Manufacture of fine-grained Y2BaCuO5 powder by coprecipitation

Quantities of Y2BaCuO5 powder greater than 500g have been manufactured by a co-precipitation process. By suitable heat treatments, the particle size of these powders can be varied from 5µm to less than 500nm. Sub-micrometer size powders may, under some conditions, have a duller green colour which is attributed to <2% unreacted material. However, after re-grinding and re-firing of this powder, high-purity powders can be achieved without significant grain growth. Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopy is used to measure the stoichiometry of the powders and X-ray diffraction is used to determine phase purity. In both cases, the bulk composition is consistent with Y2BaCuO5 and phase purity is considered better than 95%.

A boy and his toys : technology and gadgetry in the James Bond films

This chapter provides an indepth examination of the history of product placement in the James Bond film series, specifically focusing on the emergence of technology and gadgetry in the series and the impact this had on the number and types of products that were placed in the films.

Effect of the sterilization method on the properties of Bombyx mori silk fibroin films

We have compared the effects of different sterilization techniques on the properties of Bombyx mori silk fibroin thin films with the view to subsequent use for corneal tissue engineering. The transparency, tensile properties, corneal epithelial cell attachment and degradation of the films were used to evaluate the suitability of certain sterilization techniques including gamma-irradiation (in air or nitrogen), steam treatment and immersion in aqueous ethanol. The investigations showed that gamma-irradiation, performed either in air or in a nitrogen atmosphere, did not significantly alter the properties of films. The films sterilized by gamma-irradiation or by immersion in ethanol had a transparency greater than 98% and tensile properties comparable to human cornea and amniotic membrane, the materials of choice in the reconstruction of ocular surface. Although steam-sterilization produced stronger, stiffer films, they were less transparent, and cell attachment was affected by the variable topography of these films. It was concluded that gamma-irradiation should be considered to be the most suitable method for the sterilization of silk fibroin films, however, the treatment with ethanol is also an acceptable method.

Prediction of IBD based on population history for fine gene mapping

A novel multiple regression method (RM) is developed to predict identity-by-descent probabilities at a locus L (IBDL), among individuals without pedigree, given information on surrounding markers and population history. These IBDL probabilities are a function of the increase in linkage disequilibrium (LD) generated by drift in a homogeneous population over generations. Three parameters are sufficient to describe population history: effective population size (Ne), number of generations since foundation (T), and marker allele frequencies among founders (p). IBD L are used in a simulation study to map a quantitative trait locus (QTL) via variance component estimation. RM is compared to a coalescent method (CM) in terms of power and robustness of QTL detection. Differences between RM and CM are small but significant. For example, RM is more powerful than CM in dioecious populations, but not in monoecious populations. Moreover, RM is more robust than CM when marker phases are unknown or when there is complete LD among founders or Ne is wrong, and less robust when p is wrong. CM utilises all marker haplotype information, whereas RM utilises information contained in each individual marker and all possible marker pairs but not in higher order interactions. RM consists of a family of models encompassing four different population structures, and two ways of using marker information, which contrasts with the single model that must cater for all possible evolutionary scenarios in CM.

Utility of an alternative bicycle commute route of lower proximity to motorised traffic in decreasing exposure to ultra-fine particles, respiratory symptoms and airway inflammation - a structured exposure experiment

Background: Bicycle commuting in an urban environment of high air pollution is known as a potential health risk, especially for susceptible individuals. While risk management strategies aimed to reduce motorised traffic emissions exposure have been suggested, limited studies have assessed the utility of such strategies in real-world circumstances. Objectives: The potential of reducing exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP; < 0.1 µm) during bicycle commuting by lowering interaction with motorised traffic was investigated with real-time air pollution and acute inflammatory measurements in healthy individuals using their typical, and an alternative to their typical, bicycle commute route. Methods: Thirty-five healthy adults (mean ± SD: age = 39 ± 11 yr; 29% female) each completed two return trips of their typical route (HIGH) and a pre-determined altered route of lower interaction with motorised traffic (LOW; determined by the proportion of on-road cycle paths). Particle number concentration (PNC) and diameter (PD) were monitored in real-time in-commute. Acute inflammatory indices of respiratory symptom incidence, lung function and spontaneous sputum (for inflammatory cell analyses) were collected immediately pre-commute, and one and three hours post-commute. Results: LOW resulted in a significant reduction in mean PNC (1.91 x e4 ± 0.93 x e4 ppcc vs. 2.95 x e4 ± 1.50 x e4 ppcc; p ≤ 0.001). Besides incidence of in-commute offensive odour detection (42 vs. 56 %; p = 0.019), incidence of dust and soot observation (33 vs. 47 %; p = 0.038) and nasopharyngeal irritation (31 vs. 41 %; p = 0.007), acute inflammatory indices were not significantly associated to in-commute PNC, nor were these indices reduced with LOW compared to HIGH. Conclusions: Exposure to PNC, and the incidence of offensive odour and nasopharyngeal irritation, can be significantly reduced when utilising a strategy of lowering interaction with motorised traffic whilst bicycle commuting, which may bring important benefits for both healthy and susceptible individuals.

Low temperature response of nanostructured tungsten oxide thin films toward hydrogen and ethanol

Semiconducting metal oxide based gas sensors usually operate in the temperature range 200–500 °C. In this paper, we present a new WO3 thin film based gas sensor for H2 and C2H5OH, operating at 150 °C. Nanostructured WO3 thin films were synthesized by thermal evaporation method. The properties of the as-deposited films were modified by annealing in air at 300 °C and 400 °C. Various analytical techniques such as AFM, TEM, XPS, XRD and Raman spectroscopy have been employed to characterize their properties. A clear indication from TEM and XRD analysis is that the as-deposited WO3 films are highly amorphous and no improvement is observed in the crystallinity of the films after annealing at 300 °C. Annealing at 400 °C significantly improved the crystalline properties of the films with the formation of about 5 nm grains. The films annealed at 300 °C show no response to C2H5OH (ethanol) and a little response to H2, with maximum response obtained at 280 °C. The films annealed at 400 °C show a very good response to H2 and a moderate response to C2H5OH (ethanol) at 150 °C. XPS analysis revealed that annealing of the WO3 thin films at 400 °C produces a significant change in stoichiometry, increasing the number of oxygen vacancies in the film, which is highly beneficial for gas sensing. Our results demonstrate that gas sensors with significant performance at low operating temperatures can be obtained by annealing the WO3 films at 400 °C and optimizing the crystallinity and nanostructure of the as-deposited films.

Oriented graphitic carbon films for hydrogen gas sensors

An oriented graphitic nanostructured carbon film has been employed as a conductometric hydrogen gas sensor. The carbon film was energetically deposited using a filtered cathodic vacuum arc with a -75 V bias applied to a stainless steel grid placed 1cm from the surface of the Si substrate. The substrate was heated to 400°C prior to deposition. Electron microscopy showed evidence that the film consisted largely of vertically oriented graphitic sheets and had a density of 2.06 g/cm3. 76% of the atoms were bonded in sp2 or graphitic configurations. A change in the device resistance of >; 1.5% was exhibited upon exposure to 1 % hydrogen gas (in synthetic, zero humidity air) at 100°C. The time for the sensor resistance to increase by 1.5 % under these conditions was approximately 60 s and the baseline (zero hydrogen exposure) resistance remained constant to within 0.01% during and after the hydrogen exposures.

Exploring representations of Asian identities in films for the Australian Curriculum

In this paper we focus on one facet of Asia literacy and examine the potential of intercultural understanding through two films about Asians in Australia, as the basis for exploring Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia 'inside' and not through the more accepted mode of 'outside' the nation. In doing so we foreground how teachers’ critical and imaginative curriculum work can realise some of the promises of the framing document for the current national curriculum project, the Melbourne Declaration (MCEECDYA, 2008). In particular, we focus on opportunities for young people to develop an Asia-related cultural literacy that goes beyond instrumental notions of engagement with Asia and explore the evolving nature of contemporary Australian society; a society that continues to develop in response to regional flows and interactions with people and cultures. To this end we engage with the notion of “diasporic hybridity” as a dynamic cultural space through selected films and literature, about Asia in Australia, in particular, Bondi Tsunami (Lucas, 2004) and Footy Legends (Do, 2006) and selected prose works. Our paper introduces the policy background of the Australian Curriculum and suggests multimodal, English classroom applications for the films and literature under study.

Ethanol sensitivity of thermally evaporated nanostructured WO3 thin films doped and implanted with Fe

Ethanol sensing performance of gas sensors made of Fe doped and Fe implanted nanostructured WO3 thin films prepared by a thermal evaporation technique was investigated. Three different types of nanostructured thin films, namely, pure WO3 thin films, iron-doped WO3 thin films by co-evaporation and Fe-implanted WO3 thin films have been synthesized. All the thin films have a film thickness of 300 nm. The physical, chemical and electronic properties of these films have been optimized by annealing heat treatment at 300ºC and 400ºC for 2 hours in air. Various analytical techniques were employed to characterize these films. Atomic Force Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy revealed a very small grain size of the order 5-10 nm in as-deposited WO3 films, and annealing at 300ºC or 400ºC did not result in any significant change in grain size. This study has demonstrated enhanced sensing properties of WO3 thin film sensors towards ethanol at lower operating temperature, which was achieved by optimizing the physical, chemical and electronic properties of the WO3 film through Fe doping and annealing.

Growth of C36-films on diamond surface through molecular dynamics simulation

In this paper, the initial stage of films assembled by energetic C36 fullerenes on diamond (001)–(2 × 1) surface at low-temperature was investigated by molecular dynamics simulation using the Brenner potential. The incident energy was first uniformly distributed within an energy interval 20–50 eV, which was known to be the optimum energy range for chemisorption of single C36 on diamond (001) surface. More than one hundred C36 cages were impacted one after the other onto the diamond surface by randomly selecting their orientation as well as the impact position relative to the surface. The growth of films was found to be in three-dimensional island mode, where the deposited C36 acted as building blocks. The study of film morphology shows that it retains the structure of a free C36 cage, which is consistent with Low Energy Cluster Beam Deposition (LECBD) experiments. The adlayer is composed of many C36-monomers as well as the covalently bonded C36 dimers and trimers which is quite different from that of C20 fullerene-assembled film, where a big polymerlike chain was observed due to the stronger interaction between C20 cages. In addition, the chemisorption probability of C36 fullerenes is decreased with increasing coverage because the interaction between these clusters is weaker than that between the cluster and the surface. When the incident energy is increased to 40–65 eV, the chemisorption probability is found to increased and more dimers and trimers as well as polymerlike-C36 were observed on the deposited films. Furthermore, C36 film also showed high thermal stability even when the temperature was raised to 1500 K.

Resequencing and fine-mapping of the chromosome 12q13-14 locus associated with multiple sclerosis refines the number of implicated genes

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system. Susceptibility to the disease is affected by both environmental and genetic factors. Genetic factors include haplotypes in the histocompatibility complex (MHC) and over 50 non-MHC loci reported by genome-wide association studies. Amongst these, we previously reported polymorphisms in chromosome 12q13-14 with a protective effect in individuals of European descent. This locus spans 288 kb and contains 17 genes, including several candidate genes which have potentially significant pathogenic and therapeutic implications. In this study, we aimed to fine-map this locus. We have implemented a two-phase study: a variant discovery phase where we have used next-generation sequencing and two target-enrichment strategies [long-range polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Nimblegen's solution phase hybridization capture] in pools of 25 samples; and a genotyping phase where we genotyped 712 variants in 3577 healthy controls and 3269 MS patients. This study confirmed the association (rs2069502, P = 9.9 × 10−11, OR = 0.787) and narrowed down the locus of association to an 86.5 kb region. Although the study was unable to pinpoint the key-associated variant, we have identified a 42 (genotyped and imputed) single-nucleotide polymorphism haplotype block likely to harbour the causal variant. No evidence of association at previously reported low-frequency variants in CYP27B1 was observed. As part of the study we compared variant discovery performance using two target-enrichment strategies. We concluded that our pools enriched with Nimblegen's solution phase hybridization capture had better sensitivity to detect true variants than the pools enriched with long-range PCR, whilst specificity was better in the long-range PCR-enriched pools compared with solution phase hybridization capture enriched pools; this result has important implications for the design of future fine-mapping studies.

Low formalin concentrations induce fine-tuned responses that are sex and age-dependent : a developmental study

The formalin test is increasingly applied as a model of inflammatory pain using high formalin concentrations (5–15%). However, little is known about the effects of low formalin concentrations on related behavioural responses. To examine this, rat pups were subjected to various concentrations of formalin at four developmental stages: 7, 13, 22, and 82 days of age. At postnatal day (PND) 7, sex differences in flinching but not licking responses were observed with 0.5% formalin evoking higher flinching in males than in females. A dose response was evident in that 0.5% formalin also produced higher licking responses compared to 0.3% or 0.4% formalin. At PND 13, a concentration of 0.8% formalin evoked a biphasic response. At PND 22, a concentration of 1.1% evoked higher flinching and licking responses during the late phase (10–30 min) in both males and females. During the early phase (0–5 min), 1.1% evoked higher licking responses compared to 0.9% or 1% formalin. 1.1% formalin produced a biphasic response that was not evident with 0.9 or 1%. At PND 82, rats displayed a biphasic pattern in response to three formalin concentrations (1.25%, 1.75% and 2.25%) with the presence of an interphase for both 1.75% and 2.25% but not for 1.25%. These data suggest that low formalin concentrations induce fine-tuned responses that are not apparent with the high formalin concentration commonly used in the formalin test. These data also show that the developing nociceptive system is very sensitive to subtle changes in formalin concentrations.