Hybrid TiO2 Solar Cells Produced from Aerosolized Nanoparticles of Water-Soluble Polythiophene Electron Donor Layer

Hybrid solar cells (HSCs) with water soluble polythiophene sodium poly[2-(3-thienyl)-ethyloxy-4-butylsulfonate] (PTEBS) thin films produced using electrospray deposition (ESD) were fabricated, tested, and modeled and compared to devices produced using conventional spin coating. A single device structure of FTO/TiO2/PTEBS/Au was used to study the effects of ESD of the PTEBS layer on device performance. ESD was found to increase the short circuit current density (Jsc) by a factor of 2 while decreasing the open circuit voltage (Voc) by half compared to spin coated PTEBS films. Comparable efficiencies of 0.009% were achieved from both device construction types. Current-voltage curves were modeled using the characteristic solar cell equation and showed a similar increase in generated photocurrent with an increase by two orders of magnitude in the saturation current in devices from ESD films. Increases in Jsc are attributed to an increase in the interfacial contact area between the TiO2 and PTEBS layers, while decreases in Voc are attributed to incomplete film formation from ESD

Dual Thermographic Monitoring of Ti-6Al-4V Cylinders During Direct Laser Deposition

Understanding the thermal phenomena associated with Direct Laser Deposition (DLD) is necessary to begin manipulating fabricated part properties. In this study, a thermally monitored Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) system is used with time-invariant (uncontrolled) build parameters to construct Ti-6Al-4V cylinders with two different build paths. Both paths utilize a circular contour with serpentine hatch fill; however, successive layer patterns are varied and the effects compared between 90° and 120° angular pattern shifts. During fabrication, the part’s thermal history and melt pool temperature are recorded via an in-chamber infrared (IR) camera and a dual-wavelength (DW) pyrometer, respectively. These tools are used for non-destructive thermographic inspection (NTI) of the part to ensure target quality and/or microstructure. A unique calibration method for the IR camera utilizing the DW pyrometer data is presented and a calibration correction factor was utilized for high temperature ranges. The melt pool was found to be 40-50% superheated reaching temperatures up to 2500 ºC at times. Temperature characteristics of two different layers were compared for different hatching patters, and the results show that for a given point in time, maximum temperatures can vary based on laser raster. Temperature gradients varied and peaked at about 1000 ºC/mm along the diameter of the small rods. This can lead to anisotropy in microstructural and mechanical properties allowing for unique property growth per build path. Cooling rates within the melt pool appear to increase as maximum melt pool temperature increases, for instance, from 16,000 ºC/s – 41,000 ºC/s.Mechanical Engineerin

Dentin tubule numerical density variations below the CEJ

Aim: To evaluate dentin tubule numerical density variations below the CEJ. Methodology: Three human non-carious permanent canines were sectioned parallel to the CEJ to obtain dentin disks 1 mm thick whose surfaces were 1 mm and 2 mm below the CEJ. Each disk was sectioned into quarters resulting in four segment locations: facial, lingual, mesial, and distal. The outer (PDL side) and inner (pulp side) surfaces of the specimens were shaped to expose dentin with SiC papers and polished. Numerical tubule density was determined from SEM images. All data were statistically analyzed using a three-way ANOVA. Results: The dentin tubule density (number/mm2) ranged from 13,700 to 32,300. Dentin tubule density was relatively uniform at 1 mm and 2 mm below the CEJ and increased by a factor of about two from the outer to the inner surface, which was significantly different (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: The tubule density variations at the cervical root did not present marked

Narrative skills in deaf children who use spoken English: Dissociations between macro and microstructural devices

Previous research has highlighted that deaf children acquiring spoken English have difficulties in narrative development relative to their hearing peers both in terms of macro-structure and with micro-structural devices. The majority of previous research focused on narrative tasks designed for hearing children that depend on good receptive language skills. The current study compared narratives of 6 to 11-year-old deaf children who use spoken English (N=59) with matched for age and non-verbal intelligence hearing peers. To examine the role of general language abilities, single word vocabulary was also assessed. Narratives were elicited by the retelling of a story presented non-verbally in video format. Results showed that deaf and hearing children had equivalent macro-structure skills, but the deaf group showed poorer performance on micro-structural components. Furthermore, the deaf group gave less detailed responses to inferencing probe questions indicating poorer understanding of the story's underlying message. For deaf children, micro-level devices most strongly correlated with the vocabulary measure. These findings suggest that deaf children, despite spoken language delays, are able to convey the main elements of content and structure in narrative but have greater difficulty in using grammatical devices more dependent on finer linguistic and pragmatic skills

Effects of a Tailored Follow-Up Intervention on Health Behaviors, Beliefs, and Attitudes

Background: The high rates of relapse that tend to occur after short-term behavioral interventions indicate the need for maintenance programs that promote long-term adherence to new behavior patterns. Computer-tailored health messages that are mailed to participants or given in brief telephone calls offer an innovative and time-efficient alternative to ongoing face-to-face contact with healthcare providers. Methods: Following a 1-year behavior change program, 22 North Carolina health departments were randomly assigned to a follow-up intervention or control condition. Data were collected from 1999 to 2001 by telephone-administered surveys at preintervention and postintervention for 511 low-income, midlife adult women enrolled in the Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation (WISEWOMAN) program at local North Carolina health departments. During the year after the behavior change program, intervention participants were mailed six sets of computer-tailored health messages and received two computer-tailored telephone counseling sessions. Main outcomes of dietary and physical activity behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes were measured. Results: Intervention participants were more likely to move forward into more advanced stages of physical activity change (p = 0.02); control participants were more likely to increase their level of dietary social support at follow-up (p = 0.05). Both groups maintained low levels of reported saturated fat and cholesterol intake at follow-up. No changes were seen in physical activity in either group. Conclusions: Mailed computer-tailored health messages and telephone counseling calls favorably modified forward physical activity stage movement but did not appreciably affect any other psychosocial or behavioral outcomes

The LSST DESC data challenge 1: Generation and analysis of synthetic images for next-generation surveys

Data Challenge 1 (DC1) is the first synthetic data set produced by the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC). DC1 is designed to develop and validate data reduction and analysis and to study the impact of systematic effects that will affect the LSST data set. DC1 is comprised of r-band observations of 40 deg2 to 10 yr LSST depth. We present each stage of the simulation and analysis process: (a) generation, by synthesizing sources from cosmological N-body simulations in individual sensor-visit images with different observing conditions; (b) reduction using a development version of the LSST Science Pipelines; and (c) matching to the input cosmological catalogue for validation and testing. We verify that testable LSST requirements pass within the fidelity of DC1. We establish a selection procedure that produces a sufficiently clean extragalactic sample for clustering analyses and we discuss residual sample contamination, including contributions from inefficiency in star-galaxy separation and imperfect deblending. We compute the galaxy power spectrum on the simulated field and conclude that: (i) survey properties have an impact of 50 per cent of the statistical uncertainty for the scales and models used in DC1; (ii) a selection to eliminate artefacts in the catalogues is necessary to avoid biases in the measured clustering; and (iii) the presence of bright objects has a significant impact (2-6) in the estimated power spectra at small scales (> 1200), highlighting the impact of blending in studies at small angular scales in LSST

Mass migration of juvenile Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) in the Bahamas

We summarize the available information for a mass migration of juvenile queen conch in the Bahamas. The migration was observed from April through June, 1987 over a large seagrass meadow and adjacent sand-algal plain at 1-5 m depths. Component aggregations ranged from 40-190 m in length and 1-6 m in width, with a maximum density of 319 conch/m2. Migrants averaged 101 mm in shell length, which ranged from 67-145 mm, and were of a similar size as non-migrants in the area The migration was directional towards ebb tidal flow and moved approximately 250 m, at rates of 2.7 - 4.8 m/d, from April until its dissociation in June. Given the characteristics of the migrants and aggregations, we conclude that a key function of the mass migration was as a dispersal mechanism for asynchronously emerged l+ year class of juvenile queen conch; other potential functions include reduction of predation-induced mortality and efficient utilization of food resources