(C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“The Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) is applied to the problem of thermoelectric transport in p-type semiconductors whose valence band-structure is describable in terms of two bands degenerate at the Gamma point. The Seebeck coefficient and mobility are calculated from the solution to two coupled BTEs, one for each band, with interband scattering and scattering by inelastic mechanisms treated exactly by the application of an algorithm developed by the authors in an earlier work. Most treatments of selleck screening library this problem decouple the two bands by neglecting certain terms in the BTE, greatly simplifying the mathematics: the error in the Seebeck coefficient

and mobility introduced by this approximation is quantified by comparing with the exact solution. Degenerate statistics has been assumed throughout, and the resulting formalism is therefore valid at high hole concentrations. Material parameters are used that have been deduced from optical, strain and other KPT-330 experiments often not directly related to hole transport. The formulations in this work thus do not use adjustable or fitting parameters. The transport coefficients of heavily doped gallium antimonide, a typical high-efficiency

p-type thermoelectric material, are calculated and agreement to experimentally determined values is found to be satisfactory. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3537826]“
“An investigation of the transient thermomechanical behavior of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is presented with respect to a new composite material system in which shrinkable PET tendons are incorporated into a cementitious matrix to provide a crack-closure mechanism. A series of parametric studies of the effects of the geometry, temperature, and soak time on the mechanical properties of the polymer are presented. In particular, this article focuses on the shrinkage

behavior and the development of stresses under SRT2104 restrained shrinkage conditions. A one-dimensional numerical model, which is essentially a modification of Zener’s standard linear solid model, is presented with the aim of simulating aspects of behavior of particular relevance to tendons within the composite material system. The model comprises a temperature-dependent dashpot and spring in parallel with a spring and thermal expansion element. The temperature-dependent functions are calibrated with the obtained data, and a final validation example that shows good accuracy in comparison with experimental data not used for the calibration is presented. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 120: 2516-2526, 2011″
“A nationwide survey was performed in Italy to assess awareness and attitudes of the public about epilepsy. Knowledge about epilepsy, its clinical features, and attitudes towards its social/individual implications were tested in a telephone interview. Included were 819 women and 737 men aged 18+ years. 93.