A PSS‐Free PEDOT Conductive Film Supported by a Hierarchical Nanoporous Layer Glass

The importance of transparent conductive film is increasing due to its use in applications such as touch‐panel devices. Although indium tin oxide is widely used because of its high conductivity and transparency, conductive polymers are being studied as alternative materials that avoid the use of rare metals and the brittleness associated with existing systems. Polyethylene dioxythiophene (PEDOT)/polyethylene sulfonic acid (PSS) is drawing a lot of attention due to its well‐balanced conductivity, transparency, film formability, and chemical stability. The nonconductive PSS reportedly covers the conductive PEDOT. The PSS shell provides carrier and film‐formability to PEDOT but is also a barrier that hinders electrical conductivity. Therefore, the PEDOT film formability is explored supported by a substrate without the addition of PSS. The “hierarchical nanoporous layer glass” holds the PSS‐free PEDOT with its nanopores to form a homogeneous, transparent film. The PSS‐free PEDOT film thus achieves transparency of over 85% and resistivity of below 500 Ω sq^?1.     

Problem identification and construction: What do we know, what is the future?

Many cognitive process theories of creativity include an initial process of problem identification, definition, and construction. Previous research suggests that problem identification and construction is related to creativity, and that creative individuals and experts tend to engage in problem identification and construction. Finally, previous research suggests that inducing active engagement in problem identification and construction, through instructions or training, facilitates creativity. The authors offer views regarding important future direction for researchers in this area. Specifically, issues regarding methodology, the relationship between personality and values and how problems are constructed, and problem identification and construction in teams are suggested as important avenues for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vinylene-linked pyridine-pyrrole donor–acceptor conjugated polymers

Vinylene-linked donor–acceptor–donor semiconducting polymers have been prepared by electropolymerization of the new monomers 2,6-bis[(E)-2-(1-methylpyrrol-2-yl)vinyl]pyridine and 2,5-bis[(E)-2-(1-methylpyrrol-2-yl)vinyl]pyridine. The monomers, consisting of two pyrrole donor units and a central pyridine acceptor ring spaced by vinylene links, differ by the substitution pattern around the central pyridine core (2,6 vs. 2,5-substitution). The electropolymerization process is more efficient on the 2,5-derivative. The new polymers show reversible electrochemistry dominated by a strong charge trapping effect. Poly(2,5-bis[(E)-2-(1-methylpyrrol-2-yl)vinyl]pyridine) energy levels closely match those of design rules for optimized polymers in combination with fullerene derivatives in bulk heterojunction solar cells.     

Contribution of combined sewer overflows to trace contaminant loads in urban streams

The present study examines the contribution of combined sewer overflows (CSO) to loads and concentrations of trace contaminants in receiving surface water. A simple method to assess the ratio of CSO to wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents was applied to the urban River Spree in Berlin, Germany. The assessment indicated that annual loads are dominated by CSO for substances with removal in WWTP above ∼95%. Moreover, it showed that substances with high removal in WWTP can lead to concentration peaks in the river during CSO events. The calculated results could be verified based on eight years of monitoring data from the River Spree, collected between 2000 and 2007. Substances that are well removed in WWTP such as NTA (nitrilotriacetic acid) were found to occur in significantly increased concentration during CSO, while the concentration of substances that are poorly removable in WWTP such as EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) decreased in CSO-influenced samples due to dilution effects. The overall results indicate the potential importance of the CSO pathway of well-removable sewage-based trace contaminants to rivers. In particular, high concentrations during CSO events may be relevant for aquatic organisms. Given the results, it is suggested to include well-removable, sewage-based trace contaminants, a substance group often neglected in the past, in future studies on urban rivers in case of combined sewer systems. The presented methodology is suggested for a first assessment, since it is based solely on urban drainage data, which is available in most cities.     

Growth in height of indigenous and non indigenous Chilean children

The aim of this study was to compare growth curves of stature in indigenous and non-indigenous children belonging to two levels of poverty and to establish the onset and evolution of the deficit. Children of indigenous and non-indigenous background living in communities of extreme and low poverty in Chile were studied and their height-for-age Z-score from birth until 6 year of age were compared. Mean weight at birth was within normal range, and no differences were found in ethnicity and levels of poverty. Length at birth was below the reference with the exception of the non indigenous newborn from counties of low poverty. Deficit in growth showed an early start, furthermore in indigenous children belonging to the extreme poverty, is from birth and progress through the 18 months. At 72 months the deficit reached -1.1 z scores in the indigenous of the extreme poverty versus -0.7 in the non indigenous group. Children from the low poverty had a Z-score of -0.4 z scores at 72 months without differences between ethnias. Indigenous of the extreme poverty had less accumulative growth while the indigenous of the low poverty areas growth satisfactory without differences with the non indigenous.     

A new method to compare planned and achieved position of an orthopaedic implant

The present study describes an automatic method to evaluate the efficacy of a computer aided orthopaedic surgery system by comparing the position of the joint implant, as derived from post-operative computed tomography (CT) scans, to that planned by the surgeon before the operation. The method relies on two spatial registrations, one to align the post-operative femur with the pre-operative femur, the second to compute the planned versus achieved (PVA) accuracy as the roto-translation that registers the pre-operative implant position with the post-operative position. Two surface registration algorithms (a generic average distance minimisation and the specialised iterative closest point (ICP) method) were comparatively evaluated first on a set of test cases to measure the absolute accuracy and robustness with respect to peculiar situations such as a distant starting point. The average distance method failed the registration of one test case and showed peak errors of 0.97 degrees on the rotations and 3.09 mm on the translations. The ICP method was found much more efficient and was able to register all test cases. The peak error was 0.44 degrees on the rotations and 0.67 mm on the translations. The ICP method was then used to compute the PVA accuracy on six clinical cases treated with a CT-based planning system in combination with conventional surgical procedures. The method successfully processed all cases demonstrating the efficacy of the proposed procedure in the specific application.