"Science: The Great Escape" is an event designed to create the public perception of science as something that is not only confined to the laboratory. We intend to stage the event as a getaway of research from its own environment and to bring it centre-stage, in public places in four major Romanian cities: Iasi, Bucuresti, Timisoara, Cluj si Craiova. http://noapteacercetatorilor.uaic.ro/

The workshop debates the capability of plasma processing at low and atmospheric pressure in enlargement the surface characteristics of materials for medical applications. Efficiency of plasma processing is proved by medical applications such as synthesis of polymeric membranes and deposition of biofunctional coatings. An especial attention is devoted to the plasma at atmospheric pressure as a versatile and less expensive technique in obtaining functionalized

The 15th Conference on Plasma Physics and Applications (CPPA2010) will be held in Iasi, northeast of Romania, on July 1-4, 2010. The Conference on Plasma Physics and Applications is a biennial international conference with topics encompassing the whole area of plasma physics and technology. http://www.plasma.uaic.ro/CPPA2010/CPPA2010.html The main purpose of the Conference is to present the recent progress in the research carried out in Romania in

Plasma polymerization at atmospheric pressure is used to obtain stable hydrophobic coatings onto various substrates. Plasma is generated in a dielectric barrier discharge configuration using a mixture of helium gas and styrene vapors. The discharge is characterized by means of electrical measurements and optical emission spectroscopy. Since the styrene vapors introduced in plasma provide a significant decrease of the discharge current, we established

Plasma polymers of acrylic acid were obtained using an atmospheric pressure discharge system. The plasma polymerization reactor uses a dielectric barrier discharge, with the polyethylene terephthalate dielectric acting as substrate for deposition. The plasma was characterized by specific electrical measurements, monitoring the applied voltage and the discharge current. Based on the spatially resolved optical emission spectroscopy, we analyzed the

A new technique based on plasma polymerization at atmospheric pressure is presented in obtaining thin functional polymers films. A dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) is used to initiate the polymerization reaction of two monomers, acrylic acid (AAc) and N-vinyl formamide (NVF) as a source of hydroxyl and amino functionalities in the structure of the films. The discharge diagnosis was performed by electrical measurements and spatially resolved optical

Protection and preservation of wood properties in exterior environments can only be ensured if the surface is coated with a paint or varnish. In our experiments a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) was used as a wood surface pretreatment for improvement of the subsequent deposition of thin paint layers from solutions onto these surfaces. As the adsorption, interfacial interactions and adhesion of paints are strongly dependent on surface wettability,

A dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in helium was used to ameliorate the interface between the blood and the surface of polymeric implants: polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and PET with titanium oxide (PET + TiO2). A higher crystallinity degree was found for the DBD treated samples. The wettability of polymers was improved after the treatment. The chemical composition, analyzed by infrared spectroscopy was preserved during the DBD treatment. The

Sulfonated polystyrene-type membranes were synthesized by plasma polymerization of a mixture of styrene and trifluoromethane sulfonic acid monomers in a low-frequency after-glow discharge plasma reactor. Such a deposition process enables the preservation of the monomers structure, which was confirmed by mass spectrometry analysis. The synthesized plasma-polymerized membranes are dense and uniform with a few microns thickness. Their structure determined

Web page: www.plasma.uaic.ro/inter-Academia2006 The inter-Academia conferences always aimed at gatherering scientists and students from the above-mentioned universities on a non-exclusive basis, in order to exchange information, new ideas and to foster lasting co-operation relationships in both science and education fields The 2005 inter-Academia conference is, therefore, focussed on the presentation of the last-hour achievements in both basic and