Apparent Dimension Research Articles

Cellulose-Based Polyurethane Foams of Low Flammability.

Decreasing oil resources creates the need to search for raw materials in the biosphere, which can be converted into polyols suitable for obtaining polyurethane foams (PUF). One such low-cost and reproducible biopolymer is cellulose. There are not many examples of cellulose-derived polyols due to the sluggish reactivity of cellulose itself. Recently, cellulose and its hydroxypropyl derivatives were applied as source materials to obtain polyols, further converted into biodegradable rigid polyurethane foams (PUFs). Those PUFs were flammable. Here, we describe our efforts to modify such PUFs in order to decrease their flammability. We obtained an ester from diethylene glycol and phosphoric(III) acid and used it as a reactive flame retardant in the synthesis of polyol-containing hydroxypropyl derivative of cellulose. The cellulose-based polyol was characterized by infrared spectra (IR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) methods. Its properties, such as density, viscosity, surface tension, and hydroxyl numbers, were determined. Melamine was also added to the foamed composition as an additive flame retardant, obtaining PUFs, which were characterized by apparent density, water uptake, dimension stability, heat conductance, compressive strength, and heat resistance at 150 and 175 °C. Obtained rigid PUFs were tested for flammability by determining oxygen index, horizontal flammability test, and calorimetric analysis. Obtained rigid PUFs showed improved flammability resistance in comparison with non-modified PUFs and classic PUFs.

Reducing Effective System Dimensionality with Long-Range Collective Dipole-Dipole Interactions.

Dimensionality plays a crucial role in long-range dipole-dipole interactions (DDIs). We demonstrate that a resonant nanophotonic structure modifies the apparent dimensionality in an interacting ensemble of emitters, as revealed by population decay dynamics. Our measurements on a dense ensemble of interacting quantum emitters in a resonant nanophotonic structure with long-range DDIs reveal an effective dimensionality reduction to d[over ¯]=2.20(12), despite the emitters being distributed in 3D. This contrasts with the homogeneous environment, where the apparent dimension is d[over ¯]=3.00. Our work presents a promising avenue to manipulate dimensionality in an ensemble of interacting emitters.

Voxel-Wise Comparison of Co-Registered Quantitative CT and Hyperpolarised Gas Diffusion-Weighted MRI Measurements in IPF

The patterns of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) lung disease that directly correspond to elevated hyperpolarised gas diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI metrics are currently unknown. This study aims to develop a spatial co-registration framework for a voxel-wise comparison of hyperpolarised gas DW-MRI and CALIPER quantitative CT patterns. Sixteen IPF patients underwent 3He DW-MRI and CT at baseline, and eleven patients had a 1-year follow-up DW-MRI. Six healthy volunteers underwent 129Xe DW-MRI at baseline only. Moreover, 3He DW-MRI was indirectly co-registered to CT via spatially aligned 3He ventilation and structural 1H MRI. A voxel-wise comparison of the overlapping 3He apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and mean acinar dimension (LmD) maps with CALIPER CT patterns was performed at baseline and after 1 year. The abnormal lung percentage classified with the LmD value, based on a healthy volunteer 129Xe LmD, and CALIPER was compared with a Bland–Altman analysis. The largest DW-MRI metrics were found in the regions classified as honeycombing, and longitudinal DW-MRI changes were observed in the baseline-classified reticular changes and ground-glass opacities regions. A mean bias of −15.3% (95% interval −56.8% to 26.2%) towards CALIPER was observed for the abnormal lung percentage. This suggests DW-MRI may detect microstructural changes in areas of the lung that are determined visibly and quantitatively normal by CT.

Chitosan Oligomer as a Raw Material for Obtaining Polyurethane Foams.

Decreasing oil extraction stimulates attempts to use biologically available sources to produce polyols, which are the basic components for obtaining polyurethane foams. Plants are inexhaustible source of oils, sugars, starches, and cellulose. Similar substrates to obtain polyols are chitosans. Commercially available modified chitosans are soluble in water, which gives them the possibility to react with hydroxyalkylating agents. We used a water-soluble chitosan previously to obtain polyols suitable for producing rigid polyurethane foams. Here, we described hydroxyalkylation of a low-molecular-weight chitosan (oligomeric chitosan) with glycidol and ethylene carbonate to obtain polyols. The polyols were isolated and studied in detail by IR, 1H-NMR, and MALDI-ToF methods. Their properties, such as density, viscosity, surface tension, and hydroxyl numbers, were determined. The progress of the hydroxyalkylation reaction of water-soluble chitosan and chitosan oligomer with glycidol was compared in order to characterize the reactivity and mechanism of the process. We found that the hydroxyalkylation of chitosan with glycidol in glycerol resulted in the formation of a multifunctional product suitable for further conversion to polyurethane foams with favorable properties. The straightforward hydroxyalkylation of chitosan with glycidol was accompanied by the oligomerization of glycidol. The hydroxyalkylation of chitosan with glycidol in the presence of ethylene carbonate was accompanied by minor hydroxyalkylation of chitosan with ethylene carbonate. The chosen polyols were used to obtain rigid polyurethane foams which were characterized by physical parameters such as apparent density, water uptake, dimension stability, heat conductance, compressive strength, and heat resistance at 150 and 175 °C. The properties of polyurethane foams obtained from chitosan-oligomer and water-soluble-chitosan sources were compared. Polyurethane foams obtained from polyols synthesized in the presence of glycerol had advantageous properties such as low thermal conductivity, enhanced thermal resistance, dimensional stability, low water uptake, and high compressive strength, growing remarkably upon thermal exposure.

A distributed coordinated path planning algorithm for maritime autonomous surface ship

The anti-collision path planning is vital for establishing the decision support system for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship (MASS). Numerous methods have been developed to solve the problem of collision avoidance with static and dynamic obstacles in the past two decades. However, most of the studies are conducted with certain limitations, such as the assumption of constant velocity of target ships, the simplification of ship’ dynamic properties during manoeuvering, the insufficient consideration of coordination among different ships' actions, etc. In this article, a distributed coordinated path planning algorithm especially for multi-ship encounter is proposed. Combined with constraints of apparent action, time dimension and ship's dynamic properties, a Three-dimension Generalized Velocity Obstacle (TGVO) algorithm is adopted to generate practical and COLREGs compliant collision-free velocities for vessels. Compared to traditional collision avoidance parameter calculation approach, the impact of ship manoeuvrability on avoidance performance is further discussed and analyzed to improve the accuracy and universality of the optimization solutions. In addition, a distributed multistage decision model aiming at solving the situation including multiple give-way vessels is introduced based on the priority analysis. Finally, simulation experiments show that this proposed scheme can work properly in various maritime environments with high degree of coordination and consistency with navigation practice.

The social roots of self development: from a bodily to an intellectual interpersonal dialogue.

In this paper, we propose that interpersonal bodily interactions represent a fertile ground in which the bodily and psychological self is developed, gradually allowing for forms of more abstract and disembodied interactions. We start by focusing on how early infant-caregiver bodily interactions play a crucial role in shaping the boundaries of the self but also in learning to predict others' behavior. We then explore the social function of the sense of touch in the entire life span, highlighting its role in promoting physical and psychological well-being by supporting positive interpersonal exchanges. We go on by introducing the concept of implicit theory of mind, as the early ability to interpret others' intentions, possibly grounded in infant-caregiver bodily exchanges (embodied practices). In the following part, we consider so-called higher level forms of social interaction: intellectual exchanges among individuals. In this regard, we defend the view that, beside the apparent private dimension of "thinking abstractly", using abstract concepts is intrinsically a social process, as it entails the re-enactment of the internalized dialogue through which we acquired the concepts in the first place. Finally, we describe how the hypothesis of "dialectical attunement" may explain the development of abstract thinking: to effectively transform the world according to their survival needs, individuals co-construct structured concepts of it; by doing so, humans fundamentally transform not merely the world they are being in, but their being in the world.

Emotions of DISGUST and UNPLEASANT PERSONAL EXPERIENCE as Aesthetic Responses in the Old English Poetic Corpus

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the lexical domains of DISGUST and UNPLEASANT PERSONAL EXPERIENCE and their associated emotional responses in Old English poetry. Combining methods from corpus-based lexical semantics and cognitive linguistics, this paper delves into the role of proximity senses in negative aesthetic experience in this particular literary context, looking into the phenomenology of these aesthetic emotions. This research proves that these aesthetic emotions, despite their apparent sensory dimension, almost always index cognitive evaluations that are, in most of the cases, religiously oriented towards the preservation of social order. Furthermore, this paper also indicates that aesthetic emotion of DISGUST, particularly its dimension of “moral taint”, is the most prevalent and effective negative aesthetic emotion in Old English poetry.

Multi-attribute identity resolution for online social network

Social media has gained prominent immensity in usage with the explosion of communication owing to social phenomena. An apparent dimension of social media is the virality of information, which when generated from redundant and false user identities, may cause chaos across online social communities. Duplicate user profiles are quite conventional in social networks causing unintentional faults or intentional deceptions. Such fraudulent motives may involve cyberbullying, fake boosting, fake following, cyberstalking, etc. Hence, revealing the malicious users having multiple profiles in social networks has become significant for downstream analysis to ensure cyber safety. Identity resolution is considered one of the pivotal techniques to reveal redundant identities, which are found co-referent to the same real-world user. As per social media theory, there are different stages for automated identity resolution, namely identity searching, identity linking and identity merging. Our research is focused on developing a novel identity resolution framework for detecting redundant user profiles on Twitter social media constructed with nodes, ranging from small-scale to massive-scale networks. Our proposed solution extracts Twitter user profiles with various attributes, for instance, first name, last name, username, user id, tag line, location, language, profile URL and tweets. We developed various algorithms for matching and merging redundant user profiles with the Jaro–Winkler similarity technique. The similar profiles are linked to eradicating their distinctive impact from the originally constructed social network. Our experimental outcomes illustrate iteration-wise reduction of irrelevant and redundant profiles for the close-community of the randomly selected user, which is further extended to the entire user-based and trend-based Twitter network. The results of our approach were compared with existing counterparts and were found to excel in performance concerning accuracy in the detection of redundant identities. Our approach would greatly assist viral marketing, terrorist screening, and social media trending.

An investigation of the esthetic indicators of maxillary anterior teeth in young Turkish people

Statement of problemComprehensive studies evaluating the dimensions of anterior maxillary teeth in the Turkish population with respect to different esthetic parameters are lacking. PurposeThe purpose of this clinical study was to evaluate different proportions of teeth and compare them with current esthetic parameters such as the golden proportion, recurring esthetic dental proportion, and width-to-height ratio of central incisors and to evaluate whether the apparent contact dimension of maxillary anterior teeth follows the “50:40:30” rule. Material and methodsA total of 150 Turkish dental students (81 men and 69 women) aged between 18 and 24 years participated in the study. Standardized digital photographs of the mouth were made from an anterior view. The width and length of the maxillary central incisor, apparent width of the maxillary lateral and canine teeth, and distances between contact areas of the maxillary incisor teeth were measured with software. Differences between the measured proportions and the determined esthetic parameters were assessed with the 1-sample t test (α=.05). ResultsThe width and length proportions of the maxillary incisor teeth in both sexes were significantly different than the golden and recurring esthetic dental proportions. The width-to-height ratio for the maxillary central incisor was different from 80%, which is considered optimal, and the difference among these parameters was statistically significant (P<.001). The apparent contact dimensions on the right and left sides were not statistically significantly different (P>.05). However, the proportions did not fit the 50:40:30 ratio that has been defined as the esthetic proportion, and the differences were statistically significant (P<.001). ConclusionProportions among maxillary anterior teeth were found to be significantly different from the golden proportion and recurring esthetic dental proportion in both sexes. The proportions of apparent contact dimension were significantly different than the 50:40:30 ratio in both sexes. The width-to-height ratio for maxillary central incisor was significantly different from 80% in both sexes.

Analysis of maxillary anterior teeth proportion in relationship with lower facial height and malocclusion

Background &amp; Objectives: Maxillary anterior tooth to tooth proportion has a special value in dental esthetics. This study aimed to assess the apparent proportion of maxillary anteriors and possible association with lower anterior facial height and malocclusion type. Materials &amp; Methods: One-hundred and sixty samples with well aligned maxillary dentition were selected and the lower anterior facial height was measured with digital caliper. Molar relationship was examined and intraoral frontal photograph was taken for digital measurement of tooth proportion. The ratio of maxillary canine to lateral and lateral to central incisors were measured and compared between gender and the sides. These ratios were further compared among various malocclusion type using ANOVA and its association with lower anterior facial height was evaluated with Pearson’s correlation.Results: Most of the samples had Class I molar relationship (70%) followed by Class II (23%) and Class III (7%). The mean lower anterior facial height was 62.82mm and ratio of maxillary lateral to central incisor and canine to lateral incisor was 0.68 and 0.76 respectively. No statistically significant difference was found when the ratio was compared between the gender and the sides. These ratios were statistically different from the golden ratio and has no significant correlation with lower anterior facial height. These mean ratios were also found similar across the malocclusion type.Conclusion: Ratio of apparent dimension of maxillary canine to lateral incisor and lateral to central incisor was different from the golden ratio and showed no association with lower anterior facial height and malocclusion type.

Application of the flow dimension concept for numerical drawdown data analyses in mixed-flow karst systems

A numerical discrete conduit-continuum model is employed to investigate large-scale groundwater abstraction in karst aquifers. The application of large-scale experiments is one approach to deal with the scale problem in hydraulic parameter assessment, caused by significant contrasts of hydraulic parameters in a karst aquifer. Here, conduit drawdown is evaluated by diagnostic plots and by considering the apparent flow dimension. These tools are frequently used for the interpretation of hydraulic borehole tests by analytical solutions. In contrast to existing analytical solutions, a numerical groundwater model allows the incorporation of the effect of complex parameter distributions. The objective is to demonstrate the application of diagnostic plots and flow dimension analysis for a systematic analysis of the effect of different boundary conditions as well as sink/source terms for idealized two-dimensional mixed karst aquifer systems, which ultimately extends existing analytical solutions and, therefore, contributes to the interpretation of measured field data. The analysis is focused on the apparent flow dimension and shows the extension of the cross-sectional flow area for selected models. The results are used to evaluate the large-scale pumping test of the karstified Cent Fonts catchment (Languedoc, France). The inverse calibration of two realistic, but still simplified, catchment models reveals that the apparent flow dimension supplies useful information about the general flow pattern during the Cent Fonts pumping test. The flow dimension after the end of the storage period can be explained by a large contribution of exchange flow resulting in a strong influence of radial flow on regional, i.e., kilometer scale.

Perception of Acceptable Range of Smiles by Specialists, General Dentists and Lay Persons and Evaluation of Different Aesthetic Paradigms.

One of the most important goals of restorative dentistry is to restore the patient's aesthetic. Smile analysis is subjective and it differs from person to person. An aesthetic smile involves a harmonious relationship between various parameters including the hard and soft tissues. The aim of the study was to identify the acceptable range of several smiles (alone and in conjunction with the face) by specialists, general dentists as well as lay persons; and to identify the values of different criteria i.e., the Golden Proportion (GP), the Recurrent Esthetic Dental proportion (RED), Width to Height ratio (W/H ratio), the Apparent Contact Dimension (ACD), and lateral incisor position in a smile. Hundred photographs of 50 subjects were taken, 50 of the smile alone and 50 of the individual's frontal view of face. The photographs of the smiles and the faces were assessed for the aesthetic acceptability by 30 evaluators including 10 specialists with advanced training, 10 general dentists and 10 lay persons. Irreversible hydrocolloid impressions were made of the dentitions of all the individuals using stock trays and were poured in dental stone. Measurements were made on the facial surface of the teeth on the models and were recorded in millimeters using a sharp tipped digital vernier calliper. Data was analyzed to evaluate the presence of different parameters assessed in the smiles. Mean and standard deviation values for the percentage of only the agreeable smiles were calculated in both individual smile analysis and in conjunction with the face. The non agreeable smiles were excluded from further statistical analysis. Pearson Correlation Coefficient was calculated to compare the values obtained in all the three groups. More number of smiles were considered agreeable by the general dentists when compared to the specialists and the number even increased in case of evaluation by lay persons. Greater number of smiles was found to be agreeable when they were evaluated in conjunction with the face. Rather than assessment of individual numeric parameter that defines an ideal aesthetic smile, a smile to be aesthetic should harmonize with the composition of the face.

Influence of heat-treatment temperature on the structure and properties of polypropylene microporous membrane

The polypropylene (PP) microporous membrane has been used in the Lithium battery as a separator. During the charge and discharge process, the temperature in the battery may rise. To clarify the microstructure change mechanism of membrane during the temperature increase, the PP microporous membranes were heat treated at different temperatures and the microstructure and properties were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. When the membranes were treated at temperatures lower than 130 °C, no apparent dimension and microstructure changes were observed. The Gurley value (characterizing the air permeability) was kept around 240 s. When the membranes were treated at temperatures higher than 140 °C, apparent dimensional shrinkage and the decrease or even disappearance of connecting bridges appeared. The corresponding Gurley value was increased to 1320 s, indicating worse air permeability property. The final heat-setting stage during the preparation of microporous membrane based on melt-stretching mechanism could stabilize the stretched connecting bridges and when the heat-treatment temperature was higher than heat-setting temperature, the crystals formed during heat setting could not support the stretched connecting bridges and resulted in the retraction or even disappearance of connecting bridges. These retracted connecting bridges were converted to new crystalline nodes sitting on both sides of separated lamellae.

Framing Political Violence: Success and Failure of Religious Mobilization in the Philippines and Thailand

How do religious civil wars evolve? Many violent conflicts are fought between groups of different faiths. The paper argues, however, that religious differences rarely directly lead to conflict onset. Rather, the apparent religious dimension of many civil wars is a consequence of successful religious framing. Political and military leaders offer religious interpretations designed to legitimize the use of force and to mobilize believers to violent action. Such framing processes can be more or less successful, depending inter alia on the authority of the political and religious leadership, on the coherence and appropriateness of the frames, on the existence of persuasive counter-frames, and on the availability of communication infrastructures that allow for effective dissemination of religious frames. Comparing violent conflicts in the Philippines and Thailand, the paper shows that religious mobilization can fail along the theoretically predicted lines.

Mass and surface fractal in supercritical dried silica aerogels prepared with additions of sodium dodecyl sulfate.

Silica wet gels were prepared from hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) with additions of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The surfactant was removed after gelation. Wet gels exhibited mass-fractal structure with mass-fractal dimension D (typically around 2.25) in a length scale extending from a characteristic size ξ (typically about 10 nm) of the mass-fractal domains to a characteristic size a0 (typically between 0.3 and 0.4 nm) of the primary particles building up the fractal domains. ξ increased while D and a0 diminished slightly as the SDS quantity increased. Aerogels with typical specific surface of 1000 m(2)/g and density of 0.20 g/cm(3) were obtained by supercritical drying of the wet gels after washing with ethanol and n-hexane. The pore volume and the mean pore size increased with the increase of the SDS quantity. The aerogels presented most of the mass-fractal characteristics of the original wet gels at large length scales and exhibited at a higher resolution level at about 0.7 nm a crossover to a mass-surface fractal structure, with apparent mass-fractal dimension Dm ∼ 2.4 and surface-fractal dimension Ds ∼ 2.6, as inferred from small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and nitrogen adsorption data.

High throughput secondary electron imaging of organic residues on a graphene surface.

Surface organic residues inhibit the extraordinary electronic properties of graphene, hindering the development of graphene electronics. However, fundamental understanding of the residue morphology is still absent due to a lack of high-throughput and high-resolution surface characterization methods. Here, we demonstrate that secondary electron (SE) imaging in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and helium ion microscope (HIM) can provide sub-nanometer information of a graphene surface and reveal the morphology of surface contaminants. Nanoscale polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) residues are visible in the SE imaging, but their contrast, i.e. the apparent lateral dimension, varies with the imaging conditions. We have demonstrated a quantitative approach to readily obtain the physical size of the surface features regardless of the contrast variation. The fidelity of SE imaging is ultimately determined by the probe size of the primary beam. HIM is thus evaluated to be a superior SE imaging technique in terms of surface sensitivity and image fidelity. A highly efficient method to reveal the residues on a graphene surface has therefore been established.

Esthetic Paradigms in the Interdisciplinary Management of Maxillary Anterior Dentition—A Review

This article reviews some commonly used esthetic proportions and paradigms in dentistry. Establishing optimal anterior esthetics frequently entails restorative, orthodontic, and periodontal treatment. Several guidelines have been purported to facilitate an esthetic outcome during the rehabilitation of the maxillary anterior teeth. The golden proportion, recurring esthetic dental proportion, tooth width : height ratios, vertical positioning of the maxillary lateral incisor, and the apparent contact dimension are examples of some such guidelines. Evaluation of these esthetic paradigms including their validity, esthetic significance, perception by laypeople, and the range of tolerance to alterations are very important considerations. This review presents a comprehensive analysis of some selected esthetic dental paradigms and recommendations for their application in the interdisciplinary management of anterior dental esthetics.

Digital Analysis of Anterior Dental Esthetic Parameters in Patients with Bilateral Maxillary Lateral Incisor Agenesis

To analyze anterior dental esthetic parameters-width/height ratio (WHR), gingival zenith (GZ), and apparent contact dimension (ACD)-in patients with maxillary lateral incisor agenesis (MLIA) bilaterally treated with space closure and recontouring of the canines, or with implant-supported prostheses. Fifty-two participants were allocated into three groups as follows: MLIA patients (N = 18) treated with teeth recontouring (RG); MLIA patients (N = 10) treated with implants (IG); and volunteers without agenesis (N = 24), who served as controls (CG). Dental casts of all patients were obtained and electronically scanned. Digital images were analyzed with 3Shape A/S OrthoAnalyser software (Copenhagen, Denmark). Shapiro-Wilk test, Spearman correlation, and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests (p < 0.05) were used for statistical analysis. Although IG presented smaller means when compared with RG and CG, no statistical differences were found for WHR among groups (p > 0.05). Concerning GZ, RG presented more discrepancies than IG and CG, with statistically significant differences (p = 0.0165). IG presented statistically significant differences for the ACD in comparison with RG and CG (p < 0.05). Based on the results of this study, patients treated with space closure and teeth recontouring (RG) were shown to be closest to patients without agenesis (CG) in relation to the anterior dental esthetic parameters evaluated. The digital analysis of esthetic principles, such as those investigated in this study involving maxillary incisor agenesis, is paramount to successful esthetic treatment planning. The results of the present study, as well as those found in the literature, indicate that clinicians should use esthetic parameters, such as those investigated herein, when treatment planning extensive oral rehabilitation cases.

Short-range and long-range order of phyllomanganate nanoparticles determined using high-energy X-ray scattering

High-energy X-ray scattering (HEXS) is used to explore the pH-dependent structure of randomly stacked manganese oxide nanosheets of nominal formula δ-MnO2. Data are simulated in real space by pair distribution function (PDF) analysis and in reciprocal space by both the Bragg-rod method and the Debye equation in order to maximize the information gained from the total scattering measurements. The essential new features of this triple-analysis approach are (1) the use of a two-dimensional supercell in PDF modeling to describe local distortions around Mn layer vacancies, (2) the implementation in Bragg-rod calculations of a lognormal crystal size distribution in the layer plane and an empirical function for the effect of strain, and (3) the incorporation into the model used with the Debye equation of an explicit elastic deformation of the two-dimensional nanocrystals. The PDF analysis reveals steady migration at acidic pH of the Mn atoms from layer to interlayer sites, either above or below the Mn layer vacancies, and important displacement of the remaining in-layer Mn atoms toward vacancies. The increased density of the vacancy–interlayer Mn pairs at low pH causes their mutual repulsion and results in short-range ordering. The layer microstructure, responsible for the long-range lateral disorder, is modeled with spherically and cylindrically bent crystallites having volume-averaged radii of 20–40 Å. Thebunit-cell parameter from the hexagonal layer has different values in PDF, Bragg-rod and Debye equation modeling, because of the use of different weighting contributions from long-range and short-range distances in each method. The PDFbparameter is in effect a measure of the average inlayer Mn...Mn distance and consistently deviates from the average structure value determined by the Bragg-rod method by 0.02 Å at low pH, as a result of the local relaxation induced by vacancies. The layer curvature increases the Bragg-rod value by 0.01–0.02 Å with the cylindrical model and as much as 0.04–0.05 Å with the spherical model. Therefore, in principle, the diffraction alone can unambiguously determine with good accuracy only a volume-averaged apparent layer dimension of the manganese oxide nanosheets. Thebparameter is model dependent and has no single straightforward interpretation, so comparison ofbbetween different samples only makes sense if done in the context of a single specified model.

Psychological Effects on Victims of the Johor Flood 2006/2007

Flood is one of the many types of natural disaster that affects human lives. Often the focus of such disaster has been on physical losses. Nevertheless, psychological effects of natural disaster have become equal importance that needed much attention. The objective of the current study is to explore psychological effects in terms of cognition, feeling or emotion and behavior. The study adopted an exploratory qualitative approach. A total of five respondents were interviewed using face-to-face technique. Results showed that victims suffered cognitive, emotional and behavioral shortfalls such as fear, anxiety, hopelessness, helplessness and depression. Emotional issues were the most apparent dimension among the three psychological dimensions under study. The implication of this study suggests strong social support from people who are well equipped with knowledge and skills in the management of stress, anxiety and other psychological problems.