Preparation of Neodymium-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Transparent Ceramics by Homogeneous Precipitation Method

substitutes tion, high loosely dis Neodymium doped-yttrium aluminum garnet （Nd ： YAG） transparent polycrystalline ceramics already become of single crystals because they are provided with easy fabrication, low cost, large size, highly doped concentraheat conductivity, mass fabrication, multi-layers and multi-filnctions. The Nd：YAG precursor powders with persed , slightly agglomerated, super fine and YAG cubic crystal phase were synthesized at 1100 ℃ by the homogeneous precipitation method, using Nd2O3, Y2O3, Al（NO3）3·9H2O and urea as raw materials, （NH4）2SO4 as electrical stabilizer, TEOS as sintering additive. The Nd：YAG transparent ceramics were prepared after being vacuum sintered at 1700 ℃ for 5 h. The Nd：YAG ceramic materials were characterized by the TG-DTA, XRD, FT-IR, TEM, FEG-ESEM and FT-PL. The results show that the crystallization temperature of YAG is 850 ℃ and the intermediate crystal phase YAP forming during the heat treatment transforms to YAG cubic crystal phase at 1050 ℃. The lasing wavelength of （Nd0.01 Y0.99）3Al5O12 transparent ceramics is 1.065 μm and there exists a slight red-shift compared to the single crystal with the same chemical composition. The optical transmittance is 45 % in the visible light and 58 % in the near infrared light and the optical transmittance descends with the decreasing the wavelength.

Life cycle cost analysis of new FRP based solar parabolic trough collector hot water generation system

Parabolic trough collectors （PTCs） are employed for a variety of applications including steam generation and hot water generation. This paper deals with the experimental results and an economic analysis of a new fibre reinforced plastic （FRP） based solar PTC with an embedded electronic controlled tracking system designed and developed for hot water generation in a restaurant in Madurai, India. The new collector performance has been tested according to ASHRAE Standard 93 （1986）. The performance of a new PTC hot water generation system with a well mixed hot water storage tank is investigated by a series of extensive tests over ten months period. The average maximum storage tank water temperature observed was 74.91℃, when no energy is withdrawn from the tank to the load during the collection period. The total cost of the new economic FRP based solar PTC for hot water generation with an embedded electronic controlled tracking system is Rs. 25000 （US$ 573） only. In the present work, life cycle savings （LCS） method is employed for a detailed economic analysis of the PTC system. A computer program is used as a tool for the economic analysis. The present worth of life cycle solar savings is evaluated for the new solar PTC hot water generation system that replaces an existing electric water heating system in the restaurant and attains a value of Rs. 23171.66 after 15 years, which is a significant saving. The LCS method and the MATLAB computer simulation program presented in this paper can be used to estimate the LCS of other renewable energy systems.

Effect of Heat Treatment on Crystallization of Nd:YAG Ceramics

（Nd0.01Y0.99）3Al5O12 nano-sized powders were synthesized by low temperature combustion （LCS）, using Nd2O3, Y2O3, Al（NO3）3.9H2O, ammonia water and citric acid as starting materials. The powders were characterized by TG-DTA, XRD, FT-IR, ICP and TEM, respectively. The grain sizes were calculated by the Scherrer＇s formula using the full width at half maximum （FWHM） of YAG （420） crystal plane diffraction lines. The study focused on crystallization of ceramics at different heat treatment temperatures. The experimental results show that crystallizing temperature of YAG is 850 ℃, and the intermediate crystal phase YAP, appearing during heat treatment, transforms to YAG cubic crystal phase at the temperature of 1 050℃. The particle size of the powders synthesized by LCS is nano-sized. With the temperature increasing, the mean grain sizes raise, the stand deviations keep almost at the value of 2.0 and the lattice parameters decrease. The grains mainly grow by grain boundary diffusion. The lattice parameter expansion is caused by an increase of the repulsive dipolar interactions on surfaces of crystallites,

The role of Langerhans cells in oral squamous cell carcinoma

During the initiation, promotion, and progression of multi-step carcinogenesis, changes in specific host immuno- logical factors have been observed. Although immunology of oral cancer has long been focused on antigens and lymphocytes, the fact remains that the antigen presenting cells, like the Langerhans cells （LCs） of the epithelium are initiators and modulators of the immune response. LCs as sentinels of immune response, have been investigated in several orai mucosal diseases, including cancer. Inadequate presentation of tumor antigens by host dendritic cells is one potential mechanism that allows tumor progression, tn this review, the role of LCs in OSCC is discussed. Elucidation of the role of APCs, in particular LCs, may help to better understand the mechanisms underlying anti-tumour immune responses and, improve the effectiveness of anti-cancer immunity in tumour-bearing hosts. This section focuses on the roles LCs in the immunity of cancer and how cancer bypasses the dendritic cell-mediated immune responses, are discussed. Subsequently, the effects of tumor microenviornment on LC＇s and their therapeutic implications are elaborated.

Numerical analyses of ventilated cavitation over a 2-D NACA0015 hydrofoil using two turbulence modeling methods

The present paper studies the ventilated cavitation over a NACA0015 hydrofoil by numerical methods. The corresponding cavity evolutions are obtained at three ventilation rates by using the level set method. To depict the complicated turbulent flow structure, the filter-based density corrected model（FBDCM） and the modified partially-averaged Navier-Stokes（MPANS） model are applied in the present numerical analyses. It is indicated that the predicted results of the cavitation shedding dynamics by both turbulence models agree fairly well with the experimental data. It is also noted that the shedding frequency and the super cavity length predicted by the MPANS method are closer to the experiment data as compared to that predicted by the FBDCM model. The simulation results show that in the ventilated cavitation, the vapor cavity and the air cavity have the same shedding frequency. As the ventilated rate increases, the vapor cavity is depressed rapidly. The cavitation-vortex interaction in the ventilated cavitation is studied based on the vorticity transport equation（VTE） and the Lagrangian coherent structure（LCS）. Those results demonstrate that the vortex dilatation and baroclinic torque terms are highly dependent on the evolution of the cavitation. In addition, from the LCSs and the tracer particles in the flow field, one may see the process from the attached cavity to the cloud cavity.