Synthesis and photophysical properties of some conjugated polymers functionalized with ruthenium polypyridine complexes

Symposium J: Electrical, Optical and Magnetic Properties of Organic Solid-State Materials IVA series of conjugated polymers functionalized with different ruthenium polypyridine metal complexes were synthesized by the palladium catalyzed reaction. Two conjugated polymer systems have been studied: 1. poly(phenylenevinylene) with bis(2,2':6',2''-terpyridine) ruthenium (II) on the mainchain and 2. quinoxaline based polymers with tris(2,2'-bipyridine) ruthenium (II). The ruthenium polypyridine complexes exhibit a long-lived metal to ligand charge transfer excited state which can enhance the photosensitivity of the resulting polymers. Different physical properties such as the photoconductivity and charge mobility in these polymers are also studied.published_or_final_versio

Distribution-free travel time reliability assessment with probability inequalities

An assumption that pervades the current transportation system reliability assessment literature is that probability distributions of the sources of uncertainty are known explicitly. However, this distribution may be unavailable (inaccurate) in reality as we may have no (insufficient) data to calibrate the distribution. In this paper we relax this assumption and present a new method to assess travel time reliability that is distribution-free in the sense that the methodology only requires that the first N moments (where N is a user-specified positive integer) of the travel time to be known and that the travel times reside in a set of bounded and known intervals. Because of our modeling approach, all sources of uncertainty are automatically accounted for, as long as they are statistically independent. Instead of deriving exact probabilities on travel times exceeding certain thresholds via computationally intensive methods, we develop semi-analytical probability inequalities to quickly (i.e. within a fraction of a second) obtain upper bounds on the desired probability. Numerical experiments suggest that the inclusion of higher order moments can potentially significantly improve the bounds. The case study also demonstrates that the derived bounds are nontrivial for a large range of travel time values. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.postprin

Photoconductivity and charge transporting properties of metal-containing poly(p-phenylenevinylene)s

A novel type of poly(p-phenylenevinylene)s which contain bis(2.2′:6′,2″-terpyridine) ruthenium (II) complexes has been developed. The absorption of the polymers at 500 nm was strongly enhanced by the metal complexes due to the presence of the metal-ligand charge transfer transition. The charge transportation is dispersive with hole carrier mobilities and activation energy of ∼7 × 10-5 cm2 V-1 s-1 and 0.20 eV. respectively, depending on the concentration of the metal complex. A log μ vs E1/2 plot shows that hole mobilities decrease with increasing field, which suggests the presence of off-diagonal disorder in the hopping sites. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio

Reducing perioperative blood loss and allogeneic blood transfusion in patients undergoing major spine surgery

▶ At present, individual techniques, including intraoperative acute normovolemic hemodilution, use of tranexamic acid, use of intrathecal morphine, proper positioning, and modification of operative techniques, seem most promising for reducing perioperative blood loss and allogeneic blood transfusion in patients undergoing major spine surgery. ▶ Other techniques including preoperative autologous predonation; mandatory discontinuation of use of antiplatelet agents; intraoperative and postoperative red-blood-cell salvage; use of aprotinin, epsilon-aminocaproic acid, recombinant factor VIIa, or desmopressin; induced hypotension; avoidance of hypothermia; and minimally invasive operative techniques require additional studies to either establish their effectiveness or address safety considerations. Copyright © 2011 by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Incorporated.published_or_final_versio

The reliability-based stochastic transit assignment problem with elastic demand

This paper examines the reliability-based stochastic transit assignment problem with elastic demand. A Variational Inequality (VI) model for this problem is developed. The VI model considers capacity, waiting time and in-vehicle travel time as stochastic variables, and includes Spiess and Florian’s (1989) and de Cea and Fernández’s (1993) models as special cases. A reliability-based stochastic user equilibrium condition is defined to capture the route choice behavior of passengers. To illustrate the properties of the VI model, numerical studies were conducted on de Cea and Fernández’s (1993) network. The studies also show that Spiess and Florian’s and de Cea and Fernández’s models can overestimate the system performance substantially.postprin

Allostatic load and preterm birth

Preterm birth is a universal health problem that is one of the largest unmet medical needs contributing to the global burden of disease. Adding to its complexity is that there are no means to predict who is at risk when pregnancy begins or when women will actually deliver. Until these problems are addressed, there will be no interventions to reduce the risk because those who should be treated will not be known. Considerable evidence now exists that chronic life, generational or accumulated stress is a risk factor for preterm delivery in animal models and in women. This wear and tear on the body and mind is called allostatic load. This review explores the evidence that chronic stress contributes to preterm birth and other adverse pregnancy outcomes in animal and human studies. It explores how allostatic load can be used to, firstly, model stress and preterm birth in animal models and, secondly, how it can be used to develop a predictive model to assess relative risk among women in early pregnancy. Once care providers know who is in the highest risk group, interventions can be developed and applied to mitigate their risk

Association of High Myopia with Crystallin Beta A4 (CRYBA4) Gene Polymorphisms in the Linkage-Identified MYP6 Locus

Background: Myopia is the most common ocular disorder worldwide and imposes tremendous burden on the society. It is a complex disease. The MYP6 locus at 22 q12 is of particular interest because many studies have detected linkage signals at this interval. The MYP6 locus is likely to contain susceptibility gene(s) for myopia, but none has yet been identified. Methodology/Principal Findings: Two independent subject groups of southern Chinese in Hong Kong participated in the study an initial study using a discovery sample set of 342 cases and 342 controls, and a follow-up study using a replication sample set of 316 cases and 313 controls. Cases with high myopia were defined by spherical equivalent ⠤ -8 dioptres and emmetropic controls by spherical equivalent within ±1.00 dioptre for both eyes. Manual candidate gene selection from the MYP6 locus was supported by objective in silico prioritization. DNA samples of discovery sample set were genotyped for 178 tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 26 genes. For replication, 25 SNPs (tagging or located at predicted transcription factor or microRNA binding sites) from 4 genes were subsequently examined using the replication sample set. Fisher P value was calculated for all SNPs and overall association results were summarized by meta-analysis. Based on initial and replication studies, rs2009066 located in the crystallin beta A4 (CRYBA4) gene was identified to be the most significantly associated with high myopia (initial study: P = 0.02; replication study: P = 1.88e-4; meta-analysis: P = 1.54e-5) among all the SNPs tested. The association result survived correction for multiple comparisons. Under the allelic genetic model for the combined sample set, the odds ratio of the minor allele G was 1.41 (95% confidence intervals, 1.21-1.64). Conclusions/Significance: A novel susceptibility gene (CRYBA4) was discovered for high myopia. Our study also signified the potential importance of appropriate gene prioritization in candidate selection. © 2012 Ho et al.published_or_final_versio

Impact of building permeability on pollutants removal effectiveness in urban streets

The 3rd International Postgraduate Conference on Infrastructure and Environment is organized by the Faculty of Construction & Land Use of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University on 11 and 12 July 2011 in Hong Kong.Author name used in this manuscript: C.K. ChauRefereed conference paper2011-2012 > Academic research: refereed > Refereed conference paperVersion of RecordPublishe

Pyroelectric properties of PZT/P(VDF-TrFE) 0-3 composites

Author name used in this publication: F. G. ShinRefereed conference paper2000-2001 > Academic research: refereed > Refereed conference paperVersion of RecordPublishe

Soluble Host Defense Lectins in Innate Immunity to Influenza Virus

Host defenses against viral infections depend on a complex interplay of innate (nonspecific) and adaptive (specific) components. In the early stages of infection, innate mechanisms represent the main line of host defense, acting to limit the spread of virus in host tissues prior to the induction of the adaptive immune response. Serum and lung fluids contain a range of lectins capable of recognizing and destroying influenza A viruses (IAV). Herein, we review the mechanisms by which soluble endogenous lectins mediate anti-IAV activity, including their role in modulating IAV-induced inflammation and disease and their potential as prophylactic and/or therapeutic treatments during severe IAV-induced disease