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The use of micellar solutions for novel separation techniques (open access)

The use of micellar solutions for novel separation techniques

Surfactant based separation techniques based on the solubilization of organic compounds into the nonpolar interior of a micelle or electrostatic attraction of ionized metals and metal complexes to the charged surface of a micelle were studied in this work. Micellar solutions were used to recover two model volatile organic compounds emitted by the printing and painting industries (toluene and amyl acetate) and to investigate the effect of the most important variables in the surfactant enhanced carbon regeneration (SECR) process. SECR for liquid phase applications was also investigated in which the equilibrium adsorption of cetyl pyridinium chloride (CPC) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on activated carbon were measured. Micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) was investigated using spiral wound membranes for the simultaneous removal of organic compounds, metals and metal complexes dissolved in water, with emphasis on pollution control applications. Investigations of MEUF to remove 99+ per cent of trichloroethylene (TCE) from contaminated groundwater using criteria such as: membrane flux, solubilization equilibrium constant, surfactant molecular weight, and Krafft temperature led to the selection of an anionic disulfonate with a molecular weight of 642 (DOWFAX 8390). These data and results from supporting experiments were used to design a system which could clean-up water in a …
Date: December 31, 1993
Creator: Roberts, B. L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
MagRad: A code to optimize the operation of superconducting magnets in a radiation environment (open access)

MagRad: A code to optimize the operation of superconducting magnets in a radiation environment

A powerful computational tool, called MagRad, has been developed which optimizes magnet design for operation in radiation fields. Specifically, MagRad has been used for the analysis and design modification of the cable-in-conduit conductors of the TF magnet systems in fusion reactor designs. Since the TF magnets must operate in a radiation environment which damages the material components of the conductor and degrades their performance, the optimization of conductor design must account not only for start-up magnet performance, but also shut-down performance. The degradation in performance consists primarily of three effects: reduced stability margin of the conductor; a transition out of the well-cooled operating regime; and an increased maximum quench temperature attained in the conductor. Full analysis of the magnet performance over the lifetime of the reactor includes: radiation damage to the conductor, stability, protection, steady state heat removal, shielding effectiveness, optimal annealing schedules, and finally costing of the magnet and reactor. Free variables include primary and secondary conductor geometric and compositional parameters, as well as fusion reactor parameters. A means of dealing with the radiation damage to the conductor, namely high temperature superconductor anneals, is proposed, examined, and demonstrated to be both technically feasible and cost effective. Additionally, two relevant …
Date: December 31, 1995
Creator: Yeaw, Christopher T.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Size-dependent structure of silver nanoparticles under high pressure (open access)

Size-dependent structure of silver nanoparticles under high pressure

Silver noble metal nanoparticles that are<10 nm often possess multiply twinned grains allowing them to adopt shapes and atomic structures not observed in bulk materials. The properties exhibited by particles with multiply twinned polycrystalline structures are often far different from those of single-crystalline particles and from the bulk. I will present experimental evidence that silver nanoparticles<10 nm undergo a reversible structural transformation under hydrostatic pressures up to 10 GPa. Results for nanoparticles in the intermediate size range of 5 to 10 nm suggest a reversible linear pressure-dependent rhombohedral distortion which has not been previously observed in bulk silver. I propose a mechanism for this transitiion that considers the bond-length distribution in idealized multiply twinned icosahedral particles. Results for nanoparticles of 3.9 nm suggest a reversible linear pressure-dependent orthorhombic distortion. This distortion is interpreted in the context of idealized decahedral particles. In addition, given these size-dependent measurements of silver nanoparticle compression with pressure, we have constructed a pressure calibration curve. Encapsulating these silver nanoparticles in hollow metal oxide nanospheres then allows us to measure the pressure inside a nanoshell using x-ray diffraction. We demonstrate the measurement of pressure gradients across nanoshells and show that these nanoshells have maximum resolved shear strengths …
Date: December 31, 2008
Creator: Koski, Kristie Jo
System: The UNT Digital Library
Beam Line Design and Beam Physics Study of Energy Recovery Linac Free Electron Laser at Peking University (open access)

Beam Line Design and Beam Physics Study of Energy Recovery Linac Free Electron Laser at Peking University

Energy recovering linac (ERL) offers an attractive alternative for generating intense beams of charged particles by approaching the operational efficiency of a storage ring while maintaining the superior beam quality typical of a linear accelerator. In ERLs, the decelerated beam cancels the beam loading effects of the accelerated beam with high repetition rate. Therefore, ERLs can, in principle, accelerate very high average currents with only modest amounts of RF power. So the efficiency of RF power to beam is much higher. Furthermore, the energy of beam to dump is lower, so it will reduce dump radiation. With the successful experiments in large maximum-to-injection energy ratio up to 51:1 and high power FEL up to 14kW, the use of ERL, especially combining with superconducting RF technology, provides a potentially powerful new paradigm for generation of the charged particle beams used in MW FEL, synchrotron radiation sources, high-energy electron cooling devices and so on. The 3+1/2 DC-SC photo injector and two 9cell TESLA superconducting cavity for IR SASE FEL in PKU provides a good platform to achieve high average FEL with Energy Recovery. The work of this thesis is on Beam line design and Beam dynamics study of Energy Recovery Linac Free …
Date: December 31, 2011
Creator: Wang, Guimei
System: The UNT Digital Library
Towards a Precision Measurement of Parity-Violating e-p Elastic Scattering at Low Momentum Transfer (open access)

Towards a Precision Measurement of Parity-Violating e-p Elastic Scattering at Low Momentum Transfer

The goal of the Q-weak experiment is to make a measurement of the proton's weak charge Q{sub W}{sup p} = 1 - 4 sin{sup 2}({theta}{sub W}) to an accuracy of {approx} 4%. This would represent a {approx} 0.3% determination of the weak mixing angle sin{sup 2}({theta}{sub W}) at low energy. The measurement may be used for a precision test of the Standard Model (SM) prediction on the running of sin{sup 2}({theta}{sub W}) with energy scale. The Q-weak experiment operates at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab). The experiment determines Q{sub W}{sup p} by measuring the parity violating asymmetry in elastic electron-proton scattering at low momentum transfer Q{sup 2} = 0.026 (GeV/c){sup 2} and forward angles (?8 degrees). The anticipated size of the asymmetry, based on the SM, is about 230 parts per billion (ppb). With the proposed accuracy, the experiment may probe new physics beyond Standard Model at the TeV scale. This thesis focuses on my contributions to the experiment, including track reconstruction for momentum transfer determination of the scattering process, and the focal plane scanner, a detector I designed and built to measure the flux profile of scattered electrons on the focal plane of the Q-weak spectrometer to …
Date: May 31, 2012
Creator: Pan, Jie
System: The UNT Digital Library
Delta Electroproduction in 12-C (open access)

Delta Electroproduction in 12-C

The Delta-nucleus potential is a crucial element in the understanding of the nuclear system. Previous electroexcitation measurements in the delta region reported a Q2 dependence of the delta mass indicating that this potential is dependent on the momentum of the delta. Such a dependence is not observed for protons and neutrons in the nuclear medium. This thesis presents the experimental study of the electroexcitation of the delta resonance in 12C, performed using the high energy electron beam at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, and the near 4(pie) acceptance detector CLAS that enables the detection of the full reaction final state. Inclusive, semi inclusive, and exclusive cross sections were measured with an incident electron beam energy of 1.162GeV over the Q2 range 0.175-0.475 (GeV/c)2. A Q2 dependence of the delta mass was only observed in the exclusive measurements indicating that the delta-nucleus potential is affected by the momentum of the delta.
Date: January 31, 2003
Creator: McLauchlan, Steven
System: The UNT Digital Library
Measurement of single spin asymmetry and fifth structure function for the proton(electron vec, electron Kaon+)Lambda reaction with CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) (open access)

Measurement of single spin asymmetry and fifth structure function for the proton(electron vec, electron Kaon+)Lambda reaction with CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS)

The single spin asymmetry, A{sub LT} ?, and the polarized structure function, ?{sub LT}?, for the p(e,e?K{sup +})? reaction in the resonance region have been measured and extracted using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at Jefferson Lab. Data were taken at an electron beam energy of 2.567 GeV. The large acceptance of CLAS allows for full azimuthal angle coverage over a large range of center-of-mass scattering angles. Results were obtained that span a range in Q{sup 2} from 0.5 to 1.3 GeV{sup 2} and W from threshold up to 2.1 GeV and were compared to existing theoretical calculations. The polarized structure function is sensitive to the interferences between various resonant amplitudes, as well as to resonant and non-resonant amplitudes. This measurement is essential for understanding the structure of nucleons and searching for previously undetected nucleon excited states (resonances) predicted by quark models. The W dependence of the ?{sub LT} ? in the kinematic regions dominated by s and u channel exchange (cos q{sup cm} k = ?0.50, ?0.167, 0.167) indicated possible resonance structures not predicted by theoretical calculations. The ?{sub LT} ? behavior around W = 1.875 GeV could be the signature of a resonance predicted by the quark …
Date: August 31, 2005
Creator: Nasseripour, Rahksha
System: The UNT Digital Library
Heat Transfer Analysis and Assessment of Kinetics Systems for PBX 9501 (open access)

Heat Transfer Analysis and Assessment of Kinetics Systems for PBX 9501

The study of thermal decomposition in high explosive (HE) charges has been an ongoing process since the early 1900s. This work is specifically directed towards the analysis of PBX 9501. In the early 1970s, Dwight Jaeger of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) developed a single-step, two-species kinetics system that was used in the development of one of the first finite element codes for thermal analyses known as EXPLO. Jaeger's research focused on unconfined spherical samples of HE charges to determine if varied heating ramps would cause detonation or deflagration. Tarver and McGuire of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) followed soon after with a three-step, four-species kinetics system that was developed for confined spheres under relatively fast heating conditions. Peter Dickson et al. of LANL then introduced a kinetics system with four steps and five species that included bimolecular products to capture the effects of the endothermic phase change that the HE undergoes. The results of four experiments are examined to study the effectiveness of these kinetics systems. The experiments are: (1) The LLNL scaled thermal explosion (STEX) experiments on confined cylindrical charges with long heating ramps in the range of 90 hours. (2) The LLNL one-dimensional time to explosion (ODTX) …
Date: July 31, 2006
Creator: Jorenby, Jeffrey W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Indoleacetic Acid and Kinetin on the Growth of Some Microorganisms (open access)

The Effects of Indoleacetic Acid and Kinetin on the Growth of Some Microorganisms

Data are presented from a study of the effects of indoleacetic acid and kinetin on the growth of Amoeba proteus, Escherichia coli, and two species of yeast. Data are tabulated and reaction mechanisms are discussed. 95 references. (C.H.)
Date: March 31, 1959
Creator: Kennell, D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development of Modeling and Simulation for Magnetic Particle Inspection Using Finite Elements (open access)

Development of Modeling and Simulation for Magnetic Particle Inspection Using Finite Elements

Magnetic particle inspection (MPI) is a widely used nondestructive inspection method for aerospace applications essentially limited to experiment-based approaches. The analysis of MPI characteristics that affect sensitivity and reliability contributes not only reductions in inspection design cost and time but also improvement of analysis of experimental data. Magnetic particles are easily attracted toward a high magnetic field gradient. Selection of a magnetic field source, which produces a magnetic field gradient large enough to detect a defect in a test sample or component, is an important factor in magnetic particle inspection. In this work a finite element method (FEM) has been employed for numerical calculation of the MPI simulation technique. The FEM method is known to be suitable for complicated geometries such as defects in samples. This thesis describes the research that is aimed at providing a quantitative scientific basis for magnetic particle inspection. A new FEM solver for MPI simulation has been developed in this research for not only nonlinear reversible permeability materials but also irreversible hysteresis materials that are described by the Jiles-Atherton model. The material is assumed to have isotropic ferromagnetic properties in this research (i.e., the magnetic properties of the material are identical in all directions in …
Date: May 31, 2003
Creator: Lee, Jun-Youl
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Zintl Chemistry of the Heavy Tetrel Elements (open access)

The Zintl Chemistry of the Heavy Tetrel Elements

Exploration of the alkali metal/alkaline-earth metal/heavy tetrel (Sn or Pb) systems has revealed a vast array of new chemistry and novel structure types. The structures and properties of these new materials have been studied in an attempt to understand the chemistry of these and other related systems. The first phase reported is Rb{sub 4}Pb{sub 9} (K{sub 4}Pb{sub 9} type). The compound contains two different types of Pb{sub 9}{sup 4-} deltahedra, a monocapped square pyramid and a distorted tricapped trigonal prism. Both cluster geometries correspond to a nido assignment even though the tricapped trigonal prism is not the classic Wade's rules nido deltahedron expected for a monocapped square antiprism. Also, a series of compounds that contain square pyramidal Tt{sub 5} polyanions of tin and lead has been obtained in alkaline-earth or rare-earth metal-tetrel systems by direct fusion of the elements to yield Sr{sub 3}Sn{sub 5}, Ba{sub 3}Pb{sub 5}, and La{sub 3}Sn{sub 5}. These phases contain square pyramidal clusters of the tetrel elements that are weakly interlinked into chains via two types of longer intercluster interactions that are mediated by bridging cations and substantially influenced by cation size and the free electron count. Attempts at incorporating another main-group element to form heteroatomic …
Date: December 31, 2002
Creator: Corbett, John D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
High-Throughput Analysis With 96-Capillary Array Electrophoresis and Integrated Sample Preparation for DNA Sequencing Based on Laser Induced Fluorescence Detection (open access)

High-Throughput Analysis With 96-Capillary Array Electrophoresis and Integrated Sample Preparation for DNA Sequencing Based on Laser Induced Fluorescence Detection

The purpose of this research was to improve the fluorescence detection for the multiplexed capillary array electrophoresis, extend its use beyond the genomic analysis, and to develop an integrated micro-sample preparation system for high-throughput DNA sequencing. The authors first demonstrated multiplexed capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) separations in a 96-capillary array system with laser-induced fluorescence detection. Migration times of four kinds of fluoresceins and six polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are normalized to one of the capillaries using two internal standards. The relative standard deviations (RSD) after normalization are 0.6-1.4% for the fluoresceins and 0.1-1.5% for the PAHs. Quantitative calibration of the separations based on peak areas is also performed, again with substantial improvement over the raw data. This opens up the possibility of performing massively parallel separations for high-throughput chemical analysis for process monitoring, combinatorial synthesis, and clinical diagnosis. The authors further improved the fluorescence detection by step laser scanning. A computer-controlled galvanometer scanner is adapted for scanning a focused laser beam across a 96-capillary array for laser-induced fluorescence detection. The signal at a single photomultiplier tube is temporally sorted to distinguish among the capillaries. The limit of detection for fluorescein is 3 x 10{sup -11} M …
Date: December 31, 2001
Creator: Xue, Gang
System: The UNT Digital Library
Studies of Immobilized Homogeneous Metal Catalysts on Silica Supports (open access)

Studies of Immobilized Homogeneous Metal Catalysts on Silica Supports

The tethered, chiral, chelating diphosphine rhodium complex, which catalyzes the enantioselective hydrogenation of methyl-{alpha}-acetamidocinnamate (MAC), has the illustrated structure as established by {sup 31}P NMR and IR studies. Spectral and catalytic investigations also suggest that the mechanism of action of the tethered complex is the same as that of the untethered complex in solution. The rhodium complexes, [Rh(COD)H]{sub 4}, [Rh(COD){sub 2}]{sup +}BF{sub 4}{sup -}, [Rh(COD)Cl]{sub 2}, and RhCl{sub 3} {center_dot} 3H{sub 2}O, adsorbed on SiO{sub 2} are optimally activated for toluene hydrogenation by pretreatment with H{sub 2} at 200 C. The same complexes on Pd-SiO{sub 2} are equally active without pretreatments. The active species in all cases is rhodium metal. The catalysts were characterized by XPS, TEM, DRIFTS, and mercury poisoning experiments. Rhodium on silica catalyzes the hydrogenation of fluorobenzene to produce predominantly fluorocyclohexane in heptane and 1,2-dichloroethane solvents. In heptane/methanol and heptane/water solvents, hydrodefluorination to benzene and subsequent hydrogenation to cyclohexane occurs exclusively. Benzene inhibits the hydrodefluorination of fluorobenzene. In DCE or heptane solvents, fluorocyclohexane reacts with hydrogen fluoride to form cyclohexene. Reaction conditions can be chosen to selectively yield fluorocyclohexane, cyclohexene, benzene, or cyclohexane. The oxorhenium(V) dithiolate catalyst [-S(CH{sub 2}){sub 3}s-]Re(O)(Me)(PPh{sub 3}) was modified by linking it to …
Date: May 31, 2003
Creator: Stanger, Keith James
System: The UNT Digital Library
Scalable Computational Chemistry: New Developments and Applications (open access)

Scalable Computational Chemistry: New Developments and Applications

The computational part of the thesis is the investigation of titanium chloride (II) as a potential catalyst for the bis-silylation reaction of ethylene with hexaclorodisilane at different levels of theory. Bis-silylation is an important reaction for producing bis(silyl) compounds and new C-Si bonds, which can serve as monomers for silicon containing polymers and silicon carbides. Ab initio calculations on the steps involved in a proposed mechanism are presented. This choice of reactants allows them to study this reaction at reliable levels of theory without compromising accuracy. The calculations indicate that this is a highly exothermic barrierless reaction. The TiCl{sub 2} catalyst removes a 50 kcal/mol activation energy barrier required for the reaction without the catalyst. The first step is interaction of TiCl{sub 2} with ethylene to form an intermediate that is 60 kcal/mol below the energy of the reactants. This is the driving force for the entire reaction. Dynamic correlation plays a significant role because RHF calculations indicate that the net barrier for the catalyzed reaction is 50 kcal/mol. They conclude that divalent Ti has the potential to become an important industrial catalyst for silylation reactions. In the programming part of the thesis, parallelization of different quantum chemistry methods is …
Date: December 31, 2002
Creator: Alexeev, Yuri
System: The UNT Digital Library
CMOS Interface Circuits for Spin Tunneling Junction Based Magnetic Random Access Memories (open access)

CMOS Interface Circuits for Spin Tunneling Junction Based Magnetic Random Access Memories

Magneto resistive memories (MRAM) are non-volatile memories which use magnetic instead of electrical structures to store data. These memories, apart from being non-volatile, offer a possibility to achieve densities better than DRAMs and speeds faster than SRAMs. MRAMs could potentially replace all computer memory RAM technologies in use today, leading to future applications like instan-on computers and longer battery life for pervasive devices. Such rapid development was made possible due to the recent discovery of large magnetoresistance in Spin tunneling junction devices. Spin tunneling junctions (STJ) are composite structures consisting of a thin insulating layer sandwiched between two magnetic layers. This thesis research is targeted towards these spin tunneling junction based Magnetic memories. In any memory, some kind of an interface circuit is needed to read the logic states. In this thesis, four such circuits are proposed and designed for Magnetic memories (MRAM). These circuits interface to the Spin tunneling junctions and act as sense amplifiers to read their magnetic states. The physical structure and functional characteristics of these circuits are discussed in this thesis. Mismatch effects on the circuits and proper design techniques are also presented. To demonstrate the functionality of these interface structures, test circuits were designed and …
Date: December 31, 2002
Creator: Saripalli, Ganesh
System: The UNT Digital Library
Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Studies of Surface Structures of Icosahedral Al-Cu-Fe Quasicrystals (open access)

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Studies of Surface Structures of Icosahedral Al-Cu-Fe Quasicrystals

Three papers are included in this dissertation. The first paper: ''Structural aspects of the fivefold quasicrystalline Al-Cu-Fe surface from STM and dynamical LEED studies'', is in press with ''Surface Science''. The second paper: ''An STM study of the atomic structure of the icosahedral Al-Cu-Fe fivefold surface'' is submitted to ''Physical Review B, Rapid Communication''. The third paper: ''Pseudomorphic starfish: arrangement of extrinsic metal atoms on a quasicrystalline substrate'' is submitted to ''Nature''. Following the third paper are general conclusions and appendices that document the published paper ''Structural aspects of the three-fold surface of icosahedral Al-Pd-Mn'' (appearing in volume 461, issue 1-3 of ''Surface Science'' on page L521-L527, 2000), the design as well as the specifications of the aluminum evaporator used in the aluminum deposition study in this dissertation, an extended discussion of the aluminum deposition on the quasicrystalline surface, and the STM database.
Date: December 31, 2002
Creator: Cai, Tanhong
System: The UNT Digital Library
From First Principles: The Application of Quantum Mechanics to Complex Molecules and Solvated Systems (open access)

From First Principles: The Application of Quantum Mechanics to Complex Molecules and Solvated Systems

None
Date: December 31, 2001
Creator: Freitag, Mark A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Laser Micromachining and Information Discovery Using a Dual Beam Interferometry (open access)

Laser Micromachining and Information Discovery Using a Dual Beam Interferometry

Lasers have proven to be among the most promising tools for micromachining because they can process features down to the size of the laser wavelength (smaller than 1 micrometer) and they provide a non-contact technology for machining. The demand for incorporating in-situ diagnostics technology into the micromachining environment is driven by the increasing need for producing micro-parts of high quality and accuracy. Laser interferometry can be used as an on-line monitoring tool and it is the aim of this work to enhance the understanding and application of Michelson interferometry principle for the in-situ diagnostics of the machining depth on the sub-micron and micron scales. micromachining is done on two different materials and a comprehensive investigation is done to control the width and depth of the machined feature. To control the width of the feature, laser micromachining is done on copper and a detailed analysis is performed. The objective of this experiment is to make a precision mask for sputtering with an array of holes on it using an Nd:YAG laser of 532 nm wavelength. The diameter of the hole is 50 {micro}m and the spacing between holes (the distance between the centers) is 100 {micro}m. Michelson interferometer is integrated with …
Date: December 31, 2001
Creator: Theppakuttaikomaraswamy, Senthil P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Correlation Between Domain Behavior and Magnetic Properties of Materials (open access)

Correlation Between Domain Behavior and Magnetic Properties of Materials

Correlation between length scales in the field of magnetism has long been a topic of intensive study. The long-term desire is simple: to determine one theory that completely describes the magnetic behavior of matter from an individual atomic particle all the way up to large masses of material. One key piece to this puzzle is connecting the behavior of a material's domains on the nanometer scale with the magnetic properties of an entire large sample or device on the centimeter scale. In the first case study involving the FeSiAl thin films, contrast and spacing of domain patterns are clearly related to microstructure and stress. Case study 2 most clearly demonstrates localized, incoherent domain wall motion switching with field applied along an easy axis for a square hysteresis loop. In case study 3, axis-specific images of the complex Gd-Si-Ge material clearly show the influence of uniaxial anisotropy. Case study 4, the only study with the sole intent of creating domain structures for imaging, also demonstrated in fairly simple terms the effects of increasing stress on domain patterns. In case study 5, it was proven that the width of magnetoresistance loops could be quantitatively predicted using only MFM. When all of the …
Date: May 31, 2003
Creator: Leib, Jeffrey Scott
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nuclear Spin Lattice Relaxation and Conductivity Studies of the Non-Arrhenius Conductivity Behavior in Lithium Fast Ion Conducting Sulfide Glasses (open access)

Nuclear Spin Lattice Relaxation and Conductivity Studies of the Non-Arrhenius Conductivity Behavior in Lithium Fast Ion Conducting Sulfide Glasses

As time progresses, the world is using up more of the planet's natural resources. Without technological advances, the day will eventually arrive when these natural resources will no longer be sufficient to supply all of the energy needs. As a result, society is seeing a push for the development of alternative fuel sources such as wind power, solar power, fuel cells, and etc. These pursuits are even occurring in the state of Iowa with increasing social pressure to incorporate larger percentages of ethanol in gasoline. Consumers are increasingly demanding that energy sources be more powerful, more durable, and, ultimately, more cost efficient. Fast Ionic Conducting (FIC) glasses are a material that offers great potential for the development of new batteries and/or fuel cells to help inspire the energy density of battery power supplies. This dissertation probes the mechanisms by which ions conduct in these glasses. A variety of different experimental techniques give a better understanding of the interesting materials science taking place within these systems. This dissertation discusses Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) techniques performed on FIC glasses over the past few years. These NMR results have been complimented with other measurement techniques, primarily impedance spectroscopy, to develop models that describe …
Date: May 31, 2003
Creator: Meyer, Benjamin Michael
System: The UNT Digital Library
Process Optimization for Solid Extraction, Flavor Improvement and Fat Removal in the Production of Soymilk From Full Fat Soy Flakes (open access)

Process Optimization for Solid Extraction, Flavor Improvement and Fat Removal in the Production of Soymilk From Full Fat Soy Flakes

Traditionally soymilk has been made with whole soybeans; however, there are other alternative raw ingredients for making soymilk, such as soy flour or full-fat soy flakes. US markets prefer soymilk with little or no beany flavor. modifying the process or using lipoxygenase-free soybeans can be used to achieve this. Unlike the dairy industry, fat reduction in soymilk has been done through formula modification instead of by conventional fat removal (skimming). This project reports the process optimization for solids and protein extraction, flavor improvement and fat removal in the production of 5, 8 and 12 {sup o}Brix soymilk from full fat soy flakes and whole soybeans using the Takai soymilk machine. Proximate analyses, and color measurement were conducted in 5, 8 and 12 {sup o}Brix soymilk. Descriptive analyses with trained panelists (n = 9) were conducted using 8 and 12 {sup o}Brix lipoxygenase-free and high protein blend soy flake soymilks. Rehydration of soy flakes is necessary to prevent agglomeration during processing and increase extractability. As the rehydration temperature increases from 15 to 50 to 85 C, the hexanal concentration was reduced. Enzyme inactivation in soy flakes milk production (measured by hexanal levels) is similar to previous reports with whole soybeans milk …
Date: May 31, 2003
Creator: Prawiradjaja, Stanley
System: The UNT Digital Library
Is Lutein a Physiologically Important Ligand for Transthyretin in Humans? (open access)

Is Lutein a Physiologically Important Ligand for Transthyretin in Humans?

Lutein and zeaxanthin are the only carotenoids accumulated in the macula of the human retina and are known as the macular pigments (MP). These pigments account for the yellow color of the macula and appear to play an important role in protecting against age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The uptake of lutein and zeaxanthin in human eyes is remarkably specific. It is likely that specific transport or binding proteins are involved. The objective is to determine whether transthyretin (TTR) is a transport protein in human plasma and could thus deliver lutein from the blood to the retina. In this study, they used a biosynthetic {sup 13}C-lutein tracer and gas chromatography-combustion interfaced-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GCC-IRMS) to gain the requisite sensitivity to detect the minute amounts of lutein expected as a physiological ligand for human transthyretin. The biosynthetic {sup 13}C-labeled lutein tracer was purified from algae. Healthy women (n = 4) each ingested 1 mg of {sup 13}C-labeled lutein daily for 3 days and a blood sample was collected 24 hours after the final dose. Plasma TTR was isolated by retinol-binding protein (RBP)-sepharose affinity chromatography and extracted with chloroform. The {sup 13}C/{sup 12}C ratio in the TTR extract was measured by GCC-IRMS. …
Date: May 31, 2003
Creator: Chen, Liwei
System: The UNT Digital Library
Probabilistic assessment of dynamic system performance. Part 3 (open access)

Probabilistic assessment of dynamic system performance. Part 3

Accurate prediction of dynamic system failure behavior can be important for the reliability and risk analyses of nuclear power plants, as well as for their backfitting to satisfy given constraints on overall system reliability, or optimization of system performance. Global analysis of dynamic systems through investigating the variations in the structure of the attractors of the system and the domains of attraction of these attractors as a function of the system parameters is also important for nuclear technology in order to understand the fault-tolerance as well as the safety margins of the system under consideration and to insure a safe operation of nuclear reactors. Such a global analysis would be particularly relevant to future reactors with inherent or passive safety features that are expected to rely on natural phenomena rather than active components to achieve and maintain safe shutdown. Conventionally, failure and global analysis of dynamic systems necessitate the utilization of different methodologies which have computational limitations on the system size that can be handled. Using a Chapman-Kolmogorov interpretation of system dynamics, a theoretical basis is developed that unifies these methodologies as special cases and which can be used for a comprehensive safety and reliability analysis of dynamic systems.
Date: December 31, 1993
Creator: Belhadj, M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
High Growth Rate Deposition of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon-Germanium Films and Devices Using ECR-PECVD (open access)

High Growth Rate Deposition of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon-Germanium Films and Devices Using ECR-PECVD

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon germanium films (a-SiGe:H) and devices have been extensively studied because of the tunable band gap for matching the solar spectrum and mature the fabrication techniques. a-SiGe:H thin film solar cells have great potential for commercial manufacture because of very low cost and adaptability to large-scale manufacturing. Although it has been demonstrated that a-SiGe:H thin films and devices with good quality can be produced successfully, some issues regarding growth chemistry have remained yet unexplored, such as the hydrogen and inert-gas dilution, bombardment effect, and chemical annealing, to name a few. The alloying of the SiGe introduces above an order-of-magnitude higher defect density, which degrades the performance of the a-SiGe:H thin film solar cells. This degradation becomes worse when high growth-rate deposition is required. Preferential attachment of hydrogen to silicon, clustering of Ge and Si, and columnar structure and buried dihydride radicals make the film intolerably bad. The work presented here uses the Electron-Cyclotron-Resonance Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (ECR-PECVD) technique to fabricate a-SiGe:H films and devices with high growth rates. Helium gas, together with a small amount of H{sub 2}, was used as the plasma species. Thickness, optical band gap, conductivity, Urbach energy, mobility-lifetime product, I-V curve, and quantum …
Date: May 31, 2002
Creator: Liu, Yong
System: The UNT Digital Library