Polymeric ion-selective membrane functionalized gate-electrodes: Ion-selective response of electrolyte-gated poly (3-hexylthiophene) field-effect transistors

We demonstrate the ion-selective response of an electrolyte-gated organic field-effect transistor (IS-OFET) towards the two prominent second messengers for cell–cell communication: K⁺ and Ca²⁺. The ion-selective response is achieved by modifying the gate-electrode with different polymeric ion-selective membranes. The sensing mechanism relies on the transduction of the ionic signal in an electrical one due to a concentration-dependent change in the membrane potential at the gate/electrolyte interface which leads to a change in the effective gate potential and thus alters charge transport in the semiconducting channel. These sensors can be successfully used to selectively detect concentrations of primary ions down to a concentration in the μM range even in solutions with an ionic background of 150 mM. Our approach represents a valuable strategy for the realization of portable, multi-purpose and low-cost biosensing devices.     

Assessing and forecasting atmospheric outflow of α-HCH from China on intra-, inter-, and decadal time scales

Atmospheric outflow of α-HCH from China from 1952 to 2009 was investigated using Chinese Gridded Pesticide Emission and Residue Model (ChnGPERM). The model results show that the outflows via the northeast boundary (NEB, longitude 115-135 °E along 55 °N and latitude 37-55 °N along 135 °E) and the mid-south boundary (MSB, longitude 100-120 °E along 17 °N) of China account for 47% and 35% of the total outflow, respectively. Two climate indices based on the statistical association between the time series of modeled α-HCH outflow and atmospheric sea-level pressure were developed to predict the outflow on different time scales. The first index explains 70/83% and 10/46% of the intra-annual variability of the outflow via the NEB and MSB during the periods of 1952-1984 and 1985-2009, respectively. The second index explains 16% and 19% of the interannual and longer time scale variability in the outflow through the NEB during June-August and via the MSB during October-December for 1991-2009, respectively. Results also revealed that climate warming may potentially result in stronger outflow via the NEB than the MSB. The linkage between the outflow with large scale atmospheric circulation patterns and climate warming trend over China was also discussed.     

An All-solid-state Cd-selective electrode with a low detection limit

A new all-solid-state Cd²⁺-selective electrode with a low detection limit was prepared by using conjugated thiophene oligomer α-sexithiophene (α-6T) as solid contact deposited between an ionophore-doped poly(vinyl chloride) membrane and a gold disc substrate. The electrode exhibited a Nernstian response for Cd²⁺ ions over a wide concentration range of 10⁻³-10⁻⁷ M with a detection limit as low as 1.3 × 10⁻⁸ M. Results showed that the fabricated potentiometric sensor was suitable for use within the pH range of 2.0-9.0 and exhibited good reproducibility for long-term measurements.     

Rollback overhead reduction methods for time warp distributed simulation

Parallel discrete event simulation is a useful technique to improve performance of sequential discrete event simulation. We consider the time warp algorithm for asynchronous distributed discrete event simulation. Time warp is an optimistic synchronization mechanism for asynchronous distributed systems that allows a system to violate the synchronization constraint and, in this case, make the system rollback to a correct state. We focus on the kernel of the time warp algorithm, that is the rollback operation, and we propose some techniques to reduce the overhead due to this operation. In particular, we propose a method to reduce the overhead involved in state saving operation, two methods to reduce the overhead of a single rollback operation and a method to reduce the overall number of rollbacks. These methods have been implemented in a distributed simulation environment on a distributed memory system. Some experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.     

基于散射计波浪参数反演模型的改进算法实验

一种新的利用散射计(ERS1/2)数据反演有效波高和平均周期的模式被提出。通过俄罗斯学者利用浮标数据建立完全成长风浪条件下有效波高与风速之间的关系,与匹配浮标观测的有效波高数据对比,区分完全成长风浪、成长风浪和涌浪3种海况下的匹配数据;利用BP神经网络建立模式反演3种海况下的有效波高,均方根误差分别为0.53、0.57和0.86m,反演平均周期均方根误差分别为0.69、1.04和1.36s。这种反演方法在完全成长风浪海况下最好,依次是成长风浪和涌浪海况。该研究为散射计数据反演波浪参数提供了依据,使大面积反演波浪参数成为可能。