12,272 research outputs found
Heteroatom doped-carbon nanospheres as anodes in lithium ion batteries
No full textLong cycle performance is a crucial requirement in energy storage devices. New formulations and/or improvement of “conventional” materials have been investigated in order to achieve this target. Here we explore the performance of a novel type of carbon nanospheres (CNSs) with three heteroatom co-doped (nitrogen, phosphorous and sulfur) and high specific surface area as anode materials for lithium ion batteries. The CNSs were obtained from carbonization of highly-crosslinked organo (phosphazene) nanospheres (OPZs) of 300 nm diameter. The OPZs were synthesized via a single and facile step of polycondensation reaction between hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene (HCCP) and 4,4′-sulphonyldiphenol (BPS). The X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed a high heteroatom-doping content in the structure of CNSs while the textural evaluation from the N2 sorption isotherms revealed the presence of micro- and mesopores and a high specific surface area of 875 m2/g. The CNSs anode showed remarkable stability and coulombic efficiency in a long charge–discharge cycling up to 1000 cycles at 1C rate, delivering about 130 mA·h·g−1. This study represents a step toward smart engineering of inexpensive materials with practical applications for energy devices
Synthesis and evaluation of partly fluorinated polyelectrolytes as components in 19F MRI-detectable nanoparticles
No full textA series of partly fluorinated polyelectrolytes were synthesized by transition metal mediated living radical polymerization and evaluated for their applicability as corona-forming components in F-19 MRI-detectable nanoparticles in aqueous solutions. The polymers were statistical and block copolymers of trifluoroethyl methacrylate (TFEMA) and 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA). The polymers were either directly dissolved in water (statistical copolymers), or assembled into aqueous nanoparticles with PTFEMA cores and P(TFEMA-co-DMAEMA) coronas (block copolymers). The polymer composition, polymer charge density, solution ionic strength and solution pH were varied. The F-19 spin-lattice (T-1) and spin-spin (T-2) relaxation times and F-19 image intensities of solutions of the polymers were measured and related to polymer structure and aqueous conformation. The F-19 NMR T-2 relaxation times were found to be highly indicative of the F-19 imaging performance. Maintaining sufficient mobility of the F-19 nuclei was important for obtaining images of high intensity. F-19 mobility could be increased by preventing their aggregation in water by exploiting electrostatic repulsion between monomer units
Leveraging diversity in American academic medicine. The Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program
No full textPeer reviewe
Landsat MSS classification of fire fuel types in Wood Buffalo National Park, northern Canada
No full textJ1: Global Ecology & Biogeography Letters; M3: Article; Milne, David Franklin, Steven E. Wilson, Bradley A. Ghitter, Geoff Heathcott, Mark McCaffrey, Thomas M. Ow, Charlotte F. Y.; Source Information: Mar1994, Vol. 4 Issue 2, p33; Subject Term: FOREST fires; Author-Supplied Keyword: Canada (Wood Buffalo National Park); Author-Supplied Keyword: Forest fire; Author-Supplied Keyword: Fuel type classification; Author-Supplied Keyword: Landsat data; Number of Pages: 0p; Document Type: Articl
Dynamics and folding of single two-stranded coiled-coil peptides studied by fluorescent energy transfer confocal microscopy
No full textWe report single-molecule measurements on the folding and unfolding conformational equilibrium distributions and dynamics of a disulfide crosslinked version of the two-stranded coiled coil from GCN4. The peptide has a fluorescent donor and acceptor at the N termini of its two chains and a Cys disulfide near its C terminus. Thus, folding brings the two N termini of the two chains close together, resulting in an enhancement of fluorescent resonant energy transfer. End-to-end distance distributions have thus been characterized under conditions where the peptide is nearly fully folded (0 M urea), unfolded (7.4 M urea), and in dynamic exchange between folded and unfolded states (3.0 M urea). The distributions have been compared for the peptide freely diffusing in solution and deposited onto aminopropyl silanized glass. As the urea concentration is increased, the mean end-to-end distance shifts to longer distances both in free solution and on the modified surface. The widths of these distributions indicate that the molecules are undergoing millisecond conformational fluctuations. Under all three conditions, these fluctuations gave nonexponential correlations on 1- to 100-ms time scale. A component of the correlation decay that was sensitive to the concentration of urea corresponded to that measured by bulk relaxation kinetics. Thetrajectories provided effective intramolecular diffusion coefficients as a function of the end-to-end distances for the folded and unfolded states. Single-molecule folding studies provide information concerning the distributions of conformational states in the folded, unfolded, and dynamically interconverting states.Author manuscript. Published in final edited form as: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 November 21; 97(24): 13021-13026.The final published version of this article is located at: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/97/24/13021NIH GM54616; to William F. DeGradoNIH GM12592; to Robin M. HochstrasserNIH GM48130; to William F. Degrado and Robin M. HochstrasserThis work was supported by GM54616 (to W.F.D.), GM12592 (to R.M.H.) and GM48130 (to W.F.D. and R.M.H.) with instrumentation developed under RR01348. D.S.T. was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant NRSA F32-GM18589.Also available in PubMed Central. PMCID:PMC2717
TRAUMATIC IDENTITY AND AURA IN DAVID LODGE’S AUTHOR, AUTHOR
No full textThis paper delves into David Lodge’s Author, Author (2004) as an example of neo-Victorian celebrity biofiction, more concretely on Henry James. The genre belongs to the wave of Victorian revival in current literature which also affects cultural studies in general. My main contention is that Lodge’s novel responds to current cultural anxieties, particularly the crisis of identity and authorship and the end of Walter Benjamin’s concept of aura, by sublimating them into late-nineteenth-century traumata. The choice of James is, the article argues, not casual. He represents the redeeming figure of a lost auratic world; the human in crisis, traumatized because he does not fit in the new status quo.Este artículo analiza la novela Author, Author (2004) de David Lodge como ejemplo de bioficción neo-victoriana centrada en una celebridad, en este caso concreto, Henry James. El género forma parte del renacimiento victoriano actual que afecta a los estudios culturales en su conjunto. Mi argumento central es que la novela de Lodge constituye una respuesta a las ansiedades culturales actuales, en particular a las que se refieren a la crisis identitaria y autoría literaria, así como a la pérdida del aura artística de Walter Benjamin, sublimándolas a través de los traumas de finales del siglo XIX. La elección de James, como demuestra el artículo, no es casual. Es el último representante de un mundo perdido en el que el aura aún tenía un espacio; el ser humano en crisis y traumatizado porque no encaja en un status quo nuevo
PK/PD modelling of comb-shaped PEGylated salmon calcitonin conjugates of differing molecular weights
No full textSalmon calcitonin (sCT) was conjugated via cysteine-1 to novel comb-shaped end-functionalised (poly(PEG) methyl ether methacrylate) (sCT-P) polymers, to yield conjugates of total molecular weights (MW) inclusive of sCT: 6.5, 9.5, 23 and 40 kDa. The conjugates were characterised by HPLC and their in vitro and in vivo bioactivity was measured by cAMP assay on human T47D cells and following intravenous (i.v.) injection to rats, respectively. Stability against endopeptidases, rat serum and liver homogenates was assessed. There were linear and exponential relationships between conjugate MW with potency and efficacy respectively, however the largest MW conjugate still retained 70% of Emax and an EC50 of 3.7 nM. In vivo, while free sCT and the conjugates reduced serum [calcium] to a maximum of 15–30% over 240 min, the half-life (T1/2) was increased and the area under the curve (AUC) was extended in proportion to conjugate MW. Likewise, the polymer conferred protection on sCT against attack by trypsin, chymotrypsin, elastase, rat serum and liver homogenates, with the best protection afforded by sCT-P (40 kDa). Mathematical modelling accurately predicted the MW relationships to in vitro efficacy, potency, in vivo PK and enzymatic stability. With a significant increase in T1/2 for sCT, the 40 kDa MW comb-shaped PEG conjugate of sCT may have potential as a long-acting injectable formulation
Distinguished Lecture Series 2011: David M. Oshinsky, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
No full textDavid M. Oshinsky, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and History professor at The University of Texas at Austin, will be the speaker for the fall Distinguished Lecture Series at The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. Oshinsky won the Pulitzer Prize in History for his book, Polio: An American Story. He will speak at 7 p.m., Thursday, October 13, at the Science and Engineering Technology Building Lecture Hall.https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/utbmedia/1102/thumbnail.jp
The 'double dendron' approach to host free phosphorescent poly(dendrimer) OLEDs
No full textThe addition of dendrons to iridium(III) complexes attached to a poly(styrene) backbone is shown to improve the physical and optoelectronic properties of the phosphorescent materials. The iridium(III) complexes have two 2-phenylpyridyl ligands and one phenyltriazolyl ligand, with the latter providing the attachment point to the polymer backbone. It was found that by increasing the number of dendrons (from zero to two) per 2-phenylpyridyl ligand, the intra-and interchain interactions could be more effectively controlled. The poly(dendrimer) with two dendrons per ligand had solution and solid-state photoluminescence quantum yields of 67% and 47%, respectively. Organic light-emitting diodes containing the doubly dendronised (two dendrons per ligand) poly(dendrimer) had a low turn on voltage of 3.6 V (>1.0 cd m(-2)), a maximum luminance of 6 700 cd m(-2) (at 12.2 V), and 100 cd m(-2) was achieved at 6.0 V with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 9.2% (28.1 cd A-1) and power efficiency of 14.7 lm/W. A solution of the doubly dendronised poly(dendrimer) in N-methyl-2-pyrolidinone was found to have a viscosity of 4.6 mPa s, which falls in the range of solutions that can be inkjet printed
Simulation of thermal plant optimization and hydraulic aspects of thermal distribution loops for large campuses
No full textFollowing an introduction, the author describes Texas A&M University and its utilities system. After that, the author presents how to construct simulation models for chilled water and heating hot water distribution systems. The simulation model was used in a $2.3 million Ross Street chilled water pipe replacement project at Texas A&M University. A second project conducted at the University of Texas at San Antonio was used as an example to demonstrate how to identify and design an optimal distribution system by using a simulation model. The author found that the minor losses of these closed loop thermal distribution systems are significantly higher than potable water distribution systems. In the second part of the report, the author presents the latest development of software called the Plant Optimization Program, which can simulate cogeneration plant operation, estimate its operation cost and provide optimized operation suggestions. The author also developed detailed simulation models for a gas turbine and heat recovery steam generator and identified significant potential savings. Finally, the author also used a steam turbine as an example to present a multi-regression method on constructing simulation models by using basic statistics and optimization algorithms. This report presents a survey of the author??s working experience at the Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) at Texas A&M University during the period of January 2002 through March 2004. The purpose of the above work was to allow the author to become familiar with the practice of engineering. The result is that the author knows how to complete a project from start to finish and understands how both technical and nontechnical aspects of a project need to be considered in order to ensure a quality deliverable and bring a project to successful completion. This report concludes that the objectives of the internship were successfully accomplished and that the requirements for the degree of Degree of Engineering have been satisfied
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