184 research outputs found
Nationbuilding in Malaysia under conditions of globalization
Get PDFConsidering the effects of globalization on the political performance opportunities of nation states, we may detect a more transnational orientation in policy formulation as a challenging factor. In Malaysia, e.g., issues of nationbuilding might be affected in various ways, reflecting either the chances offered by globalization or the structural strains accompanying this process while questioning the resilience of nation states as sovereign political actors. The paper thus inspects in how far strategies of nationbuilding change when the external conditions of diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational framing change. Malaysia offers a case in point, it is argued, to demonstrate the ever dynamic process of nationbuilding and change of the concept of nation. - The concept of nation is challenged constantly and hence embedded in an ongoing struggle for modification and renewal. The adjustment of nationbuilding strategies to changing conditions of shaping the concept of nation is examined with the help of the sociological approach of analyzing framing processes. --
Optical characteristics of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide films prepared at various gas flow rate ratios
No full textHydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) films were prepared using a home-built plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system with different flow rate ratios of methane (CH(4)) and silane (SiH(4)) gases. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra indicate multiple bonding configurations consisting of wagging, bending and stretching modes of silicon, hydrogen and carbon atoms with a steady depletion of Si-H wagging and stretching modes as the gas flow rate ratio increases. Micro-Raman spectra show evidence of amorphous silicon structure in all the films. Only the a-SiC:H film prepared at the highest CH(4) to SiH(4) gas flow rate ratio shows the existence of the Si-C vibrational mode. All the samples prepared show room-temperature luminescence with two peaks centered at 467 and 698 nm. The photoluminescence (PL) intensity increases as the CH(4) to SiH(4) gas flow rate ratio increases but a reduction in intensity is observed for a high CH(4) to SiH(4) gas flow rate ratio. a-SiC:H films with higher optical energy gaps were obtained by allowing the gases to flow at higher CH(4) to SiH(4) gas flow rate ratios
The inadequacy of consumer protection in the UAE: the need for reform
Get PDFThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis addresses the consumer protection regime in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) against damages posed by defective industrial products, unfair business practices and misleading advertising. Nowadays, unfair and deceptive practices such as the selling of defective or sub-standard goods, the charging of exorbitant prices, misrepresentation of the efficacy or usefulness of goods, and negligence as to safety standards have become rampant. Accordingly, it has become necessary to promote the development and refinement of statutory measures, even in developed countries, to make producers/traders more accountable to consumers. This thesis examines the legal grounds on which consumer protection stands within the newly enacted legal framework for consumer protection in the UAE. In addition, this thesis elaborates upon relevant regulations provided by UAE legislators as well as related laws in selected Arab countries. It further investigates the adequacy of administrative authorities’ measures in the UAE, and explains whether respective administrative rules are capable of compensating consumers for material and physical damages incurred. It also explores the inadequacies of the administration’s measures and rules, and highlights the importance of integration between administrative bodies in achieving a sufficient level of protection for consumers.
The findings of this thesis are based on a detailed review of specific issues in consumer protection models in the Shari’a law and the United Kingdom (UK) model. Thus, it will refer to solutions devised by Islamic Shari’a law and the UK legal system to provide more comprehensive protection to consumers and strengthen their position in relation to that of traders. The study suggests that there is a need to amend the consumer protection in the UAE. It indicates a need for the unified, effective and meaningful implementation of consumer protection legal and administrative procedures in the UAE, and emphasizes that the non-governmental consumer protection association must be given a wider and legal role in supporting the governmental bodies. These findings may help in improving the current consumer protection regime in the UAE as well as reducing infringements committed by traders. This thesis concludes by making recommendations for drafting a comprehensive set of rules in the UAE in the hopes that such recommendations will contribute effectively toward the development of a consumer protection regime in the UAE.Dubai Police Headquarter
2-D Location Pointing For Individual Component On Device Under Test Using LABVIEW (Hardware and Image Processing)
Get PDFHOFMOPF - A General Framework to Design and Optimize Plasmonic Structures
No full textProgress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium (PIERS) -- AUG 08-11, 2016 -- Shanghai, PEOPLES R CHINA[Abstract Not Available]Electromagnet Acad,Tongji Univ,Tongji Univ, Depat Elect Sci & Technol,Nanjing Univ Sci & Technol,Shanghai Key Lab Electromagnet Environm Effects Aerosp Vehicle,Sci & Technol Electromagneti Scattering Lab,Univi Tunku Abdul Rahman,Dev & Res Acad Global Opt Neo Technol,Zhejiang Univ, Coll Informat Sci & Elect Engn,IEEE Geoscience & Remote Sensing Soc,Zhejiang Univ, Electromagnet AcadNatural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China [2016A030310056]; Key Project of Department of Education of Guangdong Province [2015KTSCX123]; Fundamental Research Foundation of Shenzhen [JCYJ20160308100236349]; Natural Science Foundation of SZU [2016021]; Swiss National Science Foundation, Switzerland [119813]; Tubitak project, Turkey [115C080]This work is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (No. 2016A030310056), the Key Project of Department of Education of Guangdong Province (No. 2015KTSCX123), the Fundamental Research Foundation of Shenzhen (No. JCYJ20160308100236349) and the Natural Science Foundation of SZU (No. 2016021). The first author was also funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, Switzerland (No. 119813). The third author is funded by Tubitak project, Turkey (No. 115C080)
STRIPPING OF H3PO4 FROM nC4 - n C7 ALCOHOLS LOADED WITH PHOSPHORIC ACID
Get PDFPure phosphoric acid is obtained for food purposes by
reduction of the
phosphate rocks in an electric furnace to obtain P2O5 by the dry
method. However, this method consumes a lot of energy and so it is rather
expensive. There has been an increased interest in the past few years in
purifying commercial wet phosphoric acid to obtain a pure acid. Several
methods were developed on the pilot plant or commercial scales but most of
the works are still in the developmental stage.
This paper studies stripping of H3PO4 from nC4 - nC7 alcohols
loaded with phosphoric acid. The alcohol mainly used is n-heptanol. The
effect of temperature and mixing time on distribution ratio were studied.
The results show that the stripping increases by increasing the number of
carbon atoms or the molecular weight of the n-alcohol and with n-C7 alcohol
the stripping process has a higher efficiency. It was possible to obtain 85
\% yield of H3PO4 by one stripping stage at room temperature.
The temperature has a slight negative influence on stripping. The stripping
is enhanced by increasing the concentration of P2O5 in the loaded
n-heptanol
Non long‐range corrected density functionals incorrectly describe the intensity of the C-H stretching band in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
No full textInternational audienceWe present a comprehensive study of the most relevant numerical aspects influencing frequencies and intensities in the infrared spectrum of isolated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) regarding the overestimate of the IR CH-stretching bands. We use naphthalene as benchmark and show the validity of our results to different members of the PAH family. Our analysis relies on widely employed density functional theory methods and second-order vibrational perturbational theory for the computation of vibrational eigenstates. We have focused on the elucidation of the origin of the systematic overestimate of the intensities in the CH-stretching region. To rule out nonfundamental numerical errors, we have initially considered the influence of the electronic basis set and various other parameters on the different stages of the vibrational analysis. In a second stage, we have benchmarked the results of different density functional theory functionals with respect to the aforementioned overestimate taken as the ratio between the most prominent features of the spectrum, the CH-bending and the CH-stretching bands. Our results unambiguously indicate that the long-range correction plays a major role in this spurious numerical issue. More specifically, this phenomenon is due to an incorrect description of the charge distribution (and hence dipole) within the symmetrically relevant C-H bonds. Long-range correction specifically remedies this issue. It improves the description of the intensities in the stretching region while at the same time it does not perturb significantly the rest of the spectrum. With respect to the frequencies, we have observed an overall improvement when compared to noncorrected functionals
Ternary blended chitosan/chitin/FE3O4 nanosupport for lipase activation and stabilization
No full textTo overcome the drawbacks and high costs of the synthetic route to produce pentyl valerate (PeVa), i.e., a fuel additive, the biotechnological route of utilizing Rhizomucor miehei lipase conjugated to magnetite carrier support (RML-CS/CH/MNPs) is proposed. The magnetized RML-CS/CH/MNPs were developed for enabling high yield production of PeVa at relatively short reaction time (< 3 h), while facilitating easy removal of excess RML-CS/CH/MNPs. Efficacy of the developed RML-CS/CH/MNPs biocatalyst was assessed for relevant esterification factors, viz. time, enzyme loading, temperature, substrate molar ratio and stirring speed. The highest yield of PeVa (96%) was reached under an optimized condition (50∘C, using valeric acid/pentanol molar ratio of 1:2, with a lipase loading of 1.5 mg/mL, incubation time of 3 h), thus indicating the RML was catalyzing at its fullest potential due to improved activity and stability after immobilization onto CS/CH/MNPs. RML-CS/CH/MNPs retained a 90% activity after 40 days of storage and leached an initial 3.5% of the lipase likely due to insufficient rinsing during preparation. Since the RML-CS/CH/MNPs was prepared without the use of acids, it appears to be a greener catalyst for the esterification production of PeVa and presumably for other types of commercially important esters, too
Yb-doped femtosecond lasers and their frequency doubling
No full textUltralow threshold, compact and highly efficient femtosecond lasers based on Yb³⁺-doped
potassium yttrium tungstate (Yb:KYW) and Yb³⁺-doped vanadium yttrium oxide
(Yb:YVO 4 ) have been demonstrated within this PhD-research project. For a continuous
wave unmode-locked Yb:KYW laser a threshold as low as 101 mW was obtained with a
slope efficiency of 74%. By employing a single prism for dispersion control, the laser was
tunable between 1012 nm to 1069 nm. When operated in the mode-locked regime, this
laser produced transform-limited pulses having durations of 210 fs at a central wavelength
of 1044 nm. Stable mode locking was observed for an optimised incident pulse fluence on
the SESAM between 140 μJ/cm²
to 160 μJ/cm²
which was 2-3 times higher than the
designed energy pulse fluence of the SESAM (70 μJ/cm²).
The employment of several combinations of chirped mirror designs for control of
intracavity group velocity dispersion led to excellent results. The threshold for mode
locking was satisfied for a pump power of 255 mW where the slope efficiency was
measured to be 62%. This is the most efficient SESAM-assisted femtosecond laser yet
reported and the highest optical-to-optical efficiency of 37% is exceptional. Transform-limited pulses with durations as short as 90 fs were produced in a spectral region centred
on 1052 nm. The success of this research thus represents a good foundation on which to
design and build more compact configurations that will incorporate just one chirped mirror
for dispersion compensation.
A relatively high nonlinear refractive index, n₂ , of 15 x 10⁻¹⁶ cm²/W was measured
in Yb:YVO₄ and this affords particular potential for this candidate material in Kerr-lens
mode locking. In fact, for operation in the femtosecond domain, the threshold power was
190 mW with a slope efficiency of 26% and near-transform-limited pulses as short as 61fs were generated at a centre wavelength of 1050 nm. The main objectives in developing
this type of laser relate to a demonstration of high peak power operation in thin disc laser
configurations.
The deployment of a diode-pumped Yb:KYW femtosecond laser as a pump source
for frequency doubling in a periodically-poled LiTaO₃ crystal was realised. The maximum
realized output power of 150 mW corresponded to an impressive second harmonic
conversion efficiency of 43%. 225-fs duration green pulses (centred at 525 nm) were
generated under the condition of strong focusing in the nonlinear crystal
- …
