The ethics of the dust; ten lectures to little housewives on the elements of crystallization,

The valley of diamonds.--The pyramid builders.--The crystal life.--The crystal orders.--Crystal virtues.--Crystal quarrels.--Home virtues.--Crystal caprice.--Crystal sorrows.--The crystal rest.--Notes.

Little Red Riding-Hood, and other stories, based on the tales in the 'Blue fairy book,'

Little Red Riding-Hood.--Toads and diamonds.--Snow-white and Rose-red.--Hansel and Grettel.--The brave little tailor.

Plaid motion rivalry: Correlates with binocular rivalry and positive mood state

Recently Hupe and Rubin (2003, Vision Research 43 531 - 548) re-introduced the plaid as a form of perceptual rivalry by using two sets of drifting gratings behind a circular aperture to produce quasi-regular perceptual alternations between a coherent moving plaid of diamond-shaped intersections and the two sets of component 'sliding' gratings. We call this phenomenon plaid motion rivalry (PMR), and have compared its temporal dynamics with those of binocular rivalry in a sample of subjects covering a wide range of perceptual alternation rates. In support of the proposal that all rivalries may be mediated by a common switching mechanism, we found a high correlation between alternation rates induced by PMR and binocular rivalry. In keeping with a link discovered between the phase of rivalry and mood, we also found a link between PMR and an individual's mood state that is consistent with suggestions that each opposing phase of rivalry is associated with one or the other hemisphere, with the 'diamonds' phase of PMR linked with the 'positive' left hemisphere.

The ability of current gas monitoring techniques to adequately detect spontaneous combustion

This paper investigates the adequacy of current gas monitoring techniques to adequately detect spontaneous combustion in underground coalmines. Despite being in the 21st century spontaneous combustion continues to occur in underground coalmines sometimes being detected only at a very advanced stage. Control of the incident is often then very expensive and time consuming. The adequacy needs to be assessed not only from the point of view of the analysis technique be it tube bundle, gas chromatograph or real time sensor but also the number, location and sampling frequency of the monitoring locations. Recommendations are made to optimise monitoring processes and recognise limitations of current techniques.

AS RELAÇÕES ENTRE SATISFAÇÃO NO TRABALHO, COMPROMETIMENTO ORGANIZACIONAL AFETIVO E INTENÇÃO DE ROTATIVIDADE: UM ESTUDO EM UMA MINERADORA DE DIAMANTES EM ANGOLA

Muito se tem investigado sobre os antecedentes de intenção de rotatividade. Dentre as possíveis variáveis com capacidade de se relacionar aos planos dos trabalhadores deixarem a organização destacam-se: satisfação no trabalho e comprometimento organizacional afetivo. O presente estudo teve como objetivo geral analisar as relações entre estas três variáveis; satisfação no trabalho, comprometimento organizacional afetivo e intenção de rotatividade. Ligando-se aos objetivos através dos seus estímulos internos ou externos, desvendados no estudo em uma mineradora de diamantes em Angola onde foram analisadas as relações entre as três variáveis. Participaram na pesquisa 151 trabalhadores, todos de nacionalidade angolana selecionados aleatoriamente em diferentes áreas da mesma empresa. Após aplicação do questionários com três medidas validadas e precisas, o tratamento dos dados, todos de natureza numérica, foi processado pelo software estatístico Statistical Package for the Social Science SPSS, versão 19.0 para Windows. Apurou-se que a idade media dos participantes era de 38,34 (DP = 8,42) anos, sendo a maioria do sexo masculino, solteira, com o nível médio completo, não exercendo cargo de chefia, pertencendo ao grupo (GP - III) um total de 89 (58,9 %), realizando grande parte do seu trabalho com outra pessoa ou em grupo, com tempo de trabalho variando entre 1 (um) e 16 anos. Os resultados descritivos indicam que os trabalhadores detêm um quadro de satisfação no trabalho, com satisfações maiores proporcionadas pelo número de vezes e oportunidades de serem promovidos, com a capacidade profissional de seus chefes, no entendimento encontrado entre si e na maneira como são tratados pelos seus chefes; e menores com o tipo de amizade, confiança e espírito de colaboração demonstrada pelos seus colegas de trabalho, assim como com a capacidade absorvida e o salário se comparado com o quanto trabalha. O quadro do comprometimento organizacional afetivo demonstra maior afeto as questões relacionadas a empresa em fazer o empregado sentir-se orgulhoso e contente com ela. Análises de correlação pelo r de Pearson informaram índices negativos e significativos entre as duas variáveis e intenção de rotatividade. Tais resultados informam que o plano de deixar a empresa onde trabalham é cada vez menor à medida que se elevam os níveis de satisfação no trabalho e comprometimento organizacional afetivo.

Electrical properties of aggregated detonation nanodiamonds

Nanometer-scale diamonds formed using a detonation process are an interesting class of diamond materials. Commercially supplied material is highly aggregated with ~ 5 nm diamond crystals forming particles with micron sizes. Previous models have suggested that nondiamond carbon is incorporated between the crystals, which would reduce the electrical and chemical usefulness of this form of diamond. However, using impedance spectroscopy we have shown that at temperatures below 350?°C the form of detonation nanodiamond being studied is a near to ideal dielectric, implying a full sp3 form. At temperatures above this the surfaces of the diamond crystals may support some nondiamond carbon

Effect of methane concentration in hydrogen plasma on hydrogen impurity incorporation in thick large-grained polycrystalline diamond films

We investigate the impact of methane concentration in hydrogen plasma on the growth of large-grained polycrystalline diamond (PCD) films and its hydrogen impurity incorporation. The diamond samples were produced using high CH4 concentration in H2 plasma and high power up to 4350 W and high pressure (either 105 or 110 Torr) in a microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) system. The thickness of the free-standing diamond films varies from 165 µm to 430 µm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), micro-Raman spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were used to characterize the morphology, crystalline and optical quality of the diamond samples, and bonded hydrogen impurity in the diamond films, respectively. Under the conditions employed here, when methane concentration in the gas phase increases from 3.75% to 7.5%, the growth rate of the PCD films rises from around 3.0 µm/h up to 8.5 µm/h, and the optical active bonded hydrogen impurity content also increases more than one times, especially the two CVD diamond specific H related infrared absorption peaks at 2818 and 2828 cm−1 rise strongly; while the crystalline and optical quality of the MCD films decreases significantly, namely structural defects and non-diamond carbon phase content also increases a lot with increasing of methane concentration. Based on the results, the relationship between methane concentration and diamond growth rate and hydrogen impurity incorporation including the form of bonded infrared active hydrogen impurity in CVD diamonds was analyzed and discussed. The effect of substrate temperature on diamond growth was also briefly discussed. The experimental findings indicate that bonded hydrogen impurity in CVD diamond films mainly comes from methane rather than hydrogen in the gas source, and thus can provide experimental evidence for the theoretical study of the standard methyl species dominated growth mechanism of CVD diamonds grown with methane/hydrogen mixtures.

Impact of high microwave power on hydrogen impurity trapping in nanocrystalline diamond films grown with simultaneous nitrogen and oxygen addition into methane/hydrogen plasma

In this work, we study for the first time the influence of microwave power higher than 2.0 kW on bonded hydrogen impurity incorporation (form and content) in nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films grown in a 5 kW MPCVD reactor. The NCD samples of different thickness ranging from 25 to 205 μm were obtained through a small amount of simultaneous nitrogen and oxygen addition into conventional about 4% methane in hydrogen reactants by keeping the other operating parameters in the same range as that typically used for the growth of large-grained polycrystalline diamond films. Specific hydrogen point defect in the NCD films is analyzed by using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. When the other operating parameters are kept constant (mainly the input gases), with increasing of microwave power from 2.0 to 3.2 kW (the pressure was increased slightly in order to stabilize the plasma ball of the same size), which simultaneously resulting in the rise of substrate temperature more than 100 °C, the growth rate of the NCD films increases one order of magnitude from 0.3 to 3.0 μm/h, while the content of hydrogen impurity trapped in the NCD films during the growth process decreases with power. It has also been found that a new H related infrared absorption peak appears at 2834 cm-1 in the NCD films grown with a small amount of nitrogen and oxygen addition at power higher than 2.0 kW and increases with power higher than 3.0 kW. According to these new experimental results, the role of high microwave power on diamond growth and hydrogen impurity incorporation is discussed based on the standard growth mechanism of CVD diamonds using CH4/H2 gas mixtures. Our current experimental findings shed light into the incorporation mechanism of hydrogen impurity in NCD films grown with a small amount of nitrogen and oxygen addition into methane/hydrogen plasma.

Thermodynamic description and phase transformation of highly symmetrical monoatomic structures

Based on theoretical considerations an explanation for the temperature dependence of the thermal expansion and the bulk modulus is proposed. A new equation state is also derived. Additionally a physical explanation for the latent heat of fusion is presented. These theoretical predictions are tested against experiments on highly symmetrical monatomic structures. ^ The volume is not an independent variable and must be broken down into its fundamental components when the relationships to the pressure and temperature are defined. Using zero pressure and temperature reference frame, the initial parameters, volume at zero pressure and temperature[V°], bulk modulus at zero temperature [K°] and volume coefficient of thermal expansion at zero pressure[α°] are defined. ^ The new derived EoS is tested against the experiments on perovskite and epsilon iron. The Root-mean-square-deviations (RMSD) of the residuals of the molar volume, pressure, and temperature are in the range of the uncertainty of the experiments. ^ Separating the experiments into 200 K ranges, the new EoS was compared to the most widely used finite strain, interatomic potential, and empirical isothermal EoSs such as the Burch-Murnaghan, the Vinet, and the Roy-Roy respectively. Correlation coefficients, RMSD's of the residuals, and Akaike Information Criteria were used for evaluating the fitting. Based on these fitting parameters, the new p-V-T EoS is superior in every temperature range relative to the investigated conventional isothermal EoS. ^ The new EoS for epsilon iron reproduces the preliminary-reference earth-model (PREM) densities at 6100-7400 K indicating that the presence of light elements might not be necessary to explain the Earth's inner core densities. ^ It is suggested that the latent heat of fusion supplies the energy required for overcoming on the viscous drag resistance of the atoms. The calculated energies for melts formed from highly symmetrical packing arrangements correlate very well with experimentally determined latent heat values. ^ The optical investigation of carhonado-diamond is also part of the dissertation. The collected first complete infrared FTIR absorption spectra for carhonado-diamond confirm the interstellar origin for the most enigmatic diamonds known as carbonado. ^

9 Events

An exhibition in the Dyson gallery with Tina O'Connell and Neal White, in association with Objectif Exhibitions, Antwerp. Tina O'Connell and Neal White present 9 Events, a series of experiments and observations, talks and films drawn from their on-going artistic interest in the raw resources that are a key index of wealth in a market based society - from oil to diamonds and gold. The work is made in the context of emerging ideas of environmental and geological change within the flood of unchecked global capital. As with other works and projects undertaken by the artists, the space is used as a platform through which temporality can be explored. In this sense, the use of the RCA's Dyson exhibition space and its wider context for the presentation on objects or artefacts is reconfigured through perspectives of energy, action and reaction, collapse and control, via simulation, derivation, extraction and exchange.