The pH sensing and nonideal characteristics of a ruthenium nitride (RuN) sensing membrane pH sensor were investigated. RuN thin films were deposited from a 99.9% ruthenium target on p-type silicon substrates using radio frequency (r.f.) sputtering with N(2) gas. Subsequently, the nanometric structure and surface morphology of RuN thin films were determined. The sensitivity of the RuN sensing me...

Rapid impact assessments immediately after disasters are crucial to enable rapid and effective mobilization of resources for response recovery efforts. These often performed by analysing the three components risk: hazard, exposure vulnerability. Vulnerability curves constructed using historic insurance data or expert judgments, reducing their applicability characteristics specific hazard buildi...

The dynamic stability of out-of-plane masonry walls can be assessed through non-linear analysis (rocking analysis), accounting for transverse walls, horizontal diaphragms and tie-rods. Steel tie-rods are widely spread in historical constructions to prevent dangerous overturning mechanisms simulated by proper elasto-plastic models. Conventionally, design guidelines suggest intensity-based assess...

In electron-doped GaAs, we use scanning Kerr-rotation microscopy to locally probe and spatially resolve the depolarization of electron spin distributions by transverse magnetic fields. The shape of these local Hanleeffect curves provides a measure of the spin lifetime as well as spin transport parameters including drift velocity, mobility and diffusion length. Asymmetries in the local Hanle dat...

In this paper we consider the possible dependence of the market price of risk on time and interest rates. This fact gives as a result that the risk-neutral drift, which is one of the coefficients of the pricing equation, also depends on time and interest rates. Then, we estimate the risk-neutral drift directly from the slope of the yield curve. This approach is very accurate as we show with a n...

A newly developed method is presented for measuring heat capacities on small samples, particularly where thermal isolation is not sufficient for the use of the traditional semiadiabatic heat-pulse technique. This "hybrid technique" is a modification of this heat-pulse method in case the temperature drift of the sample after the heat pulse is not linear but exponential. Deliberate extrapolations...

A simple and parsimonious model which originated from the Weibull frequency distribution was proposed to describe nonlinear survival curves of spores. This model was suitable for downward concavity curves (Bacillus cereus and Bacillus pumilus), as well as for upward concavity curves (Clostridium botulinum). It was shown that traditional F values calculated from this new model were no longer add...