to achieve multiple threshold voltages (VTh) for 32-nm technology and beyond logic, memory, input/output, and system-on-a-chip applications. The fabricated devices showed excellent short-channel effect immunity (drain-induced barrier lowering ∼ 40 mV/V), nearly symmetric VTh, low T inv(∼ 1.4 nm), and high Ion(∼780μAμm) for N/PMOS without any intentional strain enhancement. © 2006 IEEE.

  14. Gate-first integration of tunable work function metal gates of different thicknesses into high-k metal gates CMOS FinFETs for multi- VTh engineering

    KAUST Repository

    Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

    2010-03-01

    Gate-first integration of tunable work function metal gates of different thicknesses (320 nm) into high-k/metal gates CMOS FinFETs was demonstrated to achieve multiple threshold voltages (VTh) for 32-nm technology and beyond logic, memory, input/output, and system-on-a-chip applications. The fabricated devices showed excellent short-channel effect immunity (drain-induced barrier lowering ∼ 40 mV/V), nearly symmetric VTh, low T inv(∼ 1.4 nm), and high Ion(∼780μAμm) for N/PMOS without any intentional strain enhancement. © 2006 IEEE.

  15. Social-ecological enabling conditions for payments for ecosystem services

    OpenAIRE

    Heidi R. Huber-Stearns; Drew E. Bennett; Stephen Posner; Ryan C. Richards; Jenn Hoyle. Fair; Stella J. M. Cousins; Chelsie L. Romulo

    2017-01-01

    The concept of "enabling conditions" centers on conditions that facilitate approaches to addressing social and ecological challenges. Although multiple fields have independently addressed the concept of enabling conditions, the literature lacks a shared understanding or integration of concepts. We propose a more synthesized understanding of enabling conditions beyond disciplinary boundaries by focusing on the enabling conditions that influence the implementation of a range of environmental p...

  16. A novel fabrication method for surface integration of metal structures into polymers (SIMSIP)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrion-Gonzalez, Hector

    Recently developed flexible electronics applications require that the thin metal films embedded on elastomer substrates also be flexible. These electronic systems are radically different in terms of performance and functionality than conventional silicon-based devices. A key question is whether the metal deposited on flexible films can survive large strains without rupture. Cumbersome macro-fabrication methods have been developed for functional and bendable electronics (e.g., interconnects) encapsulated between layers of polymer films. However, future electronic applications may require electronic flexible devices to be in intimate contact with curved surfaces (e.g., retinal implants) and to be robust enough to withstand large and repeated mechanical deformations. In this research, a novel technique for surface integration of metal structures into polymers (SIMSIP) was developed. Surface embedding, as opposed to placing metal on polymers, provides better adherence while leaving the surface accessible for contacts. This was accomplished by first fabricating the micro-scale metal patterns on a quartz or Teflon mother substrate, and then embedding them to a flexible polyimide thin film. The technique was successfully used to embed micro-metal structures of gold (Au), silver (Ag), and copper (Cu) into polyimide films without affecting the functional properties of the either the metals or the polymers. Experimental results confirm the successful surface-embedding of metal structures as narrow as 0.6 microm wide for different geometries commonly used in circuit design. Although similar approaches exist in literature, the proposed methodology provides a simpler and more reliable way of producing flexible circuits/electronics that is also suitable for high volume manufacturing. In order to demonstrate the flexibility of metal interconnects fabricated using the SIMSIP technique, multiple Au electrodes (5 microm and 2.5 microm wide) were tested using the X-theta bending

  17. Enabling rapid behavioral ecotoxicity studies using an integrated lab-on-a-chip systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Yushi; Nugegoda, Dayanthi; Wlodkowic, Donald

    2015-12-01

    Behavioral ecotoxicity tests are gaining an increasing recognition in environmental toxicology. Behavior of sensitive bioindicator species can change rapidly in response to an acute exposure to contaminants and thus has a much higher sensitivity as compared to conventional LC50 mortality tests. Furthermore, behavioral endpoints seems to be very good candidates to develop early-warning biomonitoring systems needed for rapid chemical risk assessment. Behavioral tests are non-invasive, fast, do not harm indicator organisms (behavioural changes are very rapid) and are thus fully compatible with 3R (Replacement - Reduction - Refinement) principle encouraging alternatives to conventional animal testing. These characteristics are essential when designing improved ecotoxicity tests for chemical risk assessment. In this work, we present a pilot development of miniaturized Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) devices for studying toxin avoidance behaviors of small aquatic crustaceans. As an investigative tool, LOCs represent a new direction that may miniaturize and revolutionize behavioral ecotoxicology. Specifically our innovative microfluidic prototype: (i) enables convening "caging" of specimens for real-time videomicroscopy; (ii) eliminates the evaporative water loss thus providing an opportunity for long-term behavioral studies; (iii) exploits laminar fluid flow under low Reynolds numbers to generate discrete domains and gradients enabling for the first time toxin avoidance studies on small aquatic crustaceans; (iv) integrates off-the-chip mechatronic interfaces and video analysis algorithms for single animal movement analysis. We provide evidence that by merging innovative bioelectronic and biomicrofluidic technologies we can deploy inexpensive and reliable systems for culture, electronic tracking and complex computational analysis of behavior of bioindicator organisms.

  18. Identification of the benefits, enablers and barriers to integrating junior pharmacists into the ward team within one UK-based hospital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hung MY

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Man Yui Hung,1 David John Wright,2 Jeanette Blacklock,2 Richard John Needle1,2 1Pharmacy Department, Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, Colchester, 2School of Pharmacy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK Introduction: A high nurse-vacancy rate combined with high numbers of applications for junior pharmacist roles resulted in Colchester Hospital University National Health System Foundation Trust trial employing junior pharmacists into traditional nursing posts with the aim of integrating pharmacists into the ward team and enhancing local medicines optimization. The aim of the evaluation was to describe the implementation process and practice of the integrated care pharmacists (ICPs in order to inform future innovations of a similar nature.Methods: Four band 6 ward-based ICPs were employed on two wards funded within current ward staffing expenditure. With ethical committee approval, interviews were undertaken with the ICPs and focus groups with ward nurses, senior ward nurses and members of the medical team. Data were analyzed thematically to identify service benefits, barriers and enablers. Routine ward performance data were obtained from the two ICP wards and two wards selected as comparators. Appropriate statistical tests were performed to identify differences in performance.Results: Four ICPs were interviewed, and focus groups were undertaken with three junior nurses, four senior nurses and three medical practitioners. Service enablers were continuous ward time, undertaking drug administration, positive feedback and use of effective communication methods. Barriers were planning, funding model, career development, and interprofessional working and social isolation. ICPs were believed to save nurse time and improve medicines safety. The proportion of patients receiving medicine reconciliation within 24 hours increased significantly in the ICP wards. All ICPs had resigned from their role within 12 months.Discussion: It was

  19. Non-Planar Nano-Scale Fin Field Effect Transistors on Textile, Paper, Wood, Stone, and Vinyl via Soft Material-Enabled Double-Transfer Printing

    KAUST Repository

    Rojas, Jhonathan Prieto; Sevilla, Galo T.; Alfaraj, Nasir; Ghoneim, Mohamed T.; Kutbee, Arwa T.; Sridharan, Ashvitha; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

    2015-01-01

    The ability to incorporate rigid but high-performance nano-scale non-planar complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) electronics with curvilinear, irregular, or asymmetric shapes and surfaces is an arduous but timely challenge in enabling the production of wearable electronics with an in-situ information-processing ability in the digital world. Therefore, we are demonstrating a soft-material enabled double-transfer-based process to integrate flexible, silicon-based, nano-scale, non-planar, fin-shaped field effect transistors (FinFETs) and planar metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) on various asymmetric surfaces to study their compatibility and enhanced applicability in various emerging fields. FinFET devices feature sub-20 nm dimensions and state-of-the-art, high-κ/metal gate stack, showing no performance alteration after the transfer process. A further analysis of the transferred MOSFET devices, featuring 1 μm gate length exhibits ION ~70 μA/μm (VDS = 2 V, VGS = 2 V) and a low sub-threshold swing of around 90 mV/dec, proving that a soft interfacial material can act both as a strong adhesion/interposing layer between devices and final substrate as well as a means to reduce strain, which ultimately helps maintain the device’s performance with insignificant deterioration even at a high bending state.

  20. Non-Planar Nano-Scale Fin Field Effect Transistors on Textile, Paper, Wood, Stone, and Vinyl via Soft Material-Enabled Double-Transfer Printing

    KAUST Repository

    Rojas, Jhonathan Prieto

    2015-05-01

    The ability to incorporate rigid but high-performance nano-scale non-planar complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) electronics with curvilinear, irregular, or asymmetric shapes and surfaces is an arduous but timely challenge in enabling the production of wearable electronics with an in-situ information-processing ability in the digital world. Therefore, we are demonstrating a soft-material enabled double-transfer-based process to integrate flexible, silicon-based, nano-scale, non-planar, fin-shaped field effect transistors (FinFETs) and planar metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) on various asymmetric surfaces to study their compatibility and enhanced applicability in various emerging fields. FinFET devices feature sub-20 nm dimensions and state-of-the-art, high-κ/metal gate stack, showing no performance alteration after the transfer process. A further analysis of the transferred MOSFET devices, featuring 1 μm gate length exhibits ION ~70 μA/μm (VDS = 2 V, VGS = 2 V) and a low sub-threshold swing of around 90 mV/dec, proving that a soft interfacial material can act both as a strong adhesion/interposing layer between devices and final substrate as well as a means to reduce strain, which ultimately helps maintain the device’s performance with insignificant deterioration even at a high bending state.

  1. Simultaneous and integrated neutron-based techniques for material analysis of a metallic ancient flute

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Festa, G; Andreani, C; Pietropaolo, A; Grazzi, F; Scherillo, A; Barzagli, E; Sutton, L F; Bognetti, L; Bini, A; Schooneveld, E

    2013-01-01

    A metallic 19th century flute was studied by means of integrated and simultaneous neutron-based techniques: neutron diffraction, neutron radiative capture analysis and neutron radiography. This experiment follows benchmark measurements devoted to assessing the effectiveness of a multitask beamline concept for neutron-based investigation on materials. The aim of this study is to show the potential application of the approach using multiple and integrated neutron-based techniques for musical instruments. Such samples, in the broad scenario of cultural heritage, represent an exciting research field. They may represent an interesting link between different disciplines such as nuclear physics, metallurgy and acoustics. (paper)

  2. Development of metallic high integrity containers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Temus, C.J.; Porter, S.A.; Kent, J.D.; Goetsch, S.D.

    1985-01-01

    This paper presents the development program for metallic high integrity containers (HIC's). The need for a high strength, thin walled HIC became apparent with the implementation of 10 CFR 61 in late 1983. The existing containers that were in use at that time were made of either low strength material (polyethylene) or bulky, heavy material (concrete). Neither of these materials met the need for a high strength, volume and weight efficient container that could survive the deep burial environment of sites such as Hanford, Washington. Various alloys were considered for corrosion resistance for a 300 year life, high strength and toughness, and elastic stability to meet the requirements of 10 CFR 61. The alloy allowed for great flexibility in design to accommodate various waste forms. The containers were developed in various sizes with several different closures designed to minimize operator exposure during the loading operation. These design features provide the industry with efficient, disposable packages for a wide variety of waste forms. The paper describes the analytical methodology and prototype test program. The analytical methods included finite element modeling of the burial conditions, prediction of drop performance,and elastic stability analysis. Prototype testing included leak tests and drop tests at various container orientations from heights of up to 25 feet

  3. Signal Integration in Quorum Sensing Enables Cross-Species Induction of Virulence in Pectobacterium wasabiae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valente, Rita S; Nadal-Jimenez, Pol; Carvalho, André F P; Vieira, Filipe J D; Xavier, Karina B

    2017-05-23

    Bacterial communities can sense their neighbors, regulating group behaviors in response to cell density and environmental changes. The diversity of signaling networks in a single species has been postulated to allow custom responses to different stimuli; however, little is known about how multiple signals are integrated and the implications of this integration in different ecological contexts. In the plant pathogen Pectobacterium wasabiae (formerly Erwinia carotovora ), two signaling networks-the N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) quorum-sensing system and the Gac/Rsm signal transduction pathway-control the expression of secreted plant cell wall-degrading enzymes, its major virulence determinants. We show that the AHL system controls the Gac/Rsm system by affecting the expression of the regulatory RNA RsmB. This regulation is mediated by ExpR2, the quorum-sensing receptor that responds to the P. wasabiae cognate AHL but also to AHLs produced by other bacterial species. As a consequence, this level of regulation allows P. wasabiae to bypass the Gac-dependent regulation of RsmB in the presence of exogenous AHLs or AHL-producing bacteria. We provide in vivo evidence that this pivotal role of RsmB in signal transduction is important for the ability of P. wasabiae to induce virulence in response to other AHL-producing bacteria in multispecies plant lesions. Our results suggest that the signaling architecture in P. wasabiae was coopted to prime the bacteria to eavesdrop on other bacteria and quickly join the efforts of other species, which are already exploiting host resources. IMPORTANCE Quorum-sensing mechanisms enable bacteria to communicate through small signal molecules and coordinate group behaviors. Often, bacteria have various quorum-sensing receptors and integrate information with other signal transduction pathways, presumably allowing them to respond to different ecological contexts. The plant pathogen Pectobacterium wasabiae has two N-acyl homoserine lactone

  4. Casting of metallic fuel containing minor actinide additions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trybus, C.L.; Henslee, S.P.; Sanecki, J.E.

    1992-01-01

    A significant attribute of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) concept is the transmutation of long-lived minor actinide fission products. These isotopes require isolation for thousands of years, and if they could be removed from the waste, disposal problems would be reduced. The IFR utilizes pyroprocessing of metallic fuel to separate auranium, plutonium, and the minor actinides from nonfissionable constituents. These materials are reintroduced into the fuel and reirradiated. Spent IFR fuel is expected to contain low levels of americium, neptunium, and curium because the hard neutron spectrum should transmute these isotopes as they are produced. This opens the possibility of using an IFR to trnasmute minor actinide waste from conventional light water reactors (LWRs). A standard IFR fuel is based on the alloy U-20% Pu-10% Zr (in weight percent). A metallic fuel system eases the requirements for reprocessing methods and enables the minor actinide metals to be incorporated into the fuel with simple modifications to the basic fuel casting process. In this paper, the authors report the initial casting experience with minor actinide element addition to an IFR U-Pu-Zr metallic fuel

  5. Alkoxide-based precursors for direct drawing of metal oxide micro- and nanofibres

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Taette, Tanel; Hussainov, Medhat; Paalo, Madis; Part, Marko; Talviste, Rasmus; Kiisk, Valter; Maendar, Hugo; Pohako, Kaija; Reivelt, Kaido; Lohmus, Ants [Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Riia 142, Tartu 51014 (Estonia); Pehk, Tonis [National Institute of Chemical and Biological Physics, Akadeemia tee 23, Tallinn 12618 (Estonia); Natali, Marco [ICIS-CNR, Corso Stati Uniti 4, Padova 35127 (Italy); Gurauskis, Jonas [Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragon C.S.I.C., University of Zaragoza Fac. De Ciencias, c/Pedro Cerbuna 12, Zaragoza 50009 (Spain); Maeeorg, Uno, E-mail: tanelt@fi.tartu.ee [Institute of Chemistry, University of Tartu, Ravila 14a, Tartu 50411 (Estonia)

    2011-06-15

    The invention of electrospinning has solved the problem of producing micro- and nanoscaled metal oxide fibres in bulk quantities. However, until now no methods have been available for preparing a single nanofibre of a metal oxide. In this work, the direct drawing method was successfully applied to produce metal oxide (SnO{sub 2}, TiO{sub 2}, ZrO{sub 2}, HfO{sub 2} and CeO{sub 2}) fibres with a high aspect ratio (up to 10 000) and a diameter as small as 200 nm. The sol-gel processing includes consumption of precursors obtained from alkoxides by aqueous or non-aqueous polymerization. Shear thinning of the precursors enables pulling a material into a fibre. This rheological behaviour can be explained by sliding of particles owing to external forces. Transmission (propagation) of light along microscaled fibres and their excellent surface morphology suggest that metal oxide nanofibres can be directly drawn from sol precursors for use in integrated photonic systems.

  6. Run-Beyond-Cladding-Breach (RBCB) test results for the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) metallic fuels program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Batte, G.L.; Hoffman, G.L.

    1990-01-01

    In 1984 Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) began an aggressive program of research and development based on the concept of a closed system for fast-reactor power generation and on-site fuel reprocessing, exclusively designed around the use of metallic fuel. This is the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR). Although the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) has used metallic fuel since its creation 25 yeas ago, in 1985 ANL began a study of the characteristics and behavior of an advanced-design metallic fuel based on uranium-zirconium (U-Zr) and uranium-plutonium-zirconium (U-Pu-Zr) alloys. During the past five years several areas were addressed concerning the performance of this fuel system. In all instances of testing the metallic fuel has demonstrated its ability to perform reliably to high burnups under varying design conditions. This paper will present one area of testing which concerns the fuel system's performance under breach conditions. It is the purpose of this paper to document the observed post-breach behavior of this advanced-design metallic fuel. 2 figs., 1 tab

  7. Development of advanced spent fuel management process / criticality safety analysis for integrated mockup and metallized spent fuel storage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ro, Seong Gy; Shin, Hee Sung; Shin, Young Joon; Bae, Kang Mok

    1999-02-01

    Benchmark calculation for SCALE4.3 CSAS6 module and burnup credit criticality analysis performed by CSAS6 module are described in this report. Calculation biases by the SCALE4.3 CSAS6 module for PWR spent fuel, metallized spent fuel and aqueous nuclear materials have been determined on the basis of the benchmark to be 0.011, 0.023 and 0.010, respectively. The maximum allowable multiplication factor for an integrated mockup and metallized spent fuel storage is conservatively determined to be 0.927. With the aid of this code system, K eff values as a function of metallization ratio for the integrated mockup have been calculated. The maximum values of K eff for normal and hypothetical accident conditions are 0.346 and 0.598, respectively, much less than the maximum allowable multiplication factor of 0.927. Besides, burnup credit criticality analysis has been performed for infinite arrays of square and hexagonal canisters containing metallized spent fuel rods with different canister wall thickness, canister surface-to-surface distance and water content. It is revealed that the effective multiplication factor for canister arrays as mentioned above is well below the subcritical limit regardless of external conditions when its wall thickness is over 9 mm. (Author). 37 refs., 27 tabs., 64 figs

  8. Fluidic Logic Used in a Systems Approach to Enable Integrated Single-cell Functional Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naveen Ramalingam

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The study of single cells has evolved over the past several years to include expression and genomic analysis of an increasing number of single cells. Several studies have demonstrated wide-spread variation and heterogeneity within cell populations of similar phenotype. While the characterization of these populations will likely set the foundation for our understanding of genomic- and expression-based diversity, it will not be able to link the functional differences of a single cell to its underlying genomic structure and activity. Currently, it is difficult to perturb single cells in a controlled environment, monitor and measure the response due to perturbation, and link these response measurements to downstream genomic and transcriptomic analysis. In order to address this challenge, we developed a platform to integrate and miniaturize many of the experimental steps required to study single-cell function. The heart of this platform is an elastomer-based Integrated Fluidic Circuit (IFC that uses fluidic logic to select and sequester specific single cells based on a phenotypic trait for downstream experimentation. Experiments with sequestered cells that have been performed include on-chip culture, exposure to a variety of stimulants, and post-exposure image-based response analysis, followed by preparation of the mRNA transcriptome for massively parallel sequencing analysis. The flexible system embodies experimental design and execution that enable routine functional studies of single cells.

  9. Selective Audiovisual Semantic Integration Enabled by Feature-Selective Attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yuanqing; Long, Jinyi; Huang, Biao; Yu, Tianyou; Wu, Wei; Li, Peijun; Fang, Fang; Sun, Pei

    2016-01-13

    An audiovisual object may contain multiple semantic features, such as the gender and emotional features of the speaker. Feature-selective attention and audiovisual semantic integration are two brain functions involved in the recognition of audiovisual objects. Humans often selectively attend to one or several features while ignoring the other features of an audiovisual object. Meanwhile, the human brain integrates semantic information from the visual and auditory modalities. However, how these two brain functions correlate with each other remains to be elucidated. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we explored the neural mechanism by which feature-selective attention modulates audiovisual semantic integration. During the fMRI experiment, the subjects were presented with visual-only, auditory-only, or audiovisual dynamical facial stimuli and performed several feature-selective attention tasks. Our results revealed that a distribution of areas, including heteromodal areas and brain areas encoding attended features, may be involved in audiovisual semantic integration. Through feature-selective attention, the human brain may selectively integrate audiovisual semantic information from attended features by enhancing functional connectivity and thus regulating information flows from heteromodal areas to brain areas encoding the attended features.

  10. Architectural design of heterogeneous metallic nanocrystals--principles and processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Yue; Zhang, Qingbo; Yao, Qiaofeng; Xie, Jianping; Lee, Jim Yang

    2014-12-16

    CONSPECTUS: Heterogeneous metal nanocrystals (HMNCs) are a natural extension of simple metal nanocrystals (NCs), but as a research topic, they have been much less explored until recently. HMNCs are formed by integrating metal NCs of different compositions into a common entity, similar to the way atoms are bonded to form molecules. HMNCs can be built to exhibit an unprecedented architectural diversity and complexity by programming the arrangement of the NC building blocks ("unit NCs"). The architectural engineering of HMNCs involves the design and fabrication of the architecture-determining elements (ADEs), i.e., unit NCs with precise control of shape and size, and their relative positions in the design. Similar to molecular engineering, where structural diversity is used to create more property variations for application explorations, the architectural engineering of HMNCs can similarly increase the utility of metal NCs by offering a suite of properties to support multifunctionality in applications. The architectural engineering of HMNCs calls for processes and operations that can execute the design. Some enabling technologies already exist in the form of classical micro- and macroscale fabrication techniques, such as masking and etching. These processes, when used singly or in combination, are fully capable of fabricating nanoscopic objects. What is needed is a detailed understanding of the engineering control of ADEs and the translation of these principles into actual processes. For simplicity of execution, these processes should be integrated into a common reaction system and yet retain independence of control. The key to architectural diversity is therefore the independent controllability of each ADE in the design blueprint. The right chemical tools must be applied under the right circumstances in order to achieve the desired outcome. In this Account, after a short illustration of the infinite possibility of combining different ADEs to create HMNC design

  11. An integrated approach to assess heavy metal source apportionment in peri-urban agricultural soils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, Ying; Li, Tingqiang; Wu, Chengxian; He, Zhenli; Japenga, Jan; Deng, Meihua; Yang, Xiaoe

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Heavy metal source apportionment was conducted in peri-urban agricultural areas. • Precise and quantified results were obtained by using isotope ratio analysis. • The integration of IRA, GIS, PCA, and CA was proved to be more reliable. • Hg pollution was from the use of organic fertilizers in this area. - Abstract: Three techniques (Isotope Ratio Analysis, GIS mapping, and Multivariate Statistical Analysis) were integrated to assess heavy metal pollution and source apportionment in peri-urban agricultural soils. The soils in the study area were moderately polluted with cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg), lightly polluted with lead (Pb), and chromium (Cr). GIS Mapping suggested Cd pollution originates from point sources, whereas Hg, Pb, Cr could be traced back to both point and non-point sources. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated aluminum (Al), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni) were mainly inherited from natural sources, while Hg, Pb, and Cd were associated with two different kinds of anthropogenic sources. Cluster analysis (CA) further identified fertilizers, waste water, industrial solid wastes, road dust, and atmospheric deposition as potential sources. Based on isotope ratio analysis (IRA) organic fertilizers and road dusts accounted for 74–100% and 0–24% of the total Hg input, while road dusts and solid wastes contributed for 0–80% and 19–100% of the Pb input. This study provides a reliable approach for heavy metal source apportionment in this particular peri-urban area, with a clear potential for future application in other regions.

  12. An integrated approach to assess heavy metal source apportionment in peri-urban agricultural soils

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huang, Ying; Li, Tingqiang; Wu, Chengxian [Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Ecological Health, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058 (China); He, Zhenli [University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Indian River Research and Education Center, Fort Pierce, FL 34945 (United States); Japenga, Jan; Deng, Meihua [Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Ecological Health, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058 (China); Yang, Xiaoe, E-mail: xeyang@zju.edu.cn [Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Ecological Health, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058 (China)

    2015-12-15

    Highlights: • Heavy metal source apportionment was conducted in peri-urban agricultural areas. • Precise and quantified results were obtained by using isotope ratio analysis. • The integration of IRA, GIS, PCA, and CA was proved to be more reliable. • Hg pollution was from the use of organic fertilizers in this area. - Abstract: Three techniques (Isotope Ratio Analysis, GIS mapping, and Multivariate Statistical Analysis) were integrated to assess heavy metal pollution and source apportionment in peri-urban agricultural soils. The soils in the study area were moderately polluted with cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg), lightly polluted with lead (Pb), and chromium (Cr). GIS Mapping suggested Cd pollution originates from point sources, whereas Hg, Pb, Cr could be traced back to both point and non-point sources. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated aluminum (Al), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni) were mainly inherited from natural sources, while Hg, Pb, and Cd were associated with two different kinds of anthropogenic sources. Cluster analysis (CA) further identified fertilizers, waste water, industrial solid wastes, road dust, and atmospheric deposition as potential sources. Based on isotope ratio analysis (IRA) organic fertilizers and road dusts accounted for 74–100% and 0–24% of the total Hg input, while road dusts and solid wastes contributed for 0–80% and 19–100% of the Pb input. This study provides a reliable approach for heavy metal source apportionment in this particular peri-urban area, with a clear potential for future application in other regions.

  13. Homogeneous immunosubtraction integrated with sample preparation is enabled by a microfluidic format

    Science.gov (United States)

    Apori, Akwasi A.; Herr, Amy E.

    2011-01-01

    Immunosubtraction is a powerful and resource-intensive laboratory medicine assay that reports both protein mobility and binding specificity. To expedite and automate this electrophoretic assay, we report on advances to the electrophoretic immunosubtraction assay by introducing a homogeneous, not heterogeneous, format with integrated sample preparation. To accomplish homogeneous immunosubtraction, a step-decrease in separation matrix pore-size at the head of a polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) separation channel enables ‘subtraction’ of target analyte when capture antibody is present (as the large immune-complex is excluded from PAGE), but no subtraction when capture antibody is absent. Inclusion of sample preparation functionality via small pore size polyacrylamide membranes is also key to automated operation (i.e., sample enrichment, fluorescence sample labeling, and mixing of sample with free capture antibody). Homogenous sample preparation and assay operation allows on-the-fly, integrated subtraction of one to multiple protein targets and reuse of each device. Optimization of the assay is detailed which allowed for ~95% subtraction of target with 20% non-specific extraction of large species at the optimal antibody-antigen ratio, providing conditions needed for selective target identification. We demonstrate the assay on putative markers of injury and inflammation in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), an emerging area of diagnostics research, by rapidly reporting protein mobility and binding specificity within the sample matrix. We simultaneously detect S100B and C-reactive protein, suspected biomarkers for traumatic brain injury (TBI), in ~2 min. Lastly, we demonstrate S100B detection (65 nM) in raw human CSF with a lower limit of detection of ~3.25 nM, within the clinically relevant concentration range for detecting TBI in CSF. Beyond the novel CSF assay introduced here, a fully automated immunosubtraction assay would impact a spectrum of routine but labor

  14. Liquid metals: fundamentals and applications in chemistry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daeneke, T; Khoshmanesh, K; Mahmood, N; de Castro, I A; Esrafilzadeh, D; Barrow, S J; Dickey, M D; Kalantar-Zadeh, K

    2018-04-03

    Post-transition elements, together with zinc-group metals and their alloys belong to an emerging class of materials with fascinating characteristics originating from their simultaneous metallic and liquid natures. These metals and alloys are characterised by having low melting points (i.e. between room temperature and 300 °C), making their liquid state accessible to practical applications in various fields of physical chemistry and synthesis. These materials can offer extraordinary capabilities in the synthesis of new materials, catalysis and can also enable novel applications including microfluidics, flexible electronics and drug delivery. However, surprisingly liquid metals have been somewhat neglected by the wider research community. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals underlying liquid metal research, including liquid metal synthesis, surface functionalisation and liquid metal enabled chemistry. Furthermore, we discuss phenomena that warrant further investigations in relevant fields and outline how liquid metals can contribute to exciting future applications.

  15. Transmission Integration | Grid Modernization | NREL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Transmission Integration Transmission Integration The goal of NREL's transmission integration integration issues and provide data, analysis, and models to enable the electric power system to more and finding solutions to address them to enable transmission grid integration. Capabilities Power

  16. Infrared transparent graphene heater for silicon photonic integrated circuits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schall, Daniel; Mohsin, Muhammad; Sagade, Abhay A; Otto, Martin; Chmielak, Bartos; Suckow, Stephan; Giesecke, Anna Lena; Neumaier, Daniel; Kurz, Heinrich

    2016-04-18

    Thermo-optical tuning of the refractive index is one of the pivotal operations performed in integrated silicon photonic circuits for thermal stabilization, compensation of fabrication tolerances, and implementation of photonic operations. Currently, heaters based on metal wires provide the temperature control in the silicon waveguide. The strong interaction of metal and light, however, necessitates a certain gap between the heater and the photonic structure to avoid significant transmission loss. Here we present a graphene heater that overcomes this constraint and enables an energy efficient tuning of the refractive index. We achieve a tuning power as low as 22 mW per free spectral range and fast response time of 3 µs, outperforming metal based waveguide heaters. Simulations support the experimental results and suggest that for graphene heaters the spacing to the silicon can be further reduced yielding the best possible energy efficiency and operation speed.

  17. Smart Grid enabled heat pumps

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Carmo, Carolina; Detlefsen, Nina; Nielsen, Mads Pagh

    2014-01-01

    The transition towards a 100 % fossil-free energy system, while achieving extreme penetration levels of intermittent wind and solar power in electricity generation, requires demand-side technologies that are smart (intermittency-friendly) and efficient. The integration of Smart Grid enabling...... with an empirical study in order to achieve a number of recommendations with respect to technology concepts and control strategies that would allow residential vapor-compression heat pumps to support large-scale integration of intermittent renewables. The analysis is based on data gathered over a period of up to 3...

  18. Graphene integrated circuits: new prospects towards receiver realisation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saeed, Mohamed; Hamed, Ahmed; Wang, Zhenxing; Shaygan, Mehrdad; Neumaier, Daniel; Negra, Renato

    2017-12-21

    This work demonstrates a design approach which enables the fabrication of fully integrated radio frequency (RF) and millimetre-wave frequency direct-conversion graphene receivers by adapting the frontend architecture to exploit the state-of-the-art performance of the recently reported wafer-scale CVD metal-insulator-graphene (MIG) diodes. As a proof-of-concept, we built a fully integrated microwave receiver in the frequency range 2.1-2.7 GHz employing the strong nonlinearity and the high responsivity of MIG diodes to successfully receive and demodulate complex, digitally modulated communication signals at 2.45 GHz. In addition, the fabricated receiver uses zero-biased MIG diodes and consumes zero dc power. With the flexibility to be fabricated on different substrates, the prototype receiver frontend is fabricated on a low-cost, glass substrate utilising a custom-developed MMIC process backend which enables the high performance of passive components. The measured performance of the prototype makes it suitable for Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems for medical and communication applications.

  19. Inorganic-Organic Coating via Molecular Layer Deposition Enables Long Life Sodium Metal Anode.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Yang; Goncharova, Lyudmila V; Zhang, Qian; Kaghazchi, Payam; Sun, Qian; Lushington, Andrew; Wang, Biqiong; Li, Ruying; Sun, Xueliang

    2017-09-13

    Metallic Na anode is considered as a promising alternative candidate for Na ion batteries (NIBs) and Na metal batteries (NMBs) due to its high specific capacity, and low potential. However, the unstable solid electrolyte interphase layer caused by serious corrosion and reaction in electrolyte will lead to big challenges, including dendrite growth, low Coulombic efficiency and even safety issues. In this paper, we first demonstrate the inorganic-organic coating via advanced molecular layer deposition (alucone) as a protective layer for metallic Na anode. By protecting Na anode with controllable alucone layer, the dendrites and mossy Na formation have been effectively suppressed and the lifetime has been significantly improved. Moreover, the molecular layer deposition alucone coating shows better performances than the atomic layer deposition Al 2 O 3 coating. The novel design of molecular layer deposition protected Na metal anode may bring in new opportunities to the realization of the next-generation high energy-density NIBs and NMBs.

  20. Design and integration of a hydrogen storage on metallic hydrides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Botzung, M.

    2008-01-01

    This work presents a hydrogen storage system using metal hydrides for a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system. Hydride storage technology has been chosen due to project specifications: high volumetric capacity, low pressures (≤ 3.5 bar) and low temperatures (≤ 75 C: fuel cell temperature). During absorption, heat from hydride generation is dissipated by fluid circulation. An integrated plate-fin type heat exchanger has been designed to obtain good compactness and to reach high absorption/desorption rates. At first, the storage system has been tested in accordance with project specifications (absorption 3.5 bar, desorption 1.5 bar). Then, the hydrogen charge/discharge times have been decreased to reach system limits. System design has been used to simulate thermal and mass comportment of the storage tank. The model is based on the software Fluent. We take in consideration heat and mass transfers in the porous media during absorption/desorption. The hydride thermal and mass behaviour has been integrated in the software. The heat and mass transfers experimentally obtained have been compared to results calculated by the model. The influence of experimental and numerical parameters on the model behaviour has also been explored. (author) [fr

  1. Integrated Magnetic MEMS Relays: Status of the Technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giuseppe Schiavone

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The development and application of magnetic technologies employing microfabricated magnetic structures for the production of switching components has generated enormous interest in the scientific and industrial communities over the last decade. Magnetic actuation offers many benefits when compared to other schemes for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS, including the generation of forces that have higher magnitude and longer range. Magnetic actuation can be achieved using different excitation sources, which create challenges related to the integration with other technologies, such as CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, and the requirement to reduce power consumption. Novel designs and technologies are therefore sought to enable the use of magnetic switching architectures in integrated MEMS devices, without incurring excessive energy consumption. This article reviews the status of magnetic MEMS technology and presents devices recently developed by various research groups, with key focuses on integrability and effective power management, in addition to the ability to integrate the technology with other microelectronic fabrication processes.

  2. A 0.2 V Micro-Electromechanical Switch Enabled by a Phase Transition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Kaichen; Choe, Hwan Sung; Wang, Xi; Liu, Huili; Saha, Bivas; Ko, Changhyun; Deng, Yang; Tom, Kyle B; Lou, Shuai; Wang, Letian; Grigoropoulos, Costas P; You, Zheng; Yao, Jie; Wu, Junqiao

    2018-04-01

    Micro-electromechanical (MEM) switches, with advantages such as quasi-zero leakage current, emerge as attractive candidates for overcoming the physical limits of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices. To practically integrate MEM switches into CMOS circuits, two major challenges must be addressed: sub 1 V operating voltage to match the voltage levels in current circuit systems and being able to deliver at least millions of operating cycles. However, existing sub 1 V mechanical switches are mostly subject to significant body bias and/or limited lifetimes, thus failing to meet both limitations simultaneously. Here 0.2 V MEM switching devices with ≳10 6 safe operating cycles in ambient air are reported, which achieve the lowest operating voltage in mechanical switches without body bias reported to date. The ultralow operating voltage is mainly enabled by the abrupt phase transition of nanolayered vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) slightly above room temperature. The phase-transition MEM switches open possibilities for sub 1 V hybrid integrated devices/circuits/systems, as well as ultralow power consumption sensors for Internet of Things applications. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  3. Enabling Integration in Sports for Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grandisson, Marie; Tetreault, Sylvie; Freeman, Andrew R.

    2012-01-01

    Background: Promoting the health and social participation of adolescents with intellectual disability is important as they are particularly vulnerable to encountering difficulties in those areas. Integration of these individuals in integrated sports is one strategy to address this issue. Methods: The main objective of this study was to gain a…

  4. Enabling the Internet of Things from integrated circuits to integrated systems

    CERN Document Server

    2017-01-01

    This book offers the first comprehensive view on integrated circuit and system design for the Internet of Things (IoT), and in particular for the tiny nodes at its edge. The authors provide a fresh perspective on how the IoT will evolve based on recent and foreseeable trends in the semiconductor industry, highlighting the key challenges, as well as the opportunities for circuit and system innovation to address them. This book describes what the IoT really means from the design point of view, and how the constraints imposed by applications translate into integrated circuit requirements and design guidelines. Chapter contributions equally come from industry and academia. After providing a system perspective on IoT nodes, this book focuses on state-of-the-art design techniques for IoT applications, encompassing the fundamental sub-systems encountered in Systems on Chip for IoT: ultra-low power digital architectures and circuits low- and zero-leakage memories (including emerging technologies) circuits for hardwar...

  5. Enabling immersive simulation.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McCoy, Josh (University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA); Mateas, Michael (University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA); Hart, Derek H.; Whetzel, Jonathan; Basilico, Justin Derrick; Glickman, Matthew R.; Abbott, Robert G.

    2009-02-01

    The object of the 'Enabling Immersive Simulation for Complex Systems Analysis and Training' LDRD has been to research, design, and engineer a capability to develop simulations which (1) provide a rich, immersive interface for participation by real humans (exploiting existing high-performance game-engine technology wherever possible), and (2) can leverage Sandia's substantial investment in high-fidelity physical and cognitive models implemented in the Umbra simulation framework. We report here on these efforts. First, we describe the integration of Sandia's Umbra modular simulation framework with the open-source Delta3D game engine. Next, we report on Umbra's integration with Sandia's Cognitive Foundry, specifically to provide for learning behaviors for 'virtual teammates' directly from observed human behavior. Finally, we describe the integration of Delta3D with the ABL behavior engine, and report on research into establishing the theoretical framework that will be required to make use of tools like ABL to scale up to increasingly rich and realistic virtual characters.

  6. Social-ecological enabling conditions for payments for ecosystem services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heidi R. Huber-Stearns

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The concept of "enabling conditions" centers on conditions that facilitate approaches to addressing social and ecological challenges. Although multiple fields have independently addressed the concept of enabling conditions, the literature lacks a shared understanding or integration of concepts. We propose a more synthesized understanding of enabling conditions beyond disciplinary boundaries by focusing on the enabling conditions that influence the implementation of a range of environmental policies termed payments for ecosystem services (PES. Through an analysis of key literature from different disciplinary perspectives, we examined how researchers and practitioners refer to and identify enabling conditions within the context of PES. Through our synthesis, we identified 24 distinct enabling conditions organized within 4 broad themes: biophysical, economic, governance, and social-cultural conditions. We found that the literature coalesces around certain enabling conditions, such as strong ecosystem science and existing institutions, regardless of disciplinary background or journal audience. We also observed key differences in how authors perceive the direction of influence for property type, program objectives, and number of actors. Additionally, we noted an emphasis on the importance of the contextual nature of many enabling conditions that may cause certain conditions to have a disproportionate impact on successful implementation in some circumstances. Unraveling the relative importance of specific enabling conditions in diverse contexts remains a research frontier. Ultimately, no single disciplinary perspective is likely to provide all necessary insights for PES creation, and given the intertwined nature of enabling conditions, practitioners need to consider insights from multiple dimensions. Our work suggests opportunities to better connect diverse conversations through integration of concepts, a common vocabulary, and a synthetic framework.

  7. Sensing of heavy metal ions by intrinsic TMV coat protein fluorescence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bayram, Serene S.; Green, Philippe; Blum, Amy Szuchmacher

    2018-04-01

    We propose the use of a cysteine mutant of TMV coat protein as a signal transducer for the selective sensing and quantification of the heavy metal ions, Cd2+, Pb2+, Zn2+ and Ni2+ based on intrinsic tryptophan quenching. TMV coat protein is inexpensive, can be mass-produced since it is expressed and extracted from E-coli. It also displays several different functional groups, enabling a wide repertoire of bioconjugation chemistries; thus it can be easily integrated into functional devices. In addition, TMV-ion interactions have been widely reported and utilized for metallization to generate organic-inorganic hybrid composite novel materials. Building on these previous observations, we herein determine, for the first time, the TMV-ion binding constants assuming the static fluorescence quenching model. We also show that by comparing TMV-ion interactions between native and denatured coat protein, we can distinguish between chemically similar heavy metal ions such as cadmium and zinc ions.

  8. Integration of utilities infrastructures in a future internet enabled smart city framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sánchez, Luis; Elicegui, Ignacio; Cuesta, Javier; Muñoz, Luis; Lanza, Jorge

    2013-10-25

    Improving efficiency of city services and facilitating a more sustainable development of cities are the main drivers of the smart city concept. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play a crucial role in making cities smarter, more accessible and more open. In this paper we present a novel architecture exploiting major concepts from the Future Internet (FI) paradigm addressing the challenges that need to be overcome when creating smarter cities. This architecture takes advantage of both the critical communications infrastructures already in place and owned by the utilities as well as of the infrastructure belonging to the city municipalities to accelerate efficient provision of existing and new city services. The paper highlights how FI technologies create the necessary glue and logic that allows the integration of current vertical and isolated city services into a holistic solution, which enables a huge forward leap for the efficiency and sustainability of our cities. Moreover, the paper describes a real-world prototype, that instantiates the aforementioned architecture, deployed in one of the parks of the city of Santander providing an autonomous public street lighting adaptation service. This prototype is a showcase on how added-value services can be seamlessly created on top of the proposed architecture.

  9. Integration of Utilities Infrastructures in a Future Internet Enabled Smart City Framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis Sánchez

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Improving efficiency of city services and facilitating a more sustainable development of cities are the main drivers of the smart city concept. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT play a crucial role in making cities smarter, more accessible and more open. In this paper we present a novel architecture exploiting major concepts from the Future Internet (FI paradigm addressing the challenges that need to be overcome when creating smarter cities. This architecture takes advantage of both the critical communications infrastructures already in place and owned by the utilities as well as of the infrastructure belonging to the city municipalities to accelerate efficient provision of existing and new city services. The paper highlights how FI technologies create the necessary glue and logic that allows the integration of current vertical and isolated city services into a holistic solution, which enables a huge forward leap for the efficiency and sustainability of our cities. Moreover, the paper describes a real-world prototype, that instantiates the aforementioned architecture, deployed in one of the parks of the city of Santander providing an autonomous public street lighting adaptation service. This prototype is a showcase on how added-value services can be seamlessly created on top of the proposed architecture.

  10. Integration of Utilities Infrastructures in a Future Internet Enabled Smart City Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sánchez, Luis; Elicegui, Ignacio; Cuesta, Javier; Muñoz, Luis; Lanza, Jorge

    2013-01-01

    Improving efficiency of city services and facilitating a more sustainable development of cities are the main drivers of the smart city concept. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play a crucial role in making cities smarter, more accessible and more open. In this paper we present a novel architecture exploiting major concepts from the Future Internet (FI) paradigm addressing the challenges that need to be overcome when creating smarter cities. This architecture takes advantage of both the critical communications infrastructures already in place and owned by the utilities as well as of the infrastructure belonging to the city municipalities to accelerate efficient provision of existing and new city services. The paper highlights how FI technologies create the necessary glue and logic that allows the integration of current vertical and isolated city services into a holistic solution, which enables a huge forward leap for the efficiency and sustainability of our cities. Moreover, the paper describes a real-world prototype, that instantiates the aforementioned architecture, deployed in one of the parks of the city of Santander providing an autonomous public street lighting adaptation service. This prototype is a showcase on how added-value services can be seamlessly created on top of the proposed architecture. PMID:24233072

  11. Solar Convective Furnace for Metals Processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patidar, Deepesh; Tiwari, Sheetanshu; Sharma, Piyush; Pardeshi, Ravindra; Chandra, Laltu; Shekhar, Rajiv

    2015-11-01

    Metals processing operations, primarily soaking, heat treatment, and melting of metals are energy-intensive processes using fossil fuels, either directly or indirectly as electricity, to operate furnaces at high temperatures. Use of concentrated solar energy as a source of heat could be a viable "green" option for industrial heat treatment furnaces. This paper introduces the concept of a solar convective furnace which utilizes hot air generated by an open volumetric air receiver (OVAR)-based solar tower technology. The potential for heating air above 1000°C exists. Air temperatures of 700°C have already been achieved in a 1.5-MWe volumetric air receiver demonstration plant. Efforts to retrofit an industrial aluminium soaking furnace for integration with a solar tower system are briefly described. The design and performance of an OVAR has been discussed. A strategy for designing a 1/15th-scale model of an industrial aluminium soaking furnace has been presented. Preliminary flow and thermal simulation results suggest the presence of recirculating flow in existing furnaces that could possibly result in non-uniform heating of the slabs. The multifarious uses of concentrated solar energy, for example in smelting, metals processing, and even fuel production, should enable it to overcome its cost disadvantage with respect to solar photovoltaics.

  12. Semantic Sensor Web Enablement for COAST, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) is an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) that facilitates discovery and integration of...

  13. Nanomaterials derived from metal-organic frameworks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dang, Song; Zhu, Qi-Long; Xu, Qiang

    2018-01-01

    The thermal transformation of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) generates a variety of nanostructured materials, including carbon-based materials, metal oxides, metal chalcogenides, metal phosphides and metal carbides. These derivatives of MOFs have characteristics such as high surface areas, permanent porosities and controllable functionalities that enable their good performance in sensing, gas storage, catalysis and energy-related applications. Although progress has been made to tune the morphologies of MOF-derived structures at the nanometre scale, it remains crucial to further our knowledge of the relationship between morphology and performance. In this Review, we summarize the synthetic strategies and optimized methods that enable control over the size, morphology, composition and structure of the derived nanomaterials. In addition, we compare the performance of materials prepared by the MOF-templated strategy and other synthetic methods. Our aim is to reveal the relationship between the morphology and the physico-chemical properties of MOF-derived nanostructures to optimize their performance for applications such as sensing, catalysis, and energy storage and conversion.

  14. Review and evaluation of long-term integrity on metal casks and spent fuels stored in overseas countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sasahara, Akihiro; Saegusa, Toshiari

    2009-01-01

    Inspection and experimental results on the metal cask and PWR-UO 2 spent fuels practically stored for fifteen years in Idaho National Laboratory (INL) are reviewed. Experimental results on PWR-UO 2 and BWR-MOX spent fuels stored for twenty years under wet or dry condition obtained by Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) are also reviewed. These results show that the integrity of the metal cask and PWR-spent fuels are maintained at least during dry storage for fifteen years and that Japanese electric utilities may start their self-inspection on casks and spent fuels after fifteen-year storage. The gas sampling carrying out in INL can be applied to licensing for interim dry storage facilities in Japan. New program for the fuel integrity for high burn-up fuels (>45 GWd/MTU) at transportation after dry storage has been launched by Nuclear Regulation Commission (NRC), Department of Energy (DOE) and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in USA. (author)

  15. Identification of the benefits, enablers and barriers to integrating junior pharmacists into the ward team within one UK-based hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hung, Man Yui; Wright, David John; Blacklock, Jeanette; Needle, Richard John

    2017-01-01

    A high nurse-vacancy rate combined with high numbers of applications for junior pharmacist roles resulted in Colchester Hospital University National Health System Foundation Trust trial employing junior pharmacists into traditional nursing posts with the aim of integrating pharmacists into the ward team and enhancing local medicines optimization. The aim of the evaluation was to describe the implementation process and practice of the integrated care pharmacists (ICPs) in order to inform future innovations of a similar nature. Four band 6 ward-based ICPs were employed on two wards funded within current ward staffing expenditure. With ethical committee approval, interviews were undertaken with the ICPs and focus groups with ward nurses, senior ward nurses and members of the medical team. Data were analyzed thematically to identify service benefits, barriers and enablers. Routine ward performance data were obtained from the two ICP wards and two wards selected as comparators. Appropriate statistical tests were performed to identify differences in performance. Four ICPs were interviewed, and focus groups were undertaken with three junior nurses, four senior nurses and three medical practitioners. Service enablers were continuous ward time, undertaking drug administration, positive feedback and use of effective communication methods. Barriers were planning, funding model, career development, and interprofessional working and social isolation. ICPs were believed to save nurse time and improve medicines safety. The proportion of patients receiving medicine reconciliation within 24 hours increased significantly in the ICP wards. All ICPs had resigned from their role within 12 months. It was believed that by locating pharmacists on the ward full time and allowing them to undertake medicines administration and medicines reconciliation, the nursing time would be saved and medicines safety improved. There was however significant learning to be derived from the implementation

  16. Integrated GIS and multivariate statistical analysis for regional scale assessment of heavy metal soil contamination: A critical review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hou, Deyi; O'Connor, David; Nathanail, Paul; Tian, Li; Ma, Yan

    2017-01-01

    Heavy metal soil contamination is associated with potential toxicity to humans or ecotoxicity. Scholars have increasingly used a combination of geographical information science (GIS) with geostatistical and multivariate statistical analysis techniques to examine the spatial distribution of heavy metals in soils at a regional scale. A review of such studies showed that most soil sampling programs were based on grid patterns and composite sampling methodologies. Many programs intended to characterize various soil types and land use types. The most often used sampling depth intervals were 0–0.10 m, or 0–0.20 m, below surface; and the sampling densities used ranged from 0.0004 to 6.1 samples per km 2 , with a median of 0.4 samples per km 2 . The most widely used spatial interpolators were inverse distance weighted interpolation and ordinary kriging; and the most often used multivariate statistical analysis techniques were principal component analysis and cluster analysis. The review also identified several determining and correlating factors in heavy metal distribution in soils, including soil type, soil pH, soil organic matter, land use type, Fe, Al, and heavy metal concentrations. The major natural and anthropogenic sources of heavy metals were found to derive from lithogenic origin, roadway and transportation, atmospheric deposition, wastewater and runoff from industrial and mining facilities, fertilizer application, livestock manure, and sewage sludge. This review argues that the full potential of integrated GIS and multivariate statistical analysis for assessing heavy metal distribution in soils on a regional scale has not yet been fully realized. It is proposed that future research be conducted to map multivariate results in GIS to pinpoint specific anthropogenic sources, to analyze temporal trends in addition to spatial patterns, to optimize modeling parameters, and to expand the use of different multivariate analysis tools beyond principal component

  17. Sol-gel processing with inorganic metal salt precursors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Zhong-Cheng

    2004-10-19

    Methods for sol-gel processing that generally involve mixing together an inorganic metal salt, water, and a water miscible alcohol or other organic solvent, at room temperature with a macromolecular dispersant material, such as hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) added. The resulting homogenous solution is incubated at a desired temperature and time to result in a desired product. The methods enable production of high quality sols and gels at lower temperatures than standard methods. The methods enable production of nanosize sols from inorganic metal salts. The methods offer sol-gel processing from inorganic metal salts.

  18. Topotactic Metal-Insulator Transition in Epitaxial SrFeO x Thin Films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khare, Amit; Shin, Dongwon; Yoo, Tae Sup; Kim, Minu; Kang, Tae Dong

    2017-01-01

    Multivalent transition metal oxides provide fascinating and rich physics related to oxygen stoichiometry. In particular, the adoptability of various valence states of transition metals enables perovskite oxides to display mixed (oxygen) ionic and electronic conduction and catalytic activity useful in many practical applications, including solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), rechargeable batteries, gas sensors, and memristive devices. For proper realization of the ionic conduction and catalytic activity, it is essential to understand the reversible oxidation and reduction process, which is governed by oxygen storage/release steps in oxides. Topotactic phase transformation facilitates the redox process in perovskites with specific oxygen vacancy ordering by largely varying the oxygen concentration of a material without losing the lattice framework. The concentration and diffusion of oxide ions (O 2– ), the valence state of the transition metal cations, and the thermodynamic structural integrity together provide fundamental understanding and ways to explicitly control the redox reaction.[6] In addition, it offers an attractive route for tuning the emergent physical properties of transition metal oxides, via strong coupling between the crystal lattice and electronic structure.

  19. Recovery of leaded-frame metals from integrated circuit package; Shuseki kairo package kara no lead frame kinzoku no kaishu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rokukawa, N.; Sakamoto, H. [National Institute for Resources and Environment, Tsukuba (Japan)

    1997-12-25

    Discussions were given on separation and recovery of leaded-frame metals from an integrated circuit (IC) package. A printed wiring board in an electronic device is mounted with an IC package molded with an IC as a major component, and composed of IC chips, leaded-frame metals (the pin section retains the IC chips safely in a mold, and plays a role of terminal with an external circuit), and mold material (thermally hardened and reinforced resin). Quantity of IC packages discarded as a result of the deterioration due to aging is increasing year after year. IC package test pieces were crushed in a mortar, selected of metals manually, and classified by using a magnet and a sieve. The leaded-frame metals were easily separated from the mold material by crushing, and capable of being recovered by using a magnet. However, since the recovered leaded-frame metals are alloys having different compositions, how each metal component could be separated and refined is an important problem to be solved. For the time being, the metals may be utilized as structural materials for building materials by melting and alloying the leaded-frame metals. 10 refs., 7 tabs.

  20. Barriers to and enablers for European rail freight transport for integrated door-to-door logistics service. Part 2: Enablers for multimodal rail freight transport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dewan Md Zahurul ISLAM

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to examine and identify barriers to and enablers for the European rail freight transport services as a transport chain partner along the supply chains in the changing market scenario. The changing market scenario includes, among others, requiring 'door-to-door' rather than 'terminal to terminal' and integrated service, competitive ability to attract non-rail cargo type, changes in the customer requirements (e.g. reliable service and changes in the operational requirements and practices. Using a literature review method, the paper is presented in two parts. The part 1 focuses on the identification of barriers to the European rail freight service by reviewing freight logistics services for global supply chains followed by the current performance of European rail freight transport followed by a discussion on the rail freight market liberalisation in Europe. Then rail freight transport in the Unites States (U.S. is discussed. The research notes that although the background, scope and necessity for reform measures in Europe differ from those of the U.S., some lessons can be learned and the main lesson is that an appropriate reform measure can enhance rail sector competitive ability in Europe. The part 2 of the paper is dedicated to recommend some concrete steps and actions as enablers to remove the barriers identified in the part 1 to develop multimodal rail freight transport. The enablers for multimodal rail freight transport include: •\tEuropean rail freight transport market needs full liberalisation so that incumbent and new entrants can compete freely. •\tThe rail operators need to acquire service (e.g. customer tailored services, door to door service quality offered by road freight operators. •\tThey need to conduct a combination of ‘terminal-to-terminal’ and door-to-door operations, as and when needed; •\tThey must build partnership with freight forwarder or 3PLs to include all types of customers

  1. A Comprehensive Database and Analysis Framework To Incorporate Multiscale Data Types and Enable Integrated Analysis of Bioactive Polyphenols.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Lap; Cheng, Haoxiang; Wang, Jun; Simon, James E; Wu, Qingli; Zhao, Danyue; Carry, Eileen; Ferruzzi, Mario G; Faith, Jeremiah; Valcarcel, Breanna; Hao, Ke; Pasinetti, Giulio M

    2018-03-05

    The development of a given botanical preparation for eventual clinical application requires extensive, detailed characterizations of the chemical composition, as well as the biological availability, biological activity, and safety profiles of the botanical. These issues are typically addressed using diverse experimental protocols and model systems. Based on this consideration, in this study we established a comprehensive database and analysis framework for the collection, collation, and integrative analysis of diverse, multiscale data sets. Using this framework, we conducted an integrative analysis of heterogeneous data from in vivo and in vitro investigation of a complex bioactive dietary polyphenol-rich preparation (BDPP) and built an integrated network linking data sets generated from this multitude of diverse experimental paradigms. We established a comprehensive database and analysis framework as well as a systematic and logical means to catalogue and collate the diverse array of information gathered, which is securely stored and added to in a standardized manner to enable fast query. We demonstrated the utility of the database in (1) a statistical ranking scheme to prioritize response to treatments and (2) in depth reconstruction of functionality studies. By examination of these data sets, the system allows analytical querying of heterogeneous data and the access of information related to interactions, mechanism of actions, functions, etc., which ultimately provide a global overview of complex biological responses. Collectively, we present an integrative analysis framework that leads to novel insights on the biological activities of a complex botanical such as BDPP that is based on data-driven characterizations of interactions between BDPP-derived phenolic metabolites and their mechanisms of action, as well as synergism and/or potential cancellation of biological functions. Out integrative analytical approach provides novel means for a systematic integrative

  2. Integral blow moulding for cycle time reduction of CFR-TP aluminium contour joint processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barfuss, Daniel; Würfel, Veit; Grützner, Raik; Gude, Maik; Müller, Roland

    2018-05-01

    Integral blow moulding (IBM) as a joining technology of carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic (CFR-TP) hollow profiles with metallic load introduction elements enables significant cycle time reduction by shortening of the process chain. As the composite part is joined to the metallic part during its consolidation process subsequent joining steps are omitted. In combination with a multi-scale structured load introduction element its form closure function enables to pass very high loads and is capable to achieve high degrees of material utilization. This paper first shows the process set-up utilizing thermoplastic tape braided preforms and two-staged press and internal hydro formed load introduction elements. Second focuses on heating technologies and process optimization. Aiming at cycle time reduction convection and induction heating in regard to the resulting product quality is inspected by photo micrographs and computer tomographic scans. Concluding remarks give final recommendations for the process design in regard to the structural design.

  3. Heavy Metal Blood Test: MedlinePlus Lab Test Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... this page: https://medlineplus.gov/labtests/heavymetalbloodtest.html Heavy Metal Blood Test To use the sharing features ... this page, please enable JavaScript. What is a Heavy Metal Blood Test? A heavy metal blood test ...

  4. Self-aligned metallization on organic semiconductor through 3D dual-layer thermal nanoimprint

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Y; Cheng, X

    2014-01-01

    High-resolution patterning of metal structures on organic semiconductors is important to the realization of high-performance organic transistors for organic integrated circuit applications. The traditional shadow mask technique has a limited resolution, precluding sub-micron metal structures on organic semiconductors. Thus organic transistors cannot benefit from scaling into the deep sub-micron region to improve their dc and ac performances. In this work, we report an efficient multiple-level metallization on poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) with a deep sub-micron lateral gap. By using a 3D nanoimprint mold in a dual-layer thermal nanoimprint process, we achieved self-aligned two-level metallization on P3HT. The 3D dual-layer thermal nanoimprint enables the first metal patterns to have suspending side-wings that can clearly define a distance from the second metal patterns. Isotropic and anisotropic side-wing structures can be fabricated through two different schemes. The process based on isotropic side-wings achieves a lateral-gap in the order of 100 nm (scheme 1). A gap of 60 nm can be achieved from the process with anisotropic side-wings (scheme 2). Because of the capability of nanoscale metal patterning on organic semiconductors with high overlay accuracy, this self-aligned metallization technique can be utilized to fabricate high-performance organic metal semiconductor field-effect transistor. (paper)

  5. Integrating Transition Metals into Nanomaterials: Strategies and Applications

    KAUST Repository

    Fhayli, Karim

    2016-01-01

    Transition metals complexes have been involved in various catalytic, biomedical and industrial applications, but only lately they have been associated with nanomaterials to produce innovative and well-defined new hybrid systems. The introduction of transition metals into nanomaterials is important to bear the advantages of metals to nanoscale and also to raise the stability of nanomaterials. In this dissertation, we study two approaches of associating transition metals into nanomaterials. The first approach is via spontaneous self-organization based assembly of small molecule amphiphiles and bulky hydrophilic polymers to produce organic-inorganic hybrid materials that have nanoscale features and can be precisely controlled depending on the experimental conditions used. These hybrid materials can successfully act as templates to design new porous material with interesting architecture. The second approach studied is via electroless reduction of transition metals on the surface of nanocarbons (nanotubes and nanodiamonds) without using any reducing agents or catalysts. The synthesis of these systems is highly efficient and facile resulting in stable and mechanically robust new materials with promising applications in catalysis.

  6. Integrating Transition Metals into Nanomaterials: Strategies and Applications

    KAUST Repository

    Fhayli, Karim

    2016-04-14

    Transition metals complexes have been involved in various catalytic, biomedical and industrial applications, but only lately they have been associated with nanomaterials to produce innovative and well-defined new hybrid systems. The introduction of transition metals into nanomaterials is important to bear the advantages of metals to nanoscale and also to raise the stability of nanomaterials. In this dissertation, we study two approaches of associating transition metals into nanomaterials. The first approach is via spontaneous self-organization based assembly of small molecule amphiphiles and bulky hydrophilic polymers to produce organic-inorganic hybrid materials that have nanoscale features and can be precisely controlled depending on the experimental conditions used. These hybrid materials can successfully act as templates to design new porous material with interesting architecture. The second approach studied is via electroless reduction of transition metals on the surface of nanocarbons (nanotubes and nanodiamonds) without using any reducing agents or catalysts. The synthesis of these systems is highly efficient and facile resulting in stable and mechanically robust new materials with promising applications in catalysis.

  7. An NFC-Enabled CMOS IC for a Wireless Fully Implantable Glucose Sensor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeHennis, Andrew; Getzlaff, Stefan; Grice, David; Mailand, Marko

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents an integrated circuit (IC) that merges integrated optical and temperature transducers, optical interface circuitry, and a near-field communication (NFC)-enabled digital, wireless readout for a fully passive implantable sensor platform to measure glucose in people with diabetes. A flip-chip mounted LED and monolithically integrated photodiodes serve as the transduction front-end to enable fluorescence readout. A wide-range programmable transimpedance amplifier adapts the sensor signals to the input of an 11-bit analog-to-digital converter digitizing the measurements. Measurement readout is enabled by means of wireless backscatter modulation to a remote NFC reader. The system is able to resolve current levels of less than 10 pA with a single fluorescent measurement energy consumption of less than 1 μJ. The wireless IC is fabricated in a 0.6-μm-CMOS process and utilizes a 13.56-MHz-based ISO15693 for passive wireless readout through a NFC interface. The IC is utilized as the core interface to a fluorescent, glucose transducer to enable a fully implantable sensor-based continuous glucose monitoring system.

  8. Pyrometallurgical processing of Integral Fast Reactor metal fuels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Battles, J.E.; Miller, W.E.; Gay, E.C.

    1991-01-01

    The pyrometallurgical process for recycling spent metal fuels from the Integral Fast Reactor is now in an advanced state of development. This process involves electrorefining spent fuel with a cadmium anode, solid and liquid cathodes, and a molten salt electrolyte (LiCl-KCl) at 500 degrees C. The initial process feasibility and flowsheet verification studies have been conducted in a laboratory-scale electrorefiner. Based on these studies, a dual cathode approach has been adopted, where uranium is recovered on a solid cathode mandrel and uranium-plutonium is recovered in a liquid cadmium cathode. Consolidation and purification (salt and cadmium removal) of uranium and uranium-plutonium products from the electrorefiner have been successful. The process is being developed with the aid of an engineering-scale electrorefiner, which has been successfully operated for more than three years. In this electrorefiner, uranium has been electrotransported from the cadmium anode to a solid cathode in 10 kg quantities. Also, anodic dissolution of 10 kg batches of chopped, simulated fuel (U--10% Zr) has been demonstrated. Development of the liquid cadmium cathode for recovering uranium-plutonium is under way

  9. Voltage Controlled Hot Carrier Injection Enables Ohmic Contacts Using Au Island Metal Films on Ge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganti, Srinivas; King, Peter J; Arac, Erhan; Dawson, Karl; Heikkilä, Mikko J; Quilter, John H; Murdoch, Billy; Cumpson, Peter; O'Neill, Anthony

    2017-08-23

    We introduce a new approach to creating low-resistance metal-semiconductor ohmic contacts, illustrated using high conductivity Au island metal films (IMFs) on Ge, with hot carrier injection initiated at low applied voltage. The same metallization process simultaneously allows ohmic contact to n-Ge and p-Ge, because hot carriers circumvent the Schottky barrier formed at metal/n-Ge interfaces. A 2.5× improvement in contact resistivity is reported over previous techniques to achieve ohmic contact to both n- and p- semiconductor. Ohmic contacts at 4.2 K confirm nonequilibrium current transport. Self-assembled Au IMFs are strongly orientated to Ge by annealing near the Au/Ge eutectic temperature. Au IMF nanostructures form, provided the Au layer is below a critical thickness. We anticipate that optimized IMF contacts may have applicability to many material systems. Optimizing this new paradigm for metal-semiconductor contacts offers the prospect of improved nanoelectronic systems and the study of voltage controlled hot holes and electrons.

  10. Enabling Sustainable Agro-Food Futures: Exploring Fault Lines and Synergies Between the Integrated Territorial Paradigm, Rural Eco-Economy and Circular Economy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Dan Kristian; Kjeldsen, Chris; Thorsøe, Martin Hvarregaard

    2016-01-01

    What kind of futures does agro-food imaginaries enable and who can get involved in the making of agro-food futures? In this respect, what can the increasingly influential idea of circular economy potentially offer in terms of enabling more sustainable agrofood futures? We approach this task...... important contributions in relation to studies of alternative food networks and the “quality” turn. These research agendas have challenged the current logic of the food system in terms of offering alternative visions of future development. We highlight two examples from the literature—the eco......-economy and the integrated territorial agri-food paradigm—that develop broader frameworks for rethinking the future of the agro-food system and which have distinguished themselves in contrast to the industrialized and globalized conventional food system. We find that with respect to reorienting and reconfiguring economic...

  11. Large-area processing of solution type metal-oxide in TFT backplanes and integration in highly stable OLED displays

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Marinkovic, Marko; Takata, Ryo; Neumann, Anita; Pham, Duy Vu; Anselmann, Ralf; Maas, Joris; Van Der Steen, Jan Laurens; Gelinck, Gerwin; Katsouras, Ilias

    2017-01-01

    Solution type metal-oxide semiconductor was processed on mass-production ready equipment and integrated in a backplane with ESL architecture TFTs. Excellent thickness uniformity of the semiconductor layer was obtained over the complete Gen I glass substrate (320 mm ×00D7; 352 mm), resulting in

  12. Structural Integration of Sensors/Actuators by Laser Beam Melting for Tailored Smart Components

    Science.gov (United States)

    Töppel, Thomas; Lausch, Holger; Brand, Michael; Hensel, Eric; Arnold, Michael; Rotsch, Christian

    2018-03-01

    Laser beam melting (LBM), an additive laser powder bed fusion technology, enables the structural integration of temperature-sensitive sensors and actuators in complex monolithic metallic structures. The objective is to embed a functional component inside a metal part without losing its functionality by overheating. The first part of this paper addresses the development of a new process chain for bonded embedding of temperature-sensitive sensor/actuator systems by LBM. These systems are modularly built and coated by a multi-material/multi-layer thermal protection system of ceramic and metallic compounds. The characteristic of low global heat input in LBM is utilized for the functional embedding. In the second part, the specific functional design and optimization for tailored smart components with embedded functionalities are addressed. Numerical and experimental validated results are demonstrated on a smart femoral hip stem.

  13. Plasma electrolytic polishing of metalized carbon fibers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Falko Böttger-Hiller

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Efficient lightweight structures require intelligent materials that meet versatile functions. Especially, carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs are gaining relevance. Their increasing use aims at reducing energy consumption in many applications. CFRPs are generally very light in weight, while at the same time being extremely stiff and strong (specific strength: CFRPs: 1.3 Nm kg–1, steel: 0.27 Nm kg–1; specific stiffness: CFRPs: 100 Nm kg–1, steel: 25 Nm kg–1. To increase performance and especially functionality of CFRPs, the integration of microelectronic components into CFRP parts is aspired. The functionalization by sensors, actuators and electronics can enable a high lightweight factor and a new level of failure-safety. The integration of microelectronic components for this purpose requires a working procedure to provide electrical contacts for a reliable connection to energy supply and data interfaces. To overcome this challenge, metalized carbon fibers are used. Metalized fibers are, similar to the usual reinforcing fibers, able to be soldered and therefore easy to incorporate into CFRPs. Unfortunately, metalized fibers have to be pre-treated by flux-agents. Until now, there is no flux which is suitable for mass production without destroying the polymer of the CFRP. The process of plasma electrolytic polishing (PeP could be an option, but is so far not available for copper. Thus, in this study, plasma electrolytic polishing is transferred to copper and its alloys. To achieve this, electrolytic parameters as well as the electrical setup are adapted. It can be observed that the gloss and roughness can be adjusted by means of this procedure. Finally, plasma electrolytic polishing is used to treat thin copper layers on carbon fibers.

  14. Towards an Integrated Framework for SDGs: Ultimate and Enabling Goals for the Case of Energy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tetsuro Yoshida

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Discussions on how to define, design, and implement sustainable development goals (SDG have taken center stage in the United Nations since the Rio+20 summit. Energy is one of the issues that enjoyed consensus, before and after Rio, as an important area for SDGs to address. Many proposals have been put forward on how SDGs should be formulated and what areas they should cover, but there have been few attempts to develop a generic integrated framework within which diverse areas can be accommodated and treated in a coherent way. The purpose of this paper is to develop such a framework for SDGs and to demonstrate its application by elaborating specific target areas for the energy sector. Based on a review and integration of global debates around SDG and energy, the framework puts human wellbeing at the center of the agenda, with the supporting resource base and global public goods forming additional tiers. A complementary set of enabling goals is suggested with four layers: capacity & knowledge, governance & institutions, public policy, and investment & finance. An energy SDG is elaborated to illustrate the application of the framework. The illustrative SDG architecture for energy includes eight target areas: basic energy access, energy for economic development, sufficiency, renewable supply, efficiency, infrastructure, greenhouse gas emissions and security. These target areas are relevant for energy for all countries, but depending on national circumstances such as levels of development, the relative emphasis will be different between countries, and over time.

  15. Improvements in fabrication of metallic fuels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tracy, D.B.; Henslee, S.P.; Dodds, N.E.; Longua, K.J.

    1989-12-01

    Argonne National Laboratory is currently developing a new liquid- metal cooled breeder reactor known as the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR). IFR fuels represent the state-of-the-art in metal-fueled reactor technology. Improvements in the fabrication of metal fuel, to be discussed below, will support the fully remote fuel cycle facility that as an integral part of the IFR concept will be demonstrated at the EBR-II site. 3 refs

  16. Enabling IoT: Integration of wireless sensor network for healthcare application using Waspmote

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azmi, Noraini; Kamarudin, Latifah Munirah

    2017-03-01

    The number of patients that require medical assistance is increasing each day while staff-patient ratio is not balanced causing issues such as treatment delay and often leads to patient dissatisfaction. Besides that, healthcare devices are getting complex and challenging for it to be handled and interpreted personally by patient. Lack of staff and challenges in operating the medical devices not only affect patient in hospital but also caused problem to home care patients that require full attention and constant monitoring. This urges for a development of new method or technology. At present, Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is gaining interest as one of the major components in enabling Internet of Things (IoT) since it offers low cost, low power monitoring besides reducing devices dependency on wires or cable. Although, WSN is initially developed for military application, nowadays, it is being integrated into various applications such as environmental monitoring, smart monitoring and agricultural monitoring. The idea of wireless monitoring with low power consumption motivates researchers to discover the possibility of deploying wireless sensor network for mission critical application such as in healthcare applications. This paper presents the details on the design and development of wireless sensor network using Waspmote from Libelium Inc. for mission critical applications such as healthcare applications.

  17. An Integrated H-G Scheme Identifying Areas for Soil Remediation and Primary Heavy Metal Contributors: A Risk Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Bin; Jiang, Xiaolu; Duan, Xiaoli; Zhao, Xiuge; Zhang, Jing; Tang, Jingwen; Sun, Guoqing

    2017-03-23

    Traditional sampling for soil pollution evaluation is cost intensive and has limited representativeness. Therefore, developing methods that can accurately and rapidly identify at-risk areas and the contributing pollutants is imperative for soil remediation. In this study, we propose an innovative integrated H-G scheme combining human health risk assessment and geographical detector methods that was based on geographical information system technology and validated its feasibility in a renewable resource industrial park in mainland China. With a discrete site investigation of cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg) and zinc (Zn) concentrations, the continuous surfaces of carcinogenic risk and non-carcinogenic risk caused by these heavy metals were estimated and mapped. Source apportionment analysis using geographical detector methods further revealed that these risks were primarily attributed to As, according to the power of the determinant and its associated synergic actions with other heavy metals. Concentrations of critical As and Cd, and the associated exposed CRs are closed to the safe thresholds after remediating the risk areas identified by the integrated H-G scheme. Therefore, the integrated H-G scheme provides an effective approach to support decision-making for regional contaminated soil remediation at fine spatial resolution with limited sampling data over a large geographical extent.

  18. High-Performance WSe2 Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Technology and Integrated Circuits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Lili; Zubair, Ahmad; Santos, Elton J G; Zhang, Xu; Lin, Yuxuan; Zhang, Yuhao; Palacios, Tomás

    2015-08-12

    Because of their extraordinary structural and electrical properties, two-dimensional materials are currently being pursued for applications such as thin-film transistors and integrated circuit. One of the main challenges that still needs to be overcome for these applications is the fabrication of air-stable transistors with industry-compatible complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a novel high performance air-stable WSe2 CMOS technology with almost ideal voltage transfer characteristic, full logic swing and high noise margin with different supply voltages. More importantly, the inverter shows large voltage gain (∼38) and small static power (picowatts), paving the way for low power electronic system in 2D materials.

  19. THE EFFECT OF SECOND-GENERATION POPULATIONS ON THE INTEGRATED COLORS OF METAL-RICH GLOBULAR CLUSTERS IN EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chung, Chul; Lee, Sang-Yoon; Yoon, Suk-Jin; Lee, Young-Wook

    2013-01-01

    The mean color of globular clusters (GCs) in early-type galaxies is in general bluer than the integrated color of halo field stars in host galaxies. Metal-rich GCs often appear more associated with field stars than metal-poor GCs, yet show bluer colors than their host galaxy light. Motivated by the discovery of multiple stellar populations in Milky Way GCs, we present a new scenario in which the presence of second-generation (SG) stars in GCs is responsible for the color discrepancy between metal-rich GCs and field stars. The model assumes that the SG populations have an enhanced helium abundance as evidenced by observations, and it gives a good explanation of the bluer optical colors of metal-rich GCs than field stars as well as strong Balmer lines and blue UV colors of metal-rich GCs. Ours may be complementary to the recent scenario suggesting the difference in stellar mass functions (MFs) as an origin for the GC-to-star color offset. A quantitative comparison is given between the SG and MF models.

  20. Metal fuel manufacturing and irradiation performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pedersen, D.R.; Walters, L.C.

    1992-01-01

    The advances in metal fuel by the Integral Fast Reactor Program at Argonne National Laboratory are the subject of this paper. The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is an advanced liquid-metal-cooled reactor concept being developed at Argonne National Laboratory. The advances stressed in the paper include fuel irradiation performance, and improved passive safety. The goals and the safety philosophy of the Integral Fast Reactor Program are stressed

  1. Plasmonic finite-thickness metal-semiconductor-metal waveguide as ultra-compact modulator

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Babicheva, Viktoriia; Malureanu, Radu; Lavrinenko, Andrei

    2013-01-01

    We propose a plasmonic waveguide with semiconductor gain material for optoelectronic integrated circuits. We analyze properties of a finite-thickness metal-semiconductor-metal (F-MSM) waveguide to be utilized as an ultra-compact and fast plasmonic modulator. The InP-based semiconductor core allows...

  2. NASP - Enabling new space launch options

    Science.gov (United States)

    Froning, David; Gaubatz, William; Mathews, George

    1990-10-01

    Successful NASP developments in the United States are bringing about the possibility of effective, fully reusable vehicles for transport of people and cargo between earth and space. These developments include: extension of airbreathing propulsion to a much higher speed; densification of propellants for greater energy per unit volume of mass; structures with much greater strength-to-weight at high temperatures; computational advancements that enable more optimal design and integration of airframes, engines and controls; and advances in avionics, robotics, artificial intelligence and automation that enable accomplishment of earth-to-orbit (ETO) operations with much less manpower support and cost. This paper describes the relative magnitude of improvement that these developments may provide.

  3. Integrated field and laboratory tests to evaluate effects of metals-impacted wetlands on amphibians: A case study from Montana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linder, G.; ,

    2003-01-01

    Mining activities frequently impact wildlife habitats, and a wide range of habitats may require evaluations of the linkages between wildlife and environmental stressors common to mining activities (e.g., physical alteration of habitat, releases of chemicals such as metals and other inorganic constituents as part of the mining operation). Wetlands, for example, are frequently impacted by mining activities. Within an ecological assessment for a wetland, toxicity evaluations for representative species may be advantageous to the site evaluation, since these species could be exposed to complex chemical mixtures potentially released from the site. Amphibian species common to these transition zones between terrestrial and aquatic habitats are one key biological indicator of exposure, and integrated approaches which involve both field and laboratory methods focused on amphibians are critical to the assessment process. The laboratory and field evaluations of a wetland in western Montana illustrates the integrated approach to risk assessment and causal analysis. Here, amphibians were used to evaluate the potential toxicity associated with heavy metal-laden sediments deposited in a reservoir. Field and laboratory methods were applied to a toxicity assessment for metals characteristic of mine tailings to reduce potential "lab to field" extrapolation errors and provide adaptive management programs with critical site-specific information targeted on remediation.

  4. Inhalation hazards from machining beryllium metal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoover, M.D.; Finch, G.L.; Mewhinney, J.A.; Eidson, A.F.

    1987-01-01

    Beryllium metal has special nuclear and structural properties that make it useful for applications in fission and fusion reactor designs. Unfortunately, concerns for its toxicity have made designers wary of using beryllium metal. The work being reported here was undertaken to characterize the aerosols produced by two very common operations performed during preparation or modification of components for use in reactor systems: sawing and milling of beryllium metal. The study also covered beryllium metal alloys to allow comparison. Information from this study is to enable better assessments of the risk of using beryllium metal in reactor designs

  5. CMOS integration of high-k/metal gate transistors in diffusion and gate replacement (D&GR) scheme for dynamic random access memory peripheral circuits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dentoni Litta, Eugenio; Ritzenthaler, Romain; Schram, Tom; Spessot, Alessio; O’Sullivan, Barry; Machkaoutsan, Vladimir; Fazan, Pierre; Ji, Yunhyuck; Mannaert, Geert; Lorant, Christophe; Sebaai, Farid; Thiam, Arame; Ercken, Monique; Demuynck, Steven; Horiguchi, Naoto

    2018-04-01

    Integration of high-k/metal gate stacks in peripheral transistors is a major candidate to ensure continued scaling of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) technology. In this paper, the CMOS integration of diffusion and gate replacement (D&GR) high-k/metal gate stacks is investigated, evaluating four different approaches for the critical patterning step of removing the N-type field effect transistor (NFET) effective work function (eWF) shifter stack from the P-type field effect transistor (PFET) area. The effect of plasma exposure during the patterning step is investigated in detail and found to have a strong impact on threshold voltage tunability. A CMOS integration scheme based on an experimental wet-compatible photoresist is developed and the fulfillment of the main device metrics [equivalent oxide thickness (EOT), eWF, gate leakage current density, on/off currents, short channel control] is demonstrated.

  6. Improvements in the fabrication of metallic fuels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tracy, D.B.; Henslee, S.P.; Dodds, N.E.; Longua, K.J.

    1989-01-01

    Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is currently developing a new liquid-metal-cooled breeder reactor known as the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR). The IFR represents the state of the art in metal-fueled reactor technology. Improvements in the fabrication of metal fuel, discussed in this paper, will support ANL-West's (ANL-W) fully remote fuel cycle facility, which is an integral part of the IFR concept

  7. Ionic polymer-metal composite enabled robotic manta ray

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Zheng; Um, Tae I.; Bart-Smith, Hilary

    2011-04-01

    The manta ray, Manta birostris, demonstrates excellent swimming capabilities; generating highly efficient thrust via flapping of dorsally flattened pectoral fins. In this paper, we present an underwater robot that mimics the swimming behavior of the manta ray. An assembly-based fabrication method is developed to create the artificial pectoral fins, which are capable of generating oscillatory with a large twisting angle between leading and trailing edges. Ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuators are used as artificial muscles in the fin. Each fin consists of four IPMC beams bonded with a compliant poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) membrane. By controlling each individual IPMC strips, we are able to generate complex flapping motions. The fin is characterized in terms of tip deflection, tip blocking force, twist angle, and power consumption. Based on the characteristics of the artificial pectoral fin, a small size and free-swimming robotic manta ray is developed. The robot consists of two artificial pectoral fins, a rigid body, and an on-board control unit with a lithium ion rechargeable battery. Experimental results show that the robot swam at a speed of up to 0.055 body length per second (BL/sec).

  8. DrumNet : Building a GSM-enabled Information System for ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    ... and marketing - to boost agricultural productivity and enhance rural livelihoods. ... and implement a global system for mobile communications (GSM)-enabled ... Using ICT to integrate smallholder farmers into agricultural value chains : the ...

  9. How thin barrier metal can be used to prevent Co diffusion in the modern integrated circuits?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dixit, Hemant; Konar, Aniruddha; Pandey, Rajan; Ethirajan, Tamilmani

    2017-01-01

    In modern integrated circuits (ICs), billions of transistors are connected to each other via thin metal layers (e.g. copper, cobalt, etc) known as interconnects. At elevated process temperatures, inter-diffusion of atomic species can occur among these metal layers, causing sub-optimal performance of interconnects, which may lead to the failure of an IC. Thus, typically a thin barrier metal layer is used to prevent the inter-diffusion of atomic species within interconnects. For ICs with sub-10 nm transistors (10 nm technology node), the design rule (thickness scaling) demands the thinnest possible barrier layer. Therefore, here we investigate the critical thickness of a titanium–nitride (TiN) barrier that can prevent the cobalt diffusion using multi-scale modeling and simulations. First, we compute the Co diffusion barrier in crystalline and amorphous TiN with the nudged elastic band method within first-principles density functional theory simulations. Later, using the calculated activation energy barriers, we quantify the Co diffusion length in the TiN metal layer with the help of kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Such a multi-scale modelling approach yields an exact critical thickness of the metal layer sufficient to prevent the Co diffusion in IC interconnects. We obtain a diffusion length of a maximum of 2 nm for a typical process of thermal annealing at 400 °C for 30 min. Our study thus provides useful physical insights for the Co diffusion in the TiN layer and further quantifies the critical thickness (∼2 nm) to which the metal barrier layer can be thinned down for sub-10 nm ICs. (paper)

  10. How thin barrier metal can be used to prevent Co diffusion in the modern integrated circuits?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dixit, Hemant; Konar, Aniruddha; Pandey, Rajan; Ethirajan, Tamilmani

    2017-11-01

    In modern integrated circuits (ICs), billions of transistors are connected to each other via thin metal layers (e.g. copper, cobalt, etc) known as interconnects. At elevated process temperatures, inter-diffusion of atomic species can occur among these metal layers, causing sub-optimal performance of interconnects, which may lead to the failure of an IC. Thus, typically a thin barrier metal layer is used to prevent the inter-diffusion of atomic species within interconnects. For ICs with sub-10 nm transistors (10 nm technology node), the design rule (thickness scaling) demands the thinnest possible barrier layer. Therefore, here we investigate the critical thickness of a titanium-nitride (TiN) barrier that can prevent the cobalt diffusion using multi-scale modeling and simulations. First, we compute the Co diffusion barrier in crystalline and amorphous TiN with the nudged elastic band method within first-principles density functional theory simulations. Later, using the calculated activation energy barriers, we quantify the Co diffusion length in the TiN metal layer with the help of kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Such a multi-scale modelling approach yields an exact critical thickness of the metal layer sufficient to prevent the Co diffusion in IC interconnects. We obtain a diffusion length of a maximum of 2 nm for a typical process of thermal annealing at 400 °C for 30 min. Our study thus provides useful physical insights for the Co diffusion in the TiN layer and further quantifies the critical thickness (~2 nm) to which the metal barrier layer can be thinned down for sub-10 nm ICs.

  11. Three-Dimensional Integration of Black Phosphorus Photodetector with Silicon Photonics and Nanoplasmonics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Che; Youngblood, Nathan; Peng, Ruoming; Yoo, Daehan; Mohr, Daniel A; Johnson, Timothy W; Oh, Sang-Hyun; Li, Mo

    2017-02-08

    We demonstrate the integration of a black phosphorus photodetector in a hybrid, three-dimensional architecture of silicon photonics and metallic nanoplasmonics structures. This integration approach combines the advantages of the low propagation loss of silicon waveguides, high-field confinement of a plasmonic nanogap, and the narrow bandgap of black phosphorus to achieve high responsivity for detection of telecom-band, near-infrared light. Benefiting from an ultrashort channel (∼60 nm) and near-field enhancement enabled by the nanogap structure, the photodetector shows an intrinsic responsivity as high as 10 A/W afforded by internal gain mechanisms, and a 3 dB roll-off frequency of 150 MHz. This device demonstrates a promising approach for on-chip integration of three distinctive photonic systems, which, as a generic platform, may lead to future nanophotonic applications for biosensing, nonlinear optics, and optical signal processing.

  12. Development of 4S and related technologies (2). Long life metallic fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yacout, A.M.; Tsuboi, Y.; Ueda, N.

    2009-01-01

    This paper provides an overview of the long life metallic fuel to be used in the 4S reactor. The 4S fuel design is presented and implications of its characteristics on fuel performance are discussed. Main design characteristics include the long fuel life time of 30 years and the wider and longer fuel pins compared to EBR-II and FFTF fuel pins. The LIFE-METAL fuel performance code was used to evaluate the performance of the 4S fuel design. The code has been validated using post irradiation examination data of metallic fuel irradiated in EBR-II. The performance evaluation shows the benign nature of the design. The design enables the fuel to perform adequately during reactor operations without violating any of a conservative set of steady state design criteria. A survey evaluation of the fuel performance is also presented. This performance bounding evaluation took into account possible fuel swelling behavior and cladding temperature range that represents worst case scenarios. The evaluation showed that the fuel maintains its integrity even under those worst case conditions. (author)

  13. PHM Enabled Autonomous Propellant Loading Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Mark; Figueroa, Fernando

    2017-01-01

    The utility of Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) software capability applied to Autonomous Operations (AO) remains an active research area within aerospace applications. The ability to gain insight into which assets and subsystems are functioning properly, along with the derivation of confident predictions concerning future ability, reliability, and availability, are important enablers for making sound mission planning decisions. When coupled with software that fully supports mission planning and execution, an integrated solution can be developed that leverages state assessment and estimation for the purposes of delivering autonomous operations. The authors have been applying this integrated, model-based approach to the autonomous loading of cryogenic spacecraft propellants at Kennedy Space Center.

  14. Emerging Science and Research Opportunities for Metals and Metallic Nanostructures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Handwerker, Carol A.; Pollock, Tresa M.

    2014-07-01

    During the next decade, fundamental research on metals and metallic nanostructures (MMNs) has the potential to continue transforming metals science into innovative materials, devices, and systems. A workshop to identify emerging and potentially transformative research areas in MMNs was held June 13 and 14, 2012, at the University of California Santa Barbara. There were 47 attendees at the workshop (listed in the Acknowledgements section), representing a broad range of academic institutions, industry, and government laboratories. The metals and metallic nanostructures (MMNs) workshop aimed to identify significant research trends, scientific fundamentals, and recent breakthroughs that can enable new or enhanced MMN performance, either alone or in a more complex materials system, for a wide range of applications. Additionally, the role that MMN research can play in high-priority research and development (R&D) areas such as the U.S. Materials Genome Initiative, the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the Advanced Manufacturing Initiative, and other similar initiatives that exist internationally was assessed. The workshop also addressed critical issues related to materials research instrumentation and the cyberinfrastructure for materials science research and education, as well as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce development, with emphasis on the United States but with an appreciation that similar challenges and opportunities for the materials community exist internationally. A central theme of the workshop was that research in MMNs has provided and will continue to provide societal benefits through the integration of experiment, theory, and simulation to link atomistic, nanoscale, microscale, and mesoscale phenomena across time scales for an ever-widening range of applications. Within this overarching theme, the workshop participants identified emerging research opportunities that are categorized and described in more detail in the

  15. Integrated luminometer for the determination of trace metals in seawater using fluorescence, phosphorescence and chemiluminescence detection

    OpenAIRE

    Worsfold, P. J.; Achterberg, E. P.; Bowie, A. R.; Cannizzaro, V.; Charles, S.; Costa, J. M.; Dubois, F.; Pereiro, R.; San Vicente, B.; Sanz-Medel, A.; Vandeloise, R.; Donckt, E. Vander; Wollast, P.; Yunus, S.

    2002-01-01

    The paper describes an integrated luminometer able to perform fluorescence (FL), room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) and chemiluminescence (CL) measurements on seawater samples. The technical details of the instrumentation are presented together with flow injection (FI) manifolds for the determination of cadmium and zinc (by FL), lead (RTP) and cobalt (CL). The analytical figures of merit are given for each mainfold and results are presented for the determination of the four trace metals i...

  16. Democratized electronics to enable smart living for all

    KAUST Repository

    Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa; Nassar, Joanna M.; Khan, S. M.; Saikh, S. F.; Sevilla, Galo T.; Kutbee, Arwa T.; Bahabry, Rabab R.; Babatain, Wedyan; Muslem, A. S.; Nour, Maha A.; Wicaksono, I.; Mishra, Kush

    2017-01-01

    With the increased global population, smart living is an increasingly important criteria to ensure equal opportunities for all. Therefore, what is Smart Living? The first time when we tossed this terminology seven years back, we thought reducing complexities in human life. Today we believe it more. However, smart living for all complicates the technological need further. As by all, we mean any age group, any academic background and any financial condition. Although electronics are powerful today and have enabled our digital world, many as of today have not experienced that progress. Going forward while we realize more and more electronics in our daily life, the most important question would be how. Here we show, a heterogeneous integration approach to integrate low-cost high performance interactive electronic system which are physically compliant. We are redesigning electronics to redefine its purposes to reconfigure life for all to enable smart living.

  17. Democratized electronics to enable smart living for all

    KAUST Repository

    Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

    2017-12-25

    With the increased global population, smart living is an increasingly important criteria to ensure equal opportunities for all. Therefore, what is Smart Living? The first time when we tossed this terminology seven years back, we thought reducing complexities in human life. Today we believe it more. However, smart living for all complicates the technological need further. As by all, we mean any age group, any academic background and any financial condition. Although electronics are powerful today and have enabled our digital world, many as of today have not experienced that progress. Going forward while we realize more and more electronics in our daily life, the most important question would be how. Here we show, a heterogeneous integration approach to integrate low-cost high performance interactive electronic system which are physically compliant. We are redesigning electronics to redefine its purposes to reconfigure life for all to enable smart living.

  18. Integration of ceramic membrane and compressed air-assisted solvent extraction (CASX) for metal recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Chi-Wang; Chiu, Chun-Hao; Lee, Yu-Cheng; Chang, Chia-Hao; Lee, Yu-Hsun; Chen, Yi-Ming

    2010-01-01

    In our previous publications, compressed air-assisted solvent extraction process (CASX) was developed and proved to be kinetically efficient process for metal removal. In the current study, CASX with a ceramic MF membrane integrated for separation of spent solvent was employed to remove and recover metal from wastewater. MF was operated either in crossflow mode or dead-end with intermittent flushing mode. Under crossflow mode, three distinct stages of flux vs. TMP (trans-membrane pressure) relationship were observed. In the first stage, flux increases with increasing TMP which is followed by the stage of stable flux with increasing TMP. After reaching a threshold TMP which is dependent of crossflow velocity, flux increases again with increasing TMP. At the last stage, solvent was pushed through membrane pores as indicated by increasing permeate COD. In dead-end with intermittent flushing mode, an intermittent flushing flow (2 min after a 10-min or a 30-min dead-end filtration) was incorporated to reduce membrane fouling by flush out MSAB accumulated on membrane surface. Effects of solvent concentration and composition were also investigated. Solvent concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 1% (w/w) have no adverse effect in terms of membrane fouling. However, solvent composition, i.e. D(2)EHPA/kerosene ratio, shows impact on membrane fouling. The type of metal extractants employed in CASX has significant impact on both membrane fouling and the quality of filtrate due to the differences in their viscosity and water solubility. Separation of MSAB was the limiting process controlling metal removal efficiency, and the removal efficiency of Cd(II) and Cr(VI) followed the same trend as that for COD.

  19. CMOS-Technology-Enabled Flexible and Stretchable Electronics for Internet of Everything Applications

    KAUST Repository

    Hussain, Aftab M.

    2015-11-26

    Flexible and stretchable electronics can dramatically enhance the application of electronics for the emerging Internet of Everything applications where people, processes, data and devices will be integrated and connected, to augment quality of life. Using naturally flexible and stretchable polymeric substrates in combination with emerging organic and molecular materials, nanowires, nanoribbons, nanotubes, and 2D atomic crystal structured materials, significant progress has been made in the general area of such electronics. However, high volume manufacturing, reliability and performance per cost remain elusive goals for wide commercialization of these electronics. On the other hand, highly sophisticated but extremely reliable, batch-fabrication-capable and mature complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-based technology has facilitated tremendous growth of today\\'s digital world using thin-film-based electronics; in particular, bulk monocrystalline silicon (100) which is used in most of the electronics existing today. However, one fundamental challenge is that state-of-the-art CMOS electronics are physically rigid and brittle. Therefore, in this work, how CMOS-technology-enabled flexible and stretchable electronics can be developed is discussed, with particular focus on bulk monocrystalline silicon (100). A comprehensive information base to realistically devise an integration strategy by rational design of materials, devices and processes for Internet of Everything electronics is offered. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  20. Enabling an Integrated Rate-temporal Learning Scheme on Memristor

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Wei; Huang, Kejie; Ning, Ning; Ramanathan, Kiruthika; Li, Guoqi; Jiang, Yu; Sze, Jiayin; Shi, Luping; Zhao, Rong; Pei, Jing

    2014-04-01

    Learning scheme is the key to the utilization of spike-based computation and the emulation of neural/synaptic behaviors toward realization of cognition. The biological observations reveal an integrated spike time- and spike rate-dependent plasticity as a function of presynaptic firing frequency. However, this integrated rate-temporal learning scheme has not been realized on any nano devices. In this paper, such scheme is successfully demonstrated on a memristor. Great robustness against the spiking rate fluctuation is achieved by waveform engineering with the aid of good analog properties exhibited by the iron oxide-based memristor. The spike-time-dependence plasticity (STDP) occurs at moderate presynaptic firing frequencies and spike-rate-dependence plasticity (SRDP) dominates other regions. This demonstration provides a novel approach in neural coding implementation, which facilitates the development of bio-inspired computing systems.

  1. Design of nanophotonic, hot-electron solar-blind ultraviolet detectors with a metal-oxide-semiconductor structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Zhiyuan; Wang, Xiaoxin; Liu, Jifeng

    2014-01-01

    Solar-blind ultraviolet (UV) detection refers to photon detection specifically in the wavelength range of 200 nm–320 nm. Without background noises from solar radiation, it has broad applications from homeland security to environmental monitoring. The most commonly used solid state devices for this application are wide band gap (WBG) semiconductor photodetectors (Eg > 3.5 eV). However, WBG semiconductors are difficult to grow and integrate with Si readout integrated circuits (ROICs). In this paper, we design a nanophotonic metal-oxide-semiconductor structure on Si for solar-blind UV detectors. Instead of using semiconductors as the active absorber, we use Sn nano-grating structures to absorb UV photons and generate hot electrons for internal photoemission across the Sn/SiO 2 interfacial barrier, thereby generating photocurrent between the metal and the n-type Si region upon UV excitation. Moreover, the transported hot electron has an excess kinetic energy >3 eV, large enough to induce impact ionization and generate another free electron in the conduction band of n-Si. This process doubles the quantum efficiency. On the other hand, the large metal/oxide interfacial energy barrier (>3.5 eV) also enables solar-blind UV detection by blocking the less energetic electrons excited by visible photons. With optimized design, ∼75% UV absorption and hot electron excitation can be achieved within the mean free path of ∼20 nm from the metal/oxide interface. This feature greatly enhances hot electron transport across the interfacial barrier to generate photocurrent. The simple geometry of the Sn nano-gratings and the MOS structure make it easy to fabricate and integrate with Si ROICs compared to existing solar-blind UV detection schemes. The presented device structure also breaks through the conventional notion that photon absorption by metal is always a loss in solid-state photodetectors, and it can potentially be extended to other active metal photonic devices. (paper)

  2. Materials Integration and Doping of Carbon Nanotube-based Logic Circuits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geier, Michael

    Over the last 20 years, extensive research into the structure and properties of single- walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) has elucidated many of the exceptional qualities possessed by SWCNTs, including record-setting tensile strength, excellent chemical stability, distinctive optoelectronic features, and outstanding electronic transport characteristics. In order to exploit these remarkable qualities, many application-specific hurdles must be overcome before the material can be implemented in commercial products. For electronic applications, recent advances in sorting SWCNTs by electronic type have enabled significant progress towards SWCNT-based integrated circuits. Despite these advances, demonstrations of SWCNT-based devices with suitable characteristics for large-scale integrated circuits have been limited. The processing methodologies, materials integration, and mechanistic understanding of electronic properties developed in this dissertation have enabled unprecedented scales of SWCNT-based transistor fabrication and integrated circuit demonstrations. Innovative materials selection and processing methods are at the core of this work and these advances have led to transistors with the necessary transport properties required for modern circuit integration. First, extensive collaborations with other research groups allowed for the exploration of SWCNT thin-film transistors (TFTs) using a wide variety of materials and processing methods such as new dielectric materials, hybrid semiconductor materials systems, and solution-based printing of SWCNT TFTs. These materials were integrated into circuit demonstrations such as NOR and NAND logic gates, voltage-controlled ring oscillators, and D-flip-flops using both rigid and flexible substrates. This dissertation explores strategies for implementing complementary SWCNT-based circuits, which were developed by using local metal gate structures that achieve enhancement-mode p-type and n-type SWCNT TFTs with widely separated and

  3. Nationwide Buildings Energy Research enabled through an integrated Data Intensive Scientific Workflow and Advanced Analysis Environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kleese van Dam, Kerstin [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lansing, Carina S. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Elsethagen, Todd O. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Hathaway, John E. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Guillen, Zoe C. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Dirks, James A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Skorski, Daniel C. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Stephan, Eric G. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Gorrissen, Willy J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Gorton, Ian [Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Liu, Yan [Concordia Univ., Montreal, QC (Canada)

    2014-01-28

    Modern workflow systems enable scientists to run ensemble simulations at unprecedented scales and levels of complexity, allowing them to study system sizes previously impossible to achieve, due to the inherent resource requirements needed for the modeling work. However as a result of these new capabilities the science teams suddenly also face unprecedented data volumes that they are unable to analyze with their existing tools and methodologies in a timely fashion. In this paper we will describe the ongoing development work to create an integrated data intensive scientific workflow and analysis environment that offers researchers the ability to easily create and execute complex simulation studies and provides them with different scalable methods to analyze the resulting data volumes. The integration of simulation and analysis environments is hereby not only a question of ease of use, but supports fundamental functions in the correlated analysis of simulation input, execution details and derived results for multi-variant, complex studies. To this end the team extended and integrated the existing capabilities of the Velo data management and analysis infrastructure, the MeDICi data intensive workflow system and RHIPE the R for Hadoop version of the well-known statistics package, as well as developing a new visual analytics interface for the result exploitation by multi-domain users. The capabilities of the new environment are demonstrated on a use case that focusses on the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) building energy team, showing how they were able to take their previously local scale simulations to a nationwide level by utilizing data intensive computing techniques not only for their modeling work, but also for the subsequent analysis of their modeling results. As part of the PNNL research initiative PRIMA (Platform for Regional Integrated Modeling and Analysis) the team performed an initial 3 year study of building energy demands for the US Eastern

  4. Fabrication and characterization of a metal-packaged regenerated fiber Bragg grating strain sensor for structural integrity monitoring of high-temperature components

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tu, Yun; Tu, Shan-Tung

    2014-01-01

    Assessment of the structural integrity of components operating at high temperatures requires the development of novel sensors to measure strain. A metal-packaged regenerated fiber Bragg grating (RFBG) sensor is developed for measurement of strain using titanium–silver magnetron sputtering and nickel electroplating. The strain response of the sensor mounted onto a flat tensile specimen by spot welding is evaluated by uniaxial tensile tests at constant temperatures ranging from room temperature to 400 °C. Similar tests are performed on a bare RFBG sensor for comparison. The metal-packaged RFBG strain sensor exhibits higher strain sensitivity than that of the bare RFBG sensor, as well as good linearity, stability and repeatability of strain measurements. A three-dimensional finite element model of the sensor is established to predict the strain sensitivity based on the sensing principle of the fiber Bragg grating. Comparisons of the experimental results with the numerical predictions for the strain sensitivity show a satisfactory agreement. These results demonstrate that the metal-packaged RFBG strain sensors can be successfully fabricated by combining magnetron sputtering with electroplating, and provide great promise for structural integrity monitoring of high-temperature components. (paper)

  5. Modelling the integration-performance relationship : Collaborative practices, enablers and contextual factors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Vaart, T.; van Donk, D.P.; Giménez, C.; Sierra, V.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of different dimensions of supply chain integration on performance, while considering both the interconnections between these supply chain integration dimensions and the effect of context. Specifically, the authors investigate the

  6. Optimization of metallic microheaters for high-speed reconfigurable silicon photonics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atabaki, A H; Shah Hosseini, E; Eftekhar, A A; Yegnanarayanan, S; Adibi, A

    2010-08-16

    The strong thermooptic effect in silicon enables low-power and low-loss reconfiguration of large-scale silicon photonics. Thermal reconfiguration through the integration of metallic microheaters has been one of the more widely used reconfiguration techniques in silicon photonics. In this paper, structural and material optimizations are carried out through heat transport modeling to improve the reconfiguration speed of such devices, and the results are experimentally verified. Around 4 micros reconfiguration time are shown for the optimized structures. Moreover, sub-microsecond reconfiguration time is experimentally demonstrated through the pulsed excitation of the microheaters. The limitation of this pulsed excitation scheme is also discussed through an accurate system-level model developed for the microheater response.

  7. Two-Dimensional Metal-Free Organic Multiferroic Material for Design of Multifunctional Integrated Circuits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tu, Zhengyuan; Wu, Menghao; Zeng, Xiao Cheng

    2017-05-04

    Coexistence of ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity in a single 2D material is highly desirable for integration of multifunctional units in 2D material-based circuits. We report theoretical evidence of C 6 N 8 H organic network as being the first 2D organic multiferroic material with coexisting ferromagnetic and ferroelectric properties. The ferroelectricity stems from multimode proton-transfer within the 2D C 6 N 8 H network, in which a long-range proton-transfer mode is enabled by the facilitation of oxygen molecule when the network is exposed to the air. Such oxygen-assisted ferroelectricity also leads to a high Curie temperature and coupling between ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism. We also find that hydrogenation and carbon doping can transform the 2D g-C 3 N 4 network from an insulator to an n-type/p-type magnetic semiconductor with modest bandgap. Akin to the dopant induced n/p channels in silicon wafer, a variety of dopant created functional units can be integrated into the g-C 3 N 4 wafer by design for nanoelectronic applications.

  8. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) application in metal barrier layer integrity for porous low- k materials

    CERN Document Server

    Simon, Lin; Gidley, D W; Wetzel, J T; Monnig, K A; Ryan, E T; Simon, Jang; Douglas, Yu; Liang, M S; En, W G; Jones, E C; Sturm, J C; Chan, M J; Tiwari, S C; Hirose, M

    2002-01-01

    Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS) is a useful tool to pre-screen metal barrier integrity for Si-based porous low-k dielectrics. Pore size of low-k, thickness of metal barrier Ta, positronium (Ps) leakage from PALS, trench sidewall morphology, electrical test from one level metal (1LM) pattern wafer and Cu diffusion analysis were all correlated. Macro-porous low-k (pore size >=200 AA) and large scale meso-porous low-k (>50~200 AA) encounter both Ps leakage and Cu diffusion into low-k dielectric in the 0.25 mu mL/0.3 mu mS structures when using SEMATECH in-house PVD Ta 250 AA as barrier layer. For small scale meso-porous (>20~50 AA) and micro- porous (<=20 AA) low-k, no Ps leakage and no Cu diffusion into low-k were observed even with PVD Ta 50 AA, which is proved also owing to sidewall densification to seal all sidewall pores due to plasma etch and ash. For future technology, smaller pore size of porous Si-based low-k (=<50 AA) will be preferential for dense low-k like trench sidewall to...

  9. Silicon integrated circuit process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jong Duck

    1985-12-01

    This book introduces the process of silicon integrated circuit. It is composed of seven parts, which are oxidation process, diffusion process, ion implantation process such as ion implantation equipment, damage, annealing and influence on manufacture of integrated circuit and device, chemical vapor deposition process like silicon Epitaxy LPCVD and PECVD, photolithography process, including a sensitizer, spin, harden bake, reflection of light and problems related process, infrared light bake, wet-etch, dry etch, special etch and problems of etching, metal process like metal process like metal-silicon connection, aluminum process, credibility of aluminum and test process.

  10. Silicon integrated circuit process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Jong Duck

    1985-12-15

    This book introduces the process of silicon integrated circuit. It is composed of seven parts, which are oxidation process, diffusion process, ion implantation process such as ion implantation equipment, damage, annealing and influence on manufacture of integrated circuit and device, chemical vapor deposition process like silicon Epitaxy LPCVD and PECVD, photolithography process, including a sensitizer, spin, harden bake, reflection of light and problems related process, infrared light bake, wet-etch, dry etch, special etch and problems of etching, metal process like metal process like metal-silicon connection, aluminum process, credibility of aluminum and test process.

  11. Exploring the mechanical strength of additively manufactured metal structures with embedded electrical materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, J., E-mail: J.Li5@lboro.ac.uk; Monaghan, T.; Masurtschak, S.; Bournias-Varotsis, A.; Friel, R.J.; Harris, R.A.

    2015-07-15

    Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM) enables the integration of a wide variety of components into solid metal matrices due to the process induced high degree of metal matrix plastic flow at low bulk temperatures. Exploitation of this phenomenon allows the fabrication of previously unobtainable novel engineered metal matrix components. The feasibility of directly embedding electrical materials within UAM metal matrices was investigated in this work. Three different dielectric materials were embedded into UAM fabricated aluminium metal-matrices with, research derived, optimal processing parameters. The effect of the dielectric material hardness on the final metal matrix mechanical strength after UAM processing was investigated systematically via mechanical peel testing and microscopy. It was found that when the Knoop hardness of the dielectric film was increased from 12.1 HK/0.01 kg to 27.3 HK/0.01 kg, the mechanical peel testing and linear weld density of the bond interface were enhanced by 15% and 16%, respectively, at UAM parameters of 1600 N weld force, 25 µm sonotrode amplitude, and 20 mm/s welding speed. This work uniquely identified that the mechanical strength of dielectric containing UAM metal matrices improved with increasing dielectric material hardness. It was therefore concluded that any UAM metal matrix mechanical strength degradation due to dielectric embedding could be restricted by employing a dielectric material with a suitable hardness (larger than 20 HK/0.01 kg). This result is of great interest and a vital step for realising electronic containing multifunctional smart metal composites for future industrial applications.

  12. Highly integrated image sensors enable low-cost imaging systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallagher, Paul K.; Lake, Don; Chalmers, David; Hurwitz, J. E. D.

    1997-09-01

    The highest barriers to wide scale implementation of vision systems have been cost. This is closely followed by the level of difficulty of putting a complete imaging system together. As anyone who has every been in the position of creating a vision system knows, the various bits and pieces supplied by the many vendors are not under any type of standardization control. In short, unless you are an expert in imaging, electrical interfacing, computers, digital signal processing, and high speed storage techniques, you will likely spend more money trying to do it yourself rather than to buy the exceedingly expensive systems available. Another alternative is making headway into the imaging market however. The growing investment in highly integrated CMOS based imagers is addressing both the cost and the system integration difficulties. This paper discusses the benefits gained from CMOS based imaging, and how these benefits are already being applied.

  13. Integrating Socioeconomic Data into GEOSS to Enable Societal Benefits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, R. S.; Yetman, G.

    2009-12-01

    Achieving the GEOSS vision of societal benefits from Earth observation data is a multi-faceted challenge. Linking Earth observation systems into an interoperable system of systems is an important first step, but not sufficient on its own to fulfill the ambitious GEOSS goal of improving decision making for disaster mitigation, public health, ecosystem and resource management, agriculture, and the other societal benefit areas. Significant attention needs to be given to interdisciplinary data integration, especially with regard to incorporating data and information on human activities and welfare into monitoring, modeling, and prediction activities. For example, the ability to assess, monitor, and predict the risks posed by different natural hazards is predicated on an understanding of the underlying exposure and vulnerability of different human populations and their economic assets to past, present, and future hazardous events. The NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) has pioneered the integration of socioeconomic data with remote sensing data within the NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) and has contributed actively to both phase 1 and 2 of the GEOSS Architecture Implementation Pilot. We present here several use cases for socioeconomic data integration in GEOSS and recent experience in developing an interoperable Web Processing Service (WPS) for estimating population exposure as part of the GEOSS initial operating capability. We also discuss key scientific, technical, and policy challenges to developing GEOSS products and services that will be able to meet the needs of both interdisciplinary and applied users and in so doing help achieve the GEOSS goal of generating significant societal benefits.

  14. Health Technology-Enabled Interventions for Adherence Support and Retention in Care Among US HIV-Infected Adolescents and Young Adults: An Integrative Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Navarra, Ann-Margaret Dunn; Gwadz, Marya Viorst; Whittemore, Robin; Bakken, Suzanne R; Cleland, Charles M; Burleson, Winslow; Jacobs, Susan Kaplan; Melkus, Gail D'Eramo

    2017-11-01

    The objective of this integrative review was to describe current US trends for health technology-enabled adherence interventions among behaviorally HIV-infected youth (ages 13-29 years), and present the feasibility and efficacy of identified interventions. A comprehensive search was executed across five electronic databases (January 2005-March 2016). Of the 1911 identified studies, nine met the inclusion criteria of quantitative or mixed methods design, technology-enabled adherence and or retention intervention for US HIV-infected youth. The majority were small pilots. Intervention dose varied between studies applying similar technology platforms with more than half not informed by a theoretical framework. Retention in care was not a reported outcome, and operationalization of adherence was heterogeneous across studies. Despite these limitations, synthesized findings from this review demonstrate feasibility of computer-based interventions, and initial efficacy of SMS texting for adherence support among HIV-infected youth. Moving forward, there is a pressing need for the expansion of this evidence base.

  15. Naval Science & Technology: Enabling the Future Force

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-01

    corn for disruptive technologies Laser Cooling Spintronics Bz 1st U.S. Intel satellite GRAB Semiconductors GaAs, GaN, SiC GPS...Payoff • Innovative and game-changing • Approved by Corporate Board • Delivers prototype Innovative Naval Prototypes (5-10 Year) Disruptive ... Technologies Free Electron Laser Integrated Topside EM Railgun Sea Base Enablers Tactical Satellite Large Displacement UUV AACUS Directed

  16. Resonance integral of cylindrical absorber; Rezonantni integral cilindricnog absorbera

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Slipicevic, K [Elektrotehnicki fakultet, Belgrade (Yugoslavia)

    1968-07-01

    This paper presents the procedure for calculating effective resonance integral for cylindrical rod which enables derivation of improved spatial distribution of source neutron flux. Application of this new expression for penetration factor, simultaneously with Doppler broadening of Breight-Wigner line enabled derivation of new equation for resonance integral which is valid for the whole range of surface-volume ratio of the rod, has correct boundary conditions and gives as special, results same as Wigner and Pomeranchuk. Functions for correcting the effects of interference of potential and resonance dissipation are derived separately.

  17. Gene expression influences on metal immunomodulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lynes, Michael A.; Fontenot, Andrew P.; Lawrence, David A.; Rosenspire, Allen J.; Pollard, K. Michael

    2006-01-01

    Heavy metals in the environment originate from both human activities and natural processes. Exposure to these metals can result in important changes to immune activity. Depending on the metal and dose, these changes can result in enhanced immune function, diminished immune responses, or altered responses that produce autoimmune disease. One of the intriguing aspects of these various phenomena are the multiple points of interaction with cellular machinery at which metals elicit these changes. The individual sections of this review serve to underscore the variety of targets that can be altered by exposure to heavy metals, and provide some comparisons between the effects of specific heavy metals on the immune system. These observations may ultimately lead us to a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms by which metals alter the immune system, and may enable the development of countermeasures to offset these effects

  18. Miniaturized Ultrasound Imaging Probes Enabled by CMUT Arrays with Integrated Frontend Electronic Circuits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khuri-Yakub, B. (Pierre) T.; Oralkan, Ömer; Nikoozadeh, Amin; Wygant, Ira O.; Zhuang, Steve; Gencel, Mustafa; Choe, Jung Woo; Stephens, Douglas N.; de la Rama, Alan; Chen, Peter; Lin, Feng; Dentinger, Aaron; Wildes, Douglas; Thomenius, Kai; Shivkumar, Kalyanam; Mahajan, Aman; Seo, Chi Hyung; O’Donnell, Matthew; Truong, Uyen; Sahn, David J.

    2010-01-01

    Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) arrays are conveniently integrated with frontend integrated circuits either monolithically or in a hybrid multichip form. This integration helps with reducing the number of active data processing channels for 2D arrays. This approach also preserves the signal integrity for arrays with small elements. Therefore CMUT arrays integrated with electronic circuits are most suitable to implement miniaturized probes required for many intravascular, intracardiac, and endoscopic applications. This paper presents examples of miniaturized CMUT probes utilizing 1D, 2D, and ring arrays with integrated electronics. PMID:21097106

  19. Evaluating stormwater micropollutant control strategies by the application of an integrated model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vezzaro, Luca; Sharma, Anitha Kumari; Ledin, Anna

    2011-01-01

    and enhancement of existing treatment) for reducing heavy metals (copper, zinc) and organic MP (fluoranthene). The runoff quality model showed high uncertainty, with prediction bounds strongly affected by the exceptionally high measured concentrations. The model quantified the greater benefits of the source......The estimation of micropollutant (MP) fluxes in stormwater systems is a fundamental task to enable the elaboration of strategies to reduce stormwater MP discharge to natural waters. Dynamic models can represent important tools which can integrate the limited data provided by monitoring campaigns....... This study presents an application of an integrated dynamic model to estimate MP fluxes in stormwater systems in combination with stormwater quality measurements. MP sources were identified by using GIS land usage data. Runoff quality was simulated by using a conceptual accumulation/washoff model...

  20. Regulation of the flow rate of liquid-metal coolants on experimental stands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kozlov, F.A.; Laptev, G.I.

    1988-01-01

    Systems for automatic regulation of the flow rate of alkali metals, based on the series ENIV, VIN, and TsLIN three-phase electromagnetic pumps with a pumping rate of 0.5-200 m 3 per hour, were evaluated. The stability of each system was investigated by the method of undamped oscillations. The possibility of employing the analog temperature regulators VRT-2, RPA-T, and R113 was assessed. The functions performed by the most suitable automatic regulation unit, the RPA-T, were described. The limiting period of flow rate oscillations with a maximum gain of the RPA-T in alkali metal regulation systems equaled about 0.5 sec and the minimum integration time of the RPA-T was an order of magnitude longer than the optimal interval. Use of the systems on experimental stands enabled raising the quality of the studies and expanding the zone of servicing of the facilities by the same personnel

  1. The integral fast reactor concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Yoon I.; Marchaterre, J.F.

    1987-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is an innovative liquid metal reactor concept being developed at Argonne National Laboratory. It seeks to specifically exploit the inherent properties of liquid metal cooling and metallic fuel in a way that leads to substantial improvements in the characteristics of the complete reactor system. The IFR concept consists of four technical features: (1) liquid sodium cooling, (2) pool-type reactor configuration, (3) metallic fuel, and (4) an integral fuel cycle, based on pyrometallurgical processing and injection-cast fuel fabrication, with the fuel cycle facility collocated with the reactor, if so desired. This paper gives a review of the IFR concept

  2. Biofunctionalized conductive polymers enable efficient CO2 electroreduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coskun, Halime; Aljabour, Abdalaziz; De Luna, Phil; Farka, Dominik; Greunz, Theresia; Stifter, David; Kus, Mahmut; Zheng, Xueli; Liu, Min; Hassel, Achim W.; Schöfberger, Wolfgang; Sargent, Edward H.; Sariciftci, Niyazi Serdar; Stadler, Philipp

    2017-01-01

    Selective electrocatalysts are urgently needed for carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction to replace fossil fuels with renewable fuels, thereby closing the carbon cycle. To date, noble metals have achieved the best performance in energy yield and faradaic efficiency and have recently reached impressive electrical-to-chemical power conversion efficiencies. However, the scarcity of precious metals makes the search for scalable, metal-free, CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) catalysts all the more important. We report an all-organic, that is, metal-free, electrocatalyst that achieves impressive performance comparable to that of best-in-class Ag electrocatalysts. We hypothesized that polydopamine—a conjugated polymer whose structure incorporates hydrogen-bonded motifs found in enzymes—could offer the combination of efficient electrical conduction, together with rendered active catalytic sites, and potentially thereby enable CO2RR. Only by developing a vapor-phase polymerization of polydopamine were we able to combine the needed excellent conductivity with thin film–based processing. We achieve catalytic performance with geometric current densities of 18 mA cm−2 at 0.21 V overpotential (−0.86 V versus normal hydrogen electrode) for the electrosynthesis of C1 species (carbon monoxide and formate) with continuous 16-hour operation at >80% faradaic efficiency. Our catalyst exhibits lower overpotentials than state-of-the-art formate-selective metal electrocatalysts (for example, 0.5 V for Ag at 18 mA cm−1). The results confirm the value of exploiting hydrogen-bonded sequences as effective catalytic centers for renewable and cost-efficient industrial CO2RR applications. PMID:28798958

  3. Micro metal forming

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

    Micro Metal Forming, i. e. forming of parts and features with dimensions below 1 mm, is a young area of research in the wide field of metal forming technologies, expanding the limits for applying metal forming towards micro technology. The essential challenges arise from the reduced geometrical size and the increased lot size. In order to enable potential users to apply micro metal forming in production, information about the following topics are given: tribological behavior: friction between tool and work piece as well as tool wear mechanical behavior: strength and formability of the work piece material, durability of the work pieces size effects: basic description of effects occurring due to the fact, that the quantitative relation between different features changes with decreasing size process windows and limits for forming processes tool making methods numerical modeling of processes and process chains quality assurance and metrology All topics are discussed with respect to the questions relevant to micro...

  4. An integrated approach to assess heavy metal source apportionment in peri-urban agricultural soils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Ying; Li, Tingqiang; Wu, Chengxian; He, Zhenli; Japenga, Jan; Deng, Meihua; Yang, Xiaoe

    2015-12-15

    Three techniques (Isotope Ratio Analysis, GIS mapping, and Multivariate Statistical Analysis) were integrated to assess heavy metal pollution and source apportionment in peri-urban agricultural soils. The soils in the study area were moderately polluted with cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg), lightly polluted with lead (Pb), and chromium (Cr). GIS Mapping suggested Cd pollution originates from point sources, whereas Hg, Pb, Cr could be traced back to both point and non-point sources. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated aluminum (Al), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni) were mainly inherited from natural sources, while Hg, Pb, and Cd were associated with two different kinds of anthropogenic sources. Cluster analysis (CA) further identified fertilizers, waste water, industrial solid wastes, road dust, and atmospheric deposition as potential sources. Based on isotope ratio analysis (IRA) organic fertilizers and road dusts accounted for 74-100% and 0-24% of the total Hg input, while road dusts and solid wastes contributed for 0-80% and 19-100% of the Pb input. This study provides a reliable approach for heavy metal source apportionment in this particular peri-urban area, with a clear potential for future application in other regions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Metal semiconductor contacts and devices

    CERN Document Server

    Cohen, Simon S; Einspruch, Norman G

    1986-01-01

    VLSI Electronics Microstructure Science, Volume 13: Metal-Semiconductor Contacts and Devices presents the physics, technology, and applications of metal-semiconductor barriers in digital integrated circuits. The emphasis is placed on the interplay among the theory, processing, and characterization techniques in the development of practical metal-semiconductor contacts and devices.This volume contains chapters that are devoted to the discussion of the physics of metal-semiconductor interfaces and its basic phenomena; fabrication procedures; and interface characterization techniques, particularl

  6. Rigid multipodal platforms for metal surfaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michal Valášek

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available In this review the recent progress in molecular platforms that form rigid and well-defined contact to a metal surface are discussed. Most of the presented examples have at least three anchoring units in order to control the spatial arrangement of the protruding molecular subunit. Another interesting feature is the lateral orientation of these foot structures which, depending on the particular application, is equally important as the spatial arrangement of the molecules. The numerous approaches towards assembling and organizing functional molecules into specific architectures on metal substrates are reviewed here. Particular attention is paid to variations of both, the core structures and the anchoring groups. Furthermore, the analytical methods enabling the investigation of individual molecules as well as monomolecular layers of ordered platform structures are summarized. The presented multipodal platforms bearing several anchoring groups form considerably more stable molecule–metal contacts than corresponding monopodal analogues and exhibit an enlarged separation of the functional molecules due to the increased footprint, as well as restrict tilting of the functional termini with respect to the metal surface. These platforms are thus ideally suited to tune important properties of the molecule–metal interface. On a single-molecule level, several of these platforms enable the control over the arrangement of the protruding rod-type molecular structures (e.g., molecular wires, switches, rotors, sensors with respect to the surface of the substrate.

  7. InGaAsP Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical modulator monolithically integrated with InGaAs driver MOSFET on a III-V CMOS photonics platform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Jin-Kown; Takagi, Shinichi; Takenaka, Mitsuru

    2018-02-19

    We demonstrated the monolithic integration of a carrier-injection InGaAsP Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) optical modulator and InGaAs metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) on a III-V-on-insulator (III-V-OI) wafer. A low-resistivity lateral PIN junction was formed along an InGaAsP rib waveguide by Zn diffusion and Ni-InGaAsP alloy, enabling direct driving of the InGaAsP optical modulator by the InGaAs MOSFET. A π phase shift of the InGaAsP optical modulator was obtained through the injection of a drain current from the InGaAs MOSFET with a gate voltage of approximately 1 V. This proof-of-concept demonstration of the monolithic integration of the InGaAsP optical modulator and InGaAs driver MOSFET will enable us to develop high-performance and low-power electronic-photonic integrated circuits on a III-V CMOS photonics platform.

  8. Framework Architecture Enabling an Agent-Based Inter-Company Integration with XML

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Klement Fellner

    2000-11-01

    Full Text Available More and more cooperating companies utilize the World Wide Web (WWW to federate and further integrate their heterogeneous business application systems. At the same time, innovative business strategies, like virtual organizations, supply chain management or one-to-one marketing as well as trendsetting competitive strategies, like mass customisation are realisable. Both, the necessary integration and the innovative concepts are demanding software supporting automation of communication as well as coordination across system boundaries. In this paper, we describe a framework architecture for intercompany integration of business processes based on commonly accepted and (partially standardized concepts and techniques. Further on, it is shown how the framework architecture helps to automate procurement processes and how a cost-saving black-box re-use is achieved following a component oriented implementation paradigm.

  9. Coherent, atomically thin transition-metal dichalcogenide superlattices with engineered strain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Saien; Tu, Lijie; Han, Yimo; Huang, Lujie; Kang, Kibum; Lao, Ka Un; Poddar, Preeti; Park, Chibeom; Muller, David A.; DiStasio, Robert A.; Park, Jiwoong

    2018-03-01

    Epitaxy forms the basis of modern electronics and optoelectronics. We report coherent atomically thin superlattices in which different transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers—despite large lattice mismatches—are repeated and laterally integrated without dislocations within the monolayer plane. Grown by an omnidirectional epitaxy, these superlattices display fully matched lattice constants across heterointerfaces while maintaining an isotropic lattice structure and triangular symmetry. This strong epitaxial strain is precisely engineered via the nanoscale supercell dimensions, thereby enabling broad tuning of the optical properties and producing photoluminescence peak shifts as large as 250 millielectron volts. We present theoretical models to explain this coherent growth and the energetic interplay governing the ripple formation in these strained monolayers. Such coherent superlattices provide building blocks with targeted functionalities at the atomically thin limit.

  10. Processing and Prolonged 500 C Testing of 4H-SiC JFET Integrated Circuits with Two Levels of Metal Interconnect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spry, David J.; Neudeck, Philip G.; Chen, Liangyu; Lukco, Dorothy; Chang, Carl W.; Beheim, Glenn M.; Krasowski, Michael J.; Prokop, Norman F.

    2015-01-01

    Complex integrated circuit (IC) chips rely on more than one level of interconnect metallization for routing of electrical power and signals. This work reports the processing and testing of 4H-SiC junction field effect transistor (JFET) prototype IC's with two levels of metal interconnect capable of prolonged operation at 500 C. Packaged functional circuits including 3- and 11-stage ring oscillators, a 4-bit digital to analog converter, and a 4-bit address decoder and random access memory cell have been demonstrated at 500 C. A 3-stage oscillator functioned for over 3000 hours at 500 C in air ambient. Improved reproducibility remains to be accomplished.

  11. Combined strategy for the precipitation of heavy metals and biodegradation of petroleum in industrial wastewaters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perez, R.M.; Cabrera, G.; Gomez, J.M.; Abalos, A.; Cantero, D.

    2010-01-01

    The precipitation of chromium(III), copper(II), manganese(II) and zinc(II) by biogenic hydrogen sulfide generated by sulfate-reducing bacteria, Desulfovibrio sp., and the degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in the presence of heavy metal by Pseudomonas aeruginosa AT18 have been carried out. An anaerobic stirred tank reactor was used to generate hydrogen sulfide with Desulfovibrio sp. culture and the precipitation of more than 95% of each metal was achieved in 24 h (metal solutions contained: 60, 49, 50 and 80 mg L -1 of chromium, copper, manganese and zinc sulfates). A stirred tank reactor with P. aeruginosa AT18, in the presence of the heavy metal solution and 2% (v/v) of petroleum, led to the degradation of 60% of the total petroleum hydrocarbons and the removal of Cr(III) 99%, Cu(II) 93%, Zn(II) 46% and Mn(II) 88% in the medium through biosorption phenomena. These results enabled the development of an integrated system in which the two processes were combined. The overall aim of the study was achieved, with 84% of TPH degraded and all of the metals completely removed. Work is currently underway aimed at improving this system (decrease in operation time, culture of P. aeruginosa in anaerobic conditions) in an effort to apply this process in the bioremediation of natural media contaminated with heavy metals and petroleum.

  12. Highly Stable Lithium Metal Batteries Enabled by Regulating the Solvation of Lithium Ions in Nonaqueous Electrolytes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xue-Qiang; Chen, Xiang; Cheng, Xin-Bing; Li, Bo-Quan; Shen, Xin; Yan, Chong; Huang, Jia-Qi; Zhang, Qiang

    2018-05-04

    Safe and rechargeable lithium metal batteries have been difficult to achieve because of the formation of lithium dendrites. Herein an emerging electrolyte based on a simple solvation strategy is proposed for highly stable lithium metal anodes in both coin and pouch cells. Fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) and lithium nitrate (LiNO 3 ) were concurrently introduced into an electrolyte, thus altering the solvation sheath of lithium ions, and forming a uniform solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), with an abundance of LiF and LiN x O y on a working lithium metal anode with dendrite-free lithium deposition. Ultrahigh Coulombic efficiency (99.96 %) and long lifespans (1000 cycles) were achieved when the FEC/LiNO 3 electrolyte was applied in working batteries. The solvation chemistry of electrolyte was further explored by molecular dynamics simulations and first-principles calculations. This work provides insight into understanding the critical role of the solvation of lithium ions in forming the SEI and delivering an effective route to optimize electrolytes for safe lithium metal batteries. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  13. A process chain for integrating piezoelectric transducers into aluminum die castings to generate smart lightweight structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stein, Stefan; Wedler, Jonathan; Rhein, Sebastian; Schmidt, Michael; Körner, Carolin; Michaelis, Alexander; Gebhardt, Sylvia

    The application of piezoelectric transducers to structural body parts of machines or vehicles enables the combination of passive mechanical components with sensor and actuator functions in one single structure. According to Herold et al. [1] and Staeves [2] this approach indicates significant potential regarding smart lightweight construction. To obtain the highest yield, the piezoelectric transducers need to be integrated into the flux of forces (load path) of load bearing structures. Application in a downstream process reduces yield and process efficiency during manufacturing and operation, due to the necessity of a subsequent process step of sensor/actuator application. The die casting process offers the possibility for integration of piezoelectric transducers into metal structures. Aluminum castings are particularly favorable due to their high quality and feasibility for high unit production at low cost (Brunhuber [3], Nogowizin [4]). Such molded aluminum parts with integrated piezoelectric transducers enable functions like active vibration damping, structural health monitoring or energy harvesting resulting in significant possibilities of weight reduction, which is an increasingly important driving force of automotive and aerospace industry (Klein [5], Siebenpfeiffer [6]) due to increasingly stringent environmental protection laws. In the scope of those developments, this paper focuses on the entire process chain enabling the generation of lightweight metal structures with sensor and actuator function, starting from the manufacturing of piezoelectric modules over electrical and mechanical bonding to the integration of such modules into aluminum (Al) matrices by die casting. To achieve this challenging goal, piezoceramic sensors/actuator modules, so-called LTCC/PZT modules (LPM) were developed, since ceramic based piezoelectric modules are more likely to withstand the thermal stress of about 700 °C introduced by the casting process (Flössel et al., [7]). The

  14. Enabling a systems biology knowledgebase with gaggle and firegoose

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baliga, Nitin S. [Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA (United States)

    2014-12-12

    The overall goal of this project was to extend the existing Gaggle and Firegoose systems to develop an open-source technology that runs over the web and links desktop applications with many databases and software applications. This technology would enable researchers to incorporate workflows for data analysis that can be executed from this interface to other online applications. The four specific aims were to (1) provide one-click mapping of genes, proteins, and complexes across databases and species; (2) enable multiple simultaneous workflows; (3) expand sophisticated data analysis for online resources; and enhance open-source development of the Gaggle-Firegoose infrastructure. Gaggle is an open-source Java software system that integrates existing bioinformatics programs and data sources into a user-friendly, extensible environment to allow interactive exploration, visualization, and analysis of systems biology data. Firegoose is an extension to the Mozilla Firefox web browser that enables data transfer between websites and desktop tools including Gaggle. In the last phase of this funding period, we have made substantial progress on development and application of the Gaggle integration framework. We implemented the workspace to the Network Portal. Users can capture data from Firegoose and save them to the workspace. Users can create workflows to start multiple software components programmatically and pass data between them. Results of analysis can be saved to the cloud so that they can be easily restored on any machine. We also developed the Gaggle Chrome Goose, a plugin for the Google Chrome browser in tandem with an opencpu server in the Amazon EC2 cloud. This allows users to interactively perform data analysis on a single web page using the R packages deployed on the opencpu server. The cloud-based framework facilitates collaboration between researchers from multiple organizations. We have made a number of enhancements to the cmonkey2 application to enable and

  15. Architectural design criteria for f-block metal sequestering agents. 1997 annual progress report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hay, B.P.; Paine, R.T.; Roundhill, D.M.

    1997-01-01

    'The objective of this project is to provide the means to optimize ligand architecture for f-block metal recognition. The authors strategy builds on an innovative and successful molecular modeling approach in developing polyether ligand design criteria for the alkali and alkaline earth cations. The hypothesis underlying this proposal is that differences in metal ion binding with multidentate ligands bearing the same number and type of donor groups are primarily attributable to intramolecular steric factors. The authors propose quantifying these steric factors through the application of molecular mechanics models. The proposed research involves close integration of theoretical and experimental chemistry. The experimental work entails synthesizing novel ligands and experimentally determining structures and binding constants for metal ion complexation by series of ligands in which architecture is systematically varied. The theoretical work entails using electronic structure calculations to parameterize a molecular mechanics force field for a range of metal ions and ligand types. The resulting molecular mechanics force field will be used to predict low-energy structures for unidentate, bidentate, and multidentate ligands and their metal complexes through conformational searches. Results will be analyzed to assess the relative importance of several steric factors including optimal M-L length, optimal geometry at the metal center, optimal geometry at the donor atoms (complementarity), and conformation prior to binding (preorganization). An accurate set of criteria for the design of ligand architecture will be obtained from these results. These criteria will enable researchers to target ligand structures for synthesis and thereby dramatically reduce the time and cost associated with metal-specific ligand development.'

  16. Reversible CO binding enables tunable CO/H₂ and CO/N₂ separations in metal-organic frameworks with exposed divalent metal cations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloch, Eric D; Hudson, Matthew R; Mason, Jarad A; Chavan, Sachin; Crocellà, Valentina; Howe, Joshua D; Lee, Kyuho; Dzubak, Allison L; Queen, Wendy L; Zadrozny, Joseph M; Geier, Stephen J; Lin, Li-Chiang; Gagliardi, Laura; Smit, Berend; Neaton, Jeffrey B; Bordiga, Silvia; Brown, Craig M; Long, Jeffrey R

    2014-07-30

    Six metal-organic frameworks of the M2(dobdc) (M = Mg, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn; dobdc(4-) = 2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzenedicarboxylate) structure type are demonstrated to bind carbon monoxide reversibly and at high capacity. Infrared spectra indicate that, upon coordination of CO to the divalent metal cations lining the pores within these frameworks, the C-O stretching frequency is blue-shifted, consistent with nonclassical metal-CO interactions. Structure determinations reveal M-CO distances ranging from 2.09(2) Å for M = Ni to 2.49(1) Å for M = Zn and M-C-O angles ranging from 161.2(7)° for M = Mg to 176.9(6)° for M = Fe. Electronic structure calculations employing density functional theory (DFT) resulted in good agreement with the trends apparent in the infrared spectra and crystal structures. These results represent the first crystallographically characterized magnesium and zinc carbonyl compounds and the first high-spin manganese(II), iron(II), cobalt(II), and nickel(II) carbonyl species. Adsorption isotherms indicate reversible adsorption, with capacities for the Fe, Co, and Ni frameworks approaching one CO per metal cation site at 1 bar, corresponding to loadings as high as 6.0 mmol/g and 157 cm(3)/cm(3). The six frameworks display (negative) isosteric heats of CO adsorption ranging from 52.7 to 27.2 kJ/mol along the series Ni > Co > Fe > Mg > Mn > Zn, following the Irving-Williams stability order. The reversible CO binding suggests that these frameworks may be of utility for the separation of CO from various industrial gas mixtures, including CO/H2 and CO/N2. Selectivities determined from gas adsorption isotherm data using ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) over a range of gas compositions at 1 bar and 298 K indicate that all six M2(dobdc) frameworks could potentially be used as solid adsorbents to replace current cryogenic distillation technologies, with the choice of M dictating adsorbent regeneration energy and the level of purity of the resulting gases.

  17. An Integrated Picture of Star Formation, Metallicity Evolution, and Galactic Stellar Mass Assembly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cowie, L. L.; Barger, A. J.

    2008-10-01

    We present an integrated study of star formation and galactic stellar mass assembly from z = 0.05 to 1.5 and galactic metallicity evolution from z = 0.05 to 0.9 using a very large and highly spectroscopically complete sample selected by rest-frame NIR bolometric flux in the GOODS-N. We assume a Salpeter IMF and fit Bruzual & Charlot models to compute the galactic stellar masses and extinctions. We determine the expected formed stellar mass density growth rates produced by star formation and compare them with the growth rates measured from the formed stellar mass functions by mass interval. We show that the growth rates match if the IMF is slightly increased from the Salpeter IMF at intermediate masses (~10 M⊙). We investigate the evolution of galaxy color, spectral type, and morphology with mass and redshift and the evolution of mass with environment. We find that applying extinction corrections is critical when analyzing galaxy colors; e.g., nearly all of the galaxies in the green valley are 24 μm sources, but after correcting for extinction, the bulk of the 24 μm sources lie in the blue cloud. We find an evolution of the metallicity-mass relation corresponding to a decrease of 0.21 +/- 0.03 dex between the local value and the value at z = 0.77 in the 1010-1011 M⊙ range. We use the metallicity evolution to estimate the gas mass of the galaxies, which we compare with the galactic stellar mass assembly and star formation histories. Overall, our measurements are consistent with a galaxy evolution process dominated by episodic bursts of star formation and where star formation in the most massive galaxies (gtrsim1011 M⊙) ceases at z Technology, the University of California, and NASA and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

  18. The COPD Knowledge Base: enabling data analysis and computational simulation in translational COPD research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cano, Isaac; Tényi, Ákos; Schueller, Christine; Wolff, Martin; Huertas Migueláñez, M Mercedes; Gomez-Cabrero, David; Antczak, Philipp; Roca, Josep; Cascante, Marta; Falciani, Francesco; Maier, Dieter

    2014-11-28

    Previously we generated a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) specific knowledge base (http://www.copdknowledgebase.eu) from clinical and experimental data, text-mining results and public databases. This knowledge base allowed the retrieval of specific molecular networks together with integrated clinical and experimental data. The COPDKB has now been extended to integrate over 40 public data sources on functional interaction (e.g. signal transduction, transcriptional regulation, protein-protein interaction, gene-disease association). In addition we integrated COPD-specific expression and co-morbidity networks connecting over 6 000 genes/proteins with physiological parameters and disease states. Three mathematical models describing different aspects of systemic effects of COPD were connected to clinical and experimental data. We have completely redesigned the technical architecture of the user interface and now provide html and web browser-based access and form-based searches. A network search enables the use of interconnecting information and the generation of disease-specific sub-networks from general knowledge. Integration with the Synergy-COPD Simulation Environment enables multi-scale integrated simulation of individual computational models while integration with a Clinical Decision Support System allows delivery into clinical practice. The COPD Knowledge Base is the only publicly available knowledge resource dedicated to COPD and combining genetic information with molecular, physiological and clinical data as well as mathematical modelling. Its integrated analysis functions provide overviews about clinical trends and connections while its semantically mapped content enables complex analysis approaches. We plan to further extend the COPDKB by offering it as a repository to publish and semantically integrate data from relevant clinical trials. The COPDKB is freely available after registration at http://www.copdknowledgebase.eu.

  19. Integration of the metal ion charge neutralization model for humic acid complexation into the geochemical speciation code EQ3/6

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brendler, V.

    2002-01-01

    Geochemical modeling often requires the consideration of humics as major complexing agent and colloid. The metal ion charge neutralization model can handle respective interactions and has therefore been integrated into the speciation software EQ3/6. An application showing the influence of the pH-dependence of the loading capacity on actinide speciation is given. (orig.)

  20. An integrated heavy metal emission inventory in Alsace and Baden-Wurtemberg

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Veaux, Ch.; Zundel, T.; Rentz, O.

    1997-01-01

    The emissions of the heavy metals As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Se, V, and Zn into the air, water and by-products, caused by stationary combustion plants in Baden-Wurtemberg (Germany) and Alsace (France) aRe assessed. The main emphasis of the study is on the development of an adequate, process specific tool allowing to determine multi-media heavy metal emissions by bottom ash or slag, filter ash, by-products of the flue gas desulfurization device (FGD by-products), and flue gas from the use of fossil fuels in Baden-Wurtemberg and Alsace. The heavy metal mass streams are analysed systematically with regard to fuel composition, boiler type, operation mode and flue gas treatment devices to define representative plants with regard to the partitioning of heavy metal streams. For these representative plants, partition factors, which characterise the distribution of heavy metals streams. The emission factors are derived from the partition factors and the heavy concentrations in the fuels used. Then, the emission factors are associated with data on emission sources referring to the configuration of combustion installations and activity data (annual consumption of fuel) to assess the heavy metal emissions in the study region. Heavy metal emissions through bottom ash, filter ash, FGD by-products and flue gas as well as heavy metal deposition in plants are assessed for the sectors 'public power plants', industrial combustion' and 'domestic heating' for the base year 1992. The results are available for Baden-Wurtemberg and Alsace for each heavy metal, sector, emission pathway, and combustion technique. (authors)

  1. Resource Efficient Metal and Material Recycling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reuter, Markus A.; van Schaik, Antoinette

    Metals enable sustainability through their use and their recyclability. However, various factors can affect the Resource Efficiency of Metal Processing and Recycling. Some typical factors that enable Resource Efficiency include and arranged under the drivers of sustainability: Environment (Maximize Resource Efficiency — Energy, Recyclates, Materials, Water, Sludges, Emissions, Land); Economic Feasibility (BAT & Recycling Systems Simulation / Digitalization, Product vis-à-vis Material Centric Recycling); and Social — Licence to Operate (Legislation, consumer, policy, theft, manual labour.). In order to realize this primary production has to be linked systemically with typical actors in the recycling chain such as Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Recyclers & Collection, Physical separation specialists as well as process metallurgical operations that produce high value metals, compounds and products that recycle back to products. This is best done with deep knowledge of multi-physics, technology, product & system design, process control, market, life cycle management, policy, to name a few. The combination of these will be discussed as Design for Sustainability (DfS) and Design for Recycling (DfR) applications.

  2. Responsibility and Integrated Thinking

    OpenAIRE

    Robinson, SJ

    2014-01-01

    Integrated thinking is essentially focused in dialogue and communication. This is partly because relationships and related purpose focus on action, which itself acts as a means of integration, and partly because critical dialogue enables better, more responsive, integrated thinking and action.

  3. Integral fast reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Y.I.

    1989-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is an innovative liquid metal reactor concept being developed at Argonne National Laboratory. It seeks to specifically exploit the inherent properties of liquid metal cooling and metallic fuel in a way that leads to substantial improvements in the characteristics of the complete reactor system. This paper describes the key features and potential advantages of the IFR concept, with emphasis on its safety characteristics

  4. The US Advanced Liquid-Metal Reactor Program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brolin, E.C.

    1992-01-01

    Based on National Energy Strategy projections, utilities will be required to substantially increase electric generating capacity over the next 40 yr to meet economic growth requirements and replace retiring capacity. Although aggressive conservation measures can save up to 85 GW(electric), ∼195 GW(electric) of additional generating capcity will still be needed by 2010. Assuming startup of new plants around 2000, US Department of Energy (DOE) analyses show that nuclear power can contribute 195 GW(electric) of capacity by 2030, or ∼20% of total electric generation. The DOE is involved in a number of strategies designed to revitalize the nuclear power industry and enable it to meet this projected need for additional capacity. Among these is an integrated overall strategy for advanced reactor development and high-level waste management. A high priority in pursuit of this strategy is the Advanced Liquid-Metal Reactor (ALMR) Program

  5. GITEWS, an extensible and open integration platform for manifold sensor systems and processing components based on Sensor Web Enablement and the principles of Service Oriented Architectures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haener, Rainer; Waechter, Joachim; Fleischer, Jens; Herrnkind, Stefan; Schwarting, Herrmann

    2010-05-01

    The German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) is a multifaceted system consisting of various sensor types like seismometers, sea level sensors or GPS stations, and processing components, all with their own system behavior and proprietary data structure. To operate a warning chain, beginning from measurements scaling up to warning products, all components have to interact in a correct way, both syntactically and semantically. Designing the system great emphasis was laid on conformity to the Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) specification by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). The technical infrastructure, the so called Tsunami Service Bus (TSB) follows the blueprint of Service Oriented Architectures (SOA). The TSB is an integration concept (SWE) where functionality (observe, task, notify, alert, and process) is grouped around business processes (Monitoring, Decision Support, Sensor Management) and packaged as interoperable services (SAS, SOS, SPS, WNS). The benefits of using a flexible architecture together with SWE lead to an open integration platform: • accessing and controlling heterogeneous sensors in a uniform way (Functional Integration) • assigns functionality to distinct services (Separation of Concerns) • allows resilient relationship between systems (Loose Coupling) • integrates services so that they can be accessed from everywhere (Location Transparency) • enables infrastructures which integrate heterogeneous applications (Encapsulation) • allows combination of services (Orchestration) and data exchange within business processes Warning systems will evolve over time: New sensor types might be added, old sensors will be replaced and processing components will be improved. From a collection of few basic services it shall be possible to compose more complex functionality essential for specific warning systems. Given these requirements a flexible infrastructure is a prerequisite for sustainable systems and their architecture must be

  6. 1/f noise in metallic and semiconducting carbon nanotubes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reza, Shahed; Huynh, Quyen T.; Bosman, Gijs; Sippel-Oakley, Jennifer; Rinzler, Andrew G.

    2006-11-01

    The charge transport and noise properties of three terminal, gated devices containing multiple single-wall metallic and semiconducting carbon nanotubes were measured at room temperature. Applying a high voltage pulsed bias at the drain terminal the metallic tubes were ablated sequentially, enabling the separation of measured conductance and 1/f noise into metallic and semiconducting nanotube contributions. The relative low frequency excess noise of the metallic tubes was observed to be two orders of magnitude lower than that of the semiconductor tubes.

  7. Formal and informal relations within BIM-enabled supply chain partnerships

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Papadonikolaki, E.; Verbraeck, A.; Wamelink, J.W.F.

    2017-01-01

    Supply chain management (SCM) and building information modelling (BIM) are innovations that focus on integration. Recent literature suggests performance benefits from combining these innovations. Within supply chain (SC) partnerships, that use BIM – hereinafter called BIM-enabled SC partnerships

  8. Remediation of soil co-contaminated with petroleum and heavy metals by the integration of electrokinetics and biostimulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Zhi-Yong; Huang, Wen-Hui; Xing, Ding-Feng; Zhang, Hong-Feng

    2013-09-15

    Successful remediation of soil co-contaminated with high levels of organics and heavy metals is a challenging task, because that metal pollutants in soil can partially or completely suppress normal heterotrophic microbial activity and thus hamper biodegradation of organics. In this study, the benefits of integrating electrokinetic (EK) remediation with biodegradation for decontaminating soil co-contaminated with crude oil and Pb were evaluated in laboratory-scale experiments lasting for 30 days. The treated soil contained 12,500 mg/kg of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and 450 mg/kg Pb. The amendments of EDTA and Tween 80, together with a regular refreshing of electrolyte showed the best performance to remediate this contaminated soil. An important function of EDTA-enhanced EK treatment was to eliminate heavy metal toxicity from the soil, thus activating microbial degradation of oil. Although Tween 80 reduced current, it could serve as a second substrate for enhancing microbial growth and biodegradation. It was found that oil biodegradation degree and microbial numbers increased toward the anode and cathode. Microbial metabolism was found to be beneficial to metal release from the soil matrix. Under the optimum conditions, the soil Pb and TPH removal percentages after 30 days of running reached 81.7% and 88.3%, respectively. After treatment, both the residual soil Pb and TPH concentrations met the requirement of the Chinese soil environmental quality standards. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Corrugation Architecture Enabled Ultraflexible Wafer-Scale High-Efficiency Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Cell

    KAUST Repository

    Bahabry, Rabab R.

    2018-01-02

    Advanced classes of modern application require new generation of versatile solar cells showcasing extreme mechanical resilience, large-scale, low cost, and excellent power conversion efficiency. Conventional crystalline silicon-based solar cells offer one of the most highly efficient power sources, but a key challenge remains to attain mechanical resilience while preserving electrical performance. A complementary metal oxide semiconductor-based integration strategy where corrugation architecture enables ultraflexible and low-cost solar cell modules from bulk monocrystalline large-scale (127 × 127 cm) silicon solar wafers with a 17% power conversion efficiency. This periodic corrugated array benefits from an interchangeable solar cell segmentation scheme which preserves the active silicon thickness of 240 μm and achieves flexibility via interdigitated back contacts. These cells can reversibly withstand high mechanical stress and can be deformed to zigzag and bifacial modules. These corrugation silicon-based solar cells offer ultraflexibility with high stability over 1000 bending cycles including convex and concave bending to broaden the application spectrum. Finally, the smallest bending radius of curvature lower than 140 μm of the back contacts is shown that carries the solar cells segments.

  10. Corrugation Architecture Enabled Ultraflexible Wafer-Scale High-Efficiency Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Cell

    KAUST Repository

    Bahabry, Rabab R.; Kutbee, Arwa T.; Khan, Sherjeel M.; Sepulveda, Adrian C.; Wicaksono, Irmandy; Nour, Maha A.; Wehbe, Nimer; Almislem, Amani Saleh Saad; Ghoneim, Mohamed T.; Sevilla, Galo T.; Syed, Ahad; Shaikh, Sohail F.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

    2018-01-01

    Advanced classes of modern application require new generation of versatile solar cells showcasing extreme mechanical resilience, large-scale, low cost, and excellent power conversion efficiency. Conventional crystalline silicon-based solar cells offer one of the most highly efficient power sources, but a key challenge remains to attain mechanical resilience while preserving electrical performance. A complementary metal oxide semiconductor-based integration strategy where corrugation architecture enables ultraflexible and low-cost solar cell modules from bulk monocrystalline large-scale (127 × 127 cm) silicon solar wafers with a 17% power conversion efficiency. This periodic corrugated array benefits from an interchangeable solar cell segmentation scheme which preserves the active silicon thickness of 240 μm and achieves flexibility via interdigitated back contacts. These cells can reversibly withstand high mechanical stress and can be deformed to zigzag and bifacial modules. These corrugation silicon-based solar cells offer ultraflexibility with high stability over 1000 bending cycles including convex and concave bending to broaden the application spectrum. Finally, the smallest bending radius of curvature lower than 140 μm of the back contacts is shown that carries the solar cells segments.

  11. Integral fast reactor safety features

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cahalan, J.E.; Kramer, J.M.; Marchaterre, J.F.; Mueller, C.J.; Pedersen, D.R.; Sevy, R.H.; Wade, D.C.; Wei, T.Y.C.

    1988-01-01

    The integral fast reactor (IFR) is an advanced liquid-metal-cooled reactor concept being developed at Argonne National Laboratory. The two major goals of the IFR development effort are improved economics and enhanced safety. In addition to liquid metal cooling, the principal design features that distinguish the IFR are: a pool-type primary system, and advanced ternary alloy metallic fuel, and an integral fuel cycle with on-site fuel reprocessing and fabrication. This paper focuses on the technical aspects of the improved safety margins available in the IFR concept. This increased level of safety is made possible by the liquid metal (sodium) coolant and pool-type primary system layout, which together facilitate passive decay heat removal, and a sodium-bonded metallic fuel pin design with thermal and neutronic properties that provide passive core responses which control and mitigate the consequences of reactor accidents

  12. Evolution of the liquid metal reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.

    1989-01-01

    This paper reports on the integral fat reactor (IFR) concept. A key feature of the IFR concept is the metallic fuel, the original choice in liquid metal reactor development. An IFR development program is detailed by the authors

  13. Semantically-Enabled Sensor Plug & Play for the Sensor Web

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bröring, Arne; Maúe, Patrick; Janowicz, Krzysztof; Nüst, Daniel; Malewski, Christian

    2011-01-01

    Environmental sensors have continuously improved by becoming smaller, cheaper, and more intelligent over the past years. As consequence of these technological advancements, sensors are increasingly deployed to monitor our environment. The large variety of available sensor types with often incompatible protocols complicates the integration of sensors into observing systems. The standardized Web service interfaces and data encodings defined within OGC’s Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) framework make sensors available over the Web and hide the heterogeneous sensor protocols from applications. So far, the SWE framework does not describe how to integrate sensors on-the-fly with minimal human intervention. The driver software which enables access to sensors has to be implemented and the measured sensor data has to be manually mapped to the SWE models. In this article we introduce a Sensor Plug & Play infrastructure for the Sensor Web by combining (1) semantic matchmaking functionality, (2) a publish/subscribe mechanism underlying the SensorWeb, as well as (3) a model for the declarative description of sensor interfaces which serves as a generic driver mechanism. We implement and evaluate our approach by applying it to an oil spill scenario. The matchmaking is realized using existing ontologies and reasoning engines and provides a strong case for the semantic integration capabilities provided by Semantic Web research. PMID:22164033

  14. Metallic Nanostructures Based on DNA Nanoshapes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boxuan Shen

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Metallic nanostructures have inspired extensive research over several decades, particularly within the field of nanoelectronics and increasingly in plasmonics. Due to the limitations of conventional lithography methods, the development of bottom-up fabricated metallic nanostructures has become more and more in demand. The remarkable development of DNA-based nanostructures has provided many successful methods and realizations for these needs, such as chemical DNA metallization via seeding or ionization, as well as DNA-guided lithography and casting of metallic nanoparticles by DNA molds. These methods offer high resolution, versatility and throughput and could enable the fabrication of arbitrarily-shaped structures with a 10-nm feature size, thus bringing novel applications into view. In this review, we cover the evolution of DNA-based metallic nanostructures, starting from the metallized double-stranded DNA for electronics and progress to sophisticated plasmonic structures based on DNA origami objects.

  15. Design of microreactor by integration of reverse engineering and direct metal laser sintering process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bineli, Aulus Roberto Romao; Gimenez Perez, Ana Paula; Bernardes, Luiz Fernando; Munhoz, Andre Luiz Jardini; Maciel Filho, Rubens [Universidade de Campinas (LOPCA/UNICAMP), SP (Brazil). School of Chemical Engineering. Laboratory of Optimization, Design and Advanced Process Control], Email: aulus@feq.unicamp.br

    2010-07-01

    The propose of this work is to present high precision microfabrication facilities using computer aided technologies as Reverse Engineering (RE) and Rapid Manufacturing (RM) to analyze, design and construct micro reactors to produce high content hydrogen gas. Micro reactors are very compact, have a high surface to volume ratio, exhibit enhanced heat and mass transfer rates, denotes extremely low pressure drop and allow improved thermal integration in the processes involved. The main goals of micro reactors are the optimization of conventional chemical plants and low footprint, opening different ways to research new process technologies and synthesis of new products. In this work, a microchannels plate and housing structure of these plates were fabricated using DMLS method (Direct Metal Laser Sintering). The plates were analyzed to verify the minimum thickness wall that machine can produce, and the housing structure were digitalized, using a 3D scanning, to perform a 3D inspection and to verify the deflection of the constructed part in comparison with original CAD design models. It was observed that DMLS systems are able to produce micro reactors and microchannels plates with high precision at different metallic materials. However, it is important to choose appropriate conditions to avoid residual stresses and consequently warping parts. (author)

  16. Nanoarchitecture Control Enabled by Ionic Liquids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murdoch, Heather A.; Limmer, Krista R.; Labukas, Joseph P.

    2017-04-01

    Ionic liquids have many advantages over traditional aqueous electrosynthesis for fabrication of functional nanoarchitectures, including enabling the integration of nanoparticles into traditional coatings, superhydrophobicity, nanofoams, and other hierarchical structures. Shape and size control through ionic liquid selection and processing conditions can synthesize nanoparticles and nanoarchitectures without the use of capping agents, surfactants, or templates that are often deleterious to the functionality of the resultant system. Here we give a brief overview of some recent and interesting applications of ionic liquids to the synthesis of nanoparticles and nanoarchitectures.

  17. Architectures for Green-Field Supply Chain Integration: Supply Chain Integration Design

    OpenAIRE

    Radanliev, Petar

    2015-01-01

    This paper applied case study research to design architectures for green-field supply chain integration. The integration design is based on a case study of a supply chain integration of 5 companies, operating in different, but supply chain complimenting industry sectors. The case study research is applied to design and validate the architectures in a real world scenario. The supply\\ud chain integration architectures enable the conversion of individual into integrated strategies. The architect...

  18. Design of 5.8 GHz Integrated Antenna on 180nm Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Razak, A. H. A.; Shamsuddin, M. I. A.; Idros, M. F. M.; Halim, A. K.; Ahmad, A.; Junid, S. A. M. Al

    2018-03-01

    This project discusses the design and simulation performances of integrated loop antenna. Antenna is one of the main parts in any wireless radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC). Naturally, antenna is the bulk in any RFIC design. Thus, this project aims to implement an integrated antenna on a single chip making the end product more compact. This project targets 5.8 GHz as the operating frequency of the integrated antenna for a transceiver module based on Silterra CMOS 180nm technology. The simulation of the antenna was done by using High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS). This software is industrial standard software that been used to simulate all electromagnetic effect including antenna simulation. This software has ability to simulate frequency at range of 100 MHz to 4 THz. The simulation set up in 3 dimension structure with driven terminal. The designed antenna has 1400um of diameter and placed on top metal layer. Loop configuration of the antenna has been chosen as the antenna design. From the configuration, it is able to make the chip more compact. The simulation shows that the antenna has single frequency band at center frequency 5.8 GHz with -48.93dB. The antenna radiation patterns shows, the antenna radiate at omnidirectional. From the simulation result, it could be concluded that the antenna have a good radiation pattern and propagation for wireless communication.

  19. State-of-the-art photodetectors for optoelectronic integration at telecommunication wavelength

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eng Png Ching

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Photodetectors hold a critical position in optoelectronic integrated circuits, and they convert light into electricity. Over the past decades, high-performance photodetectors (PDs have been aggressively pursued to enable high-speed, large-bandwidth, and low-noise communication applications. Various material systems have been explored and different structures designed to improve photodetection capability as well as compatibility with CMOS circuits. In this paper, we review state-of-theart photodetection technologies in the telecommunications spectrum based on different material systems, including traditional semiconductors such as InGaAs, Si, Ge and HgCdTe, as well as recently developed systems such as low-dimensional materials (e.g. graphene, carbon nanotube, etc. and noble metal plasmons. The corresponding material properties, fundamental mechanisms, fabrication, theoretical modelling and performance of the typical PDs are presented, including the emerging directions and perspectives of the PDs for optoelectronic integration applications are discussed.

  20. Architectural design criteria for f-block metal ion sequestering agents. 1998 annual progress report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dixon, D.A.; Hay, B.P.; Paine, R.T.; Raymond, K.N.; Rogers, R.D.; Roundhill, D.M.

    1998-01-01

    'The objective of this project is to provide a means to optimize ligand architecture for f-block metal recognition. The authors strategy builds on an innovative and successful molecular modeling approach in developing polyether ligand design criteria for the alkali and alkaline earth cations. The hypothesis underlying this proposal is that differences in metal ion binding with multidentate ligands bearing the same number and type of donor groups are primarily attributable to intramolecular steric factors. They propose quantifying these steric factors through the application of molecular mechanics models. The research involves close integration of theoretical and experimental chemistry. The experimental work entails synthesizing novel ligands and experimentally determining structures and binding constants for metal ion complexation by series of ligands in which architecture is systematically varied. The theoretical work entails using electronic structure calculations to parameterize a molecular mechanics force field for a range of metal ions and ligand types. The resulting molecular mechanics force field will be used to predict low energy structures for unidentate, bidentate, and multidentate ligands and their metal complexes through conformational searches. Results will be analyzed to assess the relative importance of several steric factors including optimal M-L length, optimal geometry at the metal center, optimal geometry at the donor atoms (complementarity), and conformation prior to binding (preorganization). An accurate set of criteria for the design of ligand architecture will be obtained from these results. These criteria will enable researchers to target ligand structures for synthesis and thereby dramatically reduce the time and cost associated with metal-specific ligand development.'

  1. Logic circuits based on individual semiconducting and metallic carbon-nanotube devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ryu, Hyeyeon; Kaelblein, Daniel; Ante, Frederik; Zschieschang, Ute; Kern, Klaus; Klauk, Hagen; Weitz, R Thomas; Schmidt, Oliver G

    2010-01-01

    Nanoscale transistors employing an individual semiconducting carbon nanotube as the channel hold great potential for logic circuits with large integration densities that can be manufactured on glass or plastic substrates. Carbon nanotubes are usually produced as a mixture of semiconducting and metallic nanotubes. Since only semiconducting nanotubes yield transistors, the metallic nanotubes are typically not utilized. However, integrated circuits often require not only transistors, but also resistive load devices. Here we show that many of the metallic carbon nanotubes that are deposited on the substrate along with the semiconducting nanotubes can be conveniently utilized as load resistors with favorable characteristics for the design of integrated circuits. We also demonstrate the fabrication of arrays of transistors and resistors, each based on an individual semiconducting or metallic carbon nanotube, and their integration on glass substrates into logic circuits with switching frequencies of up to 500 kHz using a custom-designed metal interconnect layer.

  2. Coherently-enabled environmental control of optics and energy transfer pathways of hybrid quantum dot-metallic nanoparticle systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatef, Ali; Sadeghi, Seyed M; Fortin-Deschênes, Simon; Boulais, Etienne; Meunier, Michel

    2013-03-11

    It is well-known that optical properties of semiconductor quantum dots can be controlled using optical cavities or near fields of localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) of metallic nanoparticles. In this paper we study the optics, energy transfer pathways, and exciton states of quantum dots when they are influenced by the near fields associated with plasmonic meta-resonances. Such resonances are formed via coherent coupling of excitons and LSPRs when the quantum dots are close to metallic nanorods and driven by a laser beam. Our results suggest an unprecedented sensitivity to the refractive index of the environment, causing significant spectral changes in the Förster resonance energy transfer from the quantum dots to the nanorods and in exciton transition energies. We demonstrate that when a quantum dot-metallic nanorod system is close to its plasmonic meta-resonance, we can adjust the refractive index to: (i) control the frequency range where the energy transfer from the quantum dot to the metallic nanorod is inhibited, (ii) manipulate the exciton transition energy shift of the quantum dot, and (iii) disengage the quantum dot from the metallic nanoparticle and laser field. Our results show that near meta-resonances the spectral forms of energy transfer and exciton energy shifts are strongly correlated to each other.

  3. Subwavelength grating enabled on-chip ultra-compact optical true time delay line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Junjia; Ashrafi, Reza; Adams, Rhys; Glesk, Ivan; Gasulla, Ivana; Capmany, José; Chen, Lawrence R

    2016-07-26

    An optical true time delay line (OTTDL) is a basic photonic building block that enables many microwave photonic and optical processing operations. The conventional design for an integrated OTTDL that is based on spatial diversity uses a length-variable waveguide array to create the optical time delays, which can introduce complexities in the integrated circuit design. Here we report the first ever demonstration of an integrated index-variable OTTDL that exploits spatial diversity in an equal length waveguide array. The approach uses subwavelength grating waveguides in silicon-on-insulator (SOI), which enables the realization of OTTDLs having a simple geometry and that occupy a compact chip area. Moreover, compared to conventional wavelength-variable delay lines with a few THz operation bandwidth, our index-variable OTTDL has an extremely broad operation bandwidth practically exceeding several tens of THz, which supports operation for various input optical signals with broad ranges of central wavelength and bandwidth.

  4. The integration of cyanide hydratase and tyrosinase catalysts enables effective degradation of cyanide and phenol in coking wastewaters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínková, Ludmila; Chmátal, Martin

    2016-10-01

    The aim of this study was to design an effective method for the bioremediation of coking wastewaters, specifically for the concurrent elimination of their highly toxic components - cyanide and phenols. Almost full degradation of free cyanide (0.32-20 mM; 8.3-520 mg L(-1)) in the model and the real coking wastewaters was achieved by using a recombinant cyanide hydratase in the first step. The removal of cyanide, a strong inhibitor of tyrosinase, enabled an effective degradation of phenols by this enzyme in the second step. Phenol (16.5 mM, 1,552 mg L(-1)) was completely removed from a real coking wastewater within 20 h and cresols (5.0 mM, 540 mg L(-1)) were removed by 66% under the same conditions. The integration of cyanide hydratase and tyrosinase open up new possibilities for the bioremediation of wastewaters with complex pollution. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Integrated assessment of air pollution by metals and source apportionment using ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) in southern Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Illi, Júlia Carolina; Vancetta, Tafael; Alves, Darlan Daniel; Osório, Daniela Montanari Migliavacca; Bianchin, Liane; de Quevedo, Daniela Müller; Juchem, Fernando

    2017-01-01

    One of the biggest environmental problems existing today is air pollution, which is characterized by the presence of toxic gases and metal pollutants, the latter of which is generally associated with emissions of particulate matter (PM) from industries or automotive vehicles. Biomonitoring is a method that can be used to assess air pollution levels because it makes it possible to determine what effects these air pollutants cause in living organisms and their responses. The species Lolium multiflorum Lam., known as ryegrass, is considered a good bioindicator of metals, since it accumulates these substances during exposure. This study proposes to conduct an integrated assessment of air quality using two different monitoring methodologies: biomonitoring with L. multiflorum and active monitoring in areas with different levels of urbanization and industrialization. Concentrations found in ryegrass plants revealed high levels of Pb, Cr, Zn, and Cu, indicating that vehicular and industrial emissions were the main sources of pollution. Analysis of PM also revealed soot and biogenic particles, which can transport metals. Therefore, with the proposed method, the anthropogenic impact on air pollution in the investigated area could be clearly demonstrated.

  6. Integrating Metal-Oxide-Decorated CNT Networks with a CMOS Readout in a Gas Sensor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suhwan Kim

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available We have implemented a tin-oxide-decorated carbon nanotube (CNT network gas sensor system on a single die. We have also demonstrated the deposition of metallic tin on the CNT network, its subsequent oxidation in air, and the improvement of the lifetime of the sensors. The fabricated array of CNT sensors contains 128 sensor cells for added redundancy and increased accuracy. The read-out integrated circuit (ROIC was combined with coarse and fine time-to-digital converters to extend its resolution in a power-efficient way. The ROIC is fabricated using a 0.35 µm CMOS process, and the whole sensor system consumes 30 mA at 5 V. The sensor system was successfully tested in the detection of ammonia gas at elevated temperatures.

  7. Integral fast reactor safety features

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cahalan, J.E.; Kramer, J.M.; Marchaterre, J.F.; Mueller, C.J.; Pedersen, D.R.; Sevy, R.H.; Wade, D.C.; Wei, T.Y.C.

    1988-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is an advanced liquid-metal-cooled reactor concept being developed at Argonne National Laboratory. The two major goals of the IFR development effort are improved economics and enhanced safety. In addition to liquid metal cooling, the principal design features that distinguish the IFR are: (1) a pool-type primary system, (2) an advanced ternary alloy metallic fuel, and (3) an integral fuel cycle with on-site fuel reprocessing and fabrication. This paper focuses on the technical aspects of the improved safety margins available in the IFR concept. This increased level of safety is made possible by (1) the liquid metal (sodium) coolant and pool-type primary system layout, which together facilitate passive decay heat removal, and (2) a sodium-bonded metallic fuel pin design with thermal and neutronic properties that provide passive core responses which control and mitigate the consequences of reactor accidents

  8. Product architecture development enabling integrated re-design of mechanical products

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Begelinger, R.E.; Post, E.; van Houten, F.J.A.M.; Kals, H.J.J.

    1999-01-01

    Global competition forces companies to increase their competitive advantage. The design process represents an interesting area to improve the overall business performance. There are two topics involved in improving the design process. The first one is the integration of constraints from the product

  9. Electrical Control of Metallic Heavy-Metal-Ferromagnet Interfacial States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bi, Chong; Sun, Congli; Xu, Meng; Newhouse-Illige, Ty; Voyles, Paul M.; Wang, Weigang

    2017-09-01

    Voltage-control effects provide an energy-efficient means of tailoring material properties, especially in highly integrated nanoscale devices. However, only insulating and semiconducting systems can be controlled so far. In metallic systems, there is no electric field due to electron screening effects and thus no such control effect exists. Here, we demonstrate that metallic systems can also be controlled electrically through ionic rather than electronic effects. In a Pt /Co structure, the control of the metallic Pt /Co interface can lead to unprecedented control effects on the magnetic properties of the entire structure. Consequently, the magnetization and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the Co layer can be independently manipulated to any desired state, the efficient spin toques can be enhanced about 3.5 times, and the switching current can be reduced about one order of magnitude. This ability to control a metallic system may be extended to control other physical phenomena.

  10. Statistical analysis of metallicity in spiral galaxies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Galeotti, P [Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Turin (Italy). Lab. di Cosmo-Geofisica; Turin Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Fisica Generale)

    1981-04-01

    A principal component analysis of metallicity and other integral properties of 33 spiral galaxies is presented; the involved parameters are: morphological type, diameter, luminosity and metallicity. From the statistical analysis it is concluded that the sample has only two significant dimensions and additonal tests, involving different parameters, show similar results. Thus it seems that only type and luminosity are independent variables, being the other integral properties of spiral galaxies correlated with them.

  11. Contour forming of metals by laser peening

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hackel, Lloyd; Harris, Fritz

    2002-01-01

    A method and apparatus are provided for forming shapes and contours in metal sections by generating laser induced compressive stress on the surface of the metal workpiece. The laser process can generate deep compressive stresses to shape even thick components without inducing unwanted tensile stress at the metal surface. The precision of the laser-induced stress enables exact prediction and subsequent contouring of parts. A light beam of 10 to 100 J/pulse is imaged to create an energy fluence of 60 to 200 J/cm.sup.2 on an absorptive layer applied over a metal surface. A tamping layer of water is flowed over the absorptive layer. The absorption of laser light causes a plasma to form and consequently creates a shock wave that induces a deep residual compressive stress into the metal. The metal responds to this residual stress by bending.

  12. Design of energy efficient optical networks with software enabled integrated control plane

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Jiayuan; Yan, Ying; Dittmann, Lars

    2015-01-01

    energy consumption by proposing a new integrated control plane structure utilising Software Defined Networking technologies. The integrated control plane increases the efficiencies of exchanging control information across different network domains, while introducing new possibilities to the routing...... methods and the control over quality of service (QoS). The structure is defined as an overlay generalised multi-protocol label switching (GMPLS) control model. With the defined structure, the integrated control plane is able to gather information from different domains (i.e. optical core network......'s) routing behaviours. With the flexibility of the routing structure, results show that the energy efficiency of the network can be improved without compromising the QoS for delay/blocking sensitive services....

  13. New Approaches to Aluminum Integral Foam Production with Casting Methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmet Güner

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Integral foam has been used in the production of polymer materials for a long time. Metal integral foam casting systems are obtained by transferring and adapting polymer injection technology. Metal integral foam produced by casting has a solid skin at the surface and a foam core. Producing near-net shape reduces production expenses. Insurance companies nowadays want the automotive industry to use metallic foam parts because of their higher impact energy absorption properties. In this paper, manufacturing processes of aluminum integral foam with casting methods will be discussed.

  14. A GMOS-N IFU study of the central H II region in the blue compact dwarf galaxy NGC 4449: kinematics, nebular metallicity and star formation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumari, Nimisha; James, Bethan L.; Irwin, Mike J.

    2017-10-01

    We use integral field spectroscopic (IFS) observations from the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph North (GMOS-N) to study the central H II region in a nearby blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxy NGC 4449. The IFS data enable us to explore the variation of physical and chemical conditions of the star-forming region and the surrounding gas on spatial scales as small as 5.5 pc. Our kinematical analysis shows possible signatures of shock ionization and shell structures in the surroundings of the star-forming region. The metallicity maps of the region, created using direct Te and indirect strong line methods (R23, O3N2 and N2), do not show any chemical variation. From the integrated spectrum of the central H II region, we find a metallicity of 12 + log(O/H) = 7.88 ± 0.14 ({˜ }0.15^{+0.06}_{-0.04} Z⊙) using the direct method. Comparing the central H II region metallicity derived here with those of H II regions throughout this galaxy from previous studies, we find evidence of increasing metallicity with distance from the central nucleus. Such chemical inhomogeneities can be due to several mechanisms, including gas loss via supernova blowout, galactic winds or metal-poor gas accretion. However, we find that the localized area of decreased metallicity aligns spatially with the peak of star-forming activity in the galaxy, suggesting that gas accretion may be at play here. Spatially resolved IFS data for the entire galaxy are required to confirm the metallicity inhomogeneity found in this study and determine its possible cause.

  15. Synthesis and structure of two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides

    KAUST Repository

    Shi, Yumeng; Zhang, Hua; Chang, Wen-Hao; Shin, Hyeon Suk; Li, Lain-Jong

    2015-01-01

    Two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) exhibit unique electrical, optical, thermal, and mechanical properties, which enable them to be used as building blocks in compact and lightweight integrated electronic systems. The controllable and reliable synthesis of atomically thin TMDCs is essential for their practical application. Recent progress in large-area synthesis of monolayer TMDCs paves the way for practical production of various 2D TMDC layers. The intrinsic optical and electrical properties of monolayer TMDCs can be defined by stoichiometry during synthesis. By manipulating the lattice structure or layer stacking manner, it is possible to create atomically thin van der Waals materials with unique and unexplored physical properties. In this article, we review recent developments in the synthesis of TMDC monolayers, alloys, and heterostructures, which shine light on the design of novel TMDCs with desired functional properties.

  16. Synthesis and structure of two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides

    KAUST Repository

    Shi, Yumeng

    2015-07-13

    Two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) exhibit unique electrical, optical, thermal, and mechanical properties, which enable them to be used as building blocks in compact and lightweight integrated electronic systems. The controllable and reliable synthesis of atomically thin TMDCs is essential for their practical application. Recent progress in large-area synthesis of monolayer TMDCs paves the way for practical production of various 2D TMDC layers. The intrinsic optical and electrical properties of monolayer TMDCs can be defined by stoichiometry during synthesis. By manipulating the lattice structure or layer stacking manner, it is possible to create atomically thin van der Waals materials with unique and unexplored physical properties. In this article, we review recent developments in the synthesis of TMDC monolayers, alloys, and heterostructures, which shine light on the design of novel TMDCs with desired functional properties.

  17. Technology Enabling Ultra High Concentration Multi-Junction Cells. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bedair, S. M.; Colter, Peter

    2016-03-30

    The project goal is to enable multijunction cells to operate at greater than 2000× suns intensity with efficiency above forty percent. To achieve this goal the recipients have developed a robust high-bandgap tunnel junction, reduce series resistance, and integrated a practical heat dissipation scheme.

  18. Surface nano-architecture of a metal-organic framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makiura, Rie; Motoyama, Soichiro; Umemura, Yasushi; Yamanaka, Hiroaki; Sakata, Osami; Kitagawa, Hiroshi

    2010-07-01

    The rational assembly of ultrathin films of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)--highly ordered microporous materials--with well-controlled growth direction and film thickness is a critical and as yet unrealized issue for enabling the use of MOFs in nanotechnological devices, such as sensors, catalysts and electrodes for fuel cells. Here we report the facile bottom-up fabrication at ambient temperature of such a perfect preferentially oriented MOF nanofilm on a solid surface (NAFS-1), consisting of metalloporphyrin building units. The construction of NAFS-1 was achieved by the unconventional integration in a modular fashion of a layer-by-layer growth technique coupled with the Langmuir-Blodgett method. NAFS-1 is endowed with highly crystalline order both in the out-of-plane and in-plane orientations to the substrate, as demonstrated by synchrotron X-ray surface crystallography. The proposed structural model incorporates metal-coordinated pyridine molecules projected from the two-dimensional sheets that allow each further layer to dock in a highly ordered interdigitated manner in the growth of NAFS-1. We expect that the versatility of the solution-based growth strategy presented here will allow the fabrication of various well-ordered MOF nanofilms, opening the way for their use in a range of important applications.

  19. Titanium dioxide nanowire sensor array integration on CMOS platform using deterministic assembly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gall, Oren Z; Zhong, Xiahua; Schulman, Daniel S; Kang, Myungkoo; Razavieh, Ali; Mayer, Theresa S

    2017-06-30

    Nanosensor arrays have recently received significant attention due to their utility in a wide range of applications, including gas sensing, fuel cells, internet of things, and portable health monitoring systems. Less attention has been given to the production of sensor platforms in the μW range for ultra-low power applications. Here, we discuss how to scale the nanosensor energy demand by developing a process for integration of nanowire sensing arrays on a monolithic CMOS chip. This work demonstrates an off-chip nanowire fabrication method; subsequently nanowires link to a fused SiO 2 substrate using electric-field assisted directed assembly. The nanowire resistances shown in this work have the highest resistance uniformity reported to date of 18%, which enables a practical roadmap towards the coupling of nanosensors to CMOS circuits and signal processing systems. The article also presents the utility of optimizing annealing conditions of the off-chip metal-oxides prior to CMOS integration to avoid limitations of thermal budget and process incompatibility. In the context of the platform demonstrated here, directed assembly is a powerful tool that can realize highly uniform, cross-reactive arrays of different types of metal-oxide nanosensors suited for gas discrimination and signal processing systems.

  20. Modelling the appearance of heritage metallic surfaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. MacDonald

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Polished metallic surfaces exhibit a high degree of specularity, which makes them difficult to reproduce accurately. We have applied two different techniques for modelling a heritage object known as the Islamic handbag. Photogrammetric multi-view stereo enabled a dense point cloud to be extracted from a set of photographs with calibration targets, and a geometrically accurate 3D model produced. A new method based on photometric stereo from a set of images taken in an illumination dome enabled surface normals to be generated for each face of the object and its appearance to be rendered, to a high degree of visual realism, when illuminated by one or more light sources from any angles. The specularity of the reflection from the metal surface was modelled by a modified Lorentzian function.

  1. Thread-Like CMOS Logic Circuits Enabled by Reel-Processed Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Transistors via Selective Doping.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heo, Jae Sang; Kim, Taehoon; Ban, Seok-Gyu; Kim, Daesik; Lee, Jun Ho; Jur, Jesse S; Kim, Myung-Gil; Kim, Yong-Hoon; Hong, Yongtaek; Park, Sung Kyu

    2017-08-01

    The realization of large-area electronics with full integration of 1D thread-like devices may open up a new era for ultraflexible and human adaptable electronic systems because of their potential advantages in demonstrating scalable complex circuitry by a simply integrated weaving technology. More importantly, the thread-like fiber electronic devices can be achieved using a simple reel-to-reel process, which is strongly required for low-cost and scalable manufacturing technology. Here, high-performance reel-processed complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuits are reported on 1D fiber substrates by using selectively chemical-doped single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) transistors. With the introduction of selective n-type doping and a nonrelief photochemical patterning process, p- and n-type SWCNT transistors are successfully implemented on cylindrical fiber substrates under air ambient, enabling high-performance and reliable thread-like CMOS inverter circuits. In addition, it is noteworthy that the optimized reel-coating process can facilitate improvement in the arrangement of SWCNTs, building uniformly well-aligned SWCNT channels, and enhancement of the electrical performance of the devices. The p- and n-type SWCNT transistors exhibit field-effect mobility of 4.03 and 2.15 cm 2 V -1 s -1 , respectively, with relatively narrow distribution. Moreover, the SWCNT CMOS inverter circuits demonstrate a gain of 6.76 and relatively good dynamic operation at a supply voltage of 5.0 V. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  2. A wireless sensor enabled by wireless power.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Da-Sheng; Liu, Yu-Hong; Lin, Chii-Ruey

    2012-11-22

    Through harvesting energy by wireless charging and delivering data by wireless communication, this study proposes the concept of a wireless sensor enabled by wireless power (WPWS) and reports the fabrication of a prototype for functional tests. One WPWS node consists of wireless power module and sensor module with different chip-type sensors. Its main feature is the dual antenna structure. Following RFID system architecture, a power harvesting antenna was designed to gather power from a standard reader working in the 915 MHz band. Referring to the Modbus protocol, the other wireless communication antenna was integrated on a node to send sensor data in parallel. The dual antenna structure integrates both the advantages of an RFID system and a wireless sensor. Using a standard UHF RFID reader, WPWS can be enabled in a distributed area with a diameter up to 4 m. Working status is similar to that of a passive tag, except that a tag can only be queried statically, while the WPWS can send dynamic data from the sensors. The function is the same as a wireless sensor node. Different WPWSs equipped with temperature and humidity, optical and airflow velocity sensors are tested in this study. All sensors can send back detection data within 8 s. The accuracy is within 8% deviation compared with laboratory equipment. A wireless sensor network enabled by wireless power should be a totally wireless sensor network using WPWS. However, distributed WPWSs only can form a star topology, the simplest topology for constructing a sensor network. Because of shielding effects, it is difficult to apply other complex topologies. Despite this limitation, WPWS still can be used to extend sensor network applications in hazardous environments. Further research is needed to improve WPWS to realize a totally wireless sensor network.

  3. Self-aligned blocking integration demonstration for critical sub-30nm pitch Mx level patterning with EUV self-aligned double patterning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raley, Angélique; Lee, Joe; Smith, Jeffrey T.; Sun, Xinghua; Farrell, Richard A.; Shearer, Jeffrey; Xu, Yongan; Ko, Akiteru; Metz, Andrew W.; Biolsi, Peter; Devilliers, Anton; Arnold, John; Felix, Nelson

    2018-04-01

    We report a sub-30nm pitch self-aligned double patterning (SADP) integration scheme with EUV lithography coupled with self-aligned block technology (SAB) targeting the back end of line (BEOL) metal line patterning applications for logic nodes beyond 5nm. The integration demonstration is a validation of the scalability of a previously reported flow, which used 193nm immersion SADP targeting a 40nm pitch with the same material sets (Si3N4 mandrel, SiO2 spacer, Spin on carbon, spin on glass). The multi-color integration approach is successfully demonstrated and provides a valuable method to address overlay concerns and more generally edge placement error (EPE) as a whole for advanced process nodes. Unbiased LER/LWR analysis comparison between EUV SADP and 193nm immersion SADP shows that both integrations follow the same trend throughout the process steps. While EUV SADP shows increased LER after mandrel pull, metal hardmask open and dielectric etch compared to 193nm immersion SADP, the final process performance is matched in terms of LWR (1.08nm 3 sigma unbiased) and is only 6% higher than 193nm immersion SADP for average unbiased LER. Using EUV SADP enables almost doubling the line density while keeping most of the remaining processes and films unchanged, and provides a compelling alternative to other multipatterning integrations, which present their own sets of challenges.

  4. Solution processed metal oxide thin film hole transport layers for high performance organic solar cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steirer, K. Xerxes; Berry, Joseph J.; Chesin, Jordan P.; Lloyd, Matthew T.; Widjonarko, Nicodemus Edwin; Miedaner, Alexander; Curtis, Calvin J.; Ginley, David S.; Olson, Dana C.

    2017-01-10

    A method for the application of solution processed metal oxide hole transport layers in organic photovoltaic devices and related organic electronics devices is disclosed. The metal oxide may be derived from a metal-organic precursor enabling solution processing of an amorphous, p-type metal oxide. An organic photovoltaic device having solution processed, metal oxide, thin-film hole transport layer.

  5. Reduction of metal artefacts in musculoskeletal imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sutter, Reto; Dietrich, Tobias

    2016-01-01

    Joint replacement and other orthopaedic implants are utilized in many patients with musculoskeletal disorders. While these operations commonly show a good clinical result, a substantial number of patients need to undergo postoperative imaging during follow-up. The presence of orthopaedic implants induces severe metal artefacts at MRI and CT. We review several basic methods and advanced techniques for reducing metal artefacts at MRI and CT in order to enable a diagnostic examination in patients with metal implants. With the use of these techniques, MRI and CT are important and reliable modalities to examine patients with joint replacement and orthopaedic implants.

  6. An 'artificial mussel' for monitoring heavy metals in marine environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Rudolf S.S.; Lau, T.C.; Fung, Wendy K.M.; Ko, P.H.; Leung, Kenneth M.Y.

    2007-01-01

    A new chemical sampling device, artificial mussel (AM), has been developed for monitoring metals in marine environments. This device consists of a polymer ligand suspended in artificial seawater within a Perspex tubing, and enclosed with semi-permeable gel at both ends. Laboratory and field experiments were carried out to examine the uptake of five metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn) by the AM. Uptake of metals by AM was proportional to the exposure metal concentrations, and the AM was able to accumulate the ASV labile fractions of metals. Uptake and release of the metals of AM are similar to those of the mussel Perna viridis, but less affected by salinity and temperature. Field studies demonstrated that the AM can not only provide a time-integrated estimate of metals concentrations, but also allows comparisons of metal levels in different environments and geographical areas beyond the natural distribution limits of biomonitors. - A new monitoring device to provide a time-integrated estimate for monitoring metals in marine environments

  7. MRI monitoring of focused ultrasound sonications near metallic hardware.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, Hans; Ghanouni, Pejman; Pascal-Tenorio, Aurea; Pauly, Kim Butts; Hargreaves, Brian A

    2018-07-01

    To explore the temperature-induced signal change in two-dimensional multi-spectral imaging (2DMSI) for fast thermometry near metallic hardware to enable MR-guided focused ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS) in patients with implanted metallic hardware. 2DMSI was optimized for temperature sensitivity and applied to monitor focus ultrasound surgery (FUS) sonications near metallic hardware in phantoms and ex vivo porcine muscle tissue. Further, we evaluated its temperature sensitivity for in vivo muscle in patients without metallic hardware. In addition, we performed a comparison of temperature sensitivity between 2DMSI and conventional proton-resonance-frequency-shift (PRFS) thermometry at different distances from metal devices and different signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). 2DMSI thermometry enabled visualization of short ultrasound sonications near metallic hardware. Calibration using in vivo muscle yielded a constant temperature sensitivity for temperatures below 43 °C. For an off-resonance coverage of ± 6 kHz, we achieved a temperature sensitivity of 1.45%/K, resulting in a minimum detectable temperature change of ∼2.5 K for an SNR of 100 with a temporal resolution of 6 s per frame. The proposed 2DMSI thermometry has the potential to allow MR-guided FUS treatments of patients with metallic hardware and therefore expand its reach to a larger patient population. Magn Reson Med 80:259-271, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

  8. Study of Ni Metallization in Macroporous Si Using Wet Chemistry for Radio Frequency Cross-Talk Isolation in Mixed Signal Integrated Circuits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xi; Xu, Chengkun; Chong, Kyuchul; Tu, King-Ning; Xie, Ya-Hong

    2011-05-25

    A highly conductive moat or Faraday cage of through-the-wafer thickness in Si substrate was proposed to be effective in shielding electromagnetic interference thereby reducing radio frequency (RF) cross-talk in high performance mixed signal integrated circuits. Such a structure was realized by metallization of selected ultra-high-aspect-ratio macroporous regions that were electrochemically etched in p - Si substrates. The metallization process was conducted by means of wet chemistry in an alkaline aqueous solution containing Ni 2+ without reducing agent. It is found that at elevated temperature during immersion, Ni 2+ was rapidly reduced and deposited into macroporous Si and a conformal metallization of the macropore sidewalls was obtained in a way that the entire porous Si framework was converted to Ni. A conductive moat was as a result incorporated into p - Si substrate. The experimentally measured reduction of crosstalk in this structure is 5~18 dB at frequencies up to 35 GHz.

  9. Study of Ni Metallization in Macroporous Si Using Wet Chemistry for Radio Frequency Cross-Talk Isolation in Mixed Signal Integrated Circuits

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    King-Ning Tu

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available A highly conductive moat or Faraday cage of through-the-wafer thickness in Si substrate was proposed to be effective in shielding electromagnetic interference thereby reducing radio frequency (RF cross-talk in high performance mixed signal integrated circuits. Such a structure was realized by metallization of selected ultra-high-aspect-ratio macroporous regions that were electrochemically etched in p− Si substrates. The metallization process was conducted by means of wet chemistry in an alkaline aqueous solution containing Ni2+ without reducing agent. It is found that at elevated temperature during immersion, Ni2+ was rapidly reduced and deposited into macroporous Si and a conformal metallization of the macropore sidewalls was obtained in a way that the entire porous Si framework was converted to Ni. A conductive moat was as a result incorporated into p− Si substrate. The experimentally measured reduction of crosstalk in this structure is 5~18 dB at frequencies up to 35 GHz.

  10. Study of Ni Metallization in Macroporous Si Using Wet Chemistry for Radio Frequency Cross-Talk Isolation in Mixed Signal Integrated Circuits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xi; Xu, Chengkun; Chong, Kyuchul; Tu, King-Ning; Xie, Ya-Hong

    2011-01-01

    A highly conductive moat or Faraday cage of through-the-wafer thickness in Si substrate was proposed to be effective in shielding electromagnetic interference thereby reducing radio frequency (RF) cross-talk in high performance mixed signal integrated circuits. Such a structure was realized by metallization of selected ultra-high-aspect-ratio macroporous regions that were electrochemically etched in p− Si substrates. The metallization process was conducted by means of wet chemistry in an alkaline aqueous solution containing Ni2+ without reducing agent. It is found that at elevated temperature during immersion, Ni2+ was rapidly reduced and deposited into macroporous Si and a conformal metallization of the macropore sidewalls was obtained in a way that the entire porous Si framework was converted to Ni. A conductive moat was as a result incorporated into p− Si substrate. The experimentally measured reduction of crosstalk in this structure is 5~18 dB at frequencies up to 35 GHz. PMID:28879960

  11. Characterization of the bone-metal implant interface by Digital Volume Correlation of in-situ loading using neutron tomography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Cann, Sophie; Tudisco, Erika; Perdikouri, Christina; Belfrage, Ola; Kaestner, Anders; Hall, Stephen; Tägil, Magnus; Isaksson, Hanna

    2017-11-01

    Metallic implants are commonly used as surgical treatments for many orthopedic conditions. The long-term stability of implants relies on an adequate integration with the surrounding bone. Unsuccessful integration could lead to implant loosening. By combining mechanical loading with high-resolution 3D imaging methods, followed by image analysis such as Digital Volume Correlation (DVC), we aim at evaluating ex vivo the mechanical resistance of newly formed bone at the interface. X-rays tomography is commonly used to image bone but induces artefacts close to metallic components. Utilizing a different interaction with matter, neutron tomography is a promising alternative but has not yet been used in studies of bone mechanics. This work demonstrates that neutron tomography during in situ loading is a feasible tool to characterize the mechanical response of bone-implant interfaces, especially when combined with DVC. Experiments were performed where metal screws were implanted in rat tibiae during 4 weeks. The screws were pulled-out while the samples were sequentially imaged in situ with neutron tomography. The images were analyzed to quantify bone ingrowth around the implants. DVC was used to track the internal displacements and calculate the strain fields in the bone during loading. The neutron images were free of metal-related artefacts, which enabled accurate quantification of bone ingrowth on the screw (ranging from 60% to 71%). DVC allowed successful identification of the deformation and cracks that occurred during mechanical loading and led to final failure of the bone-implant interface. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. An integrative review of in-class activities that enable active learning in college science classroom settings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arthurs, Leilani A.; Kreager, Bailey Zo

    2017-10-01

    Engaging students in active learning is linked to positive learning outcomes. This study aims to synthesise the peer-reviewed literature about 'active learning' in college science classroom settings. Using the methodology of an integrative literature review, 337 articles archived in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) are examined. Four categories of in-class activities emerge: (i) individual non-polling activities, (ii) in-class polling activities, (iii) whole-class discussion or activities, and (iv) in-class group activities. Examining the collection of identified in-class activities through the lens of a theoretical framework informed by constructivism and social interdependence theory, we synthesise the reviewed literature to propose the active learning strategies (ALSs) model and the instructional decisions to enable active learning (IDEAL) theory. The ALS model characterises in-class activities in terms of the degrees to which they are designed to promote (i) peer interaction and (ii) social interdependence. The IDEAL theory includes the ALS model and provides a framework for conceptualising different levels of the general concept 'active learning' and how these levels connect to instructional decision-making about using in-class activities. The proposed ALS model and IDEAL theory can be utilised to inform instructional decision-making and future research about active learning in college science courses.

  13. Photo-Curable Metal-Chelating Coatings Offer a Scalable Approach to Production of Antioxidant Active Packaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Zhuangsheng; Goddard, Julie

    2018-02-01

    Synthetic metal chelators (for example, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, EDTA) are widely used as additives to control trace transition metal induced oxidation in consumer products. To enable removal of synthetic chelators in response to increasing consumer demand for clean label products, metal-chelating active food packaging technologies have been developed with demonstrated antioxidant efficacy in simulated food systems. However, prior work in fabrication of metal-chelating materials leveraged batch chemical reactions to tether metal-chelating ligands, a process with limited industrial translatability for large-scale fabrication. To improve the industrial translatability, we have designed a 2-step laminated photo-grafting process to introduce metal chelating functionality onto common polymeric packaging materials. Iminodiacetic acid (IDA) functionalized materials were fabricated by photo-grafting poly(acrylic acid) onto polypropylene (PP) films, followed by a second photo-grafting process to graft-polymerize an IDA functionalized vinyl monomer (GMA-IDA). The photo-grafting was conducted under atmospheric conditions and was completed in 2 min. The resulting IDA functionalized metal-chelating material was able to chelate iron and copper, and showed antioxidant efficacy against ascorbic acid degradation, supporting its potential to be used synergistically with natural antioxidants for preservation of food and beverage products. The 2-step photo-grafting process improves the throughput of active packaging coatings, enabling potential roll-to-roll fabrication of metal-chelating active packaging materials for antioxidant food packaging applications. To address consumer and retail demands for "clean label" foods and beverages without a corresponding loss in product quality and shelf life, producers are seeking next generation technologies such as active packaging. In this work, we will report the synthesis of metal-chelating active packaging films, which enable removal

  14. Deformation limits of polymer coated metal sheets

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Den Bosch, M.J.W.J.P.; Schreurs, P.J.G; Geers, M.G.D.

    2005-01-01

    Polymer coated metals are increasingly used by the packaging and automotive industry. During industrial deformation processes (drawing, roll-forming, bending etc.) the polymer-metal laminate is highly deformed at high deformation rates. These forming conditions can affect the mechanical integrity

  15. New faces of porous Prussian blue: interfacial assembly of integrated hetero-structures for sensing applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kong, Biao; Selomulya, Cordelia; Zheng, Gengfeng; Zhao, Dongyuan

    2015-11-21

    Prussian blue (PB), the oldest synthetic coordination compound, is a classic and fascinating transition metal coordination material. Prussian blue is based on a three-dimensional (3-D) cubic polymeric porous network consisting of alternating ferric and ferrous ions, which provides facile assembly as well as precise interaction with active sites at functional interfaces. A fundamental understanding of the assembly mechanism of PB hetero-interfaces is essential to enable the full potential applications of PB crystals, including chemical sensing, catalysis, gas storage, drug delivery and electronic displays. Developing controlled assembly methods towards functionally integrated hetero-interfaces with adjustable sizes and morphology of PB crystals is necessary. A key point in the functional interface and device integration of PB nanocrystals is the fabrication of hetero-interfaces in a well-defined and oriented fashion on given substrates. This review will bring together these key aspects of the hetero-interfaces of PB nanocrystals, ranging from structure and properties, interfacial assembly strategies, to integrated hetero-structures for diverse sensing.

  16. Identification of mechanisms enabling integrated care for patients with chronic diseases: a literature review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denise van der Klauw

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Notwithstanding care for chronically ill patients requires a shift towards care that is well coordinated and focused on prevention and self-care, the concept of integrated care lacks specificity and clarity. This article presents a literature review to identify mechanisms for achieving integrated care objectives.Theory and methods: Existing models often present a large variety of dimensions, archetypes and categories of integration without specifying them. Models and programmes describing integrated care for chronic diseases were reviewed. Data were extracted related to objectives and clusters of mechanisms of integration.Results: Thirty-four studies presented four objectives: functional, organisational, professional and service integration. We categorised approaches and interventions to achieve these objectives by strategy and clusters of ‘mechanisms of integration’: degree, patient centredness and normative aspects.Conclusions and discussion: The clarification of mechanisms to achieve objectives of integrated care as presented may be used as starting point for the development and refinement of integrated care programmes, including methodological grounding of their evaluation. Given that most studies reviewed lack both empirical data and descriptions of the methods used, future research needs to close these gaps. Validation of the findings by a large panel of experts is suggested as recommendation to work towards a grounded framework.

  17. Web-Enabled Mechanistic Case Diagramming: A Novel Tool for Assessing Students' Ability to Integrate Foundational and Clinical Sciences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferguson, Kristi J; Kreiter, Clarence D; Haugen, Thomas H; Dee, Fred R

    2018-02-20

    As medical schools move from discipline-based courses to more integrated approaches, identifying assessment tools that parallel this change is an important goal. The authors describe the use of test item statistics to assess the reliability and validity of web-enabled mechanistic case diagrams (MCDs) as a potential tool to assess students' ability to integrate basic science and clinical information. Students review a narrative clinical case and construct an MCD using items provided by the case author. Students identify the relationships among underlying risk factors, etiology, pathogenesis and pathophysiology, and the patients' signs and symptoms. They receive one point for each correctly-identified link. In 2014-15 and 2015-16, case diagrams were implemented in consecutive classes of 150 medical students. The alpha reliability coefficient for the overall score, constructed using each student's mean proportion correct across all cases, was 0.82. Discrimination indices for each of the case scores with the overall score ranged from 0.23 to 0.51. In a G study using those students with complete data (n = 251) on all 16 cases, 10% of the variance was true score variance, and systematic case variance was large. Using 16 cases generated a G coefficient (relative score reliability) equal to .72 and a Phi equal to .65. The next phase of the project will involve deploying MCDs in higher-stakes settings to determine whether similar results can be achieved. Further analyses will determine whether these assessments correlate with other measures of higher-order thinking skills.

  18. Metal hydride hydrogen and heat storage systems as enabling technology for spacecraft applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reissner, Alexander, E-mail: reissner@fotec.at [FOTEC Forschungs- und Technologietransfer GmbH, Viktor Kaplan Straße 2, 2700 Wiener Neustadt (Austria); University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Johannes Gutenberg-Straße 3, 2700 Wiener Neustadt (Austria); Pawelke, Roland H.; Hummel, Stefan; Cabelka, Dusan [FOTEC Forschungs- und Technologietransfer GmbH, Viktor Kaplan Straße 2, 2700 Wiener Neustadt (Austria); Gerger, Joachim [University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Johannes Gutenberg-Straße 3, 2700 Wiener Neustadt (Austria); Farnes, Jarle, E-mail: Jarle.farnes@prototech.no [CMR Prototech AS, Fantoftvegen 38, PO Box 6034, 5892 Bergen (Norway); Vik, Arild; Wernhus, Ivar; Svendsen, Tjalve [CMR Prototech AS, Fantoftvegen 38, PO Box 6034, 5892 Bergen (Norway); Schautz, Max, E-mail: max.schautz@esa.int [European Space Agency, ESTEC – Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk Zh (Netherlands); Geneste, Xavier, E-mail: xavier.geneste@esa.int [European Space Agency, ESTEC – Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk Zh (Netherlands)

    2015-10-05

    Highlights: • A metal hydride tank concept for heat and hydrogen storage is presented. • The tank is part of a closed-loop reversible fuel cell system for space application. • For several engineering issues specific to the spacecraft application, solutions have been developed. • The effect of water contamination has been approximated for Ti-doped NaAlH{sub 4}. • A novel heat exchanger design has been realized by Selective Laser Melting. - Abstract: The next generation of telecommunication satellites will demand a platform payload performance in the range of 30+ kW within the next 10 years. At this high power output, a Regenerative Fuel Cell Systems (RFCS) offers an efficiency advantage in specific energy density over lithium ion batteries. However, a RFCS creates a substantial amount of heat (60–70 kJ per mol H{sub 2}) during fuel cell operation. This requires a thermal hardware that accounts for up to 50% of RFCS mass budget. Thus the initial advantage in specific energy density is reduced. A metal hydride tank for combined storage of heat and hydrogen in a RFCS may overcome this constraint. Being part of a consortium in an ongoing European Space Agency project, FOTEC is building a technology demonstrator for such a combined hydrogen and heat storage system.

  19. Pumping liquid metal at high temperatures up to 1,673 kelvin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amy, C.; Budenstein, D.; Bagepalli, M.; England, D.; Deangelis, F.; Wilk, G.; Jarrett, C.; Kelsall, C.; Hirschey, J.; Wen, H.; Chavan, A.; Gilleland, B.; Yuan, C.; Chueh, W. C.; Sandhage, K. H.; Kawajiri, Y.; Henry, A.

    2017-10-01

    Heat is fundamental to power generation and many industrial processes, and is most useful at high temperatures because it can be converted more efficiently to other types of energy. However, efficient transportation, storage and conversion of heat at extreme temperatures (more than about 1,300 kelvin) is impractical for many applications. Liquid metals can be very effective media for transferring heat at high temperatures, but liquid-metal pumping has been limited by the corrosion of metal infrastructures. Here we demonstrate a ceramic, mechanical pump that can be used to continuously circulate liquid tin at temperatures of around 1,473-1,673 kelvin. Our approach to liquid-metal pumping is enabled by the use of ceramics for the mechanical and sealing components, but owing to the brittle nature of ceramics their use requires careful engineering. Our set-up enables effective heat transfer using a liquid at previously unattainable temperatures, and could be used for thermal storage and transport, electric power production, and chemical or materials processing.

  20. Integrated Voltage—Current Monitoring and Control of Gas Metal Arc Weld Magnetic Ball-Jointed Open Source 3-D Printer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuenyong Nilsiam

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available To provide process optimization of metal fabricating self-replicating rapid prototyper (RepRap 3-D printers requires a low-cost sensor and data logger system to measure current (I and voltage (V of the gas metal arc welders (GMAW. This paper builds on previous open-source hardware development to provide a real-time measurement of welder I-V where the measuring circuit is connected to two analog inputs of the Arduino that is used to control the 3-D printer itself. Franklin firmware accessed through a web interface that is used to control the printer allows storing the measured values and downloading those stored readings to the user’s computer. To test this custom current and voltage monitoring device this study reports on its use on an upgraded all metal RepRap during the printing of aluminum alloy (ER1100, ER4043, ER4943, ER4047, and ER5356. The voltage and current data were analyzed on a per alloy basis and also layer-by-layer in order to evaluate the device’s efficacy as a monitoring device for 3-D printing and the results of the integrated design are discussed.

  1. Behavior of low-burnup metallic fuels for the integral fast reactor at elevated temperatures in ex-reactor tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsai, Hanchung; Liu, Yung Y.; Wang, Da-Yung; Kramer, J.M.

    1991-07-01

    A series of ex-reactor heating tests on low burnup U-26wt.%Pu-10wt.%Zr metallic fuel for the PRISM reactor was conducted to evaluate fuel/cladding metallurgical interaction and its effect on cladding integrity at elevated temperatures. The reaction between the fuel and cladding caused liquid-phase formation and dissolution of the inner surface of the cladding. The rate of cladding penetration was below the existing design correlation, which provides a conservative margin to cladding failure. In a test which enveloped a wide range of postulated reactor transient events, a substantial temporal cladding integrity margin was demonstrated for an intact, whole fuel pin. The cause of the eventual pin breach was reaction-induced cladding thinning combined with fission-gas pressure loading. The behavior of the breached pin was benign. 7 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab

  2. The Integral Fast Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Y.I.

    1988-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is an innovative liquid metal reactor concept being developed at Argonne National Laboratory. It seeks to specifically exploit the inherent properties of liquid metal cooling and metallic fuel in a way that leads to substantial improvements in the characteristics of the complete reactor system. This paper describes the key features and potential advantages of the IFR concept, with emphasis on its safety characteristics. 3 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab

  3. Photonic Structure-Integrated Two-Dimensional Material Optoelectronics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tianjiao Wang

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The rapid development and unique properties of two-dimensional (2D materials, such as graphene, phosphorene and transition metal dichalcogenides enable them to become intriguing candidates for future optoelectronic applications. To maximize the potential of 2D material-based optoelectronics, various photonic structures are integrated to form photonic structure/2D material hybrid systems so that the device performance can be manipulated in controllable ways. Here, we first introduce the photocurrent-generation mechanisms of 2D material-based optoelectronics and their performance. We then offer an overview and evaluation of the state-of-the-art of hybrid systems, where 2D material optoelectronics are integrated with photonic structures, especially plasmonic nanostructures, photonic waveguides and crystals. By combining with those photonic structures, the performance of 2D material optoelectronics can be further enhanced, and on the other side, a high-performance modulator can be achieved by electrostatically tuning 2D materials. Finally, 2D material-based photodetector can also become an efficient probe to learn the light-matter interactions of photonic structures. Those hybrid systems combine the advantages of 2D materials and photonic structures, providing further capacity for high-performance optoelectronics.

  4. Integrated GIS and multivariate statistical analysis for regional scale assessment of heavy metal soil contamination: A critical review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Deyi; O'Connor, David; Nathanail, Paul; Tian, Li; Ma, Yan

    2017-12-01

    Heavy metal soil contamination is associated with potential toxicity to humans or ecotoxicity. Scholars have increasingly used a combination of geographical information science (GIS) with geostatistical and multivariate statistical analysis techniques to examine the spatial distribution of heavy metals in soils at a regional scale. A review of such studies showed that most soil sampling programs were based on grid patterns and composite sampling methodologies. Many programs intended to characterize various soil types and land use types. The most often used sampling depth intervals were 0-0.10 m, or 0-0.20 m, below surface; and the sampling densities used ranged from 0.0004 to 6.1 samples per km 2 , with a median of 0.4 samples per km 2 . The most widely used spatial interpolators were inverse distance weighted interpolation and ordinary kriging; and the most often used multivariate statistical analysis techniques were principal component analysis and cluster analysis. The review also identified several determining and correlating factors in heavy metal distribution in soils, including soil type, soil pH, soil organic matter, land use type, Fe, Al, and heavy metal concentrations. The major natural and anthropogenic sources of heavy metals were found to derive from lithogenic origin, roadway and transportation, atmospheric deposition, wastewater and runoff from industrial and mining facilities, fertilizer application, livestock manure, and sewage sludge. This review argues that the full potential of integrated GIS and multivariate statistical analysis for assessing heavy metal distribution in soils on a regional scale has not yet been fully realized. It is proposed that future research be conducted to map multivariate results in GIS to pinpoint specific anthropogenic sources, to analyze temporal trends in addition to spatial patterns, to optimize modeling parameters, and to expand the use of different multivariate analysis tools beyond principal component analysis

  5. Europium enabled luminescent nanoparticles for biomedical applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Syamchand, S.S., E-mail: syamchand.ss@gmail.com; Sony, G., E-mail: emailtosony@gmail.com

    2015-09-15

    Lanthanide based nanoparticles are receiving great attention ought to their excellent luminescent and magnetic properties and find challenging biomedical applications. Among the luminescent lanthanide NPs, europium based NPs (Eu-NPs) are better candidates for immunoassay and imaging applications. The Eu-NPs have an edge over quantum dots (QDs) by means of their stable luminescence, long fluorescence lifetime, sharp emission peaks with narrow band width, lack of blinking and biocompatibility. This review surveys the synthesis and properties of a variety of Eu-NPs consolidated from different research articles, for their applications in medicine and biology. The exquisite luminescent properties of Eu-NPs are explored for developing biomedical applications such as immunoassay and bioimaging including multimodal imaging. The biomedical applications of Eu-NPs are mostly diagnostic in nature and mainly focus on various key analytes present in biological systems. The luminescent properties of europium enabled NPs are influenced by a number of factors such as the site symmetry, the metal nanoparticles, metal ions, quantum dots, surfactants, morphology of Eu-NPs, crystal defect, phenomena like antenna effect and physical parameters like temperature. Through this review we explore and assimilate all the factors which affect the luminescence in Eu-NPs and coil a new thread of parameters that control the luminescence in Eu-NPs, which would provide further insight in developing Eu-based nanoprobes for future biomedical prospects. - Highlights: • The review describes 14 major factors that influence the luminescence properties of europium enabled luminescent nanoparticles (Eu-NPs). • Surveys different types of europium containing nanoparticles that have been reported for their biomedical applications. • Eu-NPs are conveniently divided into four different categories, based on the type of the substrates involved. The four categories are (1) virgin Eu-substrate based NPs; (2

  6. Europium enabled luminescent nanoparticles for biomedical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Syamchand, S.S.; Sony, G.

    2015-01-01

    Lanthanide based nanoparticles are receiving great attention ought to their excellent luminescent and magnetic properties and find challenging biomedical applications. Among the luminescent lanthanide NPs, europium based NPs (Eu-NPs) are better candidates for immunoassay and imaging applications. The Eu-NPs have an edge over quantum dots (QDs) by means of their stable luminescence, long fluorescence lifetime, sharp emission peaks with narrow band width, lack of blinking and biocompatibility. This review surveys the synthesis and properties of a variety of Eu-NPs consolidated from different research articles, for their applications in medicine and biology. The exquisite luminescent properties of Eu-NPs are explored for developing biomedical applications such as immunoassay and bioimaging including multimodal imaging. The biomedical applications of Eu-NPs are mostly diagnostic in nature and mainly focus on various key analytes present in biological systems. The luminescent properties of europium enabled NPs are influenced by a number of factors such as the site symmetry, the metal nanoparticles, metal ions, quantum dots, surfactants, morphology of Eu-NPs, crystal defect, phenomena like antenna effect and physical parameters like temperature. Through this review we explore and assimilate all the factors which affect the luminescence in Eu-NPs and coil a new thread of parameters that control the luminescence in Eu-NPs, which would provide further insight in developing Eu-based nanoprobes for future biomedical prospects. - Highlights: • The review describes 14 major factors that influence the luminescence properties of europium enabled luminescent nanoparticles (Eu-NPs). • Surveys different types of europium containing nanoparticles that have been reported for their biomedical applications. • Eu-NPs are conveniently divided into four different categories, based on the type of the substrates involved. The four categories are (1) virgin Eu-substrate based NPs; (2

  7. A process chain for integrating piezoelectric transducers into aluminum die castings to generate smart lightweight structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefan Stein

    Full Text Available The application of piezoelectric transducers to structural body parts of machines or vehicles enables the combination of passive mechanical components with sensor and actuator functions in one single structure. According to Herold et al. [1] and Staeves [2] this approach indicates significant potential regarding smart lightweight construction. To obtain the highest yield, the piezoelectric transducers need to be integrated into the flux of forces (load path of load bearing structures. Application in a downstream process reduces yield and process efficiency during manufacturing and operation, due to the necessity of a subsequent process step of sensor/actuator application. The die casting process offers the possibility for integration of piezoelectric transducers into metal structures. Aluminum castings are particularly favorable due to their high quality and feasibility for high unit production at low cost (Brunhuber [3], Nogowizin [4]. Such molded aluminum parts with integrated piezoelectric transducers enable functions like active vibration damping, structural health monitoring or energy harvesting resulting in significant possibilities of weight reduction, which is an increasingly important driving force of automotive and aerospace industry (Klein [5], Siebenpfeiffer [6] due to increasingly stringent environmental protection laws. In the scope of those developments, this paper focuses on the entire process chain enabling the generation of lightweight metal structures with sensor and actuator function, starting from the manufacturing of piezoelectric modules over electrical and mechanical bonding to the integration of such modules into aluminum (Al matrices by die casting. To achieve this challenging goal, piezoceramic sensors/actuator modules, so-called LTCC/PZT modules (LPM were developed, since ceramic based piezoelectric modules are more likely to withstand the thermal stress of about 700 °C introduced by the casting process (Flössel et

  8. Enabling information sharing in a port

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olesen, Peter Bjerg; Hvolby, Hans-Henrik; Dukovska-Popovska, Iskra

    2012-01-01

    Ports are integral parts of many supply chains and are as such a contributing factor to the overall efficiency of the supply chain. Ports are also dynamic entities where things changes continuously. The dynamic nature of ports is also a problem when trying to optimise the utilisation of resources...... and ensure a low lead-time. Information sharing is a very important tool to reduce the effect of dynamism. This paper attempts to explain how information sharing is enabled in such an environment, and which considerations are relevant, both in regards to the information and required technology. The paper...

  9. A review of toxicity and mechanisms of individual and mixtures of heavy metals in the environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Xiangyang; Cobbina, Samuel J; Mao, Guanghua; Xu, Hai; Zhang, Zhen; Yang, Liuqing

    2016-05-01

    The rational for the study was to review the literature on the toxicity and corresponding mechanisms associated with lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As), individually and as mixtures, in the environment. Heavy metals are ubiquitous and generally persist in the environment, enabling them to biomagnify in the food chain. Living systems most often interact with a cocktail of heavy metals in the environment. Heavy metal exposure to biological systems may lead to oxidation stress which may induce DNA damage, protein modification, lipid peroxidation, and others. In this review, the major mechanism associated with toxicities of individual metals was the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Additionally, toxicities were expressed through depletion of glutathione and bonding to sulfhydryl groups of proteins. Interestingly, a metal like Pb becomes toxic to organisms through the depletion of antioxidants while Cd indirectly generates ROS by its ability to replace iron and copper. ROS generated through exposure to arsenic were associated with many modes of action, and heavy metal mixtures were found to have varied effects on organisms. Many models based on concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA) have been introduced to help predict toxicities and mechanisms associated with metal mixtures. An integrated model which combines CA and IA was further proposed for evaluating toxicities of non-interactive mixtures. In cases where there are molecular interactions, the toxicogenomic approach was used to predict toxicities. The high-throughput toxicogenomics combines studies in genetics, genome-scale expression, cell and tissue expression, metabolite profiling, and bioinformatics.

  10. The method of the atomic-absorption analysis in a graphite furnace with the metallic collector-ballast

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katskov, D.A.; Vasil'eva, L.A.; Grinshtejn, I.L.; Savel'eva, G.O.

    1987-01-01

    New method of atomic-absorption analysis in a graphite furnace with the metallic collector-ballast (tungsten were) is suggested. It enables to widen the number of analyzed objects of liquid products wetting readily graphite and metals. It is shown that application of metallic collector-ballast enables to improve sensitivity and reproducibility of analysis, increase the volume of dosed samples as well as to suppress effectively the influence of excess of mineral and organic substrate on results of atomic-absorption analysis of several elements, including Cd, Sr, In, Te

  11. The use of metal hydrides in fuel cell applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mykhaylo V. Lototskyy

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper reviews state-of-the-art developments in hydrogen energy systems which integrate fuel cells with metal hydride-based hydrogen storage. The 187 reference papers included in this review provide an overview of all major publications in the field, as well as recent work by several of the authors of the review. The review contains four parts. The first part gives an overview of the existing types of fuel cells and outlines the potential of using metal hydride stores as a source of hydrogen fuel. The second part of the review considers the suitability and optimisation of different metal hydrides based on their energy efficient thermal integration with fuel cells. The performances of metal hydrides are considered from the viewpoint of the reversible heat driven interaction of the metal hydrides with gaseous H2. Efficiencies of hydrogen and heat exchange in hydrogen stores to control H2 charge/discharge flow rates are the focus of the third section of the review and are considered together with metal hydride – fuel cell system integration issues and the corresponding engineering solutions. Finally, the last section of the review describes specific hydrogen-fuelled systems presented in the available reference data.

  12. All Metal Iron Core For A Low Aspect Ratio Tokamak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gates, D.A.; Jun, C.; Zatz, I.; Zolfaghari, A.

    2010-01-01

    A novel concept for incorporating a iron core transformer within a axisymmetric toroidal plasma containment device with a high neutron flux is described. This design enables conceptual design of low aspect ratio devices which employ standard transformer-driven plasma startup by using all-metal high resistance separators between the toroidal field windings. This design avoids the inherent problems of a multiturn air core transformer which will inevitably suffer from strong neutron bombardment and hence lose the integrity of its insulation, both through long term material degradation and short term neutron-induced conductivity. A full 3-dimensional model of the concept has been developed within the MAXWELL program and the resultant loop voltage calculated. The utility of the result is found to be dependent on the resistivity of the high resistance separators. Useful loop voltage time histories have been obtained using achievable resistivities.

  13. Metallic and highly conducting two-dimensional atomic arrays of sulfur enabled by molybdenum disulfide nanotemplate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Shuze; Geng, Xiumei; Han, Yang; Benamara, Mourad; Chen, Liao; Li, Jingxiao; Bilgin, Ismail; Zhu, Hongli

    2017-10-01

    Element sulfur in nature is an insulating solid. While it has been tested that one-dimensional sulfur chain is metallic and conducting, the investigation on two-dimensional sulfur remains elusive. We report that molybdenum disulfide layers are able to serve as the nanotemplate to facilitate the formation of two-dimensional sulfur. Density functional theory calculations suggest that confined in-between layers of molybdenum disulfide, sulfur atoms are able to form two-dimensional triangular arrays that are highly metallic. As a result, these arrays contribute to the high conductivity and metallic phase of the hybrid structures of molybdenum disulfide layers and two-dimensional sulfur arrays. The experimentally measured conductivity of such hybrid structures reaches up to 223 S/m. Multiple experimental results, including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transition electron microscope (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), agree with the computational insights. Due to the excellent conductivity, the current density is linearly proportional to the scan rate until 30,000 mV s-1 without the attendance of conductive additives. Using such hybrid structures as electrode, the two-electrode supercapacitor cells yield a power density of 106 Wh kg-1 and energy density 47.5 Wh kg-1 in ionic liquid electrolytes. Our findings offer new insights into using two-dimensional materials and their Van der Waals heterostructures as nanotemplates to pattern foreign atoms for unprecedented material properties.

  14. Enabling the Integrated Assessment of Large Marine Ecosystems: Informatics to the Forefront of Science-Based Decision Support

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Stefano, M.; Fox, P. A.; Beaulieu, S. E.; Maffei, A. R.; West, P.; Hare, J. A.

    2012-12-01

    and interactive visualization, and enables the download of data plotted in the ESR. Data, indicators, and information products include time series, geographic maps, and uni-variate and multi-variate analyses. Also central to the success of this initiative is the commitment to accommodate and train scientists of multiple disciplines who will learn to interact effectively with this new integrated and interoperable ecosystem assessment capability. Traceability, repeatability, explanation, verification, and validation of data, indicators, and information products are important for cross-disciplinary understanding and sharing with managers, policymakers, and the public. We are also developing an ontology to support the implementation of the DPSIR framework. These new capabilities will serve as the essential foundation for the formal synthesis and quantitative analysis of information on relevant natural and socio-economic factors in relation to specified ecosystem management goals which can be applied in other LMEs.

  15. Nanoantenna couplers for metal-insulator-metal waveguide interconnects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Onbasli, M. Cengiz; Okyay, Ali K.

    2010-08-01

    State-of-the-art copper interconnects suffer from increasing spatial power dissipation due to chip downscaling and RC delays reducing operation bandwidth. Wide bandwidth, minimized Ohmic loss, deep sub-wavelength confinement and high integration density are key features that make metal-insulator-metal waveguides (MIM) utilizing plasmonic modes attractive for applications in on-chip optical signal processing. Size-mismatch between two fundamental components (micron-size fibers and a few hundred nanometers wide waveguides) demands compact coupling methods for implementation of large scale on-chip optoelectronic device integration. Existing solutions use waveguide tapering, which requires more than 4λ-long taper distances. We demonstrate that nanoantennas can be integrated with MIM for enhancing coupling into MIM plasmonic modes. Two-dimensional finite-difference time domain simulations of antennawaveguide structures for TE and TM incident plane waves ranging from λ = 1300 to 1600 nm were done. The same MIM (100-nm-wide Ag/100-nm-wide SiO2/100-nm-wide Ag) was used for each case, while antenna dimensions were systematically varied. For nanoantennas disconnected from the MIM; field is strongly confined inside MIM-antenna gap region due to Fabry-Perot resonances. Major fraction of incident energy was not transferred into plasmonic modes. When the nanoantennas are connected to the MIM, stronger coupling is observed and E-field intensity at outer end of core is enhanced more than 70 times.

  16. Crystalline Silicon Interconnected Strips (XIS). Introduction to a New, Integrated Device and Module Concept

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van Roosmalen, J.; Bronsveld, P.; Mewe, A.; Janssen, G.; Stodolny, M.; Cobussen-Pool, E.; Bennett, I.; Weeber, A.; Geerligs, B. [ECN Solar Energy, P.O. Box 1, NL-1755 ZG, Petten (Netherlands)

    2012-06-15

    A new device concept for high efficiency, low cost, wafer based silicon solar cells is introduced. To significantly lower the costs of Si photovoltaics, high efficiencies and large reductions of metals and silicon costs are required. To enable this, the device architecture was adapted into low current devices by applying thin silicon strips, to which a special high efficiency back-contact heterojunction cell design was applied. Standard industrial production processes can be used for our fully integrated cell and module design, with a cost reduction potential below 0.5 euro/Wp. First devices have been realized demonstrating the principle of a series connected back contact hybrid silicon heterojunction module concept.

  17. Electrolyte-Sensing Transistor Decals Enabled by Ultrathin Microbial Nanocellulose

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuen, Jonathan D.; Walper, Scott A.; Melde, Brian J.; Daniele, Michael A.; Stenger, David A.

    2017-01-01

    We report an ultra-thin electronic decal that can simultaneously collect, transmit and interrogate a bio-fluid. The described technology effectively integrates a thin-film organic electrochemical transistor (sensing component) with an ultrathin microbial nanocellulose wicking membrane (sample handling component). As far as we are aware, OECTs have not been integrated in thin, permeable membrane substrates for epidermal electronics. The design of the biocompatible decal allows for the physical isolation of the electronics from the human body while enabling efficient bio-fluid delivery to the transistor via vertical wicking. High currents and ON-OFF ratios were achieved, with sensitivity as low as 1 mg·L-1.

  18. An Integrated Assessment of Geochemical and Community Structure Determinants of Metal Reduction Rates in Subsurface Sediments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pfiffner, Susan M.; Brandt, Craig C.; Kostka, Joel E.; Palumbo, Anthony V.

    2005-01-01

    Our current research represents a joint effort between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Florida State University (FSU), and the University of Tennessee. ORNL will serve as the lead institution with Dr. A.V. Palumbo responsible for project coordination, integration, and deliverables. This project was initiated in November, 2004, in the Integrative Studies Element of the NABIR program. The overall goal of our project is to provide an improved understanding of the relationships between microbial community structure, geochemistry, and metal reduction rates. The research seeks to address the following questions: Is the metabolic diversity of the in situ microbial community sufficiently large and redundant that bioimmobilization of uranium will occur regardless of the type of electron donor added to the system? Are their donor specific effects that lead to enrichment of specific community members that then impose limits on the functional capabilities of the system? Will addition of humics change rates of uranium reduction without changing community structure? Can resource-ratio theory be used to understand changes in uranium reduction rates and community structure with respect to changing C:P ratios?

  19. Metal hydride-based thermal energy storage systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vajo, John J.; Fang, Zhigang

    2017-10-03

    The invention provides a thermal energy storage system comprising a metal-containing first material with a thermal energy storage density of about 1300 kJ/kg to about 2200 kJ/kg based on hydrogenation; a metal-containing second material with a thermal energy storage density of about 200 kJ/kg to about 1000 kJ/kg based on hydrogenation; and a hydrogen conduit for reversibly transporting hydrogen between the first material and the second material. At a temperature of 20.degree. C. and in 1 hour, at least 90% of the metal is converted to the hydride. At a temperature of 0.degree. C. and in 1 hour, at least 90% of the metal hydride is converted to the metal and hydrogen. The disclosed metal hydride materials have a combination of thermodynamic energy storage densities and kinetic power capabilities that previously have not been demonstrated. This performance enables practical use of thermal energy storage systems for electric vehicle heating and cooling.

  20. Metal-rich, Metal-poor: Updated Stellar Population Models for Old Stellar Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conroy, Charlie; Villaume, Alexa; van Dokkum, Pieter G.; Lind, Karin

    2018-02-01

    We present updated stellar population models appropriate for old ages (>1 Gyr) and covering a wide range in metallicities (‑1.5 ≲ [Fe/H] ≲ 0.3). These models predict the full spectral variation associated with individual element abundance variation as a function of metallicity and age. The models span the optical–NIR wavelength range (0.37–2.4 μm), include a range of initial mass functions, and contain the flexibility to vary 18 individual elements including C, N, O, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, and Fe. To test the fidelity of the models, we fit them to integrated light optical spectra of 41 Galactic globular clusters (GCs). The value of testing models against GCs is that their ages, metallicities, and detailed abundance patterns have been derived from the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram in combination with high-resolution spectroscopy of individual stars. We determine stellar population parameters from fits to all wavelengths simultaneously (“full spectrum fitting”), and demonstrate explicitly with mock tests that this approach produces smaller uncertainties at fixed signal-to-noise ratio than fitting a standard set of 14 line indices. Comparison of our integrated-light results to literature values reveals good agreement in metallicity, [Fe/H]. When restricting to GCs without prominent blue horizontal branch populations, we also find good agreement with literature values for ages, [Mg/Fe], [Si/Fe], and [Ti/Fe].

  1. Submicrometer Metallic Barcodes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicewarner-Peña, Sheila R.; Freeman, R. Griffith; Reiss, Brian D.; He, Lin; Peña, David J.; Walton, Ian D.; Cromer, Remy; Keating, Christine D.; Natan, Michael J.

    2001-10-01

    We synthesized multimetal microrods intrinsically encoded with submicrometer stripes. Complex striping patterns are readily prepared by sequential electrochemical deposition of metal ions into templates with uniformly sized pores. The differential reflectivity of adjacent stripes enables identification of the striping patterns by conventional light microscopy. This readout mechanism does not interfere with the use of fluorescence for detection of analytes bound to particles by affinity capture, as demonstrated by DNA and protein bioassays.

  2. Are persistent organic pollutants and metals in eel muscle predictive for the ecological water quality?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Ael, Evy; Belpaire, Claude; Breine, Jan; Geeraerts, Caroline; Van Thuyne, Gerlinde; Eulaers, Igor; Blust, Ronny; Bervoets, Lieven

    2014-01-01

    Relationships between the presence of PCBs, OCPs and metals in aquatic ecosystems and the ecological water quality were investigated by combining datasets of long-term monitoring of chemicals in European eel (Anguilla anguilla, N = 1156) in Flanders (Belgium) and the Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR), based on the assessment of fish assemblages at 185 locations. For most pollutants, EQR scores were lower when pollutant levels were higher. Threshold concentrations for a good quality could be formulated for PCB's, most metals and OCPs. Mixed models suggested that the ecological water quality was significantly correlated with the presence of PCBs. However, the low R 2 indicates that other environmental pressures may significantly influence the biotic integrity of fish communities. Empirical data and their analyses are essential to enable defining threshold values of bioaccumulated levels to allow better protection of the aquatic environment and its biota through associated food webs as demanded by the Water Framework Directive. -- Highlights: • Relation between ecological water quality and pollution load in eel was studied. • Ecological Quality Ratio was lower when concentrations in eel were higher. • Threshold levels for a good quality status were formulated. • EQS possibly too stringent for Hg and too high for Cd and Pb compared to our results. • Mixed models suggest a significant influence of PCBs on ecological water quality. -- The ecological water quality, as reflected in the biotic integrity of fish communities, is lower when concentrations of PCBs, OCPs and metals in locally sampled eels are higher

  3. Peculiarities of metal welding process modelling for the Arctic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lagunov, Alexey; Fofanov, Andrey; Losunov, Anton

    2017-09-01

    M etal being rather tough has been used in the Arctic for a long time. In severe weather conditions metal construction is subject to strong corrosion and erosion. These processes affect the welds particular strongly. Violation of weld integrity leads to the different industrial accidents. Therefore, the welding quality is given such a strong focus. M ost high-quality welding is obtained if welding zone is provided with gas what eliminates the influence of oxygen on the process. But in this case it is very difficult to find the right concentration, gas pressure, direction of the jet. Study of the welding process using video and photography is expensive, in terms of money and time. Mathematical modelling of welding process using the program FlowVision enables to solve this issue at less cost. It's essential that obtained results qualitatively conform to the experimental ones and can be used in real application.

  4. Deeply-etched micromirror with vertical slit and metallic coating enabling transmission-type optical MEMS filters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Othman, Muhammad A.; Sabry, Yasser M.; Sadek, Mohamed; Nassar, Ismail M.; Khalil, Diaa A.

    2016-03-01

    In this work we report a novel optical MEMS deeply-etched mirror with metallic coating and vertical slot, where the later allows reflection and transmission by the micromirror. The micromirror as well as fiber grooves are fabricated using deep reactive ion etching technology, where the optical axis is in-plane and the components are self-aligned. The etching depth is 150 μm chosen to improve the micromirror optical throughput. The vertical optical structure is Al metal coated using the shadow mask technique. A fiber-coupled Fabry-Pérot filter is successfully realized using the fabricated structure. Experimental measurements were obtained based on a dielectric-coated optical fiber inserted into a fiber groove facing the slotted micromirror. A versatile performance in terms of the free spectral range and 3-dB bandwidth is achieved.

  5. An integrated approach to determine phenomenological equations in metallic systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghamarian, Iman

    It is highly desirable to be able to make predictions of properties in metallic materials based upon the composition of the material and the microstructure. Unfortunately, the complexity of real, multi-component, multi-phase engineering alloys makes the provision of constituent-based (i.e., composition or microstructure) phenomenological equations extremely difficult. Due to these difficulties, qualitative predictions are frequently used to study the influence of microstructure or composition on the properties. Neural networks were used as a tool to get a quantitative model from a database. However, the developed model is not a phenomenological model. In this study, a new method based upon the integration of three separate modeling approaches, specifically artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms, and monte carlo was proposed. These three methods, when coupled in the manner described in this study, allows for the extraction of phenomenological equations with a concurrent analysis of uncertainty. This approach has been applied to a multi-component, multi-phase microstructure exhibiting phases with varying spatial and morphological distributions. Specifically, this approach has been applied to derive a phenomenological equation for the prediction of yield strength in alpha+beta processed Ti-6-4. The equation is consistent with not only the current dataset but also, where available, the limited information regarding certain parameters such as intrinsic yield strength of pure hexagonal close-packed alpha titanium.

  6. Fluoroethylene Carbonate-Based Electrolyte with 1 M Sodium Bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide Enables High-Performance Sodium Metal Electrodes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Yongwon; Lee, Jaegi; Lee, Jeongmin; Kim, Koeun; Cha, Aming; Kang, Sujin; Wi, Taeung; Kang, Seok Ju; Lee, Hyun-Wook; Choi, Nam-Soon

    2018-05-02

    Sodium (Na) metal anodes with stable electrochemical cycling have attracted widespread attention because of their highest specific capacity and lowest potential among anode materials for Na batteries. The main challenges associated with Na metal anodes are dendritic formation and the low density of deposited Na during electrochemical plating. Here, we demonstrate a fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC)-based electrolyte with 1 M sodium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (NaFSI) salt for the stable and dense deposition of the Na metal during electrochemical cycling. The novel electrolyte combination developed here circumvents the dendritic Na deposition that is one of the primary concerns for battery safety and constructs the uniform ionic interlayer achieving highly reversible Na plating/stripping reactions. The FEC-NaFSI constructs the mechanically strong and ion-permeable interlayer containing NaF and ionic compounds such as Na 2 CO 3 and sodium alkylcarbonates.

  7. Enabling Mass Customization in Engineer-To-Order Industries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bonev, Martin

    general capabilities to facilitate mass customization in engineer-to-order firms. The established understanding is complemented with interviews of practitioners from 18 engineering companies to obtain further insight into essential aspects of the research field. Based on the gained experience, eleven...... empirical studies have been conducted to develop relevant concepts and methods aiming at enhancing the identified capabilities. This close collaboration with industries ranging from construction to process plants and machinery applications promoted the development of a practical tool, termed Integrated...... Design Model (IDM). The IDM tool integrates adjacency matrixes, node-link diagrams and generic modelling methods, to improve the explicitness and visibility of architectures. Connected to advanced expert systems, such as product configuration systems, the tool enables a formalized procedure for managing...

  8. Dynamic interactions of Leidenfrost droplets on liquid metal surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Yujie; Liu, Jing

    2016-09-01

    Leidenfrost dynamic interaction effects of the isopentane droplets on the surface of heated liquid metal were disclosed. Unlike conventional rigid metal, such conductive and deformable liquid metal surface enables the levitating droplets to demonstrate rather abundant and complex dynamics. The Leidenfrost droplets at different diameters present diverse morphologies and behaviors like rotation and oscillation. Depending on the distance between the evaporating droplets, they attract and repulse each other through the curved surfaces beneath them and their vapor flows. With high boiling point up to 2000 °C, liquid metal offers a unique platform for testing the evaporating properties of a wide variety of liquid even solid.

  9. Enabling Integrated Decision Making for Electronic-Commerce by Modelling an Enterprise's Sharable Knowledge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Henry M.

    2000-01-01

    An enterprise model, a computational model of knowledge about an enterprise, is a useful tool for integrated decision-making by e-commerce suppliers and customers. Sharable knowledge, once represented in an enterprise model, can be integrated by the modeled enterprise's e-commerce partners. Presents background on enterprise modeling, followed by…

  10. Design and performance of a multi-channel, multi-sampling, PSD-enabling integrated circuit

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Engel, G.L., E-mail: gengel@siue.ed [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, VLSI Design Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Engineering Building, Room 3043 Edwardsville, IL 62026 1081 (United States); Hall, M.J.; Proctor, J.M. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, VLSI Design Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Engineering Building, Room 3043 Edwardsville, IL 62026 1081 (United States); Elson, J.M.; Sobotka, L.G.; Shane, R.; Charity, R.J. [Departments of Chemistry and Physics, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63130 (United States)

    2009-12-21

    This paper presents the design and test results of an eight-channel prototype integrated circuit chip intended to greatly simplify the pulse-processing electronics needed for large arrays of scintillation detectors. Because the chip design employs (user-controlled) multi-region charge integration, particle identification is incorporated into the basic design. Each channel on the chip also contains a time-to-voltage converter which provides relative time information. The pulse-height integrals and the relative time are all stored on capacitors and are either reset, after a user controlled time, or sequentially read out if acquisition of the event is desired. Each of the three pulse-height sub-channels consists of a gated integrator with eight programmable charging rates and an externally programmable gate generator that defines the start (with four time ranges) and width (with four time ranges) of the gate relative to an external discriminator signal. The chip supports three triggering modes, two time ranges, two power modes, and produces four sparsified analog pulse trains (three for the integrators and another for the time) with synchronized addresses for off-chip digitization with a pipelined ADC. The eight-channel prototype chip occupies an area of 2.8 mmx5.7 mm, dissipates 60 mW (low-power mode), and was fabricated in the AMI 0.5-mum process (C5N).

  11. Design and performance of a multi-channel, multi-sampling, PSD-enabling integrated circuit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Engel, G.L.; Hall, M.J.; Proctor, J.M.; Elson, J.M.; Sobotka, L.G.; Shane, R.; Charity, R.J.

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents the design and test results of an eight-channel prototype integrated circuit chip intended to greatly simplify the pulse-processing electronics needed for large arrays of scintillation detectors. Because the chip design employs (user-controlled) multi-region charge integration, particle identification is incorporated into the basic design. Each channel on the chip also contains a time-to-voltage converter which provides relative time information. The pulse-height integrals and the relative time are all stored on capacitors and are either reset, after a user controlled time, or sequentially read out if acquisition of the event is desired. Each of the three pulse-height sub-channels consists of a gated integrator with eight programmable charging rates and an externally programmable gate generator that defines the start (with four time ranges) and width (with four time ranges) of the gate relative to an external discriminator signal. The chip supports three triggering modes, two time ranges, two power modes, and produces four sparsified analog pulse trains (three for the integrators and another for the time) with synchronized addresses for off-chip digitization with a pipelined ADC. The eight-channel prototype chip occupies an area of 2.8 mmx5.7 mm, dissipates 60 mW (low-power mode), and was fabricated in the AMI 0.5-μm process (C5N).

  12. Detection of internal fields in double-metal terahertz resonators

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mitrofanov, Oleg; Han, Zhanghua; Ding, Fei

    2017-01-01

    Terahertz (THz) double-metal plasmonic resonators enable enhanced light-matter coupling by exploiting strong field confinement. The double-metal design however restricts access to the internal fields. We propose and demonstrate a method for spatial mapping and spectroscopic analysis of the internal...... electromagnetic fields in double-metal plasmonic resonators. We use the concept of image charges and aperture-type scanning near-field THz time-domain microscopy to probe the fields confined within the closed resonator. The experimental method opens doors to studies of light-matter coupling in deeply sub...

  13. Synthesis of uranium metal using laser-initiated reduction of uranium tetrafluoride by calcium metal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    West, M.H.; Martinez, M.M.; Nielsen, J.B.; Court, D.C.; Appert, Q.D.

    1995-09-01

    Uranium metal has numerous uses in conventional weapons (armor penetrators) and nuclear weapons. It also has application to nuclear reactor designs utilizing metallic fuels--for example, the former Integral Fast Reactor program at Argonne National Laboratory. Uranium metal also has promise as a material of construction for spent-nuclear-fuel storage casks. A new avenue for the production of uranium metal is presented that offers several advantages over existing technology. A carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) laser is used to initiate the reaction between uranium tetrafluoride (UF 4 ) and calcium metal. The new method does not require induction heating of a closed system (a pressure vessel) nor does it utilize iodine (I 2 ) as a chemical booster. The results of five reductions of UF 4 , spanning 100 to 200 g of uranium, are evaluated, and suggestions are made for future work in this area

  14. Creating an enabling environment for WR&R implementation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stathatou, P-M; Kampragou, E; Grigoropoulou, H; Assimacopoulos, D; Karavitis, C; Gironás, J

    2017-09-01

    Reclaimed water is receiving growing attention worldwide as an effective solution for alleviating the growing water scarcity in many areas. Despite the various benefits associated with reclaimed water, water recycling and reuse (WR&R) practices are not widely applied around the world. This is mostly due to complex and inadequate local legal and institutional frameworks and socio-economic structures, which pose barriers to wider WR&R implementation. An integrated approach is therefore needed while planning the implementation of WR&R schemes, considering all the potential barriers, and aiming to develop favourable conditions for enhancing reclaimed water use. This paper proposes a comprehensive methodology supporting the development of an enabling environment for WR&R implementation. The political, economic, social, technical, legal and institutional factors that may influence positively (drivers) or negatively (barriers) WR&R implementation in the regional water systems are identified, through the mapping of local stakeholder perceptions. The identified barriers are further analysed, following a Cross-Impact/System analysis, to recognize the most significant barriers inhibiting system transition, and to prioritize the enabling instruments and arrangements that are needed to boost WR&R implementation. The proposed methodology was applied in the Copiapó River Basin in Chile, which faces severe water scarcity. Through the analysis, it was observed that barriers outweigh drivers for the implementation of WR&R schemes in the Copiapó River Basin, while the key barriers which could be useful for policy formulation towards an enabling environment in the area concern the unclear legal framework regarding the ownership of treated wastewater, the lack of environmental policies focusing on pollution control, the limited integration of reclaimed water use in current land use and development policies, the limited public awareness on WR&R, and the limited availability of

  15. Heterogeneous Integration Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-05-19

    integrated CMOS imaging system for high frame rate applications [171]. .................... 68 Figure 83: CPU-DRAM Memory Landscape . [127... film transistors (TFT) were integrated with GaN HEMTs on the same wafer at AFRL. The thin film transistor fabrication using metal-oxide...second layer. Layer transfer produces the best quality devices compared to other additive technologies such as re-crystallization of thin films [148

  16. GLO-Roots: an imaging platform enabling multidimensional characterization of soil-grown root systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rellán-Álvarez, Rubén; Lobet, Guillaume; Lindner, Heike; Pradier, Pierre-Luc; Sebastian, Jose; Yee, Muh-Ching; Geng, Yu; Trontin, Charlotte; LaRue, Therese; Schrager-Lavelle, Amanda; Haney, Cara H; Nieu, Rita; Maloof, Julin; Vogel, John P; Dinneny, José R

    2015-01-01

    Root systems develop different root types that individually sense cues from their local environment and integrate this information with systemic signals. This complex multi-dimensional amalgam of inputs enables continuous adjustment of root growth rates, direction, and metabolic activity that define a dynamic physical network. Current methods for analyzing root biology balance physiological relevance with imaging capability. To bridge this divide, we developed an integrated-imaging system called Growth and Luminescence Observatory for Roots (GLO-Roots) that uses luminescence-based reporters to enable studies of root architecture and gene expression patterns in soil-grown, light-shielded roots. We have developed image analysis algorithms that allow the spatial integration of soil properties, gene expression, and root system architecture traits. We propose GLO-Roots as a system that has great utility in presenting environmental stimuli to roots in ways that evoke natural adaptive responses and in providing tools for studying the multi-dimensional nature of such processes. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07597.001 PMID:26287479

  17. Ultra-low magnetic damping in metallic and half-metallic systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaw, Justin

    The phenomenology of magnetic damping is of critical importance to devices which seek to exploit the electronic spin degree of freedom since damping strongly affects the energy required and speed at which a device can operate. However, theory has struggled to quantitatively predict the damping, even in common ferromagnetic materials. This presents a challenge for a broad range of applications in magnonics, spintronics and spin-orbitronics that depend on the ability to precisely control the damping of a material. I will discuss our recent work to precisely measure the intrinsic damping in several metallic and half-metallic material systems and compare experiment with several theoretical models. This investigation uncovered a metallic material composed of Co and Fe that exhibit ultra-low values of damping that approach values found in thin film YIG. Such ultra-low damping is unexpected in a metal since magnon-electron scattering dominates the damping in conductors. However, this system possesses a distinctive feature in the bandstructure that minimizes the density of states at the Fermi energy n(EF). These findings provide the theoretical framework by which such ultra-low damping can be achieved in metallic ferromagnets and may enable a new class of experiments where ultra-low damping can be combined with a charge current. Half-metallic Heusler compounds by definition have a bandgap in one of the spin channels at the Fermi energy. This feature can also lead to exceptionally low values of the damping parameter. Our results show a strong correlation of the damping with the order parameter in Co2MnGe. Finally, I will provide an overview of the recent advances in achieving low damping in thin film Heusler compounds.

  18. Next-generation fiber lasers enabled by high-performance components

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kliner, D. A. V.; Victor, B.; Rivera, C.; Fanning, G.; Balsley, D.; Farrow, R. L.; Kennedy, K.; Hampton, S.; Hawke, R.; Soukup, E.; Reynolds, M.; Hodges, A.; Emery, J.; Brown, A.; Almonte, K.; Nelson, M.; Foley, B.; Dawson, D.; Hemenway, D. M.; Urbanek, W.; DeVito, M.; Bao, L.; Koponen, J.; Gross, K.

    2018-02-01

    Next-generation industrial fiber lasers enable challenging applications that cannot be addressed with legacy fiber lasers. Key features of next-generation fiber lasers include robust back-reflection protection, high power stability, wide power tunability, high-speed modulation and waveform generation, and facile field serviceability. These capabilities are enabled by high-performance components, particularly pump diodes and optical fibers, and by advanced fiber laser designs. We summarize the performance and reliability of nLIGHT diodes, fibers, and next-generation industrial fiber lasers at power levels of 500 W - 8 kW. We show back-reflection studies with up to 1 kW of back-reflected power, power-stability measurements in cw and modulated operation exhibiting sub-1% stability over a 5 - 100% power range, and high-speed modulation (100 kHz) and waveform generation with a bandwidth 20x higher than standard fiber lasers. We show results from representative applications, including cutting and welding of highly reflective metals (Cu and Al) for production of Li-ion battery modules and processing of carbon fiber reinforced polymers.

  19. SPARQL-enabled identifier conversion with Identifiers.org.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wimalaratne, Sarala M; Bolleman, Jerven; Juty, Nick; Katayama, Toshiaki; Dumontier, Michel; Redaschi, Nicole; Le Novère, Nicolas; Hermjakob, Henning; Laibe, Camille

    2015-06-01

    On the semantic web, in life sciences in particular, data is often distributed via multiple resources. Each of these sources is likely to use their own International Resource Identifier for conceptually the same resource or database record. The lack of correspondence between identifiers introduces a barrier when executing federated SPARQL queries across life science data. We introduce a novel SPARQL-based service to enable on-the-fly integration of life science data. This service uses the identifier patterns defined in the Identifiers.org Registry to generate a plurality of identifier variants, which can then be used to match source identifiers with target identifiers. We demonstrate the utility of this identifier integration approach by answering queries across major producers of life science Linked Data. The SPARQL-based identifier conversion service is available without restriction at http://identifiers.org/services/sparql. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

  20. SPARQL-enabled identifier conversion with Identifiers.org

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wimalaratne, Sarala M.; Bolleman, Jerven; Juty, Nick; Katayama, Toshiaki; Dumontier, Michel; Redaschi, Nicole; Le Novère, Nicolas; Hermjakob, Henning; Laibe, Camille

    2015-01-01

    Motivation: On the semantic web, in life sciences in particular, data is often distributed via multiple resources. Each of these sources is likely to use their own International Resource Identifier for conceptually the same resource or database record. The lack of correspondence between identifiers introduces a barrier when executing federated SPARQL queries across life science data. Results: We introduce a novel SPARQL-based service to enable on-the-fly integration of life science data. This service uses the identifier patterns defined in the Identifiers.org Registry to generate a plurality of identifier variants, which can then be used to match source identifiers with target identifiers. We demonstrate the utility of this identifier integration approach by answering queries across major producers of life science Linked Data. Availability and implementation: The SPARQL-based identifier conversion service is available without restriction at http://identifiers.org/services/sparql. Contact: sarala@ebi.ac.uk PMID:25638809

  1. Safety characteristics of the integral fast reactor concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marchaterre, J.F.; Cahalan, J.E.; Sevy, R.H.; Wright, A.E.

    1985-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) concept is an innovative approach to liquid metal reactor design which is being studied by Argonne National Laboratory. Two of the key features of the IFR design are a metal fuel core design, based on the fuel technology developed at EBR-II, and an integral fuel cycle with a colocated fuel cycle facility based on the compact and simplified process steps made possible by the use of metal fuel. The paper presents the safety characteristics of the IFR concept which derive from the use of metal fuel. Liquid metal reactors, because of the low pressure coolant operating far below its boiling point, the natural circulation capability, and high system heat capacities, possess a high degree of inherent safety. The use of metallic fuel allows the reactor designer to further enhance the system capability for passive accommodation of postulated accidents

  2. Prediction of heat generation in rubber or rubber-metal springs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Banić Milan S.

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The temperature of rubber or rubber-metal springs increases under cyclic loading, due to hysteresis losses and low rubber thermal conductivity. Hysteresis losses correspond to energy dissipation from the rubber, which is primarily converted into heat. This well-known phenomenon, called heat build-up, is the primary reason for rubber aging. Increase in temperature within the rubber compound leads to degradation of its physical and chemical properties, increase in stiffness and loss of damping capability. This paper presents a novel procedure of heat generation prediction in rubber or rubber-metal springs. The procedure encompasses the prediction of hysteresis loss, i. e. dissipated energy within the rubber, by finite element analysis and application of a modern visco-plastic rubber constitutive model. The obtained dissipated energy was used as an input for transient thermal analysis. Verification of the proposed procedure was performed by comparison of simulation results with experimentally obtained data during the dynamic loading of the rubber specimen. The proposed procedure is highly computationally efficient and it enables time integration, which can be problematic in coupled mechanical thermal analysis. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR35005: Research and Development of New Generation of Wind Turbines of High Energy Efficiency

  3. Characterization of duplex stainless steel weld metals obtained by hybrid plasma-gas metal arc welding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Koray Yurtisik

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Despite its high efficiency, autogenous keyhole welding is not well-accepted for duplex stainless steels because it causes excessive ferrite in as-welded duplex microstructure, which leads to a degradation in toughness and corrosion properties of the material. Combining the deep penetration characteristics of plasma arc welding in keyhole mode and metal deposition capability of gas metal arc welding, hybrid plasma - gas metal arc welding process has considered for providing a proper duplex microstructure without compromising the welding efficiency. 11.1 mm-thick standard duplex stainless steel plates were joined in a single-pass using this novel technique. Same plates were also subjected to conventional gas metal arc and plasma arc welding processes, providing benchmarks for the investigation of the weldability of the material. In the first place, the hybrid welding process enabled us to achieve less heat input compared to gas metal arc welding. Consequently, the precipitation of secondary phases, which are known to be detrimental to the toughness and corrosion resistance of duplex stainless steels, was significantly suppressed in both fusion and heat affected zones. Secondly, contrary to other keyhole techniques, proper cooling time and weld metal chemistry were achieved during the process, facilitating sufficient reconstructive transformation of austenite in the ferrite phase.

  4. Visible quality aluminum and nickel superpolish polishing technology enabling new missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrigan, Keith G.

    2011-06-01

    It is now well understood that with US Department of Defense (DoD) budgets shrinking and the Services and Agencies demanding new systems which can be fielded more quickly, cost and schedule are being emphasized more and more. At the same time, the US has ever growing needs for advanced capabilities to support evolving Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance objectives. In response to this market demand for ever more cost-effective, faster to market, single-channel, athermal optical systems, we have developed new metal polishing technologies which allow for short-lead, low-cost metal substrates to replace more costly, longer-lead material options. In parallel, the commercial marketplace is being driven continually to release better, faster and cheaper electronics. Growth according to Moore's law, enabled by advancements in photolithography, has produced denser memory, higher resolution displays and faster processors. While the quality of these products continues to increase, their price is falling. This seeming paradox is driven by industry advancements in manufacturing technology. The next steps on this curve can be realized via polishing technology which allows low-cost metal substrates to replace costly Silicon based optics for use in ultra-short wavelength systems.

  5. Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET) Reactor Materials: News for the Reactor Materials Crosscut, May 2016

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maloy, Stuart Andrew [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Materials Science in Radiation and Dynamics Extremes

    2016-09-26

    In this newsletter for Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET) Reactor Materials, pages 1-3 cover highlights from the DOE-NE (Nuclear Energy) programs, pages 4-6 cover determining the stress-strain response of ion-irradiated metallic materials via spherical nanoindentation, and pages 7-8 cover theoretical approaches to understanding long-term materials behavior in light water reactors.

  6. Information Management Workflow and Tools Enabling Multiscale Modeling Within ICME Paradigm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnold, Steven M.; Bednarcyk, Brett A.; Austin, Nic; Terentjev, Igor; Cebon, Dave; Marsden, Will

    2016-01-01

    With the increased emphasis on reducing the cost and time to market of new materials, the need for analytical tools that enable the virtual design and optimization of materials throughout their processing - internal structure - property - performance envelope, along with the capturing and storing of the associated material and model information across its lifecycle, has become critical. This need is also fueled by the demands for higher efficiency in material testing; consistency, quality and traceability of data; product design; engineering analysis; as well as control of access to proprietary or sensitive information. Fortunately, material information management systems and physics-based multiscale modeling methods have kept pace with the growing user demands. Herein, recent efforts to establish workflow for and demonstrate a unique set of web application tools for linking NASA GRC's Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) Granta MI database schema and NASA GRC's Integrated multiscale Micromechanics Analysis Code (ImMAC) software toolset are presented. The goal is to enable seamless coupling between both test data and simulation data, which is captured and tracked automatically within Granta MI®, with full model pedigree information. These tools, and this type of linkage, are foundational to realizing the full potential of ICME, in which materials processing, microstructure, properties, and performance are coupled to enable application-driven design and optimization of materials and structures.

  7. Experimental and Computational Investigation of Structural Integrity of Dissimilar Metal Weld Between Ferritic and Austenitic Steel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santosh, R.; Das, G.; Kumar, S.; Singh, P. K.; Ghosh, M.

    2018-03-01

    The structural integrity of dissimilar metal welded (DMW) joint consisting of low-alloy steel and 304LN austenitic stainless steel was examined by evaluating mechanical properties and metallurgical characteristics. INCONEL 82 and 182 were used as buttering and filler materials, respectively. Experimental findings were substantiated through thermomechanical simulation of the weld. During simulation, the effect of thermal state and stress distribution was pondered based on the real-time nuclear power plant environment. The simulation results were co-related with mechanical and microstructural characteristics. Material properties were varied significantly at different fusion boundaries across the weld line and associated with complex microstructure. During in-situ deformation testing in a scanning electron microscope, failure occurred through the buttering material. This indicated that microstructure and material properties synergistically contributed to altering the strength of DMW joints. Simulation results also depicted that the stress was maximum within the buttering material and made its weakest zone across the welded joint during service exposure. Various factors for the failure of dissimilar metal weld were analyzed. It was found that the use of IN 82 alloy as the buttering material provided a significant improvement in the joint strength and became a promising material for the fabrication of DMW joint.

  8. Experimental and Computational Investigation of Structural Integrity of Dissimilar Metal Weld Between Ferritic and Austenitic Steel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santosh, R.; Das, G.; Kumar, S.; Singh, P. K.; Ghosh, M.

    2018-06-01

    The structural integrity of dissimilar metal welded (DMW) joint consisting of low-alloy steel and 304LN austenitic stainless steel was examined by evaluating mechanical properties and metallurgical characteristics. INCONEL 82 and 182 were used as buttering and filler materials, respectively. Experimental findings were substantiated through thermomechanical simulation of the weld. During simulation, the effect of thermal state and stress distribution was pondered based on the real-time nuclear power plant environment. The simulation results were co-related with mechanical and microstructural characteristics. Material properties were varied significantly at different fusion boundaries across the weld line and associated with complex microstructure. During in-situ deformation testing in a scanning electron microscope, failure occurred through the buttering material. This indicated that microstructure and material properties synergistically contributed to altering the strength of DMW joints. Simulation results also depicted that the stress was maximum within the buttering material and made its weakest zone across the welded joint during service exposure. Various factors for the failure of dissimilar metal weld were analyzed. It was found that the use of IN 82 alloy as the buttering material provided a significant improvement in the joint strength and became a promising material for the fabrication of DMW joint.

  9. Integral Fast Reactor concept

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.

    1986-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is an innovative LMR concept, being developed at Argonne National Laboratory, that fully exploits the inherent properties of liquid metal cooling and metallic fuel to achieve breakthroughs in economics and inherent safety. This paper describes key features and potential advantages of the IFR concept, technology development status, fuel cycle economics potential, and future development path.

  10. Integral Fast Reactor concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.

    1986-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is an innovative LMR concept, being developed at Argonne National Laboratory, that fully exploits the inherent properties of liquid metal cooling and metallic fuel to achieve breakthroughs in economics and inherent safety. This paper describes key features and potential advantages of the IFR concept, technology development status, fuel cycle economics potential, and future development path

  11. A decade of advances in metallic fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lahm, C.E.; Pahl, R.G.; Porter, D.L.; Tsai, H.; Seidel, B.R.; Batte, G.L.; Dodds, N.E.; Hofman, G.L.; Walters, L.C.

    1991-01-01

    Significant advances in the understanding of behavior and performance of metallic fuels to high burnup have been achieved over the past four decades. Metallic fuels were the first fuels for liquid-metal-cooled fast reactors (LMR) but in the late 1960's worldwide interest turned toward ceramic fuels before the full potential of metallic fuel could be achieved. Now metallic fuels are recognized as a preferred viable option with regard to safety, integral fuel cycle, waste minimization and deployment economics. This paper reviews the key advances in the last decade and highlights the behavior and performance features which have demonstrated a much greater potential than previously expected

  12. Metallic CoS₂ nanowire electrodes for high cycling performance supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Ren; Faber, Matthew S; Dziedzic, Rafal; Wen, Zhenhai; Jin, Song; Mao, Shun; Chen, Junhong

    2015-12-11

    We report metallic cobalt pyrite (CoS2) nanowires (NWs) prepared directly on current collecting electrodes, e.g., carbon cloth or graphite disc, for high-performance supercapacitors. These CoS2 NWs have a variety of advantages for supercapacitor applications. Because the metallic CoS2 NWs are synthesized directly on the current collector, the good electrical connection enables efficient charge transfer between the active CoS2 materials and the current collector. In addition, the open spaces between the sea urchin structure NWs lead to a large accessible surface area and afford rapid mass transport. Moreover, the robust CoS2 NW structure results in high stability of the active materials during long-term operation. Electrochemical characterization reveals that the CoS2 NWs enable large specific capacitance (828.2 F g(-1) at a scan rate of 0.01 V s(-1)) and excellent long term cycling stability (0-2.5% capacity loss after 4250 cycles at 5 A g(-1)) for pseudocapacitors. This example of metallic CoS2 NWs for supercapacitor applications expands the opportunities for transition metal sulfide-based nanostructures in emerging energy storage applications.

  13. An overview of enabling technology research in the United States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baker, Charles C.

    2002-01-01

    The mission of the US Fusion Energy Sciences Program is to advance plasma science, fusion science, and fusion technology--the knowledge base needed for an economically and environmentally attractive fusion energy source. In support of this overall mission, the Enabling Technology Program in the US incorporates both near and long term R and D, contributes to material and engineering sciences as well as technology development, contributes to spin-off applications, and performs global systems assessments and focused design studies. This work supports both magnetic and inertial fusion energy (IFE) concepts. The Enabling Technology research mission is to contribute to the national science and technology base by developing the enabling technology for existing and next-step experimental devices, by exploring and understanding key materials and technology feasibility issues for attractive fusion power sources, by conducting advanced design studies that integrate the wealth of our understanding to guide R and D priorities and by developing design solutions for next-step and future devices. The Enabling Technology Program Plan is organized around five elements: plasma technologies, fusion (chamber) technologies, materials sciences, advanced design, and IFE chamber and target technologies. The principal technical features and research objectives are described for each element

  14. Integral fast reactor concept inherent safety features

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marchaterre, J.F.; Sevy, R.H.; Cahalan, J.E.

    1987-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is an innovative liquid-metal-cooled reactor concept being developed at Argonne National Laboratory. The two major goals of the IFT development effort are improved economics and enhanced safety. The design features that together fulfill these goals are: 1) a liquid metal (sodium) coolant, 2) a pool-type reactor primary system configuration, 3) an advanced ternary alloy metallic fuel, and 4) an integral fuel cycle. This paper reviews the design features that contribute to the safety margins inherent to the IFR concept. Special emphasis is placed on the ability of the IFR design to accommodate anticipated transients without scram (ATWS)

  15. Integral Fast Reactor concept inherent safety features

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marchaterre, J.F.; Sevy, R.H.; Cahalan, J.E.

    1986-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is an innovative liquid-metal-cooled reactor concept being developed at Argonne National Laboratory. The two major goals of the IFR development effort are improved economics and enhanced safety. The design features that together fulfill these goals are: (1) a liquid metal (sodium) coolant, (2) a pool-type reactor primary system configuration, (3) an advanced ternary alloy metallic fuel, and (4) an integral fuel cycle. This paper reviews the design features that contribute to the safety margins inherent to the IFR concept. Special emphasis is placed on the ability of the IFR design to accommodate anticipated transients without scram (ATWS)

  16. The integral fast reactor fuel cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Y.I.

    1990-01-01

    The liquid-metal reactor (LMR) has the potential to extend the uranium resource by a factor of 50 to 100 over current commercial light water reactors (LWRs). In the integral fast reactor (IFR) development program, the entire reactor system - reactor, fuel cycle, and waste process - is being developed and optimized at the same time as a single integral entity. A key feature of the IFR concept is the metallic fuel. The lead irradiation tests on the new U-Pu-Zr metallic fuel in the Experimental Breeder Reactor II have surpassed 185000 MWd/t burnup, and its high burnup capability has now been fully demonstrated. The metallic fuel also allows a radically improved fuel cycle technology. Pyroprocessing, which utilizes high temperatures and molten salt and molten metal solvents, can be advantageously utilized for processing metal fuels because the product is metal suitable for fabrication into new fuel elements. Direct production of a metal product avoids expensive and cumbersome chemical conversion steps that would result from use of the conventional Purex solvent extraction process. The key step in the IFR process is electrorefining, which provides for recovery of the valuable fuel constituents, uranium and plutonium, and for removal of fission products. A notable feature of the IFR process is that the actinide elements accompany plutonium through the process. This results in a major advantage in the high-level waste management

  17. Sorption of radiostrontium from liquid metallic rubidium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhujkov, B.L.; Kokhnyuk, V.M.; Vincent, J.S.

    2008-01-01

    One studied the radiostrontium (in particular, 82 Sr) sorption from the liquid metallic Rb in various inorganic sorbents (both metals and oxides). One studied the temperature dependence and the dynamics of the adsorption and put forward an interpretation of the observed mechanisms. The elaborated approach enables to extract 82 Sr efficiently from the Rb targets upon their irradiation by the accelerated protons. One studies various procedures and the applicability of the process to ensure elaboration of a new highly efficient process to produce 82 Sr, in particular, with the targets of the circulating Rb [ru

  18. Miniaturized integration of a fluorescence microscope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Kunal K.; Burns, Laurie D.; Cocker, Eric D.; Nimmerjahn, Axel; Ziv, Yaniv; Gamal, Abbas El; Schnitzer, Mark J.

    2013-01-01

    The light microscope is traditionally an instrument of substantial size and expense. Its miniaturized integration would enable many new applications based on mass-producible, tiny microscopes. Key prospective usages include brain imaging in behaving animals towards relating cellular dynamics to animal behavior. Here we introduce a miniature (1.9 g) integrated fluorescence microscope made from mass-producible parts, including semiconductor light source and sensor. This device enables high-speed cellular-level imaging across ∼0.5 mm2 areas in active mice. This capability allowed concurrent tracking of Ca2+ spiking in >200 Purkinje neurons across nine cerebellar microzones. During mouse locomotion, individual microzones exhibited large-scale, synchronized Ca2+ spiking. This is a mesoscopic neural dynamic missed by prior techniques for studying the brain at other length scales. Overall, the integrated microscope is a potentially transformative technology that permits distribution to many animals and enables diverse usages, such as portable diagnostics or microscope arrays for large-scale screens. PMID:21909102

  19. Integrating multiple fish biomarkers and risk assessment as indicators of metal pollution along the Red Sea coast of Hodeida, Yemen Republic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omar, Wael A; Saleh, Yousef S; Marie, Mohamed-Assem S

    2014-12-01

    The marine environment of the Red Sea coast of Yemen Republic is subjected to increasing anthropogenic activities. The present field study assesses the impacts of metal pollutants on two common marine fish species; Pomadasys hasta and Lutjanus russellii collected from a reference site in comparison to two polluted sites along the Red Sea coast of Hodeida, Yemen Republic. Concentrations of heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) in fish vital organs, metal pollution index (MPI), indicative biochemical parameters of liver functions (alanine aminotransferase [ALT] and aspartate aminotransferase [AST]) and kidney functions (urea and creatinine) as well as histopathological changes in gills, liver and kidney of both fish species are integrated as biomarkers of metal pollution. These biomarkers showed species-specific and/or site-specific response. The hazard index (HI) was used as an indicator of human health risks associated with fish consumption. The detected low HI values in most cases doesn't neglect the fact that the cumulative risk effects for metals together give an alarming sign and that the health of fish consumers is endangered around polluted sites. The levels of ALT, AST and urea in plasma of both fish species collected from the polluted sites showed significant increase in comparison to those of reference site. Histopathological alterations and evident damage were observed in tissues of fish collected from the polluted sites. The investigated set of biomarkers proved to be efficient and reliable in biomonitoring the pollution status along different pollution gradients. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Irradiation behavior of metallic fast reactor fuels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pahl, R.G.; Porter, D.L.; Crawford, D.C.; Walters, L.C.

    1991-01-01

    Metallic fuels were the first fuels chosen for liquid metal cooled fast reactors (LMR's). In the late 1960's world-wide interest turned toward ceramic LMR fuels before the full potential of metallic fuel was realized. However, during the 1970's the performance limitations of metallic fuel were resolved in order to achieve a high plant factor at the Argonne National Laboratory's Experimental Breeder Reactor II. The 1980's spawned renewed interest in metallic fuel when the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) concept emerged at Argonne National Laboratory. A fuel performance demonstration program was put into place to obtain the data needed for the eventual licensing of metallic fuel. This paper will summarize the results of the irradiation program carried out since 1985

  1. The EUCLID/V1 Integrated Code for Safety Assessment of Liquid Metal Cooled Fast Reactors. Part 1: Basic Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mosunova, N. A.

    2018-05-01

    The article describes the basic models included in the EUCLID/V1 integrated code intended for safety analysis of liquid metal (sodium, lead, and lead-bismuth) cooled fast reactors using fuel rods with a gas gap and pellet dioxide, mixed oxide or nitride uranium-plutonium fuel under normal operation, under anticipated operational occurrences and accident conditions by carrying out interconnected thermal-hydraulic, neutronics, and thermal-mechanical calculations. Information about the Russian and foreign analogs of the EUCLID/V1 integrated code is given. Modeled objects, equation systems in differential form solved in each module of the EUCLID/V1 integrated code (the thermal-hydraulic, neutronics, fuel rod analysis module, and the burnup and decay heat calculation modules), the main calculated quantities, and also the limitations on application of the code are presented. The article also gives data on the scope of functions performed by the integrated code's thermal-hydraulic module, using which it is possible to describe both one- and twophase processes occurring in the coolant. It is shown that, owing to the availability of the fuel rod analysis module in the integrated code, it becomes possible to estimate the performance of fuel rods in different regimes of the reactor operation. It is also shown that the models implemented in the code for calculating neutron-physical processes make it possible to take into account the neutron field distribution over the fuel assembly cross section as well as other features important for the safety assessment of fast reactors.

  2. Highly stretchable and conductive fibers enabled by liquid metal dip-coating

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Qiang; Roach, Devin J.; Geng, Luchao; Chen, Haosen; Qi, H. Jerry; Fang, Daining

    2018-03-01

    Highly stretchable and conductive fibers have been fabricated by dip-coating of a layer of liquid metal (eutectic gallium indium, EGaIn) on printed silicone elastomer filaments. This fabrication method exploits a nanolayer of oxide skin that rapidly forms on the surface of EGaIn when exposed to air. Through dip-coating, the sticky nature of the oxide skin leads to the formation of a thin EGaIn coating (˜5 μm thick) on the originally nonconductive filaments and renders these fibers excellent conductivity. Electrical characterization shows that the fiber resistance increases moderately as the fiber elongates but always maintains conductivity even when stretched by 800%. Besides this, these fibers possess good cyclic electrical stability with little degradation after hundreds of stretching cycles, which makes them an excellent candidate for stretchable conductors. We then demonstrate a highly stretchable LED circuit as well as a conductive stretchable net that extends the 1D fibers into a 2D configuration. These examples demonstrate potential applications for topologically complex stretchable electronics.

  3. An IPMC-enabled bio-inspired bending/twisting fin for underwater applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palmre, Viljar; Hubbard, Joel J.; Fleming, Maxwell; Pugal, David; Kim, Sungjun; Kim, Kwang J.; Leang, Kam K.

    2013-01-01

    This paper discusses the design, fabrication, and characterization of an ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuator-based bio-inspired active fin capable of bending and twisting motion. It is pointed out that IPMC strip actuators are used in the simple cantilever configuration to create simple bending (flapping-like) motion for propulsion in underwater autonomous systems. However, the resulting motion is a simple 1D bending and performance is rather limited. To enable more complex deformation, such as the flapping (pitch and heaving) motion of real pectoral and caudal fish fins, a new approach which involves molding or integrating IPMC actuators into a soft boot material to create an active control surface (called a ‘fin’) is presented. The fin can be used to realize complex deformation depending on the orientation and placement of the actuators. In contrast to previously created IPMCs with patterned electrodes for the same purpose, the proposed design avoids (1) the more expensive process of electroless plating platinum all throughout the surface of the actuator and (2) the need for specially patterning the electrodes. Therefore, standard shaped IPMC actuators such as those with rectangular dimensions with varying thicknesses can be used. One unique advantage of the proposed structural design is that custom shaped fins and control surfaces can be easily created without special materials processing. The molding process is cost effective and does not require functionalizing or ‘activating’ the boot material similar to creating IPMCs. For a prototype fin (90 mm wide × 60 mm long × 1.5 mm thick), the measured maximum tip displacement was approximately 44 mm and the twist angle of the fin exceeded 10°. Lift and drag measurements in water where the prototype fin with an airfoil profile was dragged through water at a velocity of 21 cm s-1 showed that the lift and drag forces can be affected by controlling the IPMCs embedded into the fin structure. These

  4. Decision-Making for Supply Chain Integration Supply Chain Integration

    CERN Document Server

    Lettice, Fiona; Durowoju, Olatunde

    2012-01-01

    Effective supply chain integration, and the tight co-ordination it creates, is an essential pre-requisite for successful supply chain management.  Decision-Making for Supply Chain Integration is a practical reference on recent research in the area of supply chain integration focusing on distributed decision-making problems. Recent applications of various decision-making tools for integrating supply chains are covered including chapters focusing on: •Supplier selection, pricing strategy and inventory decisions in multi-level supply chains, •RFID-enabled distributed decision-making, •Operational risk issues and time-critical decision-making for sensitive logistics nodes, Modelling end to end processes to improve supply chain integration, and •Integrated systems to improve service delivery and optimize resource use. Decision-Making for Supply Chain Integration provides an insight into the tools and methodologies of this field with support from real-life case studies demonstrating successful application ...

  5. Integral fast reactor concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Y.I.; Marchaterre, J.F.; Sevy, R.H.

    1984-01-01

    Key features of the IFR consist of a pool-type plant arrangement, a metal fuel-based core design, and an integral fuel cycle with colocated fuel cycle facility. Both the basic concept and the technology base have been demonstrated through actual integral cycle operation in EBR-II. This paper discusses the inherent safety characteristics of the IFR concept

  6. Solar Integration National Dataset Toolkit | Grid Modernization | NREL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solar Integration National Dataset Toolkit Solar Integration National Dataset Toolkit NREL is working on a Solar Integration National Dataset (SIND) Toolkit to enable researchers to perform U.S . regional solar generation integration studies. It will provide modeled, coherent subhourly solar power data

  7. Analysis of metal samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramirez T, J.J.; Lopez M, J.; Sandoval J, A.R.; Villasenor S, P.; Aspiazu F, J.A.

    2001-01-01

    An elemental analysis, metallographic and of phases was realized in order to determine the oxidation states of Fe contained in three metallic pieces: block, plate and cylinder of unknown material. Results are presented from the elemental analysis which was carried out in the Tandem Accelerator of ININ by Proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE). The phase analysis was carried out by X-ray diffraction which allowed to know the type of alloy or alloys formed. The combined application of nuclear techniques with metallographic techniques allows the integral characterization of industrial metals. (Author)

  8. A decade of advances in metallic fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seidel, B.R.; Batte, G.L.; Dodds, N.E.; Hofman, G.L.; Lahm, C.E.; Pahl, R.G.; Porter, D.L.; Tsai, H.; Walters, L.C.

    1990-01-01

    Significant advances in the understanding of behavior and performance of metallic fuels to high burnup have been achieved over the past four decades. Metallic fuels were the first fuels for liquid-metal-cooled fast reactors (LMR) but in the late 1960s worldwide interest turned toward ceramic fuels before the full potential of metallic fuel could be achieved. Now metallic fuels are recognized as a preferred viable option with regard to safety, integral fuel cycle, waste minimization and deployment economics. This paper reviews the key advances in the last decade and highlights the behavior and performance features which have demonstrated a much greater potential than previously expected. 28 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab

  9. Spin-exchange interaction between transition metals and metalloids in soft-ferromagnetic metallic glasses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Das, Santanu; Choudhary, Kamal; Chernatynskiy, Aleksandr; Choi Yim, Haein; Bandyopadhyay, Asis K.; Mukherjee, Sundeep

    2016-06-01

    High-performance magnetic materials have immense industrial and scientific importance in wide-ranging electronic, electromechanical, and medical device technologies. Metallic glasses with a fully amorphous structure are particularly suited for advanced soft-magnetic applications. However, fundamental scientific understanding is lacking for the spin-exchange interaction between metal and metalloid atoms, which typically constitute a metallic glass. Using an integrated experimental and molecular dynamics approach, we demonstrate the mechanism of electron interaction between transition metals and metalloids. Spin-exchange interactions were investigated for a Fe-Co metallic glass system of composition [(Co1-x Fe x )0.75B0.2Si0.05]96Cr4. The saturation magnetization increased with higher Fe concentration, but the trend significantly deviated from simple rule of mixtures. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulation was used to identify the ferromagnetic/anti-ferromagnetic interaction between the transition metals and metalloids. The overlapping band-structure and density of states represent ‘Stoner type’ magnetization for the amorphous alloys in contrast to ‘Heisenberg type’ in crystalline iron. The enhancement of magnetization by increasing iron was attributed to the interaction between Fe 3d and B 2p bands, which was further validated by valence-band study.

  10. Emergent information technologies and enabling policies for counter-terrorism

    CERN Document Server

    Popp, R

    2006-01-01

    Explores both counter-terrorism and enabling policy dimensions of emerging information technologies in national security After the September 11th attacks, "connecting the dots" has become the watchword for using information and intelligence to protect the United States from future terrorist attacks. Advanced and emerging information technologies offer key assets in confronting a secretive, asymmetric, and networked enemy. Yet, in a free and open society, policies must ensure that these powerful technologies are used responsibly, and that privacy and civil liberties remain protected. Emergent Information Technologies and Enabling Policies for Counter-Terrorism provides a unique, integrated treatment of cutting-edge counter-terrorism technologies and their corresponding policy options. Featuring contributions from nationally recognized authorities and experts, this book brings together a diverse knowledge base for those charged with protecting our nation from terrorist attacks while preserving our civil liberti...

  11. Refractory silicides for integrated circuits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murarka, S.P.

    1980-01-01

    Transition metal silicides have, in the past, attracted attention because of their usefulness as high temperature materials and in integrated circuits as Schottky barrier and ohmic contacts. More recently, with the increasing silicon integrated circuits (SIC) packing density, the line widths get narrower and the sheet resistance contribution to the RC delay increases. The possibility of using low resistivity silicides, which can be formed directly on the polysilicon, makes these silicides highly attractive. The usefulness of a silicide metallization scheme for integrated circuits depends, not only on the desired low resistivity, but also on the ease with which the silicide can be formed and patterned and on the stability of the silicides throughout device processing and during actual device usage. In this paper, various properties and the formation techniques of the silicides have been reviewed. Correlations between the various properties and the metal or silicide electronic or crystallographic structure have been made to predict the more useful silicides for SIC applications. Special reference to the silicide resistivity, stress, and oxidizability during the formation and subsequent processing has been given. Various formation and etching techniques are discussed

  12. Metal-ceramic alloys in dentistry: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Howard W; Berzins, David W; Moore, B Keith; Charlton, David G

    2009-02-01

    The purpose of this article is to review basic information about the alloys used for fabricating metal-ceramic restorations in dentistry. Their compositions, properties, advantages, and disadvantages are presented and compared. In addition to reviewing traditional noble-metal and base-metal metal-ceramic alloys, titanium and gold composite alloys are also discussed. A broad search of the published literature was performed using Medline to identify pertinent current articles on metal-ceramic alloys as well as articles providing a historical background about the development of these alloys. Textbooks, the internet, and manufacturers' literature were also used to supplement this information. The review discusses traditional as well as more recently-developed alloys and technologies used in dentistry for fabricating metal-ceramic restorations. Clear advantages and disadvantages for these alloy types are provided and discussed as well as the role that compositional variations have on the alloys' performance. This information should enable clinicians and technicians to easily identify the important physical properties of each type and their primary clinical indications. A number of alloys and metals are available for metal-ceramic use in dentistry. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, primarily based on its specific composition. Continuing research and development are resulting in the production of new technologies and products, giving clinicians even more choices in designing and fabricating metal-ceramic restorations.

  13. Low Cost SU8 Based Above IC Process for High Q RF Power Inductors Integration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghannam, A.; Bourrier, D.; Viallon, Ch.; Parra, Th.

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents a new process for integration of high-Q RF power inductors above low resistivity silicon substrates. The process uses the SU8 resin as a dielectric layer. The aim of using the SU8 is to form thick dielectric layer that can enhance the performance of the inductors. The flexibility of the process enables the possibility to realize complex shaped planar inductors with various dielectric and metal thicknesses to meet the requirements of the application. Q values of 55 at 5 GHz has been demonstrated for an inductance value of 0.8 nH using a 60 μm thick SU8 layer and 30 μm thick copper ribbons. (author)

  14. Metallic CoS2 nanowire electrodes for high cycling performance supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Ren; Faber, Matthew S.; Dziedzic, Rafal; Wen, Zhenhai; Jin, Song; Mao, Shun; Chen, Junhong

    2015-12-01

    We report metallic cobalt pyrite (CoS2) nanowires (NWs) prepared directly on current collecting electrodes, e.g., carbon cloth or graphite disc, for high-performance supercapacitors. These CoS2 NWs have a variety of advantages for supercapacitor applications. Because the metallic CoS2 NWs are synthesized directly on the current collector, the good electrical connection enables efficient charge transfer between the active CoS2 materials and the current collector. In addition, the open spaces between the sea urchin structure NWs lead to a large accessible surface area and afford rapid mass transport. Moreover, the robust CoS2 NW structure results in high stability of the active materials during long-term operation. Electrochemical characterization reveals that the CoS2 NWs enable large specific capacitance (828.2 F g-1 at a scan rate of 0.01 V s-1) and excellent long term cycling stability (0-2.5% capacity loss after 4250 cycles at 5 A g-1) for pseudocapacitors. This example of metallic CoS2 NWs for supercapacitor applications expands the opportunities for transition metal sulfide-based nanostructures in emerging energy storage applications.

  15. GMAW (Gas Metal Arc Welding) process development for girth welding of high strength pipelines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rajan, Vaidyanath; Daniel, Joe; Quintana, Marie [The Lincoln Electric Company, Cleveland, OH (United States); Chen, Yaoshan [Center for Reliable Energy Systems (CRES), Dublin, OH (United States); Souza, Antonio [Lincoln Electric do Brasil, Guarulhos, SP (Brazil)

    2009-07-01

    This paper highlights some of the results and findings from the first phase of a consolidated program co-funded by US Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and Pipeline Research Council Inc (PRCI) to develop pipe weld assessment and qualification methods and optimize X 100 pipe welding technologies. One objective of the program is to establish the range of viable welding options for X 100 line pipe, and define the essential variables to provide welding process control for reliable and consistent mechanical performance of the weldments. In this first phase, a series of narrow gap girth welds were made with pulsed gas metal arc welding (GMAW), instrumented with thermocouples in the heat affected zone (HAZ) and weld metal to obtain the associated thermal profiles, and instrumented to measure true energy input as opposed to conventional heat input. Results reveal that true heat input is 16%-22% higher than conventional heat input. The thermal profile measurements correlate very well with thermal model predictions using true energy input data, which indicates the viability of treating the latter as an essential variable. Ongoing microstructural and mechanical testing work will enable validation of an integrated thermal-microstructural model being developed for these applications. Outputs from this model will be used to correlate essential welding process variables with weld microstructure and hardness. This will ultimately enable development of a list of essential variables and the ranges needed to ensure mechanical properties are achieved in practice, recommendations for controlling and monitoring these essential variables and test methods suitable for classification of welding consumables. (author)

  16. "Rocking-Chair"-Type Metal Hybrid Supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoo, Hyun Deog; Han, Sang-Don; Bayliss, Ryan D; Gewirth, Andrew A; Genorio, Bostjan; Rajput, Nav Nidhi; Persson, Kristin A; Burrell, Anthony K; Cabana, Jordi

    2016-11-16

    Hybrid supercapacitors that follow a "rocking-chair"-type mechanism were developed by coupling divalent metal and activated carbon electrodes in nonaqueous electrolytes. Conventional supercapacitors require a large amount of electrolyte to provide a sufficient quantity of ions to the electrodes, due to their Daniell-type mechanism that depletes the ions from the electrolyte while charging. The alternative "rocking-chair"-type mechanism effectively enhances the energy density of supercapacitors by minimizing the necessary amount of electrolyte, because the ion is replenished from the metal anode while it is adsorbed to the cathode. Newly developed nonaqueous electrolytes for Mg and Zn electrochemistry, based on bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (TFSI) salts, made the metal hybrid supercapacitors possible by enabling reversible deposition on the metal anodes and reversible adsorption on an activated carbon cathode. Factoring in gains through the cell design, the energy density of the metal hybrid supercapacitors is projected to be a factor of 7 higher than conventional devices thanks to both the "rocking-chair"-type mechanism that minimizes total electrolyte volume and the use of metal anodes, which have substantial merits in capacity and voltage. Self-discharge was also substantially alleviated compared to conventional supercapacitors. This concept offers a route to build supercapacitors that meet dual criteria of power and energy densities with a simple cell design.

  17. Materials and noncoplanar mesh designs for integrated circuits with linear elastic responses to extreme mechanical deformations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Dae-Hyeong; Song, Jizhou; Choi, Won Mook; Kim, Hoon-Sik; Kim, Rak-Hwan; Liu, Zhuangjian; Huang, Yonggang Y; Hwang, Keh-Chih; Zhang, Yong-wei; Rogers, John A

    2008-12-02

    Electronic systems that offer elastic mechanical responses to high-strain deformations are of growing interest because of their ability to enable new biomedical devices and other applications whose requirements are impossible to satisfy with conventional wafer-based technologies or even with those that offer simple bendability. This article introduces materials and mechanical design strategies for classes of electronic circuits that offer extremely high stretchability, enabling them to accommodate even demanding configurations such as corkscrew twists with tight pitch (e.g., 90 degrees in approximately 1 cm) and linear stretching to "rubber-band" levels of strain (e.g., up to approximately 140%). The use of single crystalline silicon nanomaterials for the semiconductor provides performance in stretchable complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuits approaching that of conventional devices with comparable feature sizes formed on silicon wafers. Comprehensive theoretical studies of the mechanics reveal the way in which the structural designs enable these extreme mechanical properties without fracturing the intrinsically brittle active materials or even inducing significant changes in their electrical properties. The results, as demonstrated through electrical measurements of arrays of transistors, CMOS inverters, ring oscillators, and differential amplifiers, suggest a valuable route to high-performance stretchable electronics.

  18. Dry Sintered Metal Coating of Halloysite Nanotubes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James C. Nicholson

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs are a naturally-occurring aluminosilicate whose dimensions measure microns in length and tens of nanometers in diameter. Bonding defects between the alumina and silica lead to net negative and positive charges on the exterior and interior lumen, respectively. HNTs have been shown to enhance the material properties of polymer matrices and enable the sustained release of loaded chemicals, drugs, and growth factors. Due to the net charges, these nanotubes can also be readily coated in layered-depositions using the HNT exterior lumen’s net negative charge as the basis for assembly. These coatings are primarily done through wet chemical processes, the majority of which are limited in their use of desired chemicals, due to the polarity of the halloysite. Furthermore, this restriction in the type of chemicals used often requires the use of more toxic chemicals in place of greener options, and typically necessitates the use of a significantly longer chemical process to achieve the desired coating. In this study, we show that HNTs can be coated with metal acetylacetonates—compounds primarily employed in the synthesis of nanoparticles, as metal catalysts, and as NMR shift reagents—through a dry sintering process. This method was capable of thermally decaying the metal acetylacetonate, resulting in a free positively-charged metal ion that readily bonded to the negatively-charged HNT exterior, resulting in metallic coatings forming on the HNT surface. Our coating method may enable greater deposition of coated material onto these nanotubes as required for a desired application. Furthermore, the use of chemical processes using toxic chemicals is not required, thus eliminating exposure to toxic chemicals and costs associated with the disposal of the resultant chemical waste.

  19. 44-1: Invited Paper: Photolithography as Enabler of AMOLED Displays Beyond 1000 ppi

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Malinowski, P.E.; Ke, T.; Nakamura, A.; Vicca, P.; Kronemeijer, A.J.; Ameys, M.; Steen, J.L. van der; Steudel, S.; Kamochi, Y.; Iwai, Y.; Gelinck, G.; Heremans, P.

    2017-01-01

    This paper describes the potential of hi-res display fabrication using OLED photolithography. We demonstrate 1250 ppi multicolor arrays, pixel scaling down to 3 μm pitch, integration in active displays, and improving lifetime after patterning (200 hours T75, smOLEDs). Photolithography can enable

  20. Sub-15-nm patterning of asymmetric metal electrodes and devices by adhesion lithography

    KAUST Repository

    Beesley, David J.

    2014-05-27

    Coplanar electrodes formed from asymmetric metals separated on the nanometre length scale are essential elements of nanoscale photonic and electronic devices. Existing fabrication methods typically involve electron-beam lithography - a technique that enables high fidelity patterning but suffers from significant limitations in terms of low throughput, poor scalability to large areas and restrictive choice of substrate and electrode materials. Here, we describe a versatile method for the rapid fabrication of asymmetric nanogap electrodes that exploits the ability of selected self-assembled monolayers to attach conformally to a prepatterned metal layer and thereby weaken adhesion to a subsequently deposited metal film. The method may be carried out under ambient conditions using simple equipment and a minimum of processing steps, enabling the rapid fabrication of nanogap electrodes and optoelectronic devices with aspect ratios in excess of 100,000.2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

  1. Sub-15-nm patterning of asymmetric metal electrodes and devices by adhesion lithography

    KAUST Repository

    Beesley, David J.; Semple, James; Jagadamma, Lethy Krishnan; Amassian, Aram; McLachlan, Martyn A.; Anthopoulos, Thomas D.; deMello, John C.

    2014-01-01

    Coplanar electrodes formed from asymmetric metals separated on the nanometre length scale are essential elements of nanoscale photonic and electronic devices. Existing fabrication methods typically involve electron-beam lithography - a technique that enables high fidelity patterning but suffers from significant limitations in terms of low throughput, poor scalability to large areas and restrictive choice of substrate and electrode materials. Here, we describe a versatile method for the rapid fabrication of asymmetric nanogap electrodes that exploits the ability of selected self-assembled monolayers to attach conformally to a prepatterned metal layer and thereby weaken adhesion to a subsequently deposited metal film. The method may be carried out under ambient conditions using simple equipment and a minimum of processing steps, enabling the rapid fabrication of nanogap electrodes and optoelectronic devices with aspect ratios in excess of 100,000.2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

  2. Cold Gas-Sprayed Deposition of Metallic Coatings onto Ceramic Substrates Using Laser Surface Texturing Pre-treatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kromer, R.; Danlos, Y.; Costil, S.

    2018-04-01

    Cold spraying enables a variety of metals dense coatings onto metal surfaces. Supersonic gas jet accelerates particles which undergo with the substrate plastic deformation. Different bonding mechanisms can be created depending on the materials. The particle-substrate contact time, contact temperature and contact area upon impact are the parameters influencing physicochemical and mechanical bonds. The resultant bonding arose from plastic deformation of the particle and substrate and temperature increasing at the interface. The objective was to create specific topography to enable metallic particle adhesion onto ceramic substrates. Ceramic did not demonstrate deformation during the impact which minimized the intimate bonds. Laser surface texturing was hence used as prior surface treatment to create specific topography and to enable mechanical anchoring. Particle compressive states were necessary to build up coating. The coating deposition efficiency and adhesion strength were evaluated. Textured surface is required to obtain strong adhesion of metallic coatings onto ceramic substrates. Consequently, cold spray coating parameters depend on the target material and a methodology was established with particle parameters (diameters, velocities, temperatures) and particle/substrate properties to adapt the surface topography. Laser surface texturing is a promising tool to increase the cold spraying applications.

  3. Development of Metallic Fuels for Actinide Transmutation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hayes, Steven Lowe [Idaho National Laboratory; Fielding, Randall Sidney [Idaho National Laboratory; Benson, Michael Timothy [Idaho National Laboratory; Chichester, Heather Jean MacLean [Idaho National Laboratory; Carmack, William Jonathan [Idaho National Laboratory

    2015-09-01

    Research and development activities on metallic fuels are focused on their potential use for actinide transmutation in future sodium fast reactors. As part of this application, there is also a need for a near zero-loss fabrication process and a desire to demonstrate a multifold increase in burnup potential. The incorporation of Am and Np into the traditional U-20Pu-10Zr metallic fuel alloy was demonstrated in the US during the Integral Fast Reactor Program of the 1980’s and early 1990’s. However, the conventional counter gravity injection casting method performed under vacuum, previously used to fabricate these metallic fuel alloys, was not optimized for mitigating loss of the volatile Am constituent in the casting charge; as a result, approximately 40% of the Am casting charge failed to be incorporated into the as-cast fuel alloys. Fabrication development efforts of the past few years have pursued an optimized bottom-pour casting method to increase utilization of the melted charge to near 100%, and a differential pressure casting approach, performed under an argon overpressure, has been demonstrated to result in essentially no loss of Am due to volatilization during fabrication. In short, a path toward zero-loss fabrication of metallic fuels including minor actinides has been shown to be feasible. Irradiation testing of advanced metallic fuel alloys in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) has been underway since 2003. Testing in the ATR is performed inside of cadmium-shrouded positions to remove >99% of the thermal flux incident on the test fuels, resulting in an epi-thermal driven fuel test that is free from gross flux depression and producing an essentially prototypic radial temperature profile inside the fuel rodlets. To date, three irradiation test series (AFC-1,2,3) have been completed. Over 20 different metallic fuel alloys have been tested to burnups as high as 30% with constituent compositions of Pu up to 30%, Am up to 12%, Np up to 10%, and Zr between 10

  4. Commercialisation of CMOS Integrated Circuit Technology in Multi-Electrode Arrays for Neuroscience and Cell-Based Biosensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris R. Bowen

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available The adaptation of standard integrated circuit (IC technology as a transducer in cell-based biosensors in drug discovery pharmacology, neural interface systems and electrophysiology requires electrodes that are electrochemically stable, biocompatible and affordable. Unfortunately, the ubiquitous Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS IC technology does not meet the first of these requirements. For devices intended only for research, modification of CMOS by post-processing using cleanroom facilities has been achieved. However, to enable adoption of CMOS as a basis for commercial biosensors, the economies of scale of CMOS fabrication must be maintained by using only low-cost post-processing techniques. This review highlights the methodologies employed in cell-based biosensor design where CMOS-based integrated circuits (ICs form an integral part of the transducer system. Particular emphasis will be placed on the application of multi-electrode arrays for in vitro neuroscience applications. Identifying suitable IC packaging methods presents further significant challenges when considering specific applications. The various challenges and difficulties are reviewed and some potential solutions are presented.

  5. Enhanced photoelectrochemical activity in all-oxide heterojunction devices based on correlated "metallic" oxides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Apgar, Brent A; Lee, Sungki; Schroeder, Lauren E; Martin, Lane W

    2013-11-20

    n-n Schottky, n-n ohmic, and p-n Schottky heterojunctions based on TiO2 /correlated "metallic" oxide couples exhibit strong solar-light absorption driven by the unique electronic structure of the "metallic" oxides. Photovoltaic and photocatalytic responses are driven by hot electron injection from the "metallic" oxide into the TiO2 , enabling new modalities of operation for energy systems. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  6. Writeshops: An effective tool to enable African academics to publish

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Vincent, K

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available -1 Writeshops: An effective tool to enable African academics to publish Vincent*, K., T. Cull, (Kulima Integrated Development Solutions, South Africa) E. Archer van Garderen, (CSIR, South Africa) and A. Awiti, (Aga Khan University, Kenya) * Corresponding... Seipt, Lisa Schipper and Richard J. T. Klein for their commitment to writeshops, and for various discussions on improving the accessibility of developing country researchers to the peer-reviewed literature. ...

  7. Long Spin-Relaxation Times in a Transition-Metal Atom in Direct Contact to a Metal Substrate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hermenau, Jan; Ternes, Markus; Steinbrecher, Manuel; Wiesendanger, Roland; Wiebe, Jens

    2018-03-14

    Long spin-relaxation times are a prerequisite for the use of spins in data storage or nanospintronics technologies. An atomic-scale solid-state realization of such a system is the spin of a transition-metal atom adsorbed on a suitable substrate. For the case of a metallic substrate, which enables the direct addressing of the spin by conduction electrons, the experimentally measured lifetimes reported to date are on the order of only hundreds of femtoseconds. Here, we show that the spin states of iron atoms adsorbed directly on a conductive platinum substrate have a surprisingly long spin-relaxation time in the nanosecond regime, which is comparable to that of a transition metal atom decoupled from the substrate electrons by a thin decoupling layer. The combination of long spin-relaxation times and strong coupling to conduction electrons implies the possibility to use flexible coupling schemes to process the spin information.

  8. The Integral Fast Reactor concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.

    1986-01-01

    The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is an innovative LMR concept, being developed at Argonne National Laboratory, that exploits the inherent properties of liquid metal cooling and metallic fuel to achieve breakthroughs in economics and inherent safety. This paper describes the key features and potential advantages of the IFR concept, its technology development status, fuel cycle economics potential, and its future development path

  9. EnableATIS strategy assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-02-01

    Enabling Advanced Traveler Information Systems (EnableATIS) is the traveler information component of the Dynamic Mobility Application (DMA) program. The objective of : the EnableATIS effort is to foster transformative traveler information application...

  10. A plasmonic modulator based on metal-insulator-metal waveguide with barium titanate core

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Babicheva, Viktoriia; Lavrinenko, Andrei

    2013-01-01

    We design a plasmonic modulator which can be utilized as a compact active device in photonic integrated circuits. The active material, barium titanate (BaTiO3), is sandwiched between metal plates and changes its refractive index under applied voltage. Some degree of switching of ferroelectric...

  11. Exploring multi-metal biosorption by indigenous metal-hyperresistant Enterobacter sp. J1 using experimental design methodologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, W.-B.; Kao, W.-C.; Shi, J.-J.; Chang, J.-S.

    2008-01-01

    A novel experimental design, combining mixture design and response surface methodology (RSM), was developed to investigate the competitive adsorption behavior of lead, copper and cadmium by an indigenous isolate Enterobacter sp. J1 able to tolerate high concentrations of a variety of heavy metals. Using the proposed combinative experimental design, two different experiment designs in a ternary metal biosorption system can be integrated to a succinct experiment and the number of experimental trials was markedly reduced from 38 to 26 by reusing the mutual experimental data. Triangular contour diagrams and triangular three-dimensional surface plots were generated to describe the ternary metal biosorption equilibrium data in mixture design systems. The results show that the preference of metal sorption of Enterobacter sp. J1 decreased in the order of Pb 2+ > Cu 2+ > Cd 2+ . The presence of other metals resulted in a competitive effect. The influence of the other two metals in ternary metal biosorption system can be easily determined by comparing the stray distance from the single metal biosorption. The behavior of competitive biosorption was successfully described and predicted using a combined Langmuir-Freundlich model along with new three-dimensional contour-surface plots

  12. Exploring multi-metal biosorption by indigenous metal-hyperresistant Enterobacter sp. J1 using experimental design methodologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lu, W.-B. [Department of Cosmetic Science, Chung Hwa University of Medical Technology, Tainan, Taiwan (China); Kao, W.-C.; Shi, J.-J. [Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan (China); Chang, J.-S. [Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan (China)], E-mail: changjs@mail.ncku.edu.tw

    2008-05-01

    A novel experimental design, combining mixture design and response surface methodology (RSM), was developed to investigate the competitive adsorption behavior of lead, copper and cadmium by an indigenous isolate Enterobacter sp. J1 able to tolerate high concentrations of a variety of heavy metals. Using the proposed combinative experimental design, two different experiment designs in a ternary metal biosorption system can be integrated to a succinct experiment and the number of experimental trials was markedly reduced from 38 to 26 by reusing the mutual experimental data. Triangular contour diagrams and triangular three-dimensional surface plots were generated to describe the ternary metal biosorption equilibrium data in mixture design systems. The results show that the preference of metal sorption of Enterobacter sp. J1 decreased in the order of Pb{sup 2+} > Cu{sup 2+} > Cd{sup 2+}. The presence of other metals resulted in a competitive effect. The influence of the other two metals in ternary metal biosorption system can be easily determined by comparing the stray distance from the single metal biosorption. The behavior of competitive biosorption was successfully described and predicted using a combined Langmuir-Freundlich model along with new three-dimensional contour-surface plots.

  13. Irradiation performance of metallic fuels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pahl, R.G.; Lahm, C.E.; Porter, D.L.; Batte, G.L.; Hofman, G.L.

    1989-01-01

    Argonne National Laboratory has been working for the past five years to develop and demonstrate the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) concept. The concept involves a closed system for fast-reactor power generation and on-site fuel reprocessing, both designed specifically around the use of metallic fuel. The Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) has used metallic fuel for all of its 25-year life. In 1985, tests were begun to examine the irradiation performance of advanced-design metallic fuel systems based on U-Zr or U-Pu-Zr fuels. These tests have demonstrated the viable performance of these fuel systems to high burnup. The initial testing program will be described in this paper. 2 figs

  14. Recovery Act: Integrated DC-DC Conversion for Energy-Efficient Multicore Processors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shepard, Kenneth L

    2013-03-31

    In this project, we have developed the use of thin-film magnetic materials to improve in energy efficiency of digital computing applications by enabling integrated dc-dc power conversion and management with on-chip power inductors. Integrated voltage regulators also enables fine-grained power management, by providing dynamic scaling of the supply voltage in concert with the clock frequency of synchronous logic to throttle power consumption at periods of low computational demand. The voltage converter generates lower output voltages during periods of low computational performance requirements and higher output voltages during periods of high computational performance requirements. Implementation of integrated power conversion requires high-capacity energy storage devices, which are generally not available in traditional semiconductor processes. We achieve this with integration of thin-film magnetic materials into a conventional complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process for high-quality on-chip power inductors. This project includes a body of work conducted to develop integrated switch-mode voltage regulators with thin-film magnetic power inductors. Soft-magnetic materials and inductor topologies are selected and optimized, with intent to maximize efficiency and current density of the integrated regulators. A custom integrated circuit (IC) is designed and fabricated in 45-nm CMOS silicon-on-insulator (SOI) to provide the control system and power-train necessary to drive the power inductors, in addition to providing a digital load for the converter. A silicon interposer is designed and fabricated in collaboration with IBM Research to integrate custom power inductors by chip stacking with the 45-nm CMOS integrated circuit, enabling power conversion with current density greater than 10A/mm2. The concepts and designs developed from this work enable significant improvements in performance-per-watt of future microprocessors in servers, desktops, and mobile

  15. Base Metal Co-Fired Multilayer Piezoelectrics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisheng Gao

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Piezoelectrics have been widely used in different kinds of applications, from the automobile industry to consumer electronics. The novel multilayer piezoelectrics, which are inspired by multilayer ceramic capacitors, not only minimize the size of the functional parts, but also maximize energy efficiency. Development of multilayer piezoelectric devices is at a significant crossroads on the way to achieving low costs, high efficiency, and excellent reliability. Concerning the costs of manufacturing multilayer piezoelectrics, the trend is to replace the costly noble metal internal electrodes with base metal materials. This paper discusses the materials development of metal co-firing and the progress of integrating current base metal chemistries. There are some significant considerations in metal co-firing multilayer piezoelectrics: retaining stoichiometry with volatile Pb and alkaline elements in ceramics, the selection of appropriate sintering agents to lower the sintering temperature with minimum impact on piezoelectric performance, and designing effective binder formulation for low pO2 burnout to prevent oxidation of Ni and Cu base metal.

  16. Integration of Hospital Information and Clinical Decision Support Systems to Enable the Reuse of Electronic Health Record Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kopanitsa, Georgy

    2017-05-18

    The efficiency and acceptance of clinical decision support systems (CDSS) can increase if they reuse medical data captured during health care delivery. High heterogeneity of the existing legacy data formats has become the main barrier for the reuse of data. Thus, we need to apply data modeling mechanisms that provide standardization, transformation, accumulation and querying medical data to allow its reuse. In this paper, we focus on the interoperability issues of the hospital information systems (HIS) and CDSS data integration. Our study is based on the approach proposed by Marcos et al. where archetypes are used as a standardized mechanism for the interaction of a CDSS with an electronic health record (EHR). We build an integration tool to enable CDSSs collect data from various institutions without a need for modifications in the implementation. The approach implies development of a conceptual level as a set of archetypes representing concepts required by a CDSS. Treatment case data from Regional Clinical Hospital in Tomsk, Russia was extracted, transformed and loaded to the archetype database of a clinical decision support system. Test records' normalization has been performed by defining transformation and aggregation rules between the EHR data and the archetypes. These mapping rules were used to automatically generate openEHR compliant data. After the transformation, archetype data instances were loaded into the CDSS archetype based data storage. The performance times showed acceptable performance for the extraction stage with a mean of 17.428 s per year (3436 case records). The transformation times were also acceptable with 136.954 s per year (0.039 s per one instance). The accuracy evaluation showed the correctness and applicability of the method for the wide range of HISes. These operations were performed without interrupting the HIS workflow to prevent the HISes from disturbing the service provision to the users. The project results have proven that

  17. GaN Micromechanical Resonators with Meshed Metal Bottom Electrode.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ansari, Azadeh; Liu, Che-Yu; Lin, Chien-Chung; Kuo, Hao-Chung; Ku, Pei-Cheng; Rais-Zadeh, Mina

    2015-03-17

    This work describes a novel architecture to realize high-performance gallium nitride (GaN) bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonators. The method is based on the growth of a thick GaN layer on a metal electrode grid. The fabrication process starts with the growth of a thin GaN buffer layer on a Si (111) substrate. The GaN buffer layer is patterned and trenches are made and refilled with sputtered tungsten (W)/silicon dioxide (SiO₂) forming passivated metal electrode grids. GaN is then regrown, nucleating from the exposed GaN seed layer and coalescing to form a thick GaN device layer. A metal electrode can be deposited and patterned on top of the GaN layer. This method enables vertical piezoelectric actuation of the GaN layer using its largest piezoelectric coefficient ( d 33 ) for thickness-mode resonance. Having a bottom electrode also results in a higher coupling coefficient, useful for the implementation of acoustic filters. Growth of GaN on Si enables releasing the device from the frontside using isotropic xenon difluoride (XeF₂) etch and therefore eliminating the need for backside lithography and etching.

  18. Flexible Conductive Composite Integrated with Personal Earphone for Wireless, Real-Time Monitoring of Electrophysiological Signs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Joong Hoon; Hwang, Ji-Young; Zhu, Jia; Hwang, Ha Ryeon; Lee, Seung Min; Cheng, Huanyu; Lee, Sang-Hoon; Hwang, Suk-Won

    2018-06-14

    We introduce optimized elastomeric conductive electrodes using a mixture of silver nanowires (AgNWs) with carbon nanotubes/polydimethylsiloxane (CNTs/PDMS), to build a portable earphone type of wearable system that is designed to enable recording electrophysiological activities as well as listening to music at the same time. A custom-built, plastic frame integrated with soft, deformable fabric-based memory foam of earmuffs facilitates essential electronic components, such as conductive elastomers, metal strips, signal transducers and a speaker. Such platform incorporates with accessory cables to attain wireless, real-time monitoring of electrical potentials whose information can be displayed on a cell phone during outdoor activities and music appreciation. Careful evaluations on experimental results reveal that the performance of fabricated dry electrodes are comparable to that of commercial wet electrodes, and position-dependent signal behaviors provide a route toward accomplishing maximized signal quality. This research offers a facile approach for a wearable healthcare monitor via integration of soft electronic constituents with personal belongings.

  19. Experimental verification of displacement control on integrated ionic polymer-metal composite actuators with stochastic on/off controller

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimura, Keishiro; Kamamichi, Norihiro

    2017-04-01

    An ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuator is one of polymer-based soft actuators. It is produced by chemically plating gold or platinum on both surface of a perfluorosulfonic acid membrane which is known as an ion-exchange membrane. It is able to be activated by a simple driving circuit and generate a large deformation under a low applied voltage (0.5-3 V). However, individual difference and characteristics changes from environmental conditions should be considered for realizing a stable or precise control. To solve these problems, we applied a stochastic ON/OFF controller to an integrated IPMC actuator with parallel connections. The controller consists of a central controller and distributed controllers. The central controller broadcasts a control signal such as an error signal to distributed controllers uniformly. The distributed controllers switch the ON/OFF states based on the broadcasted signal stochastically. The central controller dose not measure the states of each IPMC actuator, and the control signals is calculated by using the output signal of the integrated actuator and reference signal. The validity of the applied method was investigated through numerical simulations and experiments.

  20. High-throughput synthesis of mixed-metal electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    He, Jingfu; Dettelbach, Kevan E.; Li, Tengfei; Salvatore, Danielle A.; Berlinguette, Curtis P.

    2017-01-01

    The utilization of CO 2 as a feedstock requires fundamental breakthroughs in catalyst design. The efficiencies and activities of pure metal electrodes towards the CO 2 reduction reaction are established, but the corresponding data on mixed-metal systems are not as well developed. In this study we show that the near-infrared driven decomposition (NIRDD) of solution-deposited films of metal salts and subsequent electrochemical reduction offers the unique opportunity to form an array of mixed-metal electrocatalyst coatings with excellent control of the metal stoichiometries. This synthetic method enabled us to develop an empirical structure-property correlation to help inform the development of optimized CO 2 catalyst compositions. (copyright 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  1. Integrated graphene based modulators enabled by interfacing plasmonic slot and silicon waveguides

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xiao, Sanshui

    Graphene has offered a new paradigm for extremely fast and active optoelectronic devices due to its unique electronic and optical properties [1]. With the combination of high-index dielectric waveguides/resonators, several integrated graphene-based optical modulators have already been demonstrated...

  2. The Virtual Learning Commons (VLC): Enabling Co-Innovation Across Disciplines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pennington, D. D.; Gandara, A.; Del Rio, N.

    2014-12-01

    A key challenge for scientists addressing grand-challenge problems is identifying, understanding, and integrating potentially relevant methods, models and tools that that are rapidly evolving in the informatics community. Such tools are essential for effectively integrating data and models in complex research projects, yet it is often difficult to know what tools are available and it is not easy to understand or evaluate how they might be used in a given research context. The goal of the National Science Foundation-funded Virtual Learning Commons (VLC) is to improve awareness and understanding of emerging methodologies and technologies, facilitate individual and group evaluation of these, and trace the impact of innovations within and across teams, disciplines, and communities. The VLC is a Web-based social bookmarking site designed specifically to support knowledge exchange in research communities. It is founded on well-developed models of technology adoption, diffusion of innovation, and experiential learning. The VLC makes use of Web 2.0 (Social Web) and Web 3.0 (Semantic Web) approaches. Semantic Web approaches enable discovery of potentially relevant methods, models, and tools, while Social Web approaches enable collaborative learning about their function. The VLC is under development and the first release is expected Fall 2014.

  3. High mobility single-crystalline-like GaAs thin films on inexpensive flexible metal substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dutta, P.; Rathi, M.; Gao, Y.; Yao, Y.; Selvamanickam, V.; Zheng, N.; Ahrenkiel, P.; Martinez, J.

    2014-01-01

    We demonstrate heteroepitaxial growth of single-crystalline-like n and p-type doped GaAs thin films on inexpensive, flexible, and light-weight metal foils by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Single-crystalline-like Ge thin film on biaxially textured templates made by ion beam assisted deposition on metal foil served as the epitaxy enabling substrate for GaAs growth. The GaAs films exhibited strong (004) preferred orientation, sharp in-plane texture, low grain misorientation, strong photoluminescence, and a defect density of ∼10 7  cm −2 . Furthermore, the GaAs films exhibited hole and electron mobilities as high as 66 and 300 cm 2 /V-s, respectively. High mobility single-crystalline-like GaAs thin films on inexpensive metal substrates can pave the path for roll-to-roll manufacturing of flexible III-V solar cells for the mainstream photovoltaics market.

  4. High mobility single-crystalline-like GaAs thin films on inexpensive flexible metal substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dutta, P., E-mail: pdutta2@central.uh.edu; Rathi, M.; Gao, Y.; Yao, Y.; Selvamanickam, V. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204 (United States); Zheng, N.; Ahrenkiel, P. [Department of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota 57701 (United States); Martinez, J. [Materials Evaluation Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 77085 (United States)

    2014-09-01

    We demonstrate heteroepitaxial growth of single-crystalline-like n and p-type doped GaAs thin films on inexpensive, flexible, and light-weight metal foils by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Single-crystalline-like Ge thin film on biaxially textured templates made by ion beam assisted deposition on metal foil served as the epitaxy enabling substrate for GaAs growth. The GaAs films exhibited strong (004) preferred orientation, sharp in-plane texture, low grain misorientation, strong photoluminescence, and a defect density of ∼10{sup 7 }cm{sup −2}. Furthermore, the GaAs films exhibited hole and electron mobilities as high as 66 and 300 cm{sup 2}/V-s, respectively. High mobility single-crystalline-like GaAs thin films on inexpensive metal substrates can pave the path for roll-to-roll manufacturing of flexible III-V solar cells for the mainstream photovoltaics market.

  5. Quantitative modelling of the response of earthworms to metals

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Qiu, Hao

    2014-01-01

    Metals in soils can pose a serious threat to soil dwelling organisms, plants, and human beings. A major uncertainty in terrestrial ecological risk assessment for metals is the integrated effect of the physicochemical properties of soil on toxicity and how this allows for extrapolation of toxicity

  6. High-Throughput Multiple Dies-to-Wafer Bonding Technology and III/V-on-Si Hybrid Lasers for Heterogeneous Integration of Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xianshu eLuo

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Integrated optical light source on silicon is one of the key building blocks for optical interconnect technology. Great research efforts have been devoting worldwide to explore various approaches to integrate optical light source onto the silicon substrate. The achievements so far include the successful demonstration of III/V-on-Si hybrid lasers through III/V-gain material to silicon wafer bonding technology. However, for potential large-scale integration, leveraging on mature silicon complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS fabrication technology and infrastructure, more effective bonding scheme with high bonding yield is in great demand considering manufacturing needs. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a high-throughput multiple dies-to-wafer (D2W bonding technology which is then applied for the demonstration of hybrid silicon lasers. By temporarily bonding III/V dies to a handle silicon wafer for simultaneous batch processing, it is expected to bond unlimited III/V dies to silicon device wafer with high yield. As proof-of-concept, more than 100 III/V dies bonding to 200 mm silicon wafer is demonstrated. The high performance of the bonding interface is examined with various characterization techniques. Repeatable demonstrations of 16-III/V-die bonding to pre-patterned 200 mm silicon wafers have been performed for various hybrid silicon lasers, in which device library including Fabry-Perot (FP laser, lateral-coupled distributed feedback (LC-DFB laser with side wall grating, and mode-locked laser (MLL. From these results, the presented multiple D2W bonding technology can be a key enabler towards the large-scale heterogeneous integration of optoelectronic integrated circuits (H-OEIC.

  7. Commercial Implementation of Model-Based Manufacturing of Nanostructured Metals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lowe, Terry C. [Los Alamos National Laboratory

    2012-07-24

    Computational modeling is an essential tool for commercial production of nanostructured metals. Strength is limited by imperfections at the high strength levels that are achievable in nanostructured metals. Processing to achieve homogeneity at the micro- and nano-scales is critical. Manufacturing of nanostructured metals is intrinsically a multi-scale problem. Manufacturing of nanostructured metal products requires computer control, monitoring and modeling. Large scale manufacturing of bulk nanostructured metals by Severe Plastic Deformation is a multi-scale problem. Computational modeling at all scales is essential. Multiple scales of modeling must be integrated to predict and control nanostructural, microstructural, macrostructural product characteristics and production processes.

  8. Technical feasibility of an Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) as a future option for fast reactor cycles. Integrate a small metal-fueled fast reactor and pyroprocessing facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanaka, Nobuo

    2017-01-01

    Integral Fast Reactor that integrated fast reactor and pyrorocessing facilities developed by Argonne National Laboratory in the U.S. is an excellent nuclear fuel cycle system for passive safety, nuclear non-proliferation, and reduction in radioactive waste. In addition, this system can be considered as a technology applicable to the treatment of the fuel debris caused by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident. This study assessed the time required for debris processing, safety of the facilities, and construction cost when using this technology, and examined technological possibility including future technological issues. In a small metal-fueled reactor, it is important to design the core that achieves both of reduction in combustion reactivity and reduction in coolant reactivity. In system design, calorimetric analysis, structure soundness assessment, seismic feasibility establishment study, etc. are important. Regarding safety, research and testing are necessary on the capabilities of passive reactor shutdown and reactor core cooling as well as measures for avoiding re-criticality, even when emergency stop has failed. In dry reprocessing system, studies on electrolytic reduction and electrolytic refining process for treating the debris with compositions different from those of normal fuel are necessary. (A.O.)

  9. Characterization of Industrial Coolant Fluids and Continuous Ageing Monitoring by Wireless Node-Enabled Fiber Optic Sensors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sachat, Alexandros El; Meristoudi, Anastasia; Markos, Christos

    2017-01-01

    Environmentally robust chemical sensors for monitoring industrial processes or infrastructures are lately becoming important devices in industry. Low complexity and wireless enabled characteristics can offer the required flexibility for sensor deployment in adaptable sensing networks for continuous...... of sensors allowed their integration in an autonomous wireless sensing node, thus enabling the future use of the demonstrated platform in wireless sensor networks for a variety of industrial and environmental monitoring applications....

  10. Cell-laden hydrogel/titanium microhybrids: Site-specific cell delivery to metallic implants for improved integration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koenig, Geraldine; Ozcelik, Hayriye; Haesler, Lisa; Cihova, Martina; Ciftci, Sait; Dupret-Bories, Agnes; Debry, Christian; Stelzle, Martin; Lavalle, Philippe; Vrana, Nihal Engin

    2016-03-01

    Porous titanium implants are widely used in dental, orthopaedic and otorhinolaryngology fields to improve implant integration to host tissue. A possible step further to improve the integration with the host is the incorporation of autologous cells in porous titanium structures via cell-laden hydrogels. Fast gelling hydrogels have advantageous properties for in situ applications such as localisation of specific cells and growth factors at a target area without dispersion. The ability to control the cell types in different regions of an implant is important in applications where the target tissue (i) has structural heterogeneity (multiple cell types with a defined spatial configuration with respect to each other); (ii) has physical property gradients essential for its function (such as in the case of osteochondral tissue transition). Due to their near immediate gelation, such gels can also be used for site-specific modification of porous titanium structures, particularly for implants which would face different tissues at different locations. Herein, we describe a step by step design of a model system: the model cell-laden gel-containing porous titanium implants in the form of titanium microbead/hydrogel (maleimide-dextran or maleimide-PVA based) microhybrids. These systems enable the determination of the effect of titanium presence on gel properties and encapsulated cell behaviour as a miniaturized version of full-scale implants, providing a system compatible with conventional analysis methods. We used a fibroblast/vascular endothelial cell co-cultures as our model system and by utilising single microbeads we have quantified the effect of gel microenvironment (degradability, presence of RGD peptides within gel formulation) on cell behaviour and the effect of the titanium presence on cell behaviour and gel formation. Titanium presence slightly changed gel properties without hindering gel formation or affecting cell viability. Cells showed a preference to move towards

  11. Combinatorial development of antibacterial Zr-Cu-Al-Ag thin film metallic glasses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yanhui; Padmanabhan, Jagannath; Cheung, Bettina; Liu, Jingbei; Chen, Zheng; Scanley, B Ellen; Wesolowski, Donna; Pressley, Mariyah; Broadbridge, Christine C; Altman, Sidney; Schwarz, Udo D; Kyriakides, Themis R; Schroers, Jan

    2016-05-27

    Metallic alloys are normally composed of multiple constituent elements in order to achieve integration of a plurality of properties required in technological applications. However, conventional alloy development paradigm, by sequential trial-and-error approach, requires completely unrelated strategies to optimize compositions out of a vast phase space, making alloy development time consuming and labor intensive. Here, we challenge the conventional paradigm by proposing a combinatorial strategy that enables parallel screening of a multitude of alloys. Utilizing a typical metallic glass forming alloy system Zr-Cu-Al-Ag as an example, we demonstrate how glass formation and antibacterial activity, two unrelated properties, can be simultaneously characterized and the optimal composition can be efficiently identified. We found that in the Zr-Cu-Al-Ag alloy system fully glassy phase can be obtained in a wide compositional range by co-sputtering, and antibacterial activity is strongly dependent on alloy compositions. Our results indicate that antibacterial activity is sensitive to Cu and Ag while essentially remains unchanged within a wide range of Zr and Al. The proposed strategy not only facilitates development of high-performing alloys, but also provides a tool to unveil the composition dependence of properties in a highly parallel fashion, which helps the development of new materials by design.

  12. Semantic Web meets Integrative Biology: a survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Huajun; Yu, Tong; Chen, Jake Y

    2013-01-01

    Integrative Biology (IB) uses experimental or computational quantitative technologies to characterize biological systems at the molecular, cellular, tissue and population levels. IB typically involves the integration of the data, knowledge and capabilities across disciplinary boundaries in order to solve complex problems. We identify a series of bioinformatics problems posed by interdisciplinary integration: (i) data integration that interconnects structured data across related biomedical domains; (ii) ontology integration that brings jargons, terminologies and taxonomies from various disciplines into a unified network of ontologies; (iii) knowledge integration that integrates disparate knowledge elements from multiple sources; (iv) service integration that build applications out of services provided by different vendors. We argue that IB can benefit significantly from the integration solutions enabled by Semantic Web (SW) technologies. The SW enables scientists to share content beyond the boundaries of applications and websites, resulting into a web of data that is meaningful and understandable to any computers. In this review, we provide insight into how SW technologies can be used to build open, standardized and interoperable solutions for interdisciplinary integration on a global basis. We present a rich set of case studies in system biology, integrative neuroscience, bio-pharmaceutics and translational medicine, to highlight the technical features and benefits of SW applications in IB.

  13. Assessment of biochar and iron filing amendments for the remediation of a metal, arsenic and phenanthrene co-contaminated spoil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sneath, Helen E.; Hutchings, Tony R.; Leij, Frans A.A.M. de

    2013-01-01

    Sites contaminated with mixtures of metals, metalloids and organics are difficult to remediate as each contaminant type may require a different treatment. Biochar, with high metal sorption capacity, used singly and in combination with iron filings, is investigated in microcosm trials to immobilise metal(loid)s within a contaminated spoil, thereby enabling revegetation and degradation of organic pollutants. A mine spoil, contaminated with heavy metals, arsenic and spiked with phenanthrene was treated with either 1%w/w biochar, 5%w/w iron or their combination, enhancing phenanthrene degradation by 44–65%. Biochar treatment reduced Cu leaching and enabled sunflower growth, but had no significant effect on As mobility. Iron treatment reduced Cu and As leaching but negatively impacted soil structure and released high levels of Fe causing sunflower plant mortality. The combined treatment reduced both Cu and As leaching and enabled sunflower growth suggesting this could be a useful approach for treating co-contaminated sites. -- Highlights: ► 56 day microcosm trials examine biochar for remediation of co-contaminated sites. ► Biochar reduces leachable Cu concentrations but phytotoxicity remains. ► Iron filings are investigated as a co-amendment with biochar to reduce As leaching. ► Removal of metal toxicity stimulates phenanthrene degradation. ► Biochar could enable revegetation of contaminated sites. -- Biochar and iron filings incorporated into contaminated spoils reduce Cu and As leaching and stimulate phenanthrene degradation, but do not prevent phytotoxicity to sunflowers

  14. Perspectives on Modelling BIM-enabled Estimating Practices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Willy Sher

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available BIM-enabled estimating processes do not replace or provide a substitute for the traditional approaches used in the architecture, engineering and construction industries. This paper explores the impact of BIM on these traditional processes.  It identifies differences between the approaches used with BIM and other conventional methods, and between the various construction professionals that prepare estimates. We interviewed 17 construction professionals from client organizations, contracting organizations, consulting practices and specialist-project firms. Our analyses highlight several logical relationships between estimating processes and BIM attributes. Estimators need to respond to the challenges BIM poses to traditional estimating practices. BIM-enabled estimating circumvents long-established conventions and traditional approaches, and focuses on data management.  Consideration needs to be given to the model data required for estimating, to the means by which these data may be harnessed when exported, to the means by which the integrity of model data are protected, to the creation and management of tools that work effectively and efficiently in multi-disciplinary settings, and to approaches that narrow the gap between virtual reality and actual reality.  Areas for future research are also identified in the paper.

  15. Integrated membrane and microbial fuel cell technologies for enabling energy-efficient effluent Re-use in power plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shrestha, Namita; Chilkoor, Govinda; Xia, Lichao; Alvarado, Catalina; Kilduff, James E; Keating, John J; Belfort, Georges; Gadhamshetty, Venkataramana

    2017-06-15

    Municipal wastewater is an attractive alternative to freshwater sources to meet the cooling water needs of thermal power plants. Here we offer an energy-efficient integrated microbial fuel cell (MFC)/ultrafiltration (UF) process to purify primary clarifier effluent from a municipal wastewater treatment plant for use as cooling water. The microbial fuel cell was shown to significantly reduce chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the primary settled wastewater effluent upstream of the UF module, while eliminating the energy demand required to deliver dissolved oxygen in conventional aerobic treatment. We investigated surface modification of the UF membranes to control fouling. Two promising hydrophilic monomers were identified in a high-throughput search: zwitterion (2-(Methacryloyloxy)-ethyl-dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl ammoniumhydroxide, abbreviated BET SO 3 - ), and amine (2-(Methacryloyloxy) ethyl trimethylammonium chloride, abbreviated N(CH 3 ) 3 + ). Monomers were grafted using UV-induced polymerization on commercial poly (ether sulfone) membranes. Filtration of MFC effluent by membranes modified with BET SO 3 - and N(CH 3 ) 3 + exhibited a lower rate of resistance increase and lower energy consumption than the commercially available membrane. The MFC/UF process produced high quality cooling water that meets the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI) recommendations for COD, a suite of metals (Fe, Al, Cu, Zn, Si, Mn, S, Ca and Mg), and offered extremely low corrosion rates (<0.05 mm/yr). A series of AC and DC diagnostic tests were used to evaluate the MFC performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Multifunctional metal ferrite nanoparticles for MR imaging applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joshi, Hrushikesh M.

    2013-01-01

    Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a very powerful non-invasive tool for in vivo imaging and clinical diagnosis. With rapid advancement in nanoscience and nanotechnology, there is rapid growth in nanoparticles-based contrast agents. Progress in synthetic protocols enable synthesis of multifunctional nanoparticles which facilitated efforts toward the development of multimodal contrast agents. In this review, recent developments in metal ferrite-based MR contrast agents have been described. Specifically, effect of size, shape, composition, assembly and surface modification of metal ferrite nanoparticles on their T 2 contrast have been discussed. The review further outlines the effect of leaching on MRI contrast and other various factors which affect the multimodal ability of the (T 1 –T 2 and T 2 -thermal activation) metal ferrite nanoparticles.

  17. Development of integrated cask body and base plate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sasaki, T.; Koyama, Y.; Yoshida, T.; Wada, T.

    2015-01-01

    The average of occupancy of stored spent-fuel in the nuclear power plants have reached 70 percent and it is anticipated that the demand of metal casks for the storage and transportation of spent-fuel rise after resuming the operations. The main part of metal cask consists of main body, neutron shield and external cylinder. We have developed the manufacturing technology of Integrated Cask Body and Base Plate by integrating Cask Body and Base Plate as monolithic forging with the goal of cost reduction, manufacturing period shortening and further reliability improvement. Here, we report the manufacturing technology, code compliance and obtained properties of Integrated Cask body and Base Plate. (author)

  18. Integrated photooxidative extractive deep desulfurization using metal doped TiO2 and eutectic based ionic liquid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaid, Hayyiratul Fatimah Mohd; Kait, Chong Fai; Mutalib, Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul

    2016-11-01

    A series of metal doped TiO2 namely Fe/TiO2, Cu/TiO2 and Cu-Fe/TiO2 were synthesized and characterized, to be used as a photocatalyst in the integrated photooxidative extractive deep desulfurization for model oil (dodecane) and diesel fuel. The order of the photocatalytic activity was Cu-Fe/TiO2 followed by Cu/TiO2 and then Fe/TiO2. Cu-Fe/TiO2 was an effective photocatalyst for sulfur conversion at ambient atmospheric pressure. Hydrogen peroxide was used as the source of oxidant and eutectic-based ionic liquid as the extractant. Sulfur conversion in model oil reached 100%. Removal of sulfur from model oil was done by two times extraction with a removal of 97.06% in the first run and 2.94% in the second run.

  19. Metal oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors for flexible electronics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Petti, Luisa; Vogt, Christian; Büthe, Lars; Cantarella, Giuseppe; Tröster, Gerhard [Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich (Switzerland); Münzenrieder, Niko [Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich (Switzerland); Sensor Technology Research Centre, University of Sussex, Falmer (United Kingdom); Faber, Hendrik; Bottacchi, Francesca; Anthopoulos, Thomas D. [Department of Physics and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London (United Kingdom)

    2016-06-15

    The field of flexible electronics has rapidly expanded over the last decades, pioneering novel applications, such as wearable and textile integrated devices, seamless and embedded patch-like systems, soft electronic skins, as well as imperceptible and transient implants. The possibility to revolutionize our daily life with such disruptive appliances has fueled the quest for electronic devices which yield good electrical and mechanical performance and are at the same time light-weight, transparent, conformable, stretchable, and even biodegradable. Flexible metal oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors (TFTs) can fulfill all these requirements and are therefore considered the most promising technology for tomorrow's electronics. This review reflects the establishment of flexible metal oxide semiconductor TFTs, from the development of single devices, large-area circuits, up to entirely integrated systems. First, an introduction on metal oxide semiconductor TFTs is given, where the history of the field is revisited, the TFT configurations and operating principles are presented, and the main issues and technological challenges faced in the area are analyzed. Then, the recent advances achieved for flexible n-type metal oxide semiconductor TFTs manufactured by physical vapor deposition methods and solution-processing techniques are summarized. In particular, the ability of flexible metal oxide semiconductor TFTs to combine low temperature fabrication, high carrier mobility, large frequency operation, extreme mechanical bendability, together with transparency, conformability, stretchability, and water dissolubility is shown. Afterward, a detailed analysis of the most promising metal oxide semiconducting materials developed to realize the state-of-the-art flexible p-type TFTs is given. Next, the recent progresses obtained for flexible metal oxide semiconductor-based electronic circuits, realized with both unipolar and complementary technology, are reported. In

  20. Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in two wet retention ponds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Søberg, Laila C.; Vollertsen, Jes; Blecken, Godecke-Tobias

    2016-01-01

    Metal accumulation in stormwater ponds may contaminate the inhabiting fauna, thus jeopardizing their ecosystem servicing function. We evaluated bioaccumulation of metals in natural fauna and caged mussel indicator organisms in two wet retention ponds. Mussel cages were distributed throughout...... the ponds to detect bioaccumulation gradients and obtain a time-integrated measure of metal bioavailability. We further investigated if sediment metal concentrations correlate with those in the fauna and mussels. Metal concentrations in the fauna tended to be higher in the ponds than in a reference lake......, but statistical significance was only shown for Cu. Positive correlations were found for some metals in fauna and sediment. Sediment metal concentrations in one pond decreased from inlet to outlet while no gradients were observed in the mussels in either pond. These findings indicate that metal accumulation...

  1. USEBILITY OF HYDROGELS IN ADSORPTION TECHNOLOGHY FOR REMOVAL OF HEAVY METAL AND DYE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    AÇIKEL Safiye Meriç

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Heavy metals and Dyes are very toxic and nonbiodegradable in waste waters to cause adverse health effects in human body and to induce irreversible pollution. Adsorption offers many potential advantages for removal of toxic heavy metals being flexibility in design and operation, high-quality treated effluent, reversible nature for multiple uses, and many commercially available adsorbent materials, such as activated carbon, zeolite, clay, sawdust, bark, biomass, lignin, chitosan and other polymer adsorbents. Compared to conventional adsorbent materials above, hydrogelbased adsorbents recently have attracted special attention to their highly potential for effective removal of heavy metals and dyes. Hydrogels are named “Hydrophilic Polymer” because of care for water. Hydrogels is not solved in water; however they have been swollen to their balance volume. Because of this swell behavior, they can adsorb big quantity of water in this structure. So they can term of “three sized polymers” due to protect their existing shape [9]. Hydrogels with porous structures and chemically-responsive functional groups, enable to readily capture metal ions and dyes from wastewater. Hydrogels with porous structures and chemically-responsive functional groups, enable to readily capture metal ions and dyes from wastewater. In adsorption applications, hydrogels are used in water purification, heavy metal/dying removing, controlled fertilizer released, ion exchange applications, chromatographic applications, dilute extractions, waste water treatments. This article general inform about usage of hydrogels in Dye and Heavy Metal adsorption.

  2. Barriers and Enablers to the Implementation of School Wellness Policies: An Economic Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schuler, Brittany R; Saksvig, Brit I; Nduka, Joy; Beckerman, Susannah; Jaspers, Lea; Black, Maureen M; Hager, Erin R

    2018-01-01

    Local wellness policies (LWPs) are mandated among school systems to enhance nutrition/physical activity opportunities in schools. Prior research notes disparities in LWP implementation. This study uses mixed methods to examine barriers/enablers to LWP implementation, comparing responses by student body income. Schools ( n = 744, 24 systems) completed an LWP implementation barriers/enablers survey. Semistructured interviews ( n = 20 random subsample) described barriers/enablers. Responses were compared by majority of lower (≥50% free/reduced-price meals; lower income [LI]) versus higher income (HI) student body. In surveys, LI and HI schools identified common barriers (parents/families, federal/state regulations, students, time, funding) and enablers (school system, teachers, food service, physical education curriculum/resources, and staff). Interviews further elucidated how staffing and funding served as enablers for all schools, and provide context for how and why barriers differed by income: time, food service (HI schools), and parents/families (LI schools). Findings support commonalities in barriers and enablers among all schools, suggesting that regardless of economic context, schools would benefit from additional supports, such as physical education and nutrition education resources integrated into existing curricula, additional funding, and personnel time dedicated to wellness programming. LI schools may benefit from additional funding to support parent and community involvement.

  3. Real-time tunability of chip-based light source enabled by microfluidic mixing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Brian Bilenberg; Rasmussen, Torben; Balslev, Søren

    2006-01-01

    We demonstrate real-time tunability of a chip-based liquid light source enabled by microfluidic mixing. The mixer and light source are fabricated in SU-8 which is suitable for integration in SU-8-based laboratory-on-a-chip microsystems. The tunability of the light source is achieved by changing...... the concentration of rhodamine 6G dye inside two integrated vertical resonators, since both the refractive index and the gain profile are influenced by the dye concentration. The effect on the refractive index and the gain profile of rhodamine 6G in ethanol is investigated and the continuous tuning of the laser...

  4. Cutting the Gordian Knot of electrodeposition via controlled cathodic corrosion enabling the production of supported metal nanoparticles below 5 nm

    OpenAIRE

    Vanrenterghem, B.; Bele, M.; Zepeda, F.R.; Sala, M.; Hodnik, N.; Breugelmans, Tom

    2018-01-01

    Abstract: In the past decades, there has been an ongoing search for tailor-made active metal nanoparticles for the use as electrocatalysts. An upcoming versatile and green method for the synthesis of nanoparticles is electrodeposition. However, the state-of-the-art electrodeposited metal particle sizes are in the range of 50200 nm. Production of high surface area metallic electrocatalysts with small particle sizes is a serious limitation of electrodeposition, i.e., the Gordian Knot. In this a...

  5. Memory Reactivation Enables Long-Term Prevention of Interference.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herszage, Jasmine; Censor, Nitzan

    2017-05-22

    The ability of the human brain to successively learn or perform two competing tasks constitutes a major challenge in daily function. Indeed, exposing the brain to two different competing memories within a short temporal offset can induce interference, resulting in deteriorated performance in at least one of the learned memories [1-4]. Although previous studies have investigated online interference and its effects on performance [5-13], whether the human brain can enable long-term prevention of future interference is unknown. To address this question, we utilized the memory reactivation-reconsolidation framework [2, 12] stemming from studies at the synaptic level [14-17], according to which reactivation of a memory enables its update. In a set of experiments, using the motor sequence learning task [18] we report that a unique pairing of reactivating the original memory (right hand) in synchrony with novel memory trials (left hand) prevented future interference between the two memories. Strikingly, these effects were long-term and observed a month following reactivation. Further experiments showed that preventing future interference was not due to practice per se, but rather specifically depended on a limited time window induced by reactivation of the original memory. These results suggest a mechanism according to which memory reactivation enables long-term prevention of interference, possibly by creating an updated memory trace integrating original and novel memories during the reconsolidation time window. The opportunity to induce a long-term preventive effect on memories may enable the utilization of strategies optimizing normal human learning, as well as recovery following neurological insults. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Extragalactic globular clusters. I. The metallicity calibration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brodie, J.P.; Huchra, J.P.

    1990-01-01

    The ability of absorption-line strength indices, measured from integrated globular cluster spectra, to predict mean cluster metallicity is explored. Statistical criteria, are used to identify the six best indices out of about 20 measured in a large sample of Galactic and M31 cluster spectra. Linear relations between index and metallicity have been derived along with new calibrations of infrared colors (V - K, J - K, and CO) versus Fe/H. Estimates of metallicity from the six spectroscopic index-metallicity relations have been combined in three different ways to identify the most efficient estimator and the minimum bias estimator of Fe/H - the weighted mean. This provides an estimate of Fe/H accurate to about 15 percent. 37 refs

  7. 3D-vertical integration of sensors and electronics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lipton, R.

    2007-01-01

    Technologies are being developed which enable the vertical integration of sensors and electronics as well as multilayer electronic circuits. New thinning and wafer bonding techniques and the formation of small vias between resulting thin layers of electronics enable the design of dense integrated sensor/readout structures. We discuss candidate technologies based on SOI and bulk CMOS. A prototype 3D chip developed at Fermilab that incorporates three tiers of 0.18μm CMOS is described

  8. Trends and applications of integrated automated ultra-trace sample handling and analysis (T9)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kingston, H.M.S.; Ye Han; Stewart, L.; Link, D.

    2002-01-01

    new approach has been developed for the semiconductor industry; however, as with most new technologies its applicability extends to many other areas as well including environmental, pharmaceutical, clinical and industrial chemical processing. This instrumental system represents a fundamentally new approach. Sample preparation has been integrated as a key system element to enable automation of the instrument system. It has long been believed that an automated fully integrated system was not feasible if a powerful MS system were included. This application demonstrates one of the first fully automated and integrated sample preparation and mass spectrometric instrumental analyses systems applied to practical use. The system is also a broad and ambitious mass based analyzer capable not only for elements but also for direct speciated analysis. The complete analytical suite covering inorganic, organic, organo-metallic and speciated analytes is being applied for critical contamination control of semiconductor processes. As with new paradigms technology it will now extend from its current use into those other applications needing real-time fully automated multi-component analysis. Refs. 4 (author)

  9. An integral metallic-fueled and lead-cooled reactor concept for the 4th generation reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santos, Adimir dos; Nascimento, Jamil Alves do

    2002-01-01

    An Integral Lead Reactor (ILR) concept is proposed for the 4th generation reactor to be used in the future. The ILR is loaded with metallic fuel and cooled by lead. It was evaluated in the 300-1500 MWe power range with the Japanese Fast Set 2 cross sections library. This set was tested against several fast benchmarks and the criticality uncertainty was found to be 0.51 %Δk. The reactor is started with U-Zr and changes to the U-TRU-Zr-RE fuel in a stepwise way. In the equilibrium cycle, the burnup reactivity is less than β eff for a core of the order of 300 MWe, pin diameter of 10.4 mm and a pin-pinch to diameter ratio of 1.308. The lead void reactivity is negative for reactor power less than 750 MWe. There is a need to improve the nuclear data for the major actinides. (author)

  10. An integral metallic-fueled and lead-cooled reactor concept for the 4th generation reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santos, A. dos; Nascimento, J.A. do

    2002-01-01

    An Integral Lead Reactor (ILR) concept is proposed for the 4th generation reactor to be used in the future. The ILR is loaded with metallic fuel and cooled by lead. It was evaluated in the 300-1500 MWe power range with the Japanese Fast Set 2 cross sections library. This set was tested against several fast benchmarks and the criticality uncertainty was found to be 0.51 % Δk. The reactor is started with U-Zr and changes to the U-TRU-Zr-RE fuel in a stepwise way. In the equilibrium cycle, the burnup reactivity is less than β eff for a core of the order of 300 MWe, pin diameter of 10.4 mm and a pin-pitch to diameter ratio of 1.308. The lead void reactivity is negative for reactor power less than 750 MWe. There is a need to improve the nuclear data for the major actinides. (author)

  11. Evidence of Processing Non-Idealities in 4H-SiC Integrated Circuits Fabricated with Two Levels of Metal Interconnect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spry, David J.; Neudeck, Philip G.; Liangyu, Chen; Evans, Laura J.; Lukco, Dorothy; Chang, Carl W.; Beheim, Glenn M.

    2015-01-01

    The fabrication and prolonged 500 C electrical testing of 4H-SiC junction field effect transistor (JFET) integrated circuits (ICs) with two levels of metal interconnect is reported in another submission to this conference proceedings. While some circuits functioned more than 1000 hours at 500 C, the majority of packaged ICs from this wafer electrically failed after less than 200 hours of operation in the same test conditions. This work examines the root physical degradation and failure mechanisms believed responsible for observed large discrepancies in 500 C operating time. Evidence is presented for four distinct issues that significantly impacted 500 C IC operational yield and lifetime for this wafer.

  12. The MMI Device Ontology: Enabling Sensor Integration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rueda, C.; Galbraith, N.; Morris, R. A.; Bermudez, L. E.; Graybeal, J.; Arko, R. A.; Mmi Device Ontology Working Group

    2010-12-01

    The Marine Metadata Interoperability (MMI) project has developed an ontology for devices to describe sensors and sensor networks. This ontology is implemented in the W3C Web Ontology Language (OWL) and provides an extensible conceptual model and controlled vocabularies for describing heterogeneous instrument types, with different data characteristics, and their attributes. It can help users populate metadata records for sensors; associate devices with their platforms, deployments, measurement capabilities and restrictions; aid in discovery of sensor data, both historic and real-time; and improve the interoperability of observational oceanographic data sets. We developed the MMI Device Ontology following a community-based approach. By building on and integrating other models and ontologies from related disciplines, we sought to facilitate semantic interoperability while avoiding duplication. Key concepts and insights from various communities, including the Open Geospatial Consortium (eg., SensorML and Observations and Measurements specifications), Semantic Web for Earth and Environmental Terminology (SWEET), and W3C Semantic Sensor Network Incubator Group, have significantly enriched the development of the ontology. Individuals ranging from instrument designers, science data producers and consumers to ontology specialists and other technologists contributed to the work. Applications of the MMI Device Ontology are underway for several community use cases. These include vessel-mounted multibeam mapping sonars for the Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R) program and description of diverse instruments on deepwater Ocean Reference Stations for the OceanSITES program. These trials involve creation of records completely describing instruments, either by individual instances or by manufacturer and model. Individual terms in the MMI Device Ontology can be referenced with their corresponding Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) in sensor-related metadata specifications (e

  13. Signal Integration in Quorum Sensing Enables Cross-Species Induction of Virulence in Pectobacterium wasabiae

    OpenAIRE

    Rita S. Valente; Pol Nadal-Jimenez; André F. P. Carvalho; Filipe J. D. Vieira; Karina B. Xavier; Bonnie Bassler

    2017-01-01

    This deposit is composed by the main article plus the supplementary materials of the publication. Bacterial communities can sense their neighbors, regulating group behaviors in response to cell density and environmental changes. The diversity of signaling networks in a single species has been postulated to allow custom responses to different stimuli; however, little is known about how multiple signals are integrated and the implications of this integration in different ecological contexts....

  14. Characteristics of Cement Solidification of Metal Hydroxide Waste

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dae-Seo Koo

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available To perform the permanent disposal of metal hydroxide waste from electro-kinetic decontamination, it is necessary to secure the technology for its solidification. The integrity tests on the fabricated solidification should also meet the criteria of the Korea Radioactive Waste Agency. We carried out the solidification of metal hydroxide waste using cement solidification. The integrity tests such as the compressive strength, immersion, leach, and irradiation tests on the fabricated cement solidifications were performed. It was also confirmed that these requirements of the criteria of Korea Radioactive Waste Agency on these cement solidifications were met. The microstructures of all the cement solidifications were analyzed and discussed.

  15. Characteristics of cement solidification of metal hydroxide waste

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koo, Dae Seo; Sung, Hyun Hee; Kim, Seung Soo; Kim, Gye Nam; Choi, Jong Won [Dept. of Decontemination Decommission Technology Development, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-02-15

    To perform the permanent disposal of metal hydroxide waste from electro-kinetic decontamination, it is necessary to secure the technology for its solidification. The integrity tests on the fabricated solidification should also meet the criteria of the Korea Radioactive Waste Agency. We carried out the solidification of metal hydroxide waste using cement solidification. The integrity tests such as the compressive strength, immersion, leach, and irradiation tests on the fabricated cement solidifications were performed. It was also confirmed that these requirements of the criteria of Korea Radioactive Waste Agency on these cement solidifications were met. The microstructures of all the cement solidifications were analyzed and discussed.

  16. The EGS Data Collaboration Platform: Enabling Scientific Discovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weers, Jonathan D [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Johnston, Henry [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Huggins, Jay V [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2018-02-14

    Collaboration in the digital age has been stifled in recent years. Reasonable responses to legitimate security concerns have created a virtual landscape of silos and fortified castles incapable of sharing information efficiently. This trend is unfortunately opposed to the geothermal scientific community's migration toward larger, more collaborative projects. To facilitate efficient sharing of information between team members from multiple national labs, universities, and private organizations, the 'EGS Collab' team has developed a universally accessible, secure data collaboration platform and has fully integrated it with the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Geothermal Data Repository (GDR) and the National Geothermal Data System (NGDS). This paper will explore some of the challenges of collaboration in the modern digital age, highlight strategies for active data management, and discuss the integration of the EGS Collab data management platform with the GDR to enable scientific discovery through the timely dissemination of information.

  17. Metal-conjugated affinity labels: A new concept to create enantioselective artificial metalloenzymes

    KAUST Repository

    Reiner, Thomas

    2013-02-20

    How to train a protein: Metal-conjugated affinity labels were used to selectively position catalytically active metal centers in the binding pocket of proteases. The resulting artificial metalloenzymes achieve up to 82% e.r. in the hydrogenation of ketones. The modular setup enables a rapid generation of artificial metalloenzyme libraries, which can be adapted to a broad range of catalytic conditions. 2013 The Authors.

  18. Metal-conjugated affinity labels: A new concept to create enantioselective artificial metalloenzymes

    KAUST Repository

    Reiner, Thomas; Jantke, Dominik; Marziale, Alexander N.; Raba, Andreas; Eppinger, Jö rg

    2013-01-01

    How to train a protein: Metal-conjugated affinity labels were used to selectively position catalytically active metal centers in the binding pocket of proteases. The resulting artificial metalloenzymes achieve up to 82% e.r. in the hydrogenation of ketones. The modular setup enables a rapid generation of artificial metalloenzyme libraries, which can be adapted to a broad range of catalytic conditions. 2013 The Authors.

  19. Identifying the barriers and enablers to palliative care nurses' recognition and assessment of delirium symptoms: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosie, Annmarie; Lobb, Elizabeth; Agar, Meera; Davidson, Patricia M; Phillips, Jane

    2014-11-01

    Delirium is underrecognized by nurses, including those working in palliative care settings where the syndrome occurs frequently. Identifying contextual factors that support and/or hinder palliative care nurses' delirium recognition and assessment capabilities is crucial, to inform development of clinical practice and systems aimed at improving patients' delirium outcomes. The aim of the study was to identify nurses' perceptions of the barriers and enablers to recognizing and assessing delirium symptoms in palliative care inpatient settings. A series of semistructured interviews, guided by critical incident technique, were conducted with nurses working in Australian palliative care inpatient settings. A hypoactive delirium vignette prompted participants' recall of delirium and identification of the perceived factors (barriers and enablers) that impacted on their delirium recognition and assessment capabilities. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. Thirty participants from nine palliative care services provided insights into the barriers and enablers of delirium recognition and assessment in the inpatient setting that were categorized as patient and family, health professional, and system level factors. Analysis revealed five themes, each reflecting both identified barriers and current and/or potential enablers: 1) value in listening to patients and engaging families, 2) assessment is integrated with care delivery, 3) respecting and integrating nurses' observations, 4) addressing nurses' delirium knowledge needs, and 5) integrating delirium recognition and assessment processes. Supporting the development of palliative care nursing delirium recognition and assessment practice requires attending to a range of barriers and enablers at the patient and family, health professional, and system levels. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. High-pressure phase transition of alkali metal-transition metal deuteride Li2PdD2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Yansun; Stavrou, Elissaios; Goncharov, Alexander F.; Majumdar, Arnab; Wang, Hui; Prakapenka, Vitali B.; Epshteyn, Albert; Purdy, Andrew P.

    2017-06-01

    A combined theoretical and experimental study of lithium palladium deuteride (Li2PdD2) subjected to pressures up to 50 GPa reveals one structural phase transition near 10 GPa, detected by synchrotron powder x-ray diffraction, and metadynamics simulations. The ambient-pressure tetragonal phase of Li2PdD2 transforms into a monoclinic C2/m phase that is distinct from all known structures of alkali metal-transition metal hydrides/deuterides. The structure of the high-pressure phase was characterized using ab initio computational techniques and from refinement of the powder x-ray diffraction data. In the high-pressure phase, the PdD2 complexes lose molecular integrity and are fused to extended [PdD2]∞ chains. The discovered phase transition and new structure are relevant to the possible hydrogen storage application of Li2PdD2 and alkali metal-transition metal hydrides in general.

  1. Semantic web for integrated network analysis in biomedicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Huajun; Ding, Li; Wu, Zhaohui; Yu, Tong; Dhanapalan, Lavanya; Chen, Jake Y

    2009-03-01

    The Semantic Web technology enables integration of heterogeneous data on the World Wide Web by making the semantics of data explicit through formal ontologies. In this article, we survey the feasibility and state of the art of utilizing the Semantic Web technology to represent, integrate and analyze the knowledge in various biomedical networks. We introduce a new conceptual framework, semantic graph mining, to enable researchers to integrate graph mining with ontology reasoning in network data analysis. Through four case studies, we demonstrate how semantic graph mining can be applied to the analysis of disease-causal genes, Gene Ontology category cross-talks, drug efficacy analysis and herb-drug interactions analysis.

  2. Federated and Cloud Enabled Resources for Data Management and Utilization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rankin, R.; Gordon, M.; Potter, R. G.; Satchwill, B.

    2011-12-01

    The emergence of cloud computing over the past three years has led to a paradigm shift in how data can be managed, processed and made accessible. Building on the federated data management system offered through the Canadian Space Science Data Portal (www.cssdp.ca), we demonstrate how heterogeneous and geographically distributed data sets and modeling tools have been integrated to form a virtual data center and computational modeling platform that has services for data processing and visualization embedded within it. We also discuss positive and negative experiences in utilizing Eucalyptus and OpenStack cloud applications, and job scheduling facilitated by Condor and Star Cluster. We summarize our findings by demonstrating use of these technologies in the Cloud Enabled Space Weather Data Assimilation and Modeling Platform CESWP (www.ceswp.ca), which is funded through Canarie's (canarie.ca) Network Enabled Platforms program in Canada.

  3. Microbial exopolysaccharide-mediated synthesis and stabilization of metal nanoparticles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sathiyanarayanan, Ganesan; Dineshkumar, Krishnamoorthy; Yang, Yung-Hun

    2017-11-01

    Exopolysaccharides (EPSs) are structurally and functionally valuable biopolymer secreted by different prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms in response to biotic/abiotic stresses and to survive in extreme environments. Microbial EPSs are fascinating in various industrial sectors due to their excellent material properties and less toxic, highly biodegradable, and biocompatible nature. Recently, microbial EPSs have been used as a potential template for the rapid synthesis of metallic nanoparticles and EPS-mediated metal reduction processes are emerging as simple, harmless, and environmentally benign green chemistry approaches. EPS-mediated synthesis of metal nanoparticles is a distinctive metabolism-independent bio-reduction process due to the formation of interfaces between metal cations and the polyanionic functional groups (i.e. hydroxyl, carboxyl and amino groups) of the EPS. In addition, the range of physicochemical features which facilitates the EPS as an efficient stabilizing or capping agents to protect the primary structure of the metal nanoparticles with an encapsulation film in order to separate the nanoparticle core from the mixture of composites. The EPS-capping also enables the further modification of metal nanoparticles with expected material properties for multifarious applications. The present review discusses the microbial EPS-mediated green synthesis/stabilization of metal nanoparticles, possible mechanisms involved in EPS-mediated metal reduction, and application prospects of EPS-based metal nanoparticles.

  4. Stress-induced chemical detection using flexible metal-organic frameworks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allendorf, Mark D; Houk, Ronald J T; Andruszkiewicz, Leanne; Talin, A Alec; Pikarsky, Joel; Choudhury, Arnab; Gall, Kenneth A; Hesketh, Peter J

    2008-11-05

    In this work we demonstrate the concept of stress-induced chemical detection using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) by integrating a thin film of the MOF HKUST-1 with a microcantilever surface. The results show that the energy of molecular adsorption, which causes slight distortions in the MOF crystal structure, can be converted to mechanical energy to create a highly responsive, reversible, and selective sensor. This sensor responds to water, methanol, and ethanol vapors, but yields no response to either N2 or O2. The magnitude of the signal, which is measured by a built-in piezoresistor, is correlated with the concentration and can be fitted to a Langmuir isotherm. Furthermore, we show that the hydration state of the MOF layer can be used to impart selectivity to CO2. Finally, we report the first use of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to characterize the structure of a MOF film. We conclude that the synthetic versatility of these nanoporous materials holds great promise for creating recognition chemistries to enable selective detection of a wide range of analytes.

  5. High-throughput synthesis of mixed-metal electrocatalysts for CO{sub 2} reduction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    He, Jingfu; Dettelbach, Kevan E.; Li, Tengfei [Department of Chemistry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Canada); Salvatore, Danielle A. [Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Canada); Berlinguette, Curtis P. [Department of Chemistry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Canada); Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Canada)

    2017-05-22

    The utilization of CO{sub 2} as a feedstock requires fundamental breakthroughs in catalyst design. The efficiencies and activities of pure metal electrodes towards the CO{sub 2} reduction reaction are established, but the corresponding data on mixed-metal systems are not as well developed. In this study we show that the near-infrared driven decomposition (NIRDD) of solution-deposited films of metal salts and subsequent electrochemical reduction offers the unique opportunity to form an array of mixed-metal electrocatalyst coatings with excellent control of the metal stoichiometries. This synthetic method enabled us to develop an empirical structure-property correlation to help inform the development of optimized CO{sub 2} catalyst compositions. (copyright 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  6. An alternative approach to the management of reactive metals: tolerant cementitious systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swift, P.; Cox, J.; Wise, M.; McKinney, J.; Rhodes, C.

    2015-01-01

    In recent years research has focused on preventing or minimising corrosion of reactive metals to ensure long-term waste package integrity. An alternative approach to the encapsulation of reactive metals is being explored. The approach will identify a cementitious-based encapsulating material that will allow corrosion of reactive metals to occur in a controlled and predictable manner, rather than seeking to limit or prevent the corrosion, whilst retaining waste package integrity. A low strength grout will be developed that will be 'tolerant' to the expansive forces generated by the corrosion products of reactive metals. Novel cementitious systems (e.g. foamed cements, rubber composite cements, cenosphere composite cements, lime mortars, bentonite cements etc.) that may be tolerant to potentially expansive waste products, such as reactive metals will be considered and assessed in a series of small-scale preliminary trials (compressive strength, porosity, permeability, pore solution pH, etc.)

  7. Multi-Scale Modification of Metallic Implants With Pore Gradients, Polyelectrolytes and Their Indirect Monitoring In vivo

    OpenAIRE

    Vrana, Nihal E.; Dupret-Bories, Agnes; Chaubaroux, Christophe; Rieger, Elisabeth; Debry, Christian; Vautier, Dominique; Metz-Boutigue, Marie-Helene; Lavalle, Philippe

    2013-01-01

    Metallic implants, especially titanium implants, are widely used in clinical applications. Tissue in-growth and integration to these implants in the tissues are important parameters for successful clinical outcomes. In order to improve tissue integration, porous metallic implants have being developed. Open porosity of metallic foams is very advantageous, since the pore areas can be functionalized without compromising the mechanical properties of the whole structure. Here we describe such modi...

  8. Secondary defects in non-metallic solids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ashbee, K.H.G.; Hobbs, L.W.

    1977-01-01

    This paper points out features of secondary defect formation which are peculiar to non-metallic solids (excluding elemental semiconductors). Most of the materials of interest are compounds of two or more (usually more or less ionic) atomic species, and immediate consequence of which is a need to maintain both stoichiometry (or accommodate non-stoichiometry) and order. Primary defects in these solids, whether produced thermally, chemically or by irradiation, seldom are present or aggregate in exactly stoichiometric proportions, and the resulting extending defect structures can be quite distinct from those found in metallic solids. Where stoichiometry is maintained, it is often convenient to describe extended defects in terms of alterations in the arrangement of 'molecular' units. The adoption of this procedure enables several novel features of extended defect structures in non-metals to be explained. There are several ways in which a range of non-stoichiometry can be accommodated, which include structural elimination of point defects, nucleation of new coherent phases of altered stoichiometry, and decomposition. (author)

  9. Integrated care information technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowe, Ian; Brimacombe, Phil

    2003-02-21

    Counties Manukau District Health Board (CMDHB) uses information technology (IT) to drive its Integrated Care strategy. IT enables the sharing of relevant health information between care providers. This information sharing is critical to closing the gaps between fragmented areas of the health system. The tragic case of James Whakaruru demonstrates how people have been falling through those gaps. The starting point of the Integrated Care strategic initiative was the transmission of electronic discharges and referral status messages from CMDHB's secondary provider, South Auckland Health (SAH), to GPs in the district. Successful pilots of a Well Child system and a diabetes disease management system embracing primary and secondary providers followed this. The improved information flowing from hospital to GPs now enables GPs to provide better management for their patients. The Well Child system pilot helped improve reported immunization rates in a high health need area from 40% to 90%. The diabetes system pilot helped reduce the proportion of patients with HbA1c rang:9 from 47% to 16%. IT has been implemented as an integral component of an overall Integrated Care strategic initiative. Within this context, Integrated Care IT has helped to achieve significant improvements in care outcomes, broken down barriers between health system silos, and contributed to the establishment of a system of care continuum that is better for patients.

  10. Nano integrated circuit process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoon, Yung Sup

    2004-02-01

    This book contains nine chapters, which are introduction of manufacture of semiconductor chip, oxidation such as Dry-oxidation, wet oxidation, oxidation model and oxide film, diffusion like diffusion process, diffusion equation, diffusion coefficient and diffusion system, ion implantation, including ion distribution, channeling, multiimplantation and masking and its system, sputtering such as CVD and PVD, lithography, wet etch and dry etch, interconnection and flattening like metal-silicon connection, silicide, multiple layer metal process and flattening, an integrated circuit process, including MOSFET and CMOS.

  11. Nano integrated circuit process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoon, Yung Sup

    2004-02-15

    This book contains nine chapters, which are introduction of manufacture of semiconductor chip, oxidation such as Dry-oxidation, wet oxidation, oxidation model and oxide film, diffusion like diffusion process, diffusion equation, diffusion coefficient and diffusion system, ion implantation, including ion distribution, channeling, multiimplantation and masking and its system, sputtering such as CVD and PVD, lithography, wet etch and dry etch, interconnection and flattening like metal-silicon connection, silicide, multiple layer metal process and flattening, an integrated circuit process, including MOSFET and CMOS.

  12. On-chip fabrication of alkali-metal vapor cells utilizing an alkali-metal source tablet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsujimoto, K; Hirai, Y; Sugano, K; Tsuchiya, T; Tabata, O; Ban, K; Mizutani, N

    2013-01-01

    We describe a novel on-chip microfabrication technique for the alkali-metal vapor cell of an optically pumped atomic magnetometer (OPAM), utilizing an alkali-metal source tablet (AMST). The newly proposed AMST is a millimeter-sized piece of porous alumina whose considerable surface area holds deposited alkali-metal chloride (KCl) and barium azide (BaN 6 ), source materials that effectively produce alkali-metal vapor at less than 400 °C. Our experiments indicated that the most effective pore size of the AMST is between 60 and 170 µm. The thickness of an insulating glass spacer holding the AMST was designed to confine generated alkali metal to the interior of the vapor cell during its production, and an integrated silicon heater was designed to seal the device using a glass frit, melted at an optimum temperature range of 460–490 °C that was determined by finite element method thermal simulation. The proposed design and AMST were used to successfully fabricate a K cell that was then operated as an OPAM with a measured sensitivity of 50 pT. These results demonstrate that the proposed concept for on-chip microfabrication of alkali-metal vapor cells may lead to effective replacement of conventional glassworking approaches. (paper)

  13. Recon3D enables a three-dimensional view of gene variation in human metabolism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brunk, Elizabeth; Sahoo, Swagatika; Zielinski, Daniel C.

    2018-01-01

    Genome-scale network reconstructions have helped uncover the molecular basis of metabolism. Here we present Recon3D, a computational resource that includes three-dimensional (3D) metabolite and protein structure data and enables integrated analyses of metabolic functions in humans. We use Recon3D...

  14. Solvent properties of hydrazine in the preparation of metal chalcogenide bulk materials and films.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Min; Mitzi, David B

    2009-08-21

    A combination of unique solvent properties of hydrazine enables the direct dissolution of a range of metal chalcogenides at ambient temperature, rendering this an extraordinarily simple and soft synthetic approach to prepare new metal chalcogenide-based materials. The extended metal chalcogenide parent framework is broken up during this process, and the resulting metal chalcogenide building units are re-organized into network structures (from 0D to 3D) based upon their interactions with the hydrazine/hydrazinium moieties. This Perspective will review recent crystal and materials chemistry developments within this family of compounds and will briefly discuss the utility of this approach in metal chalcogenide thin-film deposition.

  15. Rapid Three-Dimensional Printing in Water Using Semiconductor-Metal Hybrid Nanoparticles as Photoinitiators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pawar, Amol Ashok; Halivni, Shira; Waiskopf, Nir; Ben-Shahar, Yuval; Soreni-Harari, Michal; Bergbreiter, Sarah; Banin, Uri; Magdassi, Shlomo

    2017-07-12

    Additive manufacturing processes enable fabrication of complex and functional three-dimensional (3D) objects ranging from engine parts to artificial organs. Photopolymerization, which is the most versatile technology enabling such processes through 3D printing, utilizes photoinitiators that break into radicals upon light absorption. We report on a new family of photoinitiators for 3D printing based on hybrid semiconductor-metal nanoparticles. Unlike conventional photoinitiators that are consumed upon irradiation, these particles form radicals through a photocatalytic process. Light absorption by the semiconductor nanorod is followed by charge separation and electron transfer to the metal tip, enabling redox reactions to form radicals in aerobic conditions. In particular, we demonstrate their use in 3D printing in water, where they simultaneously form hydroxyl radicals for the polymerization and consume dissolved oxygen that is a known inhibitor. We also demonstrate their potential for two-photon polymerization due to their giant two-photon absorption cross section.

  16. Solid-state lithium battery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ihlefeld, Jon; Clem, Paul G; Edney, Cynthia; Ingersoll, David; Nagasubramanian, Ganesan; Fenton, Kyle Ross

    2014-11-04

    The present invention is directed to a higher power, thin film lithium-ion electrolyte on a metallic substrate, enabling mass-produced solid-state lithium batteries. High-temperature thermodynamic equilibrium processing enables co-firing of oxides and base metals, providing a means to integrate the crystalline, lithium-stable, fast lithium-ion conductor lanthanum lithium tantalate (La.sub.1/3-xLi.sub.3xTaO.sub.3) directly with a thin metal foil current collector appropriate for a lithium-free solid-state battery.

  17. Non-Destructive Metallic Materials Testing—Recent Research and Future Perspectives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    João Manuel R. S. Tavares

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Non-destructive testing (NDT has become extremely important formicrostructural characterization, mainly by allowing the assessment of metallic material properties in an effective and reasonable manner, in addition to maintaining the integrity of the evaluated metallic samples and applicability in service in many cases [...

  18. Metal-Containing Polystyrene Beads as Standards for Mass Cytometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdelrahman, Ahmed I; Ornatsky, Olga; Bandura, Dmitry; Baranov, Vladimir; Kinach, Robert; Dai, Sheng; Thickett, Stuart C; Tanner, Scott; Winnik, Mitchell A

    2010-01-01

    We examine the suitability of metal-containing polystyrene beads for the calibration of a mass cytometer instrument, a single particle analyser based on an inductively coupled plasma ion source and a time of flight mass spectrometer. These metal-containing beads are also verified for their use as internal standards for this instrument. These beads were synthesized by multiple-stage dispersion polymerization with acrylic acid as a comonomer. Acrylic acid acts as a ligand to anchor the metal ions within the interior of the beads. Mass cytometry enabled the bead-by-bead measurement of the metal-content and determination of the metal-content distribution. Beads synthesized by dispersion polymerization that involved three stages were shown to have narrower bead-to-bead variation in their lanthanide content than beads synthesized by 2-stage dispersion polymerization. The beads exhibited insignificant release of their lanthanide content to aqueous solutions of different pHs over a period of six months. When mixed with KG1a or U937 cell lines, metal-containing polymer beads were shown not to affect the mass cytometry response to the metal content of element-tagged antibodies specifically attached to these cells.

  19. Complex metal hydrides for hydrogen, thermal and electrochemical energy storage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, Kasper T.; Sheppard, Drew; Ravnsbæk, Dorthe B.

    2017-01-01

    field. This review illustrates that complex metal hydrides may store hydrogen in the solid state, act as novel battery materials, both as electrolytes and electrode materials, or store solar heat in a more efficient manner as compared to traditional heat storage materials. Furthermore, it is highlighted...... how complex metal hydrides may act in an integrated setup with a fuel cell. This review focuses on the unique properties of light element complex metal hydrides mainly based on boron, nitrogen and aluminum, e.g., metal borohydrides and metal alanates. Our hope is that this review can provide new...

  20. Towards a Chemiresistive Sensor-Integrated Electronic Nose: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kea-Tiong Tang

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Electronic noses have potential applications in daily life, but are restricted by their bulky size and high price. This review focuses on the use of chemiresistive gas sensors, metal-oxide semiconductor gas sensors and conductive polymer gas sensors in an electronic nose for system integration to reduce size and cost. The review covers the system design considerations and the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor integrated technology for a chemiresistive gas sensor electronic nose, including the integrated sensor array, its readout interface, and pattern recognition hardware. In addition, the state-of-the-art technology integrated in the electronic nose is also presented, such as the sensing front-end chip, electronic nose signal processing chip, and the electronic nose system-on-chip.

  1. Integrated Lens Antennas for Multi-Pixel Receivers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Choonsup; Chattopadhyay, Goutam

    2011-01-01

    Future astrophysics and planetary experiments are expected to require large focal plane arrays with thousands of detectors. Feedhorns have excellent performance, but their mass, size, fabrication challenges, and expense become prohibitive for very large focal plane arrays. Most planar antenna designs produce broad beam patterns, and therefore require additional elements for efficient coupling to the telescope optics, such as substrate lenses or micromachined horns. An antenna array with integrated silicon microlenses that can be fabricated photolithographically effectively addresses these issues. This approach eliminates manual assembly of arrays of lenses and reduces assembly errors and tolerances. Moreover, an antenna array without metallic horns will reduce mass of any planetary instrument significantly. The design has a monolithic array of lens-coupled, leaky-wave antennas operating in the millimeter- and submillimeter-wave frequencies. Electromagnetic simulations show that the electromagnetic fields in such lens-coupled antennas are mostly confined in approximately 12 15 . This means that one needs to design a small-angle sector lens that is much easier to fabricate using standard lithographic techniques, instead of a full hyper-hemispherical lens. Moreover, this small-angle sector lens can be easily integrated with the antennas in an array for multi-pixel imager and receiver implementation. The leaky antenna is designed using double-slot irises and fed with TE10 waveguide mode. The lens implementation starts with a silicon substrate. Photoresist with appropriate thickness (optimized for the lens size) is spun on the substrate and then reflowed to get the desired lens structure. An antenna array integrated with individual lenses for higher directivity and excellent beam profile will go a long way in realizing multi-pixel arrays and imagers. This technology will enable a new generation of compact, low-mass, and highly efficient antenna arrays for use in multi

  2. Machining of Metal Matrix Composites

    CERN Document Server

    2012-01-01

    Machining of Metal Matrix Composites provides the fundamentals and recent advances in the study of machining of metal matrix composites (MMCs). Each chapter is written by an international expert in this important field of research. Machining of Metal Matrix Composites gives the reader information on machining of MMCs with a special emphasis on aluminium matrix composites. Chapter 1 provides the mechanics and modelling of chip formation for traditional machining processes. Chapter 2 is dedicated to surface integrity when machining MMCs. Chapter 3 describes the machinability aspects of MMCs. Chapter 4 contains information on traditional machining processes and Chapter 5 is dedicated to the grinding of MMCs. Chapter 6 describes the dry cutting of MMCs with SiC particulate reinforcement. Finally, Chapter 7 is dedicated to computational methods and optimization in the machining of MMCs. Machining of Metal Matrix Composites can serve as a useful reference for academics, manufacturing and materials researchers, manu...

  3. Improvements in liquid metal cooled nuclear reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barnes, S.

    1980-01-01

    A concrete containment vault for a liquid metal cooled nuclear reactor is described which is lined with thermal insulation to protect the vault against heat radiated from the reactor during normal operation of the reactor but whose efficiency of heat insulation is reduced in an emergency to enable excessive heat from the reactor to be dissipated through the vault. (UK)

  4. An architecture for integration of multidisciplinary models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Belete, Getachew F.; Voinov, Alexey; Holst, Niels

    2014-01-01

    Integrating multidisciplinary models requires linking models: that may operate at different temporal and spatial scales; developed using different methodologies, tools and techniques; different levels of complexity; calibrated for different ranges of inputs and outputs, etc. On the other hand......, Enterprise Application Integration, and Integration Design Patterns. We developed an architecture of a multidisciplinary model integration framework that brings these three aspects of integration together. Service-oriented-based platform independent architecture that enables to establish loosely coupled...

  5. Functional integrity of flexible n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors on a reversibly bistable platform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alfaraj, Nasir; Hussain, Aftab M.; Torres Sevilla, Galo A.; Ghoneim, Mohamed T.; Rojas, Jhonathan P.; Aljedaani, Abdulrahman B.; Hussain, Muhammad M.

    2015-10-01

    Flexibility can bring a new dimension to state-of-the-art electronics, such as rollable displays and integrated circuit systems being transformed into more powerful resources. Flexible electronics are typically hosted on polymeric substrates. Such substrates can be bent and rolled up, but cannot be independently fixed at the rigid perpendicular position necessary to realize rollable display-integrated gadgets and electronics. A reversibly bistable material can assume two stable states in a reversible way: flexibly rolled state and independently unbent state. Such materials are used in cycling and biking safety wristbands and a variety of ankle bracelets for orthopedic healthcare. They are often wrapped around an object with high impulsive force loading. Here, we study the effects of cumulative impulsive force loading on thinned (25 μm) flexible silicon-based n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor devices housed on a reversibly bistable flexible platform. We found that the transistors have maintained their high performance level up to an accumulated 180 kN of impact force loading. The gate dielectric layers have maintained their reliability, which is evidenced by the low leakage current densities. Also, we observed low variation in the effective electron mobility values, which manifests that the device channels have maintained their carrier transport properties.

  6. Gas Metal Arc Welding. Welding Module 5. Instructor's Guide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Missouri Univ., Columbia. Instructional Materials Lab.

    This guide is intended to assist vocational educators in teaching an eight-unit module in gas metal arc welding. The module is part of a welding curriculum that has been designed to be totally integrated with Missouri's Vocational Instruction Management System. The following topics are covered in the module: safety and testing, gas metal arc…

  7. Enabling technologies to improve area-wide integrated pest management programmes for the control of screwworms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, A S; Vreysen, M J B; Hendrichs, J; Feldmann, U

    2009-06-01

    The economic devastation caused in the past by the New World screwworm fly Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) to the livestock industry in the U.S.A., Mexico and the rest of Central America was staggering. The eradication of this major livestock pest from North and Central America using the sterile insect technique (SIT) as part of an area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programme was a phenomenal technical and managerial accomplishment with enormous economic implications. The area is maintained screwworm-free by the weekly release of 40 million sterile flies in the Darien Gap in Panama, which prevents migration from screwworm-infested areas in Columbia. However, the species is still a major pest in many areas of the Caribbean and South America and there is considerable interest in extending the eradication programme to these countries. Understanding New World screwworm fly populations in the Caribbean and South America, which represent a continuous threat to the screwworm-free areas of Central America and the U.S.A., is a prerequisite to any future eradication campaigns. The Old World screwworm fly Chrysomya bezziana Villeneuve (Diptera: Calliphoridae) has a very wide distribution ranging from Southern Africa to Papua New Guinea and, although its economic importance is assumed to be less than that of its New World counterpart, it is a serious pest in extensive livestock production and a constant threat to pest-free areas such as Australia. In the 1980s repeated introductions and an expansion of Old World screwworm populations were reported in the Middle East; in the 1990s it invaded Iraq and since late 2007 it has been reported in Yemen, where a severe outbreak of myiasis occurred in 2008. Small-scale field trials have shown the potential of integrating the SIT in the control of this pest and various international organizations are considering using the release of sterile insects as part of an AW-IPM approach on a much wider scale

  8. Applications in the Nuclear Industry for Corrosion-Resistant Amorphous-Metal Thermal-Spray Coatings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farmer, J; Choi, J

    2007-01-01

    Amorphous metal and ceramic thermal spray coatings have been developed that can be used to enhance the corrosion resistance of containers for the transportation, aging and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive wastes. Fe-based amorphous metal formulations with chromium, molybdenum and tungsten have shown the corrosion resistance believed to be necessary for such applications. Rare earth additions enable very low critical cooling rates to be achieved. The boron content of these materials, and their stability at high neutron doses, enable them to serve as high efficiency neutron absorbers for criticality control. Ceramic coatings may provide even greater corrosion resistance for container applications, though the boron-containing amorphous metals are still favored for criticality control applications. These amorphous metal and ceramic materials have been produced as gas atomized powders and applied as near full density, non-porous coatings with the high-velocity oxy-fuel process. This paper summarizes the performance of these coatings as corrosion-resistant barriers, and as neutron absorbers. Relevant corrosion models are also discussed, as well as a cost model to quantify the economic benefits possible with these new materials

  9. Future supply and demand of certain strategic metal imports in South Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dudas, J.S.J.

    1984-01-01

    While South Africa is richly endowed with minerals it is unfortunately almost wholly dependent on external markets for certain metals. Some of the most strategic metals are molybdenum, tungsten, cobalt and aluminium - essential in the steel, petrochemical and defense industries. The objective of this study is to investigate the probable future dependence of South Africa on its four most strategic metal imports. The project covers the uses of the metals locally, historical trends of supply and demand and a forecast of consumption for the next decade. Alternatives and substitutes for the metals as well as the possibility of reclamation after use are also considered. Existing local deposits and their potential economic viability were investigated to establish the possibility of extraction and processing in future years to enable South Africa to decrease it import dependence on these strategic metals

  10. Designing interaction behaviour in service-oriented enterprise application integration

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dirgahayu, T.; Quartel, Dick; van Sinderen, Marten J.

    In this paper we present an approach for designing interaction behaviour in service-oriented enterprise application integration. The approach enables business analysts to actively participate in the design of an integration solution. In this way, we expect that the solution meets its integration

  11. Bacterial Killing by Dry Metallic Copper Surfaces▿

    OpenAIRE

    Santo, Christophe Espírito; Lam, Ee Wen; Elowsky, Christian G.; Quaranta, Davide; Domaille, Dylan W.; Chang, Christopher J.; Grass, Gregor

    2010-01-01

    Metallic copper surfaces rapidly and efficiently kill bacteria. Cells exposed to copper surfaces accumulated large amounts of copper ions, and this copper uptake was faster from dry copper than from moist copper. Cells suffered extensive membrane damage within minutes of exposure to dry copper. Further, cells removed from copper showed loss of cell integrity. Acute contact with metallic copper surfaces did not result in increased mutation rates or DNA lesions. These findings are important fir...

  12. Continuous metal scavenging and coupling to one-pot copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition click reaction in flow

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vural - Gursel, Dr. Iris; Aldiansyah, Ferry; Wang, Qi; Noël, Timothy; Hessel, Volker

    2015-01-01

    Increasing usage of catalytic chemistry calls for efficient removal of metal traces. This paper describes the development and optimization of a scavenger-based extraction in flow to remove metal catalysts. It enables liquid-liquid extraction with slug flow and phase separation with a porous

  13. The thermodynamics of latent fingerprint corrosion of metal elements and alloys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bond, John W

    2008-11-01

    Redox reactions taking place between the surface of a metal and fingerprint residue have been expressed thermodynamically in terms of both the Nernst equation for reduction potential and the complexation constant for the formation of complex metal halide ions in aqueous solution. These expressions are used to explain experimental results for the corrosion of 10 different metal elements by fingerprint residue in air at room temperature. Corrosion of noble metals, such as silver and gold, supports the proposition that the degree of metal corrosion is enhanced by the presence of chloride ions in eccrine sweat. Extending the experiments to include 10 metal alloys enabled the construction of a fingerprint corrosion series for 20 different metals. Fingerprint corrosion on metals alloyed with > approximately 40% copper was found to display third level fingerprint detail. A comparison of both conventional ink on paper and digital (Livescan) fingerprinting techniques with fingerprints deposited on 9 Karat gold alloy has shown that gold alloy depositions are least susceptible to third level detail obliteration by poor fingerprint capturing techniques.

  14. NCBI2RDF: Enabling Full RDF-Based Access to NCBI Databases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alberto Anguita

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available RDF has become the standard technology for enabling interoperability among heterogeneous biomedical databases. The NCBI provides access to a large set of life sciences databases through a common interface called Entrez. However, the latter does not provide RDF-based access to such databases, and, therefore, they cannot be integrated with other RDF-compliant databases and accessed via SPARQL query interfaces. This paper presents the NCBI2RDF system, aimed at providing RDF-based access to the complete NCBI data repository. This API creates a virtual endpoint for servicing SPARQL queries over different NCBI repositories and presenting to users the query results in SPARQL results format, thus enabling this data to be integrated and/or stored with other RDF-compliant repositories. SPARQL queries are dynamically resolved, decomposed, and forwarded to the NCBI-provided E-utilities programmatic interface to access the NCBI data. Furthermore, we show how our approach increases the expressiveness of the native NCBI querying system, allowing several databases to be accessed simultaneously. This feature significantly boosts productivity when working with complex queries and saves time and effort to biomedical researchers. Our approach has been validated with a large number of SPARQL queries, thus proving its reliability and enhanced capabilities in biomedical environments.

  15. NCBI2RDF: Enabling Full RDF-Based Access to NCBI Databases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anguita, Alberto; García-Remesal, Miguel; de la Iglesia, Diana; Maojo, Victor

    2013-01-01

    RDF has become the standard technology for enabling interoperability among heterogeneous biomedical databases. The NCBI provides access to a large set of life sciences databases through a common interface called Entrez. However, the latter does not provide RDF-based access to such databases, and, therefore, they cannot be integrated with other RDF-compliant databases and accessed via SPARQL query interfaces. This paper presents the NCBI2RDF system, aimed at providing RDF-based access to the complete NCBI data repository. This API creates a virtual endpoint for servicing SPARQL queries over different NCBI repositories and presenting to users the query results in SPARQL results format, thus enabling this data to be integrated and/or stored with other RDF-compliant repositories. SPARQL queries are dynamically resolved, decomposed, and forwarded to the NCBI-provided E-utilities programmatic interface to access the NCBI data. Furthermore, we show how our approach increases the expressiveness of the native NCBI querying system, allowing several databases to be accessed simultaneously. This feature significantly boosts productivity when working with complex queries and saves time and effort to biomedical researchers. Our approach has been validated with a large number of SPARQL queries, thus proving its reliability and enhanced capabilities in biomedical environments. PMID:23984425

  16. NCBI2RDF: enabling full RDF-based access to NCBI databases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anguita, Alberto; García-Remesal, Miguel; de la Iglesia, Diana; Maojo, Victor

    2013-01-01

    RDF has become the standard technology for enabling interoperability among heterogeneous biomedical databases. The NCBI provides access to a large set of life sciences databases through a common interface called Entrez. However, the latter does not provide RDF-based access to such databases, and, therefore, they cannot be integrated with other RDF-compliant databases and accessed via SPARQL query interfaces. This paper presents the NCBI2RDF system, aimed at providing RDF-based access to the complete NCBI data repository. This API creates a virtual endpoint for servicing SPARQL queries over different NCBI repositories and presenting to users the query results in SPARQL results format, thus enabling this data to be integrated and/or stored with other RDF-compliant repositories. SPARQL queries are dynamically resolved, decomposed, and forwarded to the NCBI-provided E-utilities programmatic interface to access the NCBI data. Furthermore, we show how our approach increases the expressiveness of the native NCBI querying system, allowing several databases to be accessed simultaneously. This feature significantly boosts productivity when working with complex queries and saves time and effort to biomedical researchers. Our approach has been validated with a large number of SPARQL queries, thus proving its reliability and enhanced capabilities in biomedical environments.

  17. Factors controlling metal fuel lifetime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Porter, D.L.; Hofman, G.L.; Seidel, B.R.; Walters, L.C.

    1986-01-01

    The reliability of metal fuel elements is determined by a fuel burnup at which a statistically predicted number of fuel breaches would occur, the number of breaches determined by the amount of free fission gas which a particular reactor design can tolerate. The reliability is therefore measured using experimentally determined breach statistics, or by modelling fuel element behavior and those factors which contribute to cladding breach. The factors are fuel/cladding mechanical and chemical interactions, fission gas pressure, fuel phase transformations involving volume changes, and fission product effects on cladding integrity. Experimental data for EBR-II fuel elements has shown that the primary, and perhaps the only significant factor affecting metal fuel reliability, is the pressure-induced stresses caused by fission gas release. Other metal fuel/cladding systems may perform similarly

  18. Mechanical exfoliation of epitaxial graphene on Ir(111) enabled by Br2 intercalation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herbig, Charlotte; Kaiser, Markus; Bendiab, Nedjma; Schumacher, Stefan; Förster, Daniel F; Coraux, Johann; Meerholz, Klaus; Michely, Thomas; Busse, Carsten

    2012-08-08

    We show here that Br(2) intercalation is an efficient method to enable exfoliation of epitaxial graphene on metals by adhesive tape. We exemplify this method for high-quality graphene of macroscopic extension on Ir(111). The sample quality and the transfer process are monitored using low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy. The developed process provides an opportunity for preparing graphene of strictly monatomic thickness and well-defined orientation including the transfer to poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) foil.

  19. System specification for the integrated monitoring and surveillance system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1997-09-01

    This System Specification establishes the requirements for the Plutonium Focus Area (PFA) Integrated Monitoring and Surveillance System (IMSS). In this document, ''Integrated Monitoring and Surveillance System'' is used to describe the concept of integrated sensors, computers, personnel, and systems that perform the functions of sensing conditions, acquiring data, monitoring environmental safety and health, controlling and accounting for materials, monitoring material stability, monitoring container integrity, transferring data, and analyzing, reporting, and storing data. This concept encompasses systems (e.g. sensors, personnel, databases, etc.) that are already in place at the sites but may require modifications or additions to meet all identified surveillance requirements. The purpose of this System Specification is to provide Department of Energy (DOE) sites that store plutonium materials with a consolidation of all known requirements for the storage and surveillance of 3013 packages of stabilized plutonium metals and oxides. This compilation may be used (1) as a baseline for surveillance system design specifications where 3013 packages of stabilized plutonium metals and oxides will be stored and monitored; (2) as a checklist for evaluating existing surveillance systems to ensure that all requirements are met for the storage and surveillance of 3013 packages of stabilized plutonium metals and oxides; and (3) as a baseline for preparing procurement specifications tailored for site specific storage and surveillance of 3013 packages of stabilized plutonium metals and oxides

  20. An IPMC-enabled bio-inspired bending/twisting fin for underwater applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Palmre, Viljar; Pugal, David; Kim, Sungjun; Kim, Kwang J; Hubbard, Joel J; Fleming, Maxwell; Leang, Kam K

    2013-01-01

    This paper discusses the design, fabrication, and characterization of an ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) actuator-based bio-inspired active fin capable of bending and twisting motion. It is pointed out that IPMC strip actuators are used in the simple cantilever configuration to create simple bending (flapping-like) motion for propulsion in underwater autonomous systems. However, the resulting motion is a simple 1D bending and performance is rather limited. To enable more complex deformation, such as the flapping (pitch and heaving) motion of real pectoral and caudal fish fins, a new approach which involves molding or integrating IPMC actuators into a soft boot material to create an active control surface (called a ‘fin’) is presented. The fin can be used to realize complex deformation depending on the orientation and placement of the actuators. In contrast to previously created IPMCs with patterned electrodes for the same purpose, the proposed design avoids (1) the more expensive process of electroless plating platinum all throughout the surface of the actuator and (2) the need for specially patterning the electrodes. Therefore, standard shaped IPMC actuators such as those with rectangular dimensions with varying thicknesses can be used. One unique advantage of the proposed structural design is that custom shaped fins and control surfaces can be easily created without special materials processing. The molding process is cost effective and does not require functionalizing or ‘activating’ the boot material similar to creating IPMCs. For a prototype fin (90 mm wide × 60 mm long × 1.5 mm thick), the measured maximum tip displacement was approximately 44 mm and the twist angle of the fin exceeded 10°. Lift and drag measurements in water where the prototype fin with an airfoil profile was dragged through water at a velocity of 21 cm s −1 showed that the lift and drag forces can be affected by controlling the IPMCs embedded into the fin structure