Student Number : 0210528 - PhD thesis - School of Mining Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environmnet / This thesis describes the development of a directional primer charge for use in blasting in mining operations. The directional primer charge is an explosive gun which takes the place of a standard primer charge in a blasthole. It is a shaped charge which directs the explosive energy forwards into the blasthole. Its effectiveness is enhanced by a metal liner which is located at a specified stand-off distance from the toe of the hole. The explosive energy of the column charge is converted into the kinetic energy of the metal liner which transforms into an ultrasonic slug. This in turn converts into the impact energy of the slug impacting on the rock. This rock is axially compressed to such a degree that a radial fracture is developed. This radial fracture is termed an umbrella crack. Prior to the development of the directional primer charge, the phenomenon of the umbrella crack had only been observed in experimental Perspex blasting models and its formation mechanism had never been satisfactorily explained. If the directional primer charge could cause an umbrella crack in hard rock mining at the end of blastholes, then more rock would be broken out per blast than is currently achieved in practice. This thesis records the historical development of the explosive shaped charge with particular reference to the development of the explosively-forged projectile. It describes the classical theories and models which apply in determining the theoretical prediction of the physical properties of the designed directional primer charge. It describes the experimental procedures and measurements using flash X-ray radiography and electronic shorting screens to freeze the flight of a metal slug traveling at speeds of over 2000 metres per second. Underground tests were undertaken under full mining production conditions to compare the rock breaking effects of various designs. The theoretical calculation of the extent of the movement of the rock at the toe of the blasthole indicates that umbrella cracks should be formed. The underground tests confirm their formation. It is concluded that the use of the directional primer charge in stoping operations can improve the blasting efficiency in South African hard rock mines by up to 15 %.

Die vorliegende Dissertation beschäftigt sich umfassend mit dem Krankheitsbild der Choanalatresie/-stenose und begleitend auftretenden Fehlbildungen. Schwerpunkt ist das CHARGE-Syndrom als häufig vorkommender Fehlbildungskomplex. 25 Patienten wurden mit der Diagnose Choanalatresie/-stenose am Kinderzentrum des Universitätsklinikums Leipzig AöR von 1997 bis 2007 behandelt. In sechs Fällen trat ein CHARGE-Syndrom auf. Zur retrospektiven Auswertung kamen allgemeine Patienteninformationen, Daten zu Schwangerschaft, Geburt und postnataler Anpassung sowie Therapiemaßnahmen, genetische Untersuchungen und der kindliche Wachstumsverlauf. In 16 Fällen konnten prospektive Angaben ermittelt werden. Es erfolgte eine klinische Untersuchung sowie die Durchführung von Entwicklungstests. Dabei wurden je nach Alter des Kindes die Denver Entwicklungsskalen bzw. der Five to Fifteen-Fragebogen eingesetzt. Ein Elternfragebogen diente der Erfassung soziodemographischer Daten, Informationen bezüglich der kindlichen Entwicklung, auftretender Erkrankungen und Inanspruchnahme ambulanter therapeutischer Maßnahmen sowie der Beurteilung der kindlichen Nasenatmung. Besonderes Interesse galt der Einschätzung der Lebensqualität betroffener Eltern. Zum Einsatz kam das Ulmer Lebensqualitäts-Inventar für Eltern chronisch kranker Kinder. Auf die große Bedeutung der kindlichen Frühförderung und die intensive Unterstützung dieser Familien wird hingewiesen.

This thesis advances the understanding of charge propagation in a classical background through the study of the canonical quantisation of a charged particle in an intense laser background and the associated twopoint function. We will clarify how the causal propagator can be extracted. In addition, in this thesis we will provide an interpretation of this propagator in terms of degenerate quantum processes. We show how to use the Feynman diagram technique to build up a perturbative description of the interaction with the laser background. This also includes how multi-pole structures emerge as a perturbative feature. For all orders in perturbation theory we calculate the associated multiple wave-function renormalisations. We use Bessel functions to describe the distortion of the plane wave solutions due to the interaction with the laser. This is done for both a circularly and a linearly polarised laser.

This work is focused on developing novel techniques for characterizing organic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) materials for organic photovoltaic (OPV) applications. Polymer:fullerene BHJs are a promising class of photovoltaic materials, but an improved understanding of the charge transport processes and materials science of BHJs is required for them to effectively compete with other photovoltaic systems. Key parameters of BHJ systems that need to be evaluated include both electron and hole mobilities, the carrier concentrations, the recombination mechanism and the recombination coefficient. For these studies, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):(6,6)-phenyl C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) have been characterized due to its wide use among researchers. Traditional characterization techniques have focused on transient measurements in a vertical device configuration, but we demonstrate the use of lateral BHJ devices as materials diagnostic platforms. Lateral devices allow for direct access to the active layer for spatially resolved and environmental effect measurements. The devices are also measured under steady state operation, similar to a working OPV cell. Under these conditions, lateral BHJ devices exhibit space charge limited transport behavior. A detailed charge transport model is presented to describe the potential, electric field, and carrier concentration profiles of lateral BHJ devices, as well as the current versus voltage characteristics of different regions of the device. We are able to calculate the slower carrier mobility from photocurrent measurements of lateral devices and the carrier mobility ratio from the device potential profile, even in ambipolar BHJ systems. In situ potentiometry is used to construct detailed potential profiles of the device channel and calculate both carrier mobilities. The carrier concentration and recombination coefficient are calculated from lateral conductivity measurements, and we show that bimolecular recombination is the dominant mechanism in bulk P3HT:PCBM. A simplified in situ potentiometry and photocurrent measurement technique is presented to measure the time evolution of organic BHJ performance. Due to the open geometry of the lateral BHJ device, we are also able to monitor the change in key charge transport parameters, including the recombination mechanism, in response to environmental degradation, analyte exposure, and ambient temperature. We show increased geminate recombination in P3HT:PC₇₁BM after prolonged light exposure. Lateral BHJ device measurements offer a useful complement to measurements on vertical photovoltaic structures and provide a more complete and detailed picture of OPV materials. / text

The research described in this dissertation is the first evaluation of two-dimensional charge coupled devices (CCDs) for low light level analytical spectroscopy. The electro-optical properties of several unique two-dimensional CCDs are evaluated, including quantum efficiency, detector read noise, linearity, dynamic range, dark current, and blooming. Theoretical models describing the sensitivity and dynamic range of CCDs on a single detector element basis are developed. Based on this model and the characteristics of a CCD detector system built for this research, it is shown that a single detector element of a CCD has comparable or superior sensitivity than the most sensitive single channel detectors. The results of the CCD detector system applied to fluorescence, emission, absorption, and time and spatially resolved spectroscopies are presented. The charge binning readout mode, which combines charge packets from several detector elements into a single charge packet, is critically evaluated for increasing the sensitivity and dynamic range of spectroscopic measurements. Equations describing the sensitivity and dynamic range enhancement achieved through charge binning are derived and experimentally verified in atomic emission and molecular fluorescence spectroscopies. The results of operating the CCD in two specialized readout modes developed in this research termed high-speed framing and spectral framing are presented. High speed framing allows the CCD to rapidly acquire two-dimensional images with high sensitivity. The spectral framing readout mode enables the CCD to record time-resolved spectra at a rate of approximately one spectra every two microseconds with great sensitivity. The design and evaluation of a CCD based molecular fluorescence spectrograph using a mercury pen lamp excitation source is described. The limit of detection for anthracene is 1 x 10 ⁻¹²M and is superior to the results obtained by fluorometers employing laser sources and photomultiplier detection. The design and evaluation of a spatially resolving spectrograph for absorbance spectroscopy of optically dense films is presented. The measurement of the absorption spectra of spatially heterogeneous metal-phthalocyanine thin-film electrodes with peak absorbances greater than five absorbance units is described.

This dissertation deals with the measurement of Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) and spatial noise in infrared CCD's. A new method for the measurement of MTF is presented, which uses the phenomenon of laser speckle. The instrument constructed has the advantages that it does not require components of high optical or mechanical quality, and it does not require precise alignment. There is only one moving part in the system. The results of this method are compared with results obtained from an interferometric technique and from an impulse response technique, and found to be in close agreement. The characterization of spatially-dependent noise is pursued via the formalism of Detective Quantum Efficiency and also via a two dimensional generalization of the classical representation for information capacity. Suggestions for improving the performance of the array as a signal processor are drawn from these considerations. Test results are presented for a 64 by 32 element infrared CCD of Schottky barrier construction.

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