A Deep-Blue Electroluminescent Device Based on a Coumarin Derivative

The design and synthesis is reported of 7-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)-4-methylcoumarin (Cz-Cm), comprising a carbazole donor moiety and a 4-methylcoumarin acceptor unit, for use in a blue organic light-emitting diode. A detailed solid state, theoretical and spectroscopic study was performed to understand the structure-property relationships. The material exhibits deep-blue emission and high photoluminescence quantum yield both in solution and in a doped matrix. A deep-blue electroluminescence emission at 430nm, a maximum brightness of 292cdm(-2) and an external quantum efficiency of 0.4% was achieved with a device configured as follows: ITO/NPD (30nm)/TCTA (20nm)/CzSi(10nm)/10wt% Cz-Cm:DPEPO (10nm)/TPBI (30nm)/LiF (1nm)/Al ITO=indium tin oxide, NPD=N,N-di(1-naphthyl)-N,N-diphenyl-(1,1-biphenyl)-4,4-diamine, TCTA=tris(4-carbazoyl-9-ylphenyl)amine, CzSi=9-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-3,6-bis(triphenylsilyl)-9H-carbazole, DPEPO=bis2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl]ether oxide, TPBI=1,3,5-tris(N-phenylbenzimidazol-2-yl)benzene].

The convection during NaClO3 crystal growth observed by the phase shift interferometer

An optical diagnostic system consisting of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer with the phase shift device and an image processor has been developed for the study of the kinetics of the crystal growing process. The dissolution and crystallization process of NaClO3 crystal has been investigated. The concentration distributions around a growing and dissolving crystal have been obtained by using phase-shift of four-steps theory for the interpretation of the interferograms. The convection (a plume flow) has been visualized and analyzed in the process of the crystal growth. The experiment demonstrates that the buoyancy convection dominates the growth rate of the crystal growing face on the ground-based experiment.

Dietary vitamin E inhibits the trans 10-18:1 shift in beef backfat

[EN]Forty feedlot steers were fed a barleygrain-based finishing diet typical for western Canada, with two levels of supplementary vitamin E (468 or 1068 IU head_1 d_1) and the effect on backfat trans-18:1 isomeric profile was determined. Feeding 1068 IU vitamin E reduced the total trans-18:1 content in backfat (P<0.01), as well as the percentage of trans 10-18:1 (P<0.001), which are related to an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases. On the other hand, trans 11-18:1 (vaccenic acid) the precursor for cis 9,trans 11- 18:2 (rumenic acid), which have several purported health benefits, increased (P<0.01). Vitamin E could, therefore, be used to decrease trans-18:1 in beef and improve its isomeric profile.

Influence of seagrass landscape structure on the juvenile blue crab habitat-survival function

Organismal survival in marine habitats is often positively correlated with habitat structural complexity at local (within-patch) spatial scales. Far less is known, however, about how marine habitat structure at the landscape scale influences predation and other ecological processes, and in particular, how these processes are dictated by the interactive effect of habitat structure at local and landscape scales. The relationship between survival and habitat structure can be modeled with the habitat-survival function (HSF), which often takes on linear, hyperbolic, or sigmoid forms. We used tethering experiments to determine how seagrass landscape structure influenced the HSF for juvenile blue crabs Callinectes sapidus Rathbun in Back Sound, North Carolina, USA. Crabs were tethered in artificial seagrass plots of 7 different shoot densities embedded within small (1 – 3 m2) or large (>100 m2) seagrass patches (October 1999), and within 10 × 10 m landscapes containing patchy (<50% cover) or continuous (>90% cover) seagrass (July 2000). Overall, crab survival was higher in small than in large patches, and was higher in patchy than in continuous seagrass. The HSF was hyperbolic in large patches and in continuous seagrass, indicating that at low levels of habitat structure, relatively small increases in structure resulted in substantial increases in juvenile blue crab survival. However, the HSF was linear in small seagrass patches in 1999 and was parabolic in patchy seagrass in 2000. A sigmoid HSF, in which a threshold level of seagrass structure is required for crab survival, was never observed. Patchy seagrass landscapes are valuable refuges for juvenile blue crabs, and the effects of seagrass structural complexity on crab survival can only be fully understood when habitat structure at larger scales is considered.

Playing games with words cultural transfer in David Lynch's Blue Velvet

Eguíluz, Federico; Merino, Raquel; Olsen, Vickie; Pajares, Eterio; Santamaría, José Miguel (eds.)

Case study: Creating a culture shift at Blackburn College

Case study on how three projects at Blackburn College are helping students and staff to engage with digital technologies and enhance learning and teaching and the broader student digital experience.

Synopsis of biological data on the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun

This synopsis reviews taxonomy, morphology, distribution, life history, commercial hard and soft shell crab fisheries, physiology, diseases, ecology, laboratory culture methodology, and influences of environmental pollutants on the blue crab, Callinecles sapidus. Over 300 selected, published reports up to and including 1982 are covered. (PDF file contains 45 pages.)

Blue Crab target setting: final report

We have developed a hierarchy of target levels, designated to address sustainability, efficiency, and recovery scenarios. Targets were derived from: 1) reported catches and effort in the commercial fishery, 2) statistics from fishery-independent surveys, and 3) knowledge of the biology of blue crab. Targets that are recommended include population sizes, catches, and effort levels, as well as reference fishing mortality rates. They are intended to be conservative and risk-averse. (PDF contains 182 pages)

Ecophysiological perspectives of blue-green algal blooms

Blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) have had a profound and unparalled impact on the aquatic environment because of the phenomenon of bloom formation. In many countries, water management is threatened with extensive and persistent noxious blooms of blue-green algae in surface and near-surface mesotrophic and eutrophic waters. In view of this, ecological and physiological factors responsible for blue-green algal dominance are discussed. The implications of cyanobacterial blooms are highlighted and recommendations made to combat this menace

Wilmington gray to blue

Wilmington is situated on the divide of two major watersheds, the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. All surface waters in Wilmington drain to one of these two water bodies and are divided into two groups: tidal creeks and Cape Fear River tributaries. Cape Fear River tributaries drain directly to the Cape Fear River and comprise the western portion of Wilmington’s surface waters. Tidal creeks drain directly into the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and make up the eastern portion of Wilmington’s surface waters. (PDF contains 4 pages)