Asymmetric membrane fiber-based carbon dioxide removal devices for ion chromatography

The application of hollow and filament-filled single asymmetric membrane fibers, consisting of a thin silicone layer on a tubular microporous support, for removing CO(2) in suppressed ion chromatography effluents is described. With appropriate choice of the removal device and operating conditions, the CO(2) can be essentially quantitatively (99+%) removed. For carbonate-based eluents, the use of such devices greatly reduces or eliminates the water dip, permitting better quantitation of poorly retained anions that elute close to the dip, allows practical gradient chromatography, and improves noise levels and attainable detection limits. In hydroxide eluent chromatography, the device largely removes the response from CO(2) present in the samples; this greatly aids atmospheric trace gas analysis by IC. Device dimensions are such that the dispersion introduced by the device is small.     

Security in the wild: user strategies for managing security as an everyday,practical problem

Ubiquitous and mobile technologies create new challenges for system security. Effective security solutions depend not only on the mathematical and technical properties of those solutions, but also on people’s ability to understand them and use them as part of their work. As a step towards solving this problem, we have been examining how people experience security as a facet of their daily life, and how they routinely answer the question, “is this system secure enough for what I want to do?” We present a number of findings concerning the scope of security, attitudes towards security, and the social and organizational contexts within which security concerns arise, and point towards emerging technical solutions.     

Similarity between shock and safe areas during acquisition, transfer, and extinction of escape behavior in rats.

Demonstrated, in 3 experiments with a total of 128 female hooded rats, that performance in escape training was impaired when shock- and safe-box stimuli were similar rather than dissimilar to each other. Prior training with similar shock and safe boxes impaired responding during subsequent training or extinction under the dissimilar shock and safe condition. Prior training under the dissimilar condition did not reliably influence subsequent training or extinction under the similar shock-safe condition. Resistance to extinction under the dissimilar condition was reliably better following training with random presentations to both similar and dissimilar conditions than following training with the dissimilar condition alone. Exp III showed that impairment of escape behavior during training was attributable to response-contingent similarity between shock and safe boxes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Annealing and diffusion processes in thin film CdS/Cu2S solar cells

Diffusion of copper during post-fabrication annealing of CdS/Cu₂S thin film solar cells was studied by Auger electron spectroscopy. Depth profiles of the constituent element concentrations indicate that, for samples annealed in air, a deep penetration of copper into the cadmium sulphide layer occurs together with a significant out-diffusion of cadmium. In contrast, the copper penetration which results from vacuum or hydrogen annealing treatment is substantially less and no out-diffusion of cadmium is observed for annealing temperatures up to 400°C.     

An emulsion method for the sensory evaluation of edible oils

The flavor intensity of soybean oils was evaluated in emulsions stabilized with gum acacia. A 10-point scale was used with a blank to establish the bland end of the scale and a standard diacetyl solution to establish a point near midscale. Tasting oils in emulsion gave significantly different scores than tasting oil directly. Evaluation in emulsion decreased panel error for poor quality oils but not for very bland oils. At least six samples could be tasted in emulsion without casusing panel fatigue or reducing accuracy. The concentration of oil in the emulsion could be adjusted to increase sensitivity to weak flavors or improve the evaluation of intensely flavored oils. Soybean oils containing various amounts of linolenic acid were evaluated by the emulsion method, and those with lesser amounts of linolenic acid were shown to be more stable. A gas Chromatographic total volatile method was shown to correlate fairly well with sensory evaluation of oils tasted in emulsions under conditions where both flavors scores and total volatiles changed significantly with time. Journal Paper no. J-10442 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames. Project no. 2143.