Liquid / liquid ion-transfer processes at the dioctylphosphoric acid (N,N-didodecyl-N',N'-diethylphenylenediamine) / water (electrolyte) interface at graphite and mesoporous TiO2 substrates

Biphasic electrode systems are studied for the case of the oxidation of the water-insoluble liquid N,N-didodecyl-N',N'-diethylphenylenediamine (DDPD) neat and dissolved in bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (HDOP) and immersed in aqueous electrolyte media. The oxidation process in the absence of HDOP is accompanied by transfer of the anion (perchlorate or phosphate) from the water into the organic phase. However, in the presence of HDOP, oxidation is accompanied by proton exchange instead. This electrochemically driven proton exchange process occurs over a wide pH range. Organic microdroplet deposits of DDPD in HDOP at basal plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes are studied by voltammetric techniques and compared in their behavior to organic microphase deposits in mesoporous TiO2 thin films. The mesoporous TiO2 thin film acts as a host for the organic liquid and provides an alternative biphasic electrode system compared to the random microdroplet/graphite system. Two types of mesoporous TiO2 thin-film electrodes, (i) a 300-400-nm film on ITO and (ii) a 300-400-nm film on ITO sputter-coated with a 20-nm porous gold layer, are investigated.     

An empirical survey on psychological testing and the use of the term psychological: Turf battles or clinical necessity?

The issue of who, in addition to psychologists, is actually qualified to administer, score, and interpret psychological testing has been a matter of ongoing debate for decades. With the advent of licensing laws for other mental health professionals (e.g., professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers), many professionals now contend that their laws permit them to utilize psychological testing, provided that they have the appropriate training and experience. This article presents a discussion of the issue of psychological testing as well as the adjoining issue of who is permitted to use terms such as psychologist and psychological. The results of a survey that was conducted, to which a response was received by every psychology licensing board in the United States and Canada, indicate that of all 62 jurisdictions, 61 restrict the use of the terms psychologist and psychological to those who hold a valid license to practice psychology. Of the total sample polled, 67.2% indicated that their jurisdiction prohibits other licensed professionals from conducting psychological testing. A discussion section highlights some of the exceptions, along with the dilemmas and future concerns regarding this topic and potential remedies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

SnS thin-films by RF sputtering at room temperature

Tin monosulfide (SnS) is of interest as a potential solar cell absorber material. We present a preliminary investigation of the effects of sputtering conditions on SnS thin-film structural, optical, and electronic properties. Films were RF sputtered from an SnS target using an argon plasma. Resistivity, stoichiometry, phase, grain size and shape, bandgap, and optical absorption coefficient can be varied by modifying argon pressure for a fixed deposition time. Most films have an indirect bandgap in the range of 1.08-1.18 eV. XRD patterns confirmed the films as mostly crystalline, and grain morphology was examined using profile and surface SEM images.     

Piezoelectric glass-ceramics: Crystal chemistry,orientation mechanisms,and emerging applications

Piezoelectric materials have coupled mechanical and electrical energies and have long been used in devices for actuators, sensors, energy harvesters, frequency filters, and various additional applications. Piezoelectricity requires a non-centrosymmetric crystal structure and is therefore confined to materials that possess a periodic crystalline structure. Due to the non-crystalline nature of glass, piezoelectricity is fundamentally forbidden. However, one way to exploit piezoelectric properties in a glassy matrix is by developing glass-ceramics that possess controlled growth of a crystalline phase. Growth and orientation of piezoelectric crystals in a glassy matrix is a non-trivial process that has long been explored to combine the formability of glass with the thermal and mechanical resilience of glass-ceramics. While extensive work has been done in the field of functional glass-ceramics, the results are presented in isolated articles and a comprehensive review pertaining to symmetry breaking methods to exploit anisotropic properties in glass-ceramics has been absent from the literature. Here, we present a global review of the fundamental symmetry requirements for piezoelectricity, the development of polar, piezoelectric glass-ceramic compositions (specifically those with LiNbO₃ and fresnoite-based crystal phases), and various crystal growth and orientation mechanisms, including relevant kinetic and thermodynamic driving forces. Lastly, we discuss the challenges associated with implementing gradients to drive oriented crystal growth to develop non-centrosymmetry, and the need for future modeling work to produce adequate time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagrams that take into account kinetic and thermodynamic driving forces for oriented crystal growth. Going beyond technical challenges, we conclude with an examination of current and potential applications for piezoelectric glass-ceramics that combine the formability of glass with the symmetry-dependent properties of ceramics.     

AI and Global Science and Technology Assessment

Strength in science & technology (S&T) is the foundation of a nation's economic power, so an effective, automated means of continually assessing this strength is critical to understanding a country's economic status. Six essays on global S&T assessment present various research frameworks, computational methods, issues, and results relative to knowledge mapping, scientometrics, information visualization, digital libraries, and multilingual knowledge management.     

Digital Divides From Access to Activities: Comparing Mobile and Personal Computer Internet Users

Digital inequality can take many forms. Four forms studied here are access to Internet, use of different devices, extent of usage, and engagement in different Internet activities. However, it is not clear whether sociodemographic factors, or devices, are more influential in usage and activities. Results from an unfamiliar context show that there are significant sociodemographic influences on access, device, usage, and activities, and differences in activities by device type and usage. While sociodemographic differences are more influential, device type can increase likelihood of use for some “capital enhancing” activities, but only for a computer. Thus, although mobile Internet is available for those on the wrong side of the digital divide, these users do not engage in many activities, decreasing potential benefits.     

Open data and open code for big science of science studies

Historically, science of science (Sci2) studies have been performed by single investigators or small teams. As the size and complexity of data sets and analyses scales up, a “Big Science” approach (Price, Little science, big science, 1963) is required that exploits the expertise and resources of interdisciplinary teams spanning academic, government, and industry boundaries. Big Sci2 studies utilize “big data”, i.e., large, complex, diverse, longitudinal, and/or distributed datasets that might be owned by different stakeholders. They apply a systems science approach to uncover hidden patterns, bursts of activity, correlations, and laws. They make available open data and open code in support of replication of results, iterative refinement of approaches and tools, and education. This paper introduces a database-tool infrastructure that was designed to support big Sci2 studies. The open access Scholarly Database (http://sdb.cns.iu.edu) provides easy access to 26 million paper, patent, grant, and clinical trial records. The open source Sci2 tool (http://sci2.cns.iu.edu) supports temporal, geospatial, topical, and network studies. The scalability of the infrastructure is examined. Results show that temporal analyses scale linearly with the number of records and file size, while the geospatial algorithm showed quadratic growth. The number of edges rather than nodes determined performance for network based algorithms.     

Advances in Biomaterials for Drug Delivery

Advances in biomaterials for drug delivery are enabling significant progress in biology and medicine. Multidisciplinary collaborations between physical scientists, engineers, biologists, and clinicians generate innovative strategies and materials to treat a range of diseases. Specifically, recent advances include major breakthroughs in materials for cancer immunotherapy, autoimmune diseases, and genome editing. Here, strategies for the design and implementation of biomaterials for drug delivery are reviewed. A brief history of the biomaterials field is first established, and then commentary on RNA delivery, responsive materials development, and immunomodulation are provided. Current challenges associated with these areas as well as opportunities to address long‐standing problems in biology and medicine are discussed throughout.     

Feast your eyes: Hunger and trait reward drive predict attentional bias for food cues.

Appraisal theories of emotion predict that the relevance of a stimulus to a person's needs and goals influences attentional allocation. We used a modified visual probe task to examine the influence of hunger and trait reward drive on food-related attentional bias. Both hunger and trait reward drive predicted degree of attentional “disengagement” from food images at short (100 ms), but not long (500, 2,000 ms) stimulus durations. Effects of hunger were found for both bland and appetizing foods, while effects of reward drive were restricted to appetizing foods. Our findings extend previous research showing delayed “disengagement” from threat-related stimuli, suggesting that both organismic- and goal-relevance are key biasing factors in attentional competition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of Neighbourhood Disorder and Reputation: Qualitative Findings from Two Contrasting Areas of an Australian City

Within Australian cities, social and economic inequalities manifest themselves spatially. Perceived neighbourhood disorder and neighbourhood reputation are relevant to considering the ways in which social and economic inequalities translate into place-based inequalities. This article explores the ways in which residents of two socio-economically contrasting urban areas describe and explain neighbourhood disorder and neighbourhood reputation. It draws upon qualitative data from 40 in-depth interviews, in addition to quantitative data from a postal survey. The qualitative findings highlighted how issues of neighbourhood disorder and reputation were intertwined. In both areas, participants sought to portray themselves and their neighbourhoods in positive ways, by attributing responsibility for neighbourhood disorder to people who were unlike themselves, and by highlighting places that were perceived to have worse reputations and higher levels of disorder. The findings are considered in light of Bourdieu's theory of capitals. This article indicates that both neighbourhood disorder and reputation are pathways through which social, economic and health inequities are maintained in urban areas.