The solubility of nitrogen in liquid silicon equilibrated with silicon nitride and its dependence on the composition of the atmosphere has been studied in the temperature region 1428–1542 C. High purity silicon was melted in silicon nitride crucibles under Ar and N2 atmospheres. The equilibrium was observed to be established within minutes, after which no evolution of the nitrogen content with ...

High density BaZrO3 ceramic crucibles have been successfully fabricated and used to grow high quality YBa2Cu3O7-x single crystals by the BaO-CuO self flux method. The ceramic crucibles are inert and insoluble in the Y2O3-BaO-CuO melt, have a long lifetime, and can be used repeatedly for crystal growth runs. The crystals grown using the crucibles have not only high chemical purity (99.99-99.995%...

Municipal solid waste incineration fly ash is generated in a significant amount; it is classified as hazardous waste in Taiwan. In order to reduce the volume of treated fly ash, a sintering technology can be considered. However, a traditional sintering consumes too much energy because of the limit of heat transfer. Hence, a microwave process which can provide quick, uniform, and selective heati...

Sub-Sahara African populations are tall relative to the extremely adverse disease environment and their low incomes. Selective mortality, which removes shorter individuals leaving taller individuals in the population, was proposed as an explanation. From heights of surviving and non-surviving children in Gambia, we estimate the size of the survivorship bias and find it to be too small to accoun...