Self-assembled DNA-conjugated polymer for novel DNA chip.

We developed DNA-conjugated polymer for DNA chip fabrication. A 30 mer probe DNA and disulfide bridges were covalently attached to the polymer side chain. The DNA-conjugated polymer can be specifically adsorbed on a gold substrate surface by a self-assembly technique. The interaction between fully matched DNA and DNA-conjugated polymer was investigated by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique. The DNA-conjugated polymer-modified gold surface highly recognized fully matched DNA, rather than unmatched DNA. Therefore, DNA-conjugated polymer can be used for novel DNA chip fabrication.     

Security Applications of Optical Face Recognition System: Access Control in E-Learning

The educational system has gradually shifted from a face-to-face to an e-learning system, which has become prevalent in advanced countries with the advance of information technology, and connection of global networks. Accordingly, a growing demand is emerging for more reliable individual certification with technical precision in order to measure and record learning achievements and credentials of participants. The present system has a limit in terms of registration capacity, therefore, its accuracy has often been questioned. Against this background, an individual certification system is proposed particularly for access control in e-learning. Under our proposed system, a compact optical correlator for facial recognition is employed. This correlator was previously tested for of biometrics authentication accuracy and proved highly reliable, having recorded remarkably low error rates (below 1%). The recorded error rate is sufficiently robust that the system itself can be regarded as a valid and practical viable attestation system.     

Entropy production per site in (nonreversible) spin-flip processes

Entropy production per site in a (nonreversible) spin-flip process is studied. We give it a useful expression, from which a property stronger than affinity of the entropy production per site follows. Furthermore, quasi-invariance of nonequilibrium measures in the spin-flip processes is discussed via entropy production.     

Connecting Mathematics and Science in Undergraduate Teacher Education Programs: Faculty Voices from the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation

The study reported in this paper investigated perceptions concerning connections between mathematics and science held by university/college instructors who participated in the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation (MCTP), an NSF-funded program aimed at developing special middle-level mathematics and science teachers. Specifically, we asked (a) “What are the perceptions of MCTP instructors about the ‘other’ discipline?” (b) “What are the perceptions of MCTP instructors about the connections between mathematics and science?” and (c) “What are some barriers perceived by MCTP instructors in implementing mathematics and science courses that emphasize connections?” The findings suggest that the benefits of emphasizing mathematics and science connections perceived by MCTP instructors were similar to the benefits reported by school teachers. The barriers reported were also similar. The participation in the project appeared to have encouraged MCTP instructors to grapple with some fundamental questions, like “What should be the nature of mathematics and science connections?” and “What is the nature of mathematics/science in relationship to the other discipline?”     

ICTS measurements for p-GaN Schottky contacts

High-temperature isothermal capacitance transient spectroscopy (H-ICTS) measurements were conducted to characterize near mid-gap defects, which are the origin of the memory effect in Ni/p-GaN Schottky contacts. A large single peak was detected only under the forward bias conditions. This indicates that the defects were located in the vicinity of the interface. The change of the peak height and position of the ICTS curves under various bias conditions were qualitatively interpreted by the distribution of the defects and the current flow effect.     

A Pseudo-Random Frequency Modulation Continuous Wave Coherent Lidar Using an Optical Field Correlation Detection Method

We propose a new detection method for a pseudo-random frequency modulation continuous wave (RM-CW) coherent lidar. The feature of this method is modulation of local beam with a time delayed pseudo-random sequence. Heterodyne detection and correlation detection between the received beam and the local beam are simultaneously carried out in an optical field. In the RM-CW coherent lidar using the optical field correlation detection method, the received equipment is greatly simplified. We carried out preliminary experiments and demonstrated that the new method is effective for detection of a CW coherent lidar.     

Thermal properties and fracture toughness of a liquid‐crystalline epoxy resin cured with an aromatic diamine crosslinker having a mesogenic group

A mesogenic‐type curing agent was synthesized to introduce a mesogenic group not only into epoxy resin backbones but also into the crosslink units. In the mesogenic curing agent system, the domain size became larger, and the network arrangement in each domain existed to a greater extent than that in a system cured with the ordinary diamine curing system according to the evidence from polarized optical micrographs and polarized Fourier transform infrared mapping measurements. Moreover, the fracture toughness of the system was considerably improved. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2486–2494, 2006     

Tristimulus colorimetry using a digital still camera and its application to determination of iron and residual chlorine in water samples.

Tristimulus colorimetry using a digital still camera (DSC) as a colorimeter has been developed. A photograph of a sample and standard solutions was taken simultaneously with the DSC, and it was transferred to a PC. On the PC, the colors of the sample and of the standard solutions were analyzed and L* (brightness), a* (red-green component), and b* (yellow-blue component) values were determined with laboratory-made software. A dedicated light-box containing white-color LEDs as light source was made of white acrylic to make constant exposure at each photograph. Various settings of the DSC, such as exposure mode, white balance, and so on, that affect analytical figures, were studied with determination of iron with 1,10-phenanthroline. This method was successfully applied to the determinations of iron in a river water sample and of residual chlorine in tap water samples with N,N-diethylphenylenediamine (DPD).     

Separation of fulvic acid from soil extracts based on ion-pair formation with a cationic surfactant.

A novel method for separating fulvic acid (FA) from soil extracts is proposed. The FA, defined as the acid-soluble fraction of an alkaline extract of soil, was separated based on the precipitation of an ion-pair with a cationic surfactant, such as domiphen bromide. The precipitate was dissolved in aqueous HCl to produce H+ -type FA and a surfactant chloride (SUR-Cl). SUR-Cl, in the aqueous solution, was removed by extraction with CHCl3. After the aqueous phase was passed through a cation-exchanger (H+ -type), H+ -type FA (FA-SUR) was obtained as a powder by lyophylization. The chemical characteristics of FA-SUR were compared with an FA sample separated according to the method of the International Humic Substances Society using a DAX-8 resin (FA-DAX). The oxygen content, O/C atomic ratio and total acidity of the FA-SUR were significantly larger than the corresponding values for FA-DAX. The solid-state CPMS 13C NMR spectra indicated that the higher oxygen content of the FA-SUR could be due to alcoholic hydroxyl groups and polysaccharides as well as carboxylic groups. These results show that FA-SUR is more polar and hydrophilic than FA-DAX.