Synchrotron radiation analysis in the study of pollution in the ring‐billed gull (larus delawarensis): a novel application of the technique

Synchrotron radiation analysis is a powerful tool for identifying pollutants. Here, we explore the distribution of elements in the flight feathers of ring‐billed gulls, Larus delawarensis, to identify potential pollutants and their distribution throughout the feather. Our analysis using Synchrotron Radiation Analysis and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy has identified a variety of metals that are integral parts of the feather structure including: calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe). The darker portions of the flight feather were enriched with Zn and Fe, which supports the suggestion that feather melanins are efficient ligands of some metals found in the environment, sequestering potentially harmful particles away from the body. However, trace lead (Pb) acquired from the regional pollution was detected only in females, and it was distributed across both the melanized and non‐melanized portions of the feather suggesting that only some metals are efficiently sequestered by melanins. Overall this study highlights a potential method for identifying pollutants using bird feathers, which has broader implications on environmental sensing as well as avian and human health. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A dynamic model for road protection against flooding

This paper focuses on the problem of identifying optimal protection strategies to reduce the impact of flooding on a road network. We propose a dynamic mixed-integer programming model that extends the classic concept of road network protection by shifting away from single-arc fortifications to a more general and realistic approach involving protection plans that cover multiple components. We also consider multiple disruption scenarios of varying magnitude. To efficiently solve large problem instances, we introduce a customised GRASP heuristic. Finally, we provide some analysis and insights from a case study of the Hertfordshire road network in the East of England. Results show that optimal protection strategies mainly involve safeguarding against flooding events that are small and likely to occur, whereas implementing higher protection standards are not considered cost-effective.     

Transient analysis on surface heated piezoelectric semiconductor plate lying on rigid substrate

Based on the thermo-electro-elastic coupling theory, the mathematical model for a surface heated piezoelectric semiconductor (PS) plate is developed in the time domain. Applying the direct and inverse Laplace transformations to the established model, the mechanical and electrical responses are investigated. The comparison between the analytical solution and the finite element method (FEM) is conducted, which illustrates the validity of the derivation. The calculated results show that the maximum values of the mechanical and electrical fields appear at the heating surface. Importantly, the perturbation carriers tend to concentrate in the zone near the heating surface under the given boundary conditions. It can also be observed that the heating induced elastic wave leads to jumps for the electric potential and perturbation carrier density at the wavefront. When the thermal relaxation time is introduced, all the field quantities become smaller because of the thermal lagging effect. Meanwhile, it can be found that the thermal relaxation time can describe the smooth variation at the jump position. Besides, for a plate with P-N junction, the effect of the interface position on the electrical response is studied. The effects of the initial carrier density on the electrical properties are discussed in detail. The conclusions in this article can be the guidance for the design of PS devices serving in thermal environment.     

The growth and modification of materials via ion–surface processing

A wide variety of gas phase ions with kinetic energies from 1–10⁷ eV increasingly are being used for the growth and modification of state-of-the-art material interfaces. Ions can be used to deposit thin films; expose fresh interfaces by sputtering; grow mixed interface layers from ions, ambient neutrals, and/or surface atoms; modify the phases of interfaces; dope trace elements into interface regions; impart specific chemical functionalities to a surface; toughen materials; and create micron- and nanometer-scale interface structures. Several examples are developed which demonstrate the variety of technologically important interface modification that is possible with gas phase ions. These examples have been selected to demonstrate how the choice of the ion and its kinetic energy controls modification and deposition for several different materials. Examples are drawn from experiments, computer simulations, fundamental research, and active technological applications. Finally, a list of research areas is provided for which ion–surface modification promises considerable scientific and technological advances in the new millennium.     

Physics-based generation of gamma-ray response functions for CdZnTe detectors

A physics-based approach to gamma-ray response-function generation is presented in which the response of CdZnTe detectors is modeled from first principles. Numerical modeling is used to generate response functions needed for spectrum analysis for general detector configurations (e.g., electrode design, detector materials and geometry, and operating conditions). With numerical modeling, requirements for calibration and characterization are significantly reduced. Elements of the physics-based model, including gamma-ray transport, charge carrier drift and diffusion, and circuit response, are presented. Calculated and experimental gamma-ray spectra are compared for a coplanar-grid CdZnTe detector.     

The separation of mixtures of organic liquids by hyperfiltration

Two solid-membrane methods exist for separating mixtures of organic liquids. They are pervaporation, in which the product phase is a vapour, and hyperfiltration in which feed and product phases are both liquid. Technically hyperfiltration is similar to reverse osmosis but, if that term is to be used at all, it should be restricted to dilute solutions of solutes to which the membrane is almost semi-permeable. The polymer membranes which have been found so far to give significant degrees of separation and fluxes with organic liquid mixtures have been crystalline polar polymers with high glass temperatures. The problems of membrane preparation are thus more severe than with almost amorphous, freely soluble polymers such as cellulose acetate.The absorption of liquids from a mixture by a polymer and their permeation in the polymer have received relatively little attention and it is not yet possible to infer the behaviour from that of the polymer towards each liquid alone. Nevertheless a theory of hyperfiltration can be developed based on Henry's and Fick's laws and neglecting any direct coupling of flows. The equations which predict the separation and fluxes are useful in the first place to predict the thermodynamic restraints on any potentially useful separation process. It turns out that relatively large pressures are required, 100 atm or more, and hyperfiltration is better adapted to further purifying a relatively good product than to recovering a small amount of a valuable substance from a large volume of waste.The equations lend themselves to a direct experimental test. An apparatus for doing this has been constructed and two liquid mixtures and membranes have been studied. They are toluene + n-heptane with an asymmetric polyacrylonitrile membrane and methanol + isobutanol with a uniform cellulose membrane. The mixtures were chosen as being thermodynamically close to ideal because this simplifies the interpretation of the data. Their nonideality has been taken fully into account.The results show that the simple theory accounts very well for the observed facts. For the first system the selectivity coefficient was about 2 and for the second, about 15.The mechanism of transport is found to be the normal solution-diffusion mechanism for permeation of organic solvents in polymers. There is some positive frictional coupling between the two liquids as a result of which the improvements in separation to be expected from an increase in the applied pressure are not achieved quantitatively. The increasing absorption of liquid by the membrane as the mole fraction of the preferentially absorbed liquid in the mixture is increased increases its permeability to both components by about