Luminescence quantum efficiency at 1.5 μm of Er3+-doped tellurite glass determined by thermal lens spectroscopy

Erbium doped tellurite glasses (TeO2 + Li2O + TiO2) were prepared by conventional melt-quenching method to study the influence of the Er3+ concentration on the luminescence quantum efficiency (η) at 1.5 μm. Absorption and luminescence data were used to characterize the samples, and the η parameter was measured using the well-known thermal lens spectroscopy. For low Er3+ concentration, the measured values are around 76%, and the concentration behavior of η shows Er-Er and Er-OH- interactions, which agreed with the measured lifetime values. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The retirement outlook for Chile's independently employed workers: a case study of attitudes and saving behavior

Includes bibliography

Thermal and structural study of glasses in the binary system TeO2-Pb(PO3)(2)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Thermal study of the solid-state reactions on Pt-15%Rh/Hg system

Thermogravimetry (TG), energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mapping surface and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used for the study of solid-state reaction on Pt-15%Rh with electrodeposited mercury. The results suggest when heated the mercury film react with the Pt-15%Rh alloy to form intermetallics having different thermal stabilities indicated by three mass loss steps. The first mass loss step occurs between room temperature and 184 degrees C only the bulk Hg is removed and PtHg4, PtHg2 and RhHg2 were characterized by XRD. The second step, between 184 and 271 degrees C, was attributed to PtHg4 decomposition with formation of PtHg2 stabilized by RhHg2. The third step, between 271 and 340 degrees C, was attributed to decomposition of a solid-solution of PtHg2/RhHg2. The fourth step, between 340 and 600 degrees C, was ascribed to: (1) a thermal decomposition of PtHg2, formed by a PtHg eutectoid reaction (similar to 340 degrees C) on the surface and (2) Hg removal from a solid solution of Pt-15%Rh(Hg). (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Viscoelastic Behavior of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes into Phenolic Resin

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Information Search Behavior: Proposal of Study with Investors in the Stock Market

With the aim of analyzing the information search behavior of investors working in the stock market, this research sought to raise the aspects related to this behavior with focus on the cognitive and causal aspects which pervade the need for information of these investors. For that, the general pattern of informational behavior proposed by Wilson [10], and also the analysis of a report from an investor of the stock market area were used as basis for the analysis and reflection. The report of only one investor was used as basis for investigation, turning it impossible to extrapolate such result to a greater universe. The objective of this research was to investigate the need for information, the context and the intervenient variables which might interfere or not in the information search behavior of investors, in an attempt to get a deeper comprehension about the subject, as well as to propose the continuity of studies with basis on this study proposal.

Characterization and thermal study of organic extracts of urban solid waste

The urban residues put in landfill of the city of Sa˜o Carlos-SP, Brazil, in 2004 represent 58.7 % of decomposed organic material. The aim of this research was to characterize samples of urban solid waste and its organic extracts targeting the use of this residue without damaging the environment. The curves were obtained in a nitrogen atmosphere, a heating rate of 20 C min-1 , the temperature of 30–600 C. In the original sample after humidity loss, an event occured concerning the water constitution in the TG curve with an endothermic peak in the DTA curve. There was a presence of inorganic residue in the ashes. The organic matter present in the USR sample disposed in the landfill is constituted by several polarity, organics compounds from the degradation of lignin, cellulose, lipids, and other materials which thermal stabilities are distinct. The hexane extract features in its constitution two fatty acids, stearic and triacontano´ic, which are nonpolar compounds originating from bacteria present in the residue. The acids groups in extract hexane also were evidenced by X-ray diffraction and FTIR.

Thermal and structural properties of commercial dental resins light-cured with blue emitting diodes (LEDs)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The effect of thermal cycling on the shear bond strength of porcelain/Ti-6Al-4V interfaces

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of thermal cycling on the shear bond strength of the porcelain/Ti-6Al-4V interfaces prepared by two different processing routes and metallic surface conditions. Polished and SiO2 particle abraded Ti-6Al-4V alloy and Triceram bonder porcelain were used to produce the interfaces. Porcelain-to-metal specimens were processed by conventional furnace firing and hot pressing. Thermal cycling was performed in Fusayama's artificial saliva for 5000 cycles between 5 +/- 1 and 60 +/- 2 degrees C. After thermal cycling, shear bond tests were carried out by using a custom-made stainless steel apparatus. The results were analyzed using t-Student test and non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test (p<0.01). Most of the polished-fired specimens were fractured during thermal cycling; thus, it was not possible to obtain the shear bond strength results for this group. Sandblasted-fired, polished-hot pressed, and sandblasted-hot pressed specimens presented the shear bond strength values of 76.2 +/- 15.9, 52.2 +/- 23.6, and 59.9 +/- 22.0 MPa, respectively. Statistical analysis indicated that thermal cycling affected the polished specimens processed by firing, whereas a significant difference was not observed on the other groups. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Encapsulation of paclitaxel into a bio-nanocomposite. a study combining inelastic neutron scattering to thermal analysis and infrared spectroscopy

The anticancer drug paclitaxel was encapsulated into a bio-nanocomposite formed by magnetic nanoparticles, chitosan and apatite. The aim of this drug carrier is to provide a new perspective against breast cancer. The dynamics of the pure and encapsulated drug were investigated in order to verify possible molecular changes caused by the encapsulation, as well as to follow which interactions may occur between paclitaxel and the composite. Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, thermal analysis, inelastic and quasi-elastic neutron scattering experiments were performed. These very preliminary results suggest the successful encapsulation of the drug.

Exploratory study of electromyographic behavior of the vastus medialis and vastus lateralis at neuromuscular fatigue onset

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Phenological cycles, thermal time and growth curves of mango fruit cultivars in subtropical conditions

There are many mango cultivars available in different regions. It is about time we analysed their productive behavior in these areas, as well as their phenological performance. This study aimed to evaluate: phenological cycles, thermal time and growth curves of mango fruit cultivars in subtropical conditions. For this study we used the following cultivars: Espada Vermelha, Keitt and Palmer. All the experiments were done at UNESP experimental farm in Sao Manuel (SP), during the agricultural cycle from 2012 to 2013. It was selected 15 branches in each plant, which provided 150 per cultivar. It was determined the number of days of phenological cycles of flowering to fruit ripening, as well as the total number of days to flowering and harvesting. The thermal time was evaluated to each phenological cycle and expressed in accumulation of degree-days. The measurement of the longitudinal diameters (LD) and transverse diameters (TD) of the fruitwere performed in a 12 day’s intervals, from the tenth day after the flowers anthesis, to evaluate the growth curve. Based on the data, it was found that Keitt cultivar requires more days for the fruit to reach physiological maturity and greater accumulation of degree-days to complete its production cycle. The growth curves of the three varieties of fruits have a simple sigmoidal model in function of the days after anthesis.

Influence of thermal parameters on the dendritic arm spacing and the microhardness of Al-5.5wt.%Sn alloy directionally solidified

As ligas Al-Sn são amplamente utilizados em aplicações tribológicas. Nesse estudo, análises térmica, microestrutural e dureza (HV) foram realizadas ao longo de um lingote da liga Al-5,5%Sn, obtido por solidificação direcional horizontal transitória. Os principais parâmetros analisados incluem a velocidade de deslocamento da isoterma liquidus (V_L) e a taxa de resfriamento (T_R). Esses parâmetros térmicos desempenham um papel fundamental na formação da microestrutura. A microestrutura dendrítica foi caracterizada através dos espaçamentos dentríticos primários (λ₁), os quais foram determinados, experimentalmente, e correlacionados com V_L, e T_R. O comportamento apresentado pela liga Al- 5,5% Sn, durante a solidificação,é semelhante ao de outras ligas de alumínio, isto é, observa-se rede dendrítica mais grosseira com a diminuição da taxa de resfriamento, indicando que a imiscibilidade entre o alumínio e estanho não tem um efeito significativo sobre o relação entre o espaçamento dendrítico primário e taxa de resfriamento. A dependência da microdureza em V_L, T_R e no λ₁ foi também analisada. Verificaram-se menores valores de HV para maiores T_R. Por outro lado, os valores HV aumentam com valores crescentes de λ₁.

A Comparative Study of the Information-Seeking Behavior of Bachelor of Science and Master of Science Agricultural Extension and Education Students

This study compares information-seeking behavior of Bachelor of Science and Master of Science students in the fields of agricultural extension and education. The authors surveyed Iranian students in departments of agricultural extension and education at four universities in Tehran, Shiraz, Mollasani, and Kermanshah. This study focused on three aspects: (1) comparison of amounts of information-seeking behavior between Bachelor of Science and Master of Science agricultural extension and education students; (2) comparison of information-seeking behavior varieties in Bachelor of Science and Master of Science agricultural extension and education students; (3) Comparison of amounts of available information resources at four universities and its effectiveness on students' information-seeking behavior; and (4) comparison of research and educational outputs in Bachelor of Science and Master of Science students. Scale free technique, division by mean method, principal components analysis technique, Delphi method, t-test, correlation and regression tools were used for data analysis. This study revealed that Bachelor of Science students' information-seeking behavior is for improving educational output, but Master of Science students' information-seeking behavior is for promoting research output. Among varieties of Internet searching skills, library searching skills, and awareness of library information-seeking methods with students' information-seeking behavior, there are not significant differences between two groups of students.

Correlation Between Molecular Conformation, Packing, and Dynamics in Oligofluorenes: A Theoretical/Experimental Study

Fluorene-based systems have shown great potential as components in organic electronics and optoelectronics (organic photovoltaics, OPVs, organic light emitting diodes, OLEDs, and organic transistors, OTFTs). These systems have drawn attention primarily because they exhibit strong blue emission associated with relatively good thermal stability. It is well-known that the electronic properties of polymers are directly related to the molecular conformations and chain packing of polymers. Here, we used three oligofluorenes (trimer, pentamer, and heptamer) as model systems to theoretically investigate the conformational properties of fluorene molecules, starting with the identification of preferred conformations. The hybrid exchange correlation functional, OPBE, and ZINDO/S-CI showed that each oligomer exhibits a tendency to adopt a specific chain arrangement, which could be distinguished by comparing their UV/vis electronic absorption and C-13 NMR spectra. This feature was used to identify the preferred conformation of the oligomer chains in chloroform-cast films by comparing experimental and theoretical UV/vis and C-13 NMR spectra. Moreover, the oligomer chain packing and dynamics in the films were studied by DSC and several solid state NMR techniques, which indicated that the phase behavior of the films may be influenced by the tendency that each oligomeric chain has to adopt a given conformation.