Assessing disharmony and disaffection in intimate relationships: Revision of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory factor scales.

Previous research has identified 2 broad components of distress in intimate relationships: overt conflict, or disharmony, and emotional distance, or disaffection. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the authors derived 2 broadband scales of disharmony and disaffection from the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised (D. K. Snyder, 1997), building upon previous measures of these constructs (D. K. Snyder & Regts, 1982) derived from the original instrument. The new scales demonstrated high internal consistency and test-retest reliability, as well as discriminative validity and convergent validity with independent criteria of relationship functioning. Distinct distributions of these scales in community and clinical samples suggested their complementary role in research on intimate relationships and assessment of couples in treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Standard potentials of the silver/silver-iodide electrode in aqueous mixtures of ethylene glycol at different temperatures and the thermodynamics of transfer of hydrogen halides from water to glycolic media

The standard potentials (E°) of the silver/silver-iodide electrode in aqueous mixtures of ethylene glycol (containing 10, 30, 50, 70 and 90 wt-% glycol) have been determined from emf measurements of the cell Pt, H₂(g, 1 atm)/HOAc(m₁), NaOAc(m₂), Kl(m₃), solvent/AgI/Ag at nine temperatures ranging from 5 to 45°C. These E° values have been utilized to compute free energy (Δt_t°), entropy (ΔS_t°) and enthalpy (ΔH_t°) changes accompanying the transfer of HI from water to each of the solvents. These values as well as those for HCl and HBr and obtained earlier have also been utilized to evaluate ΔS_t°(i) for individual ions by a method of ‘simultaneous extrapolation,’ which in turn furnished the values of ΔH_t°(i) for these ions. These quantities and also the ‘chemical’ contributions for the halide ions as obtained by subtracting the ‘electrostatic’ contribution computed with the Born equation, have been examined in the light of ion—solvent interactions as well as the structural changes of the solvents. The observed results conform with what is expected from the competitive effects of the preferential solvating capacities of water towards halide ions and that of other solvents towards hydrogen ions, and also of the effects arising from the structural changes of the solvents that are likely to occur in the over-all transfer process.     

Allergen arrays for antibody screening and immune cell activation profiling generated by parallel lipid dip-pen nanolithography

Multiple-allergen testing for high throughput and high sensitivity requires the development of miniaturized immunoassays that allow for a large test area and require only a small volume of the test analyte, which is often available only in limited amounts. Developing such miniaturized biochips containing arrays of test allergens needs application of a technique able to deposit molecules at high resolution and speed while preserving its functionality. Lipid dip-pen nanolithography (L-DPN) is an ideal technique to create such biologically active surfaces, and it has already been successfully applied for the direct, nanoscale deposition of functional proteins, as well as for the fabrication of biochemical templates for selective adsorption. The work presented here shows the application of L-DPN for the generation of arrays of the ligand 2,4-dinitrophenyl[1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[6-[(2,4-dinitrophenyl)amino]hexanoyl] (DNP)] onto glass surfaces as a model system for detection of allergen-specific Immunoglobin E (IgE) antibodies and for mast cell activation profiling.     

Expression of Opioid Receptors in Cells of the Immune System

The observation of the immunomodulatory effects of opioid drugs opened the discussion about possible mechanisms of action and led researchers to consider the presence of opioid receptors (OR) in cells of the immune system. To date, numerous studies analyzing the expression of OR subtypes in animal and human immune cells have been performed. Some of them confirmed the expression of OR at both the mRNA and protein level, while others did not detect the receptor mRNA either. Although this topic remains controversial, further studies are constantly being published. The most recent articles suggested that the expression level of OR in human peripheral blood lymphocytes could help to evaluate the success of methadone maintenance therapy in former opioid addicts, or could serve as a biomarker for chronic pain diagnosis. However, the applicability of these findings to clinical practice needs to be verified by further investigations.     

Understanding the Visible Absorption of Electron Accepting and Donating CNDs

Carbon nanodots (CNDs) synthesized from citric acid and formyl derivatives, that is, formamide, urea, or N-methylformamide, stand out through their broad-range visible-light absorbance and extraordinary photostability. Despite their potential, their use has thus far been limited to imaging research. This work has now investigated the link between CNDs’ photochemical properties and their chemical structure. Electron-rich, yellow carbon nanodots (yCNDs) are obtained with in situ addition of NaOH during the synthesis, whereas otherwise electron-poor, red carbon nanodots (rCNDs) are obtained. These properties originate from the reduced and oxidized dimer of citrazinic acid within the matrix of yCNDs and rCNDs, respectively. Remarkably, yCNDs deposited on TiO₂ give a 30% higher photocurrent density of 0.7 mA cm⁻² at +0.3 V versus Ag/AgCl under Xe-lamp irradiation (450 nm long-pass filter, 100 mW cm⁻²) than rCNDs. The difference in overall photoelectric performance is due to fundamentally different charge-transfer mechanisms. These depend on either the electron-accepting or the electron-donating nature of the CNDs, as is evident from photoelectrochemical tests with TiO₂ and NiO and time-resolved spectroscopic measurements.     

Hall effects on hydromagnetic flow over an impulsively started porous plate

Summary An exact solution has been obtained for the problem of Hall effects on the hydromagnetic flow due to an impulsive start of a porous flat plate. It is observed that in the initial stages there is no inertial oscillation while at large time the steady state is reached through inertial oscillations. The time to attain the steady state increases with increase in Hall parameter.

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Hall-Effekte bei hydromagnetischer Strömung über eine impulsartig gestartete Platte

Zusammenfassung Für das Problem der Hall-Effekte bei der hydromagnetischen Strömung, durch den impulsartigen Start einer porösen, ebenen Platte, wurde eine exakte Lösung erhalten. Es wird beobachtet, daß im Anfangszustand keine Trägheitsschwingung auftritt, wogegen nach längerer Zeit der stationäre Zustand durch Trägheitsschwingungen erreicht wird. Die Zeit um den stationären Zustand zu erreichen, wächst mit dem Anwachsen der Hall-Parameter an.

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With 2 Figures     

Effect of Zr (IV) doping on the optical properties of sol–gel based nanostructured indium oxide films on glass

Zr (IV) doped indium oxide thin films (55 nm) were deposited onto pure silica glass by the sol–gel dip coating technique utilizing the precursors of 6 wt% equivalent oxide content. Three different Zr (IV) oxide (ZrO₂) dopant concentrations (5.0, 10.0 and 15.0 wt% w.r.t. total oxides) were chosen. XRD patterns suggested the films were of distinct cubic symmetry of In₂O₃. Nanostructured surface feature was revealed by FESEM images. Average cluster size decreased with increasing dopant concentration as evidenced from TEM study. Blue shift of band gap and UV cut off wavelength (lambda-50) occurred with increase in dopant concentration. The refractive index gradually increased with doping. Baking atmosphere plays an important role in tailoring the refractive index (RI) of the films and relatively high RI was obtained in the case of baking in pure oxygen. Presence of both free and bound excitons was detected by the photoluminescence (PL) study. The 5 wt% doped film exhibited relatively high PL intensity at 380 nm responsible for free exciton. The PL emissions gradually quenched with increase in dopant concentration. Similar behaviour was also observed when the film was baked in pure oxygen atmosphere.     

Silicon oxide thin films prepared by a photo-chemical vapour deposition technique

Wide band gap a-SiO_x:H films have been prepared by the photochemical decomposition of a SiH₄, CO₂ and H₂ gas mixture. Deposition parameters namely the CO₂ to SiH₄ gas flow ratio, H₂ dilution and chamber pressure were optimized in order to achieve highly photoconducting (1 × 10^-6 S cm^-1) films with an optical gap of 1.99 eV. The optical gap was found to increase with an increase in the CO₂ to SiH₄ flow ratio. A decrease in the photoconductivity, refractive index, spin g-value and a simultaneous increase in the spin density are attributed to an incorporation of oxygen into the films. Upon hydrogen dilution the photoconductivity of a-SiO_x:H films was observed to improve along with an increase of the optical gap. The spin density of a-SiO_x:H films was of the order of 10¹⁷ cm^-9. The optoelectronic properties of the films have been correlated with the bonding configurations in the film, deposition parameters and the growth kinetics. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.