Polyelectrolyte-Linked Film Assemblies of Nanoparticles and Nanoshells: Growth, Stability, and Optical Properties

Multi-layer films of nanoparticles and nanoshells featuring various polymeric linkage molecules have been assembled and their optical properties characterized. The growth dynamics, including molecular weight effects, and stability of the various nanoparticle film constructions, using both single polymer as well as combinations of alternating charge polyelectrolytes as linking mechanisms, are presented. The polymeric linkers studied include poly-L-lysine, poly-L-arginine, poly(allylamine hydrochloride), and polyamidoamine dendrimers. Significantly air stable films were achieved with the use of multi-layered polymeric bridges between the nanoparticles and nanoshells. Optical sensitivity normally observed with these nanomaterials in solution was observed for their corresponding film geometries, with the nanoshell films exhibiting a markedly higher ability to report their local dielectric environment

Animistic pragmatism and native ways of knowing: adaptive strategies for overcoming the struggle for food in the sub-Arctic

Background. Subsistence norms are part of the “ecosophy” or ecological philosophy of Alaska Native Peoples in the sub-Arctic, such as the Inupiat of Seward Peninsula. This kind of animistic pragmatism is a special source of practical wisdom that spans over thousands of years and which has been instrumental in the Iñupiat’s struggle to survive and thrive in harsh and evolving environments. Objective. I hope to show how narrative in relationship to the “ecosophy” of Alaska Native peoples can help to promote a more ecological orientation to address food insecurity in rural communities in Alaska. Alaska Native ecosophy recommends central values and virtues necessary to help address concerns in Alaska’s rural communities. Design. Here, I will tease out the nature of this “ecosophy” in terms of animistic pragmatism and then show why this form of pragmatism can be instrumental for problematizing multi-scalar, intergenerational, uncertain and complex environmental challenges like food security. Results. Native elders have been the embodiment of trans-generational distributed cognition,1 for example, collective memory, norms, information, knowledge, technical skills and experimental adaptive strategies. They are human “supercomputers,” historical epistemologists and moral philosophers of a sort who use narrative, a form of moral testimony, to help their communities face challenges and seize opportunities in the wake of an ever-changing landscape. Conclusions. The “ecosophy” of the Iñupiat of Seward Peninsula offers examples of “focal practices”, which are essential for environmental education. These focal practices instil key virtues, namely humility, gratitude, self-reliance, attentiveness, responsibility and responsiveness, that are necessary for subsistence living

Linking genes to literature: text mining, information extraction, and retrieval applications for biology

Efficient access to information contained in online scientific literature collections is essential for life science research, playing a crucial role from the initial stage of experiment planning to the final interpretation and communication of the results. The biological literature also constitutes the main information source for manual literature curation used by expert-curated databases. Following the increasing popularity of web-based applications for analyzing biological data, new text-mining and information extraction strategies are being implemented. These systems exploit existing regularities in natural language to extract biologically relevant information from electronic texts automatically. The aim of the BioCreative challenge is to promote the development of such tools and to provide insight into their performance. This review presents a general introduction to the main characteristics and applications of currently available text-mining systems for life sciences in terms of the following: the type of biological information demands being addressed; the level of information granularity of both user queries and results; and the features and methods commonly exploited by these applications. The current trend in biomedical text mining points toward an increasing diversification in terms of application types and techniques, together with integration of domain-specific resources such as ontologies. Additional descriptions of some of the systems discussed here are available on the internet

Architectural Paint Research and the Archaeology of Buildings

Architectural Paint Research (APR) is the archaeological study of interior and exterior applied decoration. Over time, applied layers of paint and other decorative finishes build-up on the surface of a built structure, encapsulating microscopic deposits of material evidence. This evidence can be used to inform the phase dating of a structure, or illuminate the historic function of a space. It can challenge preconceived ideas of how specific areas were decorated, and track the changes in aesthetics over time. It can identify when architects’ ideologies have been balanced by practical considerations. It can provide an insight into the intangible and ephemeral atmosphere that decoration gives to a room. Finally, it can examine the dirt trapped between layers of decoration and thus categorize the physical environmental conditions that surrounded a building at varying points in its history. Although used in the commercial heritage and conservation sectors, Architectural Paint Research is almost completely unknown to building archaeologists. This article aims to introduce APR to a new audience, and argues that is an invaluable tool in the archaeological interpretation of buildings