1,019 research outputs found
Visualisation of amphetamine contamination in fingerprints using tof-sims technique
No full textTime-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) was applied to detect traces of amphetamine on fingerprints. In the present study, three different lift tapes and latent powder fingerprints were tested. The obtained results show that it is possible to identify traces of a drug as well as its distribution over the tested fingerprint after its transfer from the primary base onto an adhesive lifter (secondary base). Moreover, images obtained by the TOF-SIMS technique enable the observation of very small areas of the analysed fingerprint as well as the identification of micro-objects (residues of a contaminant) that were left on the fingerprint. The use of the black latent fingerprint powder did not interfere with the TOF-SIMS analysis, which makes it possible to effectively use this technique to study the traces of substances on the revealed fingerprints.ChemE/Advanced Soft Matte
Universal Processor Architecture for Biomedical Implants: The SiMS Project
No full textHEALTHCARE in the 21st century is changing rapidly. In advanced countries, in particular, healthcare is moving from a public to a more personalized nature. However, the costs of healthcare worldwide are increasing every year. Better use of technology can and should be used to get control of these costs. At the same time, implants have clearly benefitted from the astounding technology-miniaturization trends of late, boasting smaller sizes, lower power consumption and increased performance of the transistor devices. However, such advances do not come for free. Adverse effects in current implant designs are being witnessed, such as increasing power consumption, absence of design for reliability and highly application-specific nature. Operating under the assumption that implants will constitute an important means towards improved, personal healthcare and, in view of the aforementioned design phenomena, we believe that a new paradigm in implant design is required. This dissertation establishes the concept of Smart implantable Medical Systems (SiMS). SiMS is a systematic approach – a framework – for providing biomedical researchers and, hopefully, industry with a toolbox of ready-to-use, highly reliable implant sub-systems and models in order to construct optimal implants for various medical applications. The SiMS framework has to guarantee essential attributes, such as high dependability, modular design, ultra-low power consumption and miniature size. Having defined the SiMS framework, this dissertation is, then, concerned with exploring the optimal microarchitectural details of a crucial SiMS component: the SiMS processor. Contrary to the current state of the art, this processor aspires to be a new universal, low-power and low-cost processor and capable of efficiently serving a wide range of diverse implant applications.Computer Science and EngineeringElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
'A bright memory to remain' : the life and works of Charles Sims RA (1873-1928)
No full textThis thesis investigates the life and work of the English painter Charles Sims RA (1873-1928). It takes the form of a monograph and examines key themes of Sims' career within a chronological framework. The study makes consistent reference to the Sims Archive — the artist's studio contents recently brought to light by the author in negotiation with the artist's family and currently in the possession of Northumbria University. For the first time Sims' working practices and motivations have been explored in detail, thus contributing to knowledge of this particular neglected painter and more generally allowing some additional insight into the problems besetting and opportunities afforded to British artists of his generation. Sims' career spanned a transitional period in British art history which is currently being reassessed by art historians: the debates surrounding the effects of European modernism on British art, the inevitable impact of the Great War and the search during the 1920s for a visual language appropriate to modern life. Sims negotiated disparate experiences and preoccupations in an interesting way, and produced a stylistically diverse body of work in his continued search, I argue, for an alternative to modern reality. He attempted the combination of ancient religions, past art and modern experience into pictorial idylls that were simultaneously familiar and unattainable. The thesis aims to explore Sims' inspiration and reassesses his career within the context of his better known contemporaries by cross-referencing information held in national and international collections, libraries and archives with the hitherto unseen material here
Synthesis of furanosesquiterpenoid natural products
No full textThe effect of addition of a catalytic quantity of a crown ether in the reaction of a phosphonate anion with a carbonyl compound (Wadsworth-Emmons reaction) has been studied and found to greatly facilitate this reaction. This modification of the Wadsworth-Emmons reaction, using a catalytic amount of 15-crown-5, has been employed in the synthesis of the naturally occurring furanosesquiterpene Pallescensin-E. The structure of this compound has been confirmed by comparison of its spectral data with that of the synthesised isomer, 4,l0-dihydro-7,8-dimethyl 10H-benzof4,5Jcycloheptafl,2-bJ furan.Homosesquirosefuran, an analogue of the naturally occurring furanosesquiterpene Sesquirosefuran, has been synthesised via the dianion of methylacetoacetate.An approach to the synthesis of Pinguisone (a component of the essential oil of the liverwort Aneura pinguis)has been attempted employing two Diels-Alder reactions to generate the four cis-methyl groups found in the natural product.In a study of the reaction of n-(2-methylallyl)nickel bromide complex with a range of epoxides, this complex was found not only to react with reactive epoxides (e.g. styrene epoxide) but also with less reactive propylene epoxide.Substrates for possible intramolecular n-allylnickel cyclisation to generate an a-methylene-6-valerolactone ring system have been prepared
Library licensing and criminal law: The Aaron Swartz case
No full textReviews the ways that library licenses for subscription content contributed to criminal charges against activist Aaron Swartz, when he downloaded content from JSTOR on the MIT campus. (Author Note: This piece predates Swartz's death by suicide in 2013.)Sims, Nancy, A. (2011). Library licensing and criminal law: The Aaron Swartz case. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, 10.5860/crln.72.9.8637
Sim-biosis : di-simulando "The Sims"
No full textThe Sims (2000-2003) is a fascinating computer game that allows the user to simulate human behaviour and the triviality of everyday interactions. This essay makes sense of the appeal of what superficially looks like a virtual dollhouse. The researchers conclude that The Sims is an example of a new form of interactive narrative that allows the user to play an array of possible roles: spectator, player and intertextual author
Interdisciplinary conservations on complexities of food/in security
No full textFood security and insecurity is more than a primary production-related issue. The food security-related policies and actions decided upon and implemented in Australia today will continue to have wide-reaching impacts on health and wellbeing for future generations of Australians. This chapter is written as a result of a dialogue between the four authors, Foskey, Avery, Brunckhorst and Sims; each bringing different disciplinary and professional perspectives. All four authors have extensive experience working in interdisciplinary environments. Such interdisciplinary approaches are vital in responding to ‘real world’ issues that defy ‘easy categorisation’ (Jacobs and Amos 2010, p. 2). The authors began an ‘epistemologically oriented’ (Huutoniemi et al. 2010, p. 85) conversation focused on theory-building at the intersection of different disciplines, a process acknowledged as playing ‘a vital role within the repertoire for producing knowledge’ (Zahra and Newey 2009, p. 1061). The goal of this iterative conversation has been to synthesize knowledge across disciplinary boundaries in order to develop an interdisciplinary model of food security (a process outlined in MacMynowski 2007). Our conversations have highlighted how food security lies at the centre of a complex web of inter-relationships. Food security is complex and non-linear. The model developed draws on the work of David Brunckhorst and colleagues, in understanding the geography of ‘eco-civic’ regions, delineated by resident communities of interest, local social networks and community cohesion together with bio-physical, ecological and land use attributes. Eco-civic regions optimize geographic representation of both community civic interest and its natural resources in a ‘place’. Our model also incorporates research of co-author, Margaret Sims which proposes a transfer through the genome, of the effects of food insecurity experienced by one generation, on to at least the two following generations. Epigenetic research suggests that improvements in food security may have apparently paradoxical consequences for human wellbeing where better nutrition does not always result in better health outcomes
Players Unleashed ! Modding The Sims and the Culture of Gaming
No full textThe author of this hugely informative study explores the question of what happens when players practise and negotiate computer code, various ideologies, and the game itself by modding (modifying a game) in the context of The Sims, the bestselling computer game of all time.Sihvonen examines the technical and material specificities of The Sims mods, as well as their cultural context. Viewed as a manifestation of participatory culture, modding makes PC games ultimately malleable: players reconfigure the game by creating new content, altering the code and changing the behaviours of the game engine. Using a semiotic framework, Sihvonen suggests a signification process that includes representation, interpretation, investigation and experimentation with the game system and rules. From its historical roots in the shoot’em up games, the author bares the fascinating evolution and dynamics of modding, where gender stereotypes, the thrills of hacking and living the Sims’ American Dream intersect with the aesthetic and operational dimensions of modding
« Präteritum und Perfekt im Soghdischen ». Indogermanische Forschungen 102, (1997), pp. 199-205. [The preterite and perfect in Sogdian]
No full textThe author shows how the distribution of forms of the preterite (traditionally « imperfect ») and perfect (in my terminology « preterite » !) varies from one Sogdian text to another, the difference being attributed to a gradual replacement of the preterite by the perfect, first in the spoken and later in the written language. On the form [Lʾ] nʾyrt « he did not plan » in the parable of the two snakes (p. 204 fn.) see Sims-Williams, MSS 56, 1996, p. 176 (probably a historic present)
Microscopic and nanoscopic protein imaging by SIMS and helium ion microscopy
No full textSingle protein imaging and understanding their interactions are of paramount importance to understand the life phenomena. Recently reported multiplex protein SIMS imaging methodology using metal-oxide nanoparticle conjugated antibodies can be extended to a single protein imaging methodology using He ion microscopy (HIM). It is proposed here that single protein can be imaged in the microscale and the nanoscale by the complementary use of SIMS and HIM. © 2020 Author(s).TRU
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