A neutron polarization analysis study of Ce2Fe17 in its paramagnetic phase

Spin-flip (paramagnetic) scattering and neutron depolarization studies were performed on Ce₂Fe₁₇ in its paramagnetic phase on the Dhruva neutron polarization analysis spectrometer. The absence of normalQ dependence of the scattered spin flip intensity shows that Ce₂Fe₁₇ is not a normal paramagnetic and there exist superparamagnetic clusters of sufficiently large dimensions (～100Å). The observed neutron depolarization gives an indication of the dynamics of these Ce₂Fe₁₇ superparamagnetic clusters.     

Laser Light and X-Ray Diffraction Studies of Oriented Isotactic Polypropylene (iPP) Prepared by Temperature Slope Crystallization

Isotactic polypropylene (iPP) film was melt-crystallized in a temperature gradient. The iPP film showed well oriented α- and β-crystalline textures along the gradient. The crystalline structure, phase transition boundary and lamellar twisting were examined by X-ray diffraction and laser light diffraction (LLD). On the α-β boundary, LLD shows a sharp streak perpendicular to the boundary, where the a-axis of the β-crystal is oriented perpendicular to the temperature gradient. Apart from the boundary, the a-axis of the β-crystal becomes parallel to the gradient. The β-crystal shows lamellar twisting with a pitch of 200 μm at room temperature. When heated the β-crystal, the lamellar distance of 295Å at room temperature decreases to 285Å at 80–100°C and then increases to more than 300Å above 120°C. During the heating, the value of the twist period increases from 200 to 210 μm at 90–100°C, and then to above 224 μm at 140°C. The increase of the twist period is related to the increasing crystalline thickness of the β-lamellae.     

Influence of Compatibilizer-Type and Processing Approach on the Dispersion of OMMT in High-Density Polyethylene Matrix

High-density polyethylene/organoclay nanocomposites were prepared via melt intercalation in an internal mixer using both a direct mixing and master batching method. Two types of maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene, high-density polyethylene grafted maleic anhydride, and linear low-density polyethylene grafted maleic anhydride, (HDPE-g-MA, LLDPE-g-MA) were used as compatibilizers to enhance the dispersibility of nanoclay in HDPE. Dispersion of organoclay in the nanocomposites was characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and rheological mechanical spectroscopy (RMS). Effects of clay content and degree of clay dispersion on the rheological and tensile properties were also investigated. Furthermore, the effect of order of mixing on the dispersion and distribution of the clay layers was studied. The obtained results showed that organoclay in the nanocomposites were dispersed homogeneously and exfoliated better when HDPE-g-MA and the direct mixing route were used. Although in the master batching method clay intercalated better, clay layers chiefly remain in compatibilizer rich areas. On the other hand, direct mixing was observed to lead to clay particles being dispersed in the HDPE matrix or at the interface of the matrix and compatibilizer and, consequently, better improvement in the tensile modulus was achieved. It was determined that the compatibilizer with the higher miscibility with the matrix was the key factor for achieving better exfoliation of clay sheets.     

A quantile-based Time at Risk: A new approach for assessing risk in financial markets

In this paper, we provide a new measure for evaluation of risk in financial markets. This measure is based on the return interval of critical events in financial markets or other investment situations. Our main goal was to devise a model like Value at Risk (VaR). As VaR, for a given financial asset, probability level and time horizon, gives a critical value such that the likelihood of loss on the asset over the time horizon exceeds this value is equal to the given probability level, our concept of Time at Risk (TaR), using a probability distribution function of return intervals, provides a critical time such that the probability that the return interval of a critical event exceeds this time equals the given probability level. As an empirical application, we applied our model to data from the Tehran Stock Exchange Price Index (TEPIX) as a financial asset (market portfolio) and reported the results.     

Enhancement of free space optical link in heavy rain attenuation using multiple beam concept

Free space optics (FSO) has attracted a lot of attention for a variety of applications in telecommunications area, and it is dream of every researcher and telecommunication society to make it a real alternative solution for the last mile problem, to replace fiber optics. FSO is much preferred because of its low maintenance cost and deployment time. FSO with single-beam system is vulnerable to atmospheric attenuation, so to overcome this, a multiple-beam FSO transceiver system has become prominent and is usually used. In this paper, average rain attenuation is evaluated from the collected rain intensity data which are collected for a period of seven months, and implemented in the study concerning results relating link distance, and received optical power of using multiple-beam FSO system in tropical rainy weather. Comparison is made in terms of received optical power, geometrical losses, atmospheric losses, and bit error rate (BER) on using different number of optical beams, based on simulation at data rate of 1 Gb/s. From the results it is clear that the quality of received power is improved by using up to four beams, along with link distance up to 1141.2 m as compared to one-beam, two-beam, and three-beam, with link distances 833.3 m, 991.0 m, 1075.4 m, respectively.     

A recursive color image edge detection method using Green's function approach

In this paper, an extended version of image edge detector using Green's function approach is proposed for detection of edges in the color vector space field. In the proposed method, the relationship between the Red, Green and Blue components is considered to design a differential operator for detection of edges in color images. By using the proposed operator, partial derivatives of all components of color image can simultaneously affect on the edge detection process. Therefore the proposed method can preserve the vector nature of color images during the edge processing stages. Also, the proposed method is compared both quantitatively and qualitatively with other color edge detectors. Experimental results show that the proposed method can efficiently preserve the edges even when the color images corrupted with different levels of noise.     

Fingerprint image enhancement using data driven Directional Filter Bank

A new method based upon data driven tool, principal component analysis (PCA), for fingerprint enhancement is proposed in this paper. PCA is a very useful statistical technique that has found application in many different fields like image compression, face recognition and is commonly used for finding patterns in data of high dimension. In the proposed method, the input image is first decomposed into directional images using decimation free Directional Filter Bank (DDFB). Then these directional images are normalized. A data driven technique PCA is applied to these normalized directional fingerprint images, which gives the PCA filtered images. These are basically directional images. Then these directional images are reconstructed into one image which is the enhanced one. Simulation results are included illustrating the capability of the proposed method.     

Effect of frequency on sonochemical reactions. I: Oxidation of iodide

The effect of continuous sonication on the kinetics of iodine formation in aqueous iodide solutions was studied in the presence of air and argon at two frequencies, 20 and 900 kHz. Most workers in this area assume that frequency has a negligible effect on sonochemical reactions. The present results indicate, however, that there is a significant effect in the above solutions. The rate of sonochemical oxidation of iodide in aqueous solution is 3.1 times greater in presence of air than argon at 900 kHz, in contrast to the situation at 20 kHz, where the ratio is 0.9 A 900 kHz apparatus was specially designed to make it possible to measure the absolute acoustic power delivered into the solution. The rate of oxidation per unit power in this new 900 kHz apparatus can be more than 30 times greater than that at 20 kHz for the oxidation of iodide in the presence of air.     

Preparation,surface state and band structure studies of SrTi(1 − x)Fe(x)O(3 − δ) (x = 0–1) perovskite-type nano structure by X-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy

In this report, SrTi_(1 ? x)Fe_(x)O_(3 ? δ) photocatalyst powder was synthesized by a high temperature solid state reaction method. The morphology, crystalline structures of obtained samples, was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. The electronic properties and local structure of the perovskite STF_x (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) systems have been probed by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. The effects of iron doping level x (x = 0–1) on the crystal structure and chemical state of the STF_x have been investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the valence band edges for electronic band gaps were obtained for STF_x by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS). A single cubic perovskite phase of STF_x oxide was successfully obtained at 1200 °C for 24 h by the solid state reaction method. The XPS results showed that the iron present in the STF_x perovskite structure is composed of a mixture of Fe³⁺ and Fe⁴⁺ (SrTi_(1 ? x)[Fe³⁺, Fe⁴⁺]_(x)O_(3 ? δ)). When the content x of iron doping was increased, the amount of Fe³⁺ and Fe⁴⁺ increased significantly and the oxygen lattice decreased on the surface of STF_x oxide. The UPS data has confirmed that with more substitution of iron, the position of the valence band decreased.