Spectroscopic Engineering toward Near-Infrared Absorption of Materials Containing Perylene Diimide

The ability to tune the dye structure synthetically has been crucial in the development of materials with tailored properties for given applications. In this contribution, a series of discrete molecules are reported, which are constructed from the perylene diimide (PDI) chromophore and three dyes, namely thienyl diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPPTh2), pyridyl diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPPPyr2), and thienoisoindigo (TII). Through the choice of dye molecule and linking of the dye and PDI through conjugated acetylene bridges, the light-harvesting characteristics can be engineered to exhibit optical absorption in the range 300–900 nm. Each molecule shows ambipolar redox behavior, leading to unique electrochromic behavior

Scoping current and future genetic tools, their limitations and their applications for wild fisheries management

The overarching goal of this project was to prepare a document that summarises past, present and emerging ways in which research using genetic technology can assist the Australian fishing industry to maintain productive and sustainable harvests. The project achieved the following specific objectives: 1. Documented existing and prospective biotechnologies and genetic analysis tools that are relevant to wild fisheries management, and their availability and application at a national and international level; 2. Documented the FRDC’s past and current investment in biotechnology and genetic tools used in wild fisheries management research; 3. Documented the different biotechnology and genetic tools that are being used in wild fisheries management research in Australia, and the nature and location of key research groups; 4. Described what management question each tool has been used for (e.g. stock structure, biomass estimation, product provenance, disease monitoring); 5. Identified those tools and approaches (existing and future) most likely to deliver significant advances in fisheries management; 6. Identified the potential for collaborations which could improve the focus and impact of work in this area

Negligible evidence for regional genetic population structure for two shark species Rhizoprionodon acutus (Rüppell, 1837) and Sphyrna lewini (Griffith & Smith, 1834) with contrasting biology

Biodiversity of sharks in the tropical Indo-Pacific is high, but species-specific information to assist sustainable resource exploitation is scarce. The null hypothesis of population genetic homogeneity was tested for scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini, n = 237) and the milk shark (Rhizoprionodon acutus, n = 207) from northern and eastern Australia, using nuclear (S. lewini, eight microsatellite loci; R. acutus, six loci) and mitochondrial gene markers (873 base pairs of NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4). We were unable to reject genetic homogeneity for S. lewini, which was as expected based on previous studies of this species. Less expected were similar results for R. acutus, which is more benthic and less vagile than S. lewini. These features are probably driving the genetic break found between Australian and central Indonesian R. acutus (F-statistics; mtDNA, 0.751–0.903, respectively; microsatellite loci, 0.038–0.047 respectively). Our results support the spatially homogeneous monitoring and management plan for shark species in Queensland, Australia

Unitary designs and codes

A unitary design is a collection of unitary matrices that approximate the entire unitary group, much like a spherical design approximates the entire unit sphere. In this paper, we use irreducible representations of the unitary group to find a general lower bound on the size of a unitary t-design in U(d), for any d and t. We also introduce the notion of a unitary code - a subset of U(d) in which the trace inner product of any pair of matrices is restricted to only a small number of distinct values - and give an upper bound for the size of a code of degree s in U(d) for any d and s. These bounds can be strengthened when the particular inner product values that occur in the code or design are known. Finally, we describe some constructions of designs: we give an upper bound on the size of the smallest weighted unitary t-design in U(d), and we catalogue some t-designs that arise from finite groups.Comment: 25 pages, no figure

The Optimization of Direct Heteroarylation and Sonogashira Cross-Coupling Reactions as Efficient and Sustainable Synthetic Methods To Access π-Conjugated Materials with Near-Infrared Absorption

Two π-conjugated thienoisoindigo-based organic small molecules have been designed to be synthetically accessible through sustainable direct heteroarylation or Sonogashira C–C bond forming cross-coupling reactions utilizing a heterogeneous palladium catalyst. To access these materials, one molecule, TII-ThNaph2, contains a thiophene π-bridge to facilitate direct heteroarylation protocols, whereas the other, TII-AcNaph2, contains an acetylene π-bridge required for Sonogashira couplings. The synthetic route to both final materials was optimized to investigate the reactivity of thienoisoindigo, which to this point has not been significantly explored in comparison to other popular organic dyes such as diketopyrrolopyrrole and isoindigo. Considering the reported interest of thienoisoindigo-based materials in organic solar cells and field-effect transistors, both final materials have been characterized for their optical, electrochemical and thermal properties offering a comparison of the structure–property relationships that manifest as a result of the two different π-bridging units

Human ecological and social determinants of dental caries among the Xavante Indigenous people in Central Brazil

This community study evaluates complex interactions between macro and micro determinants of oral health in a local Indigenous population based on a theoretical framework of demographic, economic, and healthcare transformation over the last half century. The study population included all residents of eight Xavante villages in Central Brazil. Our hypothetical model posited multiple direct and indirect associations between dental caries and village groups with differentiated territorial and oral care histories, as well as household socioeconomic indicators and food acquisition patterns, individual sociodemographic characteristics, use of dental health services, and oral hygiene practices. Structural equation modelling methods were used to evaluate direct and indirect associations linking exogenous factors and dental caries. Results include 18 direct and 14 indirect statistically significant pathways between determinant variables and dental caries. Significant links with dental caries were shown for socioeconomic indicators, oral healthcare variables, household food acquisition patterns, sex, and age. These findings suggest that the oral health of Xavante residents in the villages studied is associated with determinant factors of different epidemiological and historical scales. The specific historical frame of territorial circumscription and demographic crisis followed by rapid population increase since the 1970s should be considered a cause-of-cause determinant of the economic, healthcare, and sociodemographic profile contributing to oral health among the Xavante. Considering the limitations of cross-sectional studies, our findings underline the importance for oral health determination of historical currents affecting minority ethnic groups within national societies

The price of rapid exit in venture capital-backed IPOs

This paper proposes an explanation for two empirical puzzles surrounding initial public offerings (IPOs). Firstly, it is well documented that IPO underpricing increases during “hot issue” periods. Secondly, venture capital (VC) backed IPOs are less underpriced than non-venture capital backed IPOs during normal periods of activity, but the reverse is true during hot issue periods: VC backed IPOs are more underpriced than non-VC backed ones. This paper shows that when IPOs are driven by the initial investor’s desire to exit from an existing investment in order to finance a new venture, both the value of the new venture and the value of the existing firm to be sold in the IPO drive the investor’s choice of price and fraction of shares sold in the IPO. When this is the case, the availability of attractive new ventures increases equilibrium underpricing, which is what we observe during hot issue periods. Moreover, I show that underpricing is affected by the severity of the moral hazard problem between an investor and the firm’s manager. In the presence of a moral hazard problem the degree of equilibrium underpricing is more sensitive to changes in the value of the new venture. This can explain why venture capitalists, who often finance firms with more severe moral hazard problems, underprice IPOs less in normal periods, but underprice more strongly during hot issue periods. Further empirical implications relating the fraction of shares sold and the degree of underpricing are presented

Integrated Brush Management Systems for South Texas: Development and Implementation.

76 p

Recent Developments in Understanding Two-dimensional Turbulence and the Nastrom-Gage Spectrum

Two-dimensional turbulence appears to be a more formidable problem than three-dimensional turbulence despite the numerical advantage of working with one less dimension. In the present paper we review recent numerical investigations of the phenomenology of two-dimensional turbulence as well as recent theoretical breakthroughs by various leading researchers. We also review efforts to reconcile the observed energy spectrum of the atmosphere (the spectrum) with the predictions of two-dimensional turbulence and quasi-geostrophic turbulence.Comment: Invited review; accepted by J. Low Temp. Phys.; Proceedings for Warwick Turbulence Symposium Workshop on Universal features in turbulence: from quantum to cosmological scales, 200