3D semiconducting nanostructures via inverse lipid cubic phases.

Well-ordered and highly interconnected 3D semiconducting nanostructures of bismuth sulphide were prepared from inverse cubic lipid mesophases. This route offers significant advantages in terms of mild conditions, ease of use and electrode architecture over other routes to nanomaterials synthesis for device applications. The resulting 3D bicontinous nanowire network films exhibited a single diamond topology of symmetry Fd3m (Q227) which was verified by Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and holds great promise for potential applications in optoelectronics, photovoltaics and thermoelectrics

Sublethal and sex-specific cypermethrin effects in toxicity testing with the midge *Chironomus riparius* Meigen

Goedkoop W, Spann N, Åkerblom N. Sublethal and sex-specific cypermethrin effects in toxicity testing with the midge *Chironomus riparius* Meigen. Ecotoxicology. 2010;19(7):1201-1208.We quantified sublethal and sex-specific cypermethrin effects in experiments (29 days) with the midge Chironomus riparius at different levels of sediment organic matter content (0, 5, and 20%). We found highly significant effects of cypermethrin concentrations and sediment type on emergence, mean development rate, and adult size. For example, emergence/survival rates were 70–100% below 0.8 μg/l and unaffected by organic matter content. At 3.2 μg/l, however, no larvae survived in sediment without organic matter, but survival successively increased to 26 ± 11% in sediment with 20% organic matter. Mean development rates were always higher for males than for females, and significant differences between sexes occurred consistently in controls and in treatments with our lowest concentration of 0.05 μg/l. Sex-specific differences in mean development rate decreased across the cypermethrin gradient, suggesting that male development was affected more than that of females at similar concentrations. We also found an increase in adult size across the concentration gradient in sediments lacking organic matter and suggest an increased feeding activity due to sublethal toxic stress as a probable causal mechanism. We speculate that the observed sex-specific effects on development rates and adult size can have strong repercussions on emergence timing and fecundity, respectively