Investigation of the feasibility of sterile assembly of silver-zinc batteries

Electrical performance, bioassays, and packaging concepts evaluated in sterile assembly of silver zinc batterie

Investigation of sputtering effects on the moon's surface Eleventh quarterly status report, 25 Oct. 1965 - 24 Jan. 1966

Implications of Lunar 9 moon probe, sputtering yield reduction due to surface roughness, water formation by solar wind bombardment, photometric function of moon, and chemical sputterin

The adsorption structure of furan on Pd(1 1 1)

The structure of molecular furan, C4H4O, on Pd(1 1 1) has been investigated by O K-edge near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and C 1s scanned-energy mode photoelectron diffraction (PhD). NEXAFS shows the molecule to be adsorbed with the molecular plane close to parallel to the surface, a conclusion confirmed by the PhD analysis. Chemical-state specific C 1s PhD data were obtained for the two inequivalent C atoms in the furan, the α-C atoms adjacent to the O atom, and the β-C atoms bonded only to C atoms, but only the PhD modulations for the α-C emitters were of sufficiently large amplitude for detailed evaluation using multiple scattering calculations. This analysis shows the α-C atoms to be located approximately 0.6 Å off-atop surface Pd atoms with an associated C–Pd bondlength of 2.13 ± 0.03 Å. Two alternative local geometries consistent with the data place the O atom in off-atop or near-hollow locations, and for each of these local structures there are two equally-possible registries relative to the fcc and hcp hollow sites. The results are in good agreement with earlier density functional theory calculations which indicate that the fcc and hcp registries are equally probable, but the PhD results fail to distinguish the two distinct local bonding geometries

Sex distribution of offspring-parents obesity: Angel's hypothesis revisited

This study, which is based on two cross sectional surveys' data, aims to establish any effect of parental obesity sex distribution of offspring and to replicate the results that led to the hypothesis that obesity may be associated with sex-linked recessive lethal gene. A representative sample of 4,064 couples living in Renfrew/Paisley, Scotland was surveyed 1972-1976. A total of 2,338 offspring from 1,477 of the couples screened in 1972-1976, living in Paisley, were surveyed in 1996. In this study, males represented 47.7% among the total offspring of the couples screened in 1972-1976. In the first survey there was a higher male proportion of offspring (53%, p < 0.05) from parents who were both obese, yet this was not significant after adjustment for age of parents. Also, there were no other significant differences in sex distribution of offspring according to body mass index, age, or social class of parents. The conditions of the original 1949 study of Angel (1949) (which proposed a sex-linked lethal recessive gene) were simulated by selecting couples with at least one obese daughter. In this subset, (n = 409), obesity in fathers and mothers was associated with 26% of offspring being male compared with 19% of offspring from a non-obese father and obese mother. Finally we conclude that families with an obese father have a higher proportion of male offspring. These results do not support the long-established hypotheses of a sex-linked recessive lethal gene in the etiology of obesity

Study of Regions of Extended Homozygosity Provides a Powerful Method to Explore Haplotype Structure of Human Populations

Previous investigations have reported linkage disequilibrium occurring between nearby polymorphisms, a block-like structure for such relationships, some instances where surprisingly few haplotypes are found and regions of extended homozygosity which are especially marked around centromeres and which are especially common on the X chromosome. We investigated the distribution and nature of regions of extended homozygosity in a sample of 1411 subjects included in a genome wide association study. Regions of extended homozygosity over 1Mb are common, with an average of 35.9 occurring per subject, and containing on average 73 homozygous markers. They have a markedly non-random distribution. They are relatively common on the X chromosome and are seen at centromeres but are also concentrated at other chromosomal regions where presumably recombination is rare. They seem to be a consequence of some haplotypes being very common in the population and although sometimes this reflects the effect of a very common haplotype we also note that there are examples of two or three common haplotypes, each very different from each other, underlying this effect. Regions of extended homozygosity are commoner than previously appreciated. They result from the presence of extended haplotypes with high population frequency. Such regions concentrate in particular locations. The haplotypes involved are sometimes markedly disparate from each other. These regions offer a valuable opportunity for further investigation, in particular with regard to their ancestral history

Investigation into the Ability of SNP Chipsets and Microsatellites to Detect Association with a Disease Locus

We wished to investigate the ability of different SNP chipsets to detect association with a disease and to investigate the linkage disequilibrium (LD) relationships between microsatellites and nearby SNPs in order to assess their potential usefulness to detect association

A structural study of a C3H3 species coadsorbed with CO on Pd(1 1 1)

The combination of chemical-state-specific C 1s scanned-energy mode photoelectron diffraction (PhD) and O K-edge near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) has been used to determine the local adsorption geometry of the coadsorbed C3H3 and CO species formed on Pd(1 1 1) by dissociation of molecular furan. CO is found to adopt the same geometry as in the Pd(1 1 1)c(4 × 2)-CO phase, occupying the two inequivalent three-fold coordinated hollow sites with the C–O axis perpendicular to the surface. C3H3 is found to lie with its molecular plane almost parallel to the surface, most probably with the two ‘outer’ C atoms in equivalent off-atop sites, although the PhD analysis formally fails to distinguish between two distinct local adsorption sites

Phase-change chalcogenide glass metamaterial

Combining metamaterials with functional media brings a new dimension to their performance. Here we demonstrate substantial resonance frequency tuning in a photonic metamaterial hybridized with an electrically/optically switchable chalcogenide glass. The transition between amorphous and crystalline forms brings about a 10% shift in the near-infrared resonance wavelength of an asymmetric split-ring array, providing transmission modulation functionality with a contrast ratio of 4:1 in a device of sub-wavelength thickness.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Sustaining Educational Reforms in Introductory Physics

While it is well known which curricular practices can improve student performance on measures of conceptual understanding, the sustaining of these practices and the role of faculty members in implementing these practices are less well understood. We present a study of the hand-off of Tutorials in Introductory Physics from initial adopters to other instructors at the University of Colorado, including traditional faculty not involved in physics education research. The study examines the impact of implementation of Tutorials on student conceptual learning across eight first-semester, and seven second-semester courses, for fifteen faculty over twelve semesters, and includes roughly 4000 students. It is possible to demonstrate consistently high, and statistically indistinguishable, student learning gains for different faculty members; however, such results are not the norm, and appear to rely on a variety of factors. Student performance varies by faculty background - faculty involved in, or informed by physics education research, consistently post higher student learning gains than less-informed faculty. Student performance in these courses also varies by curricula used - all semesters in which the research-based Tutorials and Learning Assistants are used have higher student learning gains than those semesters that rely on non-research based materials and do not employ Learning Assistants.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, and other essential inf

Philanthropy or solidarity? Ethical dilemmas about humanitarianism in crisis afflicted Greece

That philanthropy perpetuates the conditions that cause inequality is an old argument shared by thinkers such as Karl Marx, Oscar Wilde and Slavoj Zizek. I recorded the same argument in conversations regarding a growing humanitarian concern in austerity-ridden Greece. At the local level a number of solidarity initiatives provide the most impoverished families with humanitarian help. Some citizens participate in such initiatives wholeheartedly, while some other citizens criticize solidarity movements drawing primarily from Marxist-inspired arguments, such as, for example, that humanitarianism rationalises state inaction. The local narratives presented in this article bring forward two parallel possibilities engendered by the humanitarian face of social solidarity: first, its empowering potential (where solidarity initiatives enhance local social awareness), and second, the de-politicisation of the crisis and the experience of suffering (a liability that stems from the effectiveness of humanitarianism in ameliorating only temporarily the superficial consequences of the crisis). These two overlapping possibilities can help us problematise the contextual specificity and strategic employment of humanitarian solidarity in times of austerity