Moving the goal posts: a reply to Dawson and Piercey

Berkeley [Minds Machines 10 (2000) 1] described a methodology that showed the subsymbolic nature of an artificial neural network system that had been trained on a logic problem, originally described by Bechtel and Abrahamsen [Connectionism and the mind. Blackwells, Cambridge, MA, 1991]. It was also claimed in the conclusion of this paper that the evidence was suggestive that the network might, in fact, count as a symbolic system. Dawson and Piercey [Minds Machines 11 (2001) 197] took issue with this latter claim. They described some lesioning studies that they argued showed that Berkeley’s (2000) conclusions were premature. In this paper, these lesioning studies are replicated and it is shown that the effects that Dawson and Piercey rely upon for their argument are merely an artifact of a threshold function they chose to employ. When a threshold function much closer to that deployed in the original studies is used, the significant effects disappear.     

Evolution granulométrique des sols sablo-argileux soumis à des compactages dynamique et statique

The compaction of a quartz sand by the modified Proctor test involves the production of fines produced by the breaking of the grains of the sand. This production of fines is measured by the grain size analysis before and after compaction. The adding of clay to the sand diminishes the evolution of the grain size. The process is proportional to the quantity of clay added to the sand. If the dynamic compaction of the Proctor test is substituted by the static compaction, one notes the same occurrences: static or dynamic compaction breaks the grains of sand and the clay added to the sand protects the grains from the breaking induced by the compaction stresses.     

Destruction of Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O superconductors by water

Mixtures of Tl₂CaBa₂Cu₂O_9±x and Tl₂Ca₂Ba₂Cu₃O_10±x superconductors were treated with water at 25, 70 and 100 °C for different lengths of time from 1 min to 10 h. X-ray powder diffraction patterns and magnetic susceptibilities of the fresh and the water treated samples are compared. In contrast to most Y- and Bi-based superconductors, the Tl-based samples are stable in the presence of water at low temperatures (70 °C), but decompose rapidly at 100 °C.     

Rheology of polyflavonoid tannin–formaldehyde reactions before and after gelling. II. Hardener influence and comparison of different tannins

Good correspondence of the gel‐time values obtained by two different methods, G′ = G″ and 1/η₀→0, was observed for different types of natural and modified tannin extracts. The pH presents the predominant effect on both the activation energies and the gel times observed, while the proportion of a paraformaldehyde hardener has a much lesser effect on these parameters. The rate constants of the different phases of the reaction of polycondensation with formaldehyde, both before and after the gel point, were obtained for the six commercial tannin extracts tested. The viscoelastic properties of the different tannins/formaldehyde gels were measured. The gel stiffness S, relaxation coefficient n, and relaxation time λ were determined and their dependence on the proportion of the formaldehyde hardener, on the temperature, and on the type of tannin was determined. The gel stiffness S appears to be influenced considerably by the proportion of the formaldehyde hardener. Its value decreased as the percentage of the hardener increased: This was due to early network immobilization and the resulting lower level of crosslinking resulting from it. The influence on S of the temperature is not very pronounced. The relaxation coefficient n appears to depend mainly on the reactivity of the tannin used: The faster the reactivity, the higher was the value of n. This appears to be valid exclusively in tannin extracts where the colloidal state is still present, while it is not valid in extracts where the colloidal state was eliminated by, for example, solvent extraction. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 864–871, 2002     

Reduction of NO by H2 on PdO-MoO3/γ-Al2O3 of low molybdena loading

The catalytic activity and selectivity of three PdO-MoO₃/-Al₂O₃ catalysts containing about 2% Pd and 2% Mo were studied for the reduction of NO by h₂ in the presence of varying amounts of oxygen at temperatures from 50 to 550 °C. The results are compared with those for PdO/-Al₂O₃, PdO-MoO₃/-Al₂O₃ containing 2% Pd and 20% Mo, and a commercial Pt-Rh catalyst. In the absence of oxygen, the conversion of NO to N₂ and N₂O is higher on the three catalysts than it is on PdO/-Al₂O₃ at 500 and 550 °C. In the presence of oxygen, the yields of N₂ and N₂O are generally lower on two of the PdO-MoO₃/-Al₂O₃ catalysts than on PdO/-Al₂O₃.     

Quantum dot light emitting devices for photomedical applications

While OLEDs have struggled to find a niche lighting application that can fully take advantage of their unique form factors as thin, flexible, lightweight and uniformly large‐area luminaire, photomedical researchers have been in search of low‐cost, effective illumination devices with such form factors that could facilitate widespread clinical applications of photodynamic therapy (PDT) or photobiomodulation (PBM). Although existing OLEDs with either fluorescent or phosphorescent emitters cannot achieve the required high power density at the right wavelength windows for photomedicine, the recently developed ultrabright and efficient deep red quantum dot light emitting devices (QLEDs) can nicely fit into this niche. Here, we report for the first time the in‐vitro study to demonstrate that this QLED‐based photomedical approach could increase cell metabolism over control systems for PBM and kill cancerous cells efficiently for PDT. The perspective of developing wavelength‐specific, flexible QLEDs for two critical photomedical fields (wound repair and cancer treatment) will be presented with their potential impacts summarized. The work promises to generate flexible QLED‐based light sources that could enable the widespread use and clinical acceptance of photomedical strategies including PDT and PBM.     

改性γ-聚谷氨酸去除重金属Pb2+性能研究

研究了不同改性水平的γ-聚谷氨酸(以下简写为γ-PGA)吸附去除水体中重金属离子Pb2+的性能影响。研究结果表明,交联改性后的γ-PGA与未改性的γ-PGA相比,具有更好的Pb2+吸附性能,在将改性γ-PGA加入到含有Pb2+的水体中并均匀混合之后,随着交联度的提高,改性γ-PGA吸附Pb2+的性能逐渐增加,但在吸附最终结束时,不同改性的γ-PGA对Pb2+吸附去除率均在99%以上。在吸附去除Pb2+影响因素分析中发现Pb2+初始质量浓度和溶液pH对不同改性的γ-PGA吸附去除Pb2+性能的影响较大。随着Pb2+质量浓度的增加,不同改性水平γ-PGA对Pb2+的去除率均略有一定程度的下降。当溶液的pH控制在中性或者偏碱性时,25%改性γ-PGA对Pb2+的去除率能够保持在99%以上,当pH降至4.5和3时,Pb2+去除率分别降为90.76%和78.46%。     

Betulinic Acid in Complex with a Gamma-Cyclodextrin Derivative Decreases Proliferation and in Vivo Tumor Development of Non-Metastatic and Metastatic B164A5 Cells

Betulinic acid, a very promising anti-melanoma agent, has very low water solubility that causes low bioavailability. To overcome this inconvenience, a highly water-soluble cyclodextrin was used (octakis-[6-deoxy-6-(2-sulfanyl ethanesulfonic acid)]-γ-cyclodextrin). The complex was physico-chemically analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) methods and then in vitro tested for its antiproliferative activity by the MTT assay and by cell cycle analysis. Finally, the complex was tested in vivo using an animal model of murine melanoma developed in C57BL/6J mice, where it caused a reduction in tumor volume and weight. The study revealed the beneficial influence of betulinic acid inclusion into the cyclodextrin in terms of antiproliferative activity and in vivo tumor development.     

Vibrational spectra and dissociation of aqueous Na2SiO3 solutions

To facilitate molecular spectroscopic observation of the mysterious transition of dissolved sodium silicate molecules into nanoparticles of desired silica gel and zeolite structures, the IR and Raman spectra of Na₂H₂SiO₄ monomers are studied here in details. It is demonstrated that the 3–0.2 mol/L aqueous solutions of Na₂SiO₃ and Na₂SiO₃ × 9H₂O contain mostly Na₂H₂SiO₄ monomers dissociated about 30%–80%, respectively. In contrast to the common belief the Si–O vibrations of these monomers depend on their dissociation level generating FTIR and Raman bands which are frequently associated with polymer silica structures in the current literature. To stay consistent with the molweight and dissociation measurements, these vibrational assignments are revised in this paper. Some unique and unexpected effects of D₂O used instead of H₂O as solvent are also reported.