Contributions of phosphatase and microbial activity to internal phosphorus loading and their relation to lake eutrophication

Phosphatase may accelerate the process of lake eutrophication through improving phosphorus bioavailability. This mechanism was studied in three Chinese eutrophic shallow lakes (Lake Taihu, Lake Longyang,and Lake Lianhua). Phosphatase activity was related to the concentration of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and chlorophyll a. Stability of dissolved phosphatase in reverse micelles may be attributed to molecular size, conformation and active residues of the enzyme. At the site with Microcystis bloomed in Lake Taihu, dissolved phosphatase activity was higher and more stable in micelles, SRP concentrations were lower in interstitial water, the contents of different forms of phosphorus and the amounts of aerobic bacteria were lower while respiration efficiency was higher in sediments. Phosphobacteria, both inorganic and organic and other microorganisms were abundant in surface water but rare in sediments. Therefore, internal phosphorus may substantially flux into water column by enzymatic hydrolysis and anaerobic release, together with mobility of bacteria, thereby initiating the bloom. In short, biological mechanism may act in concert with physical and chemical factors to drive the internal phosphorus release and accelerate lake eutrophication.

Initiation of immersed granular avalanches.

By means of coupled molecular dynamics-computational fluid dynamics simulations, we analyze the initiation of avalanches in a granular bed of spherical particles immersed in a viscous fluid and inclined above its angle of repose. In quantitative agreement with experiments, we find that the bed is unstable for a packing fraction below 0.59 but is stabilized above this packing fraction by negative excess pore pressure induced by the effect of dilatancy. From detailed numerical data, we explore the time evolution of shear strain, packing fraction, excess pore pressures, and granular microstructure in this creeplike pressure redistribution regime, and we show that they scale excellently with a characteristic time extracted from a model based on the balance of granular stresses in the presence of a negative excess pressure and its interplay with dilatancy. The cumulative shear strain at failure is found to be ≃ 0.2, in close agreement with the experiments, irrespective of the initial packing fraction and inclination angle. Remarkably, the avalanche is triggered when dilatancy vanishes instantly as a result of fluctuations while the average dilatancy is still positive (expanding bed) with a packing fraction that declines with the initial packing fraction. Another nontrivial feature of this creeplike regime is that, in contrast to dry granular materials, the internal friction angle of the bed at failure is independent of dilatancy but depends on the inclination angle, leading therefore to a nonlinear dependence of the excess pore pressure on the inclination angle. We show that this behavior may be described in terms of the contact network anisotropy, which increases with a nearly constant connectivity and levels off at a value (critical state) that increases with the inclination angle. These features suggest that the behavior of immersed granular materials is controlled not only directly by hydrodynamic forces acting on the particles but also by the influence of the fluid on the granular microstructure.

Study on the internal reflection of the multimode-interference-type device

The internal reflection of the multimode-interference (MMI)-type device is calculated with the bidirectional beam propagation method. The calculated results indicate that the difference of the effective refractive indices between the core region and the surrounding region has a determining effect on the internal reflection of the MMI-type device. The output taper for the MMI-type combiner and splitter has a more evident effect on the internal reflection than the input taper. The internal reflection decreases with increasing the end width of the taper. For the MMI-type device with appropriate tapers, the internal reflection does not show evident degradation with the deviation of the length of the MMI region from its optimal value. (C) 2004 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Integrated folding 4x4 optical matrix switch with total internal reflection mirrors on SOI by anisotropic chemical etching

A folding rearrangeable nonblocking 4 x 4 optical matrix switch was designed and fabricated on silicon-on-insulator wafer. To compress chip size, switch elements (SEs) were interconnected by total internal reflection (TIR) mirrors instead of conventional S-bends. For obtaining smooth interfaces, potassium hydroxide anisotropic chemical etching of silicon was utilized to make the matrix switch for the first time. The device has a compact size of 20 x 1.6 mm(2) and a fast response of 7.5 mu s. The power consumption of each 2 x 2 SE and the average excess loss per mirror were 145 mW and -1.1 dB, respectively. Low path dependence of +/- 0.7 dB in total excess loss was obtained because of the symmetry of propagation paths in this novel matrix switch.

Novel folding large-scale optical switch matrix with total internal reflection mirrors on silicon-on-insulator by anisotropy chemical etching

A compact optical switch matrix was designed, in which light circuits were folded by total internal reflective (TIR) mirrors. Two key elements, 2 x 2 switch and TIR mirror, have been fabricated on silicon-on-insulator wafer by anisotropy chemical etching. The 2 x 2 switch showed very low power consumption of 140 mW and a very high speed of 8 +/- 1 mus. An improved design for the TIR mirror was developed, and the fabricated mirror with smooth and vertical reflective facet showed low excess loss of 0.7 +/- 0.3 dB at 1.55 mum.

Photo-capacitance response of internal tunnelling coupling in quantum-dot-imbedded heterostructures under selective photo-excitation

Under selective photo-excitation, the capacitance response of internal tunnelling coupling in quantum-dots-imbedded heterostructures is studied to clarify the electronic states and the number densities of electrons filling in the quantum dots (QDs). The random nature for both optical transitions and the filling in a QD assembly makes highly resolved capacitance peaks appear in the C-V characteristic after turning off the photo-excitation.

The influence of internal electric fields on the transition energy of InGaN/gaN quantum well

We present a new way to meet the amount of strain relaxation in an InGaN quantum well layer grown on relaxed GaN by calculating and measuring its internal field. With perturbation theory, we also calculate the transition energy of InGaN/GaN SQWs as affected by internal fields. The newly reported experimental data by Graham et al. fit our calculations well on the assumption that the InGaN well layer suffered a 20% strain relaxation, we discuss the differences between our calculated results and the experimental data. Our calculation suggests that with the increase of indium mole fraction in the InGaN/GaN quantum well, the effect of polarization fields on the luminescence of the quantum well will increase. Moreover, our calculation also suggests that an increase in the quantum well width by only one monolayer can result in a large reduction in the transition energy. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Strain analysis of InP/InGaAsP wafer bonded on Si by X-ray double crystalline diffraction

Wafer bonding between p-Si and an n-InP-based InGaAsP multiple quantum well (MQW) wafer was achieved by a direct wafer bonding method. In order to investigate the strain at different annealing temperatures, four pre-bonded pairs were selected, and pair one was annealed at 150 degrees C, pair two at 250 degrees C, pair three at 350 degrees C, and pair four at 450 degrees C, respectively. The macroscopical strains on the bonded epitaxial layer include two parts, namely the internal strain and the strain caused by the mismatching of the crystalline orientation between InP (100) and Si (100). These strains were measured by the X-ray double crystalline diffraction, and theoretical calculations of the longitudinal and perpendicular thermal strains at different annealing temperatures were calculated using the bi-metal thermostats model, both the internal strain and the thermal strain increase with the annealing temperature. Normal thermal stress and the elastic biaxial thermal strain energy were also calculated using this model. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

SOI optical switch matrix integrated with spot size converter (SSC) and total internal reflection (TIR) mirrors

SOI (Silicon on Insulator) based photonic devices has attracted more and more attention in the recent years. Integration of SOI optical switch matrix with isolating grooves, total internal reflection (TIR) mirrors and spot size converter (SSC) was studied. A folding re-arrangeable non-blocking 4x4 optical switch matrix and a blocking 16x16 matrix with TIR mirrors and SSC were fabricated on SOI wafer. The performaces, including extinction ratio and the crosstalk, are better than before. The insertion loss and the polarization dependent loss (PDL) at 1.55 mu m increase slightly with longer device length, more bend and intersecting waveguides. The insertion losses decrease 2 similar to 3 dB when anti-reflection films are added in the ends of the devices. The rise and fall times of the devices are 2.1 mu s and 2.3 mu s, respectively.

Study on biomass circulation and gasification performance in a clapboard-type internal circulating fluidized bed gasifier

We investigated the solid particle flow characteristics and biomass gasification in a clapboard-type internal circulating fluidized bed reactor. The effect of fluidization velocity on particle circulation rate and pressure distribution in the bed showed that fluidization velocities in the high and low velocity zones were the main operational parameters controlling particle circulation. The maximum internal circulation rates in the low velocity zone came almost within the range of velocities in the high velocity zone, when uH/umf = 2.2-2.4 for rice husk and uH/umf = 3.5-4.5 for quartz sand. In the gasification experiment, the air equvalence ratio (ER) was the main controlling parameter. Rice husk gasification gas had a maximum heating value of around 5000 kJ/m3 when ER = 0.22-0.26, and sawdust gasification gas reached around 6000-6500 kJ/m3 when ER = 0.175-0.24. The gasification efficiency of rice husk reached a maximum of 77% at ER = 0.28, while the gasification efficiency of sawdust reached a maximum of 81% at ER = 0.25.

The design and operation of a new clapboard-type internal circulating fluidized-bed gasifier

The design and operation of a new clapboard-type internal circulating fluidized-bed gasifier is proposed in this article. By arranging the clapboard in the bed, the gasifier is thus divided into two regions, which are characterized by different fluidization velocities. The bed structure is designed so that it can guide the circulating flow passing through the two regions, and therefore the feedstock particles entrained in the flow experience longer residence time. The experimental results based on the present new design, operating in the temperature range of 790 degrees C-850 degrees C, indicate that the gas yield is from 1.6-1.9 Nm(3)/kg feedstock, the gas enthalpies are 5,345 kJ/Nm(3) for wood chip and 4,875 kJ/m(3) for rice husk, and a gasification efficiency up to 75% can be obtained.

Giant Goos-Hanchen displacement enhanced by dielectric film in frustrated total internal reflection configuration

It is predicted that the Goos-Hanchen displacement in the usual frustrated total internal reflection configuration can be resonantly enhanced greatly by coating a dielectric thin film onto the surface of the first prism when the angle of incidence is larger than the critical angle for total reflection at the prism-vacuum interface and is smaller than but close to the critical angle for total reflection at the prism-film interface. Theoretical analysis shows that the displacement of transmitted beam is about half the displacement of reflected beam in the thick limit of the vacuum gap between the two prisms. This is to be compared with the relation in the usual symmetric double-prism configuration that the displacement of transmitted beam is equal to the displacement of reflected beam. Numerical simulations for a Gaussian incident beam of waist width of 100 wavelengths reveal that when the dielectric thin film is of the order of wavelength in thickness, both the reflected and transmitted beams maintain well the shape of the incident beam in the thick limit of the vacuum gap. So largely enhanced displacements would lead to applications in optical devices and integrated optics. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Large positive and negative lateral displacements from total internal reflection configuration with a weakly absorbing dielectric film

It is theoretically shown that the simultaneously large positive and negative lateral displacements will appear when the resonant condition is satisfied for a TE-polarized light beam reflected from the total internal reflection configuration with a weakly absorbing dielectric film. Appearance of the enhanced negative lateral displacement is relative to the incidence angle, absorption of the thin Elm and its thickness. If we select an appropriate weakly absorbing dielectric film and its thickness, the simultaneously enhanced positive and negative lateral displacements will appear at different resonant angles. These phenomena may lead to convenient measurements and interesting applications in optical devices.