Eco-structure data forms : classification of data analysis using perceived design affordances for musical outcomes

This paper explores a method of comparative analysis and classification of data through perceived design affordances. Included is discussion about the musical potential of data forms that are derived through eco-structural analysis of musical features inherent in audio recordings of natural sounds. A system of classification of these forms is proposed based on their structural contours. The classifications include four primitive types; steady, iterative, unstable and impulse. The classification extends previous taxonomies used to describe the gestural morphology of sound. The methods presented are used to provide compositional support for eco-structuralism.

"And one fine morning" : Gatsby, Obama, and the resurection of hope

Hope is a word that has re-emerged in light of Obama's stunning win in the United States election. In this time of economic gloom and the reality of bleak recession and unprecedented job losses the United States has embraced the hopeful message of Barack Obama. For many years 'hope' has been a word that has been lost, forgotten , and banished to the margins of romantic longing and wishful thinking. Hope is also a word that has been much discussed in relation to the iconic The Great Gatsby but usually in a negative fashion to demonstrate the unattainability of the American dream. Marcella Taylor called Gatsby "the unfinished American Epic" which focused on the "passing of the last utopian frontier" and suggested the significance of this passing on American society as a whole. In the last months, however, hope has made a return and one gets the feeling that Fitzgerald's words "but that's no matter-to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther . . . And one fine morning' are once again being heard.

The structure of selected magnesium carbonate minerals : a near infrared and mid-infrared spectroscopic study

The approach to remove green house gases by pumping liquid CO2 several kilometres below the ground implies that many carbonate containing minerals will be formed. Among these minerals the formation of dypingite and artinite are possible; thus necessitating a study of such minerals. Two carbonate bearing minerals dypingite and artinite with a hydrotalcite related formulae have been characterised by a combination of infrared and near-infrared spectroscopy. The infrared spectra of both minerals are characterised by OH and water stretching vibrations. Both the first and second fundamental overtones of these bands are observed in the NIR spectra in the 7030 to 7235 cm-1 and 10490 to 10570 cm-1. Intense (CO3)2- symmetric and antisymmetric stretching vibrations confirm the distortion of the carbonate anion. The position of the water bending vibration indicates water is strongly hydrogen bonded to the carbonate anion in the mineral structure. Split NIR bands at around 8675 and 11100 cm-1 indicates that some replacement of magnesium ions by ferrous ions in the mineral structure has occurred.

Ultrasonic measurement of fine head movements in a standard ophthalmic headrest

We aimed to investigate the naturally occurring horizontal plane movements of a head stabilized in a standard ophthalmic headrest and to analyze their magnitude, velocity, spectral characteristics, and correlation to the cardio pulmonary system. Two custom-made air-coupled highly accurate (±2 μm)ultrasound transducers were used to measure the displacements of the head in different horizontal directions with a sampling frequency of 100 Hz. Synchronously to the head movements, an electrocardiogram (ECG) signal was recorded. Three healthy subjects participated in the study. Frequency analysis of the recorded head movements and their velocities was carried out, and functions of coherence between the two displacements and the ECG signal were calculated. Frequency of respiration and the heartbeat were clearly visible in all recorded head movements. The amplitude of head displacements was typically in the range of ±100 μm. The first harmonic of the heartbeat (in the range of 2–3 Hz), rather than its principal frequency, was found to be the dominant frequency of both head movements and their velocities. Coherence analysis showed high interdependence between the considered signals for frequencies of up to 20 Hz. These findings may contribute to the design of better ophthalmic headrests and should help other studies in the decision making of whether to use a heavy headrest or a bite bar.

Smectite flocculation structure modified by AI13 macromolecules; as revealed by the Transmission X-ray Microscopy (TXM)

The aggregate structure which occurs in aqueous smectitic suspensions is responsible for poor water clarification, difficulties in sludge dewatering and the unusual rheological behaviour of smectite rich soils. These macroscopic properties are dictated by the 3-D structural arrangement of smectite finest fraction within flocculated aggregates. Here, we report results from a relatively new technique, Transmission X-ray Microscopy (TXM), which makes it possible to investigate the internal structure and 3-D tomographic reconstruction of the smectite clay aggregates modified by Al13 keggin macro-molecule [Al13(O)4(OH)24(H2O)12 ]7+. Three different treatment methods were shown resulted in three different micro-structural environments of the resulting flocculation.

The structure of the copper(II) complex with 4,5-dichlorophthalic acid: The 1:1 complex 'adduct' salt trans-tetraaqua(2-carboxy-4,5-dichlorobenzoato)(4,5-dichlorobenzene-1,2-dicarboxylic acid)copper(II) 2-carboxy-4,5-dichlorobenzoate

The unusual (1:1) complex ‘adduct’ salt of copper(II) with 4,5-dichlorophthalic acid (H2DCPA), having formula [Cu(H2O)4(C8H3Cl2O4) (C8H4Cl2O4)] . (C8H3Cl2O4) has been synthesized and characterized using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Crystals are monoclinic, space group P21/c, with Z = 4 in a cell with dimensions a = 20.1376(7), b =12.8408(4) c = 12.1910(4) Å, β = 105.509(4)o. The complex is based on discrete tetragonally distorted octahedral [CuO6] coordination centres with the four water ligands occupying the square planar sites [Cu-O, 1.962(4)-1.987(4) Å] and the monodentate carboxyl-O donors of two DCPA ligand species in the axial sites. The first of these bonds [Cu-O, 2.341(4) Å] is with an oxygen of a HDCPA monoanion, the second with an oxygen of a H2DCPA acid species [Cu-O, 2.418(4) Å]. The un-coordinated ‘adduct’ molecule is a HDCPA counter anion which is strongly hydrogen-bonded to the coordinated H2DCPA ligand [O… O, 2.503(6) Å] while a number of peripheral intra- and intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions give a two-dimensional network structure.

Hydrogen bonding in the water stabilized structure of the modified unsymmetrically substituted viologen chromophore, N-ethyl-N'-(2-phosphonomethyl)-4,4'-bipyridylium dichloride

The crystal structure of the modified unsymmetrically N, N'-substituted viologen chromophore, N-ethyl- N'-(2-phosphonoethyl)-4, 4'-bipyridinium dichloride 0.75 hydrate. (1) has been determined. Crystals are triclinic, space group P-1 with Z = 2 in a cell with a = 7.2550(1), b = 13.2038(5), c = 18.5752(7) Å, α = 86.495(3), β = 83.527(2), γ = 88.921(2)o. The two independent but pseudo-symmetrically related cations in the asymmetric unit form one-dimensional hydrogen-bonded chains through short homomeric phosphonic acid O-H...O links [2.455(4), 2.464(4)A] while two of the chloride anions are similarly strongly linked to phosphonic acid groups [O-H…Cl, 2.889(4), 2.896(4)Å]. The other two chloride anions together with the two water molecules of solvation (one with partial occupancy) form unusual cyclic hydrogen-bonded bis(Cl...water) dianion units which lie between the layers of bipyridylium rings of the cation chain structures with which they are weakly associated.

Theoretical investigation of mechanisms of formation and interaction of nanoparticles

In this thesis an investigation into theoretical models for formation and interaction of nanoparticles is presented. The work presented includes a literature review of current models followed by a series of five chapters of original research. This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy by publication and therefore each of the five chapters consist of a peer-reviewed journal article. The thesis is then concluded with a discussion of what has been achieved during the PhD candidature, the potential applications for this research and ways in which the research could be extended in the future. In this thesis we explore stochastic models pertaining to the interaction and evolution mechanisms of nanoparticles. In particular, we explore in depth the stochastic evaporation of molecules due to thermal activation and its ultimate effect on nanoparticles sizes and concentrations. Secondly, we analyse the thermal vibrations of nanoparticles suspended in a fluid and subject to standing oscillating drag forces (as would occur in a standing sound wave) and finally on lattice surfaces in the presence of high heat gradients. We have described in this thesis a number of new models for the description of multicompartment networks joined by a multiple, stochastically evaporating, links. The primary motivation for this work is in the description of thermal fragmentation in which multiple molecules holding parts of a carbonaceous nanoparticle may evaporate. Ultimately, these models predict the rate at which the network or aggregate fragments into smaller networks/aggregates and with what aggregate size distribution. The models are highly analytic and describe the fragmentation of a link holding multiple bonds using Markov processes that best describe different physical situations and these processes have been analysed using a number of mathematical methods. The fragmentation of the network/aggregate is then predicted using combinatorial arguments. Whilst there is some scepticism in the scientific community pertaining to the proposed mechanism of thermal fragmentation,we have presented compelling evidence in this thesis supporting the currently proposed mechanism and shown that our models can accurately match experimental results. This was achieved using a realistic simulation of the fragmentation of the fractal carbonaceous aggregate structure using our models. Furthermore, in this thesis a method of manipulation using acoustic standing waves is investigated. In our investigation we analysed the effect of frequency and particle size on the ability for the particle to be manipulated by means of a standing acoustic wave. In our results, we report the existence of a critical frequency for a particular particle size. This frequency is inversely proportional to the Stokes time of the particle in the fluid. We also find that for large frequencies the subtle Brownian motion of even larger particles plays a significant role in the efficacy of the manipulation. This is due to the decreasing size of the boundary layer between acoustic nodes. Our model utilises a multiple time scale approach to calculating the long term effects of the standing acoustic field on the particles that are interacting with the sound. These effects are then combined with the effects of Brownian motion in order to obtain a complete mathematical description of the particle dynamics in such acoustic fields. Finally, in this thesis, we develop a numerical routine for the description of "thermal tweezers". Currently, the technique of thermal tweezers is predominantly theoretical however there has been a handful of successful experiments which demonstrate the effect it practise. Thermal tweezers is the name given to the way in which particles can be easily manipulated on a lattice surface by careful selection of a heat distribution over the surface. Typically, the theoretical simulations of the effect can be rather time consuming with supercomputer facilities processing data over days or even weeks. Our alternative numerical method for the simulation of particle distributions pertaining to the thermal tweezers effect use the Fokker-Planck equation to derive a quick numerical method for the calculation of the effective diffusion constant as a result of the lattice and the temperature. We then use this diffusion constant and solve the diffusion equation numerically using the finite volume method. This saves the algorithm from calculating many individual particle trajectories since it is describes the flow of the probability distribution of particles in a continuous manner. The alternative method that is outlined in this thesis can produce a larger quantity of accurate results on a household PC in a matter of hours which is much better than was previously achieveable.