Perception of urban park soundscape

A number of studies have been initiated to explore how to improve the soundscape quality in urban parks. However, good soundscape quality in parks cannot be provided without a thorough understanding of the complex relationships among sound, environment, and individuals. As acoustic comfort is considered to be an important outcome of soundscape quality, this study investigates the relative impacts of the factors influencing acoustic comfort evaluation by formulating a multivariate ordered logit model. This study also explores the inter-relationships among acoustic comfort evaluation, acceptability of the environment, and preference to stay in a park using a path model. A total of 595 valid responses were obtained from interview surveys administered in four parks in Hong Kong while objective sound measurements were carried out at the survey spots concurrently. The findings unveil that acoustic comfort evaluation, besides visual comfort evaluation of landscape, also plays an important role on users' acceptability of the urban park environment. Compared with all the studied acoustic related factors, acoustic comfort evaluation serves as a better proxy for park users' preference to stay in urban parks. Hearing the breeze will significantly increase the likelihood of individuals in giving high acoustic comfort evaluation. Conversely, hearing the sounds from heavy vehicles or sounds from bikes will significantly reduce the likelihood in giving a high acoustic evaluation.     

以优化方法求解布料无摩擦接触变形问题

利用作者所提出的布料质点模型,用罚函数法解除布料和其它物体之间的接触约束,把接触约束条件下的极值问题转化为无约束极值问题,用F-R共轭梯度法求解,并用三次插值方法进行一维搜索.计算了有缝摺和裁剪开口的布料与球形物体的接触变形问题,得到的结果符合人们的日常实际观察.     

Separation of polar mushroom toxins by mixed-mode hydrophilic and ionic interaction liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry

Reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) is commonly used to analyze nonvolatile contaminants and naturally occurring toxins in foods. However, polar compounds, such as hydrophilic polypeptides and quaternary ammonium salts, are often not satisfactorily separated by RPLC and present a challenge for analytical scientists. In this study, hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC), on an amide-based stationary phase in combination with electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS), is successfully employed to simultaneously separate polar mushroom toxins, including amanitins and phallotoxins, which are cyclic oligopeptides and muscarine, a quaternary ammonium compound, in mushrooms. The sensitivity of different ionization modes is studied, and the positive ionization mode is found to provide a more sensitive and effective tool for the unambiguous identification of the concerned polar toxins because of their characteristic fragmentation patterns. The properties of the mobile phase are also found to have significant impacts on the separation. At a high acetonitrile (ACN) concentration, hydrophilic interaction dominates, and all analytes under study demonstrate a much higher affinity with the stationary phase. The addition of methanol (MeOH) as a modifier could further enhance the HILIC separation for amanitins, phallotoxins, and muscarine. Valley-to-valley separation is achieved upon the optimatizatiqn of the mobile phase (comprising of ACN, MeOH, and ammonium formate buffer at pH approximately 3.5) and the solvent gradient. HILIC coupled with ESI-MS-MS is demonstrated to be a novel technique for the simultaneous separation and confirmatory analysis of the concerned polar toxins by providing an environment of solubility and retention that could not be achieved through the use of RPLC.     

A new route for fast synthesis of copper nanowires and application on flexible transparent conductive films

Journal of Nanoparticle Research - The magnetically assembled chain-like structures of magnetic nanoparticles attract great attention due to their unique properties. In this paper, we studied the...     

Weakly coordinating nature of a carborane cage bearing different halogen atoms. Synthesis and structural characterization of icosahedral mixed halocarborane anions, 1-H-CB11Y5X6- (X, Y = Cl, Br, I)

Mixed halocarborane anions, 1-H-CB11Y5X6- (X, Y = Cl, Br, I), have been prepared by treatment of [Me3NH][1-H-CB11H5X6] (X = Cl, Br, I) with proper halogenating reagents at 180-220 degrees C in a sealed tube in high yield. These new anions are fully characterized by 1H, 13C, and 11B NMR, IR, and negative-ion MALDI MS spectroscopy. Some are further confirmed by single-crystal X-ray analyses. The weakly coordinating nature of these anions is probed by 29Si chemical shifts of the resulting Pri3Si(1-H-CB11Y5X6) compounds. The results suggest that the coordinating ability of these anions is mainly dependent on the substituents at 7-12 positions (namely, X atoms), and the contribution from the upper belt substituents Y is relatively small. These suggestions are consistent with the results obtained from the structural study of silver salts of mixed halo- and perhalocarborane anions.     

Evaluating protein attraction and adhesion to biomaterials with the atomic force microscope

Failure of implanted biomaterials is commonly due to nonspecific protein adsorption, which in turn causes adverse reactions such as the formation of fibrous capsules, blood clots, or bacterial biofilm infections. Current research efforts have focused on modifying the biomaterial interface to control protein reactions. Designing biomaterial interfaces at the molecular level, however, requires an experimental technique that provides detailed, dynamic information on the forces involved in protein adhesion. The goal of this study was to develop an atomic force microscope (AFM)-based technique to evaluate protein adhesion on biomaterial surfaces. In this study, the AFM was used to evaluate (i) protein-protein, (ii) protein-substrate, and (iii) protein-dextran interactions. The AFM was first used to measure the pull-off forces between bovine serum albumin (BSA) tips/BSA surfaces and BSA tips/anti-BSA surfaces. Results from these protein-protein studies were consistent with the literature. More importantly, the successful measurement of antibody-antigen binding interactions demonstrates that both the BSA and anti-BSA proteins retain their folded conformation and remain functional following our immobilization protocol. The AFM was also used to quantify the physiochemical interactions of proteins during adhesion to various self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and dextran-coated substrates representative of potential biomaterial interface modifications. Dextran, which renders surfaces very hydrophilic, was the only surface coating that BSA protein did not adhere to. Hydrophobic interactions were not found to play a significant role in BSA adhesion. Therefore, the dextran molecules may resist protein adhesion by repulsive steric effects or hydration pressure. Moreover, the AFM-based methodology provides dynamic, quantitative information about protein adhesion at the nanoscale level.     

Ionic‐liquid‐based dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction for high‐throughput multiple food contaminant screening

This paper describes an innovation of dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction enabling multiple‐component analysis of eight high‐priority food contaminants in two chemically distinctive families: Sudan dyes and phthalate plasticizers. To provide convenient sample handling for solid and solid‐containing matrices, a modified dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction procedure used an extractant precoated frit to perform simultaneous filtration, solvent mixing, and phase dispersion in one simple step. A binary ionic liquid extractant system was carefully tuned to deliver high quality analysis based only on affordable LC with diode array detector instrumentation. The method is comprehensively validated for robust quantification with good precision (6.9–9.8% RSD) in a linear 2–1000 μg/L range. Having accomplished enrichment factors up to 451, the treatment enables sensitive detection at 0.09–1.01 μg/L levels. Analysis of six high‐risk solid condiments and sauces further verified its practical applicability within a 70–120% recovery range. Compared to other approaches, the current dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction treatment offers major advantages in terms of minimal solvent (1.5 mL) and sample (0.1 g) consumption, ultra‐high analytical throughput (6 min), and the ability to handle complex solid matrices. The idea of performing simultaneous analysis for multiple contaminants presented here fosters a more effective mode of operation in food control routines.