Smart pixels with smart illumination

Smart pixels with smart illumination is a new concept in sensor array technology based on structured built-in illumination and optoelectronic feedback. It offers many new possibilities and potential advantages over more-traditional sensor arrays. We discuss an edge-detection system as an example of how smart illumination can advantageously be used to achieve a variety of functions. We also present initial experimental results from a fabricated chip based on this concept. The chip includes an integrated array of photodetectors and LED's. The output of each pixel can be controlled based on the feedback received by its dual detectors.     

Living polymerization: Rationale for uniform terminology

Polymer chemistry textbooks (e.g., B. Vollmert, Polymer Chemistry, Springer‐Verlag: New York, 1973, p 37; G. Odian, Principles of Polymerization, 3rd ed., Wiley: New York, 1991, p 8; H. G. Elias, An Introduction to Polymer Science, VCH: Weinheim, 1997, p 51) classify polymerization reactions as chain, step, and living according to the dependence of their degree of polymerization (DP ) or molecular weight (M̄) on conversion. This article discusses the rationale for uniform terminology in living polymerization. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 1706–1708, 2000     

Plug‐Based Microfluidics with Defined Surface Chemistry to Miniaturize and Control Aggregation of Amyloidogenic Peptides

Small with control : For miniaturization of protein aggregation experiments the interfacial chemistry must be controlled to avoid protein aggregation caused by interfacial adsorption. Plug‐based microfluidics with defined surface chemistry (see schematic picture) can then be used to perform hundreds of aggregation experiments with volume‐limited samples, such as cerebrospinal fluid from mice.

     

Bone micro-damage assessment using non-linear resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (NRUS) techniques: a feasibility study

Non-linear resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (NRUS) is a technique exploiting the significant non-linear behavior of damaged materials, related to the presence of damage. This study shows for the first time the feasibility of this technique for damage assessment in bone. Two samples of bovine cortical bone were subjected to a progressive damage experiment. Damage accumulation was progressively induced in the samples by mechanical testing. For independent assessment of damage, X-ray CT imaging was performed at each damage step, but only helped in the detection of the prominent cracks. Synchrotron micro-CT imaging and histology using epifluorescence microscopy were performed in one of the two samples at the last damage step and allowed detection of micro-cracks for this step. As the quantity of damage accumulation increased, NRUS revealed a corresponding increase in the non-linear response. The measured change in non-linear response is much more sensitive than the change in elastic modulus. The results suggest that NRUS could be a potential tool for micro-damage assessment in bone. Further work has to be carried out for a better understanding of the physical nature of damaged bone, and for the ultimate goal of in vivo implementation of the technique where bone access will be a challenging problem.     

Photolysis of (Me2Si)6 in argon matrices doped with high concentrations (ca. 20%) of N2O or C2H4O: formation of (Me2SiO)6

Irradiation using a low pressure mercury lamp (λ=ca. 250 nm) of argon matrices containing ca. 1% (Me₂Si)₆ and ca. 20% ethylene oxide (C₂H₄O) or nitrous oxide (N₂O) for a period of ca. 20 h leads to the formation of the cyclic compound (Me₂SiO)₆. This has a 12-membered ring with alternating Si and O atoms. It is identified by comparison of its infrared spectrum with a spectrum of an authentic sample. The reaction appears to proceed by stepwise insertion of O atoms into Si---Si bonds.     

Dinoflagellate neurotoxins related to saxitoxin: Structures of toxins C3 and C4, and confirmation of the structure of neosaxitoxin

By x-ray crystallography of the 11β epimer, toxins C3 and C4 are shown to be 21-sulfo-N-1-hydroxysaxitoxin-11α- and 11β-hydroxysulfate, confirming the position and identity of the 3 substituents which, with the parent compound, form the array of 12 saxitoxins found in $\text{Protogonyaulax}$.     

The surface temperature dependence of the inelastic scattering and dissociation of hydrogen molecules from metal surfaces

High-dimensional, wave packet calculations have been carried out to model the surface temperature dependence of rovibrationally inelastic scattering and dissociation of hydrogen molecules from the Cu(111) surface. Both the molecule and the vibrating surface are treated fully quantum-mechanically. It is found, in agreement with experimental data, that the surface temperature dependence of a variety of dynamical processes has an Arrhenius form with an activation energy dependent on molecular translational energy and on the initial and final molecular states. The activation energy increases linearly with decreasing translational energy below the threshold energy. Above threshold the behavior is more complex. A quasianalytical model is proposed that faithfully reproduces the Arrhenius law and the translational energy dependence of the activation energy. In this model, it is essential to include quantized energy transfer between the surface and the molecule. It further predicts that for any process characterized by a large energy barrier and multiphonon excitation, the linear change in activation energy up to threshold has slope-1. This explains successfully the universal nature of the unit slope found experimentally for H2 and D2 dissociation on Cu.     

Compositional analysis of the Huitzila and La Lobera obsidian sources in the southern Sierra Madre Occidental,Mexico

Results of neutron activation analysis of 100 obsidian specinens from the southern Sierra Madre Occidental are discussed. Two separate peralkaline sources are identified, Huitzila and La Lobera, which are chemically and spatially distinct. Subsequent subdivision of each source into spatial and compositional subgroups suggest separate flows or subsources. Identification of archaeological artifacts which match these sources compositionally suggests that Huitzila and La Lobera were important sources of high quality obsidian which was distributed widely in northern Mesoamerica.