Molecular structure and granule morphology of native and heat‐moisture‐treated pinhão starch

Pinhão seed is an unconventional source of starch and the pines grow up in native forests of southern Latin America. In this study, pinhão starch was adjusted at 15, 20 and 25% moisture content and heated to 100, 110 and 120 °C for 1 h. A decrease in λ max (starch/iodine complex) was observed as a result of increase in temperature and moisture content of HMT. The ratio of crystalline to amorphous phase in pinhão starch was determined via Fourier transform infra red by taking 1045/1022 band ratio. A decrease in crystallinity occurred as a result of HMT. Polarised light microscopy indicated a loss of birefringence of starch granules under 120 °C at 25% moisture content. Granule size distribution was further confirmed via scanning electron microscopy which showed the HMT effects. These results increased the understanding on molecular and structural properties of HMT pinhão starch and broadened its food and nonfood industrial applications.     

Characterizing physical habitat preferences and thermal refuge occupancy of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) at high river temperatures

Anthropogenic influences, including climate change, are increasing river temperatures in northern and temperate regions and threatening the thermal habitats of native salmonids. When river temperatures exceed the tolerance levels of brook trout and Atlantic salmon, individuals exhibit behavioural thermoregulation by seeking out cold‐water refugia – often created by tributaries and groundwater discharge. Thermal infrared (TIR) imagery was used to map cold‐water anomalies along a 53 km reach of the Cains River, New Brunswick. Trout and salmon parr did not use all identified thermal anomalies as refugia during higher river temperature periods (>21°C). Most small‐bodied trout (8–30 cm) were observed in 80% of the thermal anomalies sampled. Large‐bodied trout (>35 cm) required a more specific set of physical habitat conditions for suitable refugia, that is, 100% of observed large trout used 30% of the anomalies sampled and required water depths >65 cm within or adjacent to the anomaly. Densities of trout were significantly higher within anomalies compared with areas of ambient river temperature. Salmon parr were less aligned with thermal anomalies at the observed temperatures, that is, 59% were found in 65% of the sampled anomalies; and densities were not significantly different within/ outside anomalies. Salmon parr appeared to aggregate at 27°C, and after several events over 27°C variability in aggregation behaviour was observed – some fish aggregated at 25°C, others did not. We stipulate this is due to variances of thermal fatigue. Habitat suitability curves were developed for velocity, temperature, depth, substrate, and deep water availability to characterize conditions preferred by fish during high‐temperature events. These findings are useful for managers as our climate warms, and can potentially be used as a tool to help conserve and enhance thermal refugia for brook trout and Atlantic salmon in similar systems.     

Drift hole mobility in strained and unstrained doped Si1-xGex alloys

Results of the drift hole mobility in strained and unstrained SiGe alloys are reported for Ge fractions varying from 0 to 30% and doping levels of 10¹⁵-10¹⁹ cm^-3. The mobilities are calculated taking into account acoustic, optical, alloy, and ionized-impurity scattering. The mobilities are then compared with experimental results for a boron doping concentration of 2×10¹⁹ cm^-3. Good agreement between experimental and theoretical values is obtained. The results show an increase in the mobility relative to that of silicon     

Low-Temperature Materials and Thin Film Transistors for Flexible Electronics

This paper addresses the low-temperature deposition processes and electronic properties of silicon based thin film semiconductors and dielectrics to enable the fabrication of mechanically flexible electronic devices on plastic substrates. Device quality amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H), nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si), and amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiN/sub x/) films and thin film transistors (TFTs) were made using existing industrial plasma deposition equipment at the process temperatures as low as 75/spl deg/C and 120/spl deg/C. The a-Si:H TFTs fabricated at 120/spl deg/C demonstrate performance similar to their high-temperature counterparts, including the field effect mobility (/spl mu//sub FE/) of 0.8 cm/sup 2/V/sup -1/s/sup -1/, the threshold voltage (V/sub T/) of 4.5 V, and the subthreshold slope of 0.5 V/dec, and can be used in active matrix (AM) displays including organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays. The a-Si:H TFTs fabricated at 75/spl deg/C exhibit /spl mu//sub FE/ of 0.6 cm/sup 2/V/sup -1/s/sup -1/, and V/sub T/ of 4 V. It is shown that further improvement in TFT performance can be achieved by using n/sup +/ nc-Si contact layers and plasma treatments of the interface between the gate dielectric and the channel layer. The results demonstrate that with appropriate process optimization, the large area thin film Si technology suits well the fabrication of electronic devices on low-cost plastic substrates.     

Framework Model for Asset Maintenance Management

This paper presents the development of a generic framework for asset maintenance management. The framework has been presented in the form of an IDEF0 process model. The process model served to illustrate the interaction and dependencies among a diverse set of knowledge areas. In this framework, outputs from one management process become inputs to another in a subsequent hierarchy. The structure of the framework model exhibited the characteristics of flexibility and robustness. Updates in knowledge can be accommodated within the framework through incorporating new management processes and/or activities, as well as establishing new sequencing logic for these processes and/or activities. In a supporting effort to the development of the framework model, the writers have objectively reviewed the general capabilities of three commercially available software applications that are known within the asset management (AM) industry. These three applications, while encompassing a wide selection of capabilities, represent a typical selection of information technology (IT) tools and techniques that are widely used in strategic AM practices. The objective of this review is to study the operational characteristics and functionalities, and to assess the capability of software interoperability, of a representative sample of IT tools known within the AM industry.     

Trust for Ubiquitous,Transparent Collaboration

In this paper, trust-based recommendations control the exchange of personal information between handheld computers. Combined with explicit risk analysis, this enables unobtrusive information exchange, while limiting access to confidential information. The same model can be applied to a wide range of mobile computing tasks, such as managing personal address books and electronic diaries, to automatically provide an appropriate level of security. Recommendations add structure to the information, by associating categories with data and with each other, with degrees of trust belief and disbelief. Since categories also in turn confer privileges and restrict actions, they are analogous to rôles in a Rôle-Based Access Control system, while principals represent their trust policies in recommendations. Participants first compute their trust in information, by combining their own trust assumptions with others' policies. Recommendations are thus linked together to compute a considered, local trust assessment. Actions are then moderated by a risk assessment, which weighs up costs and benefits, including the cost of the user's time, before deciding whether to allow or forbid the information exchange, or ask for help. By unifying trust assessments and access control, participants can take calculated risks to automatically yet safely share their personal information.     

Electron drift mobility model for devices based on unstrained andcoherently strained Si1-xGex grown on <001>silicon substrate

The electron drift mobility for unstrained and coherently strained Si_1-xGe_x grown on a <001> silicon substrate is analytically obtained for Ge fractions less than 30%. The method is based on the following two assumptions: the conduction bands of the unstrained alloy are Si-like for Ge fraction less than 30%, and in the case of the coherently strained alloy, strain-induced energy shifts occur in the conduction band valleys. The shifts in energy yield two different mobility values: one corresponding to the growth plane with a value larger than the unstrained mobility, and the other parallel to the growth direction and correspondingly smaller in value. In comparison to silicon, the results show a degradation of both the unstrained mobilities for doping levels up to 10¹⁷ cm^-3. Beyond this doping level, the strained mobility component parallel to the growth direction becomes slightly larger than the mobility of silicon     

Umbilical warts: a new entity?

Two cases of umbilical warts are described. The occurrence of these lesions was not previously known. In both cases there was a history of long-standing genital warts.