A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the branch of Medicine: Diagnostic Radiology Johannesburg, 2017. / Introduction: Pneumonia is among the leading infectious causes of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years globally. The chest X-ray remains the most readily available and most common imaging modality for the assessment of childhood pneumonia. Chest X-ray quality assurance is important to maintain high image quality, allowing for more accurate diagnosis. Chest X-ray patterns in a high HIV prevalence setting in children hospitalized with pneumonia in the era of bacterial conjugate vaccines has not been described. Furthermore the association between chest X-ray findings and microbiological etiology using novel models is important. Standardization of chest X-ray interpretation is important to allow comparison of research findings between studies and has been proposed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a measure of bacterial vaccine efficacy (VE). The role of Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) for chest X-ray interpretation is important, especially in countries with limited radiologists. Objectives: In this thesis we investigated the quality of chest X-rays and the impact of quality assurance activities in the Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) study, from 9 sites in 7 countries (Bangladesh, the Gambia, Kenya, Mali, South Africa, Thailand and Zambia), by quantifying radiographic errors through use of a customized quality assessment form. Within the context of the PERCH South African site, we compared chest X-ray patterns in HIV-unexposed, HIV- exposed-uninfected (HEU) and HIV-infected children hospitalized with WHO-defined severe or very severe community acquired pneumonia. Further, we evaluated the association of chest X-ray patterns with clinical parameters and its association with the PERCH Quantitative Analysis (PQA) model predicted probability of infection by a class or specific pathogens. Lastly, we evaluated the utility of CAD for identifying chest X-ray primary end-point pneumonia (CXR-PEP) versus non CXR-PEP compared to a consensus human interpretation as a reference standard. Results: A total of 747 chest X-rays in 9 PERCH sites had chest X-ray quality assessment. Collimation performed the worse of the 6 parameters, with 5 out of the 9 sites being graded sub-optimally for this. Three of the 9 sites showed a significant improvement in chest X-ray quality using a test for trend analysis. At the South African PERCH site, 920 cases were enrolled over two years, including 858 children with interpretable chest X-rays. The commonest finding was CXR-PEP, prevalent among 38% HIV-unexposed children, 33% HEU children and 60% of HIV-infected children, which was consistent between different age categories. CXR-PEP was twice as common in HIV-infected (OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.6-3.8) compared with these HIV-unexposed children. Clinical and laboratory features independently associated with CXR-PEP included the presence of severe malnutrition, fever and CRP > 40mg/dL. CXR-PEP was associated with the composite outcome of mechanical ventilation or death. However there was no single clinical or laboratory parameter that had both high sensitivity and specificity to discriminate between CXR-PEP from non CXR-PEP cases. HIV-unexposed children with a PQA model probability index > 0.5 for bacterial etiology had 2-fold greater odds (95% CI 1.1-4.1) for CXR-PEP compared to non CXR-PEP, and similarly HIV-unexposed children with microbiologically confirmed pneumococcal pneumonia (MCPP) had 3-fold greater odds (95% CI 1.3-6.7) of CXR-PEP. HIV-infected children with a PQA model probability index > 0.5 for respiratory viral etiology and PQA model probability index > 0.5 for Pneumocystis jiroveci etiology trended to have a greater odds for CXR-PEP vs non CXR-PEP. Using CAD4WHOKids for the 858 interpretable chest X-rays, for CXR-PEP versus non CXR-PEP, CAD4WHOKids had a sensitivity of 76%, specificity of 80% and area under the ROC curve of 0.850 (95% CI 0.823-0.876) compared to the radiologist consensus reading. Conclusion: Chest X-ray quality, in particular collimation was suboptimal in 7 resource limited countries, in children hospitalized for WHO defined severe or very severe pneumonia. CXR-PEP remains the most common chest X-ray abnormality in HIV-unexposed, HEU and HIV-infected children under 5 years of age hospitalized for WHO-defined severe or very severe pneumonia, even in the era of routine HiB and PCV immunization. Our findings support the literature that CXR-PEP is of limited use in HIV-infected children as an outcome measure in bacterial VE studies, due to opportunistic infections like Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia and respiratory viral infections contributing to CXR-PEP. CAD is promising as a diagnostic tool for identifying WHO defined CXR-PEP in bacterial VE trials and pneumonia epidemiological studies. / MT2017

by Andreas Kyriacou. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web. / The effect of Fe substitution on the crystal structure of hydroxyapatite (HAp) is studied by applying simultaneous Rietveld refinements of powder x-ray and neutron diffraction patterns. Fe is one of the trace elements replacing Ca in HAp, which is the major mineral phase in bones and teeth. The morphology and magnetic properties of the Fe-HAp system are also studied by transmission electron microscopy and magnetization measurements. Samples of Ca(5-x)Fex(PO4)3OH with 0< x < 0.3 were prepared. Single phase HAp was identified in x-ray diffraction patterns (XRD) of samples with x < 0.1 inferring that the solubility limits are less than 0.1. Hematite ((Sa(B-Fe2O3) is identified as a secondary phase for higher Fe content. The refined parameters show that Fe is incorporated in the HAp structure by replacing Ca in the two crystallographic sites with a preference at the Ca2 site. This preference explains the small effect of the Fe substitution on the lattice constants of HAp. The overall decrease of the lattice constants is explained by the ionic vi size difference of Ca and Fe. The increasing trend of the a-lattice constant with x in the Fe substituted samples is attributed to a lattice relaxation caused by the substitution of the 4- and 6-fold Fe at the 7- and 9-fold Ca1 and Ca2 sites. This Ca local geometry reduction is indicated by a slight increase of the Ca1-O3 and Ca2-O1 bond lengths. Above the solubility limit x = 0.05, the Fe is partitioned in and out of the HAp structure with increasing nominal Fe content x. The excess Fe is oxidized to hematite. The TEM analysis and magnetic measurements support the results of the simultaneous Rietveld refinements. The TEM images show no significant effect on the morphology and size of the HAp particles upon Fe incorporation. The particles are either spheres or short rods of dimensions 20-60 nm. Hematite particles are imaged in the samples with x exceeding the solubility limit. These particles

Soft x-ray spectroscopy can provide a wealth of information on the electronic structure of solids. In this work, a suite of soft x-ray spectroscopies is applied to organic and inorganic materials with potential applications in electronic and energy generation devices. Using the techniques of x-ray absorption (XAS), x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES), and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), the fundamental properties of these different materials are explored. Cycloparaphenylenes (CPPs) are a recently synthesized family of cyclic hydrocarbons with very interesting properties and many potential applications. Unusual UV/Visible fluorescence trends have spurred a number of theoretical investigations into the electronic properties of the CPP family, but thus far no comprehensive electronic structure measurements have been conducted. XPS, XAS, and XES data for two varieties, [8]- and [10]-CPP, are presented here, and compared with the results of relevant DFT calculations. Turning towards more application-centered investigations, similar measurements are applied to two materials commonly used in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cathodes: La_(1−x)Sr_(x)MnO_(3) (LSMO) and La_(1−x)Sr_(x)Co_(1−y)Fe_(y)O_(3) (LSCF). Both materials are structurally perovskites, but they exhibit strikingly different electronic properties. SOFC systems very efficiently produce electricity by catalyzing reactions between oxygen and petroleum-based hydrocarbons at high temperatures (> 800 C). Such systems are already utilized to great effect in many industries, but more widespread adoption could be had if the cells could operate at lower temperatures. Understanding the electronic structure and operational evolution of the cathode materials is essential for the development of better low-temperature fuel cells. LSCF is a mixed ion-electron conductor which holds promise for low-temperature SOFC applications. XPS spectra of LSCF thin films are collected as the films are heated and gas-dosed in a controlled environment. The surface evolution of these films is discussed, and the effects of different gas environments on oxygen vacancy concentration are elucidated. LSMO is commonly used in commercial fuel cell devices. Here the resonant soft x-ray emission (RIXS) spectrum of LSMO is examined, and it is shown that the inelastic x-ray emission structure of LSMO arises from local atomic multiplet effects.

Thesis (MTech (Chemistry))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / Inclusion compounds of two hydroxyl hosts with a variety of guests have been investigated. These host compounds are bulky molecules and have the ability to interact with smaller organic guests to form new compounds. The host 9-(1-naphthyl)-9H-xanthen-9-ol (H1), forms inclusion compounds with pyridine (PYR), N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA), morpholine (MORP) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP). The crystal structures of H1•NMP, H1•DMA and H1•MORP1 were successfully solved in the triclinic space group PĪ, whereas the inclusion compound H1•PYR crystallised in the monoclinic space group P21/c. A different inclusion compound involving morpholine, H1•MORP2 resulted from dissolution of H1 in a 1:1 molar ratio of MORP: DMA. H1•MORP2 crystallised in the space group PĪ. All of the abovementioned inclusion compounds demonstrated a host: guest ratio of 1:1 except for H1•MORP1 (host: guest ratio = 1: ). H1 interacts with pyridine and morpholine guests via (Host)O-H•••N(Guest) hydrogen bonds and via (Host)OH•••O(Guest) hydrogen bonds with N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone and N,N-dimethylacetamide.

O conhecimento da distribuição espectral da radiação X emitida por unidades de radiodiagnóstico fornece importantes informações, que podem ser aplicadas aos programas de Garantia de Qualidade e de Proteção Radiológica. Detectores que utilizam fotodiodos PIN de Si como ponta de prova vêm sendo utilizados nos últimos anos devido, principalmente, ao seu baixo custo e por trabalharem a temperatura ambiente, não precisando dos tanques de nitrogênio líquido necessários em detectores de Ge e Si(Li). Embora, a princípio, os fotodiodos PIN tenham uma pior resolução, quando comparada com os detectores de Ge, ela é suficientemente boa para a maior parte das aplicações em radiodiagnóstico. Além disso, o desenvolvimento de sistemas refrigerados termoelétricamente e de pré-amplificadores de baixo ruído têm feito com que os fotodiodos PIN cheguem a resoluções comparáveis às do Ge. Este trabalho visa estabelecer as propriedades de detectores constituídos por fotodiodos PIN de Si e desenvolver o processo de correção dos espectros brutos para a eficiência do detector e outros fatores pertinentes, a fim de se obter o espectro real emitido por equipamentos de radiodiagnóstico. Espectros de radiação de equipamentos de radiodiagnóstico obtidos experimentalmente foram comparados com espectros teóricos calculados a partir de um modelo semi-empírico. Além disso, foram obtidos espectros de radiação emitidos por unidades de mamografia, espalhados por um objeto simulador de mama. Como aplicação direta dos espectros medidos experimentalmente, foram desenvolvidas metodologias para a determinação da tensão aceleradora de tubos de Raios X (kVp), para fins de calibração de medidores de kVp, e da camada semi-redutora (CSR) dos feixes de interesse. / Knowledge of the spectral distribution of radiation emitted by radiodiagnostic units provides important information, which can be applied to the Quality Assurance and Radiological Protection programs. Detectors which utilize Silicon PIN Photodiodes have been increasingly used in recent years, due to their low cost and being worked with at room temperature, the liquid nitrogen containers used with Ge and Si(Li) detectors not being necessary. Although, initially, the PIN photodiodes have a poorer energy resolution, as compared with Ge detectors, it\'s good enough for most purposes. Moreover, the development of thermoelectrically cooled systems and low noise level pre-amplifiers have resulted in PIN photodiodes achieving comparable resolutions to Ge ones. This work seeks to establish the properties of detectors made with Silicon PIN photodiodes and to develop the correctional process of the raw specffa both for the efficiency of the detector and other relevant factors, with the aim of obtaining the true spectrum emitted by radiodiagnostic equipment. The radiation spectra of radiodiagnostic equipment experimentally obtained were compared with theoretical spectra calculated from a semi-empirical model. Furthermore, mammography x-ray spectra scattered by a breast simulator were obtained. As a direct application of these experimentally measured spectra, methodologies were developed to determine the peak kilovoltage (kvp) of X-Ray tubes, to be able to calibrate kVp meters, and the half-value layer (HW) of the beams of interest.

Nesta dissertação discorremos acerca do crescimento e caracterização de filmes finos de carbeto de silício amorfo hidrogenado (a-Si1-xCx:H), crescidos pelo método de deposição química de vapor assistida por plasma (PECVD) no regime de baixa densidade de potência a partir de misturas de silano e metano. Foram analisadas e correlacionadas as propriedades ópticas, morfológicas e composicionais de filmes depositados em diferentes condições de fluxo de silano e concentração de metano. Os resultados não apenas confirmaram dados anteriores obtidos em filmes de a-Si1-xCx:H similares, mas possibilitaram uma melhor compreensão das características deste material. Para a obtenção de um composto de alto gap, alto conteúdo de carbono, química e morfologicamente homogêneo é necessário utilizar baixos fluxos de silano e alta concentração de metano, condições de deposição conhecidas como regime de \"plasma faminto por silano\". Neste regime são crescidos filmes com Eg &gt; 3 eV, x &gt; 0,5, maior concentração de ligações Si-C, concentração de hidrogênio de 50 at.%, menor proporção de radicais CH3 e menor densidade de poros. / In this work we describe the growth and characterization of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-Si1-xCx:H) thin films deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) in the low power density regime from mixtures of silane and methane. The optical, morphological and compositional properties of films deposited under different silane flow and methane concentration were analyzed and correlated. The results not only confirmed previous data obtained on similar a-Si1-xCx:H films, but improved the comprehension of their characteristics. In order to obtain a compound with high optical gap, high carbon content, chemically and morphologically homogeneous, it is necessary to work with low silane flow and high methane concentration; deposition conditions known as \"silane starving plasma\" regime. In this regime, films with Eg &gt; 3 eV, x &gt; 0.5, higher concentration of Si-C bonds, hydrogen concentration of 50 at.%, smaller proportion of CH3 radicals and smaller density of pores are produced.

Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Iu Kwan Sai = 以光致發光譜和高解析度X射線衍射譜研究砷銻化鎵外延層和量子井 / 姚昀樨. / On t.p. "̳x" is subscript. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-95). / Text in English; abstracts in English and Chinese. / Iu Kwan Sai = Yi guang zhi fa guang pu he gao jie xi du X she xian yan she pu yan jiu shen ti hua jia wai yan ceng he liang zi jing / Yao Yunxi. / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.i / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.v / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.viii / Chapter 1. --- INTRODUTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Motivations --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Historical Works --- p.1 / Chapter 1.3 --- This Study --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4 --- Growth Conditions of GaAs1-xSbx Alloy --- p.4 / Chapter 2. --- EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- High Resolution X-Ray Diffraction (HRXRD) --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- The Use of HRXRD --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Setup of the High Resolution X-Ray Diffractometer --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Types of Measurements --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- Photoluminescence (PL) Spectrometer --- p.10 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- The Use of PL --- p.10 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Setup of PL spectrometer --- p.10 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- types of Measurements --- p.13 / Chapter 3. --- CHARACTERIZATION --- p.14 / Chapter 3.1 --- High Resolution X-Ray Diffraction (HRXRD) --- p.14 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Principal Scattering Geometries --- p.14 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Strains in the Epitaxial Layer --- p.16 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Lattice Parameter --- p.21 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Sb Composition --- p.24 / Chapter 3.1.5 --- Determination of Thickness --- p.24 / Chapter 3.2 --- Photoluminescence (PL) --- p.25 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Basic Theory of PL --- p.25 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Strain and Temperature Effect --- p.26 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Type I and Type II PL --- p.27 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- The Energy Gap of GaAs1-xSbx --- p.28 / Chapter 4. --- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION --- p.31 / Chapter 4.1 --- Direct Analysis of HRXRD Rocking Curves --- p.31 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- GaAs1-xSbx / GaAs Quantum Wells (QWs) --- p.31 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- GaAs1-xSbx /InP Epitaxial Layers --- p.42 / Chapter 4.2 --- Computer Simulation of HRXRD --- p.51 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Simulation Theory --- p.51 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Simulation of Rocking Curves --- p.51 / Chapter 4.3 --- Room Temperature PL of GAAs1-xSBx Quantum Wells and Epitaxial Layers --- p.66 / Chapter 4.4 --- Low Temperature (LT) PL of GAAs1-xSBx Quantum Wells and Epitaxial Layers --- p.75 / Chapter 4.5 --- Excitation Power Dependent (PD) PL of GAAs1-xSBx Quantum Wells and Epitaxial Layers --- p.78 / Chapter 4.6 --- Temperature Dependent (TD) PL of GAAs1-xSBx Quantum Wells and Epitaxial Layers --- p.85 / Chapter 5. --- CONCLUSIONS --- p.90 / REFERENCES --- p.93

Nesta dissertação discorremos acerca do crescimento e caracterização de filmes finos de carbeto de silício amorfo hidrogenado (a-Si1-xCx:H), crescidos pelo método de deposição química de vapor assistida por plasma (PECVD) no regime de baixa densidade de potência a partir de misturas de silano e metano. Foram analisadas e correlacionadas as propriedades ópticas, morfológicas e composicionais de filmes depositados em diferentes condições de fluxo de silano e concentração de metano. Os resultados não apenas confirmaram dados anteriores obtidos em filmes de a-Si1-xCx:H similares, mas possibilitaram uma melhor compreensão das características deste material. Para a obtenção de um composto de alto gap, alto conteúdo de carbono, química e morfologicamente homogêneo é necessário utilizar baixos fluxos de silano e alta concentração de metano, condições de deposição conhecidas como regime de \"plasma faminto por silano\". Neste regime são crescidos filmes com Eg &gt; 3 eV, x &gt; 0,5, maior concentração de ligações Si-C, concentração de hidrogênio de 50 at.%, menor proporção de radicais CH3 e menor densidade de poros. / In this work we describe the growth and characterization of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-Si1-xCx:H) thin films deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) in the low power density regime from mixtures of silane and methane. The optical, morphological and compositional properties of films deposited under different silane flow and methane concentration were analyzed and correlated. The results not only confirmed previous data obtained on similar a-Si1-xCx:H films, but improved the comprehension of their characteristics. In order to obtain a compound with high optical gap, high carbon content, chemically and morphologically homogeneous, it is necessary to work with low silane flow and high methane concentration; deposition conditions known as \"silane starving plasma\" regime. In this regime, films with Eg &gt; 3 eV, x &gt; 0.5, higher concentration of Si-C bonds, hydrogen concentration of 50 at.%, smaller proportion of CH3 radicals and smaller density of pores are produced.

The aim of this thesis is to characterise a sample of High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) formed by: IGR J00370+6122, XTE J1855-026, AX J1841.0-0535 and AX J1845.0-0433. These objects are composed of pulsars (rotating neutron stars) accreting material from the wind of their supergiant companions. The X-rays are produced in the interaction of the accreted material with the strong gravitational field of the neutron star that accelerates this material and heats it up to ~ 107 K. The study of HMXBs has strong implications in several areas of Physics and Astrophysics. They contain neutron stars whose study is essential to constrain the equation of state of nuclear dense matter, and provides insights on the astrophysical models of core collapse and Supernovae explosions. HMXBs considered as a population give information on the properties of the galaxy. In addition they are excellent test-beds to study accretion physics and outflows. The X-ray behaviour of these systems determines the class of system (classical HMXBs, Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients, Be/X-ray Binaries). The differences in the X-ray emission are supposed to be due to the different properties of the binary systems, such as the orbital properties, the magnetic field of the neutron star or the spectral type of the donor star. HMXBs in this thesis are wind-fed systems, therefore, the properties of the wind (which depend on the spectral type) and the interaction of this wind with the gravitational field of the compact object are key elements to understand the X-ray emission. Therefore, in this thesis an orbital solution for each target of study has been determined using optical spectra of the donor star. Moreover, to check if wind variability is related to the orbit of the binary system, analysis of Ha variations have been carried out. Furthermore, in the case of IGR J00370+6122 and XTE J1855-026 we have obtained an atmosphere model for each of the donor stars allowing us to characterise the atmospheres of these stars, and consequently to determine physical parameters such as the Teff or the log g. Finally publicly available X-ray light curves have been analysed to study the X-ray emission of the different sources against their orbital periods. As a general conclusion, it seems there is a continuum of properties of these systems more than a strict classification. A combination of factors, of which some of them could be unknown, might be the cause of their different X-ray flux behaviours. The outline of this thesis is as follows: the scientific context is given in Chapter 1 an overview of the analysis performed for each of the sources of study is presented in Chapter 2; Chapter 3 is dedicated to the description of a pipeline optimised for the reduction of FRODOSpec spectra of obscured red sources (donor stars of the targets of study); Chapters (4, 5 and 6) present the characterization of the four sources in this thesis, which are different kind of wind-fed systems; and finally general conclusions and future work are given in Chapter 7.