The synthesis of N-derivatives of 3-aminoperylene and their absorption and fluorescence properties

N-Acetyl and N-triazinyl 3-aminoperylenes were prepared. N-(4,6-Dichloro-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-3-aminoperylene was synthesized by the condensation of 3-aminoperylene with cyanuric chloride; other N-triazinyl derivatives were prepared by the successive substitution of chlorine atoms with methoxy or aniline groups. The structure and purity of the compounds were confirmed by elemental analysis, NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The UV/vis absorption, fluorescence and excitation spectra as well as the fluorescence quantum yields for the compounds were measured in dibutyl ether, 1,4-dioxane, ethyl acetate and acetonitrile; fluorescence lifetimes were measured in ethyl acetate and dimethyl sulfoxide. The influences of both the character of the N-substituent and the solvent polarity upon the spectra and quantum yields are discussed.     

Story and list recall tests as measures of verbal memory in a head-injured sample.

Memory components of story and list recall were derived for 48 head-injured patients (mean age 33.5 yrs) using regression techniques. Ss completed such measures as the Wechsler Memory Scale. General and verbal memory components, respectively, contributed the most variance to both story and list recall under both immediate and delayed conditions. Although they share substantial variance, list and story recall were not identical. Willingness to repeat oneself contributed to all types of recall, except delayed story recall. It was hypothesized that long-term storage contributed to immediate list recall ability, active semantic organization contributed to delayed list recall ability, and attentional fluctuations contributed to delayed story recall ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal behavior in rats: Evidence for the involvement of preoptic projections to the ventral tegmental area.

In Exp I, with 21 female Charles River CD rats, bilateral electrolytic lesions of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) severely disrupted maternal behavior. In Exp II, with 56 Ss, lactating Ss that received a unilateral knife cut severing the lateral connections of the medial preoptic area (MPOA) paired with a contralateral lesion of the VTA showed more severe maternal behavior deficits than Ss that received (a) a cut severing the lateral connections of the MPOA paired with an ipsilateral VTA lesion; (b) a cut severing the lateral connections of the MPOA paired with a contralateral lesion of the medial hypothalamus posterior to the MPOA; or (c) a cut severing the lateral connections of the lateral preoptic area paired with a contralateral VTA lesion. The oral components of maternal behavior (retrieving and nest building) were particularly affected as a result of bilateral damage to the system extending from the preoptic area to the VTA. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A simple neuro-fuzzy impulse detector for efficient blur reduction of impulse noise removal operators for digital images

A new impulse noise detector based on neuro-fuzzy methods is presented. The proposed detector comprises two identical neuro-fuzzy subdetectors combined with a decision maker. The internal parameters of the subdetectors are adaptively adjusted by training. Training of the subdetectors is accomplished by using a simple computer generated artificial image. The detector can be combined with any impulse noise removal operator. The operation of the detector is completely independent of the noise removal operator and it has no influence on the filtering behavior of the operator. Experimental results show that the proposed detector significantly reduces the distortion effects of any impulse noise removal operator even if the operator already has its own noise detector.     

Effect of indium diffusion on characteristics of CdS films and nCdS/pSi heterojunctions

Diffusion of indium in In/nCdS/glass and In/nCdS/pSi structures at 350–550 °C in vacuum 1.33 × 10⁻¹ Pa and its effect on structural, electrical, optical and photovoltaic characteristics of nCdS films, fabricated by spray pyrolysis technique and nCdS/pSi heterojunctions have been investigated. The indium-doped and undoped CdS films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), electrical and optical measurements. The concentration profiles of indium and the components of CdS films (Cd and S) in In/nCdS/pSi structures were studied using the energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analysis. The thermal annealing of In/nCdS/pSi structures is accompanied by the diffusion penetration of In through CdS film into Si substrate. At the same time, the Cd and S atoms from CdS film diffuse into Si substrate. The diffusion doping of CdS film by indium did not change the polycrystalline hexagonal structure and the energy band gap of CdS films and increased the electron concentration from 1.4 × 10¹³ to 1.3 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻³. The photovoltaic parameters and spectral responsivity of In-doped nCdS(In)/pSi(In) cells were higher than those for nCdS/pSi cells and reached the maximum values after the thermal annealing at 450 °C. The improvement of the photovoltaic parameters of nCdS(In)/pSi(In) photocells was discussed on the base of the changes introduced in the energy band diagram of nCdS/pSi heterojunction due to the indium diffusion.     

IR Thermographic Analysis of 3D Printed CFRP Reference Samples with Back-Drilled and Embedded Defects

Carbon-fiber composite structures may demonstrate a defective behavior due to manufacturing induced anomalies (delamination, dis-bonds) or service related defectives (impact damage, water ingress). Thus, there is a need for a relatively fast and low cost non-intrusive testing schemes such as infrared thermography (IRT). Still, thermography testing requires calibrated samples and coupons to yield best results. The presented research demonstrates the novel use of 3D printing technology to generate IRT calibration samples. In this text, two carbon fiber reinforced polymer samples are 3D printed; the first mimics a “back-drilled holes” type coupons, while the other is designed to embed air pockets similar to Teflon inserts. The generated samples are then tested using two IRT modalities; namely pulse thermography and lock-in thermography. Furthermore, the resulted thermograms are processed using a principle component analysis, to help highlight the variance of defectives in a consistent manner among the samples. This research findings offer insights on the variation of detectability between embedded and back-printed samples, which might be due to the inserts thickness.     

Temporary inactivation of ventral tegmental area neurons with either muscimol or baclofen reversibly disrupts maternal behavior in rats through different underlying mechanisms.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of inactivation of ventral tegmental area (VTA) projection neurons, while sparing fibers of passage, on maternal behavior in rats. Because VTA neurons contain GABA-A and GABA-B receptors, the effects of muscimol or baclofen were studied. Although bilateral injections of either drug into the VTA disrupted maternal behavior, it is likely that they did so through different underlying mechanisms. Muscimol disrupted both retrieval of pups and nursing behavior, while causing stereotyped motor activity. Baclofen disrupted retrieval behavior without affecting nursing behavior, and control injections of baclofen into the region dorsal to VTA were ineffective. The effects of VTA baclofen on maternal behavior are similar to the effects of interference with mesolimbic dopamine (DA) function. The case is made that muscimol probably caused a hyperexcitation of VTA DA neurons through a process of disinhibition. In contrast, baclofen may have depressed the activity of all VTA projection neurons, including VTA DA neurons. Baclofen is a promising tool to explore whether medial preoptic area neurons interact with VTA neurons to control active maternal responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communication Constraints for Decentralized Stabilizability With Time-Invariant Policies

In this note, we study communication requirements for decentralized control schemes when sensors and controllers are connected via noiseless digital channels and system noises are bounded. Under various information structures, and within the class of time-invariant encoding and control policies, we quantify achievable rates, and obtain fixed-rate and delayless encoders and decoders that achieve boundedness in the state estimation errors at the controllers. We use distributed coding theoretic approaches to show that when the sensors do not collaborate, it is sufficient for the controllers to share information amongst themselves but not with the sensors. Sensor collaboration, however, leads to improvement in rate performance.