Characterization of the Psychological, Physiological and EEG Profile of Acute Betel Quid Intoxication in Naïve Subjects

Betel quid use and abuse is wide spread in Asia but the physiological basis of intoxication and addiction are unknown. In subjects naïve to the habit of betel quid intoxication, the psychological and physiological profile of intoxication has never been reported. We compared the effect of chewing gum or chewing betel quid, and subsequent betel quid intoxication, on psychological assessment, prospective time interval estimation, numerical and character digit span, computerized 2 choice tests and mental tasks such as reading and mathematics with concurrent monitoring of ECG, EEG and face temperature in healthy, non-sleep deprived, male subjects naïve to the habit of chewing betel quid. Betel quid intoxication, dose dependently induced tachycardia (max 30 bpm) and elevated face temperature (0.7°C) (P<0.001) above the effects observed in response to chewing gum (max 12 bpm and 0.3°C) in 12 subjects. Gross behavioral indices of working memory such as numerical or character digit span in 8 subjects, or simple visual-motor performance such as reaction speed or accuracy in a two choice scenario in 8 subjects were not affected by betel quid intoxication. Betel quid intoxication strongly influenced the psychological aspects of perception such as slowing of the prospective perception of passage of a 1 minute time interval in 8 subjects (P<0.05) and perceived increased arousal (P<0.01) and perceived decreased ability to think (P<0.05) in 31 subjects. The EEG spectral profile recorded from mental states associated with open and closed eyes, and mental tasks such as reading and eyes closed mental arithmetic were significantly modified (P<0.05) relative to chewing gum by betel quid intoxication in 10 subjects. The prevalence of betel quid consumption across a range of social and work settings warrants greater investigation of this widespread but largely under researched drug

Polymer-Bound Coumarin–Triphenyliminophosphorane Derivatives as Turn-On Fluorescence Sensors for Water Content Detection via Non-Hydrolytic Staudinger Reaction

Fluorometric optical sensors have recently been developed for analyzing environmental humidity and solvents’ water content. Our group has demonstrated a series of coumarin–triphenyliminophosphorane (TPIPP) derivatives that exhibit a remarkable fluorescence efficiency under photoexcitation. We speculated that these derivatives could be developed into turn-on fluorescent probes suitable for the analysis of water content and humidity. First, the non-hydrolytic Staudinger reaction (NSR) was employed to modify the side chain of a styrene–4-diphenylphosphino styrene (DPPS) copolymer with coumarin–TPIPP fluorophores. When the DPPS content of the copolymer was higher, the fluorophores’ fluorescence was weaker because of their dense packing, causing self-quenching. When the fluorophore-modified copolymer was placed in tetrahydrofuran containing water and a small amount of AcOH, hydrolysis occurred, and highly fluorescent 7-amino-3-cyanocoumarin (coumarin 1) was released in the solvent following the general Staudinger reduction route. The release of some fluorophores from the copolymer also resulted in less self-quenching, thus enhancing the fluorescence intensity. To take full advantage of this emission, we prepared polymer beads with crosslinked poly (styrene) and poly(DPPS) and coumarin fluorophores that were covalently linked to the beads through an efficient NSR. Compared with the nonbead form, the polymer beads required a much lower acid concentration for hydrolysis to occur and solvents’ fluorescence turned on more quickly. The water content in three common solvents, tetrahydrofuran, acetonitrile, and methanol, was analyzed by immersing the modified beads for 5 min (AcOH concentration = 0.5%); the respective quantitation limits were 0.067, 0.013, and 0.057%, respectively. The proposed polymer material is a promising platform for moisture detection in the chemical refinery industry

Superiority of N2O plasma annealing over O2 plasma annealing for amorphous tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) films

Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Part 2: Letters374 BL435-L437JAPL

Preliminary Neotectonic Map of Onshore-offshore Taiwan

International audienceThe diversity of the research in earth sciences leads to a multisource approach to investigate the surroundings of Taiwan. Various data sets combined by a Geographical Information System (GIS) enable us to propose an intergrated neotectonic map of onshore-offshore Taiwan. Several technical problems arise during the compilation of this map, such as the homogeneity of scales, projections and geodetic systems used, the validity and precision of each data set (line and pixel) and document, and the integration of qualitative and quantitative documents.Various types of information are taken into account in this approach, such as topography and bathymetry, geology (lithology, structure), geophysics (gravimetry, magnetism, etc.), geodesy (levelling, GPS, etc.), remote sensing and field works. This multisource approach has been applied to data sets both onland and offshore Taiwan, and has resulted in a preliminary neotectonic map of onshore-offshore Taiwan. This map provides a better comprehension of the geodynamic phenomena that affect Taiwan, and contributes significantly to the relations of the offshore structures and their corresponding reactivated extensional structures onshore (for instance, the Tainan, Taihsi, Okinawa, and Huatung basins).This document should benefit both academic research (structural and active fault maps) as well as the applied geological implications (such as natural hazards mapping and evaluation of geotechnic works)