Formation of dynamic duolayer systems at the air/water interface by using non-ionic hydrophilic polymers

The inclusion of a water-soluble polymer, poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP), into a surface active film composition before application to the water surface leads to the formation of a dynamic duolayer; a novel surface film system. This duolayer shows improved surface viscosity over the monolayer compound alone, while the addition of polymer maintains other film properties such as evaporation control and equilibrium spreading pressure. Brewster Angle Microscopy shows that the duolayer film undergoes a different formation mechanism upon film compression, and the resultant surface pressure/area isotherm is different at lower surface pressures indicating the PVP is present on the water surface at these pressures and squeezed out to the water subphase at higher pressures. The addition of water-soluble polymers to form a dynamic duolayer provides a unique way to produce defect-free and tightly packed films while polymer is associated with the film. This finding provides new knowledge for the design of surface films with improved properties with potential applications in many areas.

Bleaching and dyeing of superfine wool powder/polypropylene blend film

Fibers based regenerated protein draw much attention for recycling discarded protein resources and can produce biodegradable and environmental friendly polymers. In this study, superfine wool powder is blended with polypropylene (PP) to produce wool powder/PP blend film through extrusion and hot-pressing. Hydrogen peroxide is used to bleach the black colored surface of the blend films. The effects of peroxide concentration, bleaching time and powder content on the final whiteness and mechanical properties of the blend films are investigated.

The bleached films are dyed with acid red dyes and the dyed color is evaluated using a Computer Color Matching System. Color characters of dyed films, such as L*, a*, b*, ΔE*ab, C*ab and K/S values are measured and analyzed. The study not only reuses discarded wool resources into organic powder, widens the application of superfine wool powder on polymers, but also improves the dyeing properties of PP through the addition of protein content.

Perceptions and personality : a viewer-centred approach to film violence research

This thesis took a viewer-centred approach to the study of media violence. The findings indicated that viewer perceptions and personality mediate the affective, cognitive and arousal responses of viewers. The importance of the viewer perception and personality examined in this thesis also differed as a function of gender and age. The portfolio focused on the current Victorian correctional system's response to, and attempts to rehabilitate, convicted sexual offenders. It presents four case studies to demonstrate how the Victorian Sexual Offender Treatment Program attempts to apply empirically validated "best practice" principles of offender rehabilitation.

Preparation, characterization and dielectric properties of temperature stable SrTiO3/PEEK composites for microwave substrate applications

Poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) is a potential candidate for electronic applications due to its low permittivity, low loss, high melting point, better chemical resistance, excellent insulating properties and easy processibility. Present paper discusses the preparation and characterization of SrTiO3 filled PEEK composite for microwave substrate applications. The dielectric constant, dielectric loss and temperature variation of dielectric constant of the composites have been studied up to 1 MHz using an Impedance Analyzer. Different theoretical approaches have been employed to predict the effective permittivity of composite systems and the results are compared with that of the experimental data. The crystallinity of the bulk composite is studied by X-ray diffraction studies. Scanning electron microscopic technique has been employed to study the dispersion of the particulate filler in PEEK matrix. Vickers hardness of pure and filled PEEK composite has been measured using Microhardness Tester. The effect of particle size on the dielectric as well as mechanical properties of SrTiO3/PEEK composite system is also studied by incorporating micronsize and nanosize fillers. Present study shows that a temperature stable composite can be realized by judiciously selecting appropriate filler concentration in the PEEK matrix.

Optical phase change at the interface between mica and thin silver film

We describe a simple experiment which allows unequivocal determination of optical phase change upon reflection of light at the mica-silver interface. While the physical origin of such a phase change at the dielectric-metal interface is well understood to lie in absorption of electromagnetic energy by the metal, inconsistency and ambiguity has persisted as to what its sign and magnitude should be in the field of thin film optics. Most commonly, it has been assigned to be negative for mathematical convenience or just arbitrarily. Our finding shows that with the convention exp(-iωt) for time dependence of the electromagnetic wave, the phase change at the interface between mica and the thin silver film is necessarily positive and its magnitude falls between π and 3π/2 for silver thicknesses down to nanometres. This gives a physically reasonable correspondence to an increased equivalent thickness of the dielectric material, and it clarifies the assignment of interference orders in the harmonic series in a spectrum.

Analysis of environmental sounds as indexical signs in film

In this paper, we investigate the problem of classifying a subset of environmental sounds in movie audio tracks that indicate specific indexical semiotic use. These environmental sounds are used to signify and enhance events occurring in film scenes. We propose a classification system for detecting the presence of violence and car chase scenes in film by classifying ten various environmental sounds that form the constituent audio events of these scenes using a number of old and new audio features. Experiments with our classification system on pure test sounds resulted in a correct event classification rate of 88.9%. We also present the results of the classifier on the mixed audio tracks of several scenes taken from The Mummy and Lethal Weapon 2. The classification of sound events is the first step towards determining the presence of the complex sound scenes within film audio and describing the thematic content of the scenes.

Detecting indexical signs in film audio for scene interpretation

In this paper, we study the sound tracks in films and their indexical semiotic usage by developing a classification system that detects complex sound scenes and their constituent sound events in cinema. We investigate two main issues in this paper: Determination of what constitutes the presence of a high level sound scene and inferences about the thematic content of the scene that can be drawn from this presence, and classification of environmental sounds in the audio track of the scene, to assist in the automatic detection of the high level scene. Experiments with our classification system on pure sounds resulted in a correct event classification rate of 88.9%. When the audio content of a number of film scenes was examined, though a lower accuracy resulted with sound event detection due to the presence of mixed sounds, the film audio samples were generally classified with the correct high-level sound scene label, enabling correct inferences about the story content of the scenes.

Multi-layer implantable antenna for closed loop deep brain stimulation system

A multi-layer circular planar inverted-F antenna is designed and simulated at the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band of 915 MHz for closed loop deep brain stimulation implant. The ISM band is considered due to the capabilities of small antenna size, high data rate, and long transmission range. In the proposed four-layer antenna, the top three radiating layers are meandered, and a high permittivity substrate and superstrate materials are used to limit the radius and the height of the antenna to 3.5 mm and 2.2 mm, respectively. The bottom layer works as a ground plate. The Roger RO3210 of εr = 10.2 and δ = 0.003 is used as a dielectric substrate and superstrate. The resonance frequency of the proposed antenna is 915 MHz with a bandwidth of 12 MHz at the return loss of -10 dB in free space. The stacked layered structure reduces the antenna size, and the circular shape makes it easily implantable into the human head. The antenna parameters (e.g. 3D gain pattern), SAR value, and electric field distribution within a six layers spherical head model are evaluated by using the finite element method (FEM). The feasibility of the wireless transmission of power, control and command signal to the implant in the human head is also examined. © 2012 IEEE.

On film character retrieval in feature-length films

The problem of automatic face recognition (AFR) concerns matching a detected (roughly localized) face against a database of known faces with associated identities. This task, although very intuitive to humans and despite the vast amounts of research behind it, still poses a significant challenge to computer-based methods. For reviews of the literature and commercial state-of-the-art see [21, 372] and [252, 253]. Much AFR research has concentrated on the user authentication paradigm (e.g. [10, 30, 183]). In contrast, we consider the content-based multimedia retrieval setup: our aim is to retrieve, and rank by confidence, film shots based on the presence of specific actors. A query to the system consists of the user choosing the person of interest in one or more keyframes.

Human passive motions and a user-friendly energy harvesting system

Energy harvesting for wireless sensors and consumer electronic devices can significantly improve reliability and environmental sustainability of the devices. This is achieved by eliminating the dependency of these devices on rechargeable batteries, using clean and/or renewable energy sources. Energy harvesting from various energy sources is widely discussed among researchers and entrepreneurs, including harvesting energy from microscale phenomena. This topic is receiving increasing attention due to the rising numbers of low-power consumer electronic devices and wireless sensors, but also the increasing demand for more convenient and available devices. This article presents a feasibility study for an energy harvesting system based on a human's breathing motion. The system is based on a modified pants belt that is integrated with an array of piezoelectric films and a harvesting circuit. The proposed energy harvester generates electricity from reciprocal abdominal motions of the human subject. In comparison with existing breathing-based energy harvesters, the proposed system allows for safe and convenient energy harvesting with no influence on the natural movement of the lungs. Stomach pressure analysis and measurement, as well as the design and simulations of the proposed harvester, are presented. © 2013 The Author(s).

Graphene quantum dots directly generated from graphite via magnetron sputtering and the application in thin-film transistors

This work presents a novel method to prepare graphene quantum dots (GQDs) directly from graphite. A composite film of GQDs and ZnO was first prepared using the composite target of graphite and ZnO via magnetron sputtering, followed with hydrochloric acid treatment and dialysis. Morphology and optical properties of the GQDs were investigated using a number of techniques. The as-prepared GQDs are 4-12 nm in size and 1-2 nm in thickness. They also exhibited typical excitation-dependent properties as expected in carbon-based quantum dots. To demonstrate the potential applications of GQDs in electronic devices, pure ZnO and GQD-ZnO thin-film transistors (TFTs) using ZrOx dielectric were fabricated and examined. The ZnO TFT incorporating the GQDs exhibited enhanced performance: an on/off current ratio of 1.7 × 107, a field-effect mobility of 17.7 cm2/Vs, a subthreshold swing voltage of 90 mV/decade. This paper provides an efficient, reproducible and eco-friendly approach for the preparation of monodisperse GQDs directly from graphite. Our results suggest that GQDs fabricated using magnetron sputtering method may envision promising applications in electronic devices.

Evaluation of an evaporation suppressing monolayer system in a controlled wave tank environment: a pilot investigation

Due to long-term drought conditions coupled with the apparent influence of global warming, compounding water loss has been a very serious issue across the vast majority of the Australian continent. During these drought conditions, the evaporative effect outweighs the amount of precipitation being received on a year to year basis. Several methods have been introduced in recent history to inhibit the amount of evaporative loss from various types of water bodies such as the application of thin layer chemical films (monolayers). A series of solvent, solid and suspension derived prototype monolayers, based on ethylene glycol monooctadecyl ether (C18E1), are examined in this current study as an approach to eliminate the problems seen to occur with the previous types of monolayers. This research evaluates the fundamental effect of wind and wave based activity upon these prototype monolayers in an atmospherically controlled enclosure positioned over a large extended water tank using real-time environmental measurements. Selected performance results for the prototype monolayers as measured within the enclosed water tank were compared to results measured from a control monolayer film based on a commonly used octadecanol suspension film. The results show that under varying wind and wave conditions the prototype monolayers inhibit evaporation at a level similar to or better than the octadecanol standard, even when delivered at lower raw dosages.

Material damage: 4 projector film performance

Dirk de Bruyn’s expanded cinema performances engage the æsthetics of process at a number of levels. At the core of these performances are several of three- or four-screen, essentially abstract films of the same duration which comment upon and echo each other in a constant interplay of flicker-like positive and negative imagery. The soundtrack of the films works in a related way: the same or similar words and sound fragments are overlayed, or are repeated in an absurd call-and-answer pattern running from one speaker to another. This overall design or formal system is then set into play and relativised in the live event through a number of treatment-techniques. Reels are placed out of order or interspliced with other short films or fragments of found footage or tests, the bulb of one or more projectors can be occasionally turned off while the soundtrack continues, or the projector can be stopped altogether, extending, stretching out or disrupting completely the apparent synchrony between each screen and soundtrack. The light beam of each projector is filtered, distorted, split and multiplied using hand-held colour gels, plastic bottles, prisms and mirrors, or else silhouetted or blocked completely with the artist’s own hands and body. The projectors themselves can be inverted, turned around or physically transported across the space, mixing and overlaying the imagery, animating different areas of the performance environment and transforming the body of the audience itself into a screen medium.