The Offshoring of Production Activities in European Manufacturing

We investigate production offshoring – the relocation of production activities to locations abroad – of European firms. The analysis employs data from the European Manufacturing Survey (EMS). Offshoring activity is declining across most countries, sectors, and firm sizes between the periods 2004/06 and 2007/09. Regression analysis reveals that this decline is also significant after controlling for firm characteristics. Long-term data for Germany indicate that this decrease is part of a longer trend which already started in 2003. Despite the general decrease in offshoring, far-shoring to Asia in general and to China in particular has increased. In contrast, near-shoring to EU member states in Middle and Eastern Europe (EU-12) became less attractive. The EU-12, however, is still the most important target region for offshoring activities of European firms. The dominant motive for offshoring is the wish to reduce labour costs. Expected labour cost reductions explain offshoring to the EU-12, Asia and China in particular. Vicinity to customers and market expansion follow as a motive with a wide margin. However, in contrast to the EU-12, where the offshoring decision is solely dominated by potential labour cost savings, offshoring activities to Asia and China are also significantly related to market expansion motives

Gold nanorod encapsulated bubbles

A simple method has been described for synthesizing gold nanorods (GNRs) encapsulated bubbles in a controlled manner. The method involves the use of nitrogen gas in the seed-mediated synthesis method routinely used for synthesis of GNRs. Control over the morphology of the nanostructures was achieved by nitrogen gas flow. The synthesized structures were examined by UV-Vis Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). New structures of this type could conceivably serve as plasmonic biosensors, nanodevices and photothermal theranostics with dual modality imaging functionality. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015.TUBITAK (112T507

Impedimetric detection of pathogenic bacteria with bacteriophages using gold nanorod deposited graphite electrodes

WOS: 000386312700039Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is applied for the detection of bacteria using bacteriophages as a bioprobe together with gold nanorods (GNRs). Escherichia coli - E. coli K12 was used as a model target bacteria and also for the propagation of its specific T4-phages. Gold nanorods (GNRs) were synthesized via a two-step protocol and characterized using different techniques. EIS measurements were conducted in an electrochemical cell consisting of a three electrode system. Single-use pencil graphite electrodes (PGE) were modified by the physical adsorption of GNRs to increase their interfacial conductivity and therefore sensitivity for impedimetric measurements. Therefore, interfacial charge-transfer resistance values (R-ct) sharply decreased after GNRs deposition. Phages were adsorbed on these electrodes via a simple incubation protocol at room temperature, which resulted in an increase in R-ct values, which was concluded to be as a result of nonconductive phage layers. These phage-carrying GNRs-PGEs were used for impedimetric detection of the target bacteria, E. coli. Significant increases at the R-ct values were observed which were attributed to the insulation effects of the adsorbed bacterial layers. This increase was even more when the bacterial concentrations were higher. In the case of the non-target bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), conductivity noticeable decreases (due to nonspecific adsorption). However, in the case of E. coli, the R-ct value increase is time dependent and reaches maximum in about 25-30 min, then decreases gradually as a result of bacterial lysis due to phage invasion on the electrode surfaces. In contrast, there were no time dependent changes with the non-target bacteria S. aureus (no infection and no lytic activity). It is concluded that the target bacteria could be detected using this very simple and inexpensive detection protocol with a minimum detection limit of 10(3) CFU mL(-1) in approximately 100 mu L bacterial suspension.EU-FP7-IAPP Nanobacterphage-SERS; Biyomedtek/NanoBMTThis study is partially supportedby EU-FP7-IAPP Nanobacterphage-SERS and Biyomedtek/NanoBMT. E. Piskin and A. Erdem were supported as the members of Turkish Academy of Sciences (TUBA). Dr Filiz Sayar's contributions (developing the original recipe for GNRs synthesis) are greatly appreciated. The SEM micrographs were obtained at IYTE-MAM, Urla, Izmir with the contributions of Aysel Tomak and Aytac Gul - we greatly appreciated

Charging of gold/metal oxide/gold nanocapacitors in a scanning electron microscope

Triangular parallel-plate nanocapacitors were fabricated by a combination of microsphere lithography and physical vapor deposition. The devices were comprised of a 20 nm layer of dielectric material sandwiched between two 20 nm layers of gold. Dielectric materials with a range of relative permittivities were investigated. Charging of the capacitors was probed in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) by monitoring the change in brightness of the images of the devices as a function of time. The time constants, RC, associated with the charging of the capacitors, were extracted from the SEM grayscale data. The resulting average RC values were 248 ± 27 s for SiO2, 70 ± 8 s for Al2O3, 113 ± 80 s for ZnO and 125 ± 13 s for HfO2. These values are consistent with the anticipated RC values based on the resistivities and permittivities of the materials used in the devices and importantly, were measured without the need to attach any wires or leads.Australian Research Council (DP0877539-DP0984354

Well-Defined Cholesterol Polymers with pH-Controlled Membrane Switching Activity

Cholesterol has been used as an effective component of therapeutic delivery systems because of its ability to cross cellular membranes. Considering this, well-defined copolymers of methacrylic acid and cholesteryl methacrylate, poly­(methacrylic acid-<i>co</i>-cholesteryl methacrylate) P­(MAA-<i>co</i>-CMA), were generated as potential delivery system components for pH-controlled intracellular delivery of therapeutics. Statistical copolymers with varying cholesterol contents (2, 4, and 8 mol %) were synthesized via reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis showed that the hydrodynamic diameters of the copolymers in aqueous solutions ranged from 5 ± 0.3 to 7 ± 0.4 nm for the copolymers having 2 and 4 mol % CMA and 8 ± 1.1 to 13 ± 1.9 nm for the copolymer having 8 mol % CMA with increasing pH (pH 4.5–7.4). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis revealed that the copolymer having 8 mol % CMA formed supramolecular assemblies while the copolymers having 2 and 4 mol % CMA existed as unimers in aqueous solution. The pH-responsive behavior of the copolymers was investigated via UV–visible spectroscopy revealing phase transitions at pH 3.9 for 2 mol % CMA, pH 4.7 for 4 mol % CMA, and pH 5.4 for 8 mol % CMA. Lipid bilayers and liposomes as models for cellular membranes were generated to probe their interactions with the synthesized copolymers. The interactions were determined in a pH-dependent manner (at pH 5.0 and 7.4) using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy and liposome leakage assay. Both the SPR analyses and liposome leakage assays indicated that the copolymer containing 2 mol % CMA displayed the greatest polymer–lipid interactions at pH 5.0, presenting the highest binding ability to the lipid bilayer surfaces, and also demonstrating the highest membrane destabilization activity. CellTiter–Blue assay showed that the copolymers did not affect the cell viability up to 30 μM over a period of 72 h