Active cancellation of occlusion: an electronic vent for hearing aids and hearing protectors

The occlusion effect is commonly described as an unnatural and mostly annoying quality of the voice of a person wearing hearing aids or hearing protectors. As a result, it is often reported by hearing aid users as a deterrent to wearing hearing aids. This paper presents an investigation into active occlusion cancellation. Measured transducer responses combined with models of an active feedback scheme are first examined in order to predict the effectiveness of occlusion reduction. The simulations predict 18 dB of occlusion reduction in completely blocked ear canals. Simulations incorporating a 1 mm vent (providing passive occlusion reduction) predict a combined active and passive occlusion reduction of 20 dB. A prototype occlusion canceling system was constructed. Averaged across 12 listeners with normal hearing, it provided 15 dB of occlusion reduction. Ten of the subjects reported a more natural own voice quality and an appreciable increase in comfort with the cancellation active, and 11 out of the 12 preferred the active system over the passive system.     

Poly(vinylpyrrolidone)‐stabilized silver nanoparticles for strained‐silicon surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Poly(vinylpyrrolidone)‐stabilized silver nanoparticles deposited onto strained‐silicon layers grown on graded Si_1−xGe_x virtual substrates are utilized for selective amplification of the Si–Si vibration mode of strained silicon via surface‐enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy. This solution‐based technique allows rapid, highly sensitive and accurate characterization of strained silicon whose Raman signal would usually be overshadowed by the underlying bulk SiGe Raman spectra. The analysis was performed on strained silicon samples of thickness 9, 17.5 and 42 nm using a 488 nm Ar⁺ micro‐Raman excitation source. The quantitative determination of strained‐silicon enhancement factors was also made. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cyclic Disulfide Liposomes for Membrane Functionalization and Cellular Delivery

Liposomes are effective therapeutic delivery nanocarriers due to their ability to encapsulate and enhance the pharmacokinetic properties of a wide range of therapeutics. Two primary areas in which improvement is needed for liposomal drug delivery is to enhance the ability to infiltrate cells and to facilitate derivatization of the liposome surface. Herein, we report a liposome platform incorporating a cyclic disulfide lipid (CDL) for the dual purpose of enhancing cell entry and functionalizing the liposome membrane through thiol-disulfide exchange. In order to accomplish this, CDL-1 and CDL-2 , composed of lipoic acid (LA) or asparagusic acid (AA) appended to a lipid scaffold, were designed and synthesized. A fluorescence-based microplate immobilization assay was implemented to show that these compounds enable convenient membrane decoration through reaction with thiol-functionalized small molecules. Additionally, fluorescence microscopy experiments indicated dramatic enhancements in cellular delivery when CDLs were incorporated within liposomes. These results demonstrate that multifunctional CDLs serve as an exciting liposome system for surface decoration and enhanced cellular delivery.     

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Activated Liposomal Cell Delivery using a Boronate-Caged Guanidine Lipid

We report boronate-caged guanidine-lipid 1 that activates liposomes for cellular delivery only upon uncaging of this compound by reactive oxygen species (ROS) to produce cationic lipid products. These liposomes are designed to mimic the exceptional cell delivery properties of cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), while the inclusion of the boronate cage is designed to enhance selectivity such that cell entry will only be activated in the presence of ROS. Boronate uncaging by hydrogen peroxide was verified by mass spectrometry and zeta potential (ZP) measurements. A microplate-based fluorescence assay was developed to study the ROS-mediated vesicle interactions between 1 -liposomes and anionic membranes, which were further elucidated via dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis. Cellular delivery studies utilizing fluorescence microscopy demonstrated significant enhancements in cellular delivery only when 1 -liposomes were incubated with hydrogen peroxide. Our results showcase that lipid 1 exhibits strong potential as an ROS-responsive liposomal platform for targeted drug delivery applications.     

Manganese‐Catalyzed Hydrofunctionalization of Alkenes

The manganese‐catalyzed hydrosilylation and hydroboration of alkenes has been developed using a single manganese(II) precatalyst and reaction protocol. Both reactions proceed with excellent control of regioselectivity and in high yields across a variety of sterically and electronically differentiated substrates (25 examples). Alkoxide activation, using NaO^tBu, was key to precatalyst activation and reactivity. Catalysis was achieved across various functional groups and on gram‐scale for both the developed methodologies with catalysts loadings as low as 0.5 mol %.     

Template assisted synthesis of silica-coated molecular crystal nanorods: From hydrophobic to hydrophilic nanorods

We report a method for the preparation of silica-coated molecular crystal nanorods. A sol-gel method was used to make silica nanotubes inside anodized alumina templates. The nanotubes were then loaded with 9-anthracene carboxylic acid (9-AC) and solvent annealed to produce silica-coated organic nanorods. The core-shell structure was confirmed using electron microscopy, and the highly crystalline organic core was characterized using powder X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The silica-coated 9-AC rods had much improved dispersal properties in aqueous solution, and were also able to undergo reversible bending under UV illumination, as observed previously for uncoated 9-AC rods. This work demonstrates that it is possible to make surface-coated molecular crystal nanorods that retain their useful functionalities.     

More DD difference sets

Dillon and Dobbertin proved that if L := GF(2 ^m ), gcd(k, m) = 1, d := 4 ^k ? 2 ^k + 1 and Δ _k (x) := (x + 1) ^d + x ^d + 1, then B _k := L\Δ _k (L) is a difference set in the cyclic multiplicative group L  ^×  of L. Used in the proof were the auxiliary functions $c_k^{\gamma}(x) := b_k(\gamma x^{2^k+1})$ , where γ is in L  ^×  and b _k is the characteristic function of B _k on L. When m is odd $c_k^{\gamma}$ is itself the characteristic function of a cyclic difference set which is equivalent to B _k . In this paper we point out that when m is even and γ is not a cube in L then $c_k^{\gamma}$ is the characteristic function of a difference set in the elementary abelian additive group of L; i.e. $c_k^{\gamma}$ is a bent function.     

High precision delta(17)O isotope measurements of oxygen from silicates and other oxides: method and applications

The use of infrared laser-assisted fluorination to release oxygen from milligram quantities of silicates or other oxide mineral grains is a well-established technique. However, relatively few studies have reported the optimisation of this procedure for oxygen-17 isotope measurements. We describe here details of an analytical system using infrared (10 μm) laser-assisted fluorination, in conjunction with a dual inlet mass spectrometer of high resolving power ( approximately 250) to provide (17)O and (18)O oxygen isotope measurements from 0.5-2 mg of silicates or other oxide mineral grains. Respective precisions (1) of typically 0.08 and 0.04 per thousand are obtained for the complete analytical procedure. Departures from the mass-dependent oxygen isotope fractionation line are quantified by Delta(17)O; our precision (1) of such measurements on individual samples is shown to be +/-0.024 per thousand. In turn, this permits the offset between parallel, mass-dependent fractionation lines to be characterised to substantially greater precision than has been possible hitherto. Application of this system to investigate the (17)O versus (18)O relationship for numerous terrestrial whole-rock and mineral samples, of diverse geological origins and age, indicates that the complete data set may be described by a single, mass-dependent fractionation line of slope 0.5244+/- 0.00038 (standard error). Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.