Treatment of 4,5 bis-(diphenylphosphino)-cyclopenten-1,3 dione with thiophene carboxyaldehyde in dichloromethane, in the presence of molecular sieves results in a new heterocyclic compound, 2-(2-thienylidene)-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)-4-cyclopenten-1,3-dione (ligand), with a high yield. This product was characterized by using both IR and NMR spectroscopic techniques and the solid-state structure of the ligand was determined using X-ray crystallography. When the ligand was treated with the solvent stabilized intermediate of ReBr(CO)5 with THF, a monomeric metal complex, fac-BrRe(CO)3[2-(2-thienylidene)-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)-4-cyclopenten-1,3-dione] was the result. The solid-state structure of the monomeric metal complex was determined using X-ray crystallography. Photolysis and thermolysis studies of the complex will be further explored.

yes / Biometric of Intent (BoI) is a Computer Vision (CV) automation, using Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques, which presents a new approach that extends the reach of the classic biometric identification process. It provides an efficient mechanism which deters the threats raised by unknown individuals who have deceitful intentions and who aim to deploy unlawful operations such as terrorist attacks. In this context, our proposed BoI model is based on a framework constructed upon an automated machine learning facial expression analysis system which can assist law enforcement agencies who intend to deploy a systematic preventive security approach that aims to reduce the risk of potential unlawful attacks by rogue individuals through the evaluation of their emotional state in relation to their malicious intent.

<p>Flow Accelerated Corrosion (<em>FAC</em>) is defined as a flow enhanced mass transfer phenomenon that results in pipe wall thinning of the piping system and results in abrupt failure in some cases. <em>FAC</em> is controlled by the transport of corrosion species from the wall to the bulk fluid and is determined by the local distribution of the mass transfer coefficient. The overall objective of this research is to investigate the mass transfer in pipe bends arranged in single and dual S- shape configurations under single and annular two phase flow conditions. A novel wall dissolving mass transfer technique was developed to measure the local mass transfer distribution under a Schmidt number (<em>Sc</em>) of 1280, which mimics the level of carbon steel in water in industrial applications. Flow field measurements using Particle Image Velocimetry (<em>PIV</em>) and flow visualizations using laser induced fluorescence were performed to understand the causal relation between the mass transfer and the flow dynamics.</p> <p>The mass transfer in single 90^o bends under single phase flow was measured for a range of <em>Re</em> from 40,000 to 130,000. Three regions of elevated mass transfer rates were determined in the single bend, (i) near the inlet to the bend inner wall, (ii) midway on the bend inner wall sides and (iii) near the outlet of the bend outer wall. The maximum mass transfer enhancement relative to the upstream pipe was found to occur near the outlet of the single bend outer wall and spans over the first part of the downstream pipe with a magnitude of approximately 1.8. The surface roughness of the test sections were determined at the end of each experiment and found to be in the fully rough wall region. The mass transfer coefficient at the high mass transfer locations was found to scale as <em>Re</em>^0.92. The maximum enhancement was found to be independent of <em>Re</em> for the range of <em>Re</em> studied here.</p> <p>For the dual S- shape bends, tests were performed for different separation distances <em>L/D</em> of 0, 1 and 5. The <em>L/D</em>=0 case were tested for a range of <em>Re</em> from 40,000 to 130,000. The maximum mass transfer enhancement relative to the upstream pipe was found to occur when there was no separation distance between the bends. This maximum occurred at the transition from the first bend outer wall to the second bend inner wall with a magnitude of approximately 3.2. The mass transfer enhancement was found to decrease when the separation distance between the two bends was increased. A second region of high mass transfer enhancement was found to occur midway on the second bend inner wall in the form of two symmetric regions shifted from the centerline with a magnitude of 2.8.</p> <p>The effect of air and water superficial velocities for annular flow in the range of <em>J_v</em>= 22- 29.5 m/s, and <em>J_L</em>= 0.17- 0.41 m/s on the mass trasnfer in single and dual S- shape bends was determined. The maximum mass transfer was found to occur midway on the centerline of the bend outer wall for the single bend case. This location corresponded to the entrained liquid droplet impingment and anticipated high velocity region due to liquid film thining. A second high mass transfer region was observed on the latter part of the bend outer wall. The effect of the air superficial velocity on the mass transfer enhancement was more significant than the effect of the water superficial velocity.</p> <p>The maximum mass transfer enhancement in the S- shape bend geometry under annular two phase flow was found to always occur on the first bend outer wall at a similar location to the single bend case. The mass transfer in the second bend was lowest for the zero separation distance between the bends, and increased with an increase in the separation distance. The maximum mass transfer in the second bend occurred near the outlet of the second bend outer wall with a magnitude of approximately 60% of that in the first bend when the separation distance was zero. The maximum mass transfer in the second bend was found to increase with an increase in separation distance to reach approximately 85% of that in the first bend for <em>L/D</em>=40. The location of the maximum region was observed to shift in the upstream direction as the separation distance was increased to approach the location of the single bend maximum near <em>L/D</em>=40.</p> <p>Flow field measurements showed matching of the areas with high mean flow velocity on the inlet portion of the single bend inner wall. The high velocity stream was observed to shift toward the outer wall near the bend outlet. Similar features were observed in the first bend of the S- shape configuration. The flow velocity increased significantly near the transition from the first bend outer wall to the second bend inner wall of the dual S-shape bend. High turbulent kinetic energy was measured near the outlet of the single bend outer wall and inner wall. Similar kinetic energy distribution was observed on the first bend of the S- shape. The turbulent kinetic energy downstream of the first bend increased to approximately twice that in the first bend and was observed to travel from the outlet of the first bend inner wall to the second bend inner wall. For two phase annular flow, the phase redistribution visualization showed liquid separation from the core flow and deposition on the bend wall. Three locations of deposition were observed (a) on the first bend outer wall near <em>ϕ</em>₁ of 50^o, (b) between the 50^o and the outlet of the first bend (c) on the latter part of the second bend outer wall.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Les enzymes et leur diversité d’actions sont appréciées dans des domaines d’applications variés allant del’agroalimentaire à la thérapeutique. Ainsi, une attention toute particulière est portée à leur étude afin d’améliorer uneaction (contre le vieillissement de la peau, antivirale, anticancéreuse…) ou un procédé de synthèse. Ce projet derecherche s’inscrit dans une démarche de développement d’outils analytiques basés sur la spectrométrie de masse,permettant le suivi rapide et sensible d’interactions enzyme-ligand.Dans une première étude, l’approche TLC couplée à une détection par UV a été évaluée pour la déterminationde constantes enzymatiques de l’enzyme invertase. Cette approche couplée à un MALDI/TOF MS a permis d’identifierdes substrats spécifiques de l’invertase au sein d’extraits de plantes. Pour preuve de concept, l’interactioncellobiohydrolase II–ligand est présentée dans le cadre de l’identification d’inhibiteur par TLC-MALDI/TOF et TLCENALDIMS.En seconde étude, nos travaux ont porté sur la caractérisation directe de différentes enzymes kinases, puis auxsuivis des réactions de phosphorylation de nucléosides /tides endogènes. Ces études, basées sur des approches « offline» (Flow Injection Analysis, FIA) et « on-line » (Frontal Affinity Chromatography, FAC) couplées à unspectromètre de masse haute résolution, ont été réalisées au moyen de ces kinases libres et immobilisées. Dans le cadrede la recherche de nouveaux candidats médicamenteux antiviraux, le suivi d’une phosphorylation spécifique desmolécules de synthèse, au regard de souches humaine ou virale de kinase, a également été évalué par ces deuxméthodologies. / Enzymes are very appreciated and useful in various application fields from agri-business to therapeutic due to theirdiversity of actions. Therefore, their action mechanisms are widely studied in order to enhance an action (anti-aging ofskin, antiviral, antitumorous) or a synthesis process. This research project is part of the approach to propose analyticaltools based on mass spectrometry, allowing rapid and sensitive follow-up of enzyme-ligand interactions.In a first study, the Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC) approach coupled with UV detection was evaluated forthe determination of invertase kinetic constants. This approach coupled with a MALDI / TOF-MS led to theidentification of invertase substrates in plant extracts. As a proof of concept, the cellobiohydrolase II - ligand interactionwas presented in the framework of the identification of inhibitor by TLC-MALDI / TOF and TLC-ENALDI MS.In the second study, our work aimed at developing a direct method for the determination of kinetic parametersof kinases and following-up the phosphorylation reactions of endogenous nucleosides / tides. These studies, based on“off-line” (Flow Injection Analysis, FIA) and “on-line” (Frontal Affinity Chromatography, FAC) approaches coupledwith a high-resolution mass spectrometer, were carried out using free and immobilized kinases. In the context of thesearch for new antiviral drug candidates, a specific phosphorylation of synthetic molecules regards to human or viralkinase was also evaluated by these both approaches.

Úlcera de perna é uma doença muito freqüente na população idosa. Inúmeros são os tipos de curativos atualmente usados para tratamento das úlceras de perna, com diferentes indicações, vantagens e desvantagens, cuja eficácia não está bem esclarecida devido à descontinuidade dos tratamentos e os custos envolvidos em algumas situações. Para avaliar a ação da biomembrana de látex (BML) no tratamento de úlceras de perna, que se comportou como eficiente indutora do tecido de cicatrização. Foram realizadas avaliações clínicas e imunohistopatológicas em 21 doentes, casualmente selecionados, submetidos à aplicação da biomembrana (14 pacientes), comparando com o tratamento clássico (07 pacientes) constituído de pomada com cloranfenicol e enzimas proteolíticas (Fibrase) com o objetivo de analisar e comparar as alterações histopatológicas e imunohistoquímicas relacionadas aos diferentes tratamentos. Foram coletadas biópsias da lesão antes e 30 dias após os tratamentos. As biópsias foram divididas em dois fragmentos, um deles para o estudo histopatológico e outro congelado a -70°C para análise imunohistoquímica. Os resultados mostram que o uso da biomembrana de látex facilitou os cuidados à lesão aliada ao baixo custo e praticidade de sua aplicação. Adicionalmente, foi observado que a BML induz a uma diferenciação clínica e histopatológica do tecido de cicatrização, com aumento da detecção de fatores de crescimento como VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) e TGF1(transforming growth factor 1), associada à redução da expressão da enzima iNOS (óxido nítrico-sintase induzida), quando comparado ao tratamento controle. A análise global dos dados sugere que o tratamento com a biomembrana conduz a organização do tecido cicatricial conseqüente à maior produção de fatores de crescimento celular. Dessa forma, a biomembrana se caracteriza como uma boa opção terapêutica para úlcera de perna, devido à praticidade de sua aplicação, baixo custo e alta potencialidade na indução da cicatrização. / The leg ulcer is a disease very frequent in elderly people. Nowadays, there are many kinds of dressing to treat its with different indications, advantage and disadvantage. Their efficacy is not clear yet because to the treatments discontinuous and the costs involved in same situations. The latex biomembrane from rubber tree Hevea brasiliensis (NLB) showed an improvement of the healing process to treat leg ulcer, observed by the clinical and the immune histopathological aspects. To verify whether the NLB could be associated with an increased healing we selected 21 leg ulcer patients to be submitted to the topical treatment. These patients were divided into two groups. In the first group 14 randomized patients were treated with latex biomembrane and in the other group 07 patients were treated with topical ointment of cloranfenicol and proteolitic enzymes with the objectives to analyze and to compare the histopathological and immunohistochemical alterations related to the different treatments. All the patients were submitted at least to two biopsies; before the treatment and the 30th day of the treatment. The biopsies specimens were divided into two parts; one of them for the histopathological study and the other was frozen for the immunohistochemical analysis. The results showed that the biomembrane is very easy, practical and cheap leg ulcer topical treatment. Additionally, the NLB induces to a clinical and hystopathological differentiation of the cicatrization tissue with increased detection of growth factors as VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) and TGF-1(transforming growth factor1), associated to a reduction of iNOS (induced oxide nitric sintase) expression when compared to the control treatment. The global analyze of the data suggest that the biomembrane of natural latex led to cicatricial tissue organization and a higher production of cellular growth factors. So, this treatment can characterize as a good therapeutic option for leg ulcers due the facility of the application, low costs and high potentiality to induce of the cicatrization.

Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2017-09-05T19:49:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 KayckDannyBezerraDeAraujo_DISSERT.pdf: 2339702 bytes, checksum: 116c2de870313b551186d64e35380822 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2017-09-15T22:35:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 KayckDannyBezerraDeAraujo_DISSERT.pdf: 2339702 bytes, checksum: 116c2de870313b551186d64e35380822 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-15T22:35:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 KayckDannyBezerraDeAraujo_DISSERT.pdf: 2339702 bytes, checksum: 116c2de870313b551186d64e35380822 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-05-12 / O Programa de Interioriza??o da Ind?stria T?xtil (PR?-SERT?O) ? uma pol?tica p?blica de responsabilidade do Governo do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte que objetiva a interioriza??o da produ??o t?xtil por meio de incentivos fiscais e cria??o de aportes necess?rios para o desenvolvimento da cadeia produtiva t?xtil. O objeto desta disserta??o ? analisar se a terceiriza??o das ?ind?strias ?ncoras? para as ?fac??es de costura? que emergem e/ou se situam no contexto dessa pol?tica foram ou n?o respons?veis por precarizar o trabalho existente no Serid? Potiguar. O marco te?rico que sustentou o presente estudo foi pautado nos conceitos de Terceiriza??o, Precariza??o do Trabalho e Arranjos Institucionais. A partir da?, realizou-se, uma pesquisa qualitativa de natureza indutiva pautada em estudos bibliogr?ficos e documentais, bem como pesquisa de campo, por meio de visitas in loco ?s fac??es de costura, onde, ainda, fez-se aplica??o de question?rios e realiza??o de entrevistas que serviram de base para uma sistematiza??o entre teoria proposta e a pr?tica observada. A abordagem de pesquisa utilizada foi um estudo de caso, junto aos munic?pios de Acari e de Cruzeta, situados no territ?rio do Serid? Oriental Potiguar, estado do Rio Grade do Norte (RN), no per?odo 2013 a 2016. Os resultados obtidos apontam para a exist?ncia de uma precariza??o das rela??es trabalhistas nas fac??es de costura. Estas, apesar de absorverem parte da popula??o desocupada e fazerem a m?quina econ?mica ?ziguezaguear?, tiveram timidamente ou nunca tiveram propuls?o do PR?-SERT?O. Pois, mesmo com toda envergadura sugerida pelo discurso oficial, ainda se trata de um programa que tem dificuldades de implementa??o no territ?rio seridoense. O estudo concluiu que a precariza??o das rela??es trabalhistas nas fac??es dos territ?rios estudados ocorreu com relativa facilidade porque ocorreu num territ?rio marcado pela vulnerabilidade social, tendo em vista a exist?ncia de um n?mero reduzido de postos de trabalhos - formais e informais, at? a implanta??o das fac??es -, e, ainda, de altos ?ndices de desocupa??o que permitiram a pr?tica da subcontrata??o pelas empresas. / The Textile Industry Interiorization Program (PR?-SERT?O) is a Public Politics of responsibility for the Government of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, which aims at the interiorization of textile production through fiscal incentives and creation of resources necessary for the development of the textile production chain. The objective of this dissertation is to analyze if this outsourcing of the "anchor industries" to the "sewing factions" hat emerge and / or fall within the context of this policy were responsible for precarious work in the Serid? Potiguar region. The theoretical milestone that claimed this study was based on concepts of Outsourcing, Precarious Employment and Institutional Tinkering. From then on, a qualitative research of an inductive nature was carried out based on bibliographical and documentary studies, as well as field research through visits to the sites of the sewing factions, where the application of questionnaires and interview was made that served as a basis for a systematization between the proposed theory and the observed practice. The research approach used in the case study with the municipalities of Acari and Cruzeta, located in the territory of Serid? Oriental Potiguar, state of Rio Grande do Norte, from 2013 to 2016. The results obtained point to the precariousness of labor relations in the sewing factions. Although these factions absorb part of the population, they have never propulsion of PR?-SERT?O. For, even with all the investments suggested by the official speeches, it is still a program that has difficulty implementing in the Serido territory. The study concluded that the precarious employment of labor relations in the factories of the territories studied occurred with relative ease because it occurred in a territory marked by social vulnerability, with a view the existence of a reduced number of jobs ? formal and informal until the creation of the factions -, and still of high rates of unemployment which allow the practice of subcontracting by companies.

Úlcera de perna é uma doença muito freqüente na população idosa. Inúmeros são os tipos de curativos atualmente usados para tratamento das úlceras de perna, com diferentes indicações, vantagens e desvantagens, cuja eficácia não está bem esclarecida devido à descontinuidade dos tratamentos e os custos envolvidos em algumas situações. Para avaliar a ação da biomembrana de látex (BML) no tratamento de úlceras de perna, que se comportou como eficiente indutora do tecido de cicatrização. Foram realizadas avaliações clínicas e imunohistopatológicas em 21 doentes, casualmente selecionados, submetidos à aplicação da biomembrana (14 pacientes), comparando com o tratamento clássico (07 pacientes) constituído de pomada com cloranfenicol e enzimas proteolíticas (Fibrase) com o objetivo de analisar e comparar as alterações histopatológicas e imunohistoquímicas relacionadas aos diferentes tratamentos. Foram coletadas biópsias da lesão antes e 30 dias após os tratamentos. As biópsias foram divididas em dois fragmentos, um deles para o estudo histopatológico e outro congelado a -70°C para análise imunohistoquímica. Os resultados mostram que o uso da biomembrana de látex facilitou os cuidados à lesão aliada ao baixo custo e praticidade de sua aplicação. Adicionalmente, foi observado que a BML induz a uma diferenciação clínica e histopatológica do tecido de cicatrização, com aumento da detecção de fatores de crescimento como VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) e TGF1(transforming growth factor 1), associada à redução da expressão da enzima iNOS (óxido nítrico-sintase induzida), quando comparado ao tratamento controle. A análise global dos dados sugere que o tratamento com a biomembrana conduz a organização do tecido cicatricial conseqüente à maior produção de fatores de crescimento celular. Dessa forma, a biomembrana se caracteriza como uma boa opção terapêutica para úlcera de perna, devido à praticidade de sua aplicação, baixo custo e alta potencialidade na indução da cicatrização. / The leg ulcer is a disease very frequent in elderly people. Nowadays, there are many kinds of dressing to treat its with different indications, advantage and disadvantage. Their efficacy is not clear yet because to the treatments discontinuous and the costs involved in same situations. The latex biomembrane from rubber tree Hevea brasiliensis (NLB) showed an improvement of the healing process to treat leg ulcer, observed by the clinical and the immune histopathological aspects. To verify whether the NLB could be associated with an increased healing we selected 21 leg ulcer patients to be submitted to the topical treatment. These patients were divided into two groups. In the first group 14 randomized patients were treated with latex biomembrane and in the other group 07 patients were treated with topical ointment of cloranfenicol and proteolitic enzymes with the objectives to analyze and to compare the histopathological and immunohistochemical alterations related to the different treatments. All the patients were submitted at least to two biopsies; before the treatment and the 30th day of the treatment. The biopsies specimens were divided into two parts; one of them for the histopathological study and the other was frozen for the immunohistochemical analysis. The results showed that the biomembrane is very easy, practical and cheap leg ulcer topical treatment. Additionally, the NLB induces to a clinical and hystopathological differentiation of the cicatrization tissue with increased detection of growth factors as VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) and TGF-1(transforming growth factor1), associated to a reduction of iNOS (induced oxide nitric sintase) expression when compared to the control treatment. The global analyze of the data suggest that the biomembrane of natural latex led to cicatricial tissue organization and a higher production of cellular growth factors. So, this treatment can characterize as a good therapeutic option for leg ulcers due the facility of the application, low costs and high potentiality to induce of the cicatrization.

In this thesis, the relationship between several high-latitude phenomena and the ionospheric conductance in both hemispheres is studied theoretically and experimentally. </p>Theoretically, the high-latitude electrodynamics is studied by considering currents in the magnetosphere-ionosphere system resulting from the ionospheric sheet current redistribution between the conjugate ionospheres. It is shown that strong flow between the conjugate ionospheres, the interhemispheric currents (IHC), can be set up if the conductance distribution is asymmetric in the conjugate ionospheric regions. Such conditions are typical for solstices owing to the differences in the solar illumination. Analytical and numerical modeling shows that IHCs can appear in the regions of strong conductance gradient, more specifically around the solar terminator line, and that the intensity of the IHCs can be comparable to the intensity of the well known Region 1/Region 2 currents. The effect of IHC excitation on observable magnetic perturbations on the ground is investigated. It is shown that in the vicinity of the solar terminator line, the pattern of magnetic perturbation can be such that an apparent equivalent current vortex can be detected. In addition, strong conductance gradients are shown to affect significantly the quality of the ionospheric plasma flow estimates from the ground-based magnetometer data. </p>Experimentally, the effect of the nightside ionospheric conductance on occurrence of substorms, global storm sudden commencement and radar auroras is investigated. To characterize substorm occurrence, new parameters, the derivatives of the classical AE and AO indices, are introduced. It is shown that the seasonal and diurnal variations of these parameters are controlled by the total nightside ionospheric conductance in the conjugate regions. The substorm onsets preferentially occur at low levels of the total conductance, which is consistent with the idea of the substorm triggering through the magnetosphere-ionosphere feedback instability. It is hypothesized that the total conductance affects the global storm onsets as well. To check this idea, the 33-year sudden storm commencement (SSC) data are considered. The semiannual, annual, semidiurnal, and diurnal variations in the SSC occurrence rate are found to be significant and these components exhibit a strong relationship with the total conductance of the high-latitude ionospheres. Finally, the SuperDARN midnight echo occurrence is shown to correlate, for some radars, with the total conductance minima and presumably with electric field maxima, which is consistent with general expectation that the F-region irregularities occur preferentially during times of enhanced electric fields. The gradients of the high-latitude conductance can also lead to significant errors in the plasma convection estimates from the ground-based magnetometers, and to investigate this effect a statistical assessment of the difference between the true plasma convection (SuperDARN) and the magnetometer-inferred equivalent convection direction is performed. The largest differences are found for the transition region between the dark and sunlit ionospheres and in the midnight sector where strong conductance gradients are expected due to particle precipitation. Consideration of regular conductance gradients due to solar illumination improves the agreement between the radar and magnetometer data. Finally, an attempt is made to demonstrate the effects of conductance upon the properties of traveling convection vortices (TCVs). Joint SuperDARN and magnetometer data reveal that there is resemblance between the magnetometer and radar inferred TCV images on a scale of thousands of kilometers. However, on a smaller scale of hundreds of kilometers, significant differences are observed.

In this thesis, the relationship between several high-latitude phenomena and the ionospheric conductance in both hemispheres is studied theoretically and experimentally. </p>Theoretically, the high-latitude electrodynamics is studied by considering currents in the magnetosphere-ionosphere system resulting from the ionospheric sheet current redistribution between the conjugate ionospheres. It is shown that strong flow between the conjugate ionospheres, the interhemispheric currents (IHC), can be set up if the conductance distribution is asymmetric in the conjugate ionospheric regions. Such conditions are typical for solstices owing to the differences in the solar illumination. Analytical and numerical modeling shows that IHCs can appear in the regions of strong conductance gradient, more specifically around the solar terminator line, and that the intensity of the IHCs can be comparable to the intensity of the well known Region 1/Region 2 currents. The effect of IHC excitation on observable magnetic perturbations on the ground is investigated. It is shown that in the vicinity of the solar terminator line, the pattern of magnetic perturbation can be such that an apparent equivalent current vortex can be detected. In addition, strong conductance gradients are shown to affect significantly the quality of the ionospheric plasma flow estimates from the ground-based magnetometer data. </p>Experimentally, the effect of the nightside ionospheric conductance on occurrence of substorms, global storm sudden commencement and radar auroras is investigated. To characterize substorm occurrence, new parameters, the derivatives of the classical AE and AO indices, are introduced. It is shown that the seasonal and diurnal variations of these parameters are controlled by the total nightside ionospheric conductance in the conjugate regions. The substorm onsets preferentially occur at low levels of the total conductance, which is consistent with the idea of the substorm triggering through the magnetosphere-ionosphere feedback instability. It is hypothesized that the total conductance affects the global storm onsets as well. To check this idea, the 33-year sudden storm commencement (SSC) data are considered. The semiannual, annual, semidiurnal, and diurnal variations in the SSC occurrence rate are found to be significant and these components exhibit a strong relationship with the total conductance of the high-latitude ionospheres. Finally, the SuperDARN midnight echo occurrence is shown to correlate, for some radars, with the total conductance minima and presumably with electric field maxima, which is consistent with general expectation that the F-region irregularities occur preferentially during times of enhanced electric fields. The gradients of the high-latitude conductance can also lead to significant errors in the plasma convection estimates from the ground-based magnetometers, and to investigate this effect a statistical assessment of the difference between the true plasma convection (SuperDARN) and the magnetometer-inferred equivalent convection direction is performed. The largest differences are found for the transition region between the dark and sunlit ionospheres and in the midnight sector where strong conductance gradients are expected due to particle precipitation. Consideration of regular conductance gradients due to solar illumination improves the agreement between the radar and magnetometer data. Finally, an attempt is made to demonstrate the effects of conductance upon the properties of traveling convection vortices (TCVs). Joint SuperDARN and magnetometer data reveal that there is resemblance between the magnetometer and radar inferred TCV images on a scale of thousands of kilometers. However, on a smaller scale of hundreds of kilometers, significant differences are observed.

Flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) is a major concern in the power industry as it causes thinning of the pipes by the dissolution of the passive oxide layer formed on the pipe surface. Present research deals with comparing the protection offered by the magnetite (Fe3O4) versus maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) phases thickness loss measurements. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is used in distinguishing these two elusive phases of iron oxides. Representative pipes are collected from high pressure steam extraction line of the secondary cycle of unit 2 of Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station (CPSES). Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) is used for morphological analysis. FTIR and X-ray diffraction (XRD) are used for phase analysis. Morphological analysis showed the presence of porous oxide surfaces with octahedral crystals, scallops and "chimney" like vents. FTIR revealed the predominance of maghemite at the most of the pipe sections. Results of thickness measurements indicate severe thickness loss at the bend areas (extrados) of the pipes.