Nanometer patterning of water by tetraanionic ferrocyanide stabilized in aqueous nanodrops.

Formation of the small, highly charged tetraanion ferrocyanide, Fe(CN)64-, stabilized in aqueous nanodrops is reported. Ion-water interactions inside these nanodrops are probed using blackbody infrared radiative dissociation, infrared photodissociation (IRPD) spectroscopy, and molecular modeling in order to determine how water molecules stabilize this highly charged anion and the extent to which the tetraanion patterns the hydrogen-bonding network of water at long distance. Fe(CN)64-(H2O)38 is the smallest cluster formed directly by nanoelectrospray ionization. Ejection of an electron from this ion to form Fe(CN)63-(H2O)38 occurs with low-energy activation, but loss of a water molecule is favored at higher energy indicating that water molecule loss is entropically favored over loss of an electron. The second solvation shell is almost complete at this cluster size indicating that nearly two solvent shells are required to stabilize this highly charged anion. The extent of solvation necessary to stabilize these clusters with respect to electron loss is substantially lower through ion pairing with either H+ or K+ (n = 17 and 18, respectively). IRPD spectra of Fe(CN)64-(H2O) n show the emergence of a free O-H water molecule stretch between n = 142 and 162 indicating that this ion patterns the structure of water molecules within these nanodrops to a distance of at least ∼1.05 nm from the ion. These results provide new insights into how water stabilizes highly charged ions and demonstrate that highly charged anions can have a significant effect on the hydrogen-bonding network of water molecules well beyond the second and even third solvation shells

Long distance ion-water interactions in aqueous sulfate nanodrops persist to ambient temperatures in the upper atmosphere.

The effect of temperature on the patterning of water molecules located remotely from a single SO42- ion in aqueous nanodrops was investigated for nanodrops containing between 30 and 55 water molecules using instrument temperatures between 135 and 360 K. Magic number clusters with 24, 36 and 39 water molecules persist at all temperatures. Infrared photodissociation spectroscopy between 3000 and 3800 cm-1 was used to measure the appearance of water molecules that have a free O-H stretch at the nanodroplet surface and to infer information about the hydrogen bonding network of water in the nanodroplet. These data suggest that the hydrogen bonding network of water in nanodrops with 45 water molecules is highly ordered at 135 K and gradually becomes more amorphous with increasing temperature. An SO42- dianion clearly affects the hydrogen bonding network of water to at least ∼0.71 nm at 135 K and ∼0.60 nm at 340 K, consistent with an entropic drive for reorientation of water molecules at the surface of warmer nanodrops. These distances represent remote interactions into at least a second solvation shell even with elevated instrumental temperatures. The results herein provide new insight into the extent to which ions can structurally perturb water molecules even at temperatures relevant to Earth's atmosphere, where remote interactions may assist in nucleation and propagation of nascent aerosols

Development of a quality assurance plan for a microbrewery

Quality assurance (QA) has become a key factor to business success in the marketplace. Within Australia, companies normally approach QA by implementing formal systems which maintain the consistency of manufacturing processes, and hence, the quality of subsequent output. These systems have increasingly been based upon the international series of standards, ISO 9000.In the food industry, safety is a minimum requirement for food quality. As Governments and food authorities have endeavoured to reduce the incidence of foodborne illnesses, they have promoted the implementation of additional systems developed to a specific standard for food safety, namely Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). However, the cost of developing and maintaining separate systems to ISO 9000 and HACCP is prohibitive to many food companies, particularly smaller operators. As a consequence, a number of alternative standards have been recently developed that are more relevant to the needs of these companies (e.g. SQF 2000, HACCP-9000). The purpose of this study was to develop a QA plan which could be successfully applied by a particular small food manufacturer (Westoz Brewing), This was achieved by adopting a technique used in a number of these alternative standards, i.e. application of HACCP to both safety and wider quality issues. Due to time constraints, the study focussed on applying HACCP only to quality issues rather than to both quality and safety issues. In particular, these issues were associated with lager-style products manufactured at one of the client\u27s breweries. As a result of this research, the client was provided with a practical plan suitable for the application of a QA system to the production of a Westoz beer. In addition to reducing costs associated with maintaining an integrated system, further savings would be made due to the preventative nature of HACCP, i.e, minimisation of product reworking and waste by ensuring that more products are manufactured right first time . The developed plan also represented an initial step towards certification to recognised quality standards such as SQF 2000

Program Evaluation of the Practicum I Summer Program From a Student’s Perspective

The organization, function, and value of the School Psychology Practicum I summer program at Marshall University Graduate College is examined. The perceptions of students recently completing the practicum are evaluated to determine their association with the program objectives. Data collection utilizes a questionnaire developed from the goals and objectives of the program and the criteria for evaluation of student performance. Frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, and crosstabulation are utilized to assess the data. The students expressed an overall satisfaction with the practicum experience. The study’s limitations are explored and recommendations for program improvement are presented

Online open neuroimaging mass meta-analysis

We describe a system for meta-analysis where a wiki stores numerical data in a simple format and a web service performs the numerical computation. We initially apply the system on multiple meta-analyses of structural neuroimaging data results. The described system allows for mass meta-analysis, e.g., meta-analysis across multiple brain regions and multiple mental disorders.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures SePublica 2012, ESWC 2012 Workshop, 28 May 2012, Heraklion, Greec

Customer perception of switch-feel in luxury sports utility vehicles

Successful new product introduction requires that product characteristics relate to the customer on functional, emotional, aesthetic and cultural levels. As a part of research into automotive human machine interfaces (HMI), this paper describes holistic customer research carried out to investigate how the haptics of switches in luxury sports utility vehicles (SUVs) are perceived by customers. The application of these techniques, including an initial proposal for objective specifications, is addressed within the broader new product introduction context, and benefits described. One-hundred and one customers of SUVs assessed the feel of automotive push switches, completing the tasks both in, and out of vehicles to investigate the effect of context. Using the semantic differential technique, hedonic testing, and content analysis of customers’ verbatim comments, a holistic picture has been built up of what influences the haptic experience. It was found that customers were able to partially discriminate differences in switch-feel, alongside considerations of visual appearance, image, and usability. Three factors named ‘Affective’, ‘Robustness and Precision’, and ‘Silkiness’ explained 61% of the variance in a principle components analysis. Correlations of the factors with acceptance scores were 0.505, 0.371, and 0.168, respectively