Surface Thermo-Dynamic Characterization of Poly (Vinylidene Chloride-Co-Acrylonitrile) (P(VDC-co-AN)) Using Inverse-Gas Chromatography and Investigation of Visual Traits Using Computer Vision Image Processing Algorithms

The Inverse Gas Chromatography (IGC) technique has been employed for the surface thermo-dynamic characterization of the polymer Poly(vinylidene chloride-co-acrylonitrile) (P(VDC-co-AN)) in its pure form. IGC attributes, such as London dispersive surface energy, Gibbs free energy, and Guttman Lewis acid-base parameters were analyzed for the polymer (P(VDC-co-AN)). The London dispersive surface free energy ( γ S L ) was calculated using the Schultz and Dorris–Gray method. The maximum surface energy value of (P(VDC-co-AN )) is found to be 29.93 mJ·m − 2 and 24.15 mJ·m − 2 in both methods respectively. In our analysis, it is observed that the γ S L values decline linearly with an increase in temperature. The Guttman–Lewis acid-base parameter K a , K b values were estimated to be 0.13 and 0.49. Additionally, the surface character S value and the correlation coefficient were estimated to be 3.77 and 0.98 respectively. After the thermo-dynamic surface characterization, the (P(VDC-co-AN)) polymer overall surface character is found to be basic. The substantial results revealed that the (P(VDC-co-AN)) polymer surface contains more basic sites than acidic sites and, hence, can closely associate in acidic media. Additionally, visual traits of the polymer (P(VDC-co-AN)) were investigated by employing Computer Vision and Image Processing (CVIP) techniques on Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images captured at resolutions ×50, ×200 and ×500. Several visual traits, such as intricate patterns, surface morphology, texture/roughness, particle area distribution ( D A ), directionality ( D P ), mean average particle area ( μ a v g ) and mean average particle standard deviation ( σ a v g ), were investigated on the polymer’s purest form. This collective study facilitates the researches to explore the pure form of the polymer Poly(vinylidene chloride-co-acrylonitrile) (P(VDC-co-AN )) in both chemical and visual perspective.

GALACTIC COSMIC RAY ANISOTROPY MODELLING

We calculate the angular distribution of cosmic rays at a given point of the heliosphere under the assumption that the incoming flux from outer space is isotropic. The static magnetic field is shown to cause no anisotropy provided that the observation point is situated out of the trapped particle area. We consider a coronal ejection model in the form of a static cylinder with an axial homogeneous magnetic field inside. We calculate angular distribution samples in the trapped particle area (inside the cylinder) and show that there is a certain cone of directions with a reduced flux. For the same model with the moving cylinder, the angular distribution samples are calculated for different positions of the observation point outside the cylinder. Anisotropy of order of the ejection to light velocity ratio is shown to arise. The calculated samples are in qualitative agreement with URAGAN muon hodoscope data.

GALACTIC COSMIC RAY ANISOTROPY MODELLING

We calculate the angular distribution of cosmic rays at a given point of the heliosphere under the assumption that the incoming flux from outer space is isotropic. The static magnetic field is shown to cause no anisotropy provided that the observation point is situated out of the trapped particle area. We consider a coronal ejection model in the form of a static cylinder with an axial homogeneous magnetic field inside. We calculate angular distribution samples in the trapped particle area (inside the cylinder) and show that there is a certain cone of directions with a reduced flux. For the same model with the moving cylinder, the angular distribution samples are calculated for different positions of the observation point outside the cylinder. Anisotropy of order of the ejection to light velocity ratio is shown to arise. The calculated samples are in qualitative agreement with URAGAN muon hodoscope data.

Investigation of Aging Induced Evolution of the Microstructure of SAC305 Lead Free Solder

The most well-known and widely observed microstructural changes during aging are the coarsening of Ag3Sn and Cu6Sn5 intermetallic compounds (IMCs) present in the eutectic regions between β-Sn dendrites. In this investigation, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) has been utilized to examine aging induced coarsening of IMCs occurring within lead free solders. Unlike many prior studies, fixed regions in the solder joint cross-sections were monitored throughout the aging process, rather than examining different samples and/or different regions after the various aging exposures. Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) lead free solder samples were formed with reflowed (RF) and water quenched (WQ) cooling profiles and resulting initial microstructures, and then polished microscopy cross-sections were prepared. Nanoindentation marks were added to the cross-sections at certain locations to facilitate locating the fixed regions of interest in subsequent microscopy observations. After preparation, the samples were then aged at T = 125 °C, and the microstructures were observed and recorded in the selected regions after various aging exposures using SEM. In addition, the coarsening of IMCs during aging has been quantitatively analyzed. Particularly, the aging induced changes in number of IMCs, total area of all IMCs, average particle area, and average particle diameter have been quantified for fixed regions in the samples.

Effect of a Particulate and a Putty-Like Tricalcium Phosphate-Based Bone Grafting Material on Bone Formation, Volume Stability and Osteogenic Marker Expression after Bilateral Sinus Floor Augmentation in Humans

This study examines the effect of a hyaluronic acid (HyAc) containing tricalcium phosphate putty scaffold material (TCP-P) and of a particulate tricalcium phosphate (TCP-G) graft on bone formation, volume stability and osteogenic marker expression in biopsies sampled 6 months after bilateral sinus floor augmentation (SFA) in 7 patients applying a split-mouth design. Biopsies were processed for immunohistochemical analysis of resin embedded sections. Sections were stained for collagen type I (Col I), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin (OC) and bone sialoprotein (BSP). Furthermore, the bone area and particle area fraction were determined histomorphometrically. Cone-beam CT data recorded after SFA and 6 month later were used for calculating the graft volume at these two time points. TCP-P displayed more advantageous surgical handling properties and a significantly greater bone area fraction and smaller particle area fraction. This was accompanied by significantly greater expression of Col I and BSP and in osteoblasts and osteoid and a less pronounced reduction in grafting volume with TCP-P. SFA using both types of materials resulted in formation of sufficient bone volume for facilitating stable dental implant placement with all dental implants having been in function without any complications for 6 years. Since TCP-P displayed superior surgical handling properties and greater bone formation than TCP-G, without the Hyac hydrogel matrix having any adverse effect on bone formation or graft volume stability, TCP-P can be regarded as excellent grafting material for SFA in a clinical setting.

Laboratory Evaluation of Aging Behaviour of SBS Modified Asphalt

To study the effect of aging SBS modified asphalt on the performance of asphalt pavement, aging at various times and temperatures was conducted with thin film oven, and then tests were made about the penetration, softening point, ductility, viscosity, toughness, and fluorescence microscopy of modified asphalt with different aging levels. The results show that, with the increasing of aging time, the penetration and ductility of modified asphalt decrease while its softening point and viscosity increase, and the variation trend of the toughness and tenacity is related to the aging temperature; the aging dynamic model with viscosity as parameter can well characterize the aging process of modified asphalt; at microlevel, with the decreasing of SBS particle size, the uniformity of particle size is better. Analysis of macroscopic properties, microscopic characteristics, and significance shows that the SBS particle area ratio has a significant correlation with tenacity as the aging temperature changes. When the aging temperature is 163°C, the SBS particle area ratio still has a significant correlation with tenacity as the aging time changes.

Developing and Evaluating Ice Cloud Parameterizations for Forward Modeling of Radar Moments Using in situ Aircraft Observations

Observing ice clouds using zenith pointing millimeter cloud radars is challenging because the transfer functions relating the observables to meteorological quantities are not uniquely defined. Here, the authors use a spectral radar simulator to develop a consistent dataset containing particle mass, area, and size distribution as functions of size. This is an essential prerequisite for radar sensitivity studies and retrieval development. The data are obtained from aircraft in situ and ground-based radar observations during the Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign (ISDAC) campaign in Alaska. The two main results of this study are as follows: 1) An improved method to estimate the particle mass–size relation as a function of temperature is developed and successfully evaluated by combining aircraft in situ and radar observations. The method relies on a functional relation between reflectivity and Doppler velocity. 2) The impact on the Doppler spectrum by replacing measurements of particle area and size distribution by recent analytical expressions is investigated. For this, higher-order moments such as skewness and kurtosis as well as the slopes of the Doppler spectrum are also used as a proxy for the Doppler spectrum. For the area–size relation, it is found that a power law is not sufficient to describe particle area and small deviations from a power law are essential for obtaining consistent higher moments. For particle size distributions, the normalization approach for the gamma distribution of Testud et al., adapted to maximum diameter as size descriptor, is preferred.

Characteristic Behaviors in Compressive Strength of Two-Dimensional Aggregates

A selected material, polystyrene microsphere series, is created as a building block of two-dimensional (2D) aggregates to examine scaling behaviors of the compressive stress condition. The 2D aggregated clusters are confined between the two cantilevers of 30 micron in diameter. These cantilevers can slide and force the aggregates move in the lateral direction. The compressive yield stress is directly measured during experiments by quantitative image analysis on the optical microscope. Locations of polystyrene aggregates are traced by Discrete Element Method (DEM), computer simulation. The 2D mechanical properties are examined for the particle size scaling behaviors as a function of particle area fraction and the average particle coordination number. The larger the particle size, the greater the modulus and the yield stress.