Comparative Study of LiInSe2 Single Crystals for Thermal-Neutron Detection

Crystallography Reports - Two LiInSe2 single crystals, grown under different conditions, have been studied. Characteristics of these crystals for neutron detection have been compared using...     

On the Tender X-Ray Flat-Field Spectrograph with a Concave VLS Grating

Journal of Russian Laser Research - We analyze the way of advancing to tender X-rays the short-wavelength bound of the operating range of flat-field grating spectrographs. We design two VLS grating...     

Assessment of Noise Exposure of Sawmill Workers in Southwest,Nigeria

Economic wood processing employs the use of industrial machines for cutting, shaping, milling, and sawing timber, thereby leading to the generation of high levels of noise. Published data from empirical studies have categorized noise as an environmental hazard of global significance. Furthermore, noise exposure limits for different industries and all the industrial machines available has not been formally established as it presently exists in developed nations around the world. Therefore, this study assessed the daily exposure of sawmills workers to noise in Southwestern Nigeria. Reconnaissance surveys were first carried out in Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Lagos, and Ogun States to select sawmills that were fully operational and fit for the study. Two fully functional sawmills in two cities of each State were eventually selected for data collection, making a total of 24 sawmills, while the Circular Machines (CM), Planer Machines (PM), and Band-saw Machines (BM) were the machines in each sawmill considered. Two machines each of CM, PM, and BM were considered in each sawmill, making a total of forty-eight (48) machines each of CM, PM, and BM. Sound data were collected between 7 am and 7 pm each day for six days (between Monday and Saturday) using Extech 407732 sound level meter and all stabilized measurements were taken three times at different intervals. The data collected were in three different periods: Machine No-work Period (NP_m), Machine Idle Period (IP_m), and Machine Working Period (WP_m). A two–way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was carried out at P < 0.05 to determine whether there is a significant difference in the sound level average before and after the break, for both the idle and working periods of the three machines considered. This was also done to determine whether there is a significant difference between the sound level average of the results collected during idle and working periods of the three machines. Noise Pollution Levels (L_np) ranged from 83.20 dB (PM) to 107.65 (BM) and 93.42 (CM and PM) – 116.00 (BM) respectively, while IP_m also gave the least noise pollution level of 95.79 dB and WP_m gave the highest level of 102.88 dB. The results revealed that all the machines’ L_np values in the working period are more than the 90 dB acceptable limit the recommendation value of 90 dB while 89.6% of CMs, 75% of PMs, and 89.6% of BM had their L_np above 90 dB in the idle period respectively. The minimum and the maximum noise dose levels for IP_m, WP_m and overall are 0.09 (BM) and 2.37 (CM), 0.50 (CM), and 4.77 (PM) and 0.69 (BM) and 6.64 (PM) respectively. The study found out that the fundamental contributing factors to the high noise levels in sawmills are poor machine maintenance, use of old and obsolete machines, poor housekeeping strategy, limited space, workers’ negligence, lack of PPE, and lack of occupational safety training. The study recommends that proper workplace practices such as use of personal protective equipment, new and modern machines, training, and occupational safety programmes be implemented in the considered sawmills.     

Operator Interpolation and Systems of Linear Equations and Inequalities in Euclidean Spaces

Ukrainian Mathematical Journal - We establish new criteria of compatibility for a linear system of equations (equivalent to the Kronecker–Capelli theorem) or inequalities (equivalent to the...     

Effect of External Factors on the Ferromagnetic Resonance Line Width in Exchange-Biased Structures

Physics of the Solid State - The external factors which influence the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) line width in bilayer (ferromagnet/antiferromagnet) exchange-biased systems are studied. The...     

Polycrystallinity in Gallium Arsenide Crystals Grown by the Czochralski Method

Crystallography Reports - The specific features of the formation of crystallites in gallium arsenide crystals grown by the Czochralski method have been investigated. The crystallites are found to...     

Bypass Modules of Shunting of Electromagnets with Energy Recuperation to the Grid

Physics of Particles and Nuclei Letters - When creating accelerators and storage-ring installations in a compact space, there is not always enough space for all the necessary magnet elements. In...     

Silver(I) Complexes of Two Flexible Bis-phospholane Ligands: Metallamacrocycles,Polymeric Chains,and Metallacryptands

In a 2:2 reaction with silver(I) chloride or bromide, 1,5-bis(1-phospholano)pentane ( 1a ) afforded frame-like macrocyclic structures, with intra- ( 2 , Cl) or intermolecular ( 3 , Br) halido bridges. In contrast, 1,7-bis(1-phospholano)heptane ( 1b ) formed coordination polymers 4a (Cl) and 4b (Br) with bridging bis-phospholane and halido ligands. A unique paddle wheel-type metallacryptand structure 5 was obtained from 1a and silver(I) bromide in a 2:3 reaction (M:L). All complexes were fully characterized by NMR, IR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and X-ray crystallography.     

Dynamics of Bacteriorhodopsin in the Dark-Adapted State from Solution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

To achieve efficient proton pumping in the light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin (bR), the protein must be tightly coupled to the retinal to rapidly convert retinal isomerization into protein structural rearrangements. Methyl group dynamics of bR embedded in lipid nanodiscs were determined in the dark-adapted state, and were found to be mostly well ordered at the cytosolic side. Methyl groups in the M145A mutant of bR, which displays only 10 % residual proton pumping activity, are less well ordered, suggesting a link between side-chain dynamics on the cytosolic side of the bR cavity and proton pumping activity. In addition, slow conformational exchange, attributed to low frequency motions of aromatic rings, was indirectly observed for residues on the extracellular side of the bR cavity. This may be related to reorganization of the water network. These observations provide a detailed picture of previously undescribed equilibrium dynamics on different time scales for ground-state bR.