mahdi Hosseini - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by mahdi Hosseini

Research paper thumbnail of Seismic Behaviour of RC Shear Walls

Shear walls are a type of structural system that provides lateral resistance to a building or str... more Shear walls are a type of structural system that provides lateral resistance to a building or structure. They resist in- plane loads that are applied along its height. The applied load is generally transferred to the wall by a diaphragm or collector or drag member. The performance of the framed buildings depends on the structural system adopted for the structure The term structural system or structural frame in structural engineering refers to load-resisting sub-system of a structure. The structural system transfers loads through interconnected structural components or members. These structural systems need to be chosen based on its height and loads and need to be carried out, etc. The selection of appropriate structural systems for building must satisfy both strength and stiffness requirements. The structural system must be adequate to resist lateral and gravity loads that cause horizontal shear deformation and overturning deformation. Other important issues that must be considered...

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of Dynamic Analysis of High Rise Structure with Dual System under Different Type of Soil Conditions , Different Type of RC Shear Wall & Different Load Combination,Load Cases

The current research work analyzes thirty storey building in India with C, Box, E, I shape and ne... more The current research work analyzes thirty storey building in India with C, Box, E, I shape and new shape of RC Shear walls Plus shape, at the center in Concrete Frame Structure with fixed support conditions under different type of soil (Hard, Medium &soft soil) for earthquake zone V as per IS 1893 (part 1) :2002. This design also uses software ETABS by Dynamic analysis (Response Spectrum method). All the analyses have been carried out as per the Indian Standard code books. This work aims to explore the behavior of new shape of RC Shear walls plus shape in high rise structure with dual system with different type of RC Shear under different type of soil condition and different load combination for seismic loading. Estimation of structural response such as lateral load, stiffness, storey drift, storey moment, storey shear, storey displacements, time period , frequency, mode shape, Pier forces and column forces is carried out. It was found that the building which is in box shape shear w...

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of Seismic load on Pier Forces in Different Type of RC Shear Walls in Concrete Frame Structures With Different Type of Soil Condition

Global Journal of Research In Engineering, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Anomalous emission from a one-dimensional lattice of ions in silicon photonics

arXiv: Applied Physics, 2019

Intermodal coupling between optically active quantum centers can be achieved by engineering the e... more Intermodal coupling between optically active quantum centers can be achieved by engineering the environment of radiative atoms enclosed by photonic structures. The interaction between multiple modes of the system may give rise to anomalous propagation where loss is suppressed in certain regimes. Understanding the complex mode dynamics towards engineering many-body quantum interactions has been the subject of intensive research in recent years. Here, we observe anomalous photon emission at the telecommunication wavelength from an atomic Bragg grating composed of close to 1000 atomic mirror segments. We observe an enhanced and asymmetric emission spectrum from the ions and attribute it to Borrmann-type loss suppression and Fano-type interference of propagating modes in the system, respectively. Our observation paves the way for designing active metamaterials and novel topological photonics with engineered linear and nonlinear interactions for broad applications. In particular, the ric...

Research paper thumbnail of Superconducting levitation of a mg-scale cavity mirror

Applied Physics Letters, 2020

We demonstrate an optomechanical platform based on a levitated small high reflective (HR)-coated ... more We demonstrate an optomechanical platform based on a levitated small high reflective (HR)-coated mirror above a superconductor disk. We use this levitated mirror at ambient condition to detect the magnetic field with a sensitivity of 370 pT / Hz. Moreover, the levitated mirror is used as the end mirror of a Fabry–Perot cavity to create an optical resonance that could be used to study coherent radiation pressure forces. The platform provides a sensitive tool to measure the various forces exerted on the mirror and it offers the possibility of the coherent optical trapping of macroscopic objects.

Research paper thumbnail of A mirrorless spinwave resonator

Scientific Reports, 2015

Optical resonance is central to a wide range of optical devices and techniques. In an optical cav... more Optical resonance is central to a wide range of optical devices and techniques. In an optical cavity, the round-trip length and mirror reflectivity can be chosen to optimize the circulating optical power, linewidth, and free-spectral range (FSR) for a given application. In this paper we show how an atomic spinwave system, with no physical mirrors, can behave in a manner that is analogous to an optical cavity. We demonstrate this similarity by characterising the build-up and decay of the resonance in the time domain, and measuring the effective optical linewidth and FSR in the frequency domain. Our spinwave is generated in a 20 cm long Rb gas cell, yet it facilitates an effective FSR of 83 kHz, which would require a round-trip path of 3.6 km in a free-space optical cavity. Furthermore, the spinwave coupling is controllable enabling dynamic tuning of the effective cavity parameters.

Research paper thumbnail of Effects of coating methods and storage periods on some quality characteristics of carrot during ambient storage

World Applied Sciences Journal

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Nurses Regarding Organ Donation

Global Journal of Health Science, 2015

Introduction: Treatment team charged to help patients and their family making decision about dona... more Introduction: Treatment team charged to help patients and their family making decision about donate organs in the final stage of life. Hence, their knowledge and attitude is important to plan of increasing the rate of organ donation. Materials and Methods: About 150 nurses recruited in this cross-sectional study randomly. After taking informed consent, questionnaires were filled. The data collection tool was a multipart questionnaire including demographic information, 18 questions about attitude and practice and 15 question about knowledge toward organ donation. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using K-squire, Pearson correlation test, T-test, variance analyze on 95% confidence interval. Results: Most of participants (76%) were 25-44 years old. About 81.3% of them were female (n=122). The attitude average score between males and females was 85.25±35.61 and 70.37±46.53, respectively. The practice average score in females was 34.43±47.71 and between males was 29.63±46.53. The knowledge average scores were 50.60±16.19 and 56.54±17.48 for two groups (p>0.05). The knowledge average scores between different age groups was significant (p<0.05). There was a direct and significant relation between attitude and practice (r= +0.33, p<0.05), attitude and Factors influencing attitude and practice (r= 0.866, p<0.05), but the relation between attitude and knowledge was indirect and significant (r=-0.183, p<0.05). Conclusions: Since the medical team are most important adviser for promote activities related to organ donation, it seems that educational curriculum and facilities should applied to enhance attitude and behavior favorable change of personnel towards this issue.

Research paper thumbnail of Scattering-Free Optical Levitation of a Cavity Mirror

Physical Review Letters, 2013

We demonstrate the feasibility of levitating a small mirror using only radiation pressure. In our... more We demonstrate the feasibility of levitating a small mirror using only radiation pressure. In our scheme, the mirror is supported by a tripod where each leg of the tripod is a Fabry-Perot cavity. The macroscopic state of the mirror is coherently coupled to the supporting cavity modes allowing coherent interrogation and manipulation of the mirror motion. The proposed scheme is an extreme example of the optical spring, where a mechanical oscillator is isolated from the environment and its mechanical frequency and macroscopic state can be manipulated solely through optical fields. We model the stability of the system and find a three-dimensional lattice of trapping points where cavity resonances allow for build up of optical field sufficient to support the weight of the mirror. Our scheme offers a unique platform for studying quantum and classical optomechanics and can potentially be used for precision gravitational field sensing and quantum state generation.

Research paper thumbnail of Multimode laser cooling and ultra-high sensitivity force sensing with nanowires

Nature Communications, 2014

Photo-induced forces can be used to manipulate and cool the mechanical motion of oscillators. Whe... more Photo-induced forces can be used to manipulate and cool the mechanical motion of oscillators. When the oscillator is used as a force sensor, such as in atomic force microscopy, active feedback is an enticing route to enhance measurement performance. Here we show broadband multimode cooling of À 23 dB down to a temperature of 8±1 K in the stationary regime. Through the use of periodic quiescence feedback cooling, we show improved signal-to-noise ratios for the measurement of transient signals. We compare the performance of real feedback to numerical post processing of data and show that both methods produce similar improvements to the signal-to-noise ratio of force measurements. We achieved a room temperature force measurement sensitivity of o2 Â 10 À 16 N with integration time of less than 0.1 ms. The high precision and fast force microscopy results presented will potentially benefit applications in biosensing, molecular metrology, subsurface imaging and accelerometry.

Research paper thumbnail of Quantum benchmarking with realistic states of light

Physical Review A, 2012

The goal of quantum benchmarking is to certify that imperfect quantum communication devices (e.g.... more The goal of quantum benchmarking is to certify that imperfect quantum communication devices (e.g., quantum channels, quantum memories, quantum key distribution systems) can still be used for meaningful quantum communication. However, the test states used in quantum benchmarking experiments may be imperfect as well. Many quantum benchmarks are only valid for states which match some ideal form, such as pure states or Gaussian states. We outline how to perform quantum benchmarking using arbitrary states of light. We demonstrate these results using real data taken from a continuous-variable quantum memory.

Research paper thumbnail of Coherent optical pulse sequencer for quantum applications

Nature, 2009

The bandwidth and versatility of optical devices have revolutionized information technology syste... more The bandwidth and versatility of optical devices have revolutionized information technology systems and communication networks. Precise and arbitrary control of an optical field that preserves optical coherence is an important requisite for many proposed photonic technologies. For quantum information applications, a device that allows storage and on-demand retrieval of arbitrary quantum states of light would form an ideal quantum optical memory. Recently, significant progress has been made in implementing atomic quantum memories using electromagnetically induced transparency, photon echo spectroscopy, off-resonance Raman spectroscopy and other atom-light interaction processes. Single-photon and bright-optical-field storage with quantum states have both been successfully demonstrated. Here we present a coherent optical memory based on photon echoes induced through controlled reversible inhomogeneous broadening. Our scheme allows storage of multiple pulses of light within a chosen frequency bandwidth, and stored pulses can be recalled in arbitrary order with any chosen delay between each recalled pulse. Furthermore, pulses can be time-compressed, time-stretched or split into multiple smaller pulses and recalled in several pieces at chosen times. Although our experimental results are so far limited to classical light pulses, our technique should enable the construction of an optical random-access memory for time-bin quantum information, and have potential applications in quantum information processing.

Research paper thumbnail of Simulation of Agglomerate Dispersion in Cubic Cavity Flow

Macromolecular Theory and Simulations, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Micro-Wilhelmy and Related Liquid Property Measurements Using Constant-Diameter Nanoneedle-Tipped Atomic Force Microscope Probes

Langmuir, 2008

The micro-Wilhelmy method is a well-established method of determining surface tension by measurin... more The micro-Wilhelmy method is a well-established method of determining surface tension by measuring the force of withdrawing a tens of microns to millimeters in diameter cylindrical wire or fiber from a liquid. A comparison of insertion force to retraction force can also be used to determine the contact angle with the fiber. Given the limited availability of atomic force microscope (AFM) probes that have long constant diameter tips, force-distance (F-D) curves using probes with standard tapered tips have been difficult to relate to surface tension. In this report, constant diameter metal alloy nanowires (referred to as "nanoneedles") between 7.2 and 67 µm in length and 108 and 1006 nm in diameter were grown on AFM probes. F-D and Q damping AFM measurements of wetting and drag forces made with the probes were compared against standard macroscopic models of these forces on slender cylinders to estimate surface tension, contact angle, meniscus height, evaporation rate, and viscosity. The surface tensions for several low molecular weight liquids that were measured with these probes were between-4.2% and +8.3% of standard reported values. Also, the F-D curves show well-defined stair-step events on insertion and retraction from partial wetting liquids, compared to the continuously growing attractive force of standard tapered AFM probe tips. In the AFM used, the stair-step feature in F-D curves was repeatably monitored for at least 0.5 h (depending on the volatility of the liquid), and this feature was then used to evaluate evaporation rates (as low as 0.30 nm/s) through changes in the surface height of the liquid. A nanoneedle with a step change in diameter at a known distance from its end produced two steps in the F-D curve from which the meniscus height was determined. The step features enable meniscus height to be determined from distance between the steps, as an alternative to calculating the height corresponding to the AFM measured values of surface tension and contact angle. All but one of the eight measurements agreed to within 13%. The constant diameter of the nanoneedle also is used to relate viscous damping of the vibrating cantilever to a macroscopic model of Stokes drag on a long cylinder. Expected increases in drag force with insertion depth and viscosity are observed for several glycerol-water solutions. However, an additional damping term (associated with drag of the meniscus on the sidewalls of the nanoneedle) limits the sensitivity of the measurement of drag force for low-viscosity solutions, while low values of Q limit the sensitivity for high-viscosity solutions. Overall, reasonable correspondence is found between the macroscopic models and the measurements with the nanoneedle-tipped probes. Tighter environmental control of the AFM and treatments of needles to give them more ideal surfaces are expected to improve repeatability and make more evident subtle features that currently appear to be present on the F-D and Q damping curves.

Research paper thumbnail of Plastic Debris in the Digestive Tract of Sheep and Goats: An Increasing Environmental Contamination in Birjand, Iran

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2012

A total of 230 goats and 185 sheep were evaluated in this cross-sectional observational study. Af... more A total of 230 goats and 185 sheep were evaluated in this cross-sectional observational study. After emptying the gastrointestinal tract, the size, location, adhesion and obstruction were examined. Twenty seven and half percent of sheep and 24 point 3 % of goats had foreign bodies. Most foreign bodies were plastic materials in sheep and goats. Forty percent of pregnant animals had foreign bodies. Drought and lack of adequate pastures in the past years have been a major cause of the swallowing of foreign objects by sheep and goats.

Research paper thumbnail of Seismic Behaviour of RC Shear Walls

Shear walls are a type of structural system that provides lateral resistance to a building or str... more Shear walls are a type of structural system that provides lateral resistance to a building or structure. They resist in- plane loads that are applied along its height. The applied load is generally transferred to the wall by a diaphragm or collector or drag member. The performance of the framed buildings depends on the structural system adopted for the structure The term structural system or structural frame in structural engineering refers to load-resisting sub-system of a structure. The structural system transfers loads through interconnected structural components or members. These structural systems need to be chosen based on its height and loads and need to be carried out, etc. The selection of appropriate structural systems for building must satisfy both strength and stiffness requirements. The structural system must be adequate to resist lateral and gravity loads that cause horizontal shear deformation and overturning deformation. Other important issues that must be considered...

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of Dynamic Analysis of High Rise Structure with Dual System under Different Type of Soil Conditions , Different Type of RC Shear Wall & Different Load Combination,Load Cases

The current research work analyzes thirty storey building in India with C, Box, E, I shape and ne... more The current research work analyzes thirty storey building in India with C, Box, E, I shape and new shape of RC Shear walls Plus shape, at the center in Concrete Frame Structure with fixed support conditions under different type of soil (Hard, Medium &soft soil) for earthquake zone V as per IS 1893 (part 1) :2002. This design also uses software ETABS by Dynamic analysis (Response Spectrum method). All the analyses have been carried out as per the Indian Standard code books. This work aims to explore the behavior of new shape of RC Shear walls plus shape in high rise structure with dual system with different type of RC Shear under different type of soil condition and different load combination for seismic loading. Estimation of structural response such as lateral load, stiffness, storey drift, storey moment, storey shear, storey displacements, time period , frequency, mode shape, Pier forces and column forces is carried out. It was found that the building which is in box shape shear w...

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of Seismic load on Pier Forces in Different Type of RC Shear Walls in Concrete Frame Structures With Different Type of Soil Condition

Global Journal of Research In Engineering, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Anomalous emission from a one-dimensional lattice of ions in silicon photonics

arXiv: Applied Physics, 2019

Intermodal coupling between optically active quantum centers can be achieved by engineering the e... more Intermodal coupling between optically active quantum centers can be achieved by engineering the environment of radiative atoms enclosed by photonic structures. The interaction between multiple modes of the system may give rise to anomalous propagation where loss is suppressed in certain regimes. Understanding the complex mode dynamics towards engineering many-body quantum interactions has been the subject of intensive research in recent years. Here, we observe anomalous photon emission at the telecommunication wavelength from an atomic Bragg grating composed of close to 1000 atomic mirror segments. We observe an enhanced and asymmetric emission spectrum from the ions and attribute it to Borrmann-type loss suppression and Fano-type interference of propagating modes in the system, respectively. Our observation paves the way for designing active metamaterials and novel topological photonics with engineered linear and nonlinear interactions for broad applications. In particular, the ric...

Research paper thumbnail of Superconducting levitation of a mg-scale cavity mirror

Applied Physics Letters, 2020

We demonstrate an optomechanical platform based on a levitated small high reflective (HR)-coated ... more We demonstrate an optomechanical platform based on a levitated small high reflective (HR)-coated mirror above a superconductor disk. We use this levitated mirror at ambient condition to detect the magnetic field with a sensitivity of 370 pT / Hz. Moreover, the levitated mirror is used as the end mirror of a Fabry–Perot cavity to create an optical resonance that could be used to study coherent radiation pressure forces. The platform provides a sensitive tool to measure the various forces exerted on the mirror and it offers the possibility of the coherent optical trapping of macroscopic objects.

Research paper thumbnail of A mirrorless spinwave resonator

Scientific Reports, 2015

Optical resonance is central to a wide range of optical devices and techniques. In an optical cav... more Optical resonance is central to a wide range of optical devices and techniques. In an optical cavity, the round-trip length and mirror reflectivity can be chosen to optimize the circulating optical power, linewidth, and free-spectral range (FSR) for a given application. In this paper we show how an atomic spinwave system, with no physical mirrors, can behave in a manner that is analogous to an optical cavity. We demonstrate this similarity by characterising the build-up and decay of the resonance in the time domain, and measuring the effective optical linewidth and FSR in the frequency domain. Our spinwave is generated in a 20 cm long Rb gas cell, yet it facilitates an effective FSR of 83 kHz, which would require a round-trip path of 3.6 km in a free-space optical cavity. Furthermore, the spinwave coupling is controllable enabling dynamic tuning of the effective cavity parameters.

Research paper thumbnail of Effects of coating methods and storage periods on some quality characteristics of carrot during ambient storage

World Applied Sciences Journal

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Nurses Regarding Organ Donation

Global Journal of Health Science, 2015

Introduction: Treatment team charged to help patients and their family making decision about dona... more Introduction: Treatment team charged to help patients and their family making decision about donate organs in the final stage of life. Hence, their knowledge and attitude is important to plan of increasing the rate of organ donation. Materials and Methods: About 150 nurses recruited in this cross-sectional study randomly. After taking informed consent, questionnaires were filled. The data collection tool was a multipart questionnaire including demographic information, 18 questions about attitude and practice and 15 question about knowledge toward organ donation. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using K-squire, Pearson correlation test, T-test, variance analyze on 95% confidence interval. Results: Most of participants (76%) were 25-44 years old. About 81.3% of them were female (n=122). The attitude average score between males and females was 85.25±35.61 and 70.37±46.53, respectively. The practice average score in females was 34.43±47.71 and between males was 29.63±46.53. The knowledge average scores were 50.60±16.19 and 56.54±17.48 for two groups (p>0.05). The knowledge average scores between different age groups was significant (p<0.05). There was a direct and significant relation between attitude and practice (r= +0.33, p<0.05), attitude and Factors influencing attitude and practice (r= 0.866, p<0.05), but the relation between attitude and knowledge was indirect and significant (r=-0.183, p<0.05). Conclusions: Since the medical team are most important adviser for promote activities related to organ donation, it seems that educational curriculum and facilities should applied to enhance attitude and behavior favorable change of personnel towards this issue.

Research paper thumbnail of Scattering-Free Optical Levitation of a Cavity Mirror

Physical Review Letters, 2013

We demonstrate the feasibility of levitating a small mirror using only radiation pressure. In our... more We demonstrate the feasibility of levitating a small mirror using only radiation pressure. In our scheme, the mirror is supported by a tripod where each leg of the tripod is a Fabry-Perot cavity. The macroscopic state of the mirror is coherently coupled to the supporting cavity modes allowing coherent interrogation and manipulation of the mirror motion. The proposed scheme is an extreme example of the optical spring, where a mechanical oscillator is isolated from the environment and its mechanical frequency and macroscopic state can be manipulated solely through optical fields. We model the stability of the system and find a three-dimensional lattice of trapping points where cavity resonances allow for build up of optical field sufficient to support the weight of the mirror. Our scheme offers a unique platform for studying quantum and classical optomechanics and can potentially be used for precision gravitational field sensing and quantum state generation.

Research paper thumbnail of Multimode laser cooling and ultra-high sensitivity force sensing with nanowires

Nature Communications, 2014

Photo-induced forces can be used to manipulate and cool the mechanical motion of oscillators. Whe... more Photo-induced forces can be used to manipulate and cool the mechanical motion of oscillators. When the oscillator is used as a force sensor, such as in atomic force microscopy, active feedback is an enticing route to enhance measurement performance. Here we show broadband multimode cooling of À 23 dB down to a temperature of 8±1 K in the stationary regime. Through the use of periodic quiescence feedback cooling, we show improved signal-to-noise ratios for the measurement of transient signals. We compare the performance of real feedback to numerical post processing of data and show that both methods produce similar improvements to the signal-to-noise ratio of force measurements. We achieved a room temperature force measurement sensitivity of o2 Â 10 À 16 N with integration time of less than 0.1 ms. The high precision and fast force microscopy results presented will potentially benefit applications in biosensing, molecular metrology, subsurface imaging and accelerometry.

Research paper thumbnail of Quantum benchmarking with realistic states of light

Physical Review A, 2012

The goal of quantum benchmarking is to certify that imperfect quantum communication devices (e.g.... more The goal of quantum benchmarking is to certify that imperfect quantum communication devices (e.g., quantum channels, quantum memories, quantum key distribution systems) can still be used for meaningful quantum communication. However, the test states used in quantum benchmarking experiments may be imperfect as well. Many quantum benchmarks are only valid for states which match some ideal form, such as pure states or Gaussian states. We outline how to perform quantum benchmarking using arbitrary states of light. We demonstrate these results using real data taken from a continuous-variable quantum memory.

Research paper thumbnail of Coherent optical pulse sequencer for quantum applications

Nature, 2009

The bandwidth and versatility of optical devices have revolutionized information technology syste... more The bandwidth and versatility of optical devices have revolutionized information technology systems and communication networks. Precise and arbitrary control of an optical field that preserves optical coherence is an important requisite for many proposed photonic technologies. For quantum information applications, a device that allows storage and on-demand retrieval of arbitrary quantum states of light would form an ideal quantum optical memory. Recently, significant progress has been made in implementing atomic quantum memories using electromagnetically induced transparency, photon echo spectroscopy, off-resonance Raman spectroscopy and other atom-light interaction processes. Single-photon and bright-optical-field storage with quantum states have both been successfully demonstrated. Here we present a coherent optical memory based on photon echoes induced through controlled reversible inhomogeneous broadening. Our scheme allows storage of multiple pulses of light within a chosen frequency bandwidth, and stored pulses can be recalled in arbitrary order with any chosen delay between each recalled pulse. Furthermore, pulses can be time-compressed, time-stretched or split into multiple smaller pulses and recalled in several pieces at chosen times. Although our experimental results are so far limited to classical light pulses, our technique should enable the construction of an optical random-access memory for time-bin quantum information, and have potential applications in quantum information processing.

Research paper thumbnail of Simulation of Agglomerate Dispersion in Cubic Cavity Flow

Macromolecular Theory and Simulations, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Micro-Wilhelmy and Related Liquid Property Measurements Using Constant-Diameter Nanoneedle-Tipped Atomic Force Microscope Probes

Langmuir, 2008

The micro-Wilhelmy method is a well-established method of determining surface tension by measurin... more The micro-Wilhelmy method is a well-established method of determining surface tension by measuring the force of withdrawing a tens of microns to millimeters in diameter cylindrical wire or fiber from a liquid. A comparison of insertion force to retraction force can also be used to determine the contact angle with the fiber. Given the limited availability of atomic force microscope (AFM) probes that have long constant diameter tips, force-distance (F-D) curves using probes with standard tapered tips have been difficult to relate to surface tension. In this report, constant diameter metal alloy nanowires (referred to as "nanoneedles") between 7.2 and 67 µm in length and 108 and 1006 nm in diameter were grown on AFM probes. F-D and Q damping AFM measurements of wetting and drag forces made with the probes were compared against standard macroscopic models of these forces on slender cylinders to estimate surface tension, contact angle, meniscus height, evaporation rate, and viscosity. The surface tensions for several low molecular weight liquids that were measured with these probes were between-4.2% and +8.3% of standard reported values. Also, the F-D curves show well-defined stair-step events on insertion and retraction from partial wetting liquids, compared to the continuously growing attractive force of standard tapered AFM probe tips. In the AFM used, the stair-step feature in F-D curves was repeatably monitored for at least 0.5 h (depending on the volatility of the liquid), and this feature was then used to evaluate evaporation rates (as low as 0.30 nm/s) through changes in the surface height of the liquid. A nanoneedle with a step change in diameter at a known distance from its end produced two steps in the F-D curve from which the meniscus height was determined. The step features enable meniscus height to be determined from distance between the steps, as an alternative to calculating the height corresponding to the AFM measured values of surface tension and contact angle. All but one of the eight measurements agreed to within 13%. The constant diameter of the nanoneedle also is used to relate viscous damping of the vibrating cantilever to a macroscopic model of Stokes drag on a long cylinder. Expected increases in drag force with insertion depth and viscosity are observed for several glycerol-water solutions. However, an additional damping term (associated with drag of the meniscus on the sidewalls of the nanoneedle) limits the sensitivity of the measurement of drag force for low-viscosity solutions, while low values of Q limit the sensitivity for high-viscosity solutions. Overall, reasonable correspondence is found between the macroscopic models and the measurements with the nanoneedle-tipped probes. Tighter environmental control of the AFM and treatments of needles to give them more ideal surfaces are expected to improve repeatability and make more evident subtle features that currently appear to be present on the F-D and Q damping curves.

Research paper thumbnail of Plastic Debris in the Digestive Tract of Sheep and Goats: An Increasing Environmental Contamination in Birjand, Iran

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2012

A total of 230 goats and 185 sheep were evaluated in this cross-sectional observational study. Af... more A total of 230 goats and 185 sheep were evaluated in this cross-sectional observational study. After emptying the gastrointestinal tract, the size, location, adhesion and obstruction were examined. Twenty seven and half percent of sheep and 24 point 3 % of goats had foreign bodies. Most foreign bodies were plastic materials in sheep and goats. Forty percent of pregnant animals had foreign bodies. Drought and lack of adequate pastures in the past years have been a major cause of the swallowing of foreign objects by sheep and goats.