1,119 research outputs found
Osmo - Power. Osmotic Work; Energy Production from Osmosis of Fresh Water/Sea-Water Systems
It is imperative that new and ecologically acceptable energy sources are made available. Solar energy is a source which seems to be inexhaustible and free of pollution hazards. One vast source, which can be considered to be a solar energy source consists of the system fresh water/sea water. Fresh water is continually removed by the hydrological cycle where water evaporates from the ocean due to solar radiation and is eventually precipitated again in the form of fresh water feeding various rivers. Fresh water and ocean (salt) water mix when rivers flow into the oceans. The different chemical potentials are equalized due to this mixing in estuaries not producing any work similarly as when gas escapes into a vacuum. However, the difference in chemical potentials of sea water and fresh water can be utilized and made to produce work if the mixing is allowed to proceed via semi- permeable membranes, that is to say if use is made of the osmotic process. This would be equivalent to producing work letting steam move a piston which has a counter pressure slightly lower than the steam pressure. This work can be transformed into electrical energy. In other words use is made of the osmotic process
Comparing three short questionnaires to detect psychosocial dysfunction among primary school children: a randomized method
BACKGROUND: Good questionnaires are essential to support the early identification of children with psychosocial dysfunction in community based settings. Our aim was to assess which of three short questionnaires was most suitable for this identification among school-aged children METHODS: A community-based sample of 2,066 parents of children aged 7-12 years (85% of those eligible) filled out the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and - randomly determined - one of three questionnaires to be compared: the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire with Impact Supplement (SDQ), the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) and the PSYBOBA, a Dutch-origin questionnaire. Preventive Child Healthcare professionals assessed children's psychosocial functioning during routine health examinations. We assessed the scale structure (by means of Structural Equation Modelling), validity (correlation coefficients, sensitivity and specificity) and usability (ratings by parents and professionals) of each questionnaire and the degree to which they could improve the identification based only on clinical assessment (logistic regression). RESULTS: For the three questionnaires, Cronbach's alphas varied between 0.80 and 0.89. Sensitivities for a clinical CBCL at a cut off point with specificity = 0.90 varied between 0.78 and 0.86 for the three questionnaires. Areas under the Receiver Operating Curve, using the CBCL as criterion, varied between 0.93 and 0.96. No differences were statistically significant. All three questionnaires added information to the clinical assessment. Odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for added information were PSC: 29.3 (14.4-59.8), SDQ: 55.0 (23.1-131.2) and PSYBOBA: 68.5 (28.3-165.6). Parents preferred the SDQ and PSYBOBA. Preventive Child Health Care professionals preferred the SDQ. CONCLUSIONS: This randomized comparison of three questionnaires shows that each of the three questionnaires can improve the detection of psychosocial dysfunction among children substantially
Superconducting tantalum disulfide nanotapes; growth, structure and stoichiometry
Superconducting tantalum disulfide nanowires have been synthesised by surface-assisted chemical vapour transport (SACVT) methods and their crystal structure, morphology and stoichiometry studied by powder X-ray diffraction (PXD), scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and nanodiffraction. The evolution of morphology, stoichiometry and structure of materials grown by SACVT methods in the Ta-S system with reaction temperature was investigated systematically. High-aspect-ratio, superconducting disulfide nanowires are produced at intermediate reaction temperatures (650 degrees C). The superconducting wires are single crystalline, adopt the 2H polytypic structure (hexagonal space group P6(3)/mmc: a = 3.32(2) angstrom, c = 12.159(2) angstrom; c/a = 3.66) and grow in the <2<(1)over bar>(1) over bar0> direction. The nanowires are of rectangular cross-section forming nanotapes composed of bundles of much smaller fibres that grow cooperatively. At lower reaction temperatures nanowires close to a composition of TaS3 are produced whereas elevated temperatures yield platelets of 1T TaS2
Stability of C20 fullerene chains
The stability of (C20)N chains with N = 3 - 7 is analyzed by numerical
simulation using a tight-binding potential and molecular dynamics. Various
channels of losing the cluster-chain structure of the (C20)N complexes are
observed, including the decay of C20 clusters, their coalescence, and the
separation of one C20 fullerene from the chain.Comment: To appear in JETP Letter
Structure and stability of finite gold nanowires
Finite gold nanowires containing less than 1000 atoms are studied using the
molecular dynamics simulation method and embedded atom potential. Nanowires
with the face-centered cubic structure and the (111) oriented cross-section are
prepared at T=0 K. After annealing and quenching the structure and vibrational
properties of nanowires are studied at room temperature. Several of these
nanowires form multi-walled structures of lasting stability. They consist of
concentrical cylindrical sheets and resemble multi-walled carbon nanotubes.
Vibrations are investigated by diagonalization of the dynamical matrix. It was
found that several percents of vibrational modes are unstable because of
uncompleted restructuring of initial fcc nanowires.Comment: 4 figures in gif forma
Structure and Stability of Two-Dimensional Complexes of C_20 Fullerenes
Two-dimensional complexes of C_20 fullerenes connected to each other by
covalent bonds have been studied. Several isomers with different types of
intercluster bonds have been revealed. The lifetimes of the (C_20)_MxM systems
with M = 2 and 3 have been directly calculated at T = 1800 - 3300 K making use
of molecular dynamics. It has been shown that these complexes lose their
periodic cluster structure due to either coalescence of two fullerenes C_20 or
decay of C_20 fullerenes. The activation energies of these processes exceed 2
eV.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Spontaneous alloying in binary metal microclusters - A molecular dynamics study -
Microcanonical molecular dynamics study of the spontaneous alloying(SA),
which is a manifestation of fast atomic diffusion in a nano-sized metal
cluster, is done in terms of a simple two dimensional binary Morse model.
Important features observed by Yasuda and Mori are well reproduced in our
simulation. The temperature dependence and size dependence of the SA phenomena
are extensively explored by examining long time dynamics. The dominant role of
negative heat of solution in completing the SA is also discussed. We point out
that a presence of melting surface induces the diffusion of core atoms even if
they are solid-like. In other words, the {\it surface melting} at substantially
low temperature plays a key role in attaining the SA.Comment: 15 pages, 12 fgures, Submitted to Phys.Rev.
Classification of phase transitions in small systems
We present a classification scheme for phase transitions in finite systems
like atomic and molecular clusters based on the Lee-Yang zeros in the complex
temperature plane. In the limit of infinite particle numbers the scheme reduces
to the Ehrenfest definition of phase transitions and gives the right critical
indices. We apply this classification scheme to Bose-Einstein condensates in a
harmonic trap as an example of a higher order phase transitions in a finite
system and to small Ar clusters.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
Thermal Degradation of Adsorbed Bottle-Brush Macromolecules: Molecular Dynamics Simulation
The scission kinetics of bottle-brush molecules in solution and on an
adhesive substrate is modeled by means of Molecular Dynamics simulation with
Langevin thermostat. Our macromolecules comprise a long flexible polymer
backbone with segments, consisting of breakable bonds, along with two side
chains of length , tethered to each segment of the backbone. In agreement
with recent experiments and theoretical predictions, we find that bond cleavage
is significantly enhanced on a strongly attractive substrate even though the
chemical nature of the bonds remains thereby unchanged.
We find that the mean bond life time decreases upon adsorption by
more than an order of magnitude even for brush molecules with comparatively
short side chains $N=1 \div 4$. The distribution of scission probability along
the bonds of the backbone is found to be rather sensitive regarding the
interplay between length and grafting density of side chains. The life time
declines with growing contour length as ,
and with side chain length as . The probability
distribution of fragment lengths at different times agrees well with
experimental observations. The variation of the mean length of the
fragments with elapsed time confirms the notion of the thermal degradation
process as a first order reaction.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure
Electronic structure of Cr1-dS (d=0,0.17) with NiAs-type crystal structure
Valence-band and conduction-band electronic structure of CrS (d=0) and Cr5S6
(d=0.17) has been investigated by means of photoemission and
inverse-photoemission spectroscopies. Bandwidth of the valence bands of Cr5S6
(8.5 eV) is wider than that of CrS (8.1 eV), though the Cr 3d partial density
of states evaluated from the Cr 3p-3d resonant photoemission spectroscopy is
almost unchanged between the two compounds with respect to the shapes including
binding energies. The Cr 3d (t2g) exchange splitting energies of CrS and Cr5S6
are determined to be 3.9 and 3.3 eV, respectively.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
- …