The Perception of Light: Understanding Architectural Lighting Design

Light is essential to life and vision; without light, nothing exists. It plays a pivotal role in the world of architectural design and is used to generate all manner of perceptions that enhance the designed environment experience. But what are the fundamental elements that designers rely upon to generate light enhanced experiences? How are people’s perceptions influenced by designed light schemas? In this book Dr. Marisha McAuliffe highlights the relationship that exists between light source and surface and how both create quality of effect in the built environment. Concepts relating to architectural lighting design history, theories, research, and generation of lighting design schemes to create optimal experiences in architecture, interior architecture and design are all explored in detail. This book is essential reading for both the student and the professional working in architectural lighting, particularly in terms of qualitative perception oriented lighting design

Trap-State Dynamics in Visible-Light-Emitting ZnO:MgO Nanocrystals

Oleate-capped ZnO:MgO nanocrystals have been synthesized that are soluble in nonpolar solvents and which emit strongly in the visible region (450−600 nm) on excitation by UV radiation. The visible emission involves recombination of trap states of the nanocrystalline ZnO core and has a higher quantum yield than the band gap UV exciton emission. The spectrally resolved dynamics of the trap states have been investigated by time-resolved emission spectroscopy. The time-evolution of the photoluminescence spectra show that there are, in fact, two features in the visible emission whose relative importance and efficiencies vary with time. These features originate from recombination involving trapped electrons and holes, respectively, and with efficiencies that depend on the occupancy of the trap density of states.

Single atom (Pd/Pt) supported on graphitic carbon nitride as efficient photocatalyst for visible-light reduction of carbon dioxide

Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) to hydrocarbon fuel with solar energy is significant for high-density solar energy storage and carbon balance. In this work, single palladium/platinum (Pd/Pt) atoms supported on graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), i.e. Pd/g-C3N4 and Pt/g-C3N4, acting as photocatalysts for CO2 reduction were investigated by density function theory (DFT) calcu-lations for the first time. During CO2 reduction, the individual metal atoms function as the active sites, while g-C3N4 provides the source of hydrogen (H*) from hydrogen evolution reaction. The complete, as-designed photocatalysts exhibit excellent activity in CO2 reduction. HCOOH is the preferred product of CO2 reduction on the Pd/g-C3N4 catalyst with a rate-determining barrier of 0.66 eV, while the Pt/g-C3N4 catalyst prefers to reduce CO2 to CH4 with a rate-determining barrier of 1.16 eV. In addition, depositing atom catalysts on g-C3N4 significantly enhances the visible light absorption, rendering them ideal for visible light reduction of CO2. Our findings open a new avenue of CO2 reduction for renewable energy supply.

Investigation of true remnant polarization response in heterostructured artificial biferroics

Epitaxial bilayered thin films composed of ferromagnetic La0.6Sr0.4MnO3 and ferroelectric 0.7Pb (Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.3(PbTiO3) were fabricated on LaAlO3 (100) substrates by pulsed laser ablation. Ferroelectric, ferromagnetic and magneto-dielectric characterizations performed earlier indicated the possible existence of strain-mediated magneto-electric coupling in these biferroic heterostructures. In order to investigate their true remnant polarization characteristics, usable in devices, room-temperature polarization versus electric field, positive-up negative-down (PUND) pulse polarization studies and remnant hysteresis measurements were carried out. The PUND and remnant hysteresis measurements revealed the significant contribution of the non-remnant component in the observed polarization hysteresis response of these heterostructures. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd

Scattering polarization in the presence of magnetic and electric fields

The polarization of radiation by scattering on an atom embedded in combined external quadrupole electric and uniform magnetic fields is studied theoretically. Limiting cases of scattering under Zeeman effect, and Hanle effect in weak magnetic fields are discussed. The theory is general enough to handle scattering in intermediate magnetic fields (Hanle-Zeeman effect) and for arbitrary orientation of magnetic field. The quadrupolar electric field produces asymmetric line shifts, and causes interesting level-crossing phenomena either in the absence of an ambient magnetic field, or in its presence. It is shown that the quadrupolar electric field produces an additional depolarization in the Q/I profiles and rotation of the plane of polarization in the U/I profile over and above that arising from magnetic field itself. This characteristic may have a diagnostic potential to detect steady-state and time-varying electric fields that surround radiating atoms in solar atmospheric layers. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ion Transport in a Polymer-Plastic Solid Soft Matter Electrolyte in the Light of Solvent Dynamics and Ion Association

Ion transport in a recently demonstrated promising soft matter solid plastic-polymer electrolyte is discussed here in the context of solvent dynamics and ion association. The plastic-polymer composite electrolytes display liquid-like ionic conductivity in the solid state,compliable mechanical strength (similar to 1 MPa), and wide electrochemical voltage stability (>= 5 V). Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) dispersed in lithium perchlorate (LiClO4)-succinonitrile (SN) was chosen as the model system for the study (abbreviated LiClO4-SN:PAN). Systematic observation of various mid-infrared isomer and ion association bands as a function of temperature and polyme concentration shows an effective increase in trans conformer concentration along with free Li+ ion concentration. This strongly supports the view that enhancement in LiClO4-SN:PAN ionic conductivity over the neat plastic electrolyte (LiClO4-SN) is due to both increase in charge mobility and concentration. The ionic conductivity and infrared spectroscopy studies are supported by Brillouin light scattering. For the LiClO4-SN:PAN composites, a peak at 17 GHz was observed in addition to the normal trans-gauche isomerism (as in neat SN) at 12 GHz. The fast process is attributed to increased dynamics of those SN molecules whose energy barrier of transition from gauche to trans has reduced under influences induced by the changes in temperature and polymer concentration. The observations from ionic conductivity, spectroscopy, and light scattering studies were further supplemented by temperature dependent nuclear magnetic resonance H-1 and Li-7 line width measurements.

Photocytotoxic Lanthanum(III) and Gadolinium(III) Complexes of Phenanthroline Bases Showing Light-Induced DNA Cleavage Activity

Lanthanide complexes of formulation [La(B)(2)(NO3)(3)] (1-3) and [Gd(B)(2)(NO3)(3)] (4-6), where B is a N,N-donor phenanthroline base, namely, 1,10-phenanthroline (phen in 1, 4),dipyrido[3,2-d2',3'-f]quinoxaline (dpq in 2,5) and dipyrido[3,2-a2',3'-c]phenazine (dppz in 3, 6), have been prepared, characterized from physicochemical data, and their photoinduced DNA and protein cleavage activity studied The photocytotoxicity of the dppz complexes 3 and 6 has been studied using HeLa cancer cells. The complexes exhibitligand centered bands in the UV region The dppz complexes show thelowest energy band at 380 nm in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) The La(III)complexes are diamagnetic. The Gd(III) complexes (4-6) have magneticmoments that correspond to seven unpaired electrons The complexes are1(.)1 electrolytic in aqueous DMF The dpq and dppz complexes in DMFshow ligand-based reductions. The complexes display moderate binding propensity to calf thymus DNA giving binding constant values in the range of 5.7 x 10(4)-5.8 x 10(5) M-1 with a relative order. 3, 6 (dppz)> 2, 5 (dpq) > 1, 4 (phen) The binding data suggest DNA surface and/or groove binding nature of the complexes. The complexes do not show any hydrolytic cleavage of plasmid supercoiled pUC19 DNA. The dpq and dppz complexes efficiently cleave SC DNA to its nicked circular form onexposure to UV-A light of 365 nm at nanomolar complex concentration. Mechanistic studies reveal the involvement of singlet oxygen (O-1(2)) and hydroxyl radical (HO center dot) as the cleavage active species.The complexes show binding propensity to bovine serum albumin (BSA)protein giving K-BSA values of similar to 10(5) M-1. The dppz complexes 3 and 6 show BSA protein cleavage activity in UV-A light of 365 nm The dppz complexes 3 and 6 exhibit significant photocytotoxicity in HeLa cells giving respective IC50 values of 341 nM and 573 nM in UV-A light of 365 nm for an exposure time of 15 min (IC50 > 100 mu M in dark for both the complexes) Control experiments show significant dark and phototoxicity of the dppz base alone (IC50 = 413 nM in light with 4 h incubation in dark and 116 mu M in dark with 24 h incubation). A significant decrease in the dark toxicity of the dppz base is observedon binding to the lanthanide ions while retaining similar phototoxicity.

Measurement of W-Boson Polarization in Top-Quark Decay in pp̅ Collisions at √s=1.96 TeV

We report measurements of the polarization of W bosons from top-quark decays using 2.7 fb^-1 of ppbar collisions collected by the CDF II detector. Assuming a top-quark mass of 175 GeV/c^2, three measurements are performed. A simultaneous measurement of the fraction of longitudinal (f_0) and right-handed (f_+) W bosons yields the model-independent results f_0 = 0.88 \pm 0.11 (stat) \pm 0.06 (syst) and f_+ = -0.15 \pm 0.07 (stat) \pm 0.06 (syst) with a correlation coefficient of -0.59. A measurement of f_0 (f_+) constraining f_+ (f_0) to its standard model value of 0.0 (0.7) yields f_0 = 0.70 \pm 0.07 (stat) \pm 0.04 (syst) (f_+ = -0.01 \pm 0.02 (stat) \pm 0.05 (syst)). All these results are consistent with standard model expectations.

Top polarization as a probe of new physics

We investigate the effects of new physics scenarios containing a high mass vector resonance on top pair production at the LHC, using the polarization of the produced top. In particular we use kinematic distributions of the secondary lepton coming from top decay, which depends on top polarization, as it has been shown that the angular distribution of the decay lepton is insensitive to the anomalous tbW vertex and hence is a pure probe of new physics in top quark production. Spin sensitive variables involving the decay lepton are used to probe top polarization. Some sensitivity is found for the new couplings of the top.

Electric-polarization and structure of molecular complexes of the metallic halides of group II of the periodic table

Dielectric measurements have been made on a number of molecular complexes of beryllium, zinc, cadmium and mercuric halides. The polarizations observed have been interpreted in terms of a tetrahedral configuration for the undissociated beryllium, zinc and cadmium halide complexes. In other cases the observed polarization has been shown to be due to the dissociation of the complex in solution.

Influence of External Light Waves on the Thermoelectric Power Under Strong Magnetic Field in Ultrathin Films, Quantum Wires and Quantum Dots of Optoelectronic Materials

In this paper, an attempt is made to study the influence of external light waves on the thermoelectric power under strong magnetic field (TPSM) in ultrathin films (UFs), quantum wires (QWs) and quantum dots (QDs) of optoelectronic materials whose unperturbed dispersion relation of the conduction electrons are defined by three and two band models of Kane together with parabolic energy bands on the basis of newly formulated electron dispersion laws in each case. We have plotted the TPSM as functions of film thickness, electron concentration, light intensity and wavelength for UFs, QWs and ODs of InSb, GaAs, Hg1-xCdxTe and In1-xGaxAsyP1-y respectively. It appears from the figures that for UFs, the TPSM increases with increasing thickness in quantum steps, decreases with increasing electron degeneracy exhibiting entirely different types of oscillations and changes with both light intensity and wavelength and these two latter types of plots are the direct signature of light waves on opto-TPSM. For QWs, the opto-TPSM exhibits rectangular oscillations with increasing thickness and shows enhanced spiky oscillations with electron concentration per unit length. For QDs, the opto-TPSM increases with increasing film thickness exhibiting trapezoidal variations which occurs during quantum jumps and the length and breadth of the trapezoids are totally dependent on energy band constants. Under the condition of non-degeneracy, the results of opto-TPSM gets simplified into the well-known form of classical TPSM equation which the function of three constants only and being invariant of the signature of band structure.

Adhesion,Presence and Antifouling of Deinococcus geothermalis in Paper Machine Environment

This thesis has two items: biofouling and antifouling in paper industry. Biofouling means unwanted microbial accumulation on surfaces causing e.g. disturbances in industrial processes, contamination of medical devices or of water distribution networks. Antifouling focuses on preventing accumulation of the biofilms in undesired places. Deinococcus geothermalis is a pink-pigmented, thermophilic bacterium, and extremely resistant towards radiation, UV-light and desiccation and known as a biofouler of paper machines forming firm and biocide resistant biofilms on the stainless steel surfaces. The compact structure of biofilm microcolonies of D. geothermalis E50051 and the adhesion into abiotic surfaces were investigated by confocal laser scanning microscope combined with carbohydrate specific fluorescently labelled lectins. The extracellular polymeric substance in D. geothermalis microcolonies was found to be a composite of at least five different glycoconjugates contributing to adhesion, functioning as structural elements, putative storages for water, gliding motility and likely also to protection. The adhesion threads that D. geothermalis seems to use to adhere on an abiotic surface and to anchor itself to the neighbouring cells were shown to be protein. Four protein components of type IV pilin were identified. In addition, the lectin staining showed that the adhesion threads were covered with galactose containing glycoconjugates. The threads were not exposed on planktic cells indicating their primary role in adhesion and in biofilm formation. I investigated by quantitative real-time PCR the presence of D. geothermalis in biofilms, deposits, process waters and paper end products from 24 paper and board mills. The primers designed for doing this were targeted to the 16S rRNA gene of D. geothermalis. We found D. geothermalis DNA from 9 machines, in total 16 samples of the 120 mill samples searched for. The total bacterial content varied in those samples between 107 to 3 ×1010 16S rRNA gene copies g-1. The proportion of D. geothermalis in those same samples was minor, 0.03 1.3 % of the total bacterial content. Nevertheless D. geothermalis may endanger paper quality as its DNA was shown in an end product. As an antifouling method towards biofilms we studied the electrochemical polarization. Two novel instruments were designed for this work. The double biofilm analyzer was designed for search for a polarization program that would eradicate D. geothermalis biofilm or from stainless steel under conditions simulating paper mill environment. The Radbox instrument was designed to study the generation of reactive oxygen species during the polarization that was effective in antifouling of D. geothermalis. We found that cathodic character and a pulsed mode of polarization were required to achieve detaching D. geothermalis biofilm from stainless steel. We also found that the efficiency of polarization was good on submerged, and poor on splash area biofilms. By adding oxidative biocides, bromochloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin, 2,2-dibromo-2-cyanodiacetamide or peracetic acid gave additive value with polarization, being active on splash area biofilms. We showed that the cathodically weighted pulsed polarization that was active in removing D. geothermalis was also effective in generation of reactive oxygen species. It is possible that the antifouling effect relied on the generation of ROS on the polarized steel surfaces. Antifouling method successful towards D. geothermalis that is a tenacious biofouler and possesses a high tolerance to oxidative stressors could be functional also towards other biofoulers and applicable in wet industrial processes elsewhere.