Occupational safety and health criteria for responsible development of nanotechnology

In this study we investigated the release of titanium dioxide (TiO₂), silver (Ag) and silica (SiO₂) engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) from three different paints by using standardized water immersion test for coatings. Fibre-cement panels were coated with paints containing ENPs and then exposed to UV light and abraded to simulate weathering. After the static water immersion test, we observed a very low release of Ti (4–8 μg/l), while the Ag measured in leachates was under detection limit (0.1 μg/l). A small release of Si was measured in leachates, with 73 mg/l of Si released from paints containing SiO₂ ENPs after 120 h of water immersion. The cumulative loss of Si was about 1.8 % with respect to initial amount of Si in paint. Microscopic results highlighted that SiO₂ ENPs are mainly released in form of agglomerates with other particles, and only very few single SiO₂ ENPs were found in leachates. The results confirmed that Si migration is related to immersion cycles (wetting and drying cycles) of tested paints.     

Addressing conflicts of interest in nanotechnology oversight: lessons learned from drug and pesticide safety testing

Financial conflicts of interest raise significant challenges for those working to develop an effective, transparent, and trustworthy oversight system for assessing and managing the potential human health and ecological hazards of nanotechnology. A recent paper in this journal by Ramachandran et al., J Nanopart Res, 13:1345–1371 (2011) proposed a two-pronged approach for addressing conflicts of interest: (1) developing standardized protocols and procedures to guide safety testing; and (2) vetting safety data under a coordinating agency. Based on past experiences with standardized test guidelines developed by the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and implemented by national regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), we argue that this approach still runs the risk of allowing conflicts of interest to influence toxicity tests, and it has the potential to commit regulatory agencies to outdated procedures. We suggest an alternative approach that further distances the design and interpretation of safety studies from those funding the research. In case the two-pronged approach is regarded as a more politically feasible solution, we also suggest three lessons for implementing this strategy in a more dynamic and effective manner.     

Nanoscience and nanotechnology in Venezuela

Nanoscale research in Venezuela is briefly reviewed, with emphasis on research groups, research lines, and institutions involved. A summary exploration is made of international collaboration through scientific co-authorship, as well of the efforts to build nano capacities, available infrastructure, relationships to the productive sector and a weak presence in Venezuelan public policies, although there is some expectation that the situation may soon begin to change.     

Position control and optical manipulation for nanotechnology applications

During the last decade, great advances have been made concerning the construction and manipulation of nanostructures. As a consequence, nanometer stability and control of the sample position have became crucial points. For this purpose, we have built an optical microscope with high mechanic stability and we have implemented a feedback system in order to compensate thermal drifts. We demonstrate the system stability to be within one nanometer, with a control on the sample position of some micrometers, along the three spatial directions. The sample can be manipulated optically by means of a multiple optical tweezers setup and its displacements measured with a 3D position detector. We discuss and characterize the system properties thoroughly. We finally test the apparatus on a bio-molecular system constituted by a single myosin motor interacting with an actin filament.     

Trends for nanotechnology development in China, Russia, and India

China, Russia, and India are playing an increasingly important role in global nanotechnology research and development (R&D). This paper comparatively inspects the paper and patent publications by these three countries in the Thomson Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI) database and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database (1976–2007). Bibliographic, content map, and citation network analyses are used to evaluate country productivity, dominant research topics, and knowledge diffusion patterns. Significant and consistent growth in nanotechnology papers are noted in the three countries. Between 2000 and 2007, the average annual growth rate was 31.43% in China, 11.88% in Russia, and 33.51% in India. During the same time, the growth patterns were less consistent in patent publications: the corresponding average rates are 31.13, 10.41, and 5.96%. The three countries’ paper impact measured by the average number of citations has been lower than the world average. However, from 2000 to 2007, it experienced rapid increases of about 12.8 times in China, 8 times in India, and 1.6 times in Russia. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) were the most productive institutions in paper publication, with 12,334, 6,773, and 1,831 papers, respectively. The three countries emphasized some common research topics such as “Quantum dots,” “Carbon nanotubes,” “Atomic force microscopy,” and “Scanning electron microscopy,” while Russia and India reported more research on nano-devices as compared with China. CAS, RAS, and IIT played key roles in the respective domestic knowledge diffusion.     

Innovative and responsible governance of nanotechnology for societal development

Governance of nanotechnology is essential for realizing economic growth and other societal benefits of the new technology, protecting public health and environment, and supporting global collaboration and progress. The article outlines governance principles and methods specific for this emerging field. Advances in the last 10 years, the current status and a vision for the next decade are presented based on an international study with input from over 35 countries.     

The changing information environment for nanotechnology: online audiences and content

The shift toward online communication in all realms, from print newspapers to broadcast television, has implications for how the general public consumes information about nanotechnology. The goal of this study is threefold: to investigate who is using online sources for information and news about science and nanotechnology, to examine what the general public is searching for online with regards to nanotechnology, and to analyze what they find in online content of nanotechnology. Using survey data, we find those who report the Internet as their primary source of science and technology news are diverse in age, more knowledgeable about science and nanotechnology, highly educated, male, and more diverse racially than users of other media. In a comparison of demographic data on actual visits by online users to general news and science Web sites, science sites attracted more male, non-white users from the Western region of the United States than news sites did. News sites, on the other hand, attracted those with a slightly higher level of education. Our analysis of published estimates of keyword searches on nanotechnology reveals people are turning to the Internet to search for keyword searches related to the future, health, and applications of nanotechnology. A content analysis of online content reveals health content dominates overall. Comparisons of content in different types of sites—blogs, government, and general sites—are conducted.     

Research output in nanoscience and nanotechnology: Pakistan scenario

In this article, we present an overview of the research activity undertaken in Pakistan in the field of nanoscience and technology for the period 2001–2010. Starting with almost insignificant publications in this field in 2001, the number has risen steadily to 430 in 2010. A break up of organizations actively involved in research in this field suggests that most of these publications have emanated from universities. The contribution of R&D organizations that far outnumber the universities is about 10 percent of the total. Reasons for the increasing trend in publications, especially in the universities are discussed.     

JINR CICC in computational chemistry and nanotechnology problems: DL_POLY performance for different communication architectures

This report compares the performance of the DL_POLY general-purpose molecular dynamics simulation package on the LIT JINR computing cluster CICC with various communication systems. The comparison involved two cluster architectures: Gigabit Ethernet and InfiniBand technologies, respectively. The code performance tests include some comparison of the CICC cluster with the special-purpose computer MDGRAPE-3 developed at RIKEN for a high-speed acceleration of the MD (molecular dynamics) without a fixed cutoff. The DL_POLY benchmark covers a set of typical MD system simulations detailed below. The article is published in the original.     

The North American opinion climate for nanotechnology and its products: Opportunities and challenges

A January 2005 telephone survey of 1200 people in the U.S. and 2000 Canadians provides a snapshot of current North American opinion regarding nanotechnology at this crucial early point in its emergence from the laboratory to the arena of public discourse and public understanding. Using a typology of “publics” developed through analysis of a previous comparative survey (Priest, S., 2006) and subsequently tested against these newer data (Priest, S., 2005) this article describes the opinion climate for nanotechnology across North America. The comparison of key results from the two countries helps illustrate how social and cultural differences contribute to reactions to new technologies, including nanotech. The article also discusses implications for nanotechnology-related public outreach and risk communication efforts.     

New homotopy analysis transform method for solving the discontinued problems arising in nanotechnology

We present a new reliable analytical study for solving the discontinued problems arising in nanotechnology.Such problems are presented as nonlinear differential–difference equations.The proposed method is based on the Laplace transform with the homotopy analysis method(HAM).This method is a powerful tool for solving a large amount of problems.This technique provides a series of functions which may converge to the exact solution of the problem.A good agreement between the obtained solution and some well-known results is obtained.     

Elements,devices, and methods for fractal communication technology,electronics, and nanotechnology

The numerous results obtained in radio physics using fractal theory, fractional dimension, and fractional operators have been briefly classified taking into account the scaling effects of real radio signals and electromagnetic fields. A universal modeling environment based on a multilayer virtual generalized distributed RLCG element and the method of generalized finite distributed elements for analysis and synthesis of models of fractional objects and processes that possess fractional power dependence of the input impedance on frequency have been proposed. Examples of synthesis of one- and two-dimensional models are given. It is shown that nonlinear, parametrical, and other properties of modeled objects can be taken into consideration by means of the vectors of electrophysical parameters of layers and design factors.     

Development of capacitance-based and impedance-based wireless sensors and sensor nodes for structural health monitoring applications

A field demonstration of a new and hybrid wireless sensing network paradigm for structural health monitoring (SHM) is presented. In this paradigm, both power and data interrogation commands are conveyed via a mobile agent that is sent to each sensor node to perform individual interrogations, which can alleviate several limitations of traditional sensing networks. This paper will discuss such prototype systems, which will be used to interrogate capacitive-based and impedance-based sensors for SHM applications. The capacitive-based wireless sensor node is specifically built to collect peak displacement measurements. In addition, a wireless sensor node for collecting electromechanical impedance data has also been developed. Both sensor nodes are specifically designed to accept various power sources and to be wirelessly triggered on an as-needed basis so that they can be used for the hybrid sensing network approach. The capabilities of these miniaturized and portable devices are demonstrated in the laboratory and the field, which was performed at the Alamosa Canyon Bridge in southern New Mexico.     

Occupational and consumer risk estimates for nanoparticles emitted by laser printers

Several studies have reported laser printers as significant sources of nanosized particles (<0.1 μm). Laser printers are used occupationally in office environments and by consumers in their homes. The current work combines existing epidemiological and toxicological evidence on particle-related health effects, measuring doses as mass, particle number and surface area, to estimate and compare the potential risks in occupational and consumer exposure scenarios related to the use of laser printers. The daily uptake of laser printer particles was estimated based on measured particle size distributions and lung deposition modelling. The obtained daily uptakes (particle mass 0.15–0.44 μg d⁻¹; particle number 1.1–3.1 × 10⁹ d⁻¹) were estimated to correspond to 4–13 (mass) or 12–34 (number) deaths per million persons exposed on the basis of epidemiological risk estimates for ambient particles. These risks are higher than the generally used definition of acceptable risk of 1 × 10⁻⁶, but substantially lower than the estimated risks due to ambient particles. Toxicological studies on ambient particles revealed consistent values for lowest observed effect levels (LOELs) which were converted into equivalent daily uptakes using allometric scaling. These LOEL uptakes were by a factor of about 330–1,000 (mass) and 1,000–2,500 (particle surface area) higher than estimated uptakes from printers. This toxicological assessment would indicate no significant health risks due to printer particles. Finally, our study suggests that particle number (not mass) and mass (not surface area) are the most conservative risk metrics for the epidemiological and toxicological risks presented here, respectively.     

激光合作目标用玻璃微珠的研制

本文研究了玻璃及成珠工艺对激光合作目标特性的影响，并设计了特殊设备和工艺规程，在此基础上研制出高性能激光合作目标用的玻璃微珠     

Cooperation and community structure in social networks

Situations of conflict giving rise to social dilemmas are widespread in society. One way of studying these important phenomena is by using simplified models of individual behavior under conflicting situations such as evolutionary game theory. Starting from the observation that individuals interact through networks of acquaintances, we study the evolution of cooperation on model and real social networks through well known paradigmatic games. Using a new payoff scheme which leaves replicator dynamics invariant, we find that cooperation is sustainable in such networks, even in the difficult case of the prisoner’s dilemma. The evolution and stability of cooperation implies the condensation of game strategies into the existing community structures of the social network in which clusters of cooperators survive thanks to their higher connectivity towards other fellow cooperators.     

Organisation of carbon and boron nitride layers in mixed nanoparticles and nanotubes synthesised by arc discharge

2 bonds attests for the presence of ordered BN domains and of carbon domains; (ii) the elemental profiles show that BN layers and carbon layers are immiscible with a radial organisation into two to five domains; and (iii) the sets of layers at free surfaces – including the inner surfaces of tubes – are always made of carbon. The origin of this chemical organisation, which is most likely obtained during the growth, is discussed. For the hafnium-boride metallic particles coated by C/BN envelopes, a model based on the solidification from the outside to the inside of isolated liquid-like droplets is proposed: the carbon phase solidifies first according to theoretical phase diagrams, and forms the outer shells. For the tubes, a directional eutectic solidification process is shown to account for the observed C/BN/C sequence, in a vapour–liquid–solid scheme, with an hafnium-rich liquid-like particle at the tip of the tube. Received: 26 November 1998 / Accepted: 14 January 1999