Gender,Prior Academic Performance and Beliefs as Predictors of Attitudes Toward Biology Laboratory Experiences

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between gender, prior academic performance, beliefs and student attitudes toward biology laboratory experiences. The sample consisted of 294 students from 10th, 11th and 12th grades enrolled in a Catholic high school in a major metropolitan area in the Southeast. Two 11-item scales were created; one to measure student attitudes toward biology laboratory experiences, and the other to measure student beliefs about the benefits of biology laboratory. A three-way analysis of variance (gender × prior academic performance × beliefs) was conducted with the attitudes toward biology used as the dependent variable. Gender had a significant effect on attitudes, with females reporting more positive attitudes toward biology laboratory than males. Prior academic experience was also a significant predictor of attitudes; students who received lower GPAs in previous science courses reported more positive attitudes toward biology laboratory than students with higher GPAs. Based on previous research this finding was surprising; however, it appears that lower achieving students may perceive that there is a higher benefit from “hands on” laboratory experiences than high achieving students. The data also indicated that beliefs had the strongest correlations with attitudes; students who believed laboratory experiences were beneficial had more positive attitudes. The implications for research, theory and practice are also presented.     

Apoferritin protein cages: a novel drug nanocarrier for photodynamic therapy

A methylene blue-encapsulated apoferritin complex shows cytotoxic effects on MCF-7 human breast adenocarcinoma cells when irradiated at the appropriate wavelength.     

Watching Na atoms solvate into (Na+,e-) contact pairs: untangling the ultrafast charge-transfer-to-solvent dynamics of Na- in tetrahydrofuran (THF)

With the large dye molecules employed in typical studies of solvation dynamics, it is often difficult to separate the intramolecular relaxation of the dye from the relaxation associated with dynamic solvation. One way to avoid this difficulty is to study solvation dynamics using an atom as the solvation probe; because atoms have only electronic degrees of freedom, all of the observed spectroscopic dynamics must result from motions of the solvent. In this paper, we use ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy to investigate the solvation dynamics of newly created sodium atoms that are formed following the charge transfer to solvent (CTTS) ejection of an electron from sodium anions (sodide) in liquid tetrahydrofuran (THF). Because the absorption spectra of the sodide reactant, the sodium atom, and the solvated electron products overlap, we first examined the dynamics of the ejected CTTS electron in the infrared to build a detailed model of the CTTS process that allowed us to subtract the spectroscopic contributions of the sodide bleach and the solvated electron and cleanly reveal the spectroscopy of the solvated atom. We find that the neutral sodium species created following CTTS excitation of sodide initially absorbs near 590 nm, the position of the gas-phase sodium D-line, suggesting that it only weakly interacts with the surrounding solvent. We then see a fast solvation process that causes a red-shift of the sodium atom's spectrum in approximately 230 fs, a time scale that matches well with the results of MD simulations of solvation dynamics in liquid THF. After the fast solvation is complete, the neutral sodium atoms undergo a chemical reaction that takes place in approximately 740 fs, as indicated by the observation of an isosbestic point and the creation of a species with a new spectrum. The spectrum of the species created after the reaction then red-shifts on a approximately 10-ps time scale to become the equilibrium spectrum of the THF-solvated sodium atom, which is known from radiation chemistry experiments to absorb near approximately 900 nm. There has been considerable debate as to whether this 900-nm absorbing species is better thought of as a solvated atom or a sodium cation:solvated electron contact pair, (Na+,e-). The fact that we observe the initially created neutral Na atom undergoing a chemical reaction to ultimately become the 900-nm absorbing species suggests that it is better assigned as (Na+,e-). The approximately 10-ps solvation time we observe for this species is an order of magnitude slower than any other solvation process previously observed in liquid THF, suggesting that this species interacts differently with the solvent than the large molecules that are typically used as solvation probes. Together, all of the results allow us to build the most detailed picture to date of the CTTS process of Na- in THF as well as to directly observe the solvation dynamics associated with single sodium atoms in solution.     

Influence of Ti addition on boehmite-derived aluminum silicate aerogels: structure and properties

Aluminosilicate aerogels offer potential for extremely low thermal conductivities at temperatures greater than 900?°C, beyond where silica aerogels reach their upper temperature use limits. Aerogels have been synthesized at two Al:Si ratios, a 3Al:1Si mullite composition, and an 8Al:1Si alumina rich composition. Boehmite (AlOOH) is used as the Al source, and tetraethoxysilane as the Si precursor. The influence of Ti as a ternary constituent, introduced through the addition of titanium isopropoxide in the sol?Cgel synthesis, on aerogel morphology and thermal properties is evaluated. Four different boehmite precursor powders are evaluated. Morphology, surface area and pore size, and thermal transformation vary with the crystallite size of the starting boehmite powder, as does incorporation of titanium and evolution of Ti-containing crystalline phases. The addition of Ti influences sol viscosity, gelation time, surface area and pore size distribution, as well as phase formation on heat treatment.     

Dissimilarity and the Classification of Female Singing Voices: A Preliminary Study

Traditionally, timbre has been defined as that perceptual attribute that differentiates two sounds when pitch and loudness are equal and thus is a measure of dissimilarity. By such a definition, each voice possesses a set of timbres, and the identity of any voice or voice category across different pitch-loudness-vowel combinations must be due to an abstraction of the pattern of timbre transformation. Using stimuli produced across the singing range by singers from different voice categories, this study sought to examine how timbre and pitch interact in the perception of dissimilarity. This study also investigated whether listener experience affects the perception of timbre as a function of pitch. The resulting multidimensional scaling (MDS) representations showed that for all stimuli and listeners, dimension 1 correlated with pitch, whereas dimension 2 correlated with spectral centroid and separated vocal stimuli into the categories mezzo-soprano and soprano. Dimension 3 appeared highly idiosyncratic depending on the nature of the stimuli and on the experience of the listener. Inexperienced listeners appeared to rely more heavily on pitch in making dissimilarity judgments than did experienced listeners. The resulting MDS representations of dissimilarity across pitch provide a glimpse of the timbre transformation of voice categories across pitch.     

Overcoming challenges in the palladium-catalyzed synthesis of electron deficient ortho-substituted aryl acetonitriles

Highly electron deficient monoaryl, di-aryl and bis-diaryl acetonitriles were effectively synthesized using either a nucleophilic aromatic substitution (NAS) or a palladium-mediated coupling pathway. Synthesis of di-aryl acetonitriles most conveniently proceeded via NAS--palladium-mediated coupling was not required. This reaction, however, results in a product that is more acidic than the reactants. Facile deprotonation of the product prevents efficient formation of the bis-diaryl acetonitrile through a NAS pathway. Thus, palladium-mediated coupling is required to prepare the bis-diaryl acetonitrile efficiently. In the palladium-catalyzed coupling, choice of base and solvent (and thus the counter cation for the benzylic anion nucleophile) is important. Also, choice of the supporting ligand is important, indicating the sensitivity of the reaction to steric and ligand electronic effects.     

A rare terminal dinitrogen complex of chromium

Cis and trans-Cr-N(2) complexes supported by the diphosphine ligand P(Ph)(2)N(Bn)(2) have been prepared. Positioned pendant amines in the second coordination sphere influence the thermodynamically preferred geometric isomer. Electronic structure calculations indicate negligible Cr-N(2) back-bonding; rather, electronic polarization of N(2) ligand is thought to stabilize Cr-N(2) binding.     

Near infrared photochemistry of pyruvic acid in aqueous solution

Recent experimental and theoretical results have suggested that organic acids such as pyruvic acid, can be photolyzed in the ground electronic state by the excitation of the OH stretch vibrational overtone. These overtones absorb in the near-infrared and visible regions of the spectrum where the solar photons are plentiful and could provide a reaction pathway for the organic acids and alcohols that are abundant in the earth's atmosphere. In this paper the overtone initiated photochemistry of aqueous pyruvic acid is investigated by monitoring the evolution of carbon dioxide. In these experiments CO(2) is being produced by excitation in the near-infrared, between 850 nm and ～1150 nm (11,765-8696 cm(-1)), where the second OH vibrational overtone (Δν = 3) of pyruvic acid is expected to absorb. These findings show not only that the overtone initiated photochemical decarboxylation reaction occurs but also that in the aqueous phase it occurs at a lower energy than was predicted for the overtone initiated reaction of pyruvic acid in the gas phase (13,380 cm(-1)). A quantum yield of (3.5 ± 1.0) × 10(-4) is estimated, suggesting that although this process does occur, it does so with a very low efficiency.