Syllables as processing units in handwriting production.

This research focused on the syllable as a processing unit in handwriting. Participants wrote, in uppercase letters, words that had been visually presented. The interletter intervals provide information on the timing of motor production. In Experiment 1, French participants wrote words that shared the initial letters but had different syllable boundaries. In Experiment 2, French- and Spanish-speaking participants wrote cognates and pseudowords with a letter sequence that was always intrasyllabic in French and intersyllabic in Spanish. In Experiment 3, French-Spanish bilinguals wrote the cognates and pseudowords with the same type of sequences. In the 3 experiments, the critical interletter intervals were longer between syllables than within syllables, indicating that word syllable structure constrains motor production both in French and Spanish. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electrodeposition of nickel on vitreous carbon: Influence of potential on deposit morphology

The initial stages of the deposition of nickel on vitreous carbon from aqueous NiCl₂ (10^–2M adjusted to 1 M in chloride) has been studied using voltammetric and potentiostatic methods. The morphology of the deposits was observed by scanning electron and optical microscopy. A discussion of the relation between the deposition mechanism and the morphology is presented.     

Identifying the criterion spontaneously minimized during the take-off phase of a sub-maximal long jump through optimal synthesis

Optimal synthesis of human movement or the prediction of the kinematics of a new movement require not only that the multi-body system be modeled but also that a performance criterion is specified. For sub-maximal movements the selection of a suitable performance criterion, able to generate realistic dynamic behavior is difficult. A two-dimensional simulation model of the take-off phase of a sub-maximal long jump was developed to study the effect of criterion choice on the realism of simulated movements. A parametric optimization technique was employed to obtain solutions to the constrained equations of motion. Seven different criteria were evaluated, by comparing simulated movements with an actual performance, to identify the criterion which most closely approximated that spontaneously minimized by the athlete. Synthesis of the take-off phase of a sub-maximal long jump was found to be sensitive to the chosen criterion, with a criterion based on minimizing joint intersegmental forces found to perform well.     

Protecting biodegradable coatings releasing antimicrobial agents

This article describes the synthesis and in vitro analysis of poly(ester anhydride) antimicrobial protection coatings. Poly(ester anhydride)s composed of ricinoleic acid, sebacic acid, terephthalic acid, and isophthalic acid were used in this study. The polymers were compatible with various fillers commonly used in paint preparation. The in vitro experiments showed that the polymers are able to release diuron, an antimicrobial agent, for months. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Flow profile measurement in microchannel using the optical feedback interferometry sensing technique

The need to accurately measure flow profiles in microfluidic channels is well recognised. In this work, we present a new optical feedback interferometry (OFI) flow sensor that accurately measures local velocity in fluids and enables reconstruction of a velocity profile inside a microchannel. OFI is a self-aligned interferometric technique that uses the laser as both the transmitter and the receiver thus offering high sensitivity, fast response, and a simple and compact optical design. The system described here is based on a commercial semiconductor laser and has been designed to achieve a micrometer-range spatial resolution. The sensor performance was validated by reconstructing the velocity profile inside a circular cross-section flow-channel with 320  $\upmu $ m internal diameter, with a relative error smaller than 1.8 %. The local flow velocity is directly measured, thus avoiding the need for model based profile calculation and uncertainties inherent to this approach. The system was validated by successfully extracting the flow profiles in both Newtonian and shear-thinning liquids.     

Stereoisomers composition of 4-[(1′-methylpropyl)-oxycarbonyl]-2-oxetanone and related compounds,as precursors of fuctional polyesters,determined by chiral gas chromatography

Summary The configurational analysis of racemic and optically active stereoisomers of 4-[(1-methylpropyl)oxycarbonyl]-2-oxetanone has been carried out by using chiral gas chromatography. This technique has been successful in the stereoisomers composition determination of these -substituted -lactones prepared by two different routes and used as monomers in the preparation of malic acid stereocopolymers. Result are in good agreement with those obtained from high resolution ¹H NMR, in the presence of an Europium salt, as chiral shift reagent. This method has been extended to 3-methyl-4-[(1,2,2-trimethyl propyl)oxycarbonyl]-2-oxetanone. The exact knowledge of precursors configurational structure is very important in regard to the obtention of the corresponding polystereoisomers with a strictly controlled enantiomeric or diastereoisomeric composition and consequently with predictable properties.     

Dynamical sources in information theory: Fundamental intervals and word prefixes

A quite general model of source that comes from dynamical systems theory is introduced. Within this model, some basic problems of algorithmic information theory contexts are analysed. The main tool is a new object, the generalized Ruelle operator, which can be viewed as a “generating” operator for fundamental intervals (associated to information sharing common prefixes). Its dominant spectral objects are linked with important parameters of the source, such as the entropy, and play a central rôle in all the results.     

Erratum to “Dynamical Sources in Information Theory: Fundamental Intervals and Word Prefixes”

In [V] the third author studied statistical properties of words generated by dynamical sources by using generalized Ruelle operators. This erratum aims to show that a supplementary condition should be added in Definition 2.1 of dynamical sources. This supplementary condition (called (d4) below) is closely related to the so-called Bounded Distortion Property and should be used at two different stages of the paper: first in the definition of the generalized operator G_s, second in the proof of Proposition 2 that deals with the Positivity Theorem of Krasnoselskii. We also prove that this condition is actually necessary and provide an example of a source which does not satisfy condition (d4) and for which G_s is not well-defined.