Adhesion of perfume-filled microcapsules to model fabric surfaces

The retention and adhesion of melamine formaldehyde (MF) microcapsules on a model fabric surface in aqueous solution were investigated using a customised flow chamber technique and atomic force microscopy (AFM). A cellulose film was employed as a model fabric surface. Modification of the cellulose with chitosan was found to increase the retention and adhesion of microcapsules on the model fabric surface. The AFM force–displacement data reveal that bridging forces resulting from the extension of cellulose chains dominate the adhesion between the microcapsule and the unmodified cellulose film, whereas electrostatic attraction helps the microcapsules adhere to the chitosan-modified cellulose film. The correlation between results obtained using these two complementary techniques suggests that the flow chamber device can be potentially used for rapid screening of the effect of chemical modification on the adhesion of microparticles to surfaces, reducing the time required to achieve an optimal formulation

Fluorescent Discrimination between Traces of Chemical Warfare Agents and Their Mimics

An array of fluorogenic probes is able to discriminate between nerve agents, sarin, soman, tabun, VX and their mimics, in water or organic solvent, by qualitative fluorescence patterns and quantitative multivariate analysis, thus making the system suitable for the inthe- field detection of traces of chemical warfare agents as well as to differentiate between the real nerve agents and other related compounds.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain (Project CTQ2012- 31611), Junta de Castilla y León, Consejería de Educación y Cultura y Fondo Social Europeo (Project BU246A12-1), the European Commission, Seventh Framework Programme (Project SNIFFER FP7-SEC-2012-312411) and the Swedish Ministry of Defence (no. A403913

Credit Risk Modeling and Implementation

The financial crisis and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008 lead to harder regulations for the banking industry which included larger capital reserves for the banks. One of the parts that contributed to this increased capital reserve was the the credit valuation adjustment capital charge which can be explained as the market value of the counterparty default risk. The purpose of the credit valuation adjustment capital charge is to capitalize the risk of future changes in the market value of the counterparty default risk. One financial contract that had a key role in the financial crisis was the credit default swap. A credit default swap involves three different parts, a contract seller, a contract buyer and a reference entity. The credit default swap can be seen as an insurance against a credit event, a default for example of the reference entity. This thesis focuses on the study and calculation of the credit valuation adjustment of credit default swaps. The credit valuation adjustment on a credit default swap can be implemented with two different assumptions. In the first case, the seller (buyer) of the contract is assumed to be default risk free and then only the buyer (seller) contributes to the default risk. In the second case, both the seller and the buyer of the contract is assumed to be default risky and therefore, both parts contributes to the default risk.Finanskrisen och Lehman Brothers konkurs 2008 ledde till hårdare regleringar för banksektorn som bland annat innefattade krav på större kapitalreserver för bankerna. En del som bidrog till denna ökning av kapitalreserverna var kreditvärdighetsjusteringens kapitalkrav som kan förklaras som marknadsvärdet av motpartsrisken. Syftet med kreditvärdighetsjusteringens kapitalkrav är att kapitalisera risken för framtida förändringar i marknadsvärdet av motpartsrisken. Ett derivat som hade en nyckelroll under finanskrisen var kreditswappen. En kreditswap innefattar tre parter, en säljare, en köpare och ett referensföretag. Kreditswappen kan ses som en försäkring mot en kredithändelse, till exempel en konkurs på referensföretaget. Detta arbete fokuserar på studier och beräkningar av kreditvärdesjusteringen på kreditswappar. Kreditvärdesjusteringen på en kreditswap kan implementeras med två olika antaganden. I det första fallet antas säljaren (köparen) vara riskfri och då bidrar bara köparen (säljaren) till konkursrisken. I det andra fallet antas både säljaren och köparen bidra till konkursrisken

Strontium Isotopes - A Tracer for River Suspended Iron Aggregates

The Kalix River shows distinct temporal variations in the Sr-isotope ratio in filtered water (0.726 to 0.732). During base flow in winter the 87Sr/86Sr ratio is on average 0.730. When discharge increases and peaks during spring flood the 87Sr/86Sr ratio shows the most radiogenic (0.732) values. The temporal variations in the 87Sr/86Sr ratio in the Kalix River can be explained by mixing of water from the woodlands and the mountain areas. During high water discharge in May the 87Sr/86Sr ratios are more radiogenic in the suspended phase (1 kDa - 70 µm) compared to the truly dissolved phase (<1 kDa). The difference in 87Sr/86Sr ratio between the two phases (Δ 87Sr/86Sr) is linearly correlated with the suspended iron concentration. During spring flood Sr and Fe derived from an additional source, reach the river. Deep groundwater has a more radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratio than the Kalix River during spring flood and thus, represents a possible source for the suspended Fe and the associated Sr. Strontium can be coprecipitated with and adsorbed to different types of Fe aggregates. We propose that the Sr-isotope ratio in the suspended phase reflects the isotopic composition of the water at the interface between anoxic groundwater and oxic stream water in the riparian zone, where the Fe aggregates are formed. These particles dominate the suspended phase in the river and the mixing with mountain waters, poor in Fe, produces the difference in the isotopic signature. The different signatures in suspended and truly dissolved fraction indicate that these aggregates are relatively stable during stream-river transport. As such the 87Sr/86Sr can be used to trace the origin of the non-detrital suspended phase.MetTran

Fluorescent Discrimination between Traces of Chemical Warfare Agents and Their Mimics

An array of fluorogenic probes is able to discriminate between nerve agents, sarin, soman, tabun, VX and their mimics, in water or organic solvent, by qualitative fluorescence patterns and quantitative multivariate analysis, thus making the system suitable for the in-the-field detection of traces of chemical warfare agents as well as to differentiate between the real nerve agents and other related compounds