Research output in nanoscience and nanotechnology: Pakistan scenario

In this article, we present an overview of the research activity undertaken in Pakistan in the field of nanoscience and technology for the period 2001–2010. Starting with almost insignificant publications in this field in 2001, the number has risen steadily to 430 in 2010. A break up of organizations actively involved in research in this field suggests that most of these publications have emanated from universities. The contribution of R&D organizations that far outnumber the universities is about 10 percent of the total. Reasons for the increasing trend in publications, especially in the universities are discussed.     

Quantitative Vibrational Spectrometry in the 21st Century: A Scientometric Evaluation

The state of the art of research on vibrational spectrometry–based quantitative methodologies was evaluated from the literature compiled in Analytical Abstracts from 1980. Medium and near infrared, Raman spectrometry, and photoacoustic methods of analysis were considered. The evolution of the number of published papers, the distribution of the literature as a function of the different application fields in which the vibrational methods were employed, and a study of the impact on this area of chemometric and automation studies clearly shows that, from the 1990s until now, the importance of vibrational spectrometry in application analysis has grown to reach maturity. This field provides alternative methods for industrial, environmental, and food analysis and in clinical studies. The most active research groups on these subjects have been identified from their scientific production in the first years of this century and from the journals in which this research is commonly published.     

A study of the assessment of air temperature, and sensible-and latent-heat fluxes from sonic-anemometer observations

Summary In the past ten years, use of sonic anemometers to provide fast-response wind sensing in the atmospheric surface layer became more and more intensive, due to their increasing availability, decreasing cost and increasing number of publications regarding their data treatment. In this paper, we present an algorithm we have developed in order to analyse the data of one of the most diffused types of sonic anemometer,i.e. the Gill sonic anemometer. Our software allows to evaluate the air temperature and the sensible- and latent-heat fluxes if also low-response measurements of air humidity at the same level of sonic anemometer, and of net radiation and ground surface flux are available. We let our software the option of evaluating the fluxes along the mean local streamline (thus the turbulent fluxes are associated with transport across mean streamline surfaces). By using the data gathered in two field experiments, we discuss the applications of the proposed formulations and check the accuracy of our method by comparing the evaluated fluxes with those measured by fluxmeter.     

Trend of laser research developments in global level

An up-to-date progress of the international laser research and development is given in this article. The number of scientific publications and filed patents are considered as a figure of merit and based on these numbers the growth pace and important aspects are investigated. We have used the Science Finder Scholar search engine, which indexes more than 4000 journals, in different languages, and represents most significant published materials in laser science and engineering. The growth of the laser and related fields are described in terms of resulting scientific publications for the period of 1990–2003. The share of top nations in scientific publications, and in particular laser publications in terms of their gross domestic product (GDP) is presented. It is noted that the four countries including the USA, Japan, Germany and China have a laser publication contribution of 58.9% while the rest of the world including 189 countries contribute 41.1%. However, for the case of patent, which is a more important factor, these four countries hold a share of 90.1% while the remaining nations have a small share of 9.9%. The USA heads all the nations in the number of scientific publications, citations, and laser publications, however, in terms of accepted laser patents Japan shows a big lead. Scientific scopes of the laser systems are presented and some requirements to be met in each field are described. The key points in this field of research, which might be helpful in the future development of the laser technology are discussed.     

Recent progress of isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions in Iran

The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the contributions and recent advances made by Iranian scientists in the field of isocyanide-based reactions between 1999 and 2009. With over 100 publications during this period, Iranians are responsible for approximately 10% of all publications in the world involving isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions (IMCRs). Some important aspects of these IMCRs include the execution of reactions in green reaction mediums like water or ethanol, high atom economies, mild reaction conditions, high yields, and catalyst-free processes. On the other hand, in most of these reactions, new classes of heterocyclic compounds with potential biological and medicinal activities have been reported.     

On the 40th anniversary of the journal X‐Ray Spectrometry

This journal, X‐Ray Spectrometry, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The state of the publications on X‐ray spectral analysis from 1972 onward is considered. The distribution of materials over countries is presented, as published in X‐Ray Spectrometry for 40 years, in 5‐year time intervals: 1972–1976, 1977–1981, and so on. The participation of Russian scientists contributing to the publications in this journal is discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Density Fluctuations as Precursors of Crystallization in Polyamide 6,6 Using Time-Resolved X-Ray Scattering Techniques

In the present study, attempts are made to throw light on the mechanisms leading to primary nucleation in polymer crystallization. Previous studies in this field are not conclusive. Aiming to investigate the induction period prior to crystallization, time-resolved simultaneous small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS and WAXS) measurements have been made in situ for polyamide 6,6, while it was crystallized from the melt. For this polymer, it is confirmed that at a low supercooling (ΔT≈28°C), during the induction period, a well-resolved SAXS pattern appears. The time evolution of this scattering pattern can be described by the kinetics of spinodal decomposition, as previously reported for the glass crystallization of PEKK and TPI. According to this analysis, a value for the most probable scattering vector q of density fluctuations at around 0.43 nm^?1 is found. It corresponds to a characteristic wavelength of 14.7 nm of long-range density fluctuations growing with time.     

The special theory of relativity as applied to the Born–Oppenheimer–Huang approach

In two recent publications (Int. J. Quant. Chem. 114, 1645 (2014) and Mole. Phys. 114, 227 (2016)) it was shown that the Born–Hwang (BH) treatment of a molecular system perturbed by an external field yields a set of decoupled vectorial wave equations, just like in electro-magnetism. This finding led us to declare on the existence of a new type of Fields, which were termed Molecular Fields. The fact that such fields exist implies that at the vicinity of conical intersections exist a mechanism that transforms a passing-by electric beam into a field which differs from the original electric field. This situation is reminiscent of what is encountered in astronomy where Black Holes formed by massive stars may affect the nature of a near-by beam of light. Thus, if the non-adiabatic-coupling-terms (NACT) with their singular points may affect the nature of such a beam (see the above two publications), then it would be interesting to know to what extend NACTs (and consequently also the BH equation) will be affected by the special theory of relativity as introduced by Dirac. Indeed, while applying the Dirac approach we derived the relativistic affected NACTs as well as the corresponding BH equation.     

Effect of a Single Injection of Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor into the Vocal Folds: A 36-Month Clinical Study

ObjectiveA single injection of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) into the vocal folds of patients with glottal insufficiency has been shown to be effective for a few years. However, the long-term therapeutic effect of a single injection of bFGF into the vocal folds has yet to be demonstrated. In this study, the therapeutic effect of a single injection of bFGF into the vocal folds was investigated over several years by monitoring patients for 36 months following this treatment.MethodsNineteen patients with glottal insufficiency received injections of bFGF diluted to 20 μg/mL in the superficial layer of the lamina propria of the bilateral vocal folds. The following parameters were evaluated at preinjection baseline and 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months later, and statistical comparisons were performed. The parameters evaluated were: the Grade, Rough, Breathy, Asthenic, and Strained (GRBAS) scale score; maximum phonation time; acoustic analysis; and glottal wave analysis (GWA) and kymograph edge analysis (KEA) using high-speed digital imaging (HSDI). The amplitude perturbation quotient (APQ) and period perturbation quotient (PPQ) were measured by acoustic analysis. The mean minimum glottal area during vocalization and mean minimum distance between the vocal folds were measured by GWA. The amplitudes of the bilateral vocal folds were measured by KEA.ResultsPostinjection, the GRBAS scale score decreased from 6 months after injection, and maximum phonation time was prolonged. The mean minimum glottal area during vocalization and the mean minimum distance between the vocal folds calculated by GWA of HSDI decreased significantly after 6 months. These effects persisted until 36 months postinjection. APQ and PPQ derived from acoustic analysis tended to decrease, but not significantly. There was no clear change in the amplitudes of the bilateral vocal folds calculated by KEA of HSDI before and after injection.ConclusionsThese results suggest that the effects of a single injection of bFGF into the vocal folds persist for 36 months.     

Low alpha temperatures in the solar wind magnetic closed structures

Summary As is already known, closed structures in interplanetary magnetic field reduce the solar-wind electron and proton temperatures and possibly diminish the flux of low-rigidity cosmic rays within them. In this analysis, an attempt is made to search for any influence of closed structures on the alpha component,i.e. to detect a possible cooling and rarefaction of these ions like protons, when they are encircled by these structures. Seven isolated events of such features are used for a superposed epoch analysis from a 5-year period data set provided by Helios-1 during its 20 successive trajectories from 0.3 to 1 AU (January 1975-December 1979). This epoch analysis is similar to that of Zhang and Burlaga. Because data are not taken at a fixed (1 AU) but rather at different distances (Helios-1), all hourly values used are normalized to 1 AU (i.e., temperature, density and magnetic field). After the application of the above-mentioned criteria for closed structure development, applied for the whole 5-year period, about 50 hourly values fulfilling them have been found. The selected values are part of several closed structures the characteristic parameters of which are superposed. This analysis shows a unique behaviour of alpha particles inside magnetically closed structures, which however does not exclude their being influenced by such structures.     

Hot carrier injection degradation under dynamic stress

In this paper,we have studied hot carrier injection(HCI) under alternant stress.Under different stress modes,different degradations are obtained from the experiment results.The different alternate stresses can reduce or enhance the HC effect,which mainly depends on the latter condition of the stress cycle.In the stress mode A(DC stress with electron injection),the degradation keeps increasing.In the stress modes B(DC stress and then stress with the smallest gate injection) and C(DC stress and then stress with hole injection under V g = 0 V and V d = 1.8 V),recovery appears in the second stress period.And in the stress mode D(DC stress and then stress with hole injection under V g = 1.8 V and V d = 1.8 V),as the traps filled in by holes can be smaller or greater than the generated interface states,the continued degradation or recovery in different stress periods can be obtained.     

Measuring science–technology interactions using patent citations and author-inventor links: an exploration analysis from Chinese nanotechnology

This article contributes to the growing study on the interactions between science and technology with China’s evidence in the field of nanotechnology, based on the database of United States Patent and Trademark Office. The analysis is focused during the period of 1991–2008, a rapid increasing period for the development of nanotechnology. Using the non-patent references cited by patents, we first investigate the science–technology connections in the context of Chinese nanotechnology, especially in institutional sectors and its application fields. Those patents, produced by academic researchers and directed towards basic scientific knowledge, generally cite more scientific references with a higher proportion of self-citations. It is interesting to find that patents contributed by collaborations between public organizations and corporations seldom contain scientific references. Following an interesting path on matching the data of publications and patents, we establish the author-inventor links in this emerging field. Author-inventors, who are co-active in publishing and patenting, are at the very top of the most prolific and highly cited researchers. Finally, we employ social network analysis to explore the characteristics of scientific and technological networks generated by co-authorship and co-invention data, to investigate the position and the role of patenting–publishing scientists in these research networks.     

Low field DC investigation of hot carrier trapping in silicon dioxide films

The experimental method used in this work is based upon the idea of nonavalanche injection of carriers heated by direct electric field. The structure consisted of an n-channel MOS transistor and two p-n junctions. The process of charge injection in this structure was investigated by studying the dependence of gate current on heating voltage. The trapping properties of the SiO₂ film were studied by monitoring the charging of the film during injection of electrons. The capture cross-sections, the trap centre concentrations and the dependence of the capture cross section on the electric field for fields between 1 MV/cm and 2.5 MV/cm were determined.     

基于CAN总线的振动试验智能监控系统软件设计

振动试验是为了保障航天及民用产品可靠性的重要试验手段,传统的振动试验对功放的操作繁琐,效率低下,已经越来越无法适应新型振动试验的发展。提出一种基于CAN总线控制器构建的振动试验功率放大器远程监控系统,使用Visual C++进行编程,实现了在计算上对功率放大器的远程操作,解放了操作人员,同时由于计算机的开放性,系统可以扩展出运行参数实时显示,配置本地存储、保护互锁、开机自检等功能,最后通过实验验证表明系统软件运行可靠,达到了预期的设计目的。     

Spectroscopic Studies of the Hydrogen Bond

Abstract

Since the publication of the proceedings of the Ljubljana symposium on hydrogen bonding by Hadzi [1] and the excellent book on the hydrogen bond by Pimentel and McClellan [2], a very large number of publications on the spectroscopic studies of hydrogen bonding have appeared in the literature. The present authors prepared a review on hydrogen bonding covering the period 1958–1963 for limited circulation [3]. In view of the very enthusiastic reception for this review by a number of workers and also the vast amount of published information on the subject after 1963, it was considered valuable to present an up-to-date review on the subject. The present review covers the period from 1958 to 1967 and embodies most of the studies on the hydrogen bond employing spectroscopic methods. The review does not include studies on crystals and macromolecules; hydrogen bonding in crystals has been recently reviewed by Hamilton and Ibers [4]. Electronic theories of the hydrogen bond have been reviewed by Bratoz [5]. Even though we have attempted to write a comprehensive review to include most of the published work on spectroscopic studies, it is possible that we have missed some of the papers in this field; we apologize for such oversights and omissions which become unavoidable in such an undertaking.     

Testing of Raman spectroscopy as a non‐invasive tool for the investigation of glass‐protected pastels

Five French pastels and a sanguine drawing dating from the 17th to the 20th century were studied by Raman spectroscopy. Different operative conditions were used: the pastels were investigated through their protective glass, and the results obtained were compared with those obtained after removing the glass and after sampling a micrometric particle of pigment. Different parameters (wavelengths, powers of excitation and objectives) were tested in order to assess the optimal procedure of analysis for this fragile work of art. The results obtained for black (carbons), yellow (chrome/cobalt yellow), red (lead oxide, vermillion, orpiment), brown (red lead and chrome yellow), blue (Prussian blue, lapis lazuli/ultramarine), green (mixture of above blue and yellow pigments) and white (calcite, lead white, anatase) pigments are presented and the consistency of the pigments' period of use with the dating proposed for each pastel is evaluated. In one of the pastels, the blackening of the carnation colour made of an unstable mixture of lead white, red lead and vermilion was studied. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface tension calculations of the cationic (CTAB) and the zwitterionic (SB3-12) surfactants using new force field models: a computational study

Actual CTAB and SB3-12 surfactant force field models fail to reproduce one of the most important thermodynamic property of those molecules, the surface tension. Molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to construct new force fields of the cationic surfactant, Cetyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide (CTAB), and the non-ionic, cocoamidopropyl betaine, surfactants using united atom models. By scaling the Lennard Jones parameters, the well depth potential (ε) and the intermolecular distance (σ), we constructed an united atom model of the cationic and the betaine surfactants. The new models were tested with actual experiments reported in the literature. With the correct parameters, surface tensions of both surfactants were calculated at different temperatures and different areas per molecule. Electrostatic properties and micelle structures were also calculated with the new set of parameters and radius of gyrations, i.e. micelle radius, were evaluated showing good affinity with experimental data. The new force fields were proved with two different water models, TIP4P/ε and SPC/E, having good agreement with actual experiments     

Applications of deuterium oxide in human health

The main aim goal of this review was to gather information about recent publications related to deuterium oxide (D₂O), and its use as a scientific tool related to human health. Searches were made in electronic databases Pubmed, Scielo, Lilacs, Medline and Cochrane. Moreover, the following patent databases were consulted: EPO (Espacenet patent search), USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) and Google Patents, which cover researches worldwide related to innovations using D₂O.     

Multi‐commutated Flow‐through Multi‐optosensing: A Tool for Environmental Analysis

Abstract

Multi‐commutation, which refers to the use of solenoid valves to construct the flow network, has been widely used for providing automation in flow injection analysis. In this paper, the coupling of multi‐commutation and multi‐optosensing is developed for the analysis of two pesticides in environmental water samples, fuberidazole and o‐phenylphenol. In optosensing, the use of the solid support allows the discrimination between the analytes and other compounds that, if measuring in solution, would interfere in the analysis; in addition, the sensitivity needed when facing environmental samples is obtained. The two analytes are separated by using C₁₈ silica gel as solid support, taking into account their different kinetics of sorption/desorption when interacting with the solid support microbeads; the separation is performed in the same flow‐cell where the sensing detection is carried out (by using an additional amount of solid support in the cell itself above the irradiated microzone), so both separation and determination are integrated in the cell. The native fluorescence of fuberidazole and o‐phenylphenol was simultaneously measured at 314/356 and 250/345 nm, respectively. The detection limits obtained were 0.18 and 6.1 ng mL^?1 for fuberidazole and o‐phenylphenol respectively, with a sampling frequency of about 12 samples per hour. A recovery study was performed in waters obtained for wells and rivers, with satisfactory results.     

Continuous 3-day exposure assessment of workplace manufacturing silver nanoparticles

In this study we present an overview of the research activities in nanotechnology for the period 2001?C2011 for six selected countries belonging to the Organization of Islamic cooperation (OIC). The selection has been made based on the research output of these countries. The countries are Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. The factors considered are the number of publications, citations per paper, p-index, and collaborative research output. Iran with 7,795 publications and an annual growth rate of 41?% leads the group, followed by Turkey with 3,169 publications and an annual growth rate of 29?%. Turkey however, has a much better citation per paper (8.96), and p-index (63.34) as compared to Iran (4.59 and 54.36, respectively). We can classify the six countries into two categories. Those, that have a well coordinated national program in nanotechnology, namely, Iran, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia and those that do not have any national program but are still showing a reasonable good activity in nanotechnology namely Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan. A brief account of the initiatives taken by the six selected countries of OIC in the field of nanotechnology is also presented.