Strong Band-Edge Emission from ZnS Quantum Dots Stabilized by Gum Arabic

ZnS quantum dots （QDs）, prepared by soft-condensation, exhibit robust structure of a quantum size equal 3.13 nm mediated two-dimensional gum Arabic surfactant as characterized by scan tunnelling microscope （STM）. Strong blue-shifted absorption and emission bands are depicted by optical characterization even for the sample stored under ambient condition for two weeks. These enhancements can be attributed to the completely passivated surface trap states by Gum Arabic.     

An original approach for Raman spectroscopy analysis of radioactive materials and its application to americium‐containing samples

An approach for Raman measurements of highly radioactive samples is presented here. The innovative part of this approach lies in the fact that no single part of the Raman equipment is in direct contact with the radioactive sample, as the sample is sealed in an alpha‐tight capsule. Raman analysis is effectively performed through the optical‐grade quartz window closing the capsule. This allows performing micro‐Raman measurements on radioactive samples with no limitations on the laser source wavelength, polarisation mode, spectrometer mode and microscope mode (provided the focal length of the microscope objective is greater than the thickness of the quartz window and with sub mg samples). Some example results are shown and discussed. In particular, some spectral features of americium‐containing oxide nuclear fuel specimens are presented. Raman spectra clearly reveal in these specimens the presence of abundant oxygen defects induced in the fcc fluorite lattice by trivalent americium. In order to complete the analysis the Raman spectrum of pure americium dioxide was also measured with a lower energy excitation source compared with previous research. The current results seem to be consistent with the possible occurrence of a photolysis process induced by the Raman laser, resulting in the formation of hyperstoichiometric americium sesquioxide Am₂O_{3 + z}. Such a photolytic process is deemed to be unavoidable when visible lasers are used as excitation sources for the Raman analysis of americium dioxide. © 2015 The Authors Journal of Raman Spectroscopy Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and characterizations of Ho2O3 modified SrBi2Nb2O9 ceramics

SrBi_2-xHo_xNb₂O₉ (0?≤?x?≤?0.5) ceramics were prepared through the conventional solid state route. The materials have been characterized by XRD, FTIR and SEM. All compounds were pure and well crystallized. In FTIR spectroscopy, the spectral patterns of the crystal structures of these polyphases are unique and smoothly different from each other. The grains were prone to become spherical with increasing x. Dielectric and electrical properties of these materials as a function of temperature at different frequencies have been carried out. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss were found to decrease with an increase of the holmium concentration at room temperature. Reaching up to x?=?0.4 and x?=?0.5, the diffusivity increases, leading to the occurrence of relaxor behavior. 20–30 at.% Ho doping on the Bi-site can fill up the oxygen vacancies and decrease the AC conductivity. However, at higher doping levels greater than 40% holmium oxide, the AC conductivity is found to increase.     

Spectroscopic properties of the molecular ions BeX+ (X=Na,K, Rb): forming cold molecular ions from an ion–atom mixture by stimulated Raman adiabatic process

In this theoretical work, we calculate potential energy curves, spectroscopic parameters and transition dipole moments of molecular ions BeX⁺ (X=Na, K, Rb) composed of alkaline ion Be and alkali atom X with a quantum chemistry approach based on the pseudopotential model, Gaussian basis sets, effective core polarisation potentials and full configuration interaction. We study in detail collisions of the alkaline ion and alkali atom in quantum regime. Besides, we study the possibility of the formation of molecular ions from the ion–atom colliding systems by stimulated Raman adiabatic process and discuss the parameters regime under which the population transfer is feasible. Our results are important for ion–atom cold collisions and experimental realisation of cold molecular ion formation.     

The influence of heat transfer and magnetic field on peristaltic transport of a Newtonian fluid in a vertical annulus: Application of an endoscope

This Letter discusses the influence of heat transfer and magnetic field on the peristaltic flow of Newtonian fluid in a vertical annulus under a zero Reynolds number and long wavelength approximation. The inner tube is uniform, rigid, while the outer tube has a sinusoidal wave traveling down its wall. The flow is investigated in a wave frame of reference moving with velocity of the wave. Numerical calculations are carried out for the pressure rise and frictional forces. The features of the flow characteristics are analyzed by plotting graphs and discussed in detail.     

MCNP Dose Calculations in a CT Phantom for Therapeutic External Photon Beam

In this paper, we have addressed the problem of the radiation transport with the Monte Carlo N particle(MCNP) code. This is a general purpose Monte Carlo tool designed to transport neutron, photon and electron in three dimensional geometries. To examine the performance of MCNP5 code in the field of external radiotherapy, we performed the modeling of an Electron Density phantom (EDP) irradiated by photons from 60Co source. The model was used to calculate the Percent Depth Dose (PDD) at different depths in an EDP. One field size for PDD has been examined. A 60Co photons source placed at 80 cm source to surface distance (SSD). The results of calculations were compared to TPS data obtained at National Institute of Oncology of Rabat.     

A nonlocal Levinson beam model for free vibration analysis of zigzag single-walled carbon nanotubes including thermal effects

A nonlocal Levinson beam model is developed to study the free vibrations of a zigzag single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) in thermal environments. The equivalent Young’s modulus and shear modulus for a zigzag SWCNT are derived using an energy-equivalent model. The present study illustrates that the vibration characteristics of an SWCNT are strongly dependent on the temperature change and on the chirality of a zigzag carbon nanotube. The investigation of the chirality and temperature effects on free vibration of carbon nanotubes may be used as a useful reference for the application and the design of nanoelectronic and nanodrive devices, nano-oscillators, and nanosensors, in which carbon nanotubes act as basic elements.     

Unsupervised MRI segmentation of brain tissues using a local linear model and level set

Real-world magnetic resonance imaging of the brain is affected by intensity nonuniformity (INU) phenomena which makes it difficult to fully automate the segmentation process. This difficult task is accomplished in this work by using a new method with two original features: (1) each brain tissue class is locally modeled using a local linear region representative, which allows us to account for the INU in an implicit way and to more accurately position the region's boundaries; and (2) the region models are embedded in the level set framework, so that the spatial coherence of the segmentation can be controlled in a natural way. Our new method has been tested on the ground-truthed Internet Brain Segmentation Repository (IBSR) database and gave promising results, with Tanimoto indexes ranging from 0.61 to 0.79 for the classification of the white matter and from 0.72 to 0.84 for the gray matter. To our knowledge, this is the first time a region-based level set model has been used to perform the segmentation of real-world MRI brain scans with convincing results.