Patchy particles are patterned particles with at least one well-defined patch that can have highly directional and strongly anisotropic interactions with other particles or surfaces. Multiple theoretical studies point to interesting self-assembly of these particles into superstructures and, as a result, a multitude of possible applications. However, reliable synthetic methods for patchy particles, especially at the sub-micron level, are still a challenge and an active area of research. This work presents a novel synthesis route for making patchy particles at the sub-micron level that involves the use of capillary condensation. Colloidal silica particles of various sizes were synthesized and ordered into closely-packed arrays via evaporative self-assembly. Various chemical agents were capillary condensed into the voids of this assembly which, due to the face-centered cubic structure of the crystallized colloidal silica, produced distinct \patches" on the particle surface. The patches on these particles were successfully functionalized with gold nanoparticles. This method was shown to provide control over the patch size by modifying the silica particle radius, which thermodynamically changes the amount of capillary condensation. The patchy nature of the resultant particles was confirmed using infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron and optical microscopies, energy dispersive x-ray analysis and zeta potential measurements.

Recent advances in nano technology have opened doors to several next generation devices and sensors. Characterizing nano particles and structures in a simple and effective way is imperative for monitoring and detecting processes at nano scale in a variety of environments. In recent years, the problem of studying nano particle interactions with surface plasmons or evanescent waves has gained significant interest. Here, a numerical model is presented to characterize nano-size particles and agglomerates near a metal or a dielectric interface. The methodology is based on a hybrid method, where the T-matrix approach is coupled with the image theory. The far field scattering patterns of single particles and agglomerates subjected to surface plasmons/evanescent waves are obtained. The approach utilizes the vector spherical harmonics for the incident and scattered fields relating them through a T-matrix. Effects of size, shape and orientation of the cluster on their scattering patterns are studied. An effort is made to distinguish particle characteristics from the scattering information obtained at certain observation angles. Understanding these scattering patterns is critical for the design of sensors using the surface plasmon scattering technique to monitor nano self assembly processes

Analysing migrating cells in microscopy time-lapse images has already helped the understanding of many biological processes and may be of importance in the development of new medical treatments. Today’s biological experiments tend to produce a huge amount of dynamic image data and tracking the individual cells by hand has become a bottleneck for the further analysis work. A number of cell tracking methods have therefore been developed over the past decades, but still many of the techniques have a limited performance. The aim of this Master Project is to develop a particle filter algorithm that automatically detects and tracks a large number of individual cells in an image sequence. The solution is based on a Rao-Blackwellized particle filter for multiple object tracking. The report also covers a review of existing automatic cell tracking techniques, a review of well-known filter techniques for single target tracking and how these techniques have been developed to handle multiple target tracking. The designed algorithm has been tested on real microscopy image data of neutrophils with 400 to 500 cells in each frame. The designed algorithm works well in areas of the images where no cells touch and can in these situations also correct for some segmentation mistakes. In areas where cells touch, the algorithm works well if the segmentation is correct, but often makes mistakes when it is not. A target effectiveness of 77 percent and a track purity of 80 percent are then achieved.

Particle size and shape are important characteristics of the sediment which affects the adsorption of sediment-associate contaminants and nutrients onto the surface of sediment. This thesis characterized the spatial and temporal variation in size and shape of sediment particles in the Tobacco Creek Watershed. A strong correlation between the particle size of suspended sediment and stream discharge was observed. Spatial and temporal variation in size of suspended and channel bed sediment showed that particle size was significantly coarser at the upper reaches and following the rainfall events, but finer at the lower reaches and following the snowmelt events. Image analysis of coarser particles showed that rock fragments are not becoming rounded in short distances, but they reduced in size. The coarser materials from bedrock outcrops can be sources of fine-sized particle during transport. These findings have important implications for understanding suspended sediment dynamics transport in the study watershed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Forestry, 1981. / Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-212).

The FONT beam-based, intra-train feedback system has been designed to provide beam stability at single-pass accelerators, such as at the interaction point (IP) of the International Linear Collider. Two FONT feedback systems have been commissioned at the Accelerator Test Facility (ATF) at KEK, Japan, and the operation, optimisation and performance of these systems is the subject of this thesis. For each system, the accelerator is operated with two-bunch trains with a bunch separation of around 200 ns, allowing the first bunch to be measured and the second bunch to be subsequently corrected. The first system consists of a coupled-loop system in which two stripline beam position monitors (BPMs) are used to characterise the incoming beam position and angle, and two kickers are used to stabilise the beam. A BPM resolution of about 300 nm has been measured. On operating the feedback system, a factor ~ 3 reduction in position jitter has been demonstrated at the feedback BPMs and the successful propagation of this correction to a witness BPM located 30 m downstream has been confirmed. The second system makes use of a beam position measurement at the ATF IP that is used to drive a kicker to provide a local correction. The measurement is performed using a high-resolution cavity BPM with a fast decay time of around 20 ns designed to allow multiple bunches to be resolved. The linearity of the cavity BPM system and the noise floor of the electronics are discussed in detail. The performance of the BPM system under standard ATF operation and with the beam waist at the BPM is described. A BPM resolution of about 50 nm has been measured. This IP feedback system has been used to stabilise the beam position to the 75 nm level.

Apresentamos um estudo do setor da quebra espontânea de simetria da teoria eletrofraca através do formalismo de lagrangianas quirais, analisando os operadores que geram vértices anômalos genuinamente quárticos entre os bósons de gauge, os quais podem ser sondados pela próxima geração de aceleradores: LHC e NLC. Com o objetivo de obter vínculos aos acoplamentos anômalos relativos a esses operadores, estudamos as reações e POT. +e POT. - W POT. + W POT. Z e e POT. +e POT. - ZZZ no NLC operando com energias no centro de massa de s = 0.5 TeV e 1 TeV, estendendo as nossas análises para a colisão com o feixe de elétrons polarizado. Avaliamos também o impacto desses mesmos acoplamentos ao processo pp VV + 2 jatos (V = W±, Z) no LHC. No intuito de desenvolver cálculos realísticos, todas as amplitudes de espalhamento das reações estudadas foram determinadas sem qualquer tipo de aproximação. / We present a study of electroweak symmetry breaking sector in the framework or chiral Lagrangians, analyzing the operators that lead to genuine quartic gauge boson couplings, which could be probed by the next generation accelerators; LHC and NLC. In order to get bounds on the anomalous couplings related to these operators, we studied the reactions e+e- W+W-Z and e+e- ZZZ at the NLC operating with center-or-mass energy of s = 0.5 TeV and 1 TeV, extending our analysis to polarized electron beam collisions. We also estimate the impact of these couplings to the process pp VV + 2 jets (V = W±, Z) at the LHC. In order to develop realistic calculations, all the scattering amplitudes considered have been determined without any kind of approximation.

Second phase particles play an important role in the recrystallization of aluminium alloys. They give rise to high level of local lattice misorientation around the particle, in particle deformation zone (PDZ) during processing. These can act as potent nucleation sites for new recrystallized grains in a process known as particle stimulated nucleation (PSN). This mechanism is essential to produce material with a more random texture and small grain size, which helps e.g. ductility and formability. A new HRDIC technique is used here in combination with EBSD to investigate the evolution of deformation structures by linking the local deformation (by Digital Image Correlation, DIC) to the lattice orientation before and after deformation by EBSD measurements and compared with the CPFEM predictions. The results show that strain is very heterogeneous during deformation and concentrates mainly in slip bands. The spacing between these bands is affected by several factors: applied strain, crystallographic orientation and the existence of small dispersoids. Thus, the relationship between the strain, particle size and rotation in the deformation zone is much more complex than predicted by existing models.

Many industrial processes involve powders in some form when making products, and the behavior of the powders processed is impacted by the adhesion of the individual particles which comprise it. This adhesion behavior, in turn, is critically influenced by the complementarity between the topography of a surface and the shape and roughness of the particles that adhere to that surface. Problems such as poor flowability, dust hazards, and equipment wear arise due to uncontrolled particle adhesion and can lead to production challenges. Computational models have been developed to predict the behavior of highly idealized powders (i.e., powders comprised of simple geometries such as spheres) under various processes but are limited in their ability to model and optimize the manufacturing and handling of powders comprised of many complex particles. This work focuses on further developing an experimental and modeling framework, called the Enhanced Centrifuge Method (ECM), that maps particle-scale and surface properties onto experimentally-validated ‘effective’ adhesion distributions that describe the adhesion between particles in powders. These distributions represent an engineering approach that allows powders comprised of particles of complex shape and roughness, which are challenging to model, to be described as if they were perfect, smooth spheres, which are comparatively simple to model. The complexity associated with the shape and size distributions of the individual particles is captured by the ‘effective’ adhesion parameters. These ‘effective’ adhesion parameter distributions provide a quantitative guide as to how the specific particle properties are interacting with the surface topography which directly impacts the overall powder adhesion. The initial framework of the ECM is constructed around characterizing the van der Waals adhesion of silica and polystyrene powders. The impact of the surface topography and the particle properties of each of the powders is captured in ‘effective’ Hamaker constant distributions. These distributions provide a quantitative guide for specifically how the particles interact with the surface topography based on the respective scales of the particle and surface features. The ECM framework is further adapted here to investigate the effects of topographical changes of stainless steel due to polishing on the adhesion properties of three different pharmaceutical powders to the stainless steel. In this adaptation of the ECM framework, the force of adhesion was described by modifying the Johnson, Kendall, and Roberts (JKR) model describing elastic-like particle contact to a flat plate. Within the modified JKR adhesion description, the work of adhesion is tuned to be an ‘effective’ work of adhesion parameter. These size-dependent ‘effective’ work of adhesion distributions provide a quantifiable measure of the change in the powder and surface adhesion that reflects the size, shape, and topographical features on the powder and surface with which the powder interacts. To investigate environmental effects on the adhesion properties, the ECM framework is also extended to characterize the effect humidity has on altering surface and particle interactions of the three pharmaceutical powders to stainless steel. In addition to the work with the pharmaceutical powders, the investigation of the effect of humidity on the powder’s adhesion includes a study of the influence of water on the interactions between silica particles and a silica substrate. In all cases, the ‘effective’ adhesion force distributions developed through the ECM provide the ability to quickly determine quantitatively how environmental and process conditions alter particle and surface properties, and overall powder behavior.

The thesis deals with the contamination of the workspace with a liquid aerosol, which is generated by scattering and evaporation of the cooling fluid. Cooling fluid are primarily intended to lubricate, cool and clean the tool and the workpiece, but the unwanted side effect is the formation of a liquid aerosol that holds in the air of the workspace. In such a contaminated work environment, the operator is exposed to a certain dose of a liquid aerosol that causes dermatological and respiratory problems. The topic of the thesis was to find out the number of particles of liquid aerosol that arises under varying working conditions and its dispersion in space. This amount was determined by image analysis using a high-speed camera.