Photore sponse and H2 gas sensing properti es of highly oriented Al and Al/Sb doped ZnO thin films

ZnO:Al and ZnO:Al/Sb thin films have been prepared and investigated.The thin films were deposited on Si substrates by the sol-gel method.The structural,optical and electrical properties of ZnO films have been investigated by spectrophotometry,ellipsometry,X-ray diffraction and current-voltage characterizations.It is found that the films exhibit wurtzite structure with a highly c-axis orientation perpendicular to the surface of the substrate,a high reflectivity in the infrared region and a response to illumination.Furthermore,it has been found that Si/（ZnO:Al/Sb）/Al photodiode is promising in photoconduction device while Si/（ZnO:Al）/Al can be used as gas sensor responding to the low H₂concentrations.     

Replacement of alkali silicate solution with silica fume in metakaolin-based geopolymers

A metakaolin(Mk)-based geopolymer cement from Tunisian Mk mixed with different amounts of silica fume(SiO_2/Al_2O_3 molar ratio varying between 3.61 and 4.09) and sodium hydroxide(10M) and without any alkali silicate solution, is developed in this work. After the samples were cured at room temperature under air for 28 d, they were analyzed by X-ray diffraction(XRD), Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectroscopy, environmental scanning electron microscopy, mercury intrusion porosimetry, ~(27)Al and ~(29)Si nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) spectroscopy, and compression testing to establish the relationship between microstructure and compressive strength. The XRD, FTIR, and ~(27)Al and ~(29)Si NMR analyses showed that the use of silica fume instead of alkali silicate solutions was feasible for manufacturing geopolymer cement. The Mk-based geopolymer with a silica fume content of 6 wt%(compared with those with 2% and 10%), corresponding to an SiO_2/Al_2O_3 molar ratio of 3.84, resulted in the highest compressive strength, which was explained on the basis of its high compactness with the smallest porosity. Silica fume improved the compressive strength by filling interstitial voids of the microstructure because of its fine particle size. In addition, an increase in the SiO_2/Al_2O_3 molar ratio, which is controlled by the addition of silica fume, to 4.09 led to a geopolymer with low compressive strength, accompanied by microstructures with high porosity. This high porosity, which is responsible for weaknesses in the specimen, is related to the amount of unreacted silica fume.     

Mutations in the pleckstrin homology domain of dynamin 2 cause dominant intermediate Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of peripheral neuropathies. Different chromosomal loci have been linked with three autosomal dominant, 'intermediate' types of CMT: DI-CMTA, DI-CMTB and DI-CMTC. We refined the locus associated with DI-CMTB on chromosome 19p12-13.2 to 4.2 Mb in three unrelated families with CMT originating from Australia, Belgium and North America. After screening candidate genes, we identified unique mutations in dynamin 2 (DNM2) in all families. DNM2 belongs to the family of large GTPases and is part of the cellular fusion-fission apparatus. In transiently transfected cell lines, mutations of DNM2 substantially diminish binding of DNM2 to membranes by altering the conformation of the beta3/beta4 loop of the pleckstrin homology domain. Additionally, in the Australian and Belgian pedigrees, which carry two different mutations affecting the same amino acid, Lys558, CMT cosegregated with neutropenia, which has not previously been associated with CMT neuropathies.     

Neural network based adaptive sliding mode control of uncertain nonlinear systems

The purpose of this paper is the design of neural network-based adaptive sliding mode controller for uncertain unknown nonlinear systems. A special architecture adaptive neural network, with hyperbolic tangent activation functions, is used to emulate the equivalent and switching control terms of the classic sliding mode control (SMC). Lyapunov stability theory is used to guarantee a uniform ultimate boundedness property for the tracking error, as well as of all other signals in the closed loop. In addition to keeping the stability and robustness properties of the SMC, the neural network-based adaptive sliding mode controller exhibits perfect rejection of faults arising during the system operating. Simulation studies are used to illustrate and clarify the theoretical results.