Road traffic noise shielding by vegetation belts of limited depth

Road traffic noise propagation through a vegetation belt of limited depth (15 m) containing periodically arranged trees along a road is numerically assessed by means of 3D finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculations. The computational cost is reduced by only modeling a representative strip of the planting scheme and assuming periodic extension by applying mirror planes. With increasing tree stem diameter and decreasing spacing, traffic noise insertion loss is predicted to be more pronounced for each planting scheme considered (simple cubic, rectangular, triangular and face-centered cubic). For rectangular schemes, the spacing parallel to the road axis is predicted to be the determining parameter for the acoustic performance. Significant noise reduction is predicted to occur for a tree spacing of less than 3 m and a tree stem diameter of more than 0.11 m. This positive effect comes on top of the increase in ground effect (near 3 dBA for a light vehicle at 70 km/h) when compared to sound propagation over grassland. The noise reducing effect of the forest floor and the optimized tree belt arrangement are found to be of similar importance in the calculations performed. The effect of shrubs with typical above-ground biomass is estimated to be at maximum 2 dBA in the uniform scattering approach applied for a light vehicle at 70 km/h. Downward scattering from tree crowns is predicted to be smaller than 1 dBA for a light vehicle at 70 km/h, for various distributions of scattering elements representing the tree crown. The effect of the presence of tree stems, shrubs and tree crowns is predicted to be approximately additive. Inducing some (pseudo)randomness in stem center location, tree diameter, and omitting a limited number of rows with trees seem to hardly affect the insertion loss. These predictions suggest that practically achievable vegetation belts can compete to the noise reducing performance of a classical thin noise barrier (on grassland) with a height of 1–1.5 m (in a non-refracting atmosphere).     

Double-resonant second harmonic generation from surface coverages of nile-blue A

Second harmonic emission from a dye covered quartz surface has been observed in total internal reflection. Coverages with the dye nile-blue A yielded an increase in second harmonic output by several orders of magnitude as compared to coverages with rhodamine 6G. In the latter case only the harmonic light is at resonance with the S₀–S₂ transition of the adsorbed dye molecules, whereas for nile-blue A both, the fundamental and the harmonic frequency, are at resonance with the respective singlet transitions.     

Synthesis,structural characterization and in vitro antitumour properties of triorganoantimony(V) disalicylates: Crystal and molecular structures of [5-Y-2-(ho)-C6H3COO]2SbMe3 (YH,Me, MeO)

Triorganoantimony(V) salicylates, [5-Y-2-(HO)-C₆H₃COO]₂SbR₃ (R=Me, Ph; Y=H, Me, MeO), were obtained by reacting R₃SbCl₂ with the appropriate sodium salt. The compounds have been characterized by IR, MS, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The molecular structure of the three substituted trimethylantimony(V) disalicylates has been determined by X-ray diffraction. The salicylate ligands are mono-coordinated to antimony through an oxygen atom of each carboxylate, leading to a trigonal bipyramidal geometry, with the antimony-methyl groups in equatorial positions and the oxygen atoms in axial positions. The trimethylantimony compounds tested in vitro against a series of human tumour cell lines were found to be inactive.     

Irreducible tensor analysis of sum- and difference-frequency generation in partially oriented samples

The macroscopic non-liner optical susceptibility _X⁽²⁾ for a system of partially oriented molecules is written as the ensemble average of molecular hyperpolarizability tensors β. The orientational distribution of these molecules is described by a probability function expanded in Wigner matrices. For a rotationally invariant system _X⁽²⁾ has seven non-vanishing components, and a method is outlined to determine these by sum- or difference-frequency mixing experiments. The method could be applied to electrically poled samples, adsorbates liquid crystals and membranes to determine several components of the molecular hyperpolarizability tensor, or to extract information about the orientational distribution.     

Experimental study of vibrational and pure rotational coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering (CARS) in molecular hydrogen

Using a specially designed excimer-laser-pumped dye laser of adjustable bandwidth high-lying pure rotational transitions of both, ortho-and para-hydrogen have been identified by coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS). As an interesting application H₂-based CARS-thermometry is discussed.     

The gas temperature in and the gas expulsion from a graphite furnace used for atomic absorption spectrometry

A simplified model for heat transfer based on thermal conduction is used to calculate the radial gas temperature distribution inside a semi-enclosed, commercial graphite tube furnace used for atomic absorption spectrometry. In the absence of a forced convective flow of a purge gas, the gas temperature inside the graphite furnace during its heating is lower than the wall temperature. After the wall temperature has attained a steady-state value, the gas temperature approaches the wall temperature and the radial temperature gradient in the gas decreases. The difference between the wall temperature and the gas temperature depends on the temperature program used, the thermal properties of the purge gas, and the atomizer geometry. The residence time of relatively volatile analyte elements is largely controlled by expulsion when wall atomization at high heating rates and high atomization temperatures are used. Analytical sensitivities are often enhanced by vaporizing the analyte into a gas having an approximately constant temperature.     

Systematic analysis by solvent-extraction methods : Part II. Quantitative analysis

Methods are suggested for the systematic separation and determination of 12 metals by a combination of solvent-extraction and spectrophotometric methods.     

The Viscosity of Solutions of Poly(propylene imine) Dendrimers in Methanol

The viscosity of solutions of poly(propylene imine) dendrimers in methanol has been determined. An Ubbelohde and a low-shear rotational viscometer have been used. The viscosity was Newtonian for every concentration and shear rate used. The value of the Huggins coefficient indicates soft sphere behavior. The viscosity of the lower generations as a function of the volume fraction can be described with a single exponent, where the exponent is comparable to the intrinsic viscosity. The viscosity of the 4th and 5th generation dendrimers shows a stronger increase from a volume fraction of about 0.15 to 0.30. This increase is much smaller than that expected, using the Krieger-Dougherty formula for hard spheres with the hydrodynamic radius determined from the intrinsic viscosity. This smaller increase and the small value of the Huggins coefficient are interpreted in terms of a breakdown of the solvation layer. At a volume fraction of 0.3 the dendrimers, using the radius of gyration as the radius, start to touch each other. From the dependence of the viscosity on the concentration and the dependence of the viscosity on the molar weight, it can be concluded that dendrimers do not interpenetrate. It is concluded that they deform (collapse). Copyright 2001 Academic Press.