Computational Analysis of the Solid-State and Solvation Properties of Carbamazepine in Relation to its Polymorphism

The solvent-dependent polymorphism of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) carbamazepine is interpreted from calculations of the solid-state and API-solvent intermolecular interactions. These simulations suggested that apolar solute-solute interactions could be disrupted by apolar solvents. In contrast, the polar solute-solute interactions were found to be easily disrupted by polar and protic solvents. This is consistent with experimental observations that the crystallization of the metastable form II is more dominant in apolar solvents. The Mercury program remains the gold standard in terms of usability; however, further expansion into more complex simulation techniques could make this package of even greater use in pharmaceutical manufacturing workflows.     

Impact on the photothermal emission from single wall nanotubes by some alkali halide salts

We demonstrate that alkali-halide salts, particularly potassium bromide, can reduce the photothermal emission (PTE) from single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT). PTE is a prominent spectral feature in Raman spectroscopy when a near infrared laser is used to analyze a dark colored sample. We subsequently show that trapping salts inside SWNT and coating SWNT with the salt has a more pronounced impact on not only reducing PTE, but also enhancing the intensity of the Raman spectral features. The effect, which we have called nanotube enhanced Raman spectroscopy (NERS), has differences and similarities to the widely studied surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).     

Response to comments on upgrading of middle distillate fractions of a syncrude from Athabasca oil sands

In response to an interpretation made by Moore and Akgerman of data taken from a recent publication, previously unexplainable phenomena are accounted for, based on new experimental results. These relate to a thermodynamic equilibrium reaction involving saturation of aromatic hydrocarbons in synthetic crude middle distillates.     

Creating a Student Centered Learning Environment at the University of Denver

A team of faculty members at the University of Denver changed the learning environment in key courses in the Department of Engineering from predominately teacher centered to student centered. Through this funded project new grading methods were implemented, classrooms were renovated and wired with studio layouts to facilitate learning, the Engineering Circuits Laboratory was rewired and instrumented for automated data acquisition and reporting, and two new pedagogical approaches were developed. At the onset of the project, six goals were established related to student learning. The introduction of industry standard hardware and software provided students with unprecedented hands‐on experience and project related activities stimulated faculty innovations in other current and future courses. Assessment results indicate that the new grading system improved the clarity of expectations for students before assignments were given resulting in increased reported motivation for learning in many courses. Even though course GPAs did not always reflect higher achievement on graded work, faculty members firmly believe that deeper understanding was achieved because more complex material was assimilated.     

The state of multivariate thinking for scientists in industry: 1980–2000

Chemometrics has enjoyed tremendous success in the areas related to calibration of spectrometers and spectroscopy-based measurements. These chemometric-based spectrometers have been widely applied for process monitoring and quality assurance. However, chemometrics has the potential to revolutionize the very intellectual roots of problem solving. Are there barriers to a more rapid proliferation of chemometric-based thinking, particularly in industry? What are the potential effects of chemometrics technology and the New Network Economy (NNE) working in concert? Who will be the winners in the race for faster, better, cheaper systems and products? These questions are reviewed in terms of the principles of the NNE and in the promise of chemometrics for industry. What then is the state of multivariate thinking in industry? Several powerful principles are derived from an evaluation of the NNE and chemometrics which could allow chemometrics to proliferate much more rapidly as a key general problem-solving tool.     

Macroscopic analysis of design processes based on a scheme for coding designers' cognitive actions

We have devised a new scheme for coding designers' cognitive actions from video/audio design protocols. Designers' actions are coded into four cognitive levels; physical, perceptual, functional and conceptual. Relations between actions belonging to different levels, such as dependencies and triggering relations, are also coded. The present scheme has two benefits. First, we found that design actions are definable in a systematic way using the vocabulary of the scheme, and thus a designer's cognitive behaviours in each of local design stages is represented as a structure composed of defined primitive actions. This is expected to lay the foundation for microscopic analyses of how particular types of actions contribute to the formation of key design ideas. Second, this scheme is suitable for macroscopic analyses of how designers cognitively interact with their own sketches. We examined, for a practising architect, the ways in which drawing, inspection of drawings, perception, and functional thoughts correlated with one another in his design process. The findings suggest that design sketches serve not only as external memory or as a provider of visual cues for association of non-visual information, but also as a physical setting in which design thoughts are constructed on the fly.     

Evolution of an instinct under long-term divergent selection for geotaxis in domesticated populations of Drosophila melanogaster..

Describes long-term divergent selection for geotaxis in lines of the fruit fly. After 26 yrs (600+ generations) of intermittent selection, the initial experimental procedure showed that the mean geotactic scores remained stable on relaxed selection, a result suggesting that evolutionary changes had occurred in these lines. Because the stability was not due to genetic fixation (homozygosity) of the lines, it is concluded that it was due to either (a) close linkage of genes associated with geotaxis (which would not result in enduring change) or (b) the development of new coadapted gene complexes utilizing genes associated with extreme geotaxis expression (which should result in enduring change). Better evidence for the latter hypothesis was obtained, during the 2nd experimental procedure, from the low- than the high-geotaxis line. The notions of coadaptation and genetic homeostasis are considered, as well as the prospective use of the geotaxis lines to study such concepts experimentally. The geotactic behavior expressed in each line is defined as instinctive: It increases reproductive success and is characteristic of a population. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Amygdala Modulates Hippocampus-Dependent Context Memory Formation and Stores Cue-Shock Associations.

Preexposing rats to the context facilitates subsequent contextual fear conditioning. This effect depends on the hippocampus (J. W. Rudy, R. M. Barrientos, & R. C. O'Reilly, 2002). The authors report that inactivating the basolateral region of the amygdala (BLA) by injecting muscimol, a GABAA agonist, before or after preexposure reduced this effect. In contrast, bilateral injections of anisomycin, a protein synthesis inhibitor, into BLA did not impair the consolidation of the context memory. However, when injected after fear conditioning, anisomycin impaired consolidation of both contextual and auditory-cue fear conditioning. Results are consistent with 2 ideas about the amygdala's contribution to memory: (a) It modulates memory formation in other regions of the brain, and (b) it is a storage site for cue-shock associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preparation and characterization of high molecular weight poly(hydroxy ethers) with unusually high glass transition temperatures

A series of novel poly(hydroxy ethers) have been prepared via polymerization of the diglycidyl ethers of bisphenol-A ( 4 ), 4,4 ′-tribromotetramethylbiphenol ( 6a ), and 4,4 ′-tetrabromotetramethylbiphenol ( 6b ) with a variety of rigid diols in an effort to systematically modify structural features of the phenoxy repeat unit in order to control the torsional mobility of polymer backbones and produce materials with softening temperatures higher than are typical for the class. The resulting poly(hydroxy ethers) displyed glass transition temperatures ranging from 109 to 242°C. There of the polymers were characterized with respect to tensile and impact properties and were compared to the polymer sythesized from bisphenol-A ( 1 ) and bisphenol-A diglycidyl ether ( 4 ).