Features combination for art authentication studies: brushstroke and materials analysis of Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso

This work presents a tool to support authentication studies of paintings attributed to the modernist Portuguese artist Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso (1887-1918). The strategy adopted was to quantify and combine the information extracted from the analysis of the brushstroke with information on the pigments present in the paintings. The brushstroke analysis was performed combining Gabor filter and Scale Invariant Feature Transform. Hyperspectral imaging and elemental analysis were used to compare the materials in the painting with those present in a database of oil paint tubes used by the artist. The outputs of the tool are a quantitative indicator for authenticity, and a mapping image that indicates the areas where materials not coherent with Amadeo's palette were detected, if any. This output is a simple and effective way of assessing the results of the system. The method was tested in twelve paintings obtaining promising results.

Diketonylpyridinium cations as a support of new ionic liquid crystals and ion-conductive materials: analysis of counter-ion effects

Ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) allow the combination of the high ionic conductivity of ionic liquids (ILs) with the supramolecular organization of liquid crystals (LCs). ILCs salts were obtained by the assembly of long-chained diketonylpyridinium cations of the type [HOO^(R(n)pyH)] + and BF_(4)^(-) , ReO_(4)^(-), NO_(3)^(-), CF_(3)SO_(3)^(-), CuCl_(4)^(2-) counter-ions. We have studied the thermal behavior of five series of compounds by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and hot stage polarized light optical microscopy (POM). All materials show thermotropic mesomorphism as well as crystalline polymorphism. X-ray diffraction of the [HOO^(R(12)pyH)][ReO_(4)] crystal reveals a layered structure with alternating polar and apolar sublayers. The mesophases also exhibit a lamellar arrangement detected by variable temperature powder X-ray diffraction. The CuCl_(4)^(2-) salts exhibit the best LC properties followed by the ReO_(4)^(-) ones due to low melting temperature and wide range of existence. The conductivity was probed for the mesophases in one species each from the ReO_(4)^(-) , and CuCl_(4)^(2-) families, and for the solid phase in one of the non-mesomorphic Cl^(-) salts. The highest ionic conductivity was found for the smectic mesophase of the ReO_(4)^(-) containing salt, whereas the solid phases of all salts were dominated by electronic contributions. The ionic conductivity may be favored by the mesophase lamellar structure.

Laser Spectroscopy: TDLAS instrumentation and NIR analysis of some organic materials

Near-infrared spectroscopy can be a workhorse technique for materials analysis in industries such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and polymers. A near-infrared spectrum represents combination bands and overtone bands that are harmonics of absorption frequencies in the mid-infrared. Near-infrared absorption includes a combination-band region immediately adjacent to the mid-infrared and three overtone regions. All four near-infrared regions contain "echoes" of the fundamental mid-infrared absorptions. For example, vibrations in the mid-infrared due to the C-H stretches will produce four distinct bands in each of the overtone and combination regions. As the bands become more removed from the fundamental frequencies they become more widely separated from their neighbors, more broadened and are dramatically reduced in intensity. Because near-infrared bands are much less intense, more of the sample can be used to produce a spectra and with near-infrared, sample preparation activities are greatly reduced or eliminated so more of the sample can be utilized. In addition, long path lengths and the ability to sample through glass in the near-infrared allows samples to be measured in common media such as culture tubes, cuvettes and reaction bottles. This is unlike mid-infrared where very small amounts of a sample produce a strong spectrum; thus sample preparation techniques must be employed to limit the amount of the sample that interacts with the beam. In the present work we describe the successful the fabrication and calibration of a linear high resolution linear spectrometer using tunable diode laser and a 36 m path length cell and meuurement of a highly resolved structure of OH group in methanol in the transition region A v =3. We then analyse the NIR spectrum of certain aromatic molecules and study the substituent effects using local mode theory

Analysis of diametrical wear of grinding wheel and roundness errors in the machining of steel VC 131

Due to the high industrial competitiveness, the rigorous laws of environmental protection, the necessary reduction of costs, the mechanical industry sees itself forced to worry more and more with the refinement of your processes and products. In this context, can be mentioned the need to eliminate the roundness errors that appear after the grinding process. This work has the objective of verifying if optimized nozzles for the application of cutting fluid in the grinding process can minimize the formation of the roundness errors and the diametrical wear of grinding wheel in the machining of the steel VC 131 with 60 HRc, when compared to the conventional nozzles. These nozzles were analyzed using two types of grinding wheels and two different cutting fluids. Was verified that the nozzle of 3mm of diameter, integral oil and the CBN grinding wheel, were the best options to obtain smaller roundness errors and the lowest diametrical wears of grinding wheels.

Analysis of transport properties of mechanically alloyed [Pb1-xSnxTe]

The work described in this thesis had two objectives. The first objective was to develop a physically based computational model that could be used to predict the electronic conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity of Pb1-xSnxTe alloys over the 400 K to 700 K temperature as a function of Sn content and doping level. The second objective was to determine how the secondary phase inclusions observed in Pb1-xSnxTe alloys made by consolidating mechanically alloyed elemental powders impact the ability of the material to harvest waste heat and generate electricity in the 400 K to 700 K temperature range. The motivation for this work was that though the promise of this alloy as an unusually efficient thermoelectric power generator material in the 400 K to 700 K range had been demonstrated in the literature, methods to reproducibly control and subsequently optimize the materials thermoelectric figure of merit remain elusive. Mechanical alloying, though not typically used to fabricate these alloys, is a potential method for cost-effectively engineering these properties. Given that there are deviations from crystalline perfection in mechanically alloyed material such as secondary phase inclusions, the question arises as to whether these defects are detrimental to thermoelectric function or alternatively, whether they enhance thermoelectric function of the alloy. The hypothesis formed at the onset of this work was that the small secondary phase SnO2 inclusions observed to be present in the mechanically alloyed Pb1-xSnxTe would increase the thermoelectric figure of merit of the material over the temperature range of interest. It was proposed that the increase in the figure of merit would arise because the inclusions in the material would not reduce the electrical conductivity to as great an extent as the thermal conductivity. If this were to be true, then the experimentally measured electronic conductivity in mechanically alloyed Pb1-xSnxTe alloys that have these inclusions would not be less than that expected in alloys without these inclusions while the portion of the thermal conductivity that is not due to charge carriers (the lattice thermal conductivity) would be less than what would be expected from alloys that do not have these inclusions. Furthermore, it would be possible to approximate the observed changes in the electrical and thermal transport properties using existing physical models for the scattering of electrons and phonons by small inclusions. The approach taken to investigate this hypothesis was to first experimentally characterize the mobile carrier concentration at room temperature along with the extent and type of secondary phase inclusions present in a series of three mechanically alloyed Pb1-xSnxTe alloys with different Sn content. Second, the physically based computational model was developed. This model was used to determine what the electronic conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, total thermal conductivity, and the portion of the thermal conductivity not due to mobile charge carriers would be in these particular Pb1-xSnxTe alloys if there were to be no secondary phase inclusions. Third, the electronic conductivity, Seebeck coefficient and total thermal conductivity was experimentally measured for these three alloys with inclusions present at elevated temperatures. The model predictions for electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient were directly compared to the experimental elevated temperature electrical transport measurements. The computational model was then used to extract the lattice thermal conductivity from the experimentally measured total thermal conductivity. This lattice thermal conductivity was then compared to what would be expected from the alloys in the absence of secondary phase inclusions. Secondary phase inclusions were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis to be present in all three alloys to a varying extent. The inclusions were found not to significantly degrade electrical conductivity at temperatures above ~ 400 K in these alloys, though they do dramatically impact electronic mobility at room temperature. It is shown that, at temperatures above ~ 400 K, electrons are scattered predominantly by optical and acoustical phonons rather than by an alloy scattering mechanism or the inclusions. The experimental electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient data at elevated temperatures were found to be within ~ 10 % of what would be expected for material without inclusions. The inclusions were not found to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity at elevated temperatures. The experimentally measured thermal conductivity data was found to be consistent with the lattice thermal conductivity that would arise due to two scattering processes: Phonon phonon scattering (Umklapp scattering) and the scattering of phonons by the disorder induced by the formation of a PbTe-SnTe solid solution (alloy scattering). As opposed to the case in electrical transport, the alloy scattering mechanism in thermal transport is shown to be a significant contributor to the total thermal resistance. An estimation of the extent to which the mean free time between phonon scattering events would be reduced due to the presence of the inclusions is consistent with the above analysis of the experimental data. The first important result of this work was the development of an experimentally validated, physically based computational model that can be used to predict the electronic conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity of Pb1-xSnxTe alloys over the 400 K to 700 K temperature as a function of Sn content and doping level. This model will be critical in future work as a tool to first determine what the highest thermoelectric figure of merit one can expect from this alloy system at a given temperature and, second, as a tool to determine the optimum Sn content and doping level to achieve this figure of merit. The second important result of this work is the determination that the secondary phase inclusions that were observed to be present in the Pb1-xSnxTe made by mechanical alloying do not keep the material from having the same electrical and thermal transport that would be expected from “perfect" single crystal material at elevated temperatures. The analytical approach described in this work will be critical in future investigations to predict how changing the size, type, and volume fraction of secondary phase inclusions can be used to impact thermal and electrical transport in this materials system.

地外物质中铂族等亲铁元素的分析及应用

长久以来，对于陨石金属相的全岩研究主要使用中子活化分析方法（INAA），该方法具有灵敏度高、无损样品及制样简单等优点，但它无法测定所有铂族元素（PGEs）。随着分析技术的发展，电感耦合等离子质谱（ICP-MS）越来越广泛地应用于地质学领域，但在地外物质的应用中研究较少。 本论文在分析方法上，首先在国内开展了球粒陨石金属相和铁陨石的主、微量元素的ICP-AES和ICP-MS实验分析方法研究，对四块球粒陨石的金属相以及四块铁陨石进行了分析，初步讨论了星云凝聚和小行星热变质中亲铁元素的变化特征，进一步揭示了星云的凝聚过程、以及铁陨石的结晶过程。对新发现的乌拉斯台铁陨石所做的研究表明，该陨石和新疆陨石可能为成对陨石。并将研究延伸到地外撞击事件的研究中，通过对浙江煤山P/T界线层的样品进行分析，对当时的生物大灭绝事件给出了合理解释。 乌拉斯台铁陨石是在我国新疆新发现的一块铁陨石，其发现地点距离新疆铁陨石（Armanty）约130公里。我们应用ICP-MS分析了乌拉斯台铁陨石（IIIE），以及新疆铁陨石（IIIE）、南丹铁陨石（IIICD）和Mundrabilla铁陨石（IIICD）的全岩组成，结果显示和参考文献有很好的一致性，证明了该分析方法的可行性。我们对乌拉斯台铁陨石进行了系统的岩石学、矿物学、以及微量元素分析，该陨石的岩石结构属于粗粒八面体，铁纹石带宽为1.2  0.2 mm。合纹石以各种微观结构大量存在于该陨石中。陨磷镍铁矿以富镍（30.5-55.5%）的形式出现在合纹石中，或者与陨硫铁，陨硫铬铁矿等共生。并通过计算获知该陨石的冷却速率约为20℃/Myr。其岩石矿物学特征和全岩组成和新疆铁陨石相似，二者都落在IIIE化学群的范围，因此，我们将乌拉斯台铁陨石划分为IIIE化学群，并初步认为和新疆铁陨石是成对陨石。同时，对吉林球粒陨石（H5）、安龙球粒陨石（H5）、以及南极陨石GRV 9919（L3）和GRV 021603（H3）四块球粒陨石金属相进行的研究显示，球粒陨石金属相的亲铁元素配分模式主要与元素的挥发性相关，具有难熔元素基本上平坦分布，而中等和强挥发性元素随其挥性的增高而趋于贫化的特征。 铂族元素的研究不仅在讨论星云凝聚过程中亲铁元素的分异、金属-硅酸盐分异与核-幔的形成，以及金属熔体的结晶分异方面有着重要的意义，对于讨论地外物质的示踪也有着重要的作用。铂族元素在地壳中高度亏损，但在大部分地外物质中富集，因此通常将Ir的异常已否作为是否有地外物质加入的重要依据之一。距今2.51亿年前的二叠纪-三叠纪（P/T界线）时期，发生了地质历史上最大规模的生物灭绝事件，然而对于该事件的诱因却一直存有争议，主要存在两种观点：“地外撞击”和“火山喷发”。我们使用锍镍火试金和同位素稀释法，结合Te共沉淀， 应用ICP-MS分析技术，对我国煤山二叠纪-三叠纪界线层的样品进行了Ir、Ru、Rh、Pt和Pd的测定。火试金方法结果显示Ir的含量为0.053 ng/g，而同位素稀释法对P/T界线事件层样品的分析结果显示，Ir的含量在0.005-0.028 ng/g，两种分析方法的结果均显示没有Ir的正异常。将PGE使用碳质球粒陨石标准化后，整个配分模式呈现出高度分异，Ir/Pd的比值为0.02-0.03CI，明显不同于各类陨石。相反，该界线层样品的PGE配分模式和西伯利亚玄武岩（甚至也可能和峨眉山玄武岩）相似，证明了该界线层样品中的PGE可能来源于玄武岩。P/T界线层样品中PGE的含量从富含黄铁矿的壳层24f向26层呈上升趋势，且在26层为最大值，然后在28层回落，这种趋势可能暗示了玄武岩最大规模的喷发可能出现在26层。该结果有力地证明了P/T界线时期的生物灭绝事件与火山喷发的相关性，给一直存有争议的二叠纪-三叠纪生物灭绝事件提供了新的证据。

Photothermal beam deflection for non-destructive evaluation of semiconductor thin films

Non-destructive testing (NDT) is the use of non-invasive techniques to determine the integrity of a material, component, or structure. Engineers and scientists use NDT in a variety of applications, including medical imaging, materials analysis, and process control.Photothermal beam deflection technique is one of the most promising NDT technologies. Tremendous R&D effort has been made for improving the efficiency and simplicity of this technique. It is a popular technique because it can probe surfaces irrespective of the size of the sample and its surroundings. This technique has been used to characterize several semiconductor materials, because of its non-destructive and non-contact evaluation strategy. Its application further extends to analysis of wide variety of materials. Instrumentation of a NDT technique is very crucial for any material analysis. Chapter two explores the various excitation sources, source modulation techniques, detection and signal processing schemes currently practised. The features of the experimental arrangement including the steps for alignment, automation, data acquisition and data analysis are explained giving due importance to details.Theoretical studies form the backbone of photothermal techniques. The outcome of a theoretical work is the foundation of an application.The reliability of the theoretical model developed and used is proven from the studies done on crystalline.The technique is applied for analysis of transport properties such as thermal diffusivity, mobility, surface recombination velocity and minority carrier life time of the material and thermal imaging of solar cell absorber layer materials like CuInS2, CuInSe2 and SnS thin films.analysis of In2S3 thin films, which are used as buffer layer material in solar cells. The various influences of film composition, chlorine and silver incorporation in this material is brought out from the measurement of transport properties and analysis of sub band gap levels.The application of photothermal deflection technique for characterization of solar cells is a relatively new area that requires considerable attention.The application of photothermal deflection technique for characterization of solar cells is a relatively new area that requires considerable attention. Chapter six thus elucidates the theoretical aspects of application of photothermal techniques for solar cell analysis. The experimental design and method for determination of solar cell efficiency, optimum load resistance and series resistance with results from the analysis of CuInS2/In2S3 based solar cell forms the skeleton of this chapter.

El lugar de la expresión oral con respecto a las demás destrezas lingüísticas en el material docente Ejercicios Amigos Dos

This dissertation research aims to analyze the material Ejercicios Amigos Dos used by students learning Spanish as a foreign language in a Swedish school. Specifically, it examines the place of speaking skills, in the context of basic language skills. This study was an exploratory and descriptive analysis of the material Ejercicios Amigos Dos.Qualitative method used was action research, which was based on the real needs of the author of this study to enhance their teaching.Sheet one and Sheet two containing educational criteria for the analysis of teaching materials were used to measure the place of speaking skills.The main findings in the analysis showed that speaking skills are taken into account in the teaching material, however there are some micro skills missing. Speaking skills do not take a prominent role in the teaching material. Writing skills are emphasized to a greater extent.