Design of molecularly imprinted polymer grafts with embedded gold nanoparticles through the interfacial chemistry of aryl diazonium salts

A novel strategy is described for the preparation of highly sensitive molecularly imprinted (MIPs) sensors for dopamine. It combines mercaptobenzene diazonium salt as a coupling agent for immobilizing gold nanoparticles to gold electrodes and benzoyl benzene diazonium salt as photoinitiator of radical polymerization at the said gold nanoparticle-decorated gold electrodes. The MIP films were prepared by surface-initiated photopolymerization (SIPP) of methacrylic acid (MAA) as functional monomer (F) for dopamine (DA) the template molecule (T), and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), the crosslinker (C). Dimethylaniline was employed as a hydrogen donor. The specificity and selectivity were demonstrated by square wave voltammetry (SWV). The detection limit was 0.35 nmol L^-1 (0.054 ng mL⁻¹). The sensor layers are stable and adherent to the surface through aryl layers. The originality and advantage of the process lie in the use of aryl diazonium salt as coupling agents for anchroring nanoparticles and MIP layers to the electrode surface in a simple and efficient way which ensures high sensing performance together with good surface-MIP adhesion. The same strategy can be extended to a broad range of templates.     

Appropriate renewable hybrid power systems for the remote aboriginal communities

Renewable power supply systems have been a natural choice for many of Australia’s small remote aboriginal communities where the costs of diesel fuel are high. The results have been mixed. This is partially due to design factors, but more importantly due to community acceptance of these technologically complex systems and the maintenance arrangements with the community power station operators and local resource agencies. This paper looks at some of the issues to consider in the selection, design, installation and maintenance of appropriate hybrid power stations for smaller remote aboriginal communities.     

PPS/PET皮芯型双组分纤维的生产及表征

<正>关于双组分纤维纺丝技术的第一批专利发表于20世纪40年代早期。从20世纪60年代中期开始,聚合物业界倾向于采用聚合物共混和混合物以改进材料的性能。双组分纤维由两种聚合物成分组成,它们彼此并列或互相缠绕。双组分纤维纺丝可     

Mental space travel: Damage to posterior parietal cortex prevents egocentric navigation and reexperiencing of remote spatial memories.

The ability to navigate in a familiar environment depends on both an intact mental representation of allocentric spatial information and the integrity of systems supporting complementary egocentric representations. Although the hippocampus has been implicated in learning new allocentric spatial information, converging evidence suggests that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) might support egocentric representations. To date, however, few studies have examined long-standing egocentric representations of environments learned long ago. Here we tested 7 patients with focal lesions in PPC and 12 normal controls in remote spatial memory tasks, including 2 tasks reportedly reliant on allocentric representations (distance and proximity judgments) and 2 tasks reportedly reliant on egocentric representations (landmark sequencing and route navigation; see Rosenbaum, Ziegler, Winocur, Grady, & Moscovitch, 2004). Patients were unimpaired in distance and proximity judgments. In contrast, they all failed in route navigation, and left-lesioned patients also showed marginally impaired performance in landmark sequencing. Patients' subjective experience associated with navigation was impoverished and disembodied compared with that of the controls. These results suggest that PPC is crucial for accessing remote spatial memories within an egocentric reference frame that enables both navigation and reexperiencing. Additionally, PPC was found to be necessary to implement specific aspects of allocentric navigation with high demands on spontaneous retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A novel biorthogonal wavelet network system for off-angle iris recognition

One important category of non-ideal conditions for iris recognition is off-angle iris images. Practically it is very difficult for images to be captured with no offset. It then becomes necessary to account for off angle information in order to maintain robust performance. A biorthogonal wavelet based iris recognition system, previously designed at our lab, is modified and demonstrated to perform off-angle iris recognition. Biorthogonal wavelet network (BWN) are developed and trained for each class. The non-ideal factors are adjusted by repositioning the BWN. To test, along with the real data, synthetic iris images are generated by using affine and geometric transforms of 0°, 10° and 20^° experimentally collected images. The tests were carried out on the experimentally collected off-angle data and synthetically generated data for angles from 0° to 60^° with a resolution of 5^°. This approach is shown to have less constraints than a transformation based iris recognition approach. Iris images off-angle by up to 42^° for synthetic data and up to 45^° for experimental data are successfully recognized.     

Heart rate responses to social interactions in free-moving rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta): A pilot study.

Heart rate telemetry was explored as a means to access animal emotion during social interactions under naturalistic conditions. Heart rates of 2 middle-ranking adult females living in a large group of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were recorded along with their behavior. Heart rate changes during 2 types of interactions were investigated, while controlling for the effects of posture and activity. The risk of aggression associated with the approach of a dominant individual was expected to provoke anxiety in the approachee. This prediction was supported by the heart rate increase after such an approach. No increase was found when the approacher was a kin or a subordinate individual. The tension-reduction function of allogrooming was also supported. Heart rate decelerated faster during the receipt of grooming than in matched control periods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assembled camshafts for automotive engines

Assembled camshafts offer an attractive manufacturing alternative over conventional methods to meet the demand for high performance camshafts at reduced costs. The manufacture of camshafts has traditionally involved the casting, forging, or machining of a rough blank which was further machined to the finished cam geometry. A new method will be discussed in which individual near-net shaped components are precision assembled onto a tube to pregrind tolerances. Completion of this camshaft only requires a finish grinding operation. The individual components are manufactured by casting, precision warm or cold forging, high speed turning, or powder metal consolidation. The process allows for material selection flexibility to optimize materials for all components with respect to performance and cost. In addition to the inherent advantages of the assembled camshaft, the process typically results in cost advantages over conventionally processed camshafts.     

Ethnicity research and theoretical conservatism.

Comments on the article by Sue (December 1999; see record 1999-15532-003), in which he leveled a serious charge against the scientific community of psychology. He asserted that the enforcement of scientific criteria is selective and biased against ethnicity research. To remedy this bias, Sue proposed that the field adopt an exceptionally strong formulation of the principle of empirical skepticism that would preclude theory generalization across ethnicity and require theory testing in all populations. The ultimate challenge of psychological science is the development of universal theories that can explain individual differences both within and across cultures. Ethnicity research contributes most when it advances broad theories that apply to multiple ethnic groups. To this end, theories should include constructs that characterize multiple ethnic groups to varying degrees and should not present the ethnic group itself as an explanation for differences. The goal ought to be broader, cross-cultural theory and unification of empirical findings--not ad hoc theory and fragmentation along ethnic lines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Roles of temperamental arousal and gender-segregated play in young children's social adjustment.

The hypothesis that gender differences in children's adjustment is partially influenced by differences in temperament and interactions with same-sex peers was examined. Fifty-seven predominantly White, middle-class preschoolers (29 boys and 28 girls, M age?=?54.5 months) participated. Measures were taken of children's arousability, problem behaviors, and tendencies to play with same-sex peers. A semester later, children's peer status was assessed. Analyses revealed that arousability and same-sex peer play interacted to predict problem behaviors. For boys high in arousability, play with same-sex peers increased problem behaviors. In contrast, arousable girls who played with other girls were relatively unlikely to show problem behaviors. Moreover, the interaction of arousability and same-sex peer play predicted boys' (but not girls') peer status, and this relation was partially mediated by problem behaviors. The role of gender-related processes is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)