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Ultra-violet light assisted reactive RF magnetron sputtering deposition of AlN thin films at room temperature
No full textAn ultra-violet (UV) assisted reactive RF magnetron sputtering deposition method for AlN thin film on Si (100) substrate is proposed and developed. The experiments are conducted at room temperature and the highest substrate temperature is below 86°C. AlN thin films are amorphous-like crystal structure if deposited without UV light exposure, and become either (002) or (100) orientation dominated crystals with large grain sizes with the UV-light assistance if deposited either at high RF power or high N2/Ar flow ratio. UV-light enhanced Al ionization is believed to be responsible for the increased deposition rate and well-aligned crystal orientation of the AlN at room temperature.
► Proposed and developed a UV assisted reactive RF magnetron sputtering. ► Deposited highly c-axis oriented AlN thin films at room temperature. ► UV-light enhanced Al ionization is beneficial for AlN deposition
Characterization of Melt Dripping Behavior of Flame Retarded Polypropylene Nanocomposites
No full textThis work presents the effect of a nanoclay and/or phosphorus/halogen based flame retardants on melt and burn dripping behavior of polypropylene. An experimental setup has been constructed to record the real-time melt-dripping behavior in a furnace. All experiments were repeated in a UL-94 set-up to replicate their melt dripping behavior in flaming conditions. A relationship between melt viscosity/rheology and melt dripping intensity of these polymers has been studied. The physical and chemical changes occurring during melt dripping have also been studied by conducting thermal analysis and rheology experiments on molten drops and comparing them with those of respective original polymer samples. The results have shown that during melt dripping a polymer degrades to a considerable extent and its viscosity is affected by the action of the flame retardant at that particular temperature range
Mindfulness and the myth of mental illness: Implications for theory and practice
No full textOver the past 60 years Thomas Szasz (1960, 1961, 2008) has forcefully argued that mental illnesses are mythical since all medical diseases are located in the body and, thus, have somatic causes. This has been accompanied by a scathing and coruscating critique of the whole mental health profession-particularly, those psychologists, psychiatrists and psychotherapists who collude in and exploit the alleged mythology of counterfeit mental disorders and often (unwittingly or deliberately) justify coercion, oppression and pharmacological manipulation of so-called 'mental patients' in the name of 'treatments'. Since mindfulness practitioners-perhaps especially teachers of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction and related programmes-may, by association, be partially implicated in Szasz's allegations, this article seeks to explore and examine the implications for theory and practice in the field. It will be suggested that the strong foundational, theoretical, research and teaching bases of mindfulness-based interventions offer practitioners a solid defence against the general critique offered by Szasz, and more specific challenges advanced by critics such as Boysen (2007) and Whitaker (2010). However, there may still be potential pitfalls for those mindfulness-based interventions which are too closely allied to the psychiatric/pscychotheraputic establishment, and some suggestions for avoiding such obstacles will be offered through recommendations for maintaining connections between mindfulness and its Buddhist origins
Analysis of graded observations of trainee teaching practice (2011-12): Initial teacher training programmes: generic and skills for life (university based) and partnership programmes
No full textPreparation of Electrodeposited Ni-CNTs Nanocomposite Coatings with Highly Wear and Corrosion Resistance Properties
No full textNi-carbon nanotubes nanocomposite coatings were obtained from a Watts bath containing uniformly dispersed carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The surface morphology was investigated by the SEM images of coatings. The mechanical property and corrosion resistance of the nanocomposite coatings were investigated. This study revealed these CNTs reinforced Ni nanocoatings have improved mechanical and corrosion property
Automatic absolute and relative camera egomotion estimation based on visual features
No full textThe automatic estimation of a cameras position based on visual measurements is a general problem in the field of computer vision. Based on the estimated cameras trajectory it is possible to solve common tasks, such as Visual Odometry (VO) in the field of mobile robotics or the automatic reconstruction of an observed scene, based on classical Structure-from-Motion (SfM) techniques. The general procedure of camera egomotion estimation is always based on visual feature tracking and subsequent Perspective-n-Point (PnP) camera pose determination. This article evaluates recent algorithms for camera egomotion estimation based on point feature correspondences for their applicability in VO applications. These algorithms use methods based on 2D/2D and 3D/2D correspondences and are assessed in experimental evaluations employing synthetic data sets. It was found that the accuracy of the evaluated techniques is predominantly influenced by the number of correspondences and underlying motion patterns. Additional routines such as outlier handling and key frame detection were found to be mandatory for real-world application
Open access and institutional repositories: Glossary, websites and further reading
No full textThis document provides further information on open access and institutional repositories. It is a living document and will be revised to reflect changes in the open access and institutional repository landscape
Negative thermal quenching of photoluminescence in zinc oxide nanowire-core/graphene-shell complexes
No full textGraphene is an atomic thin two-dimensional semimetal whereas ZnO is a direct wide band gap semiconductor with a strong light-emitting ability. In this paper, we report on photoluminescence (PL) of ZnO-nanowires (NWs)-core/Graphene-shell heterostructures, which shows a negative thermal quenching (NTQ) behavior both for the near band-edge and deep level emission. The abnormal PL behavior was understood through the charging and discharging processes between ZnO NWs and graphene. The NTQ properties are most possibly induced by the unique rapidly increasing density of states of graphene as a function of Fermi level, which promises a higher quantum tunneling probability between graphene and ZnO at a raised temperature. (C) 2012 Optical Society of Americ