Improving the Formatting Tools of CDS Invenio

CDS Invenio is the web-based integrated digital library system developed at CERN. It is a strategical tool that supports the archival and open dissemination of documents produced by CERN researchers. This paper reports on my Master’s thesis work done on BibFormat, a module in CDS Invenio, which formats documents metadata. The goal of this project was to implement a completely new formatting module for CDS Invenio. In this report a strong emphasis is put on the user-centered design of the new BibFormat. The bibliographic formatting process and its requirements are discussed. The task analysis and its resulting interaction model are detailed. The document also shows the implemented user interface of BibFormat and gives the results of the user evaluation of this interface. Finally the results of a small usability study of the formats included in CDS Invenio are discussed

Evaluation of Bonding Orbitals in Amorphous Silicon by Means of the Chemical Pseudopotential Method

The chemical pseudopotential method has been used by a number of workers in order to study the valence bands of amorphous tetrahedrally bonded semiconductors. However, various problems related to this method are unsolved. In this paper, a theoretical formulation tending to clarify some of these. problems is presented. This formulation concerns bonding orbitals and is valid, in principle, for amorphous silicon

Some Considerations on Tunneling Losses in Field-Effect Devices for Low-Voltage Microcontrollers

The loss power density associated with the tunneling current in a typical MOS cell with a floating gate is evaluated for high electric-field strengths in the oxide layer. Furthermore, problems related to oxide thickness are discussed

A Brief Study to Clarify Some Aspects Related to Vibrational Density of States for the Far Infrared Range in Amorphous Semiconductors

Phonon density of states of amorphous semiconductors for the far-infrared range is examined analytically. On the basis of this formulation, optical absorption corresponding to structural disorder is evaluated and discussed at the far-infrared range for a-Ge and a-Si

A Brief Note on Coherent Feedback in Semiconductor Lasers

Some aspects on coherent feedback in a laser diode are investigated. In particular, weak optical feedback is considered in the context of the feedback-induced frequency shift. In addition, the Lang-Kobayashi equations are considered

A Discussion on the Phonon Density of States of Amorphous Germanium for the Infrared Range

A theoretical formulation for the phonon density of states of amorphous germanium in the infrared range is proposed. This formulation is based upon the quasi-harmonic approximation and is compared with previous results

Toxicity identification evaluation of polyester resin manufacturing wastewater

Orientador: Lucia Regina DurrantTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de AlimentosResumo: Os processos industriais são geradores de uma ampla variedade de contaminantes que estão presentes nas águas residuarias. A seleção de processos de tratamento baseia-se nas características do efluente a ser tratado. Neste trabalho investigou-se um efluente tóxico da fabricação de resinas de poliéster. Existem poucas informações na literatura sobre este tipo de água residuaria. Procedeu-se a caracterização do efluente, efetuando-se a avaliação e identificação de constituintes tóxicos presentes no mesmo por meio de uma abordagem orientada por toxicidade. Foi utilizado bioensaio respirometrico em lodo ativado para avaliar a toxicidade do efluente bruto. Então, foram efetuados tratamentos físicos e químicos para fracionamento do efluente, e apos cada um deles, realizou-se o mesmo bioensaio. Dessa maneira, avaliou-se qual técnica de fracionamento foi a mais efetiva na redução da toxicidade. A maior redução de toxicidade foi observada apos o fracionamento do efluente por arraste com ar em pH 11 (62,5 %). Este resultado demonstrou que uma fração significativa da toxicidade do efluente para lodos ativados era causada por compostos orgânicos volatilizados em pH 11. Isso indica que o tratamento do efluente por arraste com ar em pH básico pode ter impacto positivo em um tratamento biológico aeróbio subseqüente. Uma vez determinado o tipo de compostos no efluente que provocam efeitos tóxicos (Compostos Organicos Volateis - COVs), procedeu-se a esforços analíticos visando a identificação dos mesmos. Analises por headspace do efluente por cromatografia gasosa e espectrometria de massa identificaram a presença de aldeidos insaturados (congeneres de acroleina). Tais compostos tinham relacao direta com o efeito tóxico observado. Foram também realizados bioensaios utilizando microrganismos anaerobios. Para tanto, mediu-se o volume de gas produzido por uma biomassa anaerobia em contato com o efluente bruto e com o efluente fracionado por arraste com ar em pH 11. Não se observou redução na toxicidade do efluente mesmo com este fracionamento. Comparando-se esses resultados aos obtidos com lodo ativados, foi verificado que os compostos removidos por arraste com ar em pH 11 não apresentaram o mesmo grau de toxicidade para esta biomassa anaerobia. Tais resultados indicam que a utilização de processo de tratamento biológico anaerobio seria uma opção adequada para a condução de futuros estudos de tratabilidade deste efluente. Os resultados obtidos neste trabalho de avaliação e identificação de toxicidade em efluente da fabricação de resinas de poliéster ratificam a abordagem utilizada como uma valorosa ferramenta na caracterização de efluentes industriais tóxicos, principalmente nos casos onde não se encontram disponíveis informações especificas relacionadas ao efluente estudadoAbstract: Industrial processes generate a vast range of contaminants that are present in wastewaters. Treatment process selection is based on wastewater characteristics. In this work a toxic polyester resin manufacturing wastewater was investigated. Specific literature on this kind of wastewater is rare. The characterization of this wastewater was conducted, evaluating and identifying toxicity by applying a toxicity-oriented approach. An activated sludge respirometric bioassay was used to assess effluent toxicity. Then, physical and chemical treatments were performed for effluent fractionation. After each fractionation, the same bioassay was conducted. In this way, it was assessed which fractionation technique was the most effective in reducing effluent toxicity. The greater toxicity reduction was observed after effluent fractionation with air stripping in pH 11 (62.5 %). This result showed that a significant fraction of wastewater toxicity for activated sludge was caused by organic compounds volatilized in pH 11. This indicates that effluent treatment by air stripping in basic pH could have a positive impact in a conjugated aerobic biological treatment. Once the type of compounds causing wastewater toxicity has been determined (Volatile Organic Compounds ¿ VOCs), analytical efforts aiming the identification of these compounds were made. Wastewater headspace gas chromatographic analyses coupled with mass spectrometry identificated the presence of a,ß-unsaturated aldehydes (acrolein congeners). These compounds were directly related to the observed toxic effect. Bioassays using anaerobic microorganisms were also conducted. To that purpose, the volume of gas produced by an anaerobic biomass in contact with the baseline effluent and with the fractionated effluent by air stripping in pH 11 was measured. No toxicity reduction was observed with this fractionation. By comparing this result with the one obtained with the respirometric bioassay, it was found that the compounds removed by air stripping in pH 11 did not inhibit this kind of biomass in the same degree which they inhibited activated sludge. This indicates that the use of an anaerobic treatment process would be an adequate option for conducting future treatability studies in this wastewater. The results obtained in this research of toxicity identification evaluation of a polyester resin manufacturing effluent confirm that the toxicity-oriented approach is a valuable tool for the characterization of toxic industrial wastewaters, especially in cases when specific information related to the studied wastewater is lackingDoutoradoDoutor em Ciência de Alimento

The Perception of Honour-Related Violence in female and male university students from Morocco, Cameroon and Italy

The study investigates the perception of honour-related violence against women in female and male university students from three countries - Morocco, Cameroon, Italy – all considered honour cultures but different in terms of various other sociocultural factors, such as family structure and gender roles. One hundred fourteen Moroccan (47 females, 67 males), 106 Cameroonian (41 females, 65 males) and 103 Italian (51 females, 52 males) students attending Turin University and currently living in Turin, answered a questionnaire to evaluate an act of honour-related violence by a father against his daughter. The results showed that the perception of this act was influenced by the participants’ nationality: Italians evaluated the incident as more serious and more as a crime than Moroccans, and the latter more than Cameroonians. Furthermore, Italians attributed less responsibility to the victim and more responsibility to the assailant than Moroccans and Cameroonians did; accordingly, they also proposed more severe punishment for the assailant than Moroccans and Cameroonians. The results also showed an interaction between nationality and gender: Cameroonian women attributed more responsibility to the victim and less to the assailant than Cameroonian men, and Italian men attributed less responsibility to the assailant than Italian women. These results are interpreted in terms of the importance attributed to family honour in the three countries and their differences in social organisation and gender roles

First-Order Optical Phonon Processes in Amorphous Clusters

Optical absorption in the far infrared range for amorphous GaAs, SiC and Ge is investigated. Small clusters in the context of dynamical disorder are considered. Average values of the absorption contributions due to both dynamical and structural disorders are introduced. In particular, an equation for the spectrum due to dynamical disorder in amorphous SiC is presented