The polymeric conformational effect on capacitive deionization performance of graphene oxide/polypyrrole composite electrode

Exploitation of novel faradic materials is an alternative implementation for solving the problem of poor specific electrosorption capacity that conventional carbon materials are encountered in capacitive deionization. Particularly, composite electrode is just a suitable choice because of its potentially high ion-storage ability. Herein, a cyclic voltammetric treatment method with different low limit of potential window was used to manipulate the polymeric conformation and doping level of graphene oxide/polypyrrole (GO/PPy) composite electrode. Based on it, the effect of polymeric structure on the electrosorption performance was systematically studied. When the low limit of potential window is shifted negatively enough, the irreversible polymeric conformational shrinks of GO/PPy are promoted, which not only hinders the insertion process of ions, but also decreases the doping level of polymer due to the intensive interchain-action produced by more entangled polymeric chain. Thus, the number of intercalated ions should decrease, which is expressed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results and is proportional to the electrosorption capacity of GO/PPy composite electrode in membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) process. Our work suggests that the less packing density, higher doping level and more charge delocalization on PPy backbone in electrode are beneficial to enhance its capacitive deionization performance

Neural crest stem cells and their potential therapeutic applications

The neural crest (NC) is a remarkable transient structure generated during early vertebrate development. The neural crest progenitors have extensive migratory capacity and multipotency, harboring stem cell-like characteristics such as self-renewal. They can differentiate into a variety of cell types from craniofacial skeletal tissues to the trunk peripheral nervous system (PNS). Multiple regulators such as signaling factors, transcription factors, and migration machinery components are expressed at different stages of NC development. Gain- and loss-of-function studies in various vertebrate species revealed epistatic relationships of these molecules that could be assembled into a gene regulatory network defining the processes of NC induction, specification, migration, and differentiation. These basic developmental studies led to the subsequent establishment and molecular validation of neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) derived by various strategies. We provide here an overview of the isolation and characterization of NCSCs from embryonic, fetal, and adult tissues; the experimental strategies for the derivation of NCSCs from embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, and skin fibroblasts; and recent developments in the use of patient-derived NCSCs for modeling and treating neurocristopathies. We discuss future research on further refinement of the culture conditions required for the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into axial-specific NC progenitors and their derivatives, developing non-viral approaches for the generation of induced NC cells (NCCs), and using a genomic editing approach to correct genetic mutations in patient-derived NCSCs for transplantation therapy. These future endeavors should facilitate the therapeutic applications of NCSCs in the clinical setting.postprin

On-chip temperature-compensated Love mode surface acoustic wave device for gravimetric sensing

Love mode surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors have been recognized as one of the most sensitive devices for gravimetric sensors in liquid environments such as bio sensors. Device operation is based upon measuring changes in the transmitted (S21) frequency and phase of the first-order Love wave resonance associated with the device upon on attachment of mass. However, temperature variations also cause a change in the first order S21 parameters. In this work, shallow grooved reflectors and a ‘dotted’ single phase unidirectional interdigitated transducer (D-SPUDT) have been added to the basic SAW structure which promote unidirectional Love wave propagation from the device’s input interdigitated transducers. Not only does this enhance the first-order S21 signal, but it also allows propagation of a third-order Love wave. The attenuation coefficient of the third-order wave is sufficiently great that, whilst there is a clear reflected S11 signal, the third-order wave does not propagate into the gravimetric sensing area of the device. As a result, whilst the third-order S11 signal is affected by temperature changes, it is unaffected by mass attachment in the sensing area. It is shown that this signal can be used to remove temperature effects from the first-order S21 signal in real time. This allows gravimetric sensing to take place in an environment without the need for any other temperature measurement or temperature control; this is a particular requirement of gravimetric biosensors.This is the accepted manuscript. The following article appeared in Applied Physics Letters and may be found at http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/apl/105/21/10.1063/1.4902989. Copyright 2014 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics

Graphene-polyelectrolyte multilayer membranes with tunable structure and internal charge

One great advantage of graphene-polyelectrolyte multilayer (GPM) membranes is their tunable structure and internal charge for improved separation performance. In this study, we synthesized GO-dominant GPM membrane with internal negatively-charged domains, polyethyleneimine (PEI)-dominant GPM membrane with internal positively-charged domains and charge-balanced dense/loose GPM membranes by simply adjusting the ionic strength and pH of the GO and PEI solutions used in layer-by-layer membrane synthesis. A combined system of quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) and ellipsometry was used to analyze the mass deposition, film thickness, and layer density of the GPM membranes. The performance of the GPM membranes were compared in terms of both permeability and selectivity to determine the optimal membrane structure and synthesis strategy. One effective strategy to improve the GPM membrane permeability-selectivity tradeoff is to assemble charge-balanced dense membranes under weak electrostatic interactions. This balanced membrane exhibits the highest MgCl2 selectivity (∼86%). Another effective strategy for improved cation removal is to create PEI-dominant membranes that provide internal positively-charged barrier to enhance cation selectivity without sacrificing water permeability. These findings shine lights on the development of a systematic approach to push the boundary of permeability-selectivity tradeoff for GPM membranes

Fake news: a technological approach to proving the origins of content, using blockchains

In this paper, we introduce a prototype of an innovative technology for proving the origins of captured digital media. In an era of fake news, when someone shows us a video or picture of some event, how can we trust its authenticity? It seems the public no longer believe that traditional media is a reliable reference of fact, perhaps due, in part, to the onset of many diverse sources of conflicting information, via social media. Indeed, the issue of ‘fake’ reached a crescendo during the 2016 US Presidential Election, when the winner, Donald Trump, claimed that the New York Times was trying to discredit him by pushing disinformation. Current research into overcoming the problem of fake news does not focus on establishing the ownership of media resources used in such stories - the blockchain-based application introduced in this article is technology that is capable of indicating the authenticity of digital media. Put simply; by using the trust mechanisms of blockchain technology, the tool can show, beyond doubt, the provenance of any source of digital media, including images used out of context in attempts to mislead. Although the application is an early prototype and its capability to find fake resources is Peer Review Only/Not for Distributionsomewhat limited, we outline future improvements that would overcome such limitations. Furthermore, we believe our application (and its use of blockchain technology and standardised metadata), introduces a novel approach to overcoming falsities in news reporting and the provenance of media resources used therein. However, while our application has the potential to be able to verify the originality of media resources, we believe technology is only capable of providing a partial solution to fake news. That is because it is incapable of proving the authenticity of a news story as a whole. We believe that takes human skills

Assessment of Future Water Efficiency Measures

The Victorian water utilities have been active in the implementation of water efficiency for many years. Similar to other jurisdictions this intensified during the Millennium drought. The approaches employed during the drought involved both individual and joint water utility initiatives, often in collaboration with the Victorian government. These initiatives covered both the residential and non-residential sectors and were supported by the important collaborative research initiated in 2003 under the $50m Smart Water Fund (now closed). This research report “Assessment of Future Water Efficiency Measures” has been developed by the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), University of Technology Sydney, on behalf of the three Melbourne retailers, Melbourne Water, Barwon Water and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. The rapid study does not aim to be exhaustive but to begin to gather information to assist in taking stock of the current efficiency situation and to look on the horizon in terms of how efficiency might change. It aims to gather information that will be useful to assist in testing alternative potential scenarios of long term demand forecasts and new potential short and long term efficiency program opportunities that can be actioned when deemed appropriate into the future. There is significant additional conservation potential available as we look to the future in terms of new more efficient appliances and ways to interact with customers by tapping into new technical and behavioural opportunities

Characterization of the fullerene derivative [60]PCBM, by high-field carbon, and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy, coupled with DFT simulations

High-resolution (600 MHz) 1H and 13C chemical shift and 2D HETCOR NMR spectra of [60]PCBM were recorded. Resonances from every carbon atom of the ester, phenyl and cyclo-fullerenyl groups, were fully accounted. Assignments of the fullerene cyclopropa-ring, and all phenyl and ester carbons to their respective resonances were based on a HETCOR 2D NMR spectrum. Remaining fullerene assignments were made to a high level of confidence with the aid of an ωB97X hybrid HF/DFT simulation of the 13C NMR spectrum employing a triple zeta Dunning-type basis set. The best result was obtained with the range-separation parameter ω set effectively to zero. This indicates that the fraction of HF in the HF/DFT hybrid at very short range is the dominant factor in achieving good NMR results, that ωB97X with its 15.77% HF fraction at rij = 0 seems very well suited, and that allowing the HF fraction to increase with range is not particularly beneficial. The resulting spectrum had a remarkable qualitative agreement with experiment with a very low mean absolute error for fullerene carbons of 0.09 ppm, which was considerably lower than the 0.28 ppm of the more commonly used B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) method

iMAP: implicit mapping and positioning in real-time

We show for the first time that a multilayer perceptron (MLP) can serve as the only scene representation in a real-time SLAM system for a handheld RGB-D camera. Our network is trained in live operation without prior data, building a dense, scene-specific implicit 3D model of occupancy and colour which is also immediately used for tracking.Achieving real-time SLAM via continual training of a neural network against a live image stream requires significant innovation. Our iMAP algorithm uses a keyframe structure and multi-processing computation flow, with dynamic information-guided pixel sampling for speed, with tracking at 10 Hz and global map updating at 2 Hz. The advantages of an implicit MLP over standard dense SLAM techniques include efficient geometry representation with automatic detail control and smooth, plausible filling-in of unobserved regions such as the back surfaces of objects

Pyrmont-Ultimo Precinct (PUP) Scale Organics Management Scoping Study

This report, the “Pyrmont Ultimo Precinct (PUP) Scale Organics Management Scoping Study” has been prepared by the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), University of Technology Sydney (UTS). The research, conducted by ISF and funded through a collaboration between Sydney Water Corporation (SWC) and the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), has investigated at a high level, a suite of innovative organic waste management options that could potentially be piloted in Pyrmont-Ultimo, currently the densest urban area in Australia. The Pyrmont-Ultimo precinct (PUP), encompassing Pyrmont, Ultimo and the newly developed Central Park, has been specifically chosen due to the significant potential in the area, existing network of sustainability practitioners (i.e. Smart Locale1) and ISF’s/UTS’s direct involvement in research in food waste management

Damage and energy absorption behaviour of composite laminates under impact loading using different impactor geometries

The present paper compares the damage and energy absorption behaviour of composites subjected to low-velocity impact using different frontal geometries for the impactor, with the composites possessing a layup of [02/902]2s. In this study, the rigid impactors with either round-nosed or flat-ended frontal geometry are employed to perform drop-weight tests at various impact energies ranging from 10 to 30 J. The measured loading response and energy absorption are analysed and compared. Additionally, the types and extent of impact-induced damage in the composite specimens are assessed via ultrasonic C-scan, optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies. It is shown that the impact energy threshold for damage initiation is greater than 20 J when using the flat-ended impactor but is less than 10 J when using the round-nosed impactor. In both cases, delamination initiates between the plies in the composite laminate. However, for the flat-ended impactor, the damage behaviour of the fibres exhibits kinking fracture, which differs from the pull-out fibre-fracture caused by the round-nosed impactor. These differences in behaviour are attributed to impactor/composite contact geometry effects which leads to different extents of indentation damage, which in turn directly affects the degree of delamination and fibre damage in the composite