Characterization of paralic paleoenvironments using benthic foraminifera from early Cretaceous deposits (Scotian Shelf)

Abstrac

Imaging photomultiplier array with integrated amplifiers and high-speed USB interface

Multianode photomultiplier tube (PMT) arrays are finding application as convenient high-speed light sensitive devices for plasma imaging. This paper describes the development of a USB-based "plug-n-play" 16-channel PMT camera with 16 bits simultaneous acquisition of 16 signal channels at rates up to 2 MSs per channel. The preamplifiers and digital hardware are packaged in a compact housing which incorporates magnetic shielding, on-board generation of the high-voltage PMT bias, an optical filter mount and slits, and F-mount lens adaptor. Triggering, timing, and acquisition are handled by four field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) under instruction from a master FPGA controlled by a computer with a LABVIEW interface. We present technical design details and specifications and illustrate performance with high-speed images obtained on the H-1 heliac at the ANU

A multichannel magnetic probe system for analysing magnetic fluctuations in helical axis plasmas

The need to understand the structure of magnetic fluctuations in H-1NF heliac [S. Hamberger et al., Fusion Technol. 17, 123 (1990)] plasmas has motivated the installation of a sixteen former, tri-axis helical magnetic probe Mirnov array (HMA). The new array complements two existing poloidal Mirnov arrays by providing polarisation information, higher frequency response, and improved toroidal resolution. The helical placement is ideal for helical axis plasmas because it positions the array as close as possible to the plasma in regions of varying degrees of favourable curvature in the magnetohydrodynamic sense, but almost constant magnetic angle. This makes phase variation with probe position near linear, greatly simplifying the analysis of the data. Several of the issues involved in the design, installation, data analysis, and calibration of this unique array are presented including probe coil design, frequency response measurements, mode number identification, orientation calculations, and mapping probe coil positions to magnetic coordinates. Details of specially designed digitally programmable pre-amplifiers, which allow gains and filters to be changed as part of the data acquisition initialisation sequence and stored with the probe signals, are also presented. The low shear heliac geometry [R. Jiménez-Gómez et al., Nucl. Fusion 51, 033001 (2011)], flexibility of the H-1NF heliac, and wealth of information provided by the HMA create a unique opportunity for detailed study of Alfvén eigenmodes, which could be a serious issue for future fusion reactors.This work was supported by the Education Investment Fund under the Super Science Initiative of the Australian Government. S.R.H. wishes to thank AINSE Ltd. for providing financial assistance to enable this work on H-1NF to be conducted

Dual Stimuli-Responsive Polysaccharide Hydrogels Manufactured by Radiation Technique

Featured Application Stimuli-responsive hydrogels encompassing biobased polymers are anticipated for utilization in various fields, starting from drug delivery systems through temporal actuators and water reservoirs to biodegradable microelements and nutrient delivery depots. This paper describes the results of the radiation-induced crosslinking of polysaccharides modified with hydroxypropyl and carboxymethyl functional groups, hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), respectively, without and with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) as a crosslinking agent, to obtain dual stimuli-responsive hydrogels. The gels were characterized in terms of water uptake and gel fraction, parameters that mainly depend on the HPC-CMC compositions, but also on the macromer crosslinker content and the absorbed dose. The swelling of hydrogels is controlled by both the temperature, due to the amphiphilic character of HPC and pH, due to the anionic functional groups of CMC. In spite of a similar degree of substitution in both cellulose derivatives, 1.4 for HPC and 1.2 for CMC, the pH response of hydrogels with an equal content of both polysaccharides is considerably higher-a reduction in swelling of up to 95% with a decrease in the pH to 2 was recorded-than the response to thermal-stimulus-wherein a reduction in swelling of less than 70% with an increasing in temperature to 55 degrees C was found. These biopolymers-based hydrogels of specific, stimuli-responsive swelling properties are anticipated in applications where a combination of two stimuli is essential and biodegradation may be required