Thin-film analyses of silicate standards at 200 kv : the effect of temperature on element loss

Preliminary data is presented on a detailed statistical analysis of k-factor determination for a single class of minerals (amphiboles) which contain a wide range of element concentrations. These amphiboles are homogeneous, contain few (if any) subsolidus microstructures and can be readily prepared for thin film analysis. In previous studies, element loss during the period of irradiation has been assumed negligible for the determination of k-factors. Since this phenomena may be significant for certain mineral systems, we also report on the effect of temperature on k-factor determination for various elements using small probe sizes (approx.20 nm).

Intercalation of kaolins by alkaline earth metal salts

A suite of new materials, based on chemical modification of kaolins, has been successfully prepared via manipulation of the kaolin structure and subsequent intercalation by CaCl2 and MgCl2. A standard kaolinite(KGa-1)and a commercially available halloysite (New Zealand china clay) were used for this study. The kaolins are given several cycles of intercalation and deintercalation using a common intercalant such as potassium acetate. The number of cycles given depends on the type of kaolin. After this treatment, both kaolinite and halloysite hydrate show considerable broadening of the (00l) reflections which indicate extensive exfoliation of the layers. In the case of kaolinite, exfoliated layers roll to form tubes similar to proper halloysite. Kaolins modified by the above treatment readily intercalate MgCl2 and CaCl2 from saturated solutions of these salts. On intercalation with CaCl2 and MgCl2, kaolinite layers expand to 10A and 9.8A, and those of halloysite to 12.8A and 15.5A, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first report of successful intercalation of alkaline-earth halides by kaolins.

Licensed to sell : product placement in the James Bond film series

As one of the longest running franchises in cinema history, and with its well-established use of product placements, the James Bond film series provides an ideal framework within which to measure and catalogue the number and types of products used within a particular timeframe. This case study will draw upon extensive content analysis of the James Bond film series in order to chart the evolution of product placement across the franchise's 50 year history.

First-principles prediction of metal-free magnetism and intrinsic half-metallicity in graphitic carbon nitride

Transition metal-free magnetism and half-metallicity recently has been the subject of intense research activity due to its potential in spintronics application. Here we, for the first time, demonstrate via density functional theory that the most recently experimentally realized graphitic carbon nitride (g-C4N3) displays a ferromagnetic ground state. Furthermore, this novel material is predicted to possess an intrinsic half-metallicity never reported to date. Our results highlight a new promising material toward realistic metal-free spintronics application.

The International Film and Television School in Cuba : for a stronger media culture in the global south

A little-known facet of Cuban internationalism is the Cuba shares in the education of young people who want to help build a stronger media culture that represents voices from the global South. Cuba was instrumental in the establishment and operation of the International Film and Television School at San Antonio de los Baños. The Cuban government provided the location and buildings for the school, and among the range of international media professionals who teach the students are selected Cuban professors from the Institute of the Arts, based n Havana. The International Film and Television School is supported by funding from Spain and other countries, and by the willingness of international media professionals to teach short courses for little more than an honorarium. Cuba used to provide full scholarships for student from the South to study a two-year course in film or television, but now charges fees for its three-year diploma course.

Low temperature response of nanostructured tungsten oxide thin films toward hydrogen and ethanol

Semiconducting metal oxide based gas sensors usually operate in the temperature range 200–500 °C. In this paper, we present a new WO3 thin film based gas sensor for H2 and C2H5OH, operating at 150 °C. Nanostructured WO3 thin films were synthesized by thermal evaporation method. The properties of the as-deposited films were modified by annealing in air at 300 °C and 400 °C. Various analytical techniques such as AFM, TEM, XPS, XRD and Raman spectroscopy have been employed to characterize their properties. A clear indication from TEM and XRD analysis is that the as-deposited WO3 films are highly amorphous and no improvement is observed in the crystallinity of the films after annealing at 300 °C. Annealing at 400 °C significantly improved the crystalline properties of the films with the formation of about 5 nm grains. The films annealed at 300 °C show no response to C2H5OH (ethanol) and a little response to H2, with maximum response obtained at 280 °C. The films annealed at 400 °C show a very good response to H2 and a moderate response to C2H5OH (ethanol) at 150 °C. XPS analysis revealed that annealing of the WO3 thin films at 400 °C produces a significant change in stoichiometry, increasing the number of oxygen vacancies in the film, which is highly beneficial for gas sensing. Our results demonstrate that gas sensors with significant performance at low operating temperatures can be obtained by annealing the WO3 films at 400 °C and optimizing the crystallinity and nanostructure of the as-deposited films.

Nanoporous Graphitic-C3N4@Carbon Metal-Free Electrocatalysts for Highly Efficient Oxygen Reduction

Based on theoretical prediction, a g-C3N4@carbon metal-free oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalyst was designed and synthesized by uniform incorporation of g-C3N4 into a mesoporous carbon to enhance the electron transfer efficiency of g-C3N4. The resulting g-C3N4@carbon composite exhibited competitive catalytic activity (11.3 mA cm–2 kinetic-limiting current density at −0.6 V) and superior methanol tolerance compared to a commercial Pt/C catalyst. Furthermore, it demonstrated significantly higher catalytic efficiency (nearly 100% of four-electron ORR process selectivity) than a Pt/C catalyst. The proposed synthesis route is facile and low-cost, providing a feasible method for the development of highly efficient electrocatalysts.

Explaining Pathe's global dominance in the pre-Hollywood film industry

For almost a decade before Hollywood existed, French firm Pathe towered over the early film industry with estimates of its share of all films sold around the world varying between 50-70%. This paper analyses Pathe’s rise to market leadership by applying a theoretical framework drawn from the business literature on causes of industry dominance, that provides insights into how firms acquire and maintain market dominance. This paper uses evidence presented by film historians to argue that Pathe “fits” the expected theoretical model of the dominant firm because it had a marketing orientation, used an effective quality- based competitive strategy and possessed the six critical strategic marketing capabilities that business research shows enable the best performing firms to consistently outperform rivals.

Triple Helix: Film Noir, Neo Noir and Los Angeles – imagining history and remembering the future in the most contemporary city

Modern and Postmodern Los Angeles is examined through the lens of film noir and neo noir. The unique relationship between the city of Los Angeles and cinema is discussed in terms of a historiography emphasizing the role played by these defining film styles and genres. The research draws and extends on the work conducted by Edward Dimendberg, Paula Rabinowitz and Mike Davis, and urban theory approaches associated with the Los Angeles School of Urbanism.

A comparison study on hydrogen sensing performance of Pt/MoO3 nanoplatelets coated with a thin layer of Ta2O5 or La2O3

In this work, we investigate how hydrogen sensing performance of thermally evaporated MoO3 nanoplatelets can be further improved by RF sputtering a thin layer of tantalum oxide (Ta2O5) or lanthanum oxide (La2O3). We show that dissociated hydrogen atoms cause the thin film layer to be polarised, inducing a measurable potential difference greater than that as reported previously. We attribute these observations to the presence of numerous traps in the thin layer; their states allow a stronger trapping of charge at the Pt-thin film oxide interface as compared to the MoO3 sensors without the coating. Under exposure to H2 (10 000 ppm) the maximum change in dielectric constant of 45.6 (at 260 °C) for the Ta2O5/MoO3 nanoplatelets and 31.6 (at 220 °C) for La2O3/MoO3 nanoplatelets. Subsequently, the maximum sensitivity for the Ta2O5/MoO3 is 16.87 (at 260 °C) and La2O3/MoO3 is 7.52 (at 300 °C).

Pt/ZnO/SiC thin film for hydrogen gas sensing

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is one of the most promising electronic and photonic materials to date. In this work, we present an enhanced ZnO Schottky gas sensor deposited on SiC substrates in comparison to those reported previously in literature. The performance of ZnO/SiC based Schottky thin film gas sensors produced a forward lateral voltage shift of 12.99mV and 111.87mV in response to concentrations of hydrogen gas at 0.06% and 1% in air at optimum temperature of 330 ºC. The maximum change in barrier height was calculated as 37.9 meV for 1% H2 sensing operation at the optimum temperature.

A water-dielectric capacitor using hydrated graphene oxide film

Despite the widespread use of paper, plastic or ceramics in dielectric capacitors, water has not been commonly used as a dielectric due to its tendency to become conductive as it easily leaches ions from the environment. We show here that when water is confined between graphene oxide sheets, it can retain its insulating nature and behave as a dielectric. A hydrated graphene oxide film was used as a dielectric spacer to construct a prototype water-dielectric capacitor. The capacitance depends on the water content of the hydrated GO film as well as the voltage applied to the device. Our results show that the capacitance per unit area of the GO film is in the range of 100–800 mF cm �2, which is 5–40 times that of the double layer capacitance per surface area of activated carbon.

Gravity-driven fingering simulations for a thin liquid film flowing down the outside of a vertical cylinder

A numerical study is presented to examine the fingering instability of a gravity-driven thin liquid film flowing down the outer wall of a vertical cylinder. The lubrication approximation is employed to derive an evolution equation for the height of the film, which is dependent on a single parameter, the dimensionless cylinder radius. This equation is identified as a special case of that which describes thin film flow down an inclined plane. Fully three-dimensional simulations of the film depict a fingering pattern at the advancing contact line. We find the number of fingers observed in our simulations to be in excellent agreement with experimental observations and a linear stability analysis reported recently by Smolka & SeGall (Phys Fluids 23, 092103 (2011)). As the radius of the cylinder decreases, the modes of perturbation have an increased growth rate, thus increasing cylinder curvature partially acts to encourage the contact line instability. In direct competition with this behaviour, a decrease in cylinder radius means that fewer fingers are able to form around the circumference of the cylinder. Indeed, for a sufficiently small radius, a transition is observed, at which point the contact line is stable to transverse perturbations of all wavenumbers. In this regime, free surface instabilities lead to the development of wave patterns in the axial direction, and the flow features become perfectly analogous to the two-dimensional flow of a thin film down an inverted plane as studied by Lin & Kondic (Phys Fluids 22, 052105 (2010)). Finally, we simulate the flow of a single drop down the outside of the cylinder. Our results show that for drops with low volume, the cylinder curvature has the effect of increasing drop speed and hence promoting the phenomenon of pearling. On the other hand, drops with much larger volume evolve to form single long rivulets with a similar shape to a finger formed in the aforementioned simulations.

CASNS - A heuristic algorithm for the nesting of irregular-shaped sheet-metal blanks

This article reports on the design and implementation of a computer-aided sheet nesting system (CASNS) for the nesting of two-dimensional irregular-shaped sheet-metal blanks on a given sheet stock or coil stock. The system is designed by considering several constraints of sheet-metal stamping operations, such as bridge width and grain orientation, and design requirements such as maximizing the strength of the part hen subsequent bending is involved, minimization of scrap, and economic justification for'a single or multiple station operation. Through many practical case studies, the system proves its efficiency, effectiveness and usefulness.

CADDS: an automated die design system for sheet-metal blanking

This article reports on the design and implementation of a Computer-Aided Die Design System (CADDS) for sheet-metal blanks. The system is designed by considering several factors, such as the complexity of blank geometry, reduction in scrap material, production requirements, availability of press equipment and standard parts, punch profile complexity, and tool elements manufacturing method. The interaction among these parameters and how they affect designers' decision patterns is described. The system is implemented by interfacing AutoCAD with the higher level languages FORTRAN 77 and AutoLISP. A database of standard die elements is created by parametric programming, which is an enhanced feature of AutoCAD. The greatest advantage achieved by the system is the rapid generation of the most efficient strip and die layouts, including information about the tool configuration.