A study of iodine adlayers on polycrystalline gold electrodes by in situ electrochemical Rutherford backscattering (ECRBS)

Iodine adsorption on a polycrystalline gold electrode was studied by in situ electrochemical Rutherford backscattering (ECRBS) using an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV)-electrochemical cell comprising of a thin-film silicon nitride window. The depth resolution of RBS allowed for measurement of nuclide concentration of the diffuse double-layer, electrode surface and near-surface regions. ECRBS measurements on the gold electrode, initially exposed to −500 mV vs. a platinum pseudo-reference electrode, in a potassium iodide solution, showed an increase in the 2.07 MeV iodine peak indicative of iodine adsorption. The surface concentration of the iodine adlayer was directly measured by ECRBS to be 1.3 ± 0.3 nmol/cm². ECRBS measurements on a gold electrode exposed to 1.5 V vs. a platinum pseudo-reference electrode, in a potassium iodide solution display a decrease in the 2.16 MeV gold peak and a shift to lower energies. Scanning electron microscopy images of electrodes studied by ECRBS displayed roughened surfaces consistent with gold dissolution. This work demonstrates the potential for in situ ECRBS using thin-film silicon nitride windows to become a powerful tool for the investigation of a wide range of electrochemical processes in areas such as corrosion, electrodeposition and electrocatalysis.     

Hardiness and optimism as expressed in coping patterns.

These studies focused on the differences between hardiness (HAR) and optimism in their relationship to transformational coping ([TC]; e.g., problem solving, planning) and regressive coping (e.g., disengagement, stoicism). Specifically, it was hypothesized that the pattern of involvement in TC and avoidance coping is clearer in HAR than in optimism. In the first study, participants reported their usual coping efforts when confronted with stressful circumstances. The second study required participants to identify a significant current stressor and report on their ongoing efforts to cope with it. In both studies, HAR related to more coping efforts than did optimism. Furthermore, although both HAR and optimism related positively to signs of TC, only HAR related negatively to signs of regressive coping. The third study involved participants confronted with life-threatening stressor. Here, optimism increased to the level of HAR in the number of coping efforts used. But the pattern for optimism combined transformational coping with stoicism (regressive coping), whereas the pattern for HAR was the same as in the two previous. studies. Results of the three studies suggest that the hypothesis is accurate and that HAR involves less complacency than does optimism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal privacy through understanding and action: five pitfalls for designers

To participate in meaningful privacy practice in the context of technical systems, people require opportunities to understand the extent of the systems alignment with relevant practice and to conduct discernible social action through intuitive or sensible engagement with the system. It is a significant challenge to design for such understanding and action through the feedback and control mechanisms of todays devices. To help designers meet this challenge, we describe five pitfalls to beware when designing interactive systems—on or off the desktop—with personal privacy implications. These pitfalls are: (1) obscuring potential information flow, (2) obscuring actual information flow, (3) emphasizing configuration over action, (4) lacking coarse-grained control, and (5) inhibiting existing practice. They are based on a review of the literature, on analyses of existing privacy-affecting systems, and on our own experiences in designing a prototypical user interface for managing privacy in ubiquitous computing. We illustrate how some existing research and commercial systems—our prototype included—fall into these pitfalls and how some avoid them. We suggest that privacy-affecting systems that heed these pitfalls can help users appropriate and engage them in alignment with relevant privacy practice.

The antibody response to 27-, 17-, and 15-kDa Cryptosporidium antigens following experimental infection in humans

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Data concerning inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) on pediatric ARDS is rare. We investigated the effects of iNO on pediatric ARDS in order to examine the ability to predict a response to iNO, the optimal concentration of iNO, the effects of < or = 1 ppm nitric oxide (NO), and the effect of iNO on PaCO2. SETTING: ICU at Kumamoto (Japan) University Hospital. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS: Seven children with ARDS. The initial responses to 16 ppm NO and the dose-response effects of 0.13 to 16 ppm NO were assessed. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Sixteen ppm of iNO improved oxygenation in all seven children. The use of iNO significantly increased the ratio of arterial oxygen tension to the fraction of inspired oxygen (PaO2/FIO2). A correlation between the NO-induced increase in PaO2/FIO2 and the baseline PaO2/FIO2 was observed (r=0.93, p<0.01). Dose-response tests showed that the optimal concentration of iNO was < or = 4 ppm, improvements in PaO2/FIO2 could be observed with concentrations of < or = 1 ppm NO, and iNO induced a slight decrease in PaCO2. CONCLUSIONS: In children with ARDS, iNO frequently improves oxygenation and induces a slight decrease in PaCO2, with the baseline PaO2/FIO2 functioning as a predictor of all NO response. Improvements of PaO2 and PaCO2 were observed with concentrations of iNO of < or = 1 ppm, a level in which the risk of a toxic reaction in children is minimal. Effects on outcome need verification in larger controlled trials.