Overview of the Novel Intelligent JAXA Active Rotor Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saito, Shigeru; Kobiki, Noboru; Tanabe, Yasutada; Johnson, Wayne; Yamauchi, Gloria K.; Young, Larry A.

2010-01-01

The Novel Intelligent JAXA Active Rotor (NINJA Rotor) program is a cooperative effort between JAXA and NASA, involving a test of a JAXA pressure-instrumented, active-flap rotor in the 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel at Ames Research Center. The objectives of the program are to obtain an experimental database of a rotor with active flaps and blade pressure instrumentation, and to use that data to develop analyses to predict the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance of rotors with active flaps. An overview of the program is presented, including a description of the rotor and preliminary pretest calculations.

Research and Development on In-Situ Measurement Sensors for Micro-Meteoroid and Small Space Debris at JAXA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitazawa, Yukihito; Matsumoto, Haruhisa; Okudaira, Osamu; Kimoto, Yugo; Hanada, Toshiya; Akahoshi, Yasuhiro; Pauline, Faure; Sakurai, Akira; Funakoshi, Kunihiro; Yasaka, Testuo

2015-04-01

it is essentially a digital system. Based on this sensor technology, the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) has designed and developed an educational version of the sensor, which is currently on board the nano-satellite Horyu-II, which was built at Kyutech and launched on May 18, 2012 by JAXA. Although the sensor has a very small sensing area, sensor data were nonetheless successfully received. Moreover, a laboratory version of the sensor fitted on QSAT-EOS ("Tsukushi"), a small satellite, was be launched in November 2014. This version was developed and manufactured by Japan's QPS Institute to evaluate the sensor's capability regarding hypervelocity impact experiments at JAXA. JAXA's flight version, to be employed on satellites and/or the ISS, will be ready soon and a flight demonstration will be conducted on KOUNOTORI (HTV) in 2015. This paper reports on the R&D into in-situ measurement MMOD sensors at JAXA.

Planetary Data Archiving Plan at JAXA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shinohara, Iku; Kasaba, Yasumasa; Yamamoto, Yukio; Abe, Masanao; Okada, Tatsuaki; Imamura, Takeshi; Sobue, Shinichi; Takashima, Takeshi; Terazono, Jun-Ya

After the successful rendezvous of Hayabusa with the small-body planet Itokawa, and the successful launch of Kaguya to the moon, Japanese planetary community has gotten their own and full-scale data. However, at this moment, these datasets are only available from the data sites managed by each mission team. The databases are individually constructed in the different formats, and the user interface of these data sites is not compatible with foreign databases. To improve the usability of the planetary archives at JAXA and to enable the international data exchange smooth, we are investigating to make a new planetary database. Within a coming decade, Japan will have fruitful datasets in the planetary science field, Venus (Planet-C), Mercury (BepiColombo), and several missions in planning phase (small-bodies). In order to strongly assist the international scientific collaboration using these mission archive data, the planned planetary data archive at JAXA should be managed in an unified manner and the database should be constructed in the international planetary database standard style. In this presentation, we will show the current status and future plans of the planetary data archiving at JAXA.

Template-mediated nano-crystallite networks in semiconducting polymers.

PubMed

Kwon, Sooncheol; Yu, Kilho; Kweon, Kyoungchun; Kim, Geunjin; Kim, Junghwan; Kim, Heejoo; Jo, Yong-Ryun; Kim, Bong-Joong; Kim, Jehan; Lee, Seoung Ho; Lee, Kwanghee

2014-06-18

Unlike typical inorganic semiconductors with a crystal structure, the charge dynamics of π-conjugated polymers (π-CPs) are severely limited by the presence of amorphous portions between the ordered crystalline regions. Thus, the formation of interconnected pathways along crystallites of π-CPs is desired to ensure highly efficient charge transport in printable electronics. Here we report the formation of nano-crystallite networks in π-CP films by employing novel template-mediated crystallization (TMC) via polaron formation and electrostatic interaction. The lateral and vertical charge transport of TMC-treated films increased by two orders of magnitude compared with pristine π-CPs. In particular, because of the unprecedented room temperature and solution-processing advantages of our TMC method, we achieve a field-effect mobility of 0.25 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) using a plastic substrate, which corresponds to the highest value reported thus far. Because our findings can be applied to various π-conjugated semiconductors, our approach is universal and is expected to yield high-performance printable electronics.

Data Dissemination System Status and Plan for Jaxa's Earth Observation Satellite Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuda, M.; Miura, S.

2012-12-01

1. INTRODUCTION JAXA is Japan's national aerospace agency and responsible for research, technology development and the launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in many more advanced missions, such as asteroid exploration and possible manned exploration of the Moon. Since 1978, JAXA started to disseminate earth observation data acquired by satellites to researchers and those data scene became more than two Million scenes in 2011. This paper focuses on the status and future plan for JAXA's Data Dissemination System for those data. 2. STATUS JAXA is Japan's national aerospace agency and responsible for research, technology development and the launch of satellites into orbit. In October 1978, JAXA opened the Earth Observation Center (EOC) and started to archive and disseminate earth observation data acquired by multiple satellites. 2.1. Target data Currently, the disseminated data includes "JAXA's satellite/sensor data" and "non-JAXA's satellite/sensor data", as shown in Table 2-1. In 2011, the total disseminated data scene became more than two Million scenes. 2.2. Data Dissemination Guideline The JAXA basic data dissemination guideline is a free for researchers and specific agencies. JAXA has two approaches for dissemination. One is that the data is distributed for specific agencies by Mission Operation Systems (MOS). Each project has its own MOS, for example, GCOM-W1 has a GCOM-W1 MOS. Another is that the data is disseminated for many researchers by Data Distribution Systems. Now JAXA has three Data Distribution systems, EOIS, AUIG and GCOM-W1DPSS. Table 2-1 : Disseminated earth observation data from JAXA's facility Satellite Sensor Processing Level ALOS AVNIR-2 Level 1 PRISM Level 1 PALSAR Level 1 TRMM PR Level 1, 2, 3 CMB Level 1, 2, 3 TMI Level 1, 2, 3 VIR Level 1, 2, 3 Aqua AMSR-E Level 1, 2, 3 ADEOS-II AMSR Level 1, 2, 3 GLI-1km Level 1, 2, 3 GLI-250m Level 1, 2, 3 JERS-1 OSW Level 0, 1, 2 OVN Level 0, 1, 2, 5 SAR Level 1, 2 ADEOS AVNIR Level 1 OCTS

Galantamine-loaded PLGA nanoparticles, from nano-emulsion templating, as novel advanced drug delivery systems to treat neurodegenerative diseases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fornaguera, C.; Feiner-Gracia, N.; Calderó, G.; García-Celma, M. J.; Solans, C.

2015-07-01

Polymeric nanoparticles could be promising drug delivery systems to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Among the various methods of nanoparticle preparation, nano-emulsion templating was used in the present study to prepare galantamine-loaded nano-emulsions by a low-energy emulsification method followed by solvent evaporation to obtain galantamine-loaded polymeric nanoparticles. This approach was found to be suitable because biocompatible, biodegradable and safe nanoparticles with appropriate features (hydrodynamic radii around 20 nm, negative surface charge and stability higher than 3 months) for their intravenous administration were obtained. Encapsulation efficiencies higher than 90 wt% were obtained with a sustained drug release profile as compared to that from aqueous and micellar solutions. The enzymatic activity of the drug was maintained at 80% after its encapsulation into nanoparticles that were non-cytotoxic at the required therapeutic concentration. Therefore, novel galantamine-loaded polymeric nanoparticles have been designed for the first time using the nano-emulsification approach and showed the appropriate features to become advanced drug delivery systems to treat neurodegenerative diseases.Polymeric nanoparticles could be promising drug delivery systems to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Among the various methods of nanoparticle preparation, nano-emulsion templating was used in the present study to prepare galantamine-loaded nano-emulsions by a low-energy emulsification method followed by solvent evaporation to obtain galantamine-loaded polymeric nanoparticles. This approach was found to be suitable because biocompatible, biodegradable and safe nanoparticles with appropriate features (hydrodynamic radii around 20 nm, negative surface charge and stability higher than 3 months) for their intravenous administration were obtained. Encapsulation efficiencies higher than 90 wt% were obtained with a sustained drug release profile as compared to that from

Template-guided highly aligned, nano-scale wrinkle structure on a large-area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Jongcheon; Kim, Pilnam

This study presents a novel technique to induce aligned, nano-scale wrinkle on a polysiloxane-based UV curable resin. There have been studies on generating randomized sub-micron wrinkle using oxygen plasma treatment which causes equibiaxial compressive stress on the film surface. Few works have been reported on how to control the surface wrinkle orientation. Currently available approaches for regulating the wrinkle pattern typically require polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based bilayer system under uniaxial stress condition which hampers various technological applications. Here, we demonstrate a method to generate aligned wrinkle with UV curable polymers. Highly regular array of nanoscale wrinkles were formed by elastic buckling of bilayered UV curable resin, resulting from a combination of confinement effect and anchor-guided propagation of structure. The wrinkle tends to align uniformly lateral to the template pattern as the resin filled in the pattern forms more convex meniscus. The wavelength of the wrinkle was controlled by UV exposure time yielding as small as 170nm. From our results, we suggest the confinement provided by the template pattern may have affected the direction of thin film's expansion yielding unidirectional compressive stress. This work was supported by Samsung Research Funding Center of Samsung Electronics under Project Number SRFC-IT1402-02.

Template synthesis of test tube nanoparticles using non-destructive replication

PubMed Central

Wagner, Jonathan; Yao, Jingyuan; Rodgers, David; Hinds, Bruce

2013-01-01

Nano test tubes are a promising delivery vehicle for a range of therapeutics including small molecule drugs and biologics. However, current template synthesis methods of producing nano test tubes are prohibitively expensive and time consuming. Here, non-destructive template replication was used to increase nano test tube yield from porous alumina by more than a hundredfold. We demonstrate how to produce nano test tubes of several sizes and compositions including hybrid tubes with different inner and outer surfaces for targeted surface chemistry. Nano test tubes were readily suspended and stored in aqueous solutions without the need for chemical treatment. These nano test tubes should find application as delivery vehicles for therapeutics, particularly for processive “bionanoreactors” loaded with enzymes. PMID:23376956

Hierarchical porous carbon materials prepared using nano-ZnO as a template and activation agent for ultrahigh power supercapacitors.

PubMed

Wang, Haoran; Yu, Shukai; Xu, Bin

2016-09-20

Hierarchical porous carbon materials with high surface areas and a localized graphitic structure were simply prepared from sucrose using nano-ZnO as a hard template, activation agent and graphitization catalyst simultaneously, which exhibit an outstanding high-rate performance and can endure an ultrafast scan rate of 20 V s -1 and ultrahigh current density of 1000 A g -1 .

Contamination control research activities for space optics in JAXA RANDD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kimoto, Y.

2017-11-01

Contamination control research activities for space optics projects in JAXA R&D are described. More accurate contamination control techniques are requested because of intensified recent science mission requirements. One approach to control the contamination effects is analysis by software. JAXA has been developing a contamination analytical tool "J-SPICE" (Japanese Spacecraft Induced Contamination analysis software) as well as experiment facilities to improve the J-SPICE. A reflection model in J-SPICE has been experimentally verified and outgassing model data has been acquired by a facility. JAXA has developed a facility which could determine the influence of the contamination at a specific wavelength by combining a vacuum chamber with an I-R spectrometer and performed an experiment to inspect the effect of baking. Space material exposure experiment results reveal the actual thickness of the contamination layer in ISS orbit.

Aligned hierarchical Ag/ZnO nano-heterostructure arrays via electrohydrodynamic nanowire template for enhanced gas-sensing properties.

PubMed

Yin, Zhouping; Wang, Xiaomei; Sun, Fazhe; Tong, Xiaohu; Zhu, Chen; Lv, Qiying; Ye, Dong; Wang, Shuai; Luo, Wei; Huang, YongAn

2017-09-22

Gas sensing performance can be improved significantly by the increase in both the effective gas exposure area and the surface reactivitiy of ZnO nanorods. Here, we propose aligned hierarchical Ag/ZnO nano-heterostructure arrays (h-Ag/ZnO-NAs) via electrohydrodynamic nanowire template, together with a subsequent hydrothermal synthesis and photoreduction reaction. The h-Ag/ZnO-NAs scatter at top for higher specific surface areas with the air, simultaneously contact at root for the electrical conduction. Besides, the ZnO nanorods are uniformly coated with dispersed Ag nanoparticles, resulting in a tremendous enhancement of the surface reactivity. Compared with pure ZnO, such h-Ag/ZnO-NAs exhibit lower electrical resistance and faster responses. Moreover, they demonstrate enhanced NO 2 gas sensing properties. Self-assembly via electrohydrodynamic nanowire template paves a new way for the preparation of high performance gas sensors.

Thermal dewetting with a chemically heterogeneous nano-template for self-assembled L1(0) FePt nanoparticle arrays.

PubMed

Wang, Liang-Wei; Cheng, Chung-Fu; Liao, Jung-Wei; Wang, Chiu-Yen; Wang, Ding-Shuo; Huang, Kuo-Feng; Lin, Tzu-Ying; Ho, Rong-Ming; Chen, Lih-Juann; Lai, Chih-Huang

2016-02-21

A design for the fabrication of metallic nanoparticles is presented by thermal dewetting with a chemically heterogeneous nano-template. For the template, we fabricate a nanostructured polystyrene-b-polydimethylsiloxane (PS-b-PDMS) film on a Si|SiO2 substrate, followed by a thermal annealing and reactive ion etching (RIE) process. This gives a template composed of an ordered hexagonal array of SiOC hemispheres emerging in the polystyrene matrix. After the deposition of a FePt film on this template, we utilize the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process, which provides in-plane stress, to achieve thermal dewetting and structural ordering of FePt simultaneously. Since the template is composed of different composition surfaces with periodically varied morphologies, it offers more tuning knobs to manipulate the nanostructures. We show that both the decrease in the area of the PS matrix and the increase in the strain energy relaxation transfer the dewetted pattern from the randomly distributed nanoparticles into a hexagonal periodic array of L10 FePt nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy with the in situ heating stage reveals the evolution of the dewetting process, and confirms that the positions of nanoparticles are aligned with those of the SiOC hemispheres. The nanoparticles formed by this template-dewetting show an average diameter and center-to-center distance of 19.30 ± 2.09 nm and 39.85 ± 4.80 nm, respectively. The hexagonal array of FePt nanoparticles reveals a large coercivity of 1.5 T, much larger than the nanoparticles fabricated by top-down approaches. This approach offers an efficient pathway toward self-assembled nanostructures in a wide range of material systems.

Biomimetic/Bioinspired Design of Enzyme@capsule Nano/Microsystems.

PubMed

Shi, J; Jiang, Y; Zhang, S; Yang, D; Jiang, Z

2016-01-01

Enzyme@capsule nano/microsystems, which refer to the enzyme-immobilized capsules, have received tremendous interest owing to the combination of the high catalytic activities of encapsulated enzymes and the hierarchical structure of the capsule. The preparation of capsules and simultaneous encapsulation of enzymes is recognized as the core process for the rational design and construction of enzyme@capsule nano/microsystems. The strategy used has three major steps: (a) generation of the templates, (b) surface coating on the templates, and (c) removal of the templates, and it has been proven to be effective and versatile for the construction of enzyme@capsule nano/microsystems. Several conventional methods, including layer-by-layer assembly of polyelectrolytes, liquid crystalline templating method, etc., were used to design and construct enzyme@capsule nano/microsystems, but these have two major drawbacks. One is the low mechanical stability of the systems and the second is the harsh conditions used in the construction process. Learning from nature, several biomimetic/bioinspired methods such as biomineralization, biomimetic/bioinspired adhesion, and their combination have been exploited for the construction of enzyme@capsule nano/microsystems. In this chapter, we will present a general protocol for the construction of enzyme@capsule nano/microsystems using the latter approach. Some suggestions for improved design, construction, and characterization will also be presented with detailed procedures for specific examples. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design and fabrication of nano-imprint templates using unique pattern transforms and primitives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacDonald, Susan; Mellenthin, David; Rentzsch, Kevin; Kramer, Kenneth; Ellenson, James; Hostetler, Tim; Enck, Ron

2005-11-01

Increasing numbers of MEMS, photonic, and integrated circuit manufacturers are investigating the use of Nano-imprint Lithography or Step and Flash Imprint Lithography (SFIL) as a lithography choice for making various devices and products. Their main interests in using these technologies are the lack of aberrations inherent in traditional optical reduction lithography, and the relative low cost of imprint tools. Since imprint templates are at 1X scale, the small sizes of these structures have necessitated the use of high-resolution 50KeV, and 100KeV e-beam lithography tools to build these templates. For MEMS and photonic applications, the structures desired are often circles, arches, and other non-orthogonal shapes. It has long been known that both 50keV, and especially 100keV e-beam lithography tools are extremely accurate, and can produce very high resolution structures, but the trade off is long write times. The main drivers in write time are shot count and stage travel. This work will show how circles and other non-orthogonal shapes can be produced with a 50KeV Variable Shaped Beam (VSB) e-beam lithography system using unique pattern transforms and primitive shapes, while keeping the shot count and write times under control. The quality of shapes replicated into the resist on wafer using an SFIL tool will also be presented.

NASA Curation Preparation for Ryugu Sample Returned by JAXA's Hayabusa2 Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nakamura-Messenger, Keiko; Righter, Kevin; Snead, Christopher J.; McCubbin, Francis M.; Pace, Lisa F.; Zeigler, Ryan A.; Evans, Cindy

2017-01-01

The NASA OSIRIS-REx and JAXA Hayabusa2 missions to near-Earth asteroids Bennu and Ryugu share similar mission goals of understanding the origins of primitive, organic-rich asteroids. Under an agreement between JAXA and NASA, there is an on-going and productive collaboration between science teams of Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx missions. Under this agreement, a portion of each of the returned sample masses will be exchanged between the agencies and the scientific results of their study will be shared. NASA’s portion of the returned Hayabusa2 sample, consisting of 10% of the returned mass, will be jointly separated by NASA and JAXA. The sample will be legally and physically transferred to NASA’s dedicated Hayabusa2 curation facility at Johnson Space Center (JSC) no later than one year after the return of the Hayabusa2 sample to Earth (December 2020). The JSC Hayabusa2 curation cleanroom facility design has now been completed. In the same manner, JAXA will receive 0.5% of the total returned OSIRIS-REx sample (minimum required sample to return 60 g, maximum sample return capacity of 2 kg) from the rest of the specimen. No later than one year after the return of the OSIRIS-REx sample to Earth (September 2023), legal, physical, and permanent custody of this sample subset will be transferred to JAXA, and the sample subset will be brought to JAXA’s Extraterrestrial Sample Curation Center (ESCuC) at Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Sagamihara City Japan.

NASA + JAXA = Partners in Space

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-02-12

NASA announced the continuation of the successful collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) with the recent signing of an agreement to encourage scientists from both countries to use International Space Station hardware located in both countries’ laboratories. JAXA’s Tetesuya Sakashita, the science integration manager for JAXA’s “Kibo” laboratory module, talks about plans to expand on investigations in microgravity including inviting more countries to participate in this unique orbiting laboratory. To learn more about this new program of cooperation, check out this recent article posted at NASA.gov.

Nano-structured surface plasmon resonance sensor for sensitivity enhancement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jae-Ho; Kim, Hyo-Sop; Kim, Jin-Ho; Choi, Sung-Wook; Cho, Yong-Jin

2008-08-01

A new nano-structured SPR sensor was devised to improve its sensitivity. Nano-scaled silica particles were used as the template to fabricate nano-structure. The surface of the silica particles was modified with thiol group and a single layer of the modified silica particles was attached on the gold or silver thin film using Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) method. Thereafter, gold or silver was coated on the template by an e-beam evaporator. Finally, the nano-structured surface with basin-like shape was obtained after removing the silica particles by sonication. Applying the new developed SPR sensor to a model food of alcoholic beverage, the sensitivities for the gold and silver nano-structured sensors, respectively, had 95% and 126% higher than the conventional one.

Induced Contamination Predictions for JAXA's MPAC&SEED Devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steagall, Courtney; Smith, Kendall; Huang, Alvin; Soares, Carlos; Mikatarian, Ron

2008-01-01

Externally mounted ISS payloads are exposed to the induced ISS environment, including material outgassing and thruster plume contamination. The Boeing Space Environments Team developed analytical and semiempirical models to predict material outgassing and thruster plume induced contamination. JAXA s SM/MPAC&SEED experiment provides an unique opportunity to compare induced contamination predications with measurements. Analysis results are qualitatively consistent with XPS measurements. Calculated depth of contamination within a factor of 2-3 of measured contamination. Represents extremely good agreement, especially considering long duration of experiment and number of outgassing sources. Despite XPS limitations in quantifying plume contamination, the measured and predicted results are of similar scale for the wake-facing surfaces. JAXA s JEM/MPAC&SEED experiment will also be exposed to induced contamination due to JEM and ISS hardware. Predicted material outgassing induced contamination to JEM/MPAC&SEED ranges from 44 to 262 (depending on surface temperature) for a 3 year exposure duration.

Control of Partial Coalescence of Self-Assembled Metal Nano-Particles across Lyotropic Liquid Crystals Templates towards Long Range Meso-Porous Metal Frameworks Design

PubMed Central

Dumée, Ludovic F.; Lemoine, Jean-Baptiste; Ancel, Alice; Hameed, Nishar; He, Li; Kong, Lingxue

2015-01-01

The formation of purely metallic meso-porous metal thin films by partial interface coalescence of self-assembled metal nano-particles across aqueous solutions of Pluronics triblock lyotropic liquid crystals is demonstrated for the first time. Small angle X-ray scattering was used to study the influence of the thin film composition and processing conditions on the ordered structures. The structural characteristics of the meso-structures formed demonstrated to primarily rely on the lyotropic liquid crystal properties while the nature of the metal nano-particles used as well as the their diameters were found to affect the ordered structure formation. The impact of the annealing temperature on the nano-particle coalescence and efficiency at removing the templating lyotropic liquid crystals was also analysed. It is demonstrated that the lyotropic liquid crystal is rendered slightly less thermally stable, upon mixing with metal nano-particles and that low annealing temperatures are sufficient to form purely metallic frameworks with average pore size distributions smaller than 500 nm and porosity around 45% with potential application in sensing, catalysis, nanoscale heat exchange, and molecular separation. PMID:28347094

SiGe nano-heteroepitaxy on Si and SiGe nano-pillars.

PubMed

Mastari, M; Charles, M; Bogumilowicz, Y; Thai, Q M; Pimenta-Barros, P; Argoud, M; Papon, A M; Gergaud, P; Landru, D; Kim, Y; Hartmann, J M

2018-07-06

In this paper, SiGe nano-heteroepitaxy on Si and SiGe nano-pillars was investigated in a 300 mm industrial reduced pressure-chemical vapour deposition tool. An integration scheme based on diblock copolymer patterning was used to fabricate nanometre-sized templates for the epitaxy of Si and SiGe nano-pillars. Results showed highly selective and uniform processes for the epitaxial growth of Si and SiGe nano-pillars. 200 nm thick SiGe layers were grown on Si and SiGe nano-pillars and characterised by atomic force microscopy, x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Smooth SiGe surfaces and full strain relaxation were obtained in the 650 °C-700 °C range for 2D SiGe layers grown either on Si or SiGe nano-pillars.

Research and Development on In-Situ Measurement Sensors for Micro-Meteoroid and Small Space Debris at JAXA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitazawa, Y.; Matsumoto, H.; Okudaira, O.; Kimoto, Y.; Hanada, T.; Faure, P.; Akahoshi, Y.; Hattori, M.; Karaki, A.; Sakurai, A.; Funakoshi, K.; Yasaka, T.

2013-08-01

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been conducting R&D into in-situ sensors for measuring micro-meteoroid and small-sized debris (MMSD) since the 1980s. Research into active sensors started with the meteoroid observation experiment conducted using the HITEN (MUSES-A) satellite that ISAS/JAXA launched in 1990. The main purpose behind the start of passive collector research was SOCCER, a late-80s Japan-US mission that was designed to capture cometary dust and then return to the Earth. Although this mission was cancelled, the research outcomes were employed in a JAXA mission for the return of MMSD samples using calibrated aerogel and involving the space shuttle and the International Space Station. Many other important activities have been undertaken as well, and the knowledge they have generated has contributed to JAXA's development of a new type of active dust sensor. This paper reports on the R&D conducted at JAXA into in-situ MMSD measurement sensors.

Fabrication of Highly Ordered Anodic Aluminium Oxide Templates on Silicon Substrates

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

highly ordered anodic aluminium oxide ( AAO ) templates of unprecedented pore uniformity directly on Si, enabled by new advances on two fronts – direct...field emitter, sensors, oscillators and photodetectors. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Anodic aluminum oxide , template-assisted nanofabrication, carbon nanotube...Fabrication of the aligned and patterned carbon nanotube field emitters using the anodic aluminum oxide nano-template on a Si wafer’, Synth. Met

JAXA protein crystallization in space: ongoing improvements for growing high-quality crystals

PubMed Central

Takahashi, Sachiko; Ohta, Kazunori; Furubayashi, Naoki; Yan, Bin; Koga, Misako; Wada, Yoshio; Yamada, Mitsugu; Inaka, Koji; Tanaka, Hiroaki; Miyoshi, Hiroshi; Kobayashi, Tomoyuki; Kamigaichi, Shigeki

2013-01-01

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) started a high-quality protein crystal growth project, now called JAXA PCG, on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2002. Using the counter-diffusion technique, 14 sessions of experiments have been performed as of 2012 with 580 proteins crystallized in total. Over the course of these experiments, a user-friendly interface framework for high accessibility has been constructed and crystallization techniques improved; devices to maximize the use of the microgravity environment have been designed, resulting in some high-resolution crystal growth. If crystallization conditions were carefully fixed in ground-based experiments, high-quality protein crystals grew in microgravity in many experiments on the ISS, especially when a highly homogeneous protein sample and a viscous crystallization solution were employed. In this article, the current status of JAXA PCG is discussed, and a rational approach to high-quality protein crystal growth in microgravity based on numerical analyses is explained. PMID:24121350

About Nano-JASMINE Satellite System and Project Status

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sako, Nobutada

Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory, The University of Tokyo (ISSL) and National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAO) have been developing a small infrared astrometry satellite named “Nano-JASMINE”. The satellite size is about 50cm cubic and 20kg, which plays a pre-cursor role of JASMINE Project which is programmed by NAO and JAXA. In addition, since there has been only one astrometry satellite HIPPARCOS by ESA in the past, Nano-JASMINE is also expected to achieve certain scientific results in the field of astrometry. In this project, ISSL aims to develop new advanced small satellite bus system whose performance is comparable to that of 100-500kg sized satellites, including attitude stability of 1 arc-second and thermal stability of the mission subsystem of 1 mK. This paper overviews the Nano-JASMINE bus system with emphasis on attitude and thermal control systems.

Inflight-Event_JAXA-Fukui-Space-Expo

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-26

SPACE STATION CREW MEMBER DISCUSSES LIFE IN SPACE WITH JAPANESE STUDENTS------ Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 54 Flight Engineer Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) discussed life and research on the orbital laboratory during an in-flight educational event Feb. 23 with Japanese students attending the International Symposium of Space Technology and Science in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. Kanai, who will remain in orbit through early June, recently became the fourth Japanese astronaut in history to conduct a spacewalk.

JAXA astronaut and Expedition 28 crew member Satoshi Furukawa

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-09-17

PHOTO DATE: 09-17-10 LOCATION: Bldg. 9NW - ISS Mockups SUBJECT: JAXA astronaut and Expedition 28 crew member Satoshi Furukawa during P HRF Integ Cardio Integration Ops training WORK ORDER: 02810-BS__HRFSATOSHI_09-17-10 PHOTOGRAPHER: BILL STAFFORD

Eutectic Nano-Droplet Template Injection into Bulk Silicon to Construct Porous Frameworks with Concomitant Conformal Coating as Anodes for Li-Ion Batteries

PubMed Central

Qu, Fei; Li, Chilin; Wang, Zumin; Wen, Yuren; Richter, Gunther; Strunk, Horst P.

2015-01-01

Building porosity in monolithic materials is highly desired to design 3D electrodes, however ex-situ introduction or in-situ generation of nano-scale sacrificial template is still a great challenge. Here Al-Si eutectic droplet templates are uniformly injected into bulk Si through Al-induced solid-solid convection to construct a highly porous Si framework. This process is concomitant with process-inherent conformal coating of ion-conductive oxide. Such an all-in-one method has generated a (continuously processed) high-capacity Si anode integrating longevity and stable electrolyte-anode diaphragm for Li-ion batteries (e.g. a reversible capacity as large as ~1800 mAh/g or ~350 μAh/cm2-μm with a CE of ~99% at 0.1 C after long-term 400 cycles). PMID:25988370

Eutectic nano-droplet template injection into bulk silicon to construct porous frameworks with concomitant conformal coating as anodes for Li-ion batteries.

PubMed

Qu, Fei; Li, Chilin; Wang, Zumin; Wen, Yuren; Richter, Gunther; Strunk, Horst P

2015-05-19

Building porosity in monolithic materials is highly desired to design 3D electrodes, however ex-situ introduction or in-situ generation of nano-scale sacrificial template is still a great challenge. Here Al-Si eutectic droplet templates are uniformly injected into bulk Si through Al-induced solid-solid convection to construct a highly porous Si framework. This process is concomitant with process-inherent conformal coating of ion-conductive oxide. Such an all-in-one method has generated a (continuously processed) high-capacity Si anode integrating longevity and stable electrolyte-anode diaphragm for Li-ion batteries (e.g. a reversible capacity as large as ~1800 mAh/g or ~350 μAh/cm(2)-μm with a CE of ~99% at 0.1 C after long-term 400 cycles).

Processing of Nanosensors Using a Sacrificial Template Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biaggi-Labiosa, Azlin M.; Hunter, Gary W.

2012-01-01

A new microsensor fabrication approach has been demonstrated based upon the use of nanostructures as templates. The fundamental idea is that existing nanostructures, such as carbon nano tubes or biological structures, have a material structure that can be used advantageously in order to provide new sensor systems but lack the advantages of some materials to, for example, operate at high temperatures. The approach is to start with a template using nanostructures such as a carbon nanotube. This template can then be coated by an oxide material with higher temperature capabilities. Upon heating in air, the carbon nanotube template is burned off, leaving only the metal oxide nanostructure. The resulting structure has a combination of the crystal structure and surface morphology of the carbon nanotube, combined with the material durability and hightemperature- sensing properties of the metal oxide. Further, since the metal oxide nanocrystals are deposited on the carbon nanotube, after burn-off what is left is a metal oxide porous nanostructure. This makes both the interior and the exterior of this nano structured sensor available for gas species detection. This, in effect, increases the surface area available for sensing, which has been shown in the past to significantly increase sensor performance.

STS-131 crew member and JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-01-12

JSC2010-E-008557 (12 Jan. 2010) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, STS-131 mission specialist, participates in a Thermal Protection System (TPS) Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) training session in the Jake Garn Simulation and Training Facility at NASA?s Johnson Space Center.

STS-131 crew member and JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-01-12

JSC2010-E-008556 (12 Jan. 2010) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, STS-131 mission specialist, participates in a Thermal Protection System (TPS) Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) training session in the Jake Garn Simulation and Training Facility at NASA?s Johnson Space Center.

STS-131 crew member and JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-01-12

JSC2010-E-008553 (12 Jan. 2010) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, STS-131 mission specialist, participates in a Thermal Protection System (TPS) Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) training session in the Jake Garn Simulation and Training Facility at NASA?s Johnson Space Center.

Nucleic Acid Templated Reactions for Chemical Biology.

PubMed

Di Pisa, Margherita; Seitz, Oliver

2017-06-21

Nucleic acid directed bioorthogonal reactions offer the fascinating opportunity to unveil and redirect a plethora of intracellular mechanisms. Nano- to picomolar amounts of specific RNA molecules serve as templates and catalyze the selective formation of molecules that 1) exert biological effects, or 2) provide measurable signals for RNA detection. Turnover of reactants on the template is a valuable asset when concentrations of RNA templates are low. The idea is to use RNA-templated reactions to fully control the biodistribution of drugs and to push the detection limits of DNA or RNA analytes to extraordinary sensitivities. Herein we review recent and instructive examples of conditional synthesis or release of compounds for in cellulo protein interference and intracellular nucleic acid imaging. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

TiO2 nanowire-templated hierarchical nanowire network as water-repelling coating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hang, Tian; Chen, Hui-Jiuan; Xiao, Shuai; Yang, Chengduan; Chen, Meiwan; Tao, Jun; Shieh, Han-ping; Yang, Bo-ru; Liu, Chuan; Xie, Xi

2017-12-01

Extraordinary water-repelling properties of superhydrophobic surfaces make them novel candidates for a great variety of potential applications. A general approach to achieve superhydrophobicity requires low-energy coating on the surface and roughness on nano- and micrometre scale. However, typical construction of superhydrophobic surfaces with micro-nano structure through top-down fabrication is restricted by sophisticated fabrication techniques and limited choices of substrate materials. Micro-nanoscale topographies templated by conventional microparticles through surface coating may produce large variations in roughness and uncontrollable defects, resulting in poorly controlled surface morphology and wettability. In this work, micro-nanoscale hierarchical nanowire network was fabricated to construct self-cleaning coating using one-dimensional TiO2 nanowires as microscale templates. Hierarchical structure with homogeneous morphology was achieved by branching ZnO nanowires on the TiO2 nanowire backbones through hydrothermal reaction. The hierarchical nanowire network displayed homogeneous micro/nano-topography, in contrast to hierarchical structure templated by traditional microparticles. This hierarchical nanowire network film exhibited high repellency to both water and cell culture medium after functionalization with fluorinated organic molecules. The hierarchical structure templated by TiO2 nanowire coating significantly increased the surface superhydrophobicity compared to vertical ZnO nanowires with nanotopography alone. Our results demonstrated a promising strategy of using nanowires as microscale templates for the rational design of hierarchical coatings with desired superhydrophobicity that can also be applied to various substrate materials.

TiO2 nanowire-templated hierarchical nanowire network as water-repelling coating

PubMed Central

Hang, Tian; Chen, Hui-Jiuan; Xiao, Shuai; Yang, Chengduan; Chen, Meiwan; Tao, Jun; Shieh, Han-ping; Yang, Bo-ru; Liu, Chuan

2017-01-01

Extraordinary water-repelling properties of superhydrophobic surfaces make them novel candidates for a great variety of potential applications. A general approach to achieve superhydrophobicity requires low-energy coating on the surface and roughness on nano- and micrometre scale. However, typical construction of superhydrophobic surfaces with micro-nano structure through top-down fabrication is restricted by sophisticated fabrication techniques and limited choices of substrate materials. Micro-nanoscale topographies templated by conventional microparticles through surface coating may produce large variations in roughness and uncontrollable defects, resulting in poorly controlled surface morphology and wettability. In this work, micro-nanoscale hierarchical nanowire network was fabricated to construct self-cleaning coating using one-dimensional TiO2 nanowires as microscale templates. Hierarchical structure with homogeneous morphology was achieved by branching ZnO nanowires on the TiO2 nanowire backbones through hydrothermal reaction. The hierarchical nanowire network displayed homogeneous micro/nano-topography, in contrast to hierarchical structure templated by traditional microparticles. This hierarchical nanowire network film exhibited high repellency to both water and cell culture medium after functionalization with fluorinated organic molecules. The hierarchical structure templated by TiO2 nanowire coating significantly increased the surface superhydrophobicity compared to vertical ZnO nanowires with nanotopography alone. Our results demonstrated a promising strategy of using nanowires as microscale templates for the rational design of hierarchical coatings with desired superhydrophobicity that can also be applied to various substrate materials. PMID:29308265

Research on TRMM and GPM Through Collaboration Between JAXA & NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Eric A.

2003-01-01

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is conducting joint research with the Communications Research Laboratory (CRL) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on a new constellation satellite observation project called Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), the main satellite of which is planned for launch in 2008 by JAXA. This GPM project was proposed as a follow-up mission to the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) by both the Japanese and American sides based on the unparalleled scientific success of TRMM. A major reason for TRMM's success was the use of the worlds first spaceborne rain radar, the Precipitation Radar (PR) system developed by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA, now JAXA) and CRL. Measurements from this instrument have ushered in many new scientific findings and have opened a new era of precipitation measuring from space. GPM is an ambitious project which will produce accurate and frequent global observations of precipitation (both rain and snow) made possible by replacing TRMM with a new core satellite carrying an advanced radar-radiometer system, and serving as the centerpiece for a constellation of some eight (8) additional satellites being provided through international cooperation. The core satellite is to be flown up to high latitudes (inclined some 65-70 degrees), and will carry a dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR) that will be newly developed by JAXA and CRL, along with a large aperture, extended frequency-range passive microwave radiometer being provided by NASA. Each constellation satellite will also carry some type of multi-channel passive microwave radiometer whose rain estimates will be calibrated and referenced to those made by the core satellite, producing for the first time fully-global, continuous, and bias-free precipitation datasets. GPM data will be delivered in near-realtime, taking a major step toward the operational use of precipitation information for model

Introduction of JAXA Lunar and Planetary Exploration Data Analysis Group: Landing Site Analysis for Future Lunar Polar Exploration Missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Otake, H.; Ohtake, M.; Ishihara, Y.; Masuda, K.; Sato, H.; Inoue, H.; Yamamoto, M.; Hoshino, T.; Wakabayashi, S.; Hashimoto, T.

2018-04-01

JAXA established JAXA Lunar and Planetary Exploration Data Analysis Group (JLPEDA) at 2016. Our group has been analyzing lunar and planetary data for various missions. Here, we introduce one of our activities.

JAXA_PAOEvent_KanaiProject_2018_096_1115__636932

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-09

SPACE STATION CREW MEMBER DISCUSSES LIFE IN SPACE WITH JAPANESE STUDENTS---- Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 55 Flight Engineer Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) discussed life and research on the orbital outpost during an in-flight question and answer session April 2 with students at the Yoshikawa City Child Center in Japan. Kanai is in the midst of a six-month mission on the station.

The survey on data format of Earth observation satellite data at JAXA.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsunaga, M.; Ikehata, Y.

2017-12-01

JAXA's earth observation satellite data are distributed by a portal web site for search and deliver called "G-Portal". Users can download the satellite data of GPM, TRMM, Aqua, ADEOS-II, ALOS (search only), ALOS-2 (search only), MOS-1, MOS-1b, ERS-1 and JERS-1 from G-Portal. However, these data formats are different by each satellite like HDF4, HDF5, NetCDF4, CEOS, etc., and which formats are not familiar to new data users. Although the HDF type self-describing format is very convenient and useful for big dataset information, old-type format product is not readable by open GIS tool nor apply OGC standard. Recently, the satellite data are widely used to be applied to the various needs such as disaster, earth resources, monitoring the global environment, Geographic Information System(GIS) and so on. In order to remove a barrier of using Earth Satellite data for new community users, JAXA has been providing the format-converted product like GeoTIFF or KMZ. In addition, JAXA provides format conversion tool itself. We investigate the trend of data format for data archive, data dissemination and data utilization, then we study how to improve the current product format for various application field users and make a recommendation for new product.

Ferritin-Templated Quantum-Dots for Quantum Logic Gates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choi, Sang H.; Kim, Jae-Woo; Chu, Sang-Hyon; Park, Yeonjoon; King, Glen C.; Lillehei, Peter T.; Kim, Seon-Jeong; Elliott, James R.

2005-01-01

Quantum logic gates (QLGs) or other logic systems are based on quantum-dots (QD) with a stringent requirement of size uniformity. The QD are widely known building units for QLGs. The size control of QD is a critical issue in quantum-dot fabrication. The work presented here offers a new method to develop quantum-dots using a bio-template, called ferritin, that ensures QD production in uniform size of nano-scale proportion. The bio-template for uniform yield of QD is based on a ferritin protein that allows reconstitution of core material through the reduction and chelation processes. One of the biggest challenges for developing QLG is the requirement of ordered and uniform size of QD for arrays on a substrate with nanometer precision. The QD development by bio-template includes the electrochemical/chemical reconsitution of ferritins with different core materials, such as iron, cobalt, manganese, platinum, and nickel. The other bio-template method used in our laboratory is dendrimers, precisely defined chemical structures. With ferritin-templated QD, we fabricated the heptagonshaped patterned array via direct nano manipulation of the ferritin molecules with a tip of atomic force microscope (AFM). We also designed various nanofabrication methods of QD arrays using a wide range manipulation techniques. The precise control of the ferritin-templated QD for a patterned arrangement are offered by various methods, such as a site-specific immobilization of thiolated ferritins through local oxidation using the AFM tip, ferritin arrays induced by gold nanoparticle manipulation, thiolated ferritin positioning by shaving method, etc. In the signal measurements, the current-voltage curve is obtained by measuring the current through the ferritin, between the tip and the substrate for potential sweeping or at constant potential. The measured resistance near zero bias was 1.8 teraohm for single holoferritin and 5.7 teraohm for single apoferritin, respectively.

JAXA PAO VIP Event 3318_624493_hires

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-05

SPACE STATION CREW DISCUSSES LIFE IN SPACE WITH JAPANESE OFFICIALS --------------------------------------------------------- Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 55 Commander Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and Flight Engineers Scott Tingle of NASA and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) discussed life and research on the orbital laboratory during an in-flight question and answer session March 3 with Japanese space officials and policy ministers attending the International Space Explorers Forum (ISEF-2) in Tokyo. The trio is in the midst of a five-and-a-half-month mission on the station.

Preparation of micro/nanostructure TiO2 spheres by controlling pollen as hard template and soft template.

PubMed

Yang, Xiaohui; Xu, Bin; Zhang, Xuehong; Song, Xiuqin; Chen, Rufen

2014-09-01

In this paper, micro/nanostructure TiO2 spheres were synthesized by a sunflower pollen induced and self-assembly mineralization process, in which a titania precursor and pollen reacted in one-pot at normal pressure. In this paper, the bio-template advantage, as hard and soft template is fully demonstrated. The superiority of our synthesis is that we not only can control pollen as hard template, but also can control it as soft template only by changing reactions temperature. Under 80 degrees C of water bath, TiO2 microspheres which replicated the morphology of pollen were prepared by controlling pollen as hard template. Under 100 degrees C, hierarchical TiO2 spheres with complicated morphology, different from pollen template, were synthesized by using pollen as soft template. At the same time, judicious choice of the amount of pollen affords the synthesis of hierarchical structures spheres with adjustable morphology and crystal structure. The morphology can be tuned from microspheres constructed from TiO2 nanorods to nanospheres constructed from TiO2 nanoparticles, and the crystal structure can be tuned from rutile to anatase. More over this anatase phase can be keep better even at high temperature of 1000 degrees C. The as-prepared micro/nano structure photocatalysts not only have high photocatalytic activities, but also have good separability and reuse performance.

Nano-Bio Quantum Technology for Device-Specific Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choi, Sang H.

2009-01-01

The areas discussed are still under development: I. Nano structured materials for TE applications a) SiGe and Be.Te; b) Nano particles and nanoshells. II. Quantum technology for optical devices: a) Quantum apertures; b) Smart optical materials; c) Micro spectrometer. III. Bio-template oriented materials: a) Bionanobattery; b) Bio-fuel cells; c) Energetic materials.

Development of novel nano-composite membranes as introduction systems for mass spectrometers: Contrasting nano-composite membranes and conventional inlet systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miranda, Luis Diego

This dissertation presents the development of novel nano-composite membranes as introduction systems for mass spectrometers. These nano-composite membranes incorporate anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes as templates that can be used by themselves or modified by a variety of chemical deposition processes. Two types of nano-composite membranes are presented. The first nano-composite membrane has carbon deposited within the pores of an AAO membrane. The second nano-composite membrane is made by coating an AAO membrane with a thin polymer film. The following chapters describe the transmission properties these nano-composite membranes and compare them to conventional mass spectrometry introduction systems. The nano- composite membranes were finally coupled to the inlet system of an underwater mass spectrometer revealing their utility in field deployments.

LDH nanocages synthesized with MOF templates and their high performance as supercapacitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Zhen; Li, Zhengping; Qin, Zhenhua; Sun, Haiyan; Jiao, Xiuling; Chen, Dairong

2013-11-01

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are currently attracting intense research interest for their various applications. Three LDH hollow nano-polyhedra are synthesized with zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) nanocrystals as the templates. The nanocages well inherit the rhombic dodecahedral shape of the ZIF-67 templates, and the shell is composed of nanosheets assembled with an edge-to-face stacking. This is the first synthesis of the LDH non-spherical structures. And the mechanism of utilizing metal-organic framework (MOF) nanocrystals as templates is explored. Control of the simultaneous reactions, the precipitation of the shells and the template etching, is extremely crucial to the preparation of the perfect nanocages. And the Ni-Co LDH nanocages exhibit superior pseudocapacitance property due to their novel hierarchical and submicroscopic structures.Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are currently attracting intense research interest for their various applications. Three LDH hollow nano-polyhedra are synthesized with zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) nanocrystals as the templates. The nanocages well inherit the rhombic dodecahedral shape of the ZIF-67 templates, and the shell is composed of nanosheets assembled with an edge-to-face stacking. This is the first synthesis of the LDH non-spherical structures. And the mechanism of utilizing metal-organic framework (MOF) nanocrystals as templates is explored. Control of the simultaneous reactions, the precipitation of the shells and the template etching, is extremely crucial to the preparation of the perfect nanocages. And the Ni-Co LDH nanocages exhibit superior pseudocapacitance property due to their novel hierarchical and submicroscopic structures. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental details, XRD, TEM, SEM, and XPS images. See DOI: 10.1039/c3nr03829g

Infinite Coordination Polymer Nano- and Micro-Particles

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-12

Mirkin, Tobin J. Marks, Joseph T. Hupp. SiO2 Aerogel-templated, Porous TiO2 Photoanodes for Enhanced Performances in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells ...nano-scale ICPs and their selective surface functionalization, we examined if indeed these ICP-DNA hybrid structures could enter cells and...surface functionalization. In particular, we aimed to utilize this fundamental understanding for the realization of nano-scale ICP-biomolecule hybrids

[The photoluminescence and absorption properties of Co/AAO nano-array composites].

PubMed

Li, Shou-Yi; Wang, Cheng-Wei; Li, Yan; Wang, Jian; Ma, Bao-Hong

2008-03-01

Ordered Co/AAO nano-array structures were fabricated by alternating current (AC) electrodeposition method within the cylindrical pores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template prepared in oxalic acid electrolyte. The photoluminescence (PL) emission and photoabsorption of AAO templates and Co/AAO nano-array structures were investigated respectively. The results show that a marked photoluminescence band of AAO membranes occurs in the wavelength range of 350-550 nm and their PL peak position is at 395 nm. And with the increase in the deposition amount of Co nanoparticles, the PL intensity of Co/AAO nano-array structures decreases gradually, and their peak positions of the PL are invariable (395 nm). Meanwhile the absorption edges of Co/AAO show a larger redshift, and the largest shift from the near ultraviolet to the infrared exceeds 380 nm. The above phenomena caused by Co nano-particles in Co/AAO composite were analyzed.

Validation of the GCOM-W SCA and JAXA soil moisture algorithms

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Satellite-based remote sensing of soil moisture has matured over the past decade as a result of the Global Climate Observing Mission-Water (GCOM-W) program of JAXA. This program has resulted in improved algorithms that have been supported by rigorous validation. Access to the products and the valida...

E55_Inflight_JAXA_Makuhari_2018_0502_1104_647867

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-03

SPACE STATION CREW MEMBER DISCUSSES LIFE IN SPACE WITH JAPANESE ENTHUSIASTS------- Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 55 Flight Engineer Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) discussed life and research on the complex during an in-flight event with students and space enthusiasts gathered at a science exposition in Makuhari New City, Japan May 2. Kanai is in the final month of a six-month mission on the orbital outpost.

Solid-Phase Synthesis of Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Nanoparticles with a Reusable Template - "Plastic Antibodies".

PubMed

Poma, Alessandro; Guerreiro, Antonio; Whitcombe, Michael J; Piletska, Elena V; Turner, Anthony P F; Piletsky, Sergey A

2013-06-13

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) are generic alternatives to antibodies in sensors, diagnostics and separations. To displace biomolecules without radical changes in infrastructure in device manufacture, MIPs should share their characteristics (solubility, size, specificity and affinity, localized binding domain) whilst maintaining the advantages of MIPs (low-cost, short development time and high stability) hence the interest in MIP nanoparticles. Herein we report a reusable solid-phase template approach (fully compatible with automation) for the synthesis of MIP nanoparticles and their precise manufacture using a prototype automated UV photochemical reactor. Batches of nanoparticles (30-400 nm) with narrow size distributions imprinted with: melamine (d = 60 nm, K d = 6.3 × 10 -8 m), vancomycin (d = 250 nm, K d = 3.4 × 10 -9 m), a peptide (d = 350 nm, K d = 4.8 × 10 -8 m) and proteins have been produced. Our instrument uses a column packed with glass beads, bearing the template. Process parameters are under computer control, requiring minimal manual intervention. For the first time we demonstrate the reliable re-use of molecular templates in the synthesis of MIPs (≥ 30 batches of nanoMIPs without loss of performance). NanoMIPs are produced template-free and the solid-phase acts both as template and affinity separation medium.

Aerodynamics of High-Lift Configuration Civil Aircraft Model in JAXA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yokokawa, Yuzuru; Murayama, Mitsuhiro; Ito, Takeshi; Yamamoto, Kazuomi

This paper presents basic aerodynamics and stall characteristics of the high-lift configuration aircraft model JSM (JAXA Standard Model). During research process of developing high-lift system design method, wind tunnel testing at JAXA 6.5m by 5.5m low-speed wind tunnel and Navier-Stokes computation on unstructured hybrid mesh were performed for a realistic configuration aircraft model equipped with high-lift devices, fuselage, nacelle-pylon, slat tracks and Flap Track Fairings (FTF), which was assumed 100 passenger class modern commercial transport aircraft. The testing and the computation aimed to understand flow physics and then to obtain some guidelines for designing a high performance high-lift system. As a result of the testing, Reynolds number effects within linear region and stall region were observed. Analysis of static pressure distribution and flow visualization gave the knowledge to understand the aerodynamic performance. CFD could capture the whole characteristics of basic aerodynamics and clarify flow mechanism which governs stall characteristics even for complicated geometry and its flow field. This collaborative work between wind tunnel testing and CFD is advantageous for improving or has improved the aerodynamic performance.

E55_Inflight_JAXA_Tenku_2018_0426_1159_645182

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-26

SPACE STATION CREW MEMBER DISCUSSES LIFE IN SPACE WITH JAPANESE STUDENTS-----Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 55 Flight Engineer Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) discussed life and research on the orbital outpost during an in-flight event April 26 with students gathered in Tokyo at an engineering and science exposition. Kanai arrived on the station for a six-month mission last December and is scheduled to return to Earth on June 3.

STS-131 crew member and JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki training SSRMS PROF

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-01-15

JSC2010-E-009784 (15 Jan. 2010) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, STS-131 mission specialist, participates in a simulation exercise using the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) simulator in the Avionics Systems Laboratory at NASA?s Johnson Space Center.

Gold surface plasmon crystal structure based-on polystyrene template for biosensor application.

PubMed

Cheng, Min-Zhuo; Zhang, Jing; Bao, Dequan; Huang, Xiwei

2018-05-21

In this communication, we assembled ordered polystyrene (PS) microsphere array as a template with the drop-coating method, and the oxygen plasma was used to etch the template to adjust the spacing between the PS microspheres. Nano-triangular gold array and silver nano-pyramid array were obtained by ion beam sputtering to deposit precious metal gold and silver. We observed the surface morphology of Au and Au/Ag composite films by scanning electron microscope and characterized the films by X-ray diffraction and ultraviolet/visible light spectrophotometer. The results show that the etching time of oxygen plasma has an obvious effect in adjusting the spacing between PSs and has a significant effect on the morphology of Au structure. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A nanoscale bio-inspired light-harvesting system developed from self-assembled alkyl-functionalized metallochlorin nano-aggregates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ocakoglu, Kasim; Joya, Khurram S.; Harputlu, Ersan; Tarnowska, Anna; Gryko, Daniel T.

2014-07-01

Self-assembled supramolecular organization of nano-structured biomimetic light-harvesting modules inside solid-state nano-templates can be exploited to develop excellent light-harvesting materials for artificial photosynthetic devices. We present here a hybrid light-harvesting system mimicking the chlorosomal structures of the natural photosynthetic system using synthetic zinc chlorin units (ZnChl-C6, ZnChl-C12 and ZnChl-C18) that are self-aggregated inside the anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nano-channel membranes. AAO nano-templates were modified with a TiO2 matrix and functionalized with long hydrophobic chains to facilitate the formation of supramolecular Zn-chlorin aggregates. The transparent Zn-chlorin nano-aggregates inside the alkyl-TiO2 modified AAO nano-channels have a diameter of ~120 nm in a 60 μm length channel. UV-Vis studies and fluorescence emission spectra further confirm the formation of the supramolecular ZnChl aggregates from monomer molecules inside the alkyl-functionalized nano-channels. Our results prove that the novel and unique method can be used to produce efficient and stable light-harvesting assemblies for effective solar energy capture through transparent and stable nano-channel ceramic materials modified with bio-mimetic molecular self-assembled nano-aggregates.Self-assembled supramolecular organization of nano-structured biomimetic light-harvesting modules inside solid-state nano-templates can be exploited to develop excellent light-harvesting materials for artificial photosynthetic devices. We present here a hybrid light-harvesting system mimicking the chlorosomal structures of the natural photosynthetic system using synthetic zinc chlorin units (ZnChl-C6, ZnChl-C12 and ZnChl-C18) that are self-aggregated inside the anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nano-channel membranes. AAO nano-templates were modified with a TiO2 matrix and functionalized with long hydrophobic chains to facilitate the formation of supramolecular Zn-chlorin aggregates. The

LDH nanocages synthesized with MOF templates and their high performance as supercapacitors.

PubMed

Jiang, Zhen; Li, Zhengping; Qin, Zhenhua; Sun, Haiyan; Jiao, Xiuling; Chen, Dairong

2013-12-07

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are currently attracting intense research interest for their various applications. Three LDH hollow nano-polyhedra are synthesized with zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) nanocrystals as the templates. The nanocages well inherit the rhombic dodecahedral shape of the ZIF-67 templates, and the shell is composed of nanosheets assembled with an edge-to-face stacking. This is the first synthesis of the LDH non-spherical structures. And the mechanism of utilizing metal-organic framework (MOF) nanocrystals as templates is explored. Control of the simultaneous reactions, the precipitation of the shells and the template etching, is extremely crucial to the preparation of the perfect nanocages. And the Ni-Co LDH nanocages exhibit superior pseudocapacitance property due to their novel hierarchical and submicroscopic structures.

STS-131 crew member and JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki training SSRMS PROF

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-01-15

JSC2010-E-009785 (15 Jan. 2010) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, STS-131 mission specialist, participates in a simulation exercise using the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) simulator in the Avionics Systems Laboratory at NASA?s Johnson Space Center. Crew instructor Joseph M. Nguyen assisted Yamazaki.

STS-131 crew member and JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki training SSRMS PROF

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-01-15

JSC2010-E-009787 (15 Jan. 2010) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, STS-131 mission specialist, participates in a simulation exercise using the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) simulator in the Avionics Systems Laboratory at NASA?s Johnson Space Center. Crew instructor Joseph M. Nguyen assisted Yamazaki.

Solid-Phase Synthesis of Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Nanoparticles with a Reusable Template – “Plastic Antibodies”

PubMed Central

Poma, Alessandro; Guerreiro, Antonio; Whitcombe, Michael J.; Piletska, Elena V.; Turner, Anthony P.F.; Piletsky, Sergey A.

2016-01-01

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) are generic alternatives to antibodies in sensors, diagnostics and separations. To displace biomolecules without radical changes in infrastructure in device manufacture, MIPs should share their characteristics (solubility, size, specificity and affinity, localized binding domain) whilst maintaining the advantages of MIPs (low-cost, short development time and high stability) hence the interest in MIP nanoparticles. Herein we report a reusable solid-phase template approach (fully compatible with automation) for the synthesis of MIP nanoparticles and their precise manufacture using a prototype automated UV photochemical reactor. Batches of nanoparticles (30-400 nm) with narrow size distributions imprinted with: melamine (d = 60 nm, Kd = 6.3 × 10−8 m), vancomycin (d = 250 nm, Kd = 3.4 × 10−9 m), a peptide (d = 350 nm, Kd = 4.8 × 10−8 m) and proteins have been produced. Our instrument uses a column packed with glass beads, bearing the template. Process parameters are under computer control, requiring minimal manual intervention. For the first time we demonstrate the reliable re-use of molecular templates in the synthesis of MIPs (≥ 30 batches of nanoMIPs without loss of performance). NanoMIPs are produced template-free and the solid-phase acts both as template and affinity separation medium. PMID:26869870

Iron oxide nanoparticle layer templated by polydopamine spheres: a novel scaffold toward hollow-mesoporous magnetic nanoreactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Liang; Ao, Lijiao; Xie, Xiaobin; Gao, Guanhui; Foda, Mohamed F.; Su, Wu

2014-12-01

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle layers with high packing density and controlled thickness were in situ deposited on metal-affinity organic templates (polydopamine spheres), via one-pot thermal decomposition. The as synthesized hybrid structure served as a facile nano-scaffold toward hollow-mesoporous magnetic carriers, through surfactant-assisted silica encapsulation and its subsequent calcination. Confined but accessible gold nanoparticles were successfully incorporated into these carriers to form a recyclable catalyst, showing quick magnetic response and a large surface area (642.5 m2 g-1). Current nano-reactors exhibit excellent catalytic performance and high stability in reduction of 4-nitrophenol, together with convenient magnetic separability and good reusability. The integration of compact iron oxide nanoparticle layers with programmable polydopamine templates paves the way to fabricate magnetic-response hollow structures, with high permeability and multi-functionality.Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle layers with high packing density and controlled thickness were in situ deposited on metal-affinity organic templates (polydopamine spheres), via one-pot thermal decomposition. The as synthesized hybrid structure served as a facile nano-scaffold toward hollow-mesoporous magnetic carriers, through surfactant-assisted silica encapsulation and its subsequent calcination. Confined but accessible gold nanoparticles were successfully incorporated into these carriers to form a recyclable catalyst, showing quick magnetic response and a large surface area (642.5 m2 g-1). Current nano-reactors exhibit excellent catalytic performance and high stability in reduction of 4-nitrophenol, together with convenient magnetic separability and good reusability. The integration of compact iron oxide nanoparticle layers with programmable polydopamine templates paves the way to fabricate magnetic-response hollow structures, with high permeability and multi

Study on JAXA elements for international lunar vicinity mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imada, Takane; Sato, Naoki

2014-11-01

JAXA has commenced technical research for contributing as a part of international partnership for the space exploration in Lunar vicinity. One of the candidates is the cargo transport mission with the combination of Cryogenic Propulsion Stage(s) (CPS) and a transfer vehicle derived from Japanese un-manned vehicle used for ISS. The CPS needs advanced technologies to keep the propellant for long mission duration and they will be useful in further missions beyond moon. This paper reports the profile of the mission, vehicle configurations, and the transport capabilities.

Progress developing the JAXA next generation satellite data repository (G-Portal).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikehata, Y.

2016-12-01

JAXA has been operating the "G-Portal" as a repository for search and access data of Earth observation satellite related JAXA since February 2013. The G-Portal handles ten satellites data; GPM, TRMM, Aqua, ADEOS-II, ALOS (search only), ALOS-2 (search only), MOS-1, MOS-1b, ERS-1 and JERS-1. G-Portal plans to import future satellites GCOM-C and EarthCARE. Except for ALOS and ALOS-2, all of these data are open and free. The G-Portal supports web search, catalogue search (CSW and OpenSearch) and direct download by SFTP for data access. However, the G-Portal has some problems about performance and usability. For example, about performance, the G-Portal is based on 10Gbps network and uses scale out architecture. (Conceptual design was reported in AGU fall meeting 2015. (IN23D-1748)) In order to improve those problems, JAXA is developing the next generation repository since February 2016. This paper describes usability problems improvements and challenges towards the next generation system. The improvements and challenges include the following points. Current web interface uses "step by step" design and URL is generated randomly. For that reason, users must see the Web page and click many times to get desired satellite data. So, Web design will be changed completely from "step by step" to "1 page" and URL will be based on REST (REpresentational State Transfer). Regarding direct download, the current method(SFTP) is very hard to use because of anomaly port assign and key-authentication. So, we will support FTP protocol. Additionally, the next G-Portal improve catalogue service. Currently catalogue search is available only to limited users including NASA, ESA and CEOS due to performance and reliability issue, but we will remove this limitation. Furthermore, catalogue search client function will be implemented to take in other agencies satellites catalogue. Users will be able to search satellite data across agencies.

A nanoscale bio-inspired light-harvesting system developed from self-assembled alkyl-functionalized metallochlorin nano-aggregates.

PubMed

Ocakoglu, Kasim; Joya, Khurram S; Harputlu, Ersan; Tarnowska, Anna; Gryko, Daniel T

2014-08-21

Self-assembled supramolecular organization of nano-structured biomimetic light-harvesting modules inside solid-state nano-templates can be exploited to develop excellent light-harvesting materials for artificial photosynthetic devices. We present here a hybrid light-harvesting system mimicking the chlorosomal structures of the natural photosynthetic system using synthetic zinc chlorin units (ZnChl-C6, ZnChl-C12 and ZnChl-C18) that are self-aggregated inside the anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nano-channel membranes. AAO nano-templates were modified with a TiO2 matrix and functionalized with long hydrophobic chains to facilitate the formation of supramolecular Zn-chlorin aggregates. The transparent Zn-chlorin nano-aggregates inside the alkyl-TiO2 modified AAO nano-channels have a diameter of ∼120 nm in a 60 μm length channel. UV-Vis studies and fluorescence emission spectra further confirm the formation of the supramolecular ZnChl aggregates from monomer molecules inside the alkyl-functionalized nano-channels. Our results prove that the novel and unique method can be used to produce efficient and stable light-harvesting assemblies for effective solar energy capture through transparent and stable nano-channel ceramic materials modified with bio-mimetic molecular self-assembled nano-aggregates.

High aspect ratio 10-nm-scale nanoaperture arrays with template-guided metal dewetting

PubMed Central

Wang, Ying Min; Lu, Liangxing; Srinivasan, Bharathi Madurai; Asbahi, Mohamed; Zhang, Yong Wei; Yang, Joel K. W.

2015-01-01

We introduce an approach to fabricate ordered arrays of 10-nm-scale silica-filled apertures in a metal film without etching or liftoff. Using low temperature (<400°C) thermal dewetting of metal films guided by nano-patterned templates, apertures with aspect ratios up to 5:1 are demonstrated. Apertures form spontaneously during the thermal process without need for further processing. Although the phenomenon of dewetting has been well studied, this is the first demonstration of its use in the fabrication of nanoapertures in a spatially controllable manner. In particular, the achievement of 10-nm length-scale patterning at high aspect ratio with thermal dewetting is unprecedented. By varying the nanotemplate design, we show its strong influence over the positions and sizes of the nanoapertures. In addition, we construct a three-dimensional phase field model of metal dewetting on nano-patterned substrates. The simulation data obtained closely corroborates our experimental results and reveals new insights to template dewetting at the nanoscale. Taken together, this fabrication method and simulation model form a complete toolbox for 10-nm-scale patterning using template-guided dewetting that could be extended to a wide range of material systems and geometries. PMID:25858792

High aspect ratio 10-nm-scale nanoaperture arrays with template-guided metal dewetting.

PubMed

Wang, Ying Min; Lu, Liangxing; Srinivasan, Bharathi Madurai; Asbahi, Mohamed; Zhang, Yong Wei; Yang, Joel K W

2015-04-10

We introduce an approach to fabricate ordered arrays of 10-nm-scale silica-filled apertures in a metal film without etching or liftoff. Using low temperature (<400°C) thermal dewetting of metal films guided by nano-patterned templates, apertures with aspect ratios up to 5:1 are demonstrated. Apertures form spontaneously during the thermal process without need for further processing. Although the phenomenon of dewetting has been well studied, this is the first demonstration of its use in the fabrication of nanoapertures in a spatially controllable manner. In particular, the achievement of 10-nm length-scale patterning at high aspect ratio with thermal dewetting is unprecedented. By varying the nanotemplate design, we show its strong influence over the positions and sizes of the nanoapertures. In addition, we construct a three-dimensional phase field model of metal dewetting on nano-patterned substrates. The simulation data obtained closely corroborates our experimental results and reveals new insights to template dewetting at the nanoscale. Taken together, this fabrication method and simulation model form a complete toolbox for 10-nm-scale patterning using template-guided dewetting that could be extended to a wide range of material systems and geometries.

Synthesis of mesoporous nano-hydroxyapatite by using zwitterions surfactant

EPA Science Inventory

Mesoporous nano-hydroxyapatite (mn-HAP) was successfully synthesized via a novel micelle-templating method using lauryl dimethylaminoacetic acid as zwitterionic surfactant. The systematic use of such a surfactant in combination with microwave energy inputenables the precise contr...

Nano-assembly and Controlled Release Kinetics of Nanoelements from Nanoporous Templates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gultepe, E.; Nagesha, D.; McNulty, J.; Sridhar, S.

2008-03-01

Nanotemplates and nanoparticles have potential for use in the area of nanomanufacturing and biomedical applications. We are using highly ordered nanoporous alumina as a template for drug delivery and to assemble nanoelements such as latex beads and single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) by the means of electrophoresis and/or dielectrophoresis. The results of 100% assembly of latex beads and controlled elution of drugs from nanoporous templates will be discussed. Vertically assembled SWNT and with the I-V characteristic as 3D interconnects, will also be presented. We have developed a variety of platforms incorporating superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for targeted delivery, magnetic hyperthermia and as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging. The results of cell studies on these platforms will be discussed.

[Biomimetic mineralization of rod-like cellulose nano-whiskers and spectrum analysis].

PubMed

Qu, Ping; Wang, Xuan; Cui, Xiao-xia; Zhang, Li-ping

2012-05-01

Cellulose nano-whiskers/nano-hydroxyapatite composite was prepared with biomimetic mineralization using rod-like cellulose nano-whiskers as template. The cellulose nano-whiskers and cellulose nano-whiskers/nano-hydroxyapatite composite were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (SEM-EDXA). Variation and distribution of carbon, oxygen, calcium, and phosphorus in the composites were studied. The morphologies and growth mechanism of nano-hydroxyapatite were analyzed. The results showed that nano-hydroxyapatite was formed on the surface of cellulose nano-whiskers; the carbon-oxygen ratio of cellulose nano-whiskers and cellulose nano-whiskers/nano-hydroxyapatite composite was 1.81 and 1.54, respectively; the calcium-phosphorus ratio of the composite was 1.70. The nucleation of nano-hydroxyapatite was around the hydroxyl groups of cellulose nano-whiskers. It is suggested that there is coordination between the hydroxyl groups of cellulose nano-whiskers and calcium ions of nano-hydroxyapatite. The nano-hydroxyapatite can distribute in the matrix of cellulose nano-whiskers. From the atomic force microscope (AFM) images, we can see that the diameter of the spherical nano-hydroxyapatite particles was about 20 nm.

Nano-textured fluidic biochip as biological filter for selective survival of neuronal cells.

PubMed

Han, Hsieh-Cheng; Lo, Hung-Chun; Wu, Chia-Yu; Chen, Kuei-Hsien; Chen, Li-Chyong; Ou, Keng-Liang; Hosseinkhani, Hossein

2015-06-01

This is an innovative study to engineer biological filter to evaluate the effect of template surface structure and physiochemical properties that can be used for wide variety of applications in biological, health care as well as environmental protection. Specifically, planar silicon (Si) wafer and arrayed Si nano-tips (SiNT) templates were fabricated and coated with gold for various lengths of time to study the effect of surface charge, surface roughness, and hydrophilicity on biological activity of rat pheochromocytoma cell lines PC12. The initial growth and proliferation of PC12 cells on Si and SiNT templates showed an antipathy for the ultra-sharp SiNTs templates. In contrast, the same cells demonstrated a preferable adherence to and proliferation on planar Si templates, resulting in higher cell densities by three orders of magnitude than those on SiNT templates. It is hypothesized that SiNTs array does generate nano-fluidic effect such that the effective contact region for aqueous solution on SiNTs is lower than that on planar Si templates, thus decreasing adsorbable area for cell viability and survival. Moreover, the effect of the gold coating on cell number density was analyzed in terms of the surface roughness, zeta potential and wetting properties of the templates. It was determined that surface charge, as measured by the zeta potential, strongly correlated with the trend observed in the surface cell density, whereas no such correlation was observed for surface roughness or wetting properties in the ranges of our experiment conditions. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

E55_Inflight_JAXA_Gifu_Prefecture__2018_0529_1112_659069

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-30

SPACE STATION CREW MEMBER DISCUSSES LIFE IN SPACE WITH JAPANESE STUDENTS--- Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 55 Flight Engineer Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) discussed life and space on the orbital outpost during an in-flight educational event May 29 with students gathered at the Gifu Prefecture Air and Space Museum in Japan. Kanai is in the final week of his six month mission on the complex, headed for a landing in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft June 3 on the south central steppe of Kazakhstan.

Chirality of the 1,4-phenylene-silica nanoribbons at the nano and angstrom levels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yi; Wang, Sibing; Xiao, Min; Wang, Mingliang; Huang, Zhibin; Li, Baozong; Yang, Yonggang

2013-01-01

We reported the preparation of chiral 1,4-phenylene-silicas, using a sol-gel transcription approach, by self-assembly using low-molecular-weight gelators as templates. The silicas exhibited chirality at both the nano and angstrom levels. However, the relation between the chirality at the nano level and that at the angstrom levels has not been well studied. In this study, chiral 1,4-phenylene-silica nanoribbons were prepared by the self-assemblies of three chiral cationic gelators derived from amino acids as templates. These samples were characterized using field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and circular dichroism. The results indicated that the handedness of the nanoribbons and the stacking of the aromatic rings were controllable. Although the nanoribbons exhibited left-handedness at the nano level, the stacking of the aromatic rings could exhibit left- or right-handedness. The handedness of the nanoribbons at the nano level was controlled by the organic self-assembly of the gelator. However, the stacking of the aromatic rings seemed to be controlled by the gelator itself.

Ionic-liquid mediated olefin hydroboration and heteroatom insertion reactions, and the development of template routes to non-oxide ceramic nano- and micro-structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kusari, Upal

The goal of the work described in this dissertation was two-fold: (1) To use the unique properties of ionic liquids to develop new synthetic routes to boron-containing molecules including substituted decaboranes, ortho-carboranes and chalcogeno-boranes, and (2) to combine newly developed chemical precursors with template routes to fabricate the non-oxide ceramics boron carbide, silicon carbide and boron nitride on the micro- and nano-scales. The first application of ionic liquid and related salt systems to the hydroboration of a variety of olefins with the polyborane cage B10H 14, leading to the syntheses of functionalized decaborane clusters, 6-R-B10H13, was demonstrated. The decaborane olefin-hydroboration reaction was found to proceed with a wide variety of functional olefins, including, alkenyl, halide, phenyl, ether, ester, pinacolborane, ketone and alcohol-containing olefins. These reactions provide a general, simple, one-pot and high-yield alternative route to functional boranes. The functional decaboranes were then converted by another ionic liquid mediated reaction, to its ortho -carborane derivatives 3-R-1,2-Et2C2B 10H9. Experimental and computational studies of the hydroboration mechanism suggest that the ionic liquid induced the formation of the B 10H13- anion which behaved as an electrophile in the olefin-hydroboration reaction. The unique properties of ionic liquids were also found to be useful in mediating the insertion of chalcogen heteroatoms into the borane clusters nido-B10H14, nido-5,6-C2B8H12 and arachno -4-CB8H14 and led to the improved syntheses of the known compounds nido-7-SB10H12, nido-7-SeB10H12, nido-7,9,10-SC 2B8H10, nido-7,9,10-SeC 2B8H10 and arachno-6,9-CSB 8H12, as well as the synthesis of the new 10-vertex selena-monocarbaborane arachno-6,9-CSeB8H12 (˜40% yield). The second part of the thesis demonstrated that newly developed chemical precursors can be used in conjunction with silica bead and diatom frustule templates to generate

Nano-honeycomb structured transparent electrode for enhanced light extraction from organic light-emitting diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Xiao-Bo; Qian, Min; Wang, Zhao-Kui; Liao, Liang-Sheng

2015-06-01

A universal nano-sphere lithography method has been developed to fabricate nano-structured transparent electrode, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), for light extraction from organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Perforated SiO2 film made from a monolayer colloidal crystal of polystyrene spheres and tetraethyl orthosilicate sol-gel is used as a template. Ordered nano-honeycomb pits on the ITO electrode surface are obtained by chemical etching. The proposed method can be utilized to form large-area nano-structured ITO electrode. More than two folds' enhancement in both current efficiency and power efficiency has been achieved in a red phosphorescent OLED which was fabricated on the nano-structured ITO substrate.

Fabrication of 3D nano-structures using reverse imprint lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Kang-Soo; Hong, Sung-Hoon; Kim, Kang-In; Cho, Joong-Yeon; Choi, Kyung-woo; Lee, Heon

2013-02-01

In spite of the fact that the fabrication process of three-dimensional nano-structures is complicated and expensive, it can be applied to a range of devices to increase their efficiency and sensitivity. Simple and inexpensive fabrication of three-dimensional nano-structures is necessary. In this study, reverse imprint lithography (RIL) with UV-curable benzylmethacrylate, methacryloxypropyl terminated poly-dimethylsiloxane (M-PDMS) resin and ZnO-nano-particle-dispersed resin was used to fabricate three-dimensional nano-structures. UV-curable resins were placed between a silicon stamp and a PVA transfer template, followed by a UV curing process. Then, the silicon stamp was detached and a 2D pattern layer was transferred to the substrate using diluted UV-curable glue. Consequently, three-dimensional nano-structures were formed by stacking the two-dimensional nano-patterned layers. RIL was applied to a light-emitting diode (LED) to evaluate the optical effects of a nano-patterned layer. As a result, the light extraction of the patterned LED was increased by about 12% compared to an unpatterned LED.

Fabrication of 3D nano-structures using reverse imprint lithography.

PubMed

Han, Kang-Soo; Hong, Sung-Hoon; Kim, Kang-In; Cho, Joong-Yeon; Choi, Kyung-Woo; Lee, Heon

2013-02-01

In spite of the fact that the fabrication process of three-dimensional nano-structures is complicated and expensive, it can be applied to a range of devices to increase their efficiency and sensitivity. Simple and inexpensive fabrication of three-dimensional nano-structures is necessary. In this study, reverse imprint lithography (RIL) with UV-curable benzylmethacrylate, methacryloxypropyl terminated poly-dimethylsiloxane (M-PDMS) resin and ZnO-nano-particle-dispersed resin was used to fabricate three-dimensional nano-structures.UV-curable resins were placed between a silicon stamp and a PVA transfer template, followed by a UV curing process. Then, the silicon stamp was detached and a 2D pattern layer was transferred to the substrate using diluted UV-curable glue. Consequently, three-dimensional nano-structures were formed by stacking the two-dimensional nano-patterned layers. RIL was applied to a light-emitting diode (LED) to evaluate the optical effects of a nano-patterned layer. As a result, the light extraction of the patterned LED was increased by about 12% compared to an unpatterned LED.

Templated synthesis of nanoporous titania/nanocarbon composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mistry, Jayur

Hexagonally patterned (honeycomb structured) nano-porous titania finds distinct applications in the field of material science, electronics, and catalysis. The preparation of titania/nanocarbon composites was carried out using titanium iso-propoxide precursor and a viscous surfactant templated system arranged into nanoscopic channels of water and iso-octane. Nanocarbon was introduced into the titania pores, as it was dispersed into the water (used to increase the W0), while making templets. Prepared titania/nanocarbon composites were analyzed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) after a specific heat treatment. SEM and TEM allows us to see the morphology of the hexagonally patterned templates and XRD shows the change in the crystallinity of the titania after the heat treatment. Further tests are run with the Solartron™ CellTest potentiostat syste, which, allows us to study the electrical properties of the nanocomposites. The composites synthesized have wide applications in number of fields, including energy, sensors and electronics.

Optical properties of template synthesized nanowalled ZnS microtubules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Rajesh; Chakarvarti, S. K.

2007-12-01

Electrodeposition is a versatile technique combining low processing cost with ambient conditions that can be used to prepare metallic, polymeric and semiconducting nano/micro structures. In the present work, track-etch membranes (TEMs) of makrofol (KG) have been used as templates for synthesis of ZnS nanowalled microtubules using electrodeposition technique. The morphology of the microtubules was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Size effects on the band gap of tubules have also been studied by UV-visible spectrophotometer.

Direct access to highly crystalline mesoporous nano TiO2 using sterically bulky organic acid templates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bakre, Pratibha V.; Tilve, S. G.

2018-05-01

Sterically bulky monocarboxylic acid templates pivalic acid and phenoxyacetic acid are reported for the first time as organic templates in the sol-gel synthesis of TiO2. Mesoporous nanoparticulates of pure anatase phase and of well defined size were synthesized. The characterization of the materials prepared was done by various methods such as XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, UV-DRS, BET, etc. The prepared TiO2 samples were evaluated for the day light photodegradation of methylene blue by comparing with Degussa P25 and templates free synthesized TiO2 and were found to be more efficient.

Fabrication of high aspect ratio nanopillars and micro/nano combined structures with hydrophobic surface characteristics by injection molding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Mingyong; Xiong, Xiang; Jiang, Bingyan; Weng, Can

2018-01-01

Polymer products with micro/nano-structures have excellent mechanical and optical properties, chemical resistance, and other advantages. Injection molding is one of the most potential techniques to fabricate polymer products with micro/nano-structures artificially in large numbers. In this study, a surface approach to fabricate high aspect ratio nanopillars and micro/nano combined structures was presented. Mold insert with micropillar arrays and nanopillars on its surface was prepared by combing anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template and etched plate. Anti-sticking modification was done on the template to realize a better demolding quality. The influences of mold temperature and polymer material on the final replication quality were investigated. The results showed that the final replication quality of high aspect ratio nanopillars was greatly improved as compared with the unprocessed template. Polymer with low elongation at break was not suitable to fabricate structures with high aspect ratio via injection molding. For polypropylene surface, the experimental results of static contact angles were almost consistent with Cassie-Baxter equation. When the mold temperature reached 178 °C, hair-like polycarbonate nanopillars were observed, resulting in an excellent hydrophobic characteristic.

Self-assembled carbon nanotube honeycomb networks using a butterfly wing template as a multifunctional nanobiohybrid.

PubMed

Miyako, Eijiro; Sugino, Takushi; Okazaki, Toshiya; Bianco, Alberto; Yudasaka, Masako; Iijima, Sumio

2013-10-22

Insect wings have many unique and complex nano/microstructures that are presently beyond the capabilities of any current technology to reproduce them artificially. In particular, Morpho butterflies are an attractive type of insect because their multifunctional wings are composed of nano/microstructures. In this paper, we show that carbon nanotube-containing composite adopts honeycomb-shaped networks when simply self-assembled on Morpho butterfly wings used as a template. The unique nano/microstructure of the composites exhibits multifunctionalities such as laser-triggered remote-heating, high electrical conductivity, and repetitive DNA amplification. Our present study highlights the important progress that has been made toward the development of smart nanobiomaterials for various applications such as digital diagnosis, soft wearable electronic devices, photosensors, and photovoltaic cells.

Site-Specific Colloidal Crystal Nucleation by Template-enhanced Particle Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, Chandan K.; Sood, A. K.; Ganapathy, Rajesh

The deliberate positioning of nano- and microstructures on surfaces is often a prerequisite for fabricating functional devices. While template-assisted nucleation is a promising route to self-assemble these structures, its success hinges on particles reaching target sites prior to nucleation and for nano/microscale particles, this is hampered by their small surface mobilities. We tailored surface features, which in the presence of attractive depletion interactions not only directed micrometer-sized colloids to specific sites but also subsequently guided their growth into ordered crystalline arrays of well-defined size and symmetry. By following the nucleation kinetics with single-particle resolution, we demonstrate control over nucleation density in a growth regime that has hitherto remained inaccessible. Our findings pave the way towards realizing non-trivial surface architectures composed of complex colloids/nanoparticles as well.

Colorimetric monitoring of nanometer distance changes in DNA-templated plasmon rulers (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lermusiaux, Laurent; Bidault, Sebastien

2016-03-01

The nanometer-scale sensitivity of plasmon coupling allows the translation of minute morphological changes in nanostructures into macroscopic optical signals. In particular, single nanostructure scattering spectroscopy provides a direct estimation of interparticle distances in gold nanoparticle (AuNP) dimers linked by a short DNA double-strand [M. P. Busson et al, Nano Lett. 11, 5060 (2011)]. We demonstrate here that this spectroscopic information can be inferred from simple widefield measurements on a calibrated color camera [L. Lermusiaux et al, ACS Nano 9, 978 (2015)]. This allows us to analyze the influence of electrostatic and steric interparticle interactions on the morphology of DNA-templated AuNP groupings. Furthermore, polarization-resolved measurements on a color CCD provide a parallel imaging of AuNP dimer orientations. We apply this spectroscopic characterization to identify dimers featuring two different conformations of the same DNA template. In practice, the biomolecular scaffold contains a hairpin-loop that opens after hybridization to a specific DNA sequence and increases the interparticle distance [L. Lermusiaux et al, ACS Nano 6, 10992 (2012)]. These results open exciting perspectives for the parallel sensing of single specific DNA strands using plasmon rulers. We discuss the limits of this approach in terms of the physicochemical stability and reactivity of these nanostructures and demonstrate the importance of engineering the AuNP surface chemistry, in particular using amphiphilic ligands [L. Lermusiaux and S. Bidault, Small (2015), in press].

International R&M/Safety Cooperation Lessons Learned Between NASA and JAXA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fernandez, Rene; Havenhill, Maria T.; Zampino, Edward J.; Kiefer, Dwayne E.

2013-01-01

Presented are a number of important experiences gained and lessons learned from the collaboration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on the CoNNeCT (Communications, Navigation, and Networking re-Configurable Testbed) project. Both space agencies worked on the CoNNeCT Project to design, assemble, test, integrate, and launch a communications testbed facility mounted onto the International Space Station (ISS) truss. At the 2012 RAMS, two papers about CoNNeCT were presented: one on Ground Support Equipment Reliability & System Safety, and the other one on combined application of System Safety & Reliability for the flight system. In addition to the logistics challenges present when two organizations are on the opposite side of the world, there is also a language barrier. The language barrier encompasses not only the different alphabet, it encompasses the social interactions; these were addressed by techniques presented in the paper. The differences in interpretation and application of Spaceflight Requirements will be discussed in this paper. Although many, but definitely not all, of JAXA's Spaceflight Requirements were inspired by NASA, there were significant and critically important differences in how they were interpreted and applied. This paper intends to summarize which practices worked and which did not for an international collaborative effort so that future missions may benefit from our experiences. The CoNNeCT flight system has been successfully assembled, integrated, tested, shipped, launched and installed on the ISS without incident. This demonstrates that the steps taken to facilitate international understanding, communication, and coordination were successful and warrant discussion as lessons learned.

Ultrasensitive detection of endotoxins using computationally designed nanoMIPs.

PubMed

Altintas, Zeynep; Abdin, Mohammed J; Tothill, Alexander M; Karim, Kal; Tothill, Ibtisam E

2016-09-07

Novel molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles (nanoMIPs) were designed for endotoxin from Escherichia coli 0111:B4, using computational modeling. The screening process based on binding energy between endotoxin and each monomer was performed with 21 commonly used monomers, resulting in the selection of itaconic acid, methacrylic acid and acrylamide as functional monomers due to their strong binding interaction with the endotoxin template. The nanoMIPs were successfully synthesized with functional groups on the outer surface to aid in the immobilization onto sensor surface. The solid phase photopolymerization approach used for the synthesis of nanoMIPs ranging from 200 to 235 nm in diameter. The limit of detection and KD were significantly improved when endotoxin samples were prepared using a novel triethylamine method. This improved the efficiency of gold nanoparticle functionalization by targeting the subunits of the endotoxin. Compared to the vancomycin MIP control, the endotoxin MIPs displayed outstanding affinity and selectivity towards the endotoxin with KD values in the range of 4.4-5.3 × 10(-10) M, with limits of detection of 0.44 ± 0.02 ng mL(-1) as determined by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor when itaconic acid was used as the functional monomer. The MIP surface can be regenerated >30 times without significant loss of binding activity making this approach highly cost effective for expensive analyte templates. The combination of molecular modeling and solid phase synthesis enabled the successful synthesis of nanoMIPs capable of recognition and ultrasensitive detection of endotoxins using the highly sensitive SPR biosensor with triethylamine method. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tailoring local density of optical states to control emission intensity and anisotropy of quantum dots in hybrid photonic-plasmonic templates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Indukuri, Chaitanya; Mukherjee, Arnab; Basu, J. K.

2015-03-01

We report results of controlled tuning of the local density of states (LDOS) in versatile, flexible, and hierarchical self assembled plasmonic templates. Using 5 nm diameter gold (Au) spherical nanoantenna within a polymer template randomly dispersed with quantum dots, we show how the photoluminescence intensity and lifetime anisotropy of these dots can be significantly enhanced through LDOS tuning. Finite difference time domain simulations corroborate the experimental observations and extend the regime of enhancement to a wider range of geometric and spectral parameters bringing out the versatility of these functional plasmonic templates. It is also demonstrated how the templates act as plasmonic resonators for effectively engineer giant enhancement of the scattering efficiency of these nano antenna embedded in the templates. Our work provides an alternative method to achieve spontaneous emission intensity and anisotropy enhancement with true nanoscale plasmon resonators.

Machine Learning Approach to Deconvolution of Thermal Infrared (TIR) Spectrum of Mercury Supporting MERTIS Onboard ESA/JAXA BepiColombo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varatharajan, I.; D'Amore, M.; Maturilli, A.; Helbert, J.; Hiesinger, H.

2018-04-01

Machine learning approach to spectral unmixing of emissivity spectra of Mercury is carried out using endmember spectral library measured at simulated daytime surface conditions of Mercury. Study supports MERTIS payload onboard ESA/JAXA BepiColombo.

Nano-Material and Structural Engineering for Thermal Highways

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-14

which are covered with a porous anodized aluminum oxide ( AAO ) membrane that is compatible to most if not all semiconductor electronics chips and has... aluminum oxide ( AAO ) templates as hard masks for fabrication of nanomesh thermoelectric structures. Both USPI’s and KPI’s laboratories have accumulated...T. Bigioni, M. Moskovits, and J. M. Xu, “Electrochemical fabrication of CdS nano-wire arrays in porous anodic aluminum oxide templates”, J. Phys

Internal Nano Voids in Yttria-Stabilised Zirconia (YSZ) Powder

PubMed Central

Barad, Chen; Shekel, Gal; Shandalov, Michael; Hayun, Hagay; Kimmel, Giora; Shamir, Dror; Gelbstein, Yaniv

2017-01-01

Porous yttria-stabilised zirconia ceramics have been gaining popularity throughout the years in various fields, such as energy, environment, medicine, etc. Although yttria-stabilised zirconia is a well-studied material, voided yttria-stabilised zirconia powder particles have not been demonstrated yet, and might play an important role in future technology developments. A sol-gel synthesis accompanied by a freeze-drying process is currently being proposed as a method of obtaining sponge-like nano morphology of embedded faceted voids inside yttria-stabilised zirconia particles. The results rely on a freeze-drying stage as an effective and simple method for generating nano-voided yttria-stabilised zirconia particles without the use of template-assisted additives. PMID:29258227

Internal Nano Voids in Yttria-Stabilised Zirconia (YSZ) Powder.

PubMed

Barad, Chen; Shekel, Gal; Shandalov, Michael; Hayun, Hagay; Kimmel, Giora; Shamir, Dror; Gelbstein, Yaniv

2017-12-18

Porous yttria-stabilised zirconia ceramics have been gaining popularity throughout the years in various fields, such as energy, environment, medicine, etc. Although yttria-stabilised zirconia is a well-studied material, voided yttria-stabilised zirconia powder particles have not been demonstrated yet, and might play an important role in future technology developments. A sol-gel synthesis accompanied by a freeze-drying process is currently being proposed as a method of obtaining sponge-like nano morphology of embedded faceted voids inside yttria-stabilised zirconia particles. The results rely on a freeze-drying stage as an effective and simple method for generating nano-voided yttria-stabilised zirconia particles without the use of template-assisted additives.

Synthesis of CdS nanorods in soft template under gamma-irradiation.

PubMed

Zhao, Bing; Wang, Yanli; Zhang, Haijiao; Jiao, Zheng; Wang, Haobo; Ding, Guoji; Wu, Minghong

2009-02-01

CdS nano material which has a band gap of 2.42 eV at room temperature is a typical II-VII semiconductor having many commercial or potential applications, e.g., light-emitting diodes, solar cell and optoelectronic devices. In this paper, we use a new strategy to synthesize CdS nanorods. CdS nanorods were prepared in soft template under gamma-irradiation though the reaction of cadmium sulphide and thiacetamide (TAA). The formation process and characters of CdS nanorods was investigated in detail by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction (ED) pattern, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet spectrophotometer (UV) and photoluminescence spectrophotometer (PL). In the experiment we proposed that the irradiation of gamma-ray accelerated the formation of S(2-) under acidic condition (pH = 3) and vinyl acetate (VAc) monomer formed pre-organized nano polymer tubules which were used as both templates and nanoreacters for the growth of CdS nanorods. In this process, we have obtained the CdS polycrystal nanorods with PVAc nano tubules and CdS single-crystal nanorods. The result of X-ray powder diffraction confirms that the crystal type of CdS nanorods is cubic F-43 m (216). The results from transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction show that the concentrations of reactants and the dose rate of gamma-ray are key to produce appropriate CdS nanorods. Relatively low concentrations (Cd2+: 0.008-0.02 mol/L, Cd2+ : S(2-) = 1 : 2) of reactants and long time (1-2 d) of irradiation in low dose rate (6-14 Gy/min) are propitious to form CdS single-crystal nanorods with small diameter (less than 100 nm) and well length (2-5 microm). UV and PL characterizations show the sample have well optical properties.

Sequential optimization of methotrexate encapsulation in micellar nano-networks of polyethyleneimine ionomer containing redox-sensitive cross-links

PubMed Central

Abolmaali, Samira Sadat; Tamaddon, Ali; Yousefi, Gholamhossein; Javidnia, Katayoun; Dinarvand, Rasoul

2014-01-01

A functional polycation nanonetwork was developed for delivery of water soluble chemotherapeutic agents. The complexes of polyethyleneimine grafted methoxy polyethylene glycol (PEI-g-mPEG) and Zn2+ were utilized as the micellar template for cross-linking with dithiodipropionic acid, followed by an acidic pH dialysis to remove the metal ion from the micellar template. The synthesis method was optimized according to pH, the molar ratio of Zn2+, and the cross-link ratio. The atomic force microscopy showed soft, discrete, and uniform nano-networks. They were sensitive to the simulated reductive environment as determined by Ellman’s assay. They showed few positive ζ potential and an average hydrodynamic diameter of 162±10 nm, which decreased to 49±11 nm upon dehydration. The ionic character of the nano-networks allowed the achievement of a higher-loading capacity of methotrexate (MTX), approximately 57% weight per weight, depending on the cross-link and the drug feed ratios. The nano-networks actively loaded with MTX presented some suitable properties, such as the hydrodynamic size of 117±16 nm, polydispersity index of 0.22, and a prolonged swelling-controlled release profile over 24 hours that boosted following reductive activation of the nanonetwork biodegradation. Unlike the PEI ionomer, the nano-networks provided an acceptable cytotoxicity profile. The drug-loaded nano-networks exhibited more specific cytotoxicity against human hepatocellular carcinoma cells if compared to free MTX at concentrations above 1 μM. The enhanced antitumor activity in vitro might be attributed to endocytic entry of MTX-loaded nano-networks that was found in the epifluorescence microscopy experiment for the fluorophore-labeled nano-networks. PMID:24944513

Sequential optimization of methotrexate encapsulation in micellar nano-networks of polyethyleneimine ionomer containing redox-sensitive cross-links.

PubMed

Abolmaali, Samira Sadat; Tamaddon, Ali; Yousefi, Gholamhossein; Javidnia, Katayoun; Dinarvand, Rasoul

2014-01-01

A functional polycation nanonetwork was developed for delivery of water soluble chemotherapeutic agents. The complexes of polyethyleneimine grafted methoxy polyethylene glycol (PEI-g-mPEG) and Zn(2+) were utilized as the micellar template for cross-linking with dithiodipropionic acid, followed by an acidic pH dialysis to remove the metal ion from the micellar template. The synthesis method was optimized according to pH, the molar ratio of Zn(2+), and the cross-link ratio. The atomic force microscopy showed soft, discrete, and uniform nano-networks. They were sensitive to the simulated reductive environment as determined by Ellman's assay. They showed few positive ζ potential and an average hydrodynamic diameter of 162±10 nm, which decreased to 49±11 nm upon dehydration. The ionic character of the nano-networks allowed the achievement of a higher-loading capacity of methotrexate (MTX), approximately 57% weight per weight, depending on the cross-link and the drug feed ratios. The nano-networks actively loaded with MTX presented some suitable properties, such as the hydrodynamic size of 117±16 nm, polydispersity index of 0.22, and a prolonged swelling-controlled release profile over 24 hours that boosted following reductive activation of the nanonetwork biodegradation. Unlike the PEI ionomer, the nano-networks provided an acceptable cytotoxicity profile. The drug-loaded nano-networks exhibited more specific cytotoxicity against human hepatocellular carcinoma cells if compared to free MTX at concentrations above 1 μM. The enhanced antitumor activity in vitro might be attributed to endocytic entry of MTX-loaded nano-networks that was found in the epifluorescence microscopy experiment for the fluorophore-labeled nano-networks.

Hard templating ultrathin polycrystalline hematite nanosheets: effect of nano-dimension on CO2 to CO conversion via the reverse water-gas shift reaction.

PubMed

Fishman, Zachary S; He, Yulian; Yang, Ke R; Lounsbury, Amanda W; Zhu, Junqing; Tran, Thanh Minh; Zimmerman, Julie B; Batista, Victor S; Pfefferle, Lisa D

2017-09-14

Understanding how nano-dimensionality impacts iron oxide based catalysis is central to a wide range of applications. Here, we focus on hematite nanosheets, nanowires and nanoparticles as applied to catalyze the reverse water gas shift (RWGS) probe reaction. We introduce a novel approach to synthesize ultrathin (4-7 nm) hematite nanosheets using copper oxide nanosheets as a hard template and propose a reaction mechanism based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Hematite nanowires and nanoparticles were also synthesized and characterized. H 2 temperature programmed reduction (H 2 -TPR) and RWGS reactions were performed to glean insights into the mechanism of CO 2 conversion to CO over the iron oxide nanomaterials and were compared to H 2 binding energy calculations based on density functional theory. While the nanosheets did exhibit high CO 2 conversion, 28% at 510 °C, we found that the iron oxide nanowires had the highest CO 2 conversion, reaching 50% at 750 °C under atmospheric pressure. No products besides CO and H 2 O were detected.

High Aspect Ratio Sub-15 nm Silicon Trenches From Block Copolymer Templates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Xiaodan; Liu, Zuwei; Gunkel, Ilja; Olynick, Deirdre; Russell, Thomas; University of Massachusetts Amherst Collaboration; Oxford Instrument Collaboration; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Collaboration

2013-03-01

High-aspect-ratio sub-15 nm silicon trenches are fabricated directly from plasma etching of a block copolymer (BCP) mask. Polystyrene-b-poly(2-vinyl pyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) 40k-b-18k was spin coated and solvent annealed to form cylindrical structures parallel to the silicon substrate. The BCP thin film was reconstructed by immersion in ethanol and then subjected to an oxygen and argon reactive ion etching to fabricate the polymer mask. A low temperature ion coupled plasma with sulfur hexafluoride and oxygen was used to pattern transfer block copolymer structure to silicon with high selectivity (8:1) and fidelity. The silicon pattern was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and grazing incidence x-ray scattering. We also demonstrated fabrication of silicon nano-holes using polystyrene-b-polyethylene oxide (PS-b-PEO) using same methodology described above for PS-b-P2VP. Finally, we show such silicon nano-strucutre serves as excellent nano-imprint master template to pattern various functional materials like poly 3-hexylthiophene (P3HT).

The fabrication of subwavelength anti-reflective nanostructures using a bio-template

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Guoyong; Zhang, Guoming; Lin, Feng; Zhang, Jin; Liu, Zhongfan; Mu, Shichen

2008-03-01

This paper describes a paradigm, a simple, low-cost and conventional approach to the fabrication of large-area subwavelength anti-reflective nanostructures on films directly with a bio-template. Specifically, the nano-nipple arrays on the surface of cicada wings have been precisely replicated to a PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) film with high reproducibility by a technique of replica molding, which mainly involves two processes: one is that a negative Au mold is prepared directly from the bio-template of the cicada wing by thermal deposition; the other is that the Au mold is used to obtain the replica of the nanostructures on the original cicada wing by casting polymer. The reflectance spectra measurement shows that the replicated PMMA film can considerably reduce reflectivity at its surface over a large wavelength range from 250 to 800 nm, indicating that the anti-reflective property has also been inherited by the PMMA film.

Studies on the formation of hierarchical zeolite T aggregates with well-defined morphology in different template systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Xiaoyan; Chu, Naibo; Lu, Xuewei; Li, Zhongfang; Guo, Hong

2016-01-01

In this paper, the disk-like and pumpkin-like hierarchical zeolite T aggregates consisted of primary nano-grains have been hydrothermally synthesized with and without the aid of the second template. The first template is used with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH) and the second template is used with triethanolamine (TEA) or polyving akohol (PVA). A combination of characterization techniques, including XRD, SEM, TEM and N2 adsorption-desorption to examine the crystal crystallinity, morphology and surface properties of hierarchical zeolite T aggregates. In the single-template preparation process, the two-step varying-temperature treatment has been used to improve the meso-porosity of zeolite T aggregates. In the double-template preparation process, the amounts of PVA or TEA on the crystallinity, morphology and meso-porosity of zeolite T aggregates have been studied. It has been proved that the interstitial voids between the primary grains of aggregates are the origin of additional mesopores of samples. The micro- and meso-porosities of samples prepared with and without the second template have been contrasted in detail at last. In particular, the sample synthesized with the addition of PVA presents a hierarchical pore structure with the highest Sext value of 122 m2/g and Vmeso value of 0.255 cm3/g.

Layered conductive polymer on nylon membrane templates for high performance, thin-film supercapacitor electrodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, HaoTian Harvey; Naguib, Hani E.

2016-04-01

Flexible Thin-film Electrochemical Capacitors (ECs) are emerging technology that plays an important role as energy supply for various electronics system for both present era and the future. Intrinsically conductive polymers (ICPs) are promising pseudo-capacitive materials as they feature both good electrical conductivity and high specific capacitance. This study focuses on the construction and characterization of ultra-high surface area porous electrodes based on coating of nano-sized conductive polymer materials on nylon membrane templates. Herein, a novel nano-engineered electrode material based on nylon membranes was presented, which allows the creation of super-capacitor devices that is capable of delivering competitive performance, while maintaining desirable mechanical characteristics. With the formation of a highly conductive network with the polyaniline nano-layer, the electrical conductivity was also increased dramatically to facilitate the charge transfer process. Cyclic voltammetry and specific capacitance results showed promising application of this type of composite materials for future smart textile applications.

Properties of ordered titanium templates covered with Au thin films for SERS applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grochowska, Katarzyna; Siuzdak, Katarzyna; Sokołowski, Michał; Karczewski, Jakub; Szkoda, Mariusz; Śliwiński, Gerard

2016-12-01

Currently, roughened metal nanostructures are widely studied as highly sensitive Raman scattering substrates that show application potential in biochemistry, food safety or medical diagnostic. In this work the structural properties and the enhancement effect due to surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of highly ordered nano-patterned titanium templates covered with thin (5-20 nm) gold films are reported. The templates are formed by preparation of a dense structure of TiO2 nanotubes on a flat Ti surface (2 × 2 cm2) and their subsequent etching down to the substrate. SEM images reveal the formation of honeycomb nanostructures with the cavity diameter of 80 nm. Due to the strongly inhomogeneous distribution of the electromagnetic field in the vicinity of the Au film discontinuities the measured average enhancement factor (107-108) is markedly higher than observed for bare Ti templates. The enhancement factor and Raman signal intensity can be optimized by adjusting the process conditions and thickness of the deposited Au layer. Results confirm that the obtained structures can be used in surface enhanced sensing.

Mn-silicide nanostructures aligned on massively parallel silicon nano-ribbons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Padova, Paola; Ottaviani, Carlo; Ronci, Fabio; Colonna, Stefano; Olivieri, Bruno; Quaresima, Claudio; Cricenti, Antonio; Dávila, Maria E.; Hennies, Franz; Pietzsch, Annette; Shariati, Nina; Le Lay, Guy

2013-01-01

The growth of Mn nanostructures on a 1D grating of silicon nano-ribbons is investigated at atomic scale by means of scanning tunneling microscopy, low energy electron diffraction and core level photoelectron spectroscopy. The grating of silicon nano-ribbons represents an atomic scale template that can be used in a surface-driven route to control the combination of Si with Mn in the development of novel materials for spintronics devices. The Mn atoms show a preferential adsorption site on silicon atoms, forming one-dimensional nanostructures. They are parallel oriented with respect to the surface Si array, which probably predetermines the diffusion pathways of the Mn atoms during the process of nanostructure formation.

Mn-silicide nanostructures aligned on massively parallel silicon nano-ribbons.

PubMed

De Padova, Paola; Ottaviani, Carlo; Ronci, Fabio; Colonna, Stefano; Olivieri, Bruno; Quaresima, Claudio; Cricenti, Antonio; Dávila, Maria E; Hennies, Franz; Pietzsch, Annette; Shariati, Nina; Le Lay, Guy

2013-01-09

The growth of Mn nanostructures on a 1D grating of silicon nano-ribbons is investigated at atomic scale by means of scanning tunneling microscopy, low energy electron diffraction and core level photoelectron spectroscopy. The grating of silicon nano-ribbons represents an atomic scale template that can be used in a surface-driven route to control the combination of Si with Mn in the development of novel materials for spintronics devices. The Mn atoms show a preferential adsorption site on silicon atoms, forming one-dimensional nanostructures. They are parallel oriented with respect to the surface Si array, which probably predetermines the diffusion pathways of the Mn atoms during the process of nanostructure formation.

Carbon nanotube-templated assembly of regioregular poly(3-alkylthiophene) in solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Jiahua; Stevens, Eric; He, Youjun; Hong, Kunlun; Ivanov, Ilia

2016-09-01

Control of structural heterogeneity by rationally encoding of the molecular assemblies is a key enabling design of hierarchical, multifunctional materials of the future. Here we report the strategies to gain such control using solution- based assembly to construct a hybrid nano-assembly and a network hybrid structure of regioregular poly(3- alkylthiophene) - carbon nanotube (P3AT-CNT). The opto-electronic performance of conjugated polymer (P3AT) is defined by the structure of the aggregate in solution and in the solid film. Control of P3AT aggregation would allow formation of broad range of morphologies with very distinct electro-optical. We utilize interactive templating to confine the assembly behavior of conjugated polymers, replacing poorly controlled solution processing approach. Perfect crystalline surface of the single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT/MWCNT) acts as a template, seeding P3AT aggregation of the surface of the nanotube. The seed continues directional growth through pi-pi stacking leading to the formation of to well-defined P3AT-CNT morphologies, including comb-like nano-assemblies, super- structures and gel networks. Interconnected, highly-branched network structure of P3AT-CNT hybrids is of particular interest to enable efficient, long-range, balanced charge carrier transport. The structure and opto-electionic function of the intermediate assemblies and networks of P3AT/CNT hybrids are characterized by transmission election microscopy and UV-vis absorption.

Phosphor-Free Apple-White LEDs with Embedded Indium-Rich Nanostructures Grown on Strain Relaxed Nano-epitaxy GaN.

PubMed

Soh, C B; Liu, W; Yong, A M; Chua, S J; Chow, S Y; Tripathy, S; Tan, R J N

2010-08-01

Phosphor-free apple-white light emitting diodes have been fabricated using a dual stacked InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells comprising of a lower set of long wavelength emitting indium-rich nanostructures incorporated in multiple quantum wells with an upper set of cyan-green emitting multiple quantum wells. The light-emitting diodes were grown on nano-epitaxially lateral overgrown GaN template formed by regrowth of GaN over SiO(2) film patterned with an anodic aluminum oxide mask with holes of 125 nm diameter and a period of 250 nm. The growth of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells on these stress relaxed low defect density templates improves the internal quantum efficiency by 15% for the cyan-green multiple quantum wells. Higher emission intensity with redshift in the PL peak emission wavelength is obtained for the indium-rich nanostructures incorporated in multiple quantum wells. The quantum wells grown on the nano-epitaxially lateral overgrown GaN has a weaker piezoelectric field and hence shows a minimal peak shift with application of higher injection current. An enhancement of external quantum efficiency is achieved for the apple-white light emitting diodes grown on the nano-epitaxially lateral overgrown GaN template based on the light -output power measurement. The improvement in light extraction efficiency, η(extraction,) was found to be 34% for the cyan-green emission peak and 15% from the broad long wavelength emission with optimized lattice period.

Phosphor-Free Apple-White LEDs with Embedded Indium-Rich Nanostructures Grown on Strain Relaxed Nano-epitaxy GaN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soh, C. B.; Liu, W.; Yong, A. M.; Chua, S. J.; Chow, S. Y.; Tripathy, S.; Tan, R. J. N.

2010-11-01

Phosphor-free apple-white light emitting diodes have been fabricated using a dual stacked InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells comprising of a lower set of long wavelength emitting indium-rich nanostructures incorporated in multiple quantum wells with an upper set of cyan-green emitting multiple quantum wells. The light-emitting diodes were grown on nano-epitaxially lateral overgrown GaN template formed by regrowth of GaN over SiO2 film patterned with an anodic aluminum oxide mask with holes of 125 nm diameter and a period of 250 nm. The growth of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells on these stress relaxed low defect density templates improves the internal quantum efficiency by 15% for the cyan-green multiple quantum wells. Higher emission intensity with redshift in the PL peak emission wavelength is obtained for the indium-rich nanostructures incorporated in multiple quantum wells. The quantum wells grown on the nano-epitaxially lateral overgrown GaN has a weaker piezoelectric field and hence shows a minimal peak shift with application of higher injection current. An enhancement of external quantum efficiency is achieved for the apple-white light emitting diodes grown on the nano-epitaxially lateral overgrown GaN template based on the light -output power measurement. The improvement in light extraction efficiency, ηextraction, was found to be 34% for the cyan-green emission peak and 15% from the broad long wavelength emission with optimized lattice period.

Generation of pH responsive fluorescent nano capsules through simple steps for the oral delivery of low pH susceptible drugs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radhakumary, Changerath; Sreenivasan, Kunnatheeri

2016-11-01

pH responsive nano capsules are promising as it can encapsulate low pH susceptible drugs like insulin and guard them from the hostile environments in the intestinal tract. The strong acidity of the gastro-intestinal tract and the presence of proteolytic enzymes are the tumbling blocks for the design of drug delivery vehicles through oral route for drugs like insulin. Nano capsules are normally built over templates which are subsequently removed by further steps. Such processes are complex and often lead into deformed and collapsed capsules. In this study, we choose calcium carbonate (CaCO3) nano particles to serve as template. Over CaCO3 nanoparticles, silica layers were built followed by polymethacrylic acid chains to acquire pH responsiveness. During the polymerization process of the methacrylic acid, the calcium carbonate core particles were dissolved leading to the formation of nano hollow capsules having a size that ranges from 225 to 246 nm and thickness from 19 to 58 nm. The methodology is simple and devoid of additional steps. The nano shells exhibited 80% release of the loaded model drug, insulin at pH 7.4 while at pH 2.0 the capsules nearly stopped the release of the drug. Polymethacrylic acid shows pH responsive swelling behavior that it swells at intestinal pH (7.0-7.5) and shrinks at gastric pH (˜2.0) thus enabling the safe unloading of the drug from the nano capsules.

Cr-Si Schottky nano-diodes utilizing anodic aluminum oxide templates.

PubMed

Kwon, Namyong; Kim, Kyohyeok; Heo, Jinhee; Chung, Ilsub

2014-04-01

We have fabricated Cr nanodot Schottky diodes utilizing AAO templates formed on n-Si substrates. The diameters of the diodes were 75.0, 57.6, and 35.8 nm. Cr nanodot Schottky diodes with smaller diameters yield higher current densities than those with larger diameters due to an enhanced tunnel current contribution, which is attributed to a reduction in the barrier thickness. The diameters of Cr nanodots smaller than the Debye length (156 nm) play an important role in the reduction of barrier thickness. Also, we have fabricated Cr-Si nanorod Schottky diodes with three different lengths (130, 220, and 330 nm) by dry etching of n-Si substrate. Cr-Si nanorod Schottky diodes with longer nanorods yield higher reverse current than those with shorter nanorods due to the enhanced electric field, which is attributed to a high aspect ratio of Si nanorod.

Design of the Recovery Trajectory for JAXA Venus Orbiter Akatsuki

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campagnola, Stefano; Kawakatsu, Yasuhiro

2015-12-01

Akatsuki ("dawn" in Japanese) is the JAXA Venus orbiter that was scheduled to enter orbit around Venus on Dec. 7 th , 2010. Following the failure of the main engine during the orbit insertion maneuver, the spacecraft escaped Venus on a 200-day orbit around the Sun, only to return in early 2017. This paper presents the design and implementation of the recovery trajectory, which involves perihelion maneuvers to re-encounter Venus in late 2015. Relying only on the onboard propellant, the trajectory rescued the mission by (1) anticipating the beginning of the science phase within the nominal lifetime of the spacecraft, and (2) halving the Δ v requirements for the orbit insertion maneuver. Several trajectories are designed with an innovative use of a technique called non-tangent V-Infinity Leveraging Transfers (VILTs). Candidate solutions are then recomputed in higher fidelity models, and one solution is finally selected for its low Δv requirements and for programmatic reasons. The results of the perihelion maneuver campaign are also presented.

Progress in Nano-Engineered Anodic Aluminum Oxide Membrane Development.

PubMed

Poinern, Gerrard Eddy Jai; Ali, Nurshahidah; Fawcett, Derek

2011-02-25

The anodization of aluminum is an electro-chemical process that changes the surface chemistry of the metal, via oxidation, to produce an anodic oxide layer. During this process a self organized, highly ordered array of cylindrical shaped pores can be produced with controllable pore diameters, periodicity and density distribution. This enables anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes to be used as templates in a variety of nanotechnology applications without the need for expensive lithographical techniques. This review article is an overview of the current state of research on AAO membranes and the various applications of nanotechnology that use them in the manufacture of nano-materials and devices or incorporate them into specific applications such as biological/chemical sensors, nano-electronic devices, filter membranes and medical scaffolds for tissue engineering.

Progress in Nano-Engineered Anodic Aluminum Oxide Membrane Development

PubMed Central

Poinern, Gerrard Eddy Jai; Ali, Nurshahidah; Fawcett, Derek

2011-01-01

The anodization of aluminum is an electro-chemical process that changes the surface chemistry of the metal, via oxidation, to produce an anodic oxide layer. During this process a self organized, highly ordered array of cylindrical shaped pores can be produced with controllable pore diameters, periodicity and density distribution. This enables anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes to be used as templates in a variety of nanotechnology applications without the need for expensive lithographical techniques. This review article is an overview of the current state of research on AAO membranes and the various applications of nanotechnology that use them in the manufacture of nano-materials and devices or incorporate them into specific applications such as biological/chemical sensors, nano-electronic devices, filter membranes and medical scaffolds for tissue engineering. PMID:28880002

Nano-tubular cellulose for bioprocess technology development.

PubMed

Koutinas, Athanasios A; Sypsas, Vasilios; Kandylis, Panagiotis; Michelis, Andreas; Bekatorou, Argyro; Kourkoutas, Yiannis; Kordulis, Christos; Lycourghiotis, Alexis; Banat, Ibrahim M; Nigam, Poonam; Marchant, Roger; Giannouli, Myrsini; Yianoulis, Panagiotis

2012-01-01

Delignified cellulosic material has shown a significant promotional effect on the alcoholic fermentation as yeast immobilization support. However, its potential for further biotechnological development is unexploited. This study reports the characterization of this tubular/porous cellulosic material, which was done by SEM, porosimetry and X-ray powder diffractometry. The results showed that the structure of nano-tubular cellulose (NC) justifies its suitability for use in "cold pasteurization" processes and its promoting activity in bioprocessing (fermentation). The last was explained by a glucose pump theory. Also, it was demonstrated that crystallization of viscous invert sugar solutions during freeze drying could not be otherwise achieved unless NC was present. This effect as well as the feasibility of extremely low temperature fermentation are due to reduction of the activation energy, and have facilitated the development of technologies such as wine fermentations at home scale (in a domestic refrigerator). Moreover, NC may lead to new perspectives in research such as the development of new composites, templates for cylindrical nano-particles, etc.

Wide-field surface plasmon microscopy of nano- and microparticles: features, benchmarking, limitations, and bioanalytical applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nizamov, Shavkat; Scherbahn, Vitali; Mirsky, Vladimir M.

2017-05-01

Detection of nano- and micro-particles is an important task for chemical analytics, food industry, biotechnology, environmental monitoring and many other fields of science and industry. For this purpose, a method based on the detection and analysis of minute signals in surface plasmon resonance images due to adsorption of single nanopartciles was developed. This new technology allows one a real-time detection of interaction of single nano- and micro-particles with sensor surface. Adsorption of each nanoparticle leads to characteristic diffraction image whose intensity depends on the size and chemical composition of the particle. The adsorption rate characterizes volume concentration of nano- and micro-particles. Large monitored surface area of sensor enables a high dynamic range of counting and to a correspondingly high dynamic range in concentration scale. Depending on the type of particles and experimental conditions, the detection limit for aqueous samples can be below 1000 particles per microliter. For application of method in complex media, nanoparticle images are discriminated from image perturbations due to matrix components. First, the characteristic SPRM images of nanoparticles (templates) are collected in aqueous suspensions or spiked real samples. Then, the detection of nanoparticles in complex media using template matching is performed. The detection of various NPs in consumer products like cosmetics, mineral water, juices, and wines was shown at sub-ppb level. The method can be applied for ultrasensitive detection and analysis of nano- and micro-particles of biological (bacteria, viruses, endosomes), biotechnological (liposomes, protein nanoparticles for drug delivery) or technical origin.

Nano-imprint gold grating as refractive index sensor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kumari, Sudha; Mohapatra, Saswat; Moirangthem, Rakesh S.

Large scale of fabrication of plasmonic nanostructures has been a challenging task due to time consuming process and requirement of expensive nanofabrication tools such as electron beam lithography system, focused ion beam system, and extreme UV photolithography system. Here, we present a cost-effective fabrication technique so called soft nanoimprinting to fabricate nanostructures on the larger sample area. In our fabrication process, a commercially available optical DVD disc was used as a template which was imprinted on a polymer glass substrate to prepare 1D polymer nano-grating. A homemade nanoimprinting setup was used in this fabrication process. Further, a label-free refractive indexmore » sensor was developed by utilizing the properties of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of a gold coated 1D polymer nano-grating. Refractive index sensing was tested by exposing different solutions of glycerol-water mixture on the surface of gold nano-grating. The calculated bulk refractive index sensitivity was found to be 751nm/RIU. We believed that our proposed SPR sensor could be a promising candidate for developing low-cost refractive index sensor with high sensitivity on a large scale.« less

Hollow Cathode Studies for the Next Generation Ion Engines in JAXA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohkawa, Yasushi; Hayakawa, Yukio; Yoshida, Hideki; Miyazaki, Katsuhiro; Kitamura, Shoji; Kajiwara, Kenichi

The current status of experimental studies of hollow cathodes for the next-generation ion engines in the Aerospace Research and Development Directorate, JAXA is described. One of the topics on the hollow cathode studies is a life test of a discharge cathode. The keeper disk, orifice plate, and cathode tube of this discharge cathode are made of "high density graphite," which possesses much higher tolerance to ion impingement compared with conventional metal materials. The life test had started in March 2006 and the cumulative operation time reached 15,600 hours in April 2008. No severe degradation has been found both in the operation voltages and electrodes so far, and the test is favorably in progress. In addition to the life test of the discharge cathode, some experiments for design optimization of neutralizer cathodes have been performed. A life test of the neutralizer cathode is being started in June 2008.

Fabrication of Meso-Porous Sintered Metal Thin Films by Selective Etching of Silica Based Sacrificial Template

PubMed Central

Dumée, Ludovic F.; She, Fenghua; Duke, Mikel; Gray, Stephen; Hodgson, Peter; Kong, Lingxue

2014-01-01

Meso-porous metal materials have enhanced surface energies offering unique surface properties with potential applications in chemical catalysis, molecular sensing and selective separation. In this paper, commercial 20 nm diameter metal nano-particles, including silver and copper were blended with 7 nm silica nano-particles by shear mixing. The resulted powders were cold-sintered to form dense, hybrid thin films. The sacrificial silica template was then removed by selective etching in 12 wt% hydrofluoric acid solutions for 15 min to reveal a purely metallic meso-porous thin film material. The impact of the initial silica nano-particle diameter (7–20 nm) as well as the sintering pressure (5–20 ton·m−2) and etching conditions on the morphology and properties of the final nano-porous thin films were investigated by porometry, pyknometery, gas and liquid permeation and electron microscopy. Furthermore, the morphology of the pores and particle aggregation during shear mixing were assessed through cross-sectioning by focus ion beam milling. It is demonstrated that meso-pores ranging between 50 and 320 nm in average diameter and porosities up to 47% can be successfully formed for the range of materials tested. PMID:28344241

Transparent, flexible supercapacitors from nano-engineered carbon films.

PubMed

Jung, Hyun Young; Karimi, Majid B; Hahm, Myung Gwan; Ajayan, Pulickel M; Jung, Yung Joon

2012-01-01

Here we construct mechanically flexible and optically transparent thin film solid state supercapacitors by assembling nano-engineered carbon electrodes, prepared in porous templates, with morphology of interconnected arrays of complex shapes and porosity. The highly textured graphitic films act as electrode and current collector and integrated with solid polymer electrolyte, function as thin film supercapacitors. The nanostructured electrode morphology and the conformal electrolyte packaging provide enough energy and power density for the devices in addition to excellent mechanical flexibility and optical transparency, making it a unique design in various power delivery applications.

Transparent, flexible supercapacitors from nano-engineered carbon films

PubMed Central

Jung, Hyun Young; Karimi, Majid B.; Hahm, Myung Gwan; Ajayan, Pulickel M.; Jung, Yung Joon

2012-01-01

Here we construct mechanically flexible and optically transparent thin film solid state supercapacitors by assembling nano-engineered carbon electrodes, prepared in porous templates, with morphology of interconnected arrays of complex shapes and porosity. The highly textured graphitic films act as electrode and current collector and integrated with solid polymer electrolyte, function as thin film supercapacitors. The nanostructured electrode morphology and the conformal electrolyte packaging provide enough energy and power density for the devices in addition to excellent mechanical flexibility and optical transparency, making it a unique design in various power delivery applications. PMID:23105970

Transparent, flexible supercapacitors from nano-engineered carbon films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Hyun Young; Karimi, Majid B.; Hahm, Myung Gwan; Ajayan, Pulickel M.; Jung, Yung Joon

2012-10-01

Here we construct mechanically flexible and optically transparent thin film solid state supercapacitors by assembling nano-engineered carbon electrodes, prepared in porous templates, with morphology of interconnected arrays of complex shapes and porosity. The highly textured graphitic films act as electrode and current collector and integrated with solid polymer electrolyte, function as thin film supercapacitors. The nanostructured electrode morphology and the conformal electrolyte packaging provide enough energy and power density for the devices in addition to excellent mechanical flexibility and optical transparency, making it a unique design in various power delivery applications.

Controllable preparation of copper phthalocyanine single crystal nano column and its chlorine gas sensing properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Jianhong; Qiao, Zhenfang; Zhang, Yumin; Zou, Taoyu; Yu, Leiming; Luo, Li; Wang, Xiaoyan; Yang, Yiji; Wang, Hai; Tang, Libin

2016-09-01

The unsubstituted copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) single crystal nano columns were fabricated for the first time as chlorine (Cl2) gas sensors in this paper. The nano columns of CuPc have been prepared on different substrates via template-free physical vapor deposition (PVD) approach. The growth mechanism of CuPc nano column on quartz was explored and the same condition used on other substrates including glass, sapphire (C-plane<0001>, M-plane<10 1 ¯ 0 >, R-plane<1 1 ¯ 02 >), Si and SiO2/Si came to a same conclusion, which confirmed that the aligned growth of CuPc nano column is not substrate-dependent. And then the CuPc nano column with special morphology was integrated as in-situ sensor device which exhibits high sensitivity and selectivity towards Cl2 at room temperature with a minimum detection limit as low as 0.08 ppm. The response of sensor was found to increase linearly (26 ˜659 % ) with the increase for Cl2 within concentration range (0.08 ˜4.0 ppm ) . These results clearly demonstrate the great potential of the nano column growth and device integration approach for sensor device.

In-situ deposition of Pd nanoparticles on tubular halloysite template for initiation of metallization.

PubMed

Fu, Yubin; Zhang, Lide; Zheng, Jiyong

2005-04-01

Halloysite template has a tubular microstructure; its wall has a multi-layer aluminosilicate structure. A new catalytic method is adopted here, through the in-situ reduction of Pd ions on the surface of tubular halloysite by methanol to initiate electroless plating; the detailed deposition features of Pd nanoparticles are investigated for the first time. The results indicate that an in-situ reduction and deposition of Pd occurs at room temperature, in which the halloysite template plays an important role. Impurities in halloysite (such as ferric oxide) influence the formation and distribution of the Pd nanoparticles. The Pd nanoparticles are of a non-spherical shape in most cases, which would be caused by the irregular appearance of halloysite. No intercalation of the nanoparticles occurs between the aluminosilicate layers in the halloysite. The diameter of Pd nanoparticles increases with time; the average diameter ranges from 1 nm to 4 nm. Pd nanoparticles on a halloysite template can catalyze electroless deposition of Ni to prepare a novel nano-sized cermet at low cost. This practicable catalytic method could also be used on other clay substrates for the initiation of metallization.

The eNanoMapper database for nanomaterial safety information.

PubMed

Jeliazkova, Nina; Chomenidis, Charalampos; Doganis, Philip; Fadeel, Bengt; Grafström, Roland; Hardy, Barry; Hastings, Janna; Hegi, Markus; Jeliazkov, Vedrin; Kochev, Nikolay; Kohonen, Pekka; Munteanu, Cristian R; Sarimveis, Haralambos; Smeets, Bart; Sopasakis, Pantelis; Tsiliki, Georgia; Vorgrimmler, David; Willighagen, Egon

2015-01-01

The NanoSafety Cluster, a cluster of projects funded by the European Commision, identified the need for a computational infrastructure for toxicological data management of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). Ontologies, open standards, and interoperable designs were envisioned to empower a harmonized approach to European research in nanotechnology. This setting provides a number of opportunities and challenges in the representation of nanomaterials data and the integration of ENM information originating from diverse systems. Within this cluster, eNanoMapper works towards supporting the collaborative safety assessment for ENMs by creating a modular and extensible infrastructure for data sharing, data analysis, and building computational toxicology models for ENMs. The eNanoMapper database solution builds on the previous experience of the consortium partners in supporting diverse data through flexible data storage, open source components and web services. We have recently described the design of the eNanoMapper prototype database along with a summary of challenges in the representation of ENM data and an extensive review of existing nano-related data models, databases, and nanomaterials-related entries in chemical and toxicogenomic databases. This paper continues with a focus on the database functionality exposed through its application programming interface (API), and its use in visualisation and modelling. Considering the preferred community practice of using spreadsheet templates, we developed a configurable spreadsheet parser facilitating user friendly data preparation and data upload. We further present a web application able to retrieve the experimental data via the API and analyze it with multiple data preprocessing and machine learning algorithms. We demonstrate how the eNanoMapper database is used to import and publish online ENM and assay data from several data sources, how the "representational state transfer" (REST) API enables building user friendly

Construction of population-specific Indian MRI brain template: Morphometric comparison with Chinese and Caucasian templates.

PubMed

Bhalerao, Gaurav Vivek; Parlikar, Rujuta; Agrawal, Rimjhim; Shivakumar, Venkataram; Kalmady, Sunil V; Rao, Naren P; Agarwal, Sri Mahavir; Narayanaswamy, Janardhanan C; Reddy, Y C Janardhan; Venkatasubramanian, Ganesan

2018-06-01

Spatial normalization of brain MR images is highly dependent on the choice of target brain template. Morphological differences caused by factors like genetic and environmental exposures, generates a necessity to construct population specific brain templates. Brain image analysis performed using brain templates from Caucasian population may not be appropriate for non-Caucasian population. In this study, our objective was to construct an Indian brain template from a large population (N = 157 subjects) and compare the morphometric parameters of this template with that of Chinese-56 and MNI-152 templates. In addition, using an independent MRI data of 15 Indian subjects, we also evaluated the potential registration accuracy differences using these three templates. Indian brain template was constructed using iterative routines as per established procedures. We compared our Indian template with standard MNI-152 template and Chinese template by measuring global brain features. We also examined accuracy of registration by aligning 15 new Indian brains to Indian, Chinese and MNI templates. Furthermore, we supported our measurement protocol with inter-rater and intra-rater reliability analysis. Our results showed that there were significant differences in global brain features of Indian template in comparison with Chinese and MNI brain templates. The results of registration accuracy analysis revealed that fewer deformations are required when Indian brains are registered to Indian template as compared to Chinese and MNI templates. This study concludes that population specific Indian template is likely to be more appropriate for structural and functional image analysis of Indian population. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Templated and template-free fabrication strategies for zero-dimensional hollow MOF superstructures.

PubMed

Kim, Hyehyun; Lah, Myoung Soo

2017-05-16

Various fabrication strategies for hollow metal-organic framework (MOF) superstructures are reviewed and classified using various types of external templates and their properties. Hollow MOF superstructures have also been prepared without external templates, wherein unstable intermediates obtained during reactions convert to the final hollow MOF superstructures. Many hollow MOF superstructures have been fabricated using hard templates. After the core-shell core@MOF structure was prepared using a hard template, the core was selectively etched to generate a hollow MOF superstructure. Another approach for generating hollow superstructures is to use a solid reactant as a sacrificial template; this method requires no additional etching process. Soft templates such as discontinuous liquid/emulsion droplets and gas bubbles in a continuous soft phase have also been employed to prepare hollow MOF superstructures.

Synthesis of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles by a novel ultrasonic assisted with mixed hollow sphere template method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gopi, D.; Indira, J.; Kavitha, L.; Sekar, M.; Mudali, U. Kamachi

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) is the main inorganic component of bone material and is widely used in various biomedical applications due to its excellent bioactivity and biocompatibility. In this paper, we have reported the synthesis of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles by a novel ultrasonic assisted mixed template directed method. In this method glycine-acrylic acid (GLY-AA) hollow spheres were used as an organic template which could be prepared by mixing of glycine with acrylic acid. The as-synthesized HAP nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and tunnelling electron microscope (TEM) to investigate the nature of bonding, crystallinity, size and shape. The thermal stability of as-synthesized nanoparticles was also investigated by the thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). The effect of ultrasonic irradiation time on the crystallinity and size of the HAP nanoparticles in presence of glycine-acrylic acid hollow spheres template were investigated. From the inspection of the above results it is confirmed that the crystallinity and size of the HAP nanoparticles decrease with increasing ultrasonic irradiation time. Hence the proposed synthesis strategy provides a facile pathway to obtain nano sized HAP with high quality, suitable size and morphology.

Fast template matching with polynomials.

PubMed

Omachi, Shinichiro; Omachi, Masako

2007-08-01

Template matching is widely used for many applications in image and signal processing. This paper proposes a novel template matching algorithm, called algebraic template matching. Given a template and an input image, algebraic template matching efficiently calculates similarities between the template and the partial images of the input image, for various widths and heights. The partial image most similar to the template image is detected from the input image for any location, width, and height. In the proposed algorithm, a polynomial that approximates the template image is used to match the input image instead of the template image. The proposed algorithm is effective especially when the width and height of the template image differ from the partial image to be matched. An algorithm using the Legendre polynomial is proposed for efficient approximation of the template image. This algorithm not only reduces computational costs, but also improves the quality of the approximated image. It is shown theoretically and experimentally that the computational cost of the proposed algorithm is much smaller than the existing methods.

Transition metal-chelating surfactant micelle templates for facile synthesis of mesoporous silica nanoparticles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, Hye Sun; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749; Kim, Won Hee

2012-01-15

Highly ordered mesoporous silica nanoparticles with tunable morphology and pore-size are prepared by the use of a transition metal-chelating surfactant micelle complex using Co{sup 2+}, Ni{sup 2+}, Cu{sup 2+}, and Zn{sup 2+} ions. These metal ions formed a metal-P123 micelle complex in an aqueous solution, while the metal ions are chelated to the hydrophilic domain such as the poly(ethylene oxide) group of a P123 surfactant. The different complexation abilities of the utilized transition metal ions play an important role in determining the formation of nano-sized ordered MSNs due to the different stabilization constant of the metal-P123 complex. Consequently, from amore » particle length of 1700 nm in the original mesoporous silica materials, the particle length of ordered MSNs through the metal-chelating P123 micelle templates can be reduced to a range of 180-800 nm. Furthermore, the variation of pore size shows a slight change from 8.8 to 6.6 nm. In particular, the Cu{sup 2+}-chelated MSNs show only decreased particle size to 180 nm. The stability constants for the metal-P123 complex are calculated on the basis of molar conductance measurements in order to elucidate the formation mechanism of MSNs by the metal-chelating P123 complex templates. In addition, solid-state {sup 29}Si, {sup 13}C-NMR and ICP-OES measurements are used for quantitative characterization reveal that the utilized metal ions affect only the formation of a metal-P123 complex in a micelle as a template. - Graphical abstract: Metal-chelating surfactant micelle templates support a simple and facile preparations of size-tunable ordered MSNs. Black-Small-Square Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Facile preparation of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) was achieved by metal-chelating surfactant micelle complex using Co{sup 2+}, Ni{sup 2+}, Cu{sup 2+}, and Zn{sup 2+} ions. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Different complexation of metal ions plays an important role in determining the

Heat-resistant DNA tile arrays constructed by template-directed photoligation through 5-carboxyvinyl-2′-deoxyuridine

PubMed Central

Tagawa, Miho; Shohda, Koh-ichiroh; Fujimoto, Kenzo; Sugawara, Tadashi; Suyama, Akira

2007-01-01

Template-directed DNA photoligation has been applied to a method to construct heat-resistant two-dimensional (2D) DNA arrays that can work as scaffolds in bottom-up assembly of functional biomolecules and nano-electronic components. DNA double-crossover AB-staggered (DXAB) tiles were covalently connected by enzyme-free template-directed photoligation, which enables a specific ligation reaction in an extremely tight space and under buffer conditions where no enzymes work efficiently. DNA nanostructures created by self-assembly of the DXAB tiles before and after photoligation have been visualized by high-resolution, tapping mode atomic force microscopy in buffer. The improvement of the heat tolerance of 2D DNA arrays was confirmed by heating and visualizing the DNA nanostructures. The heat-resistant DNA arrays may expand the potential of DNA as functional materials in biotechnology and nanotechnology. PMID:17982178

Nano-Tubular Cellulose for Bioprocess Technology Development

PubMed Central

Koutinas, Athanasios A.; Sypsas, Vasilios; Kandylis, Panagiotis; Michelis, Andreas; Bekatorou, Argyro; Kourkoutas, Yiannis; Kordulis, Christos; Lycourghiotis, Alexis; Banat, Ibrahim M.; Nigam, Poonam; Marchant, Roger; Giannouli, Myrsini; Yianoulis, Panagiotis

2012-01-01

Delignified cellulosic material has shown a significant promotional effect on the alcoholic fermentation as yeast immobilization support. However, its potential for further biotechnological development is unexploited. This study reports the characterization of this tubular/porous cellulosic material, which was done by SEM, porosimetry and X-ray powder diffractometry. The results showed that the structure of nano-tubular cellulose (NC) justifies its suitability for use in “cold pasteurization” processes and its promoting activity in bioprocessing (fermentation). The last was explained by a glucose pump theory. Also, it was demonstrated that crystallization of viscous invert sugar solutions during freeze drying could not be otherwise achieved unless NC was present. This effect as well as the feasibility of extremely low temperature fermentation are due to reduction of the activation energy, and have facilitated the development of technologies such as wine fermentations at home scale (in a domestic refrigerator). Moreover, NC may lead to new perspectives in research such as the development of new composites, templates for cylindrical nano-particles, etc. PMID:22496794

Concurrent infections of pseudorabies virus and porcine bocavirus in China detected by duplex nanoPCR.

PubMed

Luo, Yakun; Liang, Lin; Zhou, Ling; Zhao, Kai; Cui, Shangjin

2015-07-01

Nanoparticle-assisted polymerase chain reaction (nanoPCR) is a novel method for the simple, rapid, and specific amplification of DNA and has been used to detect viruses. A duplex nanoPCR molecular detection system was developed to detect pseudorabies virus (PRV) and porcine bocavirus (PBoV). Primers were selected to target conserved regions within the PRV gE gene and the PBoV NS1 gene. Under optimized nanoPCR reaction conditions, two specific fragments of 316 bp (PRV) and 996 bp (PBoV) were amplified by the duplex nanoPCR with a detection limit of 6 copies for PRV and 95 copies for PBoV; no fragments were amplified when other porcine viruses were used as template. When used to test 550 clinical samples, the duplex nanoPRC assay and a conventional duplex PCR assay provided very similar results (98.1% consistency); single PRV infections, single PBoV infections, and concurrent PRV and PBoV infections were detected in 37%, 15%, and 9% of the samples, respectively. The results indicate that the novel duplex nanoPCR assay is useful for the rapid detection of PRV and PBoV in pigs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An ISA-TAB-Nano based data collection framework to support data-driven modelling of nanotoxicology.

PubMed

Marchese Robinson, Richard L; Cronin, Mark T D; Richarz, Andrea-Nicole; Rallo, Robert

2015-01-01

Analysis of trends in nanotoxicology data and the development of data driven models for nanotoxicity is facilitated by the reporting of data using a standardised electronic format. ISA-TAB-Nano has been proposed as such a format. However, in order to build useful datasets according to this format, a variety of issues has to be addressed. These issues include questions regarding exactly which (meta)data to report and how to report them. The current article discusses some of the challenges associated with the use of ISA-TAB-Nano and presents a set of resources designed to facilitate the manual creation of ISA-TAB-Nano datasets from the nanotoxicology literature. These resources were developed within the context of the NanoPUZZLES EU project and include data collection templates, corresponding business rules that extend the generic ISA-TAB-Nano specification as well as Python code to facilitate parsing and integration of these datasets within other nanoinformatics resources. The use of these resources is illustrated by a "Toy Dataset" presented in the Supporting Information. The strengths and weaknesses of the resources are discussed along with possible future developments.

An ISA-TAB-Nano based data collection framework to support data-driven modelling of nanotoxicology

PubMed Central

Marchese Robinson, Richard L; Richarz, Andrea-Nicole; Rallo, Robert

2015-01-01

Summary Analysis of trends in nanotoxicology data and the development of data driven models for nanotoxicity is facilitated by the reporting of data using a standardised electronic format. ISA-TAB-Nano has been proposed as such a format. However, in order to build useful datasets according to this format, a variety of issues has to be addressed. These issues include questions regarding exactly which (meta)data to report and how to report them. The current article discusses some of the challenges associated with the use of ISA-TAB-Nano and presents a set of resources designed to facilitate the manual creation of ISA-TAB-Nano datasets from the nanotoxicology literature. These resources were developed within the context of the NanoPUZZLES EU project and include data collection templates, corresponding business rules that extend the generic ISA-TAB-Nano specification as well as Python code to facilitate parsing and integration of these datasets within other nanoinformatics resources. The use of these resources is illustrated by a “Toy Dataset” presented in the Supporting Information. The strengths and weaknesses of the resources are discussed along with possible future developments. PMID:26665069

Programmable imprint lithography template

DOEpatents

Cardinale, Gregory F [Oakland, CA; Talin, Albert A [Livermore, CA

2006-10-31

A template for imprint lithography (IL) that reduces significantly template production costs by allowing the same template to be re-used for several technology generations. The template is composed of an array of spaced-apart moveable and individually addressable rods or plungers. Thus, the template can be configured to provide a desired pattern by programming the array of plungers such that certain of the plungers are in an "up" or actuated configuration. This arrangement of "up" and "down" plungers forms a pattern composed of protruding and recessed features which can then be impressed onto a polymer film coated substrate by applying a pressure to the template impressing the programmed configuration into the polymer film. The pattern impressed into the polymer film will be reproduced on the substrate by subsequent processing.

Hybrid micro-/nano-structures derived from metal-organic frameworks: preparation and applications in energy storage and conversion.

PubMed

Cao, Xiehong; Tan, Chaoliang; Sindoro, Melinda; Zhang, Hua

2017-05-22

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), an important class of inorganic-organic hybrid crystals with intrinsic porous structures, can be used as versatile precursors or sacrificial templates for preparation of numerous functional nanomaterials for various applications. Recent developments of MOF-derived hybrid micro-/nano-structures, constructed by more than two components with varied functionalities, have revealed their extensive capabilities to overcome the weaknesses of the individual counterparts and thus give enhanced performance for energy storage and conversion. In this tutorial review, we summarize the recent advances in MOF-derived hybrid micro-/nano-structures. The synthetic strategies for preparing MOF-derived hybrid micro-/nano-structures are first introduced. Focusing on energy storage and conversion, we then discuss their potential applications in lithium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, supercapacitors, lithium-oxygen batteries and fuel cells. Finally, we give our personal insights into the challenges and opportunities for the future research of MOF-derived hybrid micro-/nano-structures.

Efficacy of saccharides bio-template on structural, morphological, optical and antibacterial property of ZnO nanoparticles.

PubMed

Dhanalakshmi, A; Palanimurugan, A; Natarajan, B

2018-09-01

Mono, di and polysaccharides of glucose (C 6 H 12 O 6 ), sucrose (C 12 H 24 O 12 ) and starch (C 6 H 12 O 6 ) n bio-template ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) has prepared by chemical precipitation method. Saccharides bio-template ZnO (SBts-ZnO) NPs were efficiently prepared for their structural and optical properties were examined by using XRD, FE-SEM, AFM, FTIR, UV and PL techniques. All the samples are polycrystalline nature with a preferential orientation depending on the (1 0 1) plane. The reduction of crystalline size by utilizing glucose, sucrose and starch bio-template of ZnO NPs. FE-SEM images revealed that the spherical and nano-rods like morphologies for ZnO and SBts-ZnO NPs respectively. AFM recorded images shows spherical features that confirmed and also the morphological changes were noticed with the addition of polymers. Interaction of bio-templated saccharides (glucose G 1 , sucrose S 2 & starch S n ) molecules was proved by FTIR study. Optical absorbance and emission behaviours were investigated using UV-Vis and photoluminescence techniques. The antibacterial study revealed that SBts-ZnO have excellent antibacterial effect than ZnO. The S n -ZnO sample has potent antibacterial activity against the Proteus vulgaris followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

FtsZ Cytoskeletal Filaments as a Template for Metallic Nanowire Fabrication.

PubMed

Ostrov, Nili; Fichman, Galit; Adler-Abramovich, Lihi; Gazit, Ehud

2015-01-01

Supramolecular protein assemblies can serve as templates for the fabrication of inorganic nanowires due to their morphological reproducibility and innate proclivity to form well-ordered structures. Amongst the variety of naturally occurring nano-scale assemblies, cytoskeletal fibers from diverse biological sources represent a unique family of scaffolds for biomimetics as they efficiently self-assemble in vitro in a controllable manner to form stable filaments. Here, we harness the bacterial FtsZ filament system as a scaffold for protein-based metal nanowires, and further demonstrate the control of wire alignment with the use of an external magnetic field. Due to the ease at which the bacterial FtsZ is overexpressed and purified, as well as the extensive studies of its ultrastructural properties and physiological significance, FtsZ filaments are an ideal substrate for large-scale production and chemical manipulation. Using a biologically compatible electroless metal deposition technique initiated by adsorption of platinum as a surface catalyst, we demonstrate the coating of assembled FtsZ filaments with iron, nickel, gold, and copper to fabricate continuous nanowires with diameters ranging from 10-50 nm. Organic-inorganic hybrid wires were analyzed using high-resolution field-emission-gun transmission and scanning electron microscopy, and confirmed by energy-dispersive elemental analysis. We also achieved alignment of ferrofluid-coated FtsZ filaments using an external magnetic field. Overall, we provide evidence for the robustness of the FtsZ filament system as a molecular scaffold, and offer an efficient, biocompatible procedure for facile bottom-up assembly of metallic wires on biological templates. We believe that bottom-up fabrication methods as reported herein significantly contribute to the expanding toolkit available for the incorporation of biological materials in nano-scale devices for electronic and electromechanical applications.

The eNanoMapper database for nanomaterial safety information

PubMed Central

Chomenidis, Charalampos; Doganis, Philip; Fadeel, Bengt; Grafström, Roland; Hardy, Barry; Hastings, Janna; Hegi, Markus; Jeliazkov, Vedrin; Kochev, Nikolay; Kohonen, Pekka; Munteanu, Cristian R; Sarimveis, Haralambos; Smeets, Bart; Sopasakis, Pantelis; Tsiliki, Georgia; Vorgrimmler, David; Willighagen, Egon

2015-01-01

Summary Background: The NanoSafety Cluster, a cluster of projects funded by the European Commision, identified the need for a computational infrastructure for toxicological data management of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). Ontologies, open standards, and interoperable designs were envisioned to empower a harmonized approach to European research in nanotechnology. This setting provides a number of opportunities and challenges in the representation of nanomaterials data and the integration of ENM information originating from diverse systems. Within this cluster, eNanoMapper works towards supporting the collaborative safety assessment for ENMs by creating a modular and extensible infrastructure for data sharing, data analysis, and building computational toxicology models for ENMs. Results: The eNanoMapper database solution builds on the previous experience of the consortium partners in supporting diverse data through flexible data storage, open source components and web services. We have recently described the design of the eNanoMapper prototype database along with a summary of challenges in the representation of ENM data and an extensive review of existing nano-related data models, databases, and nanomaterials-related entries in chemical and toxicogenomic databases. This paper continues with a focus on the database functionality exposed through its application programming interface (API), and its use in visualisation and modelling. Considering the preferred community practice of using spreadsheet templates, we developed a configurable spreadsheet parser facilitating user friendly data preparation and data upload. We further present a web application able to retrieve the experimental data via the API and analyze it with multiple data preprocessing and machine learning algorithms. Conclusion: We demonstrate how the eNanoMapper database is used to import and publish online ENM and assay data from several data sources, how the “representational state transfer�

JAXA-NASA Interoperability Demonstration for Application of DTN Under Simulated Rain Attenuation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Suzuki, Kiyoshisa; Inagawa, Shinichi; Lippincott, Jeff; Cecil, Andrew J.

2014-01-01

As is well known, K-band or higher band communications in space link segment often experience intermittent disruptions caused by heavy rainfall. In view of keeping data integrity and establishing autonomous operations under such situation, it is important to consider introducing a tolerance mechanism such as Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN). The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) is studying DTN as part of the standardization activities for space data systems. As a contribution to CCSDS and a feasibility study for future utilization of DTN, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted an interoperability demonstration for confirming its tolerance mechanism and capability of automatic operation using Data Relay Test Satellite (DRTS) space link and its ground terminals. Both parties used the Interplanetary Overlay Network (ION) open source software, including the Bundle Protocol, the Licklider Transmission Protocol, and Contact Graph Routing. This paper introduces the contents of the interoperability demonstration and its results.

Acetate templating on digital images is more accurate than computer-based templating for total hip arthroplasty.

PubMed

Petretta, Robert; Strelzow, Jason; Ohly, Nicholas E; Misur, Peter; Masri, Bassam A

2015-12-01

Templating is an important aspect of preoperative planning for total hip arthroplasty and can help determine the size and positioning of the prosthesis. Historically, templating has been performed using acetate templates over printed radiographs. As a result of the increasing use of digital imaging, surgeons now either obtain additional printed radiographs solely for templating purposes or use specialized digital templating software, both of which carry additional cost. The purposes of this study was to compare acetate templating of digitally calibrated images on an LCD monitor to digital templating in terms of (1) accuracy; (2) reproducibility; and (3) time efficiency. Acetate onlay templating was performed directly over digital radiographs on an LCD monitor and was compared with digital templating. Five separate observers participated in this study templating on 52 total hip arthroplasties. For the acetate templating, the digital images were magnified to the scaled reference on the templates provided by the manufacturer (ratio 1.2:1) before templating using a 25-mm marker as a reference. Both the acetate and digital templating results were then compared with the actual implanted components to determine accuracy. Interobserver and intraobserver variability was determined by an intraclass correlation coefficient. Observers recorded time to complete templating from the time of complete upload of patients' imaging onto the system to completion of templating. Both acetate and digital templates demonstrated moderate accuracy in predicting within one size of the eventual implanted acetabular cup (77% [199 of 260]; 70% [181 of 260], respectively; p = 0.050; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.058-0.32), whereas acetate templating was better at predicting the femoral stem compared to digital templating (75% [195 of 260]; 60% [155 of 260], respectively; p < 0.001; 95% CI, 0.084-0.32). Acetate templating showed moderate to substantial interobserver agreement (cup intraclass

Nano-technology and nano-toxicology.

PubMed

Maynard, Robert L

2012-01-01

Rapid developments in nano-technology are likely to confer significant benefits on mankind. But, as with perhaps all new technologies, these benefits are likely to be accompanied by risks, perhaps by new risks. Nano-toxicology is developing in parallel with nano-technology and seeks to define the hazards and risks associated with nano-materials: only when risks have been identified they can be controlled. This article discusses the reasons for concern about the potential effects on health of exposure to nano-materials and relates these to the evidence of the effects on health of the ambient aerosol. A number of hypotheses are proposed and the dangers of adopting unsubstantiated hypotheses are stressed. Nano-toxicology presents many challenges and will need substantial financial support if it is to develop at a rate sufficient to cope with developments in nano-technology.

Nano-technology and nano-toxicology

PubMed Central

Maynard, Robert L.

2012-01-01

Rapid developments in nano-technology are likely to confer significant benefits on mankind. But, as with perhaps all new technologies, these benefits are likely to be accompanied by risks, perhaps by new risks. Nano-toxicology is developing in parallel with nano-technology and seeks to define the hazards and risks associated with nano-materials: only when risks have been identified they can be controlled. This article discusses the reasons for concern about the potential effects on health of exposure to nano-materials and relates these to the evidence of the effects on health of the ambient aerosol. A number of hypotheses are proposed and the dangers of adopting unsubstantiated hypotheses are stressed. Nano-toxicology presents many challenges and will need substantial financial support if it is to develop at a rate sufficient to cope with developments in nano-technology. PMID:22662021

Cloning nanocrystal morphology with soft templates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thapa, Dev Kumar; Pandey, Anshu

2016-08-01

In most template directed preparative methods, while the template decides the nanostructure morphology, the structure of the template itself is a non-general outcome of its peculiar chemistry. Here we demonstrate a template mediated synthesis that overcomes this deficiency. This synthesis involves overgrowth of silica template onto a sacrificial nanocrystal. Such templates are used to copy the morphologies of gold nanorods. After template overgrowth, gold is removed and silver is regrown in the template cavity to produce a single crystal silver nanorod. This technique allows for duplicating existing nanocrystals, while also providing a quantifiable breakdown of the structure - shape interdependence.

Nano-hydrogels of methoxy polyethylene glycol-grafted branched polyethyleneimine via biodegradable cross-linking of Zn2+-ionomer micelle template

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abolmaali, Samira Sadat; Tamaddon, Ali Mohammad; Dinarvand, Rasoul

2013-12-01

Soft polymeric nanomaterials were synthesized by the template-assisted method involving self-association of methoxy polyethylene glycol- g-branched polyethyleneimine (mPEG- g-branched PEI) ionomer by transition metal ions such as Zn2+ followed by chemical cross-linking of the polyamine core by dithiopropionic acid. The formation of donor-acceptor complexes of Zn2+ and PEI ionomer was characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and potentiometric titration. Turbidimetry was performed to study the solution property of the complexes which depended on pH, relative weight fraction of mPEG, and the molar ratio of Zn2+. The cross-linking reaction was studied by TNBS assay, 1H-NMR, and size exclusion chromatography. Upon removal of Zn2+ from cl-mPEG- g-branched PEI/Zn2+ at pH 3 by dialysis, the resulting cross-linked self-assembly represented a uniform, stable, and less positively charged hydrogel-like nanosphere with an intensity-averaged size ranging from 150 to 250 nm as determined by a Zetasizer. Atomic forced microscopy imaging was performed in intermittent contact mode in air that revealed discrete and oval-to-spherically shaped particles with average sizes ranging from 40 to 50 nm depending on the degree of cross-linking. This functional nanocarrier is expected to exhibit some key features such as active encapsulation of negatively charged hydrophilic agents in the swollen core of polyamine network and a hydrophilic mPEG shell which provides an increased solubility and passive targeting of active pharmaceutical agents to impaired tissues. The nano-hydrogels especially at 12 % degrees of cross-link demonstrated excellent biocompatibility determined by different experiments such as albumin aggregation, erythrocyte aggregation, hemolysis, and MTT cytotoxicity assay. Moreover, biodegradability of the cross-links as shown by the Ellman assay can offer a time-dependent degradation and redox-stimulated release of active agents.

Synthesis of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles by a novel ultrasonic assisted with mixed hollow sphere template method.

PubMed

Gopi, D; Indira, J; Kavitha, L; Sekar, M; Mudali, U Kamachi

2012-07-01

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) is the main inorganic component of bone material and is widely used in various biomedical applications due to its excellent bioactivity and biocompatibility. In this paper, we have reported the synthesis of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles by a novel ultrasonic assisted mixed template directed method. In this method glycine-acrylic acid (GLY-AA) hollow spheres were used as an organic template which could be prepared by mixing of glycine with acrylic acid. The as-synthesized HAP nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and tunnelling electron microscope (TEM) to investigate the nature of bonding, crystallinity, size and shape. The thermal stability of as-synthesized nanoparticles was also investigated by the thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). The effect of ultrasonic irradiation time on the crystallinity and size of the HAP nanoparticles in presence of glycine-acrylic acid hollow spheres template were investigated. From the inspection of the above results it is confirmed that the crystallinity and size of the HAP nanoparticles decrease with increasing ultrasonic irradiation time. Hence the proposed synthesis strategy provides a facile pathway to obtain nano sized HAP with high quality, suitable size and morphology. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Biometric template transformation: a security analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagar, Abhishek; Nandakumar, Karthik; Jain, Anil K.

2010-01-01

One of the critical steps in designing a secure biometric system is protecting the templates of the users that are stored either in a central database or on smart cards. If a biometric template is compromised, it leads to serious security and privacy threats because unlike passwords, it is not possible for a legitimate user to revoke his biometric identifiers and switch to another set of uncompromised identifiers. One methodology for biometric template protection is the template transformation approach, where the template, consisting of the features extracted from the biometric trait, is transformed using parameters derived from a user specific password or key. Only the transformed template is stored and matching is performed directly in the transformed domain. In this paper, we formally investigate the security strength of template transformation techniques and define six metrics that facilitate a holistic security evaluation. Furthermore, we analyze the security of two wellknown template transformation techniques, namely, Biohashing and cancelable fingerprint templates based on the proposed metrics. Our analysis indicates that both these schemes are vulnerable to intrusion and linkage attacks because it is relatively easy to obtain either a close approximation of the original template (Biohashing) or a pre-image of the transformed template (cancelable fingerprints). We argue that the security strength of template transformation techniques must consider also consider the computational complexity of obtaining a complete pre-image of the transformed template in addition to the complexity of recovering the original biometric template.

Fabrication of Polymeric Antireflection Film Manufactured by Anodic Aluminum Oxide Template on Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

PubMed

Tsai, Jenn-Kai; Tu, Yu-Shin

2017-03-15

In this study, high energy conversion efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were successfully fabricated by attaching a double anti-reflection (AR) layer, which is composed of a subwavelength moth-eye structured polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) film and a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film. An efficiency of up to 6.79% was achieved. The moth-eye structured PMMA film was fabricated by using an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template which is simple, low-cost and scalable. The nano-pattern of the AAO template was precisely reproduced onto the PMMA film. The photoanode was composed of Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles (NPs) with a diameter of 25 nm deposited on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate and the sensitizer N3. The double AR layer was proved to effectively improve the short-circuit current density (JSC) and conversion efficiency from 14.77 to 15.79 mA/cm² and from 6.26% to 6.79%, respectively.

Circuit-lead trimming template

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ofarrell, K.; Winn, E.

1979-01-01

Template for use in trimming leads on production wiring boards is low-cost means for eliminating rejections for short leads and improving lead-strength uniformity. Template is simply unclad piece of printed-circuit board material that is drilled using same drill control tape used in making original production board. Revisions in component layout of board can therefore be made simultaneously in template.

Functional Programming with C++ Template Metaprograms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porkoláb, Zoltán

Template metaprogramming is an emerging new direction of generative programming. With the clever definitions of templates we can force the C++ compiler to execute algorithms at compilation time. Among the application areas of template metaprograms are the expression templates, static interface checking, code optimization with adaption, language embedding and active libraries. However, as template metaprogramming was not an original design goal, the C++ language is not capable of elegant expression of metaprograms. The complicated syntax leads to the creation of code that is hard to write, understand and maintain. Although template metaprogramming has a strong relationship with functional programming, this is not reflected in the language syntax and existing libraries. In this paper we give a short and incomplete introduction to C++ templates and the basics of template metaprogramming. We will enlight the role of template metaprograms, and some important and widely used idioms. We give an overview of the possible application areas as well as debugging and profiling techniques. We suggest a pure functional style programming interface for C++ template metaprograms in the form of embedded Haskell code which is transformed to standard compliant C++ source.

Hayabusa Asteroidal Sample Preliminary Examination Team (HASPET) and the Astromaterial Curation Facility at JAXA/ISAS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yano, H.; Fujiwara, A.

After the successful launch in May 2003, the Hayabusa (MUSES-C) mission of JAXA/ISAS will collect surface materials (e.g., regolith) of several hundred mg to several g in total from the S-type near Earth asteroid (25143) Itokawa in late 2005 and bring them back to ground laboratories in the summer of 2007. The retrieved samples will be given initial analysis at the JAXA/ISAS astromaterial curation facility, which is currently in the preparation for its construction, by the Hayabusa Asteroidal Sample Preliminary Examination Team (HASPET). HASPET is consisted of the ISAS Hayabusa team, the international partners from NASA and Australia and all-Japan meteoritic scientists to be selected as outsourcing parts of the initial analyses. The initial analysis to characterize general aspects of returned samples can consume only 15 % of its total mass and must complete the whole analyses including the database building before international AO for detailed analyses within the maximum of 1 year. Confident exercise of non-destructive, micro-analyses whenever possible are thus vital for the HASPET analysis. In the purpose to survey what kinds and levels of micro-analysis techniques in respective fields, from major elements and mineralogy to trace and isotopic elements and organics, are available in Japan at present, ISAS has conducted the HASPET open competitions in 2000-01 and 2004. The initial evaluation was made by multiple domestic peer reviews. Applicants were then provided two kinds of unknown asteroid sample analogs in order to conduct proposed analysis with self-claimed amount of samples in self-claimed duration. After the completion of multiple, international peer reviews, the Selection Committee compiled evaluations and recommended the finalists of each round. The final members of the HASPET will be appointed about 2 years prior to the Earth return. Then they will conduct a test-run of the whole initial analysis procedures at the ISAS astromaterial curation facility and

On the Cloud Observations in JAXA's Next Coming Satellite Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nakajima, Takashi Y.; Nagao, Takashi M.; Letu, Husi; Ishida, Haruma; Suzuki, Kentaroh

2012-01-01

The use of JAXA's next generation satellites, the EarthCARE and the GCOM-C, for observing overall cloud systems on the Earth is discussed. The satellites will be launched in the middle of 2010-era and contribute for observing aerosols and clouds in terms of climate change, environment, weather forecasting, and cloud revolution process study. This paper describes the role of such satellites and how to use the observing data showing concepts and some sample viewgraphs. Synergistic use of sensors is a key of the study. Visible to infrared bands are used for cloudy and clear discriminating from passively obtained satellite images. Cloud properties such as the cloud optical thickness, the effective particle radii, and the cloud top temperature will be retrieved from visible to infrared wavelengths of imagers. Additionally, we are going to combine cloud properties obtained from passive imagers and radar reflectivities obtained from an active radar in order to improve our understanding of cloud evolution process. This is one of the new techniques of satellite data analysis in terms of cloud sciences in the next decade. Since the climate change and cloud process study have mutual beneficial relationship, a multispectral wide-swath imagers like the GCOM-C SGLI and a comprehensive observation package of cloud and aerosol like the EarthCARE are both necessary.

Environmental Learning Centers: A Template.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vozick, Eric

1999-01-01

Provides a working model, or template, for community-based environmental learning centers (ELCs). The template presents a philosophy as well as a plan for staff and administration operations, educational programming, and financial support. The template also addresses "green" construction and maintenance of buildings and grounds and…

Multi-template polymerase chain reaction.

PubMed

Kalle, Elena; Kubista, Mikael; Rensing, Christopher

2014-12-01

PCR is a formidable and potent technology that serves as an indispensable tool in a wide range of biological disciplines. However, due to the ease of use and often lack of rigorous standards many PCR applications can lead to highly variable, inaccurate, and ultimately meaningless results. Thus, rigorous method validation must precede its broad adoption to any new application. Multi-template samples possess particular features, which make their PCR analysis prone to artifacts and biases: multiple homologous templates present in copy numbers that vary within several orders of magnitude. Such conditions are a breeding ground for chimeras and heteroduplexes. Differences in template amplification efficiencies and template competition for reaction compounds undermine correct preservation of the original template ratio. In addition, the presence of inhibitors aggravates all of the above-mentioned problems. Inhibitors might also have ambivalent effects on the different templates within the same sample. Yet, no standard approaches exist for monitoring inhibitory effects in multitemplate PCR, which is crucial for establishing compatibility between samples.

Synthesis of nano-sized hydrogen phosphate-imprinted polymer in acetonitrile/water mixture and its use as a recognition element of hydrogen phosphate selective all-solid state potentiometric electrode.

PubMed

Alizadeh, Taher; Atayi, Khalil

2018-02-01

Herein, a new recipe is introduced for the preparation of hydrogen phosphate ion-imprinted polymer nanoparticles (nano-IIP) in acetonitrile/water (63.5:36.5) using phosphoric acid as the template. The nano-IIP obtained was used as the recognition element of a carbon paste potentiometric sensor. The IIP electrode showed a Nernstian response to hydrogen phosphate anion; whereas, the non-imprinted polymer (NIP)-based electrode had no considerable sensitivity to the anion. The presence of both methacrylic acid and vinyl pyridine in the IIP structure, as well as optimization of the functional monomers-template proportion, was found to be important to observe the sensing capability of the IIP electrode. The nano-IIP electrode showed a dynamic linear range of 1 × 10 -5 -1 × 10 -1  mol L-1, Nernstian slope of 30.6 ± (0.5) mV decade -1 , response time of 25 seconds, and detection limit of 4.0 × 10 -6  mol L -1 . The utility of the electrodes was checked by potentiometric titration of hydrogen phosphate with La 3+ solution. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Template-grown NiFe/Cu/NiFe nanowires for spin transfer devices.

PubMed

Piraux, Luc; Renard, Krystel; Guillemet, Raphael; Matéfi-Tempfli, Stefan; Matéfi-Tempfli, Maria; Antohe, Vlad Andrei; Fusil, Stéphane; Bouzehouane, Karim; Cros, Vincent

2007-09-01

We have developed a new reliable method combining template synthesis and nanolithography-based contacting technique to elaborate current perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance spin valve nanowires, which are very promising for the exploration of electrical spin transfer phenomena. The method allows the electrical connection of one single nanowire in a large assembly of wires embedded in anodic porous alumina supported on Si substrate with diameters and periodicities to be controllable to a large extent. Both magnetic excitations and switching phenomena driven by a spin-polarized current were clearly demonstrated in our electrodeposited NiFe/Cu/ NiFe trilayer nanowires. This novel approach promises to be of strong interest for subsequent fabrication of phase-locked arrays of spin transfer nano-oscillators with increased output power for microwave applications.

Emergency department documentation templates: variability in template selection and association with physical examination and test ordering in dizziness presentations.

PubMed

Kerber, Kevin A; Hofer, Timothy P; Meurer, William J; Fendrick, A Mark; Morgenstern, Lewis B

2011-03-24

Clinical documentation systems, such as templates, have been associated with process utilization. The T-System emergency department (ED) templates are widely used but lacking are analyses of the templates association with processes. This system is also unique because of the many different template options available, and thus the selection of the template may also be important. We aimed to describe the selection of templates in ED dizziness presentations and to investigate the association between items on templates and process utilization. Dizziness visits were captured from a population-based study of EDs that use documentation templates. Two relevant process outcomes were assessed: head computerized tomography (CT) scan and nystagmus examination. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the probability of each outcome for patients who did or did not receive a relevant-item template. Propensity scores were also used to adjust for selection effects. The final cohort was 1,485 visits. Thirty-one different templates were used. Use of a template with a head CT item was associated with an increase in the adjusted probability of head CT utilization from 12.2% (95% CI, 8.9%-16.6%) to 29.3% (95% CI, 26.0%-32.9%). The adjusted probability of documentation of a nystagmus assessment increased from 12.0% (95%CI, 8.8%-16.2%) when a nystagmus-item template was not used to 95.0% (95% CI, 92.8%-96.6%) when a nystagmus-item template was used. The associations remained significant after propensity score adjustments. Providers use many different templates in dizziness presentations. Important differences exist in the various templates and the template that is used likely impacts process utilization, even though selection may be arbitrary. The optimal design and selection of templates may offer a feasible and effective opportunity to improve care delivery.

Marginal and internal fit of nano-composite CAD/CAM restorations.

PubMed

Park, So-Hyun; Yoo, Yeon-Jee; Shin, Yoo-Jin; Cho, Byeong-Hoon; Baek, Seung-Ho

2016-02-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the marginal and internal fit of nano-composite CAD-CAM restorations. A full veneer crown and an mesio-occluso-distal (MOD) inlay cavity, which were prepared on extracted human molars, were used as templates of epoxy resin replicas. The prepared teeth were scanned and CAD-CAM restorations were milled using Lava Ultimate (LU) and experimental nano-composite CAD/CAM blocks (EB) under the same milling parameters. To assess the marginal and internal fit, the restorations were cemented to replicas and were embedded in an acrylic mold for sectioning at 0.5 mm intervals. The measured gap data were pooled according to the block types and measuring points for statistical analysis. Both the block type and measuring point significantly affected gap values, and their interaction was significant (p = 0.000). In crowns and inlays made from the two blocks, gap values were significantly larger in the occlusal area than in the axial area, while gap values in the marginal area were smallest (p < 0.001). Among the blocks, the restorations milled from EB had a significantly larger gap at all measuring points than those milled from LU (p = 0.000). The marginal and internal gaps of the two nano-composite CAD/CAM blocks differed according to the measuring points. Among the internal area of the two nano-composite CAD/CAM restorations, occlusal gap data were significantly larger than axial gap data. The EB crowns and inlays had significantly larger gaps than LU restorations.

Marginal and internal fit of nano-composite CAD/CAM restorations

PubMed Central

Park, So-Hyun; Shin, Yoo-Jin

2016-01-01

Objectives The purpose of this study was to compare the marginal and internal fit of nano-composite CAD-CAM restorations. Materials and Methods A full veneer crown and an mesio-occluso-distal (MOD) inlay cavity, which were prepared on extracted human molars, were used as templates of epoxy resin replicas. The prepared teeth were scanned and CAD-CAM restorations were milled using Lava Ultimate (LU) and experimental nano-composite CAD/CAM blocks (EB) under the same milling parameters. To assess the marginal and internal fit, the restorations were cemented to replicas and were embedded in an acrylic mold for sectioning at 0.5 mm intervals. The measured gap data were pooled according to the block types and measuring points for statistical analysis. Results Both the block type and measuring point significantly affected gap values, and their interaction was significant (p = 0.000). In crowns and inlays made from the two blocks, gap values were significantly larger in the occlusal area than in the axial area, while gap values in the marginal area were smallest (p < 0.001). Among the blocks, the restorations milled from EB had a significantly larger gap at all measuring points than those milled from LU (p = 0.000). Conclusions The marginal and internal gaps of the two nano-composite CAD/CAM blocks differed according to the measuring points. Among the internal area of the two nano-composite CAD/CAM restorations, occlusal gap data were significantly larger than axial gap data. The EB crowns and inlays had significantly larger gaps than LU restorations. PMID:26877989

Virus templated metallic nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aljabali, Alaa A. A.; Barclay, J. Elaine; Lomonossoff, George P.; Evans, David J.

2010-12-01

Plant viruses are considered as nanobuilding blocks that can be used as synthons or templates for novel materials. Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) particles have been shown to template the fabrication of metallic nanoparticles by an electroless deposition metallization process. Palladium ions were electrostatically bound to the virus capsid and, when reduced, acted as nucleation sites for the subsequent metal deposition from solution. The method, although simple, produced highly monodisperse metallic nanoparticles with a diameter of ca. <=35 nm. CPMV-templated particles were prepared with cobalt, nickel, iron, platinum, cobalt-platinum and nickel-iron.Plant viruses are considered as nanobuilding blocks that can be used as synthons or templates for novel materials. Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) particles have been shown to template the fabrication of metallic nanoparticles by an electroless deposition metallization process. Palladium ions were electrostatically bound to the virus capsid and, when reduced, acted as nucleation sites for the subsequent metal deposition from solution. The method, although simple, produced highly monodisperse metallic nanoparticles with a diameter of ca. <=35 nm. CPMV-templated particles were prepared with cobalt, nickel, iron, platinum, cobalt-platinum and nickel-iron. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Additional experimental detail, agarose gel electrophoresis results, energy dispersive X-ray spectra, ζ-potential measurements, dynamic light scattering data, nanoparticle tracking analysis and an atomic force microscopy image of Ni-CPMV. See DOI: 10.1039/c0nr00525h

Defect analysis and detection of micro nano structured optical thin film

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Chang; Shi, Nuo; Zhou, Lang; Shi, Qinfeng; Yang, Yang; Li, Zhuo

2017-10-01

This paper focuses on developing an automated method for detecting defects on our wavelength conversion thin film. We analyzes the operating principle of our wavelength conversion Micro/Nano thin film which absorbing visible light and emitting infrared radiation, indicates the relationship between the pixel's pattern and the radiation of the thin film, and issues the principle of defining blind pixels and their categories due to the calculated and experimental results. An effective method is issued for the automated detection based on wavelet transform and template matching. The results reveal that this method has desired accuracy and processing speed.

Synthesis of novel 3D SnO flower-like hierarchical architectures self-assembled by nano-leaves and its photocatalysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cui, Yongkui; Wang, Fengping, E-mail: fpwang@ustb.edu.cn; Iqbal, M. Zubair

Highlights: • Novel 3D SnO flowers self-assembled by 2D nano-leaves were synthesized by hydrothermal method. • The SnO nano-leaf is of single crystalline nature. • The band gap of 2.59 eV of as-prepared products was obtained. • The as-synthesized material will be a promising photocatalytic material. - Abstract: In this report, the novel 3D SnO flower-like hierarchical architectures self-assembled by 2D SnO nano-leaves are successfully synthesized via template-free hydrothermal approach under facile conditions. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy results demonstrate that the 2D nano-leaves structure is of single crystalline nature. The band gap 2.59 eV for prepared product is obtainedmore » from UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectrum. The photocatalysis of the as prepared SnO for degrading methyl orange (MO) has been studied. A good photocatalytic activity is obtained and the mechanism is discussed in detail. Results indicate that the SnO nanostructures are the potential candidates for photocatalyst applications.« less

EMS technology assessment template

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-01-01

This technology assessment template is designed to evaluate information technology and EMS devices that provide data about patients, evaluation-oriented clinical patient information, or decision support tools. The template may also be used by consume...

Hard template synthesis of metal nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawamura, Go; Muto, Hiroyuki; Matsuda, Atsunori

2014-11-01

Metal nanowires (NWs) have attracted much attention because of their high electron conductivity, optical transmittance and tunable magnetic properties. Metal NWs have been synthesized using soft templates such as surface stabilizing molecules and polymers, and hard templates such as anodic aluminum oxide, mesoporous oxide, carbon nanotubes. NWs prepared from hard templates are composites of metals and the oxide/carbon matrix. Thus, selecting appropriate elements can simplify the production of composite devices. The resulting NWs are immobilized and spatially arranged, as dictated by the ordered porous structure of the template. This avoids the NWs from aggregating, which is common for NWs prepared with soft templates in solution. Herein, the hard template synthesis of metal NWs is reviewed, and the resulting structures, properties and potential applications are discussed.

Hard template synthesis of metal nanowires.

PubMed

Kawamura, Go; Muto, Hiroyuki; Matsuda, Atsunori

2014-01-01

Metal nanowires (NWs) have attracted much attention because of their high electron conductivity, optical transmittance, and tunable magnetic properties. Metal NWs have been synthesized using soft templates such as surface stabilizing molecules and polymers, and hard templates such as anodic aluminum oxide, mesoporous oxide, carbon nanotubes. NWs prepared from hard templates are composites of metals and the oxide/carbon matrix. Thus, selecting appropriate elements can simplify the production of composite devices. The resulting NWs are immobilized and spatially arranged, as dictated by the ordered porous structure of the template. This avoids the NWs from aggregating, which is common for NWs prepared with soft templates in solution. Herein, the hard template synthesis of metal NWs is reviewed, and the resulting structures, properties and potential applications are discussed.

Scalable One-pot Bacteria-templating Synthesis Route toward Hierarchical, Porous-Co3O4 Superstructures for Supercapacitor Electrodes

PubMed Central

Shim, Hyun-Woo; Lim, Ah-Hyeon; Kim, Jae-Chan; Jang, Eunjin; Seo, Seung-Deok; Lee, Gwang-Hee; Kim, T. Doohun; Kim, Dong-Wan

2013-01-01

Template-driven strategy has been widely used to synthesize inorganic nano/micro materials. Here, we used a bottom-up controlled synthesis route to develop a powerful solution-based method of fabricating three-dimensional (3D), hierarchical, porous-Co3O4 superstructures that exhibit the morphology of flower-like microspheres (hereafter, RT-Co3O4). The gram-scale RT-Co3O4 was facilely prepared using one-pot synthesis with bacterial templating at room temperature. Large-surface-area RT-Co3O4 also has a noticeable pseudocapacitive performance because of its high mass loading per area (~10 mg cm−2), indicating a high capacitance of 214 F g−1 (2.04 F cm−2) at 2 A g−1 (19.02 mA cm−2), a Coulombic efficiency averaging over 95%, and an excellent cycling stability that shows a capacitance retention of about 95% after 4,000 cycles. PMID:23900049

iTemplate: A template-based eye movement data analysis approach.

PubMed

Xiao, Naiqi G; Lee, Kang

2018-02-08

Current eye movement data analysis methods rely on defining areas of interest (AOIs). Due to the fact that AOIs are created and modified manually, variances in their size, shape, and location are unavoidable. These variances affect not only the consistency of the AOI definitions, but also the validity of the eye movement analyses based on the AOIs. To reduce the variances in AOI creation and modification and achieve a procedure to process eye movement data with high precision and efficiency, we propose a template-based eye movement data analysis method. Using a linear transformation algorithm, this method registers the eye movement data from each individual stimulus to a template. Thus, users only need to create one set of AOIs for the template in order to analyze eye movement data, rather than creating a unique set of AOIs for all individual stimuli. This change greatly reduces the error caused by the variance from manually created AOIs and boosts the efficiency of the data analysis. Furthermore, this method can help researchers prepare eye movement data for some advanced analysis approaches, such as iMap. We have developed software (iTemplate) with a graphic user interface to make this analysis method available to researchers.

e-Stars Template Builder

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cox, Brian

2003-01-01

e-Stars Template Builder is a computer program that implements a concept of enabling users to rapidly gain access to information on projects of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The information about a given project is not stored in a data base, but rather, in a network that follows the project as it develops. e-Stars Template Builder resides on a server computer, using Practical Extraction and Reporting Language (PERL) scripts to create what are called "e-STARS node templates," which are software constructs that allow for project-specific configurations. The software resides on the server and does not require specific software on the user machine except for an Internet browser. A user's computer need not be equipped with special software (other than an Internet-browser program). e-Stars Template Builder is compatible with Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX operating systems. A user invokes e-Stars Template Builder from a browser window. Operations that can be performed by the user include the creation of child processes and the addition of links and descriptions of documentation to existing pages or nodes. By means of this addition of "child processes" of nodes, a network that reflects the development of a project is generated.

A fast template periodogram

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffman, John; VanderPlas, Jake; Hartman, Joel; Bakos, Gáspár

2017-09-01

This proceedings contribution presents a novel, non-linear extension to the Lomb-Scargle periodogram that allows periodograms to be generated for arbitrary signal shapes. Such periodograms are already known as "template periodograms" or "periodic matched filters," but current implementations are computationally inefficient. The "fast template periodogram" presented here improves existing techniques by a factor of ˜a few for small test cases (O(10) observations), and over three orders of magnitude for lightcurves containing O(104) observations. The fast template periodogram scales asymptotically as O(HNf log HNf + H4Nf), where H denotes the number of harmonics required to adequately approximate the template and Nf is the number of trial frequencies. Existing implementations scale as O(NobsNf), where Nobs is the number of observations in the lightcurve. An open source Python implementation is available on GitHub.

Hard template synthesis of metal nanowires

PubMed Central

Kawamura, Go; Muto, Hiroyuki; Matsuda, Atsunori

2014-01-01

Metal nanowires (NWs) have attracted much attention because of their high electron conductivity, optical transmittance, and tunable magnetic properties. Metal NWs have been synthesized using soft templates such as surface stabilizing molecules and polymers, and hard templates such as anodic aluminum oxide, mesoporous oxide, carbon nanotubes. NWs prepared from hard templates are composites of metals and the oxide/carbon matrix. Thus, selecting appropriate elements can simplify the production of composite devices. The resulting NWs are immobilized and spatially arranged, as dictated by the ordered porous structure of the template. This avoids the NWs from aggregating, which is common for NWs prepared with soft templates in solution. Herein, the hard template synthesis of metal NWs is reviewed, and the resulting structures, properties and potential applications are discussed. PMID:25453031

A three-dimensional carbon nano-network for high performance lithium ion batteries

DOE PAGES

Tian, Miao; Wang, Wei; Liu, Yang; ...

2014-11-20

Three-dimensional (3D) network structure has been envisioned as a superior architecture for lithium ion battery (LIB) electrodes, which enhances both ion and electron transport to significantly improve battery performance. Herein, a 3D carbon nano-network is fabricated through chemical vapor deposition of carbon on a scalably manufactured 3D porous anodic alumina (PAA) template. As a demonstration on the applicability of 3D carbon nano-network for LIB electrodes, the low conductivity active material, TiO 2, is then uniformly coated on the 3D carbon nano-network using atomic layer deposition. High power performance is demonstrated in the 3D C/TiO 2 electrodes, where the parallel tubesmore » and gaps in the 3D carbon nano-network facilitates fast Li ion transport. A large areal capacity of ~0.37 mAh·cm –2 is achieved due to the large TiO 2 mass loading in the 60 µm-thick 3D C/TiO 2 electrodes. At a test rate of C/5, the 3D C/TiO 2 electrode with 18 nm-thick TiO 2 delivers a high gravimetric capacity of ~240 mAh g –1, calculated with the mass of the whole electrode. A long cycle life of over 1000 cycles with a capacity retention of 91% is demonstrated at 1C. In this study, the effects of the electrical conductivity of carbon nano-network, ion diffusion, and the electrolyte permeability on the rate performance of these 3D C/TiO 2 electrodes are systematically studied.« less

Testing sensory evidence against mnemonic templates

PubMed Central

Myers, Nicholas E; Rohenkohl, Gustavo; Wyart, Valentin; Woolrich, Mark W; Nobre, Anna C; Stokes, Mark G

2015-01-01

Most perceptual decisions require comparisons between current input and an internal template. Classic studies propose that templates are encoded in sustained activity of sensory neurons. However, stimulus encoding is itself dynamic, tracing a complex trajectory through activity space. Which part of this trajectory is pre-activated to reflect the template? Here we recorded magneto- and electroencephalography during a visual target-detection task, and used pattern analyses to decode template, stimulus, and decision-variable representation. Our findings ran counter to the dominant model of sustained pre-activation. Instead, template information emerged transiently around stimulus onset and quickly subsided. Cross-generalization between stimulus and template coding, indicating a shared neural representation, occurred only briefly. Our results are compatible with the proposal that template representation relies on a matched filter, transforming input into task-appropriate output. This proposal was consistent with a signed difference response at the perceptual decision stage, which can be explained by a simple neural model. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09000.001 PMID:26653854

Optimized Periocular Template Selection for Human Recognition

PubMed Central

Sa, Pankaj K.; Majhi, Banshidhar

2013-01-01

A novel approach for selecting a rectangular template around periocular region optimally potential for human recognition is proposed. A comparatively larger template of periocular image than the optimal one can be slightly more potent for recognition, but the larger template heavily slows down the biometric system by making feature extraction computationally intensive and increasing the database size. A smaller template, on the contrary, cannot yield desirable recognition though the smaller template performs faster due to low computation for feature extraction. These two contradictory objectives (namely, (a) to minimize the size of periocular template and (b) to maximize the recognition through the template) are aimed to be optimized through the proposed research. This paper proposes four different approaches for dynamic optimal template selection from periocular region. The proposed methods are tested on publicly available unconstrained UBIRISv2 and FERET databases and satisfactory results have been achieved. Thus obtained template can be used for recognition of individuals in an organization and can be generalized to recognize every citizen of a nation. PMID:23984370

Construction of vesicle CdSe nano-semiconductors photocatalysts with improved photocatalytic activity: Enhanced photo induced carriers separation efficiency and mechanism insight.

PubMed

Wen, Jiangsu; Ma, Changchang; Huo, Pengwei; Liu, Xinlin; Wei, Maobin; Liu, Yang; Yao, Xin; Ma, Zhongfei; Yan, Yongsheng

2017-10-01

Visible-light-driven photocatalysis as a green technology has attracted a lot of attention due to its potential applications in environmental remediation. Vesicle CdSe nano-semiconductor photocatalyst are successfully prepared by a gas template method and characterized by a variety of methods. The vesicle CdSe nano-semiconductors display enhanced photocatalytic performance for the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride, the photodegradation rate of 78.824% was achieved by vesicle CdSe, which exhibited an increase of 31.779% compared to granular CdSe. Such an exceptional photocatalytic capability can be attributed to the unique structure of the vesicle CdSe nano-semiconductor with enhanced light absorption ability and excellent carrier transport capability. Meanwhile, the large surface area of the vesicle CdSe nano-semiconductor can increase the contact probability between catalyst and target and provide more surface-active centers. The photocatalytic mechanisms are analyzed by active species quenching. It indicates that h + and O 2 - are the main active species which play a major role in catalyzing environmental toxic pollutants. Simultaneously, the vesicle CdSe nano-semiconductor had high efficiency and stability. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Nano-soldering of magnetically aligned three-dimensional nanowire networks.

PubMed

Gao, Fan; Gu, Zhiyong

2010-03-19

It is extremely challenging to fabricate 3D integrated nanostructures and hybrid nanoelectronic devices. In this paper, we report a simple and efficient method to simultaneously assemble and solder nanowires into ordered 3D and electrically conductive nanowire networks. Nano-solders such as tin were fabricated onto both ends of multi-segmented nanowires by a template-assisted electrodeposition method. These nanowires were then self-assembled and soldered into large-scale 3D network structures by magnetic field assisted assembly in a liquid medium with a high boiling point. The formation of junctions/interconnects between the nanowires and the scale of the assembly were dependent on the solder reflow temperature and the strength of the magnetic field. The size of the assembled nanowire networks ranged from tens of microns to millimeters. The electrical characteristics of the 3D nanowire networks were measured by regular current-voltage (I-V) measurements using a probe station with micropositioners. Nano-solders, when combined with assembling techniques, can be used to efficiently connect and join nanowires with low contact resistance, which are very well suited for sensor integration as well as nanoelectronic device fabrication.

Controlled gas-liquid interfacial plasmas for synthesis of nano-bio-carbon conjugate materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaneko, Toshiro; Hatakeyama, Rikizo

2018-01-01

Plasmas generated in contact with a liquid have been recognized to be a novel reactive field in nano-bio-carbon conjugate creation because several new chemical reactions have been yielded at the gas-liquid interface, which were induced by the physical dynamics of non-equilibrium plasmas. One is the ion irradiation to a liquid, which caused the spatially selective dissociation of the liquid and the generation of additive reducing and oxidizing agents, resulting in the spatially controlled synthesis of nanostructures. The other is the electron irradiation to a liquid, which directly enhanced the reduction action at the plasma-liquid interface, resulting in temporally controlled nanomaterial synthesis. Using this novel reaction field, gold nanoparticles with controlled interparticle distance were synthesized using carbon nanotubes as a template. Furthermore, nanoparticle-biomolecule conjugates and nanocarbon-biomolecule conjugates were successfully synthesized by an aqueous-solution contact plasma and an electrolyte plasma, respectively, which were rapid and low-damage processes suitable for nano-bio-carbon conjugate materials.

Nanostructured silver fabric as a free-standing NanoZyme for colorimetric detection of glucose in urine.

PubMed

Karim, Md N; Anderson, Samuel R; Singh, Sanjay; Ramanathan, Rajesh; Bansal, Vipul

2018-07-01

Enzyme-mimicking catalytic nanoparticles, more commonly known as NanoZymes, have been at the forefront for the development of new sensing platforms for the detection of a range of molecules. Although solution-based NanoZymes have shown promise in glucose detection, the ability to immobilize NanoZymes on highly absorbent surfaces, particularly on free-standing substrates that can be feasibly exposed and removed from the reaction medium, can offer significant benefits for a range of biosensing and catalysis applications. This work, for the first time, shows the ability of Ag nanoparticles embedded within the 3D matrix of a cotton fabric to act as a free-standing peroxidase-mimic NanoZyme for the rapid detection of glucose in complex biological fluids such as urine. The use of cotton fabric as a template not only allows high number of catalytically active sites to participate in the enzyme-mimic catalytic reaction, the absorbent property of the cotton fibres also helps in rapid absorption of biological molecules such as glucose during the sensing event. This, in turn, brings the target molecule of interest in close proximity of the NanoZyme catalyst enabling accurate detection of glucose in urine. Additionally, the ability to extract the free-standing cotton fabric-supported NanoZyme following the reaction overcomes the issue of potential interference from colloidal nanoparticles during the assay. Based on these unique characteristics, nanostructured silver fabrics offer remarkable promise for the detection of glucose and other biomolecules in complex biological and environmental fluids. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Defect reduction of patterned media templates and disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Kang; Ha, Steven; Fretwell, John; Ramos, Rick; Ye, Zhengmao; Schmid, Gerard; LaBrake, Dwayne; Resnick, Douglas J.; Sreenivasan, S. V.

2010-05-01

Imprint lithography has been shown to be an effective technique for the replication of nano-scale features. Acceptance of imprint lithography for manufacturing will require a demonstration of defect levels commensurate with cost-effective device production. This work summarizes the results of defect inspections of hard disks patterned using Jet and Flash Imprint Lithography (J-FILTM). Inspections were performed with optical based automated inspection tools. For the hard drive market, it is important to understand the defectivity of both the template and the imprinted disk. This work presents a methodology for automated pattern inspection and defect classification for imprint-patterned media. Candela CS20 and 6120 tools from KLA-Tencor map the optical properties of the disk surface, producing highresolution grayscale images of surface reflectivity and scattered light. Defects that have been identified in this manner are further characterized according to the morphology. The imprint process was tested after optimizing both the disk cleaning and adhesion layers processes that precede imprinting. An extended imprint run was performed and both the defect types and trends are reported.

Investigation of radiation damage tolerance in interface-containing metallic nano structures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greer, Julia R.

The proposed work seeks to conduct a basic study by applying experimental and computational methods to obtain quantitative influence of helium sink strength and proximity on He bubble nucleation and growth in He-irradiated nano-scale metallic structures, and the ensuing deformation mechanisms and mechanical properties. We utilized a combination of nano-scale in-situ tension and compression experiments on low-energy He-irradiated samples combined with site-specific microstructural characterization and modeling efforts. We also investigated the mechanical deformation of nano-architected materials, i.e. nanolattices which are comprised of 3-dimensional interwoven networks of hollow tubes, with the wall thickness in the nanometer range. This systematic approach willmore » provide us with critical information for identifying key factors that govern He bubble nucleation and growth upon irradiation as a function of both sink strength and sink proximity through an experimentally-confirmed physical understanding. As an outgrowth of these efforts, we performed irradiations with self-ions (Ni 2+) on Ni-Al-Zr metallic glass nanolattices to assess their resilience against radiation damage rather than He-ion implantation. We focused our attention on studying individual bcc/fcc interfaces within a single nano structure (nano-pillar or a hollow tube): a single Fe (bcc)-Cu (fcc) boundary per pillar oriented perpendicular to the pillar axes, as well as pure bcc and fcc nano structures. Additional interfaces of interest include bcc/bcc and metal/metallic glass all within a single nano-structure volume. The model material systems are: (1) pure single crystalline Fe and Cu, (2) a single Fe (bcc)-Cu (fcc) boundary per nano structure (3) a single metal–metallic glass, all oriented non-parallel to the loading direction so that their fracture strength can be tested. A nano-fabrication approach, which involves e-beam lithography and templated electroplating, as well as two

Tribological Behavior of Nano-Onions in Krytox 143AB Evaluated

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Street, Kenneth W.; VanderWal, Randy L.; Marchetti, Mario; Tomasek, Aaron J.

2005-01-01

Nanoparticles have been developed over the past 10 years and have found several applications. This work presents the use of carbon nano-onions as a potential oil additive for aerospace applications. Researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center tested lubricant lifetimes in ambient air and ultrahigh vacuum and characterized the breakdown products of the friction and wear. These carbon nanoparticles can provide adequate lubrication very similar to that of graphitic material when run in air. Soot represents one of the very first nanostructured materials, although it has rarely been considered as such. Changes in the carbon nanostructure, resulting in increased graphitic layer plane length, correlate with reactivity loss. Upon heating spherically shaped nanometer-sized carbon black in the absence of oxidant, graphene sheets form, and the initial soot particle templates the growth of a graphitic particle into what is best described as a sphere with many flat sides having a hollow interior. Because there are no edge sites, these polygonal graphitic particles, or nano-onions, are relatively resistant to oxidation. Graphite is used as a solid lubricant because of its stability at moderately high temperatures. However, the temperature at which graphite oxidizes rapidly is strongly influenced by surface area. With the size of particles typically employed in lubrication, a great amount of thermal stability is lost because of size reduction either during preparation or during lubrication of contacting parts. Therefore, we have undertaken a study of the lubricating ability of graphitic nano-onions (ref. 1).

Fabrication of transition metal-containing nanostructures via polymer templates for a multitude of applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Jennifer Qing

Nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes and semiconducting nanowires offer great technological promise due to their remarkable properties. The lack of a rational synthesis method prevents fabricating these nanostructures with desirable and consistent properties at predefined locations for device applications. In this thesis, employing polymer templates, a variety of highly ordered catalytically active transition metal nanostructures, ranging from single metallic nanoparticles of Fe, Co, Ni, Au and bimetallic nanoparticles of Ni/Fe and Co/Mo to Fe-rich silicon oxide nanodomains with uniform and tunable size and spacing have been successfully synthesized. These nanostructures have been demonstrated to be excellent catalyst systems for the synthesis of carbon nanotube and silicon nanowire. High quality, small diameter carbon nanotubes and nanowires with narrow size distribution have been successfully attained. Because these catalytically active nanostructures are uniformly distributed and do not agglomerate at the growth temperatures, uniform, high density and high quality carbon nanotube mats have been obtained. Since this polymer template approach is fully compatible with conventional top-down photolithography, lithographically selective growth of carbon nanotubes on a surface or suspended carbon nanotubes across trenches have been produced by using existing semiconductor processing. We have also shown the feasibility of producing carbon nanotubes and silicon nanowires at predefined locations on a wafer format and established a wafer-level carbon nanotube based device fabrication process. The ability of the polymer template approach to control catalyst systems at the nano-, micro- and macro-scales paves a pathway for commercialization of these 1D nanostructure-enabled devices. Beside producing well-defined, highly ordered discrete catalytically active metal-containing nanostructures by the polymer template approach, Au and Ag nanotextured surfaces have also been

Biometric template revocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arndt, Craig M.

2004-08-01

Biometric are a powerful technology for identifying humans both locally and at a distance. In order to perform identification or verification biometric systems capture an image of some biometric of a user or subject. The image is then converted mathematical to representation of the person call a template. Since we know that every human in the world is different each human will have different biometric images (different fingerprints, or faces, etc.). This is what makes biometrics useful for identification. However unlike a credit card number or a password to can be given to a person and later revoked if it is compromised and biometric is with the person for life. The problem then is to develop biometric templates witch can be easily revoked and reissued which are also unique to the user and can be easily used for identification and verification. In this paper we develop and present a method to generate a set of templates which are fully unique to the individual and also revocable. By using bases set compression algorithms in an n-dimensional orthogonal space we can represent a give biometric image in an infinite number of equally valued and unique ways. The verification and biometric matching system would be presented with a given template and revocation code. The code will then representing where in the sequence of n-dimensional vectors to start the recognition.

Development of Total Knee Replacement Digital Templating Software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yusof, Siti Fairuz; Sulaiman, Riza; Thian Seng, Lee; Mohd. Kassim, Abdul Yazid; Abdullah, Suhail; Yusof, Shahril; Omar, Masbah; Abdul Hamid, Hamzaini

In this study, by taking full advantage of digital X-ray and computer technology, we have developed a semi-automated procedure to template knee implants, by making use of digital templating method. Using this approach, a software system called OrthoKneeTMhas been designed and developed. The system is to be utilities as a study in the Department of Orthopaedic and Traumatology in medical faculty, UKM (FPUKM). OrthoKneeTMtemplating process employs uses a technique similar to those used by many surgeons, using acetate templates over X-ray films. Using template technique makes it easy to template various implant from every Implant manufacturers who have with a comprehensive database of templates. The templating functionality includes, template (knee) and manufactures templates (Smith & Nephew; and Zimmer). From an image of patient x-ray OrthoKneeTMtemplates help in quickly and easily reads to the approximate template size needed. The visual templating features then allow us quickly review multiple template sizes against the X-ray and thus obtain the nearly precise view of the implant size required. The system can assist by templating on one patient image and will generate reports that can accompany patient notes. The software system was implemented in Visual basic 6.0 Pro using the object-oriented techniques to manage the graphics and objects. The approaches for image scaling will be discussed. Several of measurement in orthopedic diagnosis process have been studied and added in this software as measurement tools features using mathematic theorem and equations. The study compared the results of the semi-automated (using digital templating) method to the conventional method to demonstrate the accuracy of the system.

Synthesis and structural characterization of nano-hydroxyapatite biomaterials prepared by microwave processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramli, Rosmamuhamadani; Arawi, Ainaa Zafirah Omar; Talari, Mahesh Kumar; Mahat, Mohd Muzamir; Jais, Umi Sarah

2012-07-01

Synthetic hydroxyapatite, (HA, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2), is an attractive and widely utilized bio-ceramic material for orthopedic and dental implants because of its close resemblance of native tooth and bone crystal structure. Synthetic HA exhibits excellent osteoconductive properties. Osteoconductivity means the ability to provide the appropriate scaffold or template for bone formation. Calcium phosphate biomaterials [(HA), tri-calcium phosphate (TCP) and biphasic calcium phosphate (HA/TCP)] with appropriate three-dimensional geometry are able to bind and concentrate endogenous bone morphogenetic proteins in circulation, and may become osteoinductive and can be effective carriers of bone cell seeds. This HA can be used in bio-implants as well as drug delivery application due to the unique properties of HA. Biomaterials synthesized from the natural species like mussel shells have additional benefits such as high purity, less expensive and high bio compatibility. In this project, HA-nanoparticles of different crystallite size were prepared by microwave synthesis of precursors. High purity CaO was extracted from the natural mussel shells for the synthesis of nano HA. Dried nano HA powders were analyzed using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) technique for the determination of crystal structure and impurity content. Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) investigation was employed for the morphological investigation of nano HA powders. From the results obtained, it was concluded that by altering the irradiation time, nano HA powders of different crystallite sizes and morphologies could be produced. Crystallite sizes calculated from the XRD patterns are found to be in the range of 10-55 nm depending on the irradiation time.

Self-assembled templates for the generation of arrays of 1-dimensional nanostructures: from molecules to devices.

PubMed

Farrell, Richard A; Petkov, Nikolay; Morris, Michael A; Holmes, Justin D

2010-09-15

Self-assembled nanoscale porous architectures, such as mesoporous silica (MPS) films, block copolymer films (BCP) and porous anodic aluminas (PAAs), are ideal hosts for templating one dimensional (1D) nano-entities for a wide range of electronic, photonic, magnetic and environmental applications. All three of these templates can provide scalable and tunable pore diameters below 20 nm [1-3]. Recently, research has progressed towards controlling the pore direction, orientation and long-range order of these nanostructures through so-called directed self-assembly (DSA). Significantly, the introduction of a wide range of top-down chemically and physically pre-patterning substrates has facilitated the DSA of nanostructures into functional device arrays. The following review begins with an overview of the fundamental aspects of self-assembly and ordering processes during the formation of PAAs, BCPs and MPS films. Special attention is given to the different ways of directing self-assembly, concentrating on properties such as uni-directional alignment, precision placement and registry of the self-assembled structures to hierarchal or top-down architectures. Finally, to distinguish this review from other articles we focus on research where nanostructures have been utilised in part to fabricate arrays of functioning devices below the sub 50 nm threshold, by subtractive transfer and additive methods. Where possible, we attempt to compare and contrast the different templating approaches and highlight the strengths and/or limitations that will be important for their potential integration into downstream processes. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The exploration of endocytic mechanisms of PLA-PEG nanoparticles prepared by coaxialtri-capillary electrospray-template removal method.

PubMed

Chen, Jiaming; Cao, Lihua; Cui, Yuecheng; Tu, Kehua; Wang, Hongjun; Wang, Li-Qun

2018-01-01

The nano-sized poly(lactic acid)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLA-PEG) particles with core-shell structure were efficiently prepared by using coaxial tri-capillary electrospray-template removal method. The cellular uptake mechanism, intracellular distribution and exocytosis in A549 cell model of electrosprayed PLA-PEG nanoparticles were systemically studied. The drug release behavior of electrosprayed PLA-PEG nanoparticles were also investigated. Our results showed that PLA-PEG nanoparticles can be endocytosed quickly by A549 cells. The cellular uptake of PLA-PEG nanoparticles was an energy dependent endocytosis process. Caveolae-mediated endocytosis was only one of endocytosis pathways in A549 cells for PLA-PEG nanoparticles, while clathrin mediated endocytosis was not involved in the endocytosis process. The endocytosed PLA-PEG nanoparticles enriched in the head of A549 cells and only a small amount of them was transported into lysosome after 24h incubation. These findings provided insights into the application of electrosprayed PLA-PEG nanoparticles in nano drug delivery field. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Wettability of Y2O3: A Relative Analysis of Thermally Oxidized, Reactively Sputtered and Template Assisted Nanostructured Coatings

PubMed Central

Barshilia, Harish C.; Chaudhary, Archana; Kumar, Praveen; Manikandanath, Natarajan T.

2012-01-01

The wettability of reactively sputtered Y2O3, thermally oxidized Y-Y2O3 and Cd-CdO template assisted Y2O3 coatings has been studied. The wettability of as-deposited Y2O3 coatings was determined by contact angle measurements. The water contact angles for reactively sputtered, thermally oxidized and template assisted Y2O3 nanostructured coatings were 99°, 117° and 155°, respectively. The average surface roughness values of reactively sputtered, thermally oxidized and template assisted Y2O3 coatings were determined by using atomic force microscopy and the corresponding values were 3, 11 and 180 nm, respectively. The low contact angle of the sputter deposited Y2O3 and thermally oxidized Y-Y2O3 coatings is attributed to a densely packed nano-grain like microstructure without any void space, leading to low surface roughness. A water droplet on such surfaces is mostly in contact with a solid surface relative to a void space, leading to a hydrophobic surface (low contact angle). Surface roughness is a crucial factor for the fabrication of a superhydrophobic surface. For Y2O3 coatings, the surface roughness was improved by depositing a thin film of Y2O3 on the Cd-CdO template (average roughness = 178 nm), which resulted in a contact angle greater than 150°. The work of adhesion of water was very high for the reactively sputtered Y2O3 (54 mJ/m2) and thermally oxidized Y-Y2O3 coatings (43 mJ/m2) compared to the Cd-CdO template assisted Y2O3 coating (7 mJ/m2). PMID:28348296

Large Area Nano-transfer Printing of Sub-50-nm Metal Nanostructures Using Low-cost Semi-flexible Hybrid Templates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagel, Robin D.; Haeberle, Tobias; Schmidt, Morten; Lugli, Paolo; Scarpa, Giuseppe

2016-03-01

In this work, we present a method for printing metal micro- and nanopatterns down to sub-50-nm feature sizes using replicated, defect-tolerant stamps made out of OrmoStamp®; material. The relevant parameters for a successful transfer over large areas were investigated and yields above 99 % have been achieved. Comparing our results to conventional nano-transfer printing using PDMS stamps, we find that the more rigid hybrid polymer used here prevents unintended transfer from interspaces between structures of large distance due to roof collapse and deformation of nano-sized structures due to lateral collapse. Yet, our stamps are flexible enough to ensure intimate contact with the underlying substrate over large areas even in the presence of defect particles. Additionally, the presented patterning technique is resist-, solvent-, and chemical-free and is therefore ideally suited for applications in organic nanoelectronics where standard nanostructuring methods can harm or destroy the organic material.

Conversion of Radiology Reporting Templates to the MRRT Standard.

PubMed

Kahn, Charles E; Genereaux, Brad; Langlotz, Curtis P

2015-10-01

In 2013, the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Radiology workgroup developed the Management of Radiology Report Templates (MRRT) profile, which defines both the format of radiology reporting templates using an extension of Hypertext Markup Language version 5 (HTML5), and the transportation mechanism to query, retrieve, and store these templates. Of 200 English-language report templates published by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), initially encoded as text and in an XML schema language, 168 have been converted successfully into MRRT using a combination of automated processes and manual editing; conversion of the remaining 32 templates is in progress. The automated conversion process applied Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) scripts, an XML parsing engine, and a Java servlet. The templates were validated for proper HTML5 and MRRT syntax using web-based services. The MRRT templates allow radiologists to share best-practice templates across organizations and have been uploaded to the template library to supersede the prior XML-format templates. By using MRRT transactions and MRRT-format templates, radiologists will be able to directly import and apply templates from the RSNA Report Template Library in their own MRRT-compatible vendor systems. The availability of MRRT-format reporting templates will stimulate adoption of the MRRT standard and is expected to advance the sharing and use of templates to improve the quality of radiology reports.

Interactions between HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase and the Downstream Template Strand in Stable Complexes with Primer-Template

PubMed Central

Rutvisuttinunt, Wiriya; Meyer, Peter R.; Scott, Walter A.

2008-01-01

Background Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase (HIV-1 RT) forms stable ternary complexes in which RT is bound tightly at fixed positions on the primer-template (P/T). We have probed downstream interactions between RT and the template strand in the complex containing the incoming dNTP (+1 dNTP•RT•P/T complex) and in the complex containing the pyrophosphate analog, foscarnet (foscarnet•RT•P/T complex). Methods and Results UV-induced cross-linking between RT and the DNA template strand was most efficient when a bromodeoxyuridine residue was placed in the +2 position (the first template position downstream from the incoming dNTP). Furthermore, formation of the +1 dNTP•RT•P/T complex on a biotin-containing template inhibited binding of streptavidin when biotin was in the +2 position on the template but not when the biotin was in the +3 position. Streptavidin pre-bound to a biotin residue in the template caused RT to stall two to three nucleotides upstream from the biotin residue. The downstream border of the complex formed by the stalled RT was mapped by digestion with exonuclease RecJF. UV-induced cross-linking of the complex formed by the pyrophosphate analog, foscarnet, with RT and P/T occurred preferentially with bromodeoxyuridine in the +1 position on the template in keeping with the location of RT one base upstream in the foscarnet•RT•P/T complex (i.e., in the pre-translocation position). Conclusions For +1 dNTP•RT•P/T and foscarnet•RT•P/T stable complexes, tight interactions were observed between RT and the first unpaired template nucleotide following the bound dNTP or the primer terminus, respectively. PMID:18974785

The effect of growth temperature variation on partially bismuth filled carbon nanotubes synthesis using a soft semi-metallic template.

PubMed

Sahoo, R K; Jacob, C

2014-06-01

The dewetting of a low melting point metal thin film deposited on silicon substrates was studied. The experimental results suggest that the change in the growth temperature affects the nanostructures that form. Based on the experimental results, the temperature which yielded the smallest features for the growth of nanotubes is determined. The mechanism by which these nano-templates become an efficient seeds for the growth of the carbon nanotubes is discussed. The partial bismuth filling inside the CNTs was optimized. Based on the results, a schematic growth model for better understanding of the process parameters has also been proposed.

Accuracy of templating the acetabular cup size in Total Hip Replacement using conventional acetate templates on digital radiographs.

PubMed

Krishnamoorthy, Vignesh P; Perumal, Rajamani; Daniel, Alfred J; Poonnoose, Pradeep M

2015-12-01

Templating of the acetabular cup size in Total Hip Replacement (THR) is normally done using conventional radiographs. As these are being replaced by digital radiographs, it has become essential to create a technique of templating using digital films. We describe a technique that involves templating the digital films using the universally available acetate templates for THR without the use of special software. Preoperative digital radiographs of the pelvis were taken with a 30 mm diameter spherical metal ball strapped over the greater trochanter. Using standard acetate templates provided by the implant company on magnified digital radiographs, the size of the metal ball (X mm) and acetabular cup (Y mm) were determined. The size of the acetabular cup to be implanted was estimated using the formula 30*Y/X. The estimated size was compared with the actual size of the cup used at surgery. Using this technique, it was possible to accurately predict the acetabular cup size in 28/40 (70%) of the hips. When the accuracy to within one size was considered, templating was correct in 90% (36/40). When assessed by two independent observers, there was good intra-observer and inter-observer reliability with intra-class correlation coefficient values greater than 0.8. It was possible to accurately and reliably predict the size of the acetabular cup, using acetate templates on digital films, without any digital templates.

Self-Templated Stepwise Synthesis of Monodispersed Nanoscale Metalated Covalent Organic Polymers for In Vivo Bioimaging and Photothermal Therapy.

PubMed

Shi, Yanshu; Deng, Xiaoran; Bao, Shouxin; Liu, Bei; Liu, Bin; Ma, Ping'an; Cheng, Ziyong; Pang, Maolin; Lin, Jun

2017-09-05

Size- and shape-controlled growth of nanoscale microporous organic polymers (MOPs) is a big challenge scientists are confronted with; meanwhile, rendering these materials for in vivo biomedical applications is still scarce. In this study, a monodispersed nanometalated covalent organic polymer (MCOP, M=Fe, Gd) with sizes around 120 nm was prepared by a self-templated two-step solution-phase synthesis method. The metal ions (Fe 3+ , Gd 3+ ) played important roles in generating a small particle size and in the functionalization of the products during the reaction with p-phenylenediamine (Pa). The resultant Fe-Pa complex was used as a template for the subsequent formation of MCOP following the Schiff base reaction with 1,3,5-triformylphloroglucinol (Tp). A high tumor suppression efficiency for this Pa-based COP is reported for the first time. This study demonstrates the potential use of MCOP as a photothermal agent for photothermal therapy (PTT) and also provides an alternative route to fabricate nano-sized MCOPs. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Biometric templates selection and update using quality measures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abboud, Ali J.; Jassim, Sabah A.

2012-06-01

To deal with severe variation in recording conditions, most biometric systems acquire multiple biometric samples, at the enrolment stage, for the same person and then extract their individual biometric feature vectors and store them in the gallery in the form of biometric template(s), labelled with the person's identity. The number of samples/templates and the choice of the most appropriate templates influence the performance of the system. The desired biometric template(s) selection technique must aim to control the run time and storage requirements while improving the recognition accuracy of the biometric system. This paper is devoted to elaborating on and discussing a new two stages approach for biometric templates selection and update. This approach uses a quality-based clustering, followed by a special criterion for the selection of an ultimate set of biometric templates from the various clusters. This approach is developed to select adaptively a specific number of templates for each individual. The number of biometric templates depends mainly on the performance of each individual (i.e. gallery size should be optimised to meet the needs of each target individual). These experiments have been conducted on two face image databases and their results will demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed quality-guided approach.

In silico designed nanoMIP based optical sensor for endotoxins monitoring.

PubMed

Abdin, M J; Altintas, Z; Tothill, I E

2015-05-15

Molecular modelling was used to select specific monomers suitable for the design of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) with high affinity towards endotoxins. MIPs were synthesised using solid-phase photopolymerisation with endotoxins from Escherichia coli 0111:B4 as the template. This technique also allowed the endotoxin template to be reused successfully. Particle size of ~190-220 nm was achieved with low polydispersity index, which confirms the quality of the produced MIPs. For the development of the optical sensor, SPR-2 biosensor system was used by functionalising the gold sensor chip with the MIP nanoparticles using EDC/NHS coupling procedure. The affinity based-endotoxin assay can detect endotoxins in the concentration range of 15.6-500 ng mL(-1). MIP surfaces were regenerated showing stability of the method for subsequent analysis and dissociation constants were calculated as 3.24-5.24×10(-8) M. The developed SPR sensor with the novel endotoxins nanoMIP showed the potential of the technology for endotoxins capture, detection and risk management and also the importance of computational modelling to design the artificial affinity ligands. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reducing the number of templates for aligned-spin compact binary coalescence gravitational wave searches using metric-agnostic template nudging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Indik, Nathaniel; Fehrmann, Henning; Harke, Franz; Krishnan, Badri; Nielsen, Alex B.

2018-06-01

Efficient multidimensional template placement is crucial in computationally intensive matched-filtering searches for gravitational waves (GWs). Here, we implement the neighboring cell algorithm (NCA) to improve the detection volume of an existing compact binary coalescence (CBC) template bank. This algorithm has already been successfully applied for a binary millisecond pulsar search in data from the Fermi satellite. It repositions templates from overdense regions to underdense regions and reduces the number of templates that would have been required by a stochastic method to achieve the same detection volume. Our method is readily generalizable to other CBC parameter spaces. Here we apply this method to the aligned-single-spin neutron star-black hole binary coalescence inspiral-merger-ringdown gravitational wave parameter space. We show that the template nudging algorithm can attain the equivalent effectualness of the stochastic method with 12% fewer templates.

Face biometrics with renewable templates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Veen, Michiel; Kevenaar, Tom; Schrijen, Geert-Jan; Akkermans, Ton H.; Zuo, Fei

2006-02-01

In recent literature, privacy protection technologies for biometric templates were proposed. Among these is the so-called helper-data system (HDS) based on reliable component selection. In this paper we integrate this approach with face biometrics such that we achieve a system in which the templates are privacy protected, and multiple templates can be derived from the same facial image for the purpose of template renewability. Extracting binary feature vectors forms an essential step in this process. Using the FERET and Caltech databases, we show that this quantization step does not significantly degrade the classification performance compared to, for example, traditional correlation-based classifiers. The binary feature vectors are integrated in the HDS leading to a privacy protected facial recognition algorithm with acceptable FAR and FRR, provided that the intra-class variation is sufficiently small. This suggests that a controlled enrollment procedure with a sufficient number of enrollment measurements is required.

Novel combination of near-field s-SNOM microscopy with peak-force tapping for nano-chemical and nano-mechanical material characterization with sub-20 nm spatial resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Martin; Carneiro, Karina; Habelitz, Stefan; Mueller, Thomas; BNS Team; UCSF Team

Heterogeneity in material systems requires methods for nanoscale chemical identification. Scattering scanning near-field microscopy (s-SNOM) is chemically sensitive in the infrared fingerprint region while providing down to 10 nm spatial resolution. This technique detects material specific tip-scattering in an atomic force microscope. Here, we present the first combination of s-SNOM with peak-force tapping (PFT), a valuable AFM technique that allows precise force control between tip and sample down to 10s of pN. The latter is essential for imaging fragile samples, but allows also quantitative extraction of nano-mechanical properties, e.g. the modulus. PFT can further be complemented by KPFM or conductive AFM for nano-electrical mapping, allowing access to nanoscale optical, mechanical and electrical information in a single instrument. We will address several questions ranging from graphene plasmonics to material distributions in polymers. We highlight a biological application where dental amelogenin protein was studied via s-SNOM to learn about its self-assembly into nanoribbons. At the same time PFT allows to track crystallization to distinguish protein from apatite crystals for which amelogenin is supposed to act as a template.

Template optimization and transfer in perceptual learning.

PubMed

Kurki, Ilmari; Hyvärinen, Aapo; Saarinen, Jussi

2016-08-01

We studied how learning changes the processing of a low-level Gabor stimulus, using a classification-image method (psychophysical reverse correlation) and a task where observers discriminated between slight differences in the phase (relative alignment) of a target Gabor in visual noise. The method estimates the internal "template" that describes how the visual system weights the input information for decisions. One popular idea has been that learning makes the template more like an ideal Bayesian weighting; however, the evidence has been indirect. We used a new regression technique to directly estimate the template weight change and to test whether the direction of reweighting is significantly different from an optimal learning strategy. The subjects trained the task for six daily sessions, and we tested the transfer of training to a target in an orthogonal orientation. Strong learning and partial transfer were observed. We tested whether task precision (difficulty) had an effect on template change and transfer: Observers trained in either a high-precision (small, 60° phase difference) or a low-precision task (180°). Task precision did not have an effect on the amount of template change or transfer, suggesting that task precision per se does not determine whether learning generalizes. Classification images show that training made observers use more task-relevant features and unlearn some irrelevant features. The transfer templates resembled partially optimized versions of templates in training sessions. The template change direction resembles ideal learning significantly but not completely. The amount of template change was highly correlated with the amount of learning.

Learning templates for artistic portrait lighting analysis.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaowu; Jin, Xin; Wu, Hongyu; Zhao, Qinping

2015-02-01

Lighting is a key factor in creating impressive artistic portraits. In this paper, we propose to analyze portrait lighting by learning templates of lighting styles. Inspired by the experience of artists, we first define several novel features that describe the local contrasts in various face regions. The most informative features are then selected with a stepwise feature pursuit algorithm to derive the templates of various lighting styles. After that, the matching scores that measure the similarity between a testing portrait and those templates are calculated for lighting style classification. Furthermore, we train a regression model by the subjective scores and the feature responses of a template to predict the score of a portrait lighting quality. Based on the templates, a novel face illumination descriptor is defined to measure the difference between two portrait lightings. Experimental results show that the learned templates can well describe the lighting styles, whereas the proposed approach can assess the lighting quality of artistic portraits as human being does.

Fluid-flow-templated self-assembly of calcium carbonate tubes in the laboratory and in biomineralization: The tubules of the watering-pot shells, Clavagelloidea.

PubMed

Cardoso, Silvana S S; Cartwright, Julyan H E; Checa, Antonio G; Sainz-Díaz, C Ignacio

2016-10-01

We show with laboratory experiments that self-assembled mineral tube formation involving precipitation around a templating jet of fluid - a mechanism well-known in the physical sciences from the tubular growth of so-called chemical gardens - functions with carbonates, and we analyse the microstructures and compositions of the precipitates. We propose that there should exist biological examples of fluid-flow-templated tubes formed from carbonates. We present observational and theoretical modelling evidence that the complex structure of biomineral calcium carbonate tubules that forms the 'rose' of the watering-pot shells, Clavagelloidea, may be an instance of this mechanism in biomineralization. We suggest that this is an example of self-organization and self-assembly processes in biomineralization, and that such a mechanism is of interest for the production of tubes as a synthetic biomaterial. The work discussed in the manuscript concerns the self-assembly of calcium carbonate micro-tubes and nano-tubes under conditions of fluid flow together with chemical reaction. We present the results of laboratory experiments on tube self-assembly together with theoretical calculations. We show how nature may already be making use of this process in molluscan biomineralization of the so-called watering-pot shells, and we propose that we may be able to take advantage of the formation mechanism to produce synthetic biocompatible micro- and nano-tubes. Copyright © 2016 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fabrication of volcano-shaped nano-patterned sapphire substrates using colloidal self-assembly and wet chemical etching.

PubMed

Geng, Chong; Zheng, Lu; Fang, Huajing; Yan, Qingfeng; Wei, Tongbo; Hao, Zhibiao; Wang, Xiaoqing; Shen, Dezhong

2013-08-23

Patterned sapphire substrates (PSS) have been widely used to enhance the light output power in GaN-based light emitting diodes. The shape and feature size of the pattern in a PSS affect its enhancement efficiency to a great degree. In this work we demonstrate the nanoscale fabrication of volcano-shaped PSS using a wet chemical etching approach in combination with a colloidal monolayer templating strategy. Detailed analysis by scanning electron microscopy reveals that the unique pattern shape is a result of the different corrosion-resistant abilities of silica masks of different effective heights during wet chemical etching. The formation of silica etching masks of different effective heights has been ascribed to the silica precursor solution in the interstice of the colloidal monolayer template being distributed unevenly after infiltration. In the subsequent wet chemical etching process, the active reaction sites altered as etching duration was prolonged, resulting in the formation of volcano-shaped nano-patterned sapphire substrates.

Enhanced ICBM Diffusion Tensor Template of the Human Brain

PubMed Central

Zhang, Shengwei; Peng, Huiling; Dawe, Robert J.; Arfanakis, Konstantinos

2010-01-01

Development of a diffusion tensor (DT) template that is representative of the micro-architecture of the human brain is crucial for comparisons of neuronal structural integrity and brain connectivity across populations, as well as for the generation of a detailed white matter atlas. Furthermore, a DT template in ICBM space may simplify consolidation of information from DT, anatomical and functional MRI studies. The previously developed “IIT DT brain template” was produced in ICBM-152 space, based on a large number of subjects from a limited age-range, using data with minimal image artifacts, and non-linear registration. That template was characterized by higher image sharpness, provided the ability to distinguish smaller white matter fiber structures, and contained fewer image artifacts, than several previously published DT templates. However, low-dimensional registration was used in the development of that template, which led to a mismatch of DT information across subjects, eventually manifested as loss of local diffusion information and errors in the final tensors. Also, low-dimensional registration led to a mismatch of the anatomy in the IIT and ICBM-152 templates. In this work, a significantly improved DT brain template in ICBM-152 space was developed, using high-dimensional non-linear registration and the raw data collected for the purposes of the IIT template. The accuracy of inter-subject DT matching was significantly increased compared to that achieved for the development of the IIT template. Consequently, the new template contained DT information that was more representative of single-subject human brain data, and was characterized by higher image sharpness than the IIT template. Furthermore, a bootstrap approach demonstrated that the variance of tensor characteristics was lower in the new template. Additionally, compared to the IIT template, brain anatomy in the new template more accurately matched ICBM-152 space. Finally, spatial normalization of a

Optimization of Nano-Carbon Materials for Hydrogen Sorption

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yakobson, Boris I

2013-08-02

Research undertaken has added to the understanding of several critical areas, by providing both negative answers (and therefore eliminating expensive further studies of unfeasible paths) and positive feasible options for storage. Theoretical evaluation of the early hypothesis of storage on pure carbon single wall nanotubes (SWNT) has been scrutinized with the use of comprehensive computational methods (and experimental tests by the Center partners), and demonstrated that the fundamentally weak binding energy of hydrogen is not sufficiently enhanced by the SWNT curvature or even defects, which renders carbon nanotubes not practical media. More promising direction taken was towards 3-dimensional architectures ofmore » high porosity where concurrent attraction of H2 molecule to surrounding walls of nano-scale cavities can double or even triple the binding energy and therefore make hydrogen storage feasible even at ambient or somewhat lower temperatures. An efficient computational tool has been developed for the rapid capacity assessment combining (i) carbon-foam structure generation, (ii) accurate empirical force fields, with quantum corrections for the lightweight H2, and (iii) grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation. This made it possible to suggest optimal designs for carbon nanofoams, obtainable via welding techniques from SWNT or by growth on template-zeolites. As a precursor for 3D-foams, we have investigated experimentally the synthesis of VANTA (Vertically Aligned NanoTube Arrays). This can be used for producing nano-foams. On the other hand, fluorination of VANTA did not show promising increase of hydrogen sorption in several tests and may require further investigation and improvements. Another significant result of this project was in developing a fundamental understanding of the elements of hydrogen spillover mechanisms. The benefit of developed models is the ability to foresee possible directions for further improvement of the spillover mechanism.« less

Environmental risk assessment of engineered nano-SiO2 , nano iron oxides, nano-CeO2 , nano-Al2 O3 , and quantum dots.

PubMed

Wang, Yan; Nowack, Bernd

2018-05-01

Many research studies have endeavored to investigate the ecotoxicological hazards of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). However, little is known regarding the actual environmental risks of ENMs, combining both hazard and exposure data. The aim of the present study was to quantify the environmental risks for nano-Al 2 O 3 , nano-SiO 2 , nano iron oxides, nano-CeO 2 , and quantum dots by comparing the predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) with the predicted-no-effect concentrations (PNECs). The PEC values of these 5 ENMs in freshwaters in 2020 for northern Europe and southeastern Europe were taken from a published dynamic probabilistic material flow analysis model. The PNEC values were calculated using probabilistic species sensitivity distribution (SSD). The order of the PNEC values was quantum dots < nano-CeO 2  < nano iron oxides < nano-Al 2 O 3  < nano-SiO 2 . The risks posed by these 5 ENMs were demonstrated to be in the reverse order: nano-Al 2 O 3  > nano-SiO 2  > nano iron oxides > nano-CeO 2  > quantum dots. However, all risk characterization values are 4 to 8 orders of magnitude lower than 1, and no risk was therefore predicted for any of the investigated ENMs at the estimated release level in 2020. Compared to static models, the dynamic material flow model allowed us to use PEC values based on a more complex parameterization, considering a dynamic input over time and time-dependent release of ENMs. The probabilistic SSD approach makes it possible to include all available data to estimate hazards of ENMs by considering the whole range of variability between studies and material types. The risk-assessment approach is therefore able to handle the uncertainty and variability associated with the collected data. The results of the present study provide a scientific foundation for risk-based regulatory decisions of the investigated ENMs. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:1387-1395. © 2018 SETAC. © 2018 SETAC.

Nano-Electrochemistry and Nano-Electrografting with an Original Combined AFM-SECM

PubMed Central

Ghorbal, Achraf; Grisotto, Federico; Charlier, Julienne; Palacin, Serge; Goyer, Cédric; Demaille, Christophe; Ben Brahim, Ammar

2013-01-01

This study demonstrates the advantages of the combination between atomic force microscopy and scanning electrochemical microscopy. The combined technique can perform nano-electrochemical measurements onto agarose surface and nano-electrografting of non-conducting polymers onto conducting surfaces. This work was achieved by manufacturing an original Atomic Force Microscopy-Scanning ElectroChemical Microscopy (AFM-SECM) electrode. The capabilities of the AFM-SECM-electrode were tested with the nano-electrografting of vinylic monomers initiated by aryl diazonium salts. Nano-electrochemical and technical processes were thoroughly described, so as to allow experiments reproducing. A plausible explanation of chemical and electrochemical mechanisms, leading to the nano-grafting process, was reported. This combined technique represents the first step towards improved nano-processes for the nano-electrografting. PMID:28348337

Electrospray neutralization process and apparatus for generation of nano-aerosol and nano-structured materials

DOEpatents

Bailey, Charles L.; Morozov, Victor; Vsevolodov, Nikolai N.

2010-08-17

The claimed invention describes methods and apparatuses for manufacturing nano-aerosols and nano-structured materials based on the neutralization of charged electrosprayed products with oppositely charged electrosprayed products. Electrosprayed products include molecular ions, nano-clusters and nano-fibers. Nano-aerosols can be generated when neutralization occurs in the gas phase. Neutralization of electrospan nano-fibers with molecular ions and charged nano-clusters may result in the formation of fibrous aerosols or free nano-mats. Nano-mats can also be produced on a suitable substrate, forming efficient nano-filters.

Molecular engineering of porous silica using aryl templates

DOEpatents

Loy, D.A.; Shea, K.J.

1994-06-14

A process is described for manipulating the porosity of silica using a series of organic template groups covalently incorporated into the silicate matrix. The templates in the bridged polysilsesquioxanes are selectively removed from the material by oxidation with oxygen plasma or other means, leaving engineered voids or pores. The size of these pores is dependent upon the length or size of the template or spacer. The size of the templates is measured in terms of Si-Si distances which range from about 0.67 nm to 1.08 nm. Changes introduced by the loss of the templates result in a narrow range of micropores (i.e. <2 nm). Both aryl and alkyl template groups are used as spacers. Novel microporous silica materials useful as molecular sieves, desiccants, and catalyst supports are produced. 3 figs.

Molecular engineering of porous silica using aryl templates

DOEpatents

Loy, Douglas A.; Shea, Kenneth J.

1994-01-01

A process for manipulating the porosity of silica using a series of organic template groups covalently incorporated into the silicate matrix. The templates in the bridged polysilsesquioxanes are selectively removed from the material by oxidation with oxygen plasma or other means, leaving engineered voids or pores. The size of these pores is dependent upon the length or size of the template or spacer. The size of the templates is measured in terms of Si-Si distances which range from about 0.67 nm to 1.08 nm. Changes introduced by the loss of the templates result in a narrow range of micropores (i.e. <2 nm). Both aryl and alkyl template groups are used as spacers. Novel microporous silica materials useful as molecular seives, dessicants, and catalyst supports are produced.

Self-assembly and transformation of hybrid nano-objects and nanostructures under equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mann, Stephen

2009-10-01

Understanding how chemically derived processes control the construction and organization of matter across extended and multiple length scales is of growing interest in many areas of materials research. Here we review present equilibrium and non-equilibrium self-assembly approaches to the synthetic construction of discrete hybrid (inorganic-organic) nano-objects and higher-level nanostructured networks. We examine a range of synthetic modalities under equilibrium conditions that give rise to integrative self-assembly (supramolecular wrapping, nanoscale incarceration and nanostructure templating) or higher-order self-assembly (programmed/directed aggregation). We contrast these strategies with processes of transformative self-assembly that use self-organizing media, reaction-diffusion systems and coupled mesophases to produce higher-level hybrid structures under non-equilibrium conditions. Key elements of the constructional codes associated with these processes are identified with regard to existing theoretical knowledge, and presented as a heuristic guideline for the rational design of hybrid nano-objects and nanomaterials.

Nontemplated Approach to Tuning the Spectral Propertiesof Cyanine-Based Fluorescent NanoGUMBOS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Das, Susmita; Bwambok, David; El-Zahab, Bilal

2010-01-01

Template-free controlled aggregation and spectral properties in fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONs) is highly desirable for various applications.Herein, we report a nontemplated method for controlling the aggregation in near-infrared (NIR) cyanine-based nanoparticles derived from a group of uniformmaterials based on organic salts (GUMBOS). Cationic heptamethine cyanine dye 1,10,3,3,30,30-hexamethylindotricarbocyanine (HMT) was coupled with five different anions, viz., [NTf2 -], [BETI-], [TFPB-], [AOT-], and [TFP4B-], by an ion-exchange method to obtain the respective GUMBOS. The nanoGUMBOS obtained via a reprecipitation method were primarily amorphous and spherical (30-100 nm) as suggested by selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The formationmore » of tunable self-assemblies within the nanoGUMBOS was characterized using absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy in conjunction with molecular dynamics simulations. Counterion-controlled spectral properties observed in the nanoGUMBOS were attributed to variations in J/H ratios with different anions. Association with the [AOT-] anion afforded predominant J aggregation enabling the highest fluorescence intensity, whereas [TFP4B-] disabled the fluorescence due to predominantHaggregation in the nanoparticles. Analyses of the stacking angle of the cations based on molecular dynamic simulation results in [HMT][NTf2], [HMT][BETI], and [HMT][AOT] dispersed in water and a visual analysis of the representative simulation snapshots also imply that the type of aggregation was controlled through the counterion associated with the dye cation.« less

Fumigant Management Plan - Phase 1 Templates

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

FMPs are required by pesticide labels, so EPA provides chemical-specific soil fumigant templates and samples in PDF and Word formats. Choose the appropriate template for products containing chloropicrin, dazomet, metam sodium/potassium, or methyl bromide.

A novel jet-based nano-hydroxyapatite patterning technique for osteoblast guidance

PubMed Central

Li, Xiang; Koller, Garrit; Huang, Jie; Di Silvio, Lucy; Renton, Tara; Esat, Minoo; Bonfield, William; Edirisinghe, Mohan

2010-01-01

Surface topography is well known to play a crucial role in influencing cellular responses to an implant material and is therefore important in bone tissue regeneration. A novel jet-based patterning technique, template-assisted electrohydrodynamic atomization spraying, was recently devised to control precisely the surface structure as well as its dimensions. In the present study, a detailed investigation of this patterning process was carried out. A range of nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) line-shaped patterns <20 µm in width were successfully deposited on a commercially pure Ti surface by controlling the flow of an nHA suspension in an electric field. In vitro studies showed that the nHA patterns generated are capable of regulating the human osteoblast cell attachment and orientation. PMID:19493897

Template-directed synthesis using the heterogeneous templates produced by montmorillonite catalysis. A possible bridge between the prebiotic and RNA worlds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ertem, G.; Ferris, J. P.

1997-01-01

The synthesis of oligoguanylates [oligo(G)s] is catalyzed by a template of oligocytidylates [oligo(C)s] containing 2',5'- and 3',5'-linked phosphodiester bonds with and without incorporated C5'ppC groupings. An oligo(C) template containing exclusively 2',5'-phosphodiester bonds also serves as a template for the synthesis of complementary oligo(G)s. The oligo(C) template was prepared by the condensation of the 5'-phosphorimidazolide of cytidine on montmorillonite clay. These studies establish that RNA oligomers prepared by mineral catalysis, or other routes on the primitive earth, did not have to be exclusively 3',5'-linked to catalyze template-directed synthesis, since oligo(C)s containing a variety of linkage isomers serve as templates for the formation of complementary oligo(G)s. These findings support the postulate that origin of the RNA world was initiated by the RNA oligomers produced by polymerization of activated monomers formed by prebiotic processes.

Novel Nano-Composite Catalysts for Renewable Energy Storage Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devaguptapu, Surya Vamsi

Spinel NiCo2O4 catalysts are considered the promising precious metal-free catalyst for oxygen reactions. Significant efforts are mainly explore optimal chemical doping and substituent to tune its electronic structures for enhanced performance. Here, we focuses on morphology control and determine the morphology-dependent activity for bifunctional oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In particular, three types of spinel NiCo2O4 were prepared using temple-free, SiO 2 hard template, and Pluronic-123 soft template hydrothermal methods, showing significantly different morphologies, respectively. In particular, template-free method yield dense structures. Sold-template method assists the formation of porous and hollow structures. Importantly, the soft template is effective to prepare a unique nanoflower morphology containing abundant rose petal (needle) like structures. The effect of the utilization of templates, both soft and hard as well as a template free synthesis on the morphology as well as the activity and stability of the final catalyst is investigated. Compared to others, the nanoflower-like NiCo2O4 exhibited the highest bifunctional catalytic activity simultaneously for ORR and OER, likely due to the facile absorption of oxygen molecules on increased surface areas with efficient mass transfer. The nanoflower NiCo2O 4 also exhibited an onset and half-wave potentials of 0.94 and 0.82 V for the ORR in alkaline media. Although it is still inferior to state of the art Pt, the new type of spinel NiCo2O4 catalyst represents the best activity compared to reported carbon-free oxides. Meanwhile, OER activity and stability were achieved with an onset potential of 1.48 V generating a current density of 14 mA/cm2 at 1.6 V. The OER activity does not declined after 10,000 potential cycles demonstrating excellent stability, which is superior to the benchmark of Ir for the OER. This work provides an effective solution to enhance catalytic activity

Study of nano-architecture of the wings of Paris Peacock butterfly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghate, Ekata; Bhoraskar, S. V.; Kulkarni, G. R.

Butterflies are one of the most colorful creatures in animal Kingdom. Wings of the male butterfly are brilliantly colored to attract females. Color of the wings plays an important role in camouflage. Study of structural colors in case of insects and butterflies are important for their biomimic and biophotonic applications. Structural color is the color which is produced by physical structures and their interaction with light. Paris Peacock or Papilio paris butterfly belongs to the family Papilionidae. The basis of structural color of this butterfly is investigated in the present study. The upper surface of the wings in this butterfly is covered with blue, green and brown colored scales. Nano-architecture of these scales was investigated with scanning electron microscope (SEM) and environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). Photomicrographs were analyzed using image analysis software. Goniometric color or iridescence in blue and green colored scales of this butterfly was observed and studied with the help of gonio spectrophotometer in the visible range. No iridescence was observed in brown colored scales of the butterfly. Hues of the blue and green color were measured with spectrophotometer and were correlated with nano-architecture of the wing. Results of electron microscopy and reflection spectroscopy are used to explain the iridescent nature of blue and green scales. Sinusoidal grating like structures of these scales were prominently seen in the blue scales. It is possible that the structure of these wings can act as a template for the fabrication of sinusoidal gratings using nano-imprint technology.

Vertical Carbon Nanotube Device in Nanoporous Templates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sands, Timothy (Inventor); Fisher, Timothy Scott (Inventor); Bashir, Rashid (Inventor); Maschmann, Matthew Ralph (Inventor)

2014-01-01

A modified porous anodic alumina template (PAA) containing a thin CNT catalyst layer directly embedded into the pore walls. CNT synthesis using the template selectively catalyzes SWNTs and DWNTs from the embedded catalyst layer to the top PAA surface, creating a vertical CNT channel within the pores. Subsequent processing allows for easy contact metallization and adaptable functionalization of the CNTs and template for a myriad of applications.

Assessing usage patterns of electronic clinical documentation templates.

PubMed

Vawdrey, David K

2008-11-06

Many vendors of electronic medical records support structured and free-text entry of clinical documents using configurable templates. At a healthcare institution comprising two large academic medical centers, a documentation management data mart and a custom, Web-accessible business intelligence application were developed to track the availability and usage of electronic documentation templates. For each medical center, template availability and usage trends were measured from November 2007 through February 2008. By February 2008, approximately 65,000 electronic notes were authored per week on the two campuses. One site had 934 available templates, with 313 being used to author at least one note. The other site had 765 templates, of which 480 were used. The most commonly used template at both campuses was a free text note called "Miscellaneous Nursing Note," which accounted for 33.3% of total documents generated at one campus and 15.2% at the other.

Development of a Human Brain Diffusion Tensor Template

PubMed Central

Peng, Huiling; Orlichenko, Anton; Dawe, Robert J.; Agam, Gady; Zhang, Shengwei; Arfanakis, Konstantinos

2009-01-01

The development of a brain template for diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is crucial for comparisons of neuronal structural integrity and brain connectivity across populations, as well as for the development of a white matter atlas. Previous efforts to produce a DTI brain template have been compromised by factors related to image quality, the effectiveness of the image registration approach, the appropriateness of subject inclusion criteria, the completeness and accuracy of the information summarized in the final template. The purpose of this work was to develop a DTI human brain template using techniques that address the shortcomings of previous efforts. Therefore, data containing minimal artifacts were first obtained on 67 healthy human subjects selected from an age-group with relatively similar diffusion characteristics (20–40 years of age), using an appropriate DTI acquisition protocol. Non-linear image registration based on mean diffusion-weighted and fractional anisotropy images was employed. DTI brain templates containing median and mean tensors were produced in ICBM-152 space and made publicly available. The resulting set of DTI templates is characterized by higher image sharpness, provides the ability to distinguish smaller white matter fiber structures, contains fewer image artifacts, than previously developed templates, and to our knowledge, is one of only two templates produced based on a relatively large number of subjects. Furthermore, median tensors were shown to better preserve the diffusion characteristics at the group level than mean tensors. Finally, white matter fiber tractography was applied on the template and several fiber-bundles were traced. PMID:19341801

Development of a human brain diffusion tensor template.

PubMed

Peng, Huiling; Orlichenko, Anton; Dawe, Robert J; Agam, Gady; Zhang, Shengwei; Arfanakis, Konstantinos

2009-07-15

The development of a brain template for diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is crucial for comparisons of neuronal structural integrity and brain connectivity across populations, as well as for the development of a white matter atlas. Previous efforts to produce a DTI brain template have been compromised by factors related to image quality, the effectiveness of the image registration approach, the appropriateness of subject inclusion criteria, and the completeness and accuracy of the information summarized in the final template. The purpose of this work was to develop a DTI human brain template using techniques that address the shortcomings of previous efforts. Therefore, data containing minimal artifacts were first obtained on 67 healthy human subjects selected from an age-group with relatively similar diffusion characteristics (20-40 years of age), using an appropriate DTI acquisition protocol. Non-linear image registration based on mean diffusion-weighted and fractional anisotropy images was employed. DTI brain templates containing median and mean tensors were produced in ICBM-152 space and made publicly available. The resulting set of DTI templates is characterized by higher image sharpness, provides the ability to distinguish smaller white matter fiber structures, contains fewer image artifacts, than previously developed templates, and to our knowledge, is one of only two templates produced based on a relatively large number of subjects. Furthermore, median tensors were shown to better preserve the diffusion characteristics at the group level than mean tensors. Finally, white matter fiber tractography was applied on the template and several fiber-bundles were traced.

Template-based structure modeling of protein-protein interactions

PubMed Central

Szilagyi, Andras; Zhang, Yang

2014-01-01

The structure of protein-protein complexes can be constructed by using the known structure of other protein complexes as a template. The complex structure templates are generally detected either by homology-based sequence alignments or, given the structure of monomer components, by structure-based comparisons. Critical improvements have been made in recent years by utilizing interface recognition and by recombining monomer and complex template libraries. Encouraging progress has also been witnessed in genome-wide applications of template-based modeling, with modeling accuracy comparable to high-throughput experimental data. Nevertheless, bottlenecks exist due to the incompleteness of the proteinprotein complex structure library and the lack of methods for distant homologous template identification and full-length complex structure refinement. PMID:24721449

Formation of template-switching artifacts by linear amplification.

PubMed

Chakravarti, Dhrubajyoti; Mailander, Paula C

2008-07-01

Linear amplification is a method of synthesizing single-stranded DNA from either a single-stranded DNA or one strand of a double-stranded DNA. In this protocol, molecules of a single primer DNA are extended by multiple rounds of DNA synthesis at high temperature using thermostable DNA polymerases. Although linear amplification generates the intended full-length single-stranded product, it is more efficient over single-stranded templates than double-stranded templates. We analyzed linear amplification over single- or double-stranded mouse H-ras DNA (exon 1-2 region). The single-stranded H-ras template yielded only the intended product. However, when the double-stranded template was used, additional artifact products were observed. Increasing the concentration of the double-stranded template produced relatively higher amounts of these artifact products. One of the artifact DNA bands could be mapped and analyzed by sequencing. It contained three template-switching products. These DNAs were formed by incomplete DNA strand extension over the template strand, followed by switching to the complementary strand at a specific Ade nucleotide within a putative hairpin sequence, from which DNA synthesis continued over the complementary strand.

Synthesis of RNA oligomers on heterogeneous templates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ertem, G.; Ferris, J. P.

1996-01-01

The concept of an RNA world in the chemical origin of life is appealing, as nucleic acids are capable of both information storage and acting as templates that catalyse the synthesis of complementary molecules. Template-directed synthesis has been demonstrated for homogeneous oligonucleotides that, like natural nucleic acids, have 3',5' linkages between the nucleotide monomers. But it seems likely that prebiotic routes to RNA-like molecules would have produced heterogeneous molecules with various kinds of phosphodiester linkages and both linear and cyclic nucleotide chains. Here we show that such heterogeneity need be no obstacle to the templating of complementary molecules. Specifically, we show that heterogeneous oligocytidylates, formed by the montmorillonite clay-catalysed condensation of actuated monomers, can serve as templates for the synthesis of oligoguanylates. Furthermore, we show that oligocytidylates that are exclusively 2',5'-linked can also direct synthesis of oligoguanylates. Such heterogeneous templating reactions could have increased the diversity of the pool of protonucleic acids from which life ultimately emerged.

Abbreviated epitaxial growth mode (AGM) method for reducing cost and improving quality of LEDs and lasers

DOEpatents

Tansu, Nelson; Chan, Helen M; Vinci, Richard P; Ee, Yik-Khoon; Biser, Jeffrey

2013-09-24

The use of an abbreviated GaN growth mode on nano-patterned AGOG sapphire substrates, which utilizes a process of using 15 nm low temperature GaN buffer and bypassing etch-back and recovery processes during epitaxy, enables the growth of high-quality GaN template on nano-patterned AGOG sapphire. The GaN template grown on nano-patterned AGOG sapphire by employing abbreviated growth mode has two orders of magnitude lower threading dislocation density than that of conventional GaN template grown on planar sapphire. The use of abbreviated growth mode also leads to significant reduction in cost of the epitaxy. The growths and characteristics of InGaN quantum wells (QWs) light emitting diodes (LEDs) on both templates were compared. The InGaN QWs LEDs grown on the nano-patterned AGOG sapphire demonstrated at least a 24% enhancement of output power enhancement over that of LEDs grown on conventional GaN templates.

Templated Growth of Carbon Nanotubes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Siochik Emilie J. (Inventor)

2007-01-01

A method of growing carbon nanotubes uses a synthesized mesoporous si lica template with approximately cylindrical pores being formed there in. The surfaces of the pores are coated with a carbon nanotube precu rsor, and the template with the surfaces of the pores so-coated is th en heated until the carbon nanotube precursor in each pore is convert ed to a carbon nanotube.

Rate in template-directed polymer synthesis.

PubMed

Saito, Takuya

2014-06-01

We discuss the temporal efficiency of template-directed polymer synthesis, such as DNA replication and transcription, under a given template string. To weigh the synthesis speed and accuracy on the same scale, we propose a template-directed synthesis (TDS) rate, which contains an expression analogous to that for the Shannon entropy. Increasing the synthesis speed accelerates the TDS rate, but the TDS rate is lowered if the produced sequences are diversified. We apply the TDS rate to some production system models and investigate how the balance between the speed and the accuracy is affected by changes in the system conditions.

Nanostructure templating using low temperature atomic layer deposition

DOEpatents

Grubbs, Robert K [Albuquerque, NM; Bogart, Gregory R [Corrales, NM; Rogers, John A [Champaign, IL

2011-12-20

Methods are described for making nanostructures that are mechanically, chemically and thermally stable at desired elevated temperatures, from nanostructure templates having a stability temperature that is less than the desired elevated temperature. The methods comprise depositing by atomic layer deposition (ALD) structural layers that are stable at the desired elevated temperatures, onto a template employing a graded temperature deposition scheme. At least one structural layer is deposited at an initial temperature that is less than or equal to the stability temperature of the template, and subsequent depositions made at incrementally increased deposition temperatures until the desired elevated temperature stability is achieved. Nanostructure templates include three dimensional (3D) polymeric templates having features on the order of 100 nm fabricated by proximity field nanopatterning (PnP) methods.

Self-organized nano-structuring of CoO islands on Fe(001)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brambilla, A.; Picone, A.; Giannotti, D.; Riva, M.; Bussetti, G.; Berti, G.; Calloni, A.; Finazzi, M.; Ciccacci, F.; Duò, L.

2016-01-01

The realization of nanometer-scale structures through bottom-up strategies can be accomplished by exploiting a buried network of dislocations. We show that, by following appropriate growth steps in ultra-high vacuum molecular beam epitaxy, it is possible to grow nano-structured films of CoO coupled to Fe(001) substrates, with tunable sizes (both the lateral size and the maximum height scale linearly with coverage). The growth mode is discussed in terms of the evolution of surface morphology and chemical interactions as a function of the CoO thickness. Scanning tunneling microscopy measurements reveal that square mounds of CoO with lateral dimensions of less than 25 nm and heights below 10 atomic layers are obtained by growing few-nanometers-thick CoO films on a pre-oxidized Fe(001) surface covered by an ultra-thin Co buffer layer. In the early stages of growth, a network of misfit dislocations develops, which works as a template for the CoO nano-structuring. From a chemical point of view, at variance with typical CoO/Fe interfaces, neither Fe segregation at the surface nor Fe oxidation at the buried interface are observed, as seen by Auger electron spectroscopy and X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy, respectively.

Multimodal biometric approach for cancelable face template generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paul, Padma Polash; Gavrilova, Marina

2012-06-01

Due to the rapid growth of biometric technology, template protection becomes crucial to secure integrity of the biometric security system and prevent unauthorized access. Cancelable biometrics is emerging as one of the best solutions to secure the biometric identification and verification system. We present a novel technique for robust cancelable template generation algorithm that takes advantage of the multimodal biometric using feature level fusion. Feature level fusion of different facial features is applied to generate the cancelable template. A proposed algorithm based on the multi-fold random projection and fuzzy communication scheme is used for this purpose. In cancelable template generation, one of the main difficulties is keeping interclass variance of the feature. We have found that interclass variations of the features that are lost during multi fold random projection can be recovered using fusion of different feature subsets and projecting in a new feature domain. Applying the multimodal technique in feature level, we enhance the interclass variability hence improving the performance of the system. We have tested the system for classifier fusion for different feature subset and different cancelable template fusion. Experiments have shown that cancelable template improves the performance of the biometric system compared with the original template.

Graphene Emerges as a Versatile Template for Materials Preparation.

PubMed

Li, Zhengjie; Wu, Sida; Lv, Wei; Shao, Jiao-Jing; Kang, Feiyu; Yang, Quan-Hong

2016-05-01

Graphene and its derivatives are emerging as a class of novel but versatile templates for the controlled preparation and functionalization of materials. In this paper a conceptual review on graphene-based templates is given, highlighting their versatile roles in materials preparation. Graphene is capable of acting as a low-dimensional hard template, where its two-dimensional morphology directs the formation of novel nanostructures. Graphene oxide and other functionalized graphenes are amphiphilic and may be seen as soft templates for formatting the growth or inducing the controlled assembly of nanostructures. In addition, nanospaces in restacked graphene can be used for confining the growth of sheet-like nanostructures, and assemblies of interlinked graphenes can behave either as skeletons for the formation of composite materials or as sacrificial templates for novel materials with a controlled network structure. In summary, flexible graphene and its derivatives together with an increasing number of assembled structures show great potentials as templates for materials production. Many challenges remain, for example precise structural control of such novel templates and the removal of the non-functional remaining templates. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

21 CFR 888.4800 - Template for clinical use.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Template for clinical use. 888.4800 Section 888...) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Surgical Devices § 888.4800 Template for clinical use. (a) Identification. A template for clinical use is a device that consists of a pattern or guide intended for medical...

Mass production of polymer nano-wires filled with metal nano-particles.

PubMed

Lomadze, Nino; Kopyshev, Alexey; Bargheer, Matias; Wollgarten, Markus; Santer, Svetlana

2017-08-17

Despite the ongoing progress in nanotechnology and its applications, the development of strategies for connecting nano-scale systems to micro- or macroscale elements is hampered by the lack of structural components that have both, nano- and macroscale dimensions. The production of nano-scale wires with macroscale length is one of the most interesting challenges here. There are a lot of strategies to fabricate long nanoscopic stripes made of metals, polymers or ceramics but none is suitable for mass production of ordered and dense arrangements of wires at large numbers. In this paper, we report on a technique for producing arrays of ordered, flexible and free-standing polymer nano-wires filled with different types of nano-particles. The process utilizes the strong response of photosensitive polymer brushes to irradiation with UV-interference patterns, resulting in a substantial mass redistribution of the polymer material along with local rupturing of polymer chains. The chains can wind up in wires of nano-scale thickness and a length of up to several centimeters. When dispersing nano-particles within the film, the final arrangement is similar to a core-shell geometry with mainly nano-particles found in the core region and the polymer forming a dielectric jacket.

Expression Templates for Truncated Power Series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cary, John R.; Shasharina, Svetlana G.

1997-05-01

Truncated power series are used extensively in accelerator transport modeling for rapid tracking and analysis of nonlinearity. Such mathematical objects are naturally represented computationally as objects in C++. This is more intuitive and produces more transparent code through operator overloading. However, C++ object use often comes with a computational speed loss due, e.g., to the creation of temporaries. We have developed a subset of truncated power series expression templates(http://monet.uwaterloo.ca/blitz/). Such expression templates use the powerful template processing facility of C++ to combine complicated expressions into series operations that exectute more rapidly. We compare computational speeds with existing truncated power series libraries.

Plasmonic graded nano-disks as nano-optical conveyor belt.

PubMed

Kang, Zhiwen; Lu, Haifei; Chen, Jiajie; Chen, Kun; Xu, Fang; Ho, Ho-Pui

2014-08-11

We propose a plasmonic system consisting of nano-disks (NDs) with graded diameters for the realization of nano-optical conveyor belt. The system contains a couple of NDs with individual elements coded with different resonant wavelengths. By sequentially switching the wavelength and polarization of the excitation source, optically trapped target nano-particle can be transferred from one ND to another. The feasibility of such function is verified based on the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain technique and the Maxwell stress tensor method. Our design may provide an alternative way to construct nano-optical conveyor belt with which target molecules can be delivered between trapping sites, thus enabling many on-chip optofluidic applications.

A metadata template for ocean acidification data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, L.

2014-12-01

Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, and locates an information resource (e.g., data). It is often coarsely described as data about data, and documents information such as what was measured, by whom, when, where, and how it was sampled, analyzed, with what instruments. Metadata is inherent to ensure the survivability and accessibility of the data into the future. With the rapid expansion of biological response ocean acidification (OA) studies, the lack of a common metadata template to document such type of data has become a significant gap for ocean acidification data management efforts. In this paper, we present a metadata template that can be applied to a broad spectrum of OA studies, including those studying the biological responses of organisms on ocean acidification. The "variable metadata section", which includes the variable name, observation type, whether the variable is a manipulation condition or response variable, and the biological subject on which the variable is studied, forms the core of this metadata template. Additional metadata elements, such as principal investigators, temporal and spatial coverage, platforms for the sampling, data citation are essential components to complete the template. We explain the structure of the template, and define many metadata elements that may be unfamiliar to researchers. For that reason, this paper can serve as a user's manual for the template.

Synthesis of Hybrid Conducting Nanowire Using AAO Template

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-28

oxide and alujminum oxide in anodized aluminum oxide ( AAO ) template with various aspect ratio and...than 3 nm. 2. Experimentals Anodized aluminum oxide ( AAO ) template was prepared from 99.999% purity aluminum foil by performing the following...to prepare uniform dimension of nanomaterials is to use anodized alumina membrane as template. The work emphasized self-organized arrangement of

The Effect of Nano Loading and Ultrasonic Compounding of EVA/LDPE/Nano-magnesium Hydroxide on Mechanical Properties and Distribution of Nano Particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azman, I. A.; Salleh, R. M.; Alauddin, S. M.; Shueb, M. I.

2018-05-01

Blends of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) and Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) are promising composite which have good mechanical properties to environmental stress cracking. However, they lack fire resistant properties, which limits it usage in wire and cable industry. In order to improve flame retardancy ability, a range of nano-magnesium hydroxide (nano-MH) loading which is from 0 phr to maximum of 20 phr with ultrasonic extrusion 0-100 kHz frequencies have been introduced. Ultrasonic extrusion was used to improve the distribution of nano-MH. It was found that, 10 phr of nano loading with 100 kHz ultrasonic assisted has greater tensile strength compared to the nanocomposite without ultrasonication. Further increase of nano MH loading, will decrease the tensile properties. Better elongation at break was observed at10 phr nano-MH with the frequency of 50 kHz. The sample of 20 phr of nanoMH assisted with 50 kHz ultrasonic exhibits good flexural properties while 10 phr of nano-MH without the ultrasonic assisted demonstrates good in izod impact properties. From the evaluation of mechanical properties studied, it was found that 10 phr of nano-MH has shown the best performance among all the samples tested for EVA/LDPE/nano-MH composites. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) has been conducted on 10 phr sample with different frequencies in order to observe the distribution of nano-MH particles. The sample with 100 kHz frequency shows more uniform dispersion of nano-MH in EVA/LDPE composites. This investigation indicates that the ultrasonic technology can enhance the mechanical properties studied as well as the dispersion of nano particles in the composite.

US Federal LCA Commons Life Cycle Inventory Unit Process Template

EPA Science Inventory

The US Federal LCA Commons Life Cycle Inventory Unit Process Template is a multi-sheet Excel template for life cycle inventory data, metadata and other documentation. The template comes as a package that consistent of three parts: (1) the main template itself for life cycle inven...

Self-assembled nanostructured resistive switching memory devices fabricated by templated bottom-up growth

PubMed Central

Song, Ji-Min; Lee, Jang-Sik

2016-01-01

Metal-oxide-based resistive switching memory device has been studied intensively due to its potential to satisfy the requirements of next-generation memory devices. Active research has been done on the materials and device structures of resistive switching memory devices that meet the requirements of high density, fast switching speed, and reliable data storage. In this study, resistive switching memory devices were fabricated with nano-template-assisted bottom up growth. The electrochemical deposition was adopted to achieve the bottom-up growth of nickel nanodot electrodes. Nickel oxide layer was formed by oxygen plasma treatment of nickel nanodots at low temperature. The structures of fabricated nanoscale memory devices were analyzed with scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope (AFM). The electrical characteristics of the devices were directly measured using conductive AFM. This work demonstrates the fabrication of resistive switching memory devices using self-assembled nanoscale masks and nanomateirals growth from bottom-up electrochemical deposition. PMID:26739122

Attempted nonenzymatic template-directed oligomerizations on a polyadenylic acid template: implications for the nature of the first genetic material

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stribling, R.; Miller, S. L.

1991-01-01

Previous attempts to produce nonenzymatic template-directed oligomerizations of activated pyrimidines on polypurine templates have been unsuccessful. The only efficient reactions are those where the template is composed primarily of pyrimidines, especially cytosine. Because molecular evolution requires that a synthesized daughter polynucleotide be capable of acting as a template for the synthesis of the original polynucleotide, the one-way replication achieved thus far is inadequate to initiate an evolving system. Several uracil analogs were used in this investigation in order to search for possible replacements for uracil. The monomers used in this investigation were the imidazolides of UMP, xanthosine 5'-monophosphate, the bis-monophosphates of the acyclic nucleosides of uracil, and 2,4-quinazolinedione. The concentrations of various salts, buffers, pH, and temperature were among the different variables investigated in attempts to find conditions that would permit template-directed oligomerizations. Although the different monomers in this study demonstrated varying abilities to form very short oligomers, we were unable to detect any enhancement of this oligomerization that could be attributed to the poly(A) template. Although special conditions might be found that would allow purine-rich templates to work, these reactions cannot be considered robust. The results of our experiments suggest that pyrimidines were not part of the original replicating system on the primitive Earth. It has already been shown that ribose is an unlikely component of the first replicating systems, and we now suggest that phosphate was absent as well. This is due to the low solubility of phosphate in the present ocean (3 x 10(-6) M), as well as the difficulty of prebiotic activation of phosphates.

Template For Aiming An X-Ray Machine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morphet, W. J.

1994-01-01

Relatively inexpensive template helps in aligning x-ray machine with phenolic ring to be inspected for flaws. Phenolic ring in original application part of rocket nozzle. Concept also applicable to x-ray inspection of other rings. Template contains alignment holes for adjusting orientation, plus target spot for adjusting lateral position, of laser spotting beam. (Laser spotting beam coincides with the x-ray beam, turned on later, after alignment completed.) Use of template decreases positioning time and error, providing consistent sensitivity for detection of flaws.

Template-directed control of crystal morphologies.

PubMed

Meldrum, Fiona C; Ludwigs, Sabine

2007-02-12

Biominerals are characterised by unique morphologies, and it is a long-term synthetic goal to reproduce these synthetically. We here apply a range of templating routes to investigate whether a fascinating category of biominerals, the single crystals with complex forms, can be produced using simple synthetic methods. Macroporous crystals with sponge-like morphologies identical to that of sea urchin skeletal plates were produced on templating with a sponge-like polymer membrane. Similarly, patterning of individual crystal faces was achieved from the micrometer to nanometer scale through crystallisation on colloidal particle monolayers and patterned polymer thin films. These experiments demonstrate the versatility of a templating approach to producing single crystals with unique morphologies.

Light Weight Biomorphous Cellular Ceramics from Cellulose Templates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singh, Mrityunjay; Yee, Bo-Moon; Gray, Hugh R. (Technical Monitor)

2003-01-01

Bimorphous ceramics are a new class of materials that can be fabricated from the cellulose templates derived from natural biopolymers. These biopolymers are abundantly available in nature and are produced by the photosynthesis process. The wood cellulose derived carbon templates have three- dimensional interconnectivity. A wide variety of non-oxide and oxide based ceramics have been fabricated by template conversion using infiltration and reaction-based processes. The cellular anatomy of the cellulose templates plays a key role in determining the processing parameters (pyrolysis, infiltration conditions, etc.) and resulting ceramic materials. The processing approach, microstructure, and mechanical properties of the biomorphous cellular ceramics (silicon carbide and oxide based) have been discussed.

Migration to Earth Observation Satellite Product Dissemination System at JAXA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikehata, Y.; Matsunaga, M.

2017-12-01

JAXA released "G-Portal" as a portal web site for search and deliver data of Earth observation satellites in February 2013. G-Portal handles ten satellites data; GPM, TRMM, Aqua, ADEOS-II, ALOS (search only), ALOS-2 (search only), MOS-1, MOS-1b, ERS-1 and JERS-1 and archives 5.17 million products and 14 million catalogues in total. Users can search those products/catalogues in GUI web search and catalogue interface(CSW/Opensearch). In this fiscal year, we will replace this to "Next G-Portal" and has been doing integration, test and migrations. New G-Portal will treat data of satellites planned to be launched in the future in addition to those handled by G - Portal. At system architecture perspective, G-Portal adopted "cluster system" for its redundancy, so we must replace the servers into those with higher specifications when we improve its performance ("scale up approach"). This requests a lot of cost in every improvement. To avoid this, Next G-Portal adopts "scale out" system: load balancing interfaces, distributed file system, distributed data bases. (We reported in AGU fall meeting 2015(IN23D-1748).) At customer usability perspective, G-Portal provides complicated interface: "step by step" web design, randomly generated URLs, sftp (needs anomaly tcp port). Customers complained about the interfaces and the support team had been tired from answering them. To solve this problem, Next G-Portal adopts simple interfaces: "1 page" web design, RESTful URL, and Normal FTP. (We reported in AGU fall meeting 2016(IN23B-1778).) Furthermore, Next G-Portal must merge GCOM-W data dissemination system to be terminated in the next March as well as the current G-Portal. This might arrise some difficulties, since the current G-Portal and GCOM-W data dissemination systems are quite different from Next G-Portal. The presentation reports the knowledge obtained from the process of merging those systems.

Experimental Study of Slat Noise from 30P30N Three-Element High-Lift Airfoil in JAXA Hard-Wall Low-Speed Wind Tunnel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murayama, Mitsuhiro; Nakakita, Kazuyuki; Yamamoto, Kazuomi; Ura, Hiroki; Ito, Yasushi; Choudhari, Meelan M.

2014-01-01

Aeroacoustic measurements associated with noise radiation from the leading edge slat of the canonical, unswept 30P30N three-element high-lift airfoil configuration have been obtained in a 2 m x 2 m hard-wall wind tunnel at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Performed as part of a collaborative effort on airframe noise between JAXA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the model geometry and majority of instrumentation details are identical to a NASA model with the exception of a larger span. For an angle of attack up to 10 degrees, the mean surface Cp distributions agree well with free-air computational fluid dynamics predictions corresponding to a corrected angle of attack. After employing suitable acoustic treatment for the brackets and end-wall effects, an approximately 2D noise source map is obtained from microphone array measurements, thus supporting the feasibility of generating a measurement database that can be used for comparison with free-air numerical simulations. Both surface pressure spectra obtained via KuliteTM transducers and the acoustic spectra derived from microphone array measurements display a mixture of a broad band component and narrow-band peaks (NBPs), both of which are most intense at the lower angles of attack and become progressively weaker as the angle of attack is increased. The NBPs exhibit a substantially higher spanwise coherence in comparison to the broadband portion of the spectrum and, hence, confirm the trends observed in previous numerical simulations. Somewhat surprisingly, measurements show that the presence of trip dots between the stagnation point and slat cusp enhances the NBP levels rather than mitigating them as found in a previous experiment.

SU-E-J-108: Template Matching Based On Multiple Templates Can Improve the Tumor Tracking Performance When There Is Large Tumor Deformation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shi, X; Lin, J; Diwanji, T

2014-06-01

Purpose: Recently, template matching has been shown to be able to track tumor motion on cine-MRI images. However, artifacts such as deformation, rotation, and/or out-of-plane movement could seriously degrade the performance of this technique. In this work, we demonstrate the utility of multiple templates derived from different phases of tumor motion in reducing the negative effects of artifacts and improving the accuracy of template matching methods. Methods: Data from 2 patients with large tumors and significant tumor deformation were analyzed from a group of 12 patients from an earlier study. Cine-MRI (200 frames) imaging was performed while the patients weremore » instructed to breathe normally. Ground truth tumor position was established on each frame manually by a radiation oncologist. Tumor positions were also automatically determined using template matching with either single or multiple (5) templates. The tracking errors, defined as the absolute differences in tumor positions determined by the manual and automated methods, when using either single or multiple templates were compared in both the AP and SI directions, respectively. Results: Using multiple templates reduced the tracking error of template matching. In the SI direction where the tumor movement and deformation were significant, the mean tracking error decreased from 1.94 mm to 0.91 mm (Patient 1) and from 6.61 mm to 2.06 mm (Patient 2). In the AP direction where the tumor movement was small, the reduction of the mean tracking error was significant in Patient 1 (from 3.36 mm to 1.04 mm), but not in Patient 2 ( from 3.86 mm to 3.80 mm). Conclusion: This study shows the effectiveness of using multiple templates in improving the performance of template matching when artifacts like large tumor deformation or out-of-plane motion exists. Accurate tumor tracking capabilities can be integrated with MRI guided radiation therapy systems. This work was supported in part by grants from NIH/NCI CA 124766 and

Nano-extrusion: a promising tool for continuous manufacturing of solid nano-formulations.

PubMed

Baumgartner, Ramona; Eitzlmayr, Andreas; Matsko, Nadejda; Tetyczka, Carolin; Khinast, Johannes; Roblegg, Eva

2014-12-30

Since more than 40% of today's drugs have low stability, poor solubility and/or limited ability to cross certain biological barriers, new platform technologies are required to address these challenges. This paper describes a novel continuous process that converts a stabilized aqueous nano-suspension into a solid oral formulation in a single step (i.e., the NANEX process) in order to improve the solubility of a model drug (phenytoin). Phenytoin nano-suspensions were prepared via media milling using different stabilizers. A stable nano-suspension was obtained using Tween(®) 80 as a stabilizer. The matrix material (Soluplus(®)) was gravimetrically fed into the hot melt extruder. The suspension was introduced through a side feeding device and mixed with the molten polymer to immediately devolatilize the water in the nano-suspension. Phenytoin nano-crystals were dispersed and embedded in the molten polymer. Investigation of the nano-extrudates via transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy showed that the nano-crystals were embedded de-aggregated in the extrudates. Furthermore, no changes in the crystallinity (due to the mechanical and thermal stress) occurred. The dissolution studies confirmed that the prepared nano-extrudates increased the solubility of nano-crystalline phenytoin, regardless of the polymer. Our work demonstrates that NANEX represents a promising new platform technology in the design of novel drug delivery systems to improve drug performance. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Population differences in brain morphology: Need for population specific brain template.

PubMed

Rao, Naren P; Jeelani, Haris; Achalia, Rashmin; Achalia, Garima; Jacob, Arpitha; Bharath, Rose Dawn; Varambally, Shivarama; Venkatasubramanian, Ganesan; K Yalavarthy, Phaneendra

2017-07-30

Brain templates provide a standard anatomical platform for population based morphometric assessments. Typically, standard brain templates for such assessments are created using Caucasian brains, which may not be ideal to analyze brains from other ethnicities. To effectively demonstrate this, we compared brain morphometric differences between T1 weighted structural MRI images of 27 healthy Indian and Caucasian subjects of similar age and same sex ratio. Furthermore, a population specific brain template was created from MRI images of healthy Indian subjects and compared with standard Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI-152) template. We also examined the accuracy of registration of by acquiring a different T1 weighted MRI data set and registering them to newly created Indian template and MNI-152 template. The statistical analysis indicates significant difference in global brain measures and regional brain structures of Indian and Caucasian subjects. Specifically, the global brain measurements of the Indian brain template were smaller than that of the MNI template. Also, Indian brain images were better realigned to the newly created template than to the MNI-152 template. The notable variations in Indian and Caucasian brains convey the need to build a population specific Indian brain template and atlas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Silver nanowires-templated metal oxide for broadband Schottky photodetector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Patel, Malkeshkumar; Kim, Hong-Sik; Kim, Joondong, E-mail: joonkim@inu.ac.kr

2016-04-04

Silver nanowires (AgNWs)-templated transparent metal oxide layer was applied for Si Schottky junction device, which remarked the record fastest photoresponse of 3.4 μs. Self-operating AgNWs-templated Schottky photodetector showed broad wavelength photodetection with high responsivity (42.4 A W{sup −1}) and detectivity (2.75 × 10{sup 15} Jones). AgNWs-templated indium-tin-oxide (ITO) showed band-to-band excitation due to the internal photoemission, resulting in significant carrier collection performances. Functional metal oxide layer was formed by AgNWs-templated from ITO structure. The grown ITO above AgNWs has a cylindrical shape and acts as a thermal protector of AgNWs for high temperature environment without any deformation. We developed thermal stable AgNWs-templated transparent oxidemore » devices and demonstrated the working mechanism of AgNWs-templated Schottky devices. We may propose the high potential of hybrid transparent layer design for various photoelectric applications, including solar cells.« less

Combinatorial Nano-Bio Interfaces.

PubMed

Cai, Pingqiang; Zhang, Xiaoqian; Wang, Ming; Wu, Yun-Long; Chen, Xiaodong

2018-06-08

Nano-bio interfaces are emerging from the convergence of engineered nanomaterials and biological entities. Despite rapid growth, clinical translation of biomedical nanomaterials is heavily compromised by the lack of comprehensive understanding of biophysicochemical interactions at nano-bio interfaces. In the past decade, a few investigations have adopted a combinatorial approach toward decoding nano-bio interfaces. Combinatorial nano-bio interfaces comprise the design of nanocombinatorial libraries and high-throughput bioevaluation. In this Perspective, we address challenges in combinatorial nano-bio interfaces and call for multiparametric nanocombinatorics (composition, morphology, mechanics, surface chemistry), multiscale bioevaluation (biomolecules, organelles, cells, tissues/organs), and the recruitment of computational modeling and artificial intelligence. Leveraging combinatorial nano-bio interfaces will shed light on precision nanomedicine and its potential applications.

Cooperation of catalysts and templates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, D. H.; Kanavarioti, A.; Nibley, C. W.; Macklin, J. W.

1986-01-01

In order to understand how self-reproducing molecules could have originated on the primitive Earth or extraterrestrial bodies, it would be useful to find laboratory models of simple molecules which are able to carry out processes of catalysis and templating. Furthermore, it may be anticipated that systems in which several components are acting cooperatively to catalyze each other's synthesis will have different behavior with respect to natural selection than those of purely replicating systems. As the major focus of this work, laboratory models are devised to study the influence of short peptide catalysts on template reactions which produce oligonucleotides or additional peptides. Such catalysts could have been the earliest protoenzymes of selective advantage produced by replicating oligonucleotides. Since this is a complex problem, simpler systems are also studied which embody only one aspect at a time, such as peptide formation with and without a template, peptide catalysis of nontemplated peptide synthesis, and model reactions for replication of the type pioneered by Orgel.

View-Invariant Gait Recognition Through Genetic Template Segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isaac, Ebenezer R. H. P.; Elias, Susan; Rajagopalan, Srinivasan; Easwarakumar, K. S.

2017-08-01

Template-based model-free approach provides by far the most successful solution to the gait recognition problem in literature. Recent work discusses how isolating the head and leg portion of the template increase the performance of a gait recognition system making it robust against covariates like clothing and carrying conditions. However, most involve a manual definition of the boundaries. The method we propose, the genetic template segmentation (GTS), employs the genetic algorithm to automate the boundary selection process. This method was tested on the GEI, GEnI and AEI templates. GEI seems to exhibit the best result when segmented with our approach. Experimental results depict that our approach significantly outperforms the existing implementations of view-invariant gait recognition.

Studies on the formation of polymeric nano-emulsions obtained via low-energy emulsification and their use as templates for drug delivery nanoparticle dispersions.

PubMed

Calderó, G; Montes, R; Llinàs, M; García-Celma, M J; Porras, M; Solans, C

2016-09-01

Ethylcellulose nanoparticles have been obtained from O/W nano-emulsions of the water/polyoxyethylene 10 oleyl ether/[ethyl acetate+4wt% ethylcellulose] system by low energy-energy emulsification at 25°C. Nano-emulsions with droplet sizes below 200nm and high kinetic stability were chosen for solubilising dexamethasone (DXM). Phase behaviour, conductivity and optical analysis studies of the system have evidenced for the first time that both, the polymer and the drug play a role on the structure of the aggregates formed along the emulsification path. Nano-emulsion formation may take place by both, phase inversion and self-emulsification. Spherical polymeric nanoparticles containing surfactant, showing sizes below 160nm have been obtained from the nano-emulsions by organic solvent evaporation. DXM loading in the nanoparticles was high (>90%). The release kinetics of nanoparticle dispersions with similar particle size and encapsulated DXM but different polymer to surfactant ratio were studied and compared to an aqueous DXM solution. Drug release from the nanoparticle dispersions was slower than from the aqueous solution. While the DXM solution showed a Fickian release pattern, the release behaviour from the nanoparticle dispersions was faster than that expected from a pure Fickian release. A coupled diffusion/relaxation model fitted the results very well, suggesting that polymer chains undergo conformational changes enhancing drug release. The contribution of diffusion and relaxation to drug transport in the nanoparticle dispersions depended on their composition and release time. Surfactant micelles present in the nanoparticle dispersion may exert a mild reservoir effect. The small particle size and the prolonged DXM release provided by the ethylcellulose nanoparticle dispersions make them suitable vehicles for controlled drug delivery applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fast Legendre moment computation for template matching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Bing C.

2017-05-01

Normalized cross correlation (NCC) based template matching is insensitive to intensity changes and it has many applications in image processing, object detection, video tracking and pattern recognition. However, normalized cross correlation implementation is computationally expensive since it involves both correlation computation and normalization implementation. In this paper, we propose Legendre moment approach for fast normalized cross correlation implementation and show that the computational cost of this proposed approach is independent of template mask sizes which is significantly faster than traditional mask size dependent approaches, especially for large mask templates. Legendre polynomials have been widely used in solving Laplace equation in electrodynamics in spherical coordinate systems, and solving Schrodinger equation in quantum mechanics. In this paper, we extend Legendre polynomials from physics to computer vision and pattern recognition fields, and demonstrate that Legendre polynomials can help to reduce the computational cost of NCC based template matching significantly.

Peptide-templated noble metal catalysts: syntheses and applications

PubMed Central

Wang, Wei; Anderson, Caleb F.; Wang, Zongyuan; Wu, Wei

2017-01-01

Noble metal catalysts have been widely used in many applications because of their high activity and selectivity. However, a controllable preparation of noble metal catalysts still remains as a significant challenge. To overcome this challenge, peptide templates can play a critical role in the controllable syntheses of catalysts owing to their flexible binding with specific metallic surfaces and self-assembly characteristics. By employing peptide templates, the size, shape, facet, structure, and composition of obtained catalysts can all be specifically controlled under the mild synthesis conditions. In addition, catalysts with spherical, nanofiber, and nanofilm structures can all be produced by associating with the self-assembly characteristics of peptide templates. Furthermore, the peptide-templated noble metal catalysts also reveal significantly enhanced catalytic behaviours compared with conventional catalysts because the electron conductivity, metal dispersion, and reactive site exposure can all be improved. In this review, we summarize the research progresses in the syntheses of peptide-templated noble metal catalysts. The applications of the peptide-templated catalysts in organic reactions, photocatalysis, and electrocatalysis are discussed, and the relationship between structure and activity of these catalysts are addressed. Future opportunities, including new catalytic materials designed by using biological principles, are indicated to achieve selective, eco-friendly, and energy neutral synthesis approaches. PMID:28507701

Automated Epileptiform Spike Detection via Affinity Propagation-Based Template Matching

PubMed Central

Thomas, John; Jin, Jing; Dauwels, Justin; Cash, Sydney S.; Westover, M. Brandon

2018-01-01

Interictal epileptiform spikes are the key diagnostic biomarkers for epilepsy. The clinical gold standard of spike detection is visual inspection performed by neurologists. This is a tedious, time-consuming, and expert-centered process. The development of automated spike detection systems is necessary in order to provide a faster and more reliable diagnosis of epilepsy. In this paper, we propose an efficient template matching spike detector based on a combination of spike and background waveform templates. We generate a template library by clustering a collection of spikes and background waveforms extracted from a database of 50 patients with epilepsy. We benchmark the performance of five clustering techniques based on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. In addition, background templates are integrated with existing spike templates to improve the overall performance. The affinity propagation-based template matching system with a combination of spike and background templates is shown to outperform the other four conventional methods with the highest area-under-curve (AUC) of 0.953. PMID:29060543

Template-Based Modeling of Protein-RNA Interactions.

PubMed

Zheng, Jinfang; Kundrotas, Petras J; Vakser, Ilya A; Liu, Shiyong

2016-09-01

Protein-RNA complexes formed by specific recognition between RNA and RNA-binding proteins play an important role in biological processes. More than a thousand of such proteins in human are curated and many novel RNA-binding proteins are to be discovered. Due to limitations of experimental approaches, computational techniques are needed for characterization of protein-RNA interactions. Although much progress has been made, adequate methodologies reliably providing atomic resolution structural details are still lacking. Although protein-RNA free docking approaches proved to be useful, in general, the template-based approaches provide higher quality of predictions. Templates are key to building a high quality model. Sequence/structure relationships were studied based on a representative set of binary protein-RNA complexes from PDB. Several approaches were tested for pairwise target/template alignment. The analysis revealed a transition point between random and correct binding modes. The results showed that structural alignment is better than sequence alignment in identifying good templates, suitable for generating protein-RNA complexes close to the native structure, and outperforms free docking, successfully predicting complexes where the free docking fails, including cases of significant conformational change upon binding. A template-based protein-RNA interaction modeling protocol PRIME was developed and benchmarked on a representative set of complexes.

Template-Based Modeling of Protein-RNA Interactions

PubMed Central

Zheng, Jinfang; Kundrotas, Petras J.; Vakser, Ilya A.

2016-01-01

Protein-RNA complexes formed by specific recognition between RNA and RNA-binding proteins play an important role in biological processes. More than a thousand of such proteins in human are curated and many novel RNA-binding proteins are to be discovered. Due to limitations of experimental approaches, computational techniques are needed for characterization of protein-RNA interactions. Although much progress has been made, adequate methodologies reliably providing atomic resolution structural details are still lacking. Although protein-RNA free docking approaches proved to be useful, in general, the template-based approaches provide higher quality of predictions. Templates are key to building a high quality model. Sequence/structure relationships were studied based on a representative set of binary protein-RNA complexes from PDB. Several approaches were tested for pairwise target/template alignment. The analysis revealed a transition point between random and correct binding modes. The results showed that structural alignment is better than sequence alignment in identifying good templates, suitable for generating protein-RNA complexes close to the native structure, and outperforms free docking, successfully predicting complexes where the free docking fails, including cases of significant conformational change upon binding. A template-based protein-RNA interaction modeling protocol PRIME was developed and benchmarked on a representative set of complexes. PMID:27662342

Template-switching during DNA synthesis by Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase I.

PubMed Central

Odelberg, S J; Weiss, R B; Hata, A; White, R

1995-01-01

Recombinant DNA molecules are often generated during the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) when partially homologous templates are available [e.g., see Pääbo et al. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 4718-4721]. It has been suggested that these recombinant molecules are a consequence of truncated extension products annealing to partially homologous templates on subsequent PCR cycles. However, we demonstrate here that recombinants can be generated during a single round of primer extension in the absence of subsequent heat denaturation, indicating that template-switching produces some of these recombinant molecules. Two types of template-switches were observed: (i) switches to pre-existing templates and (ii) switches to the complementary nascent strand. Recombination is reduced several fold when the complementary template strands are physically separated by attachment to streptavidin magnetic beads. This result supports the hypothesis that either the polymerase or at least one of the two extending strands switches templates during DNA synthesis and that interaction between the complementary template strands is necessary for efficient template-switching. Images PMID:7596836

Are nano-composites and nano-ionomers suitable for orthodontic bracket bonding?

PubMed

Uysal, Tancan; Yagci, Ahmet; Uysal, Banu; Akdogan, Gülsen

2010-02-01

The aim of this study was to test nano-composite (Filtek Supreme Plus Universal) and a newly introduced nano-ionomer (Ketac N100 Light Curing Nano-Ionomer) restorative to determine their shear bond strength (SBS) and failure site locations in comparison with a conventional light-cure orthodontic bonding adhesive (Transbond XT). Sixty freshly extracted human maxillary premolar teeth were arbitrarily divided into three equal groups. The brackets were bonded to the teeth in each group with different composites, according to the manufacturers' instructions. The SBS values of the brackets were recorded in Megapascals (MPa) using a universal testing machine. Adhesive remnant index scores were determined after failure of the brackets. The data were analysed using analysis of variance, Tukey honestly significant difference, and chi-square tests. The results demonstrated that group 1 (Transbond XT, mean: 12.60 +/- 4.48 MPa) had a higher SBS than that of group 2 (nano-composite, mean: 8.33 +/- 5.16 MPa; P < 0.05) and group 3 (nano-ionomer, mean: 6.14 +/- 2.12 MPa; P < 0.001). No significant differences in debond locations were found among the three groups. Nano-composites and nano-ionomers may be suitable for bonding since they fulfil the previously suggested SBS ranges for clinical acceptability, but they are inferior to a conventional orthodontic composite.

Controlling macro- and mesostructures with hierarchical porosity through combined hard and soft templating.

PubMed

Petkovich, Nicholas D; Stein, Andreas

2013-05-07

Rigid, porous objects and surfactants serve as powerful templates for the formation of mesoporous and macroporous materials. When both types of template are combined in a single synthesis, materials with intricate architectures and hierarchical porosity can be obtained. In this tutorial review, we explain how to conduct syntheses with both soft and hard templates; moreover, we describe methods to control the final structure present in the templated material. Much of the foundation for multiple templating lies in the study of materials made with only one type of template. To establish a foundation in this area, a description of hard and soft templating is given, delving into the templates available and the steps required for effective templating. This leads into an extended discussion about materials templated with both hard and soft templates. Through the use of recent examples in the literature, we aim to show the diversity of structures possible through multiple templating and the advantages these structures can provide for a wide range of applications. An emphasis is placed on how various factors-such as the type of template, type of precursor, heat-treatment temperature, confinement within a small space, and template-template interactions-impact morphology.

From dots to doughnuts: Two-dimensionally confined deposition of polyelectrolytes on block copolymer templates

DOE PAGES

Oded, Meirav; Kelly, Stephen T.; Gilles, Mary K.; ...

2016-07-05

The combination of block copolymer templating with electrostatic self-assembly provides a simple and robust method for creating nano-patterned polyelectrolyte multilayers over large areas. The deposition of the first polyelectrolyte layer provides important insights on the initial stages of multilayer buildup. Here, we focus on two-dimensionally confined “dots” patterns afforded by block copolymer films featuring hexagonally-packed cylinders that are oriented normal to the substrate. Rendering the cylinder caps positively charged enables the selective deposition of negatively charged polyelectrolytes on them under salt-free conditions. The initially formed polyelectrolyte nanostructures adopt a toroidal (“doughnut”) shape, which results from retraction of dangling polyelectrolyte segmentsmore » into the “dots” upon drying. With increasing exposure time to the polyelectrolyte solution, the final shape of the deposited polyelectrolyte transitions from a doughnut to a hemisphere. In conclusion, these insights would enable the creation of patterned polyelectrolyte multilayers with increased control over adsorption selectivity of the additional incoming polyelectrolytes.« less

From dots to doughnuts: Two-dimensionally confined deposition of polyelectrolytes on block copolymer templates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oded, Meirav; Kelly, Stephen T.; Gilles, Mary K.

The combination of block copolymer templating with electrostatic self-assembly provides a simple and robust method for creating nano-patterned polyelectrolyte multilayers over large areas. The deposition of the first polyelectrolyte layer provides important insights on the initial stages of multilayer buildup. Here, we focus on two-dimensionally confined “dots” patterns afforded by block copolymer films featuring hexagonally-packed cylinders that are oriented normal to the substrate. Rendering the cylinder caps positively charged enables the selective deposition of negatively charged polyelectrolytes on them under salt-free conditions. The initially formed polyelectrolyte nanostructures adopt a toroidal (“doughnut”) shape, which results from retraction of dangling polyelectrolyte segmentsmore » into the “dots” upon drying. With increasing exposure time to the polyelectrolyte solution, the final shape of the deposited polyelectrolyte transitions from a doughnut to a hemisphere. In conclusion, these insights would enable the creation of patterned polyelectrolyte multilayers with increased control over adsorption selectivity of the additional incoming polyelectrolytes.« less

Engineering topochemical polymerizations using block copolymer templates.

PubMed

Zhu, Liangliang; Tran, Helen; Beyer, Frederick L; Walck, Scott D; Li, Xin; Agren, Hans; Killops, Kato L; Campos, Luis M

2014-09-24

With the aim to achieve rapid and efficient topochemical polymerizations in the solid state, via solution-based processing of thin films, we report the integration of a diphenyldiacetylene monomer and a poly(styrene-b-acrylic acid) block copolymer template for the generation of supramolecular architectural photopolymerizable materials. This strategy takes advantage of non-covalent interactions to template a topochemical photopolymerization that yields a polydiphenyldiacetylene (PDPDA) derivative. In thin films, it was found that hierarchical self-assembly of the diacetylene monomers by microphase segregation of the block copolymer template enhances the topochemical photopolymerization, which is complete within a 20 s exposure to UV light. Moreover, UV-active cross-linkable groups were incorporated within the block copolymer template to create micropatterns of PDPDA by photolithography, in the same step as the polymerization reaction. The materials design and processing may find potential uses in the microfabrication of sensors and other important areas that benefit from solution-based processing of flexible conjugated materials.

Incorporating User Input in Template-Based Segmentation

PubMed Central

Vidal, Camille; Beggs, Dale; Younes, Laurent; Jain, Sanjay K.; Jedynak, Bruno

2015-01-01

We present a simple and elegant method to incorporate user input in a template-based segmentation method for diseased organs. The user provides a partial segmentation of the organ of interest, which is used to guide the template towards its target. The user also highlights some elements of the background that should be excluded from the final segmentation. We derive by likelihood maximization a registration algorithm from a simple statistical image model in which the user labels are modeled as Bernoulli random variables. The resulting registration algorithm minimizes the sum of square differences between the binary template and the user labels, while preventing the template from shrinking, and penalizing for the inclusion of background elements into the final segmentation. We assess the performance of the proposed algorithm on synthetic images in which the amount of user annotation is controlled. We demonstrate our algorithm on the segmentation of the lungs of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected mice from μCT images. PMID:26146532

Synthesis of Porous Carbon Monoliths Using Hard Templates.

PubMed

Klepel, Olaf; Danneberg, Nina; Dräger, Matti; Erlitz, Marcel; Taubert, Michael

2016-03-21

The preparation of porous carbon monoliths with a defined shape via template-assisted routes is reported. Monoliths made from porous concrete and zeolite were each used as the template. The porous concrete-derived carbon monoliths exhibited high gravimetric specific surface areas up to 2000 m²·g -1 . The pore system comprised macro-, meso-, and micropores. These pores were hierarchically arranged. The pore system was created by the complex interplay of the actions of both the template and the activating agent as well. On the other hand, zeolite-made template shapes allowed for the preparation of microporous carbon monoliths with a high volumetric specific surface area. This feature could be beneficial if carbon monoliths must be integrated into technical systems under space-limited conditions.

Synthesis of Porous Carbon Monoliths Using Hard Templates

PubMed Central

Klepel, Olaf; Danneberg, Nina; Dräger, Matti; Erlitz, Marcel; Taubert, Michael

2016-01-01

The preparation of porous carbon monoliths with a defined shape via template-assisted routes is reported. Monoliths made from porous concrete and zeolite were each used as the template. The porous concrete-derived carbon monoliths exhibited high gravimetric specific surface areas up to 2000 m2·g−1. The pore system comprised macro-, meso-, and micropores. These pores were hierarchically arranged. The pore system was created by the complex interplay of the actions of both the template and the activating agent as well. On the other hand, zeolite-made template shapes allowed for the preparation of microporous carbon monoliths with a high volumetric specific surface area. This feature could be beneficial if carbon monoliths must be integrated into technical systems under space-limited conditions. PMID:28773338

Novel encoding methods for DNA-templated chemical libraries.

PubMed

Li, Gang; Zheng, Wenlu; Liu, Ying; Li, Xiaoyu

2015-06-01

Among various types of DNA-encoded chemical libraries, DNA-templated library takes advantage of the sequence-specificity of DNA hybridization, enabling not only highly effective DNA-templated chemical reactions, but also high fidelity in library encoding. This brief review summarizes recent advances that have been made on the encoding strategies for DNA-templated libraries, and it also highlights their respective advantages and limitations for the preparation of DNA-encoded libraries. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Magnetic Nano-Materials: Truly Sustainable Green Chemistry Nano Catalysis

EPA Science Inventory

We envisioned a novel nano-catalyst system, which can bridge the homogenous and heterogeneous system, and simultaneously be cheaper, easily accessible (sustainable) and possibly does not require elaborate work-up. Because of its nano-size, i.e. high surface area, the contact betw...

Morphology-controlled synthesis of Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} by one step template-free hydrothermal method

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Keqing; Liu, Jiajia; Wen, Panyue

2015-07-15

Highlights: • Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} crystals had been synthesized by one step template-free hydrothermal method. • The H{sub 2}O{sub 2} plays a crucial role in morphological control of Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanostructures. • The morphology has significant effect on the optical property of Co{sub 3}O{sub 4}. - Abstract: We had developed a facile synthetic route of Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} crystals with different morphologies via one step template-free hydrothermal method. The phase and composition of the Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} were investigated by X-ray powder diffraction and Raman spectrum. The morphology and structure of the synthesized samples were characterized by scanning electronmore » microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The H{sub 2}O{sub 2} played a crucial role in morphological control of Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanostructures. It only obtained Co-based precursor in the absence of H{sub 2}O{sub 2}. On the contrary, the Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} with different morphologies including nanoparticles, nano-discs and well-defined octahedral nanostructures were synthesized in the presence of H{sub 2}O{sub 2}. In addition, the optical property of the obtained Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} samples was investigated by UV–vis spectra.« less

Effects of using structured templates for recalling chemistry experiments.

PubMed

Willoughby, Cerys; Logothetis, Thomas A; Frey, Jeremy G

2016-01-01

The way that we recall information is dependent upon both the knowledge in our memories and the conditions under which we recall the information. Electronic Laboratory Notebooks can provide a structured interface for the capture of experiment records through the use of forms and templates. These templates can be useful by providing cues to help researchers to remember to record particular aspects of their experiment, but they may also constrain the information that is recorded by encouraging them to record only what is asked for. It is therefore unknown whether using structured templates for capturing experiment records will have positive or negative effects on the quality and usefulness of the records for assessment and future use. In this paper we report on the results of a set of studies investigating the effects of different template designs on the recording of experiments by undergraduate students and academic researchers. The results indicate that using structured templates to write up experiments does make a significant difference to the information that is recalled and recorded. These differences have both positive and negative effects, with templates prompting the capture of specific information that is otherwise forgotten, but also apparently losing some of the personal elements of the experiment experience such as observations and explanations. Other unexpected effects were seen with templates that can change the information that is captured, but also interfere with the way an experiment is conducted. Our results showed that using structured templates can improve the completeness of the experiment context information captured but can also cause a loss of personal elements of the experiment experience when compared with allowing the researcher to structure their own record. The results suggest that interfaces for recording information about chemistry experiments, whether paper-based questionnaires or templates in Electronic Laboratory Notebooks, can be an

Age-specific MRI templates for pediatric neuroimaging

PubMed Central

Sanchez, Carmen E.; Richards, John E.; Almli, C. Robert

2012-01-01

This study created a database of pediatric age-specific MRI brain templates for normalization and segmentation. Participants included children from 4.5 through 19.5 years, totaling 823 scans from 494 subjects. Open-source processing programs (FSL, SPM, ANTS) constructed head, brain and segmentation templates in 6 month intervals. The tissue classification (WM, GM, CSF) showed changes over age similar to previous reports. A volumetric analysis of age-related changes in WM and GM based on these templates showed expected increase/decrease pattern in GM and an increase in WM over the sampled ages. This database is available for use for neuroimaging studies (blindedforreview). PMID:22799759

Macroporous ceramics by colloidal templating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subramaniam, G.; Pine, David J.

2000-04-01

We describe a novel method of fabricating macroporous ceramics employing colloidal dispersion of ultrafine ceramic particles with latex particles as the templates. The colloidal particles form a particulate gel on drying and fill the voids of the ordered latex templates. Subsequent removal of the template by calcination results in the formation of an ordered macroporous ceramic. The process has significant advantages over the traditional sol-gel process employing alkoxide precursors. Most importantly, the much lower shrinkage compared to the sol-gel process enabled us to produce larger pieces of the sample. The larger shrinkage involved in the sol-gel process often results in small and fragile pieces of the macroporous material which has to be subsequently heat treated to induce crystallization. The ability to choose crystalline colloidal particles in our method obviates the need for heat treatment to achieve crystallinity. We have synthesized a variety of materials such as macroporous silica, titania, alumina and recently have also extended the approach to macroporous silicon which is not amenable to the sol-gel process.

Assistant template and co-template agents in modeling mesoporous silicas and post-synthesizing organofunctionalizations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oliveira, Vaeudo V.; Airoldi, Claudio, E-mail: airoldi@iqm.unicamp.br

2012-12-15

Mesoporous SBA-16 silicas were synthesized through a direct methodology using the template (F127) combined with co-templates (ethanol and n-butanol), with tetraethylorthosilicate as the silica source. These ordered mesoporous silica were characterized by elemental analyses, infrared spectroscopy, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance for {sup 13}C (CP/MAS) and {sup 29}Si (HP/DEC) nuclei, nitrogen sorption/desorption processes, small angle X-ray analyses (SAXS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). SAXS and TEM results confirmed the space group Im3m and cubic 3D symmetry, typical for highly ordered SBA-16. The sorption/desorption data for SBA-16 and when functionalized gave type IV isotherms, with hysteresis loop H2. Surface areas of 836;more » 657 and 618 m{sup 2} g{sup -1} and average pore diameters of 7.99; 8.10 and 9.85 nm, for SBA-16A, SBA-16B and SBA-16C were obtained, respectively. When functionalized the silicas presented a reduction in surface area, pore volume and pore diameter due to the pendant chains that interfere with nitrogen sorption in these measurements. The co-template ethanol favors the ordered mesopores with highest wall thicknesses. - Graphical Abstract: The mesoporous SBA-16 can be synthesized from binary (F127/TEOS) or ternary (F127/alcohol/TEOs) systems to give well-ordered mesoporous silicas. The co-templates ethanol or butanol gave the final material with highest wall thickness, mainly with ethanol. After these syntheses the pores were successfully organofunctionalized to give a good incorporation of the silylating agents. The final silicas presented of well-arranged solid characteristics as expressing by three distinct peaks, as indexed by the corresponding planes. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Syntheses of mesoporous silicas by using ternary (F127/agent/TEOS) and binary (F127/TEOS) systems. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Use of co-templates to synthesize mesoporous silicas with larger wall thicknesses. Black

Task demands determine the specificity of the search template.

PubMed

Bravo, Mary J; Farid, Hany

2012-01-01

When searching for an object, an observer holds a representation of the target in mind while scanning the scene. If the observer repeats the search, performance may become more efficient as the observer hones this target representation, or "search template," to match the specific demands of the search task. An effective search template must have two characteristics: It must reliably discriminate the target from the distractors, and it must tolerate variability in the appearance of the target. The present experiment examined how the tolerance of the search template is affected by the search task. Two groups of 18 observers trained on the same set of stimuli blocked either by target image (block-by-image group) or by target category (block-by-category group). One or two days after training, both groups were tested on a related search task. The pattern of test results revealed that the two groups of observers had developed different search templates, and that the templates of the block-by-category observers better captured the general characteristics of the category. These results demonstrate that observers match their search templates to the demands of the search task.

The Affordance Template ROS Package for Robot Task Programming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hart, Stephen; Dinh, Paul; Hambuchen, Kimberly

2015-01-01

This paper introduces the Affordance Template ROS package for quickly programming, adjusting, and executing robot applications in the ROS RViz environment. This package extends the capabilities of RViz interactive markers by allowing an operator to specify multiple end-effector waypoint locations and grasp poses in object-centric coordinate frames and to adjust these waypoints in order to meet the run-time demands of the task (specifically, object scale and location). The Affordance Template package stores task specifications in a robot-agnostic XML description format such that it is trivial to apply a template to a new robot. As such, the Affordance Template package provides a robot-generic ROS tool appropriate for building semi-autonomous, manipulation-based applications. Affordance Templates were developed by the NASA-JSC DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) team and have since successfully been deployed on multiple platforms including the NASA Valkyrie and Robonaut 2 humanoids, the University of Texas Dreamer robot and the Willow Garage PR2. In this paper, the specification and implementation of the affordance template package is introduced and demonstrated through examples for wheel (valve) turning, pick-and-place, and drill grasping, evincing its utility and flexibility for a wide variety of robot applications.

Formation of oligonucleotide-PNA-chimeras by template-directed ligation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koppitz, M.; Nielsen, P. E.; Orgel, L. E.; Bada, J. L. (Principal Investigator)

1998-01-01

DNA sequences have previously been reported to act as templates for the synthesis of PNA, and vice versa. A continuous evolutionary transition from an informational replicating system based on one polymer to a system based on the other would be facilitated if it were possible to form chimeras, that is molecules that contain monomers of both types. Here we show that ligation to form chimeras proceeds efficiently both on PNA and on DNA templates. The efficiency of ligation is primarily determined by the number of backbone bonds at the ligation site and the relative orientation of template and substrate strands. The most efficient reactions result in the formation of chimeras with ligation junctions resembling the structures of the backbones of PNA and DNA and with antiparallel alignment of both components of the chimera with the template, that is, ligations involving formation of 3'-phosphoramidate and 5'-ester bonds. However, double helices involving PNA are stable both with antiparallel and parallel orientation of the two strands. Ligation on PNA but not on DNA templates is, therefore, sometimes possible on templates with reversed orientation. The relevance of these findings to discussions of possible transitions between genetic systems is discussed.

To be nano or not to be nano?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joachim, Christian

2005-02-01

Nanomaterials, nanostructures, nanostructured materials, nanoimprint, nanobiotechnology, nanophysics, nanochemistry, radical nanotechnology, nanosciences, nanooptics, nanoelectronics, nanorobotics, nanosoldiers, nanomedecine, nanoeconomy, nanobusiness, nanolawyer, nanoethics to name a few of the nanos. We need a clear definition of all these burgeoning fields for the sake of the grant attribution, for the sake of research program definition, and to avoid everyone being lost in so many nanos.

Toward Optimizing VEMP: Calculating VEMP Inhibition Depth With a Generic Template.

PubMed

Noij, Kimberley S; van Tilburg, Mark J; Herrmann, Barbara S; Marciniak, Piotr; Rauch, Steven D; Guinan, John J

2018-04-05

Cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMP) indirectly reveal the response of the saccule to acoustic stimuli through the inhibition of sternocleidomastoid muscle electromyographic response. VEMP inhibition depth (VEMPid) is a recently developed metric that estimates the percentage of saccular inhibition. VEMPid provides both normalization and better accuracy at low response levels than amplitude-normalized cVEMPs. Hopefully, VEMPid will aid in the clinical assessment of patients with vestibulopatholgy. To calculate VEMPid a template is needed. In the original method, a subject's own cVEMP was used as the template, but this method can be problematic in patients who do not have robust cVEMP responses. We hypothesize that a "generic" template, created by assembling cVEMPs from healthy subjects, can be used to compute VEMPid, which would facilitate the use of VEMPid in subjects with pathological conditions. A generic template was created by averaging cVEMP responses from 6 normal subjects. To compare VEMPid calculations using a generic versus a subject-specific template, cVEMPs were obtained in 40 healthy subjects using 500, 750, and 1000 Hz tonebursts at sound levels ranging from 98 to 123 dB peSPL. VEMPids were calculated both with the generic template and with the subject's own template. The ability of both templates to determine whether a cVEMP was present or not was compared with receiver operating characteristic curves. No significant differences were found between VEMPid calculations using a generic template versus using a subject-specific template for all frequencies and sound levels. Based on the receiver operating characteristic curves, the subject-specific and generic template did an equally good job at determining threshold. Within limits, the shape of the generic template did not affect these results. A generic template can be used instead of a subject-specific template to calculate VEMPid. Compared with cVEMP normalized by electromyographic

A lightweight approach for biometric template protection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Assam, Hisham; Sellahewa, Harin; Jassim, Sabah

2009-05-01

Privacy and security are vital concerns for practical biometric systems. The concept of cancelable or revocable biometrics has been proposed as a solution for biometric template security. Revocable biometric means that biometric templates are no longer fixed over time and could be revoked in the same way as lost or stolen credit cards are. In this paper, we describe a novel and an efficient approach to biometric template protection that meets the revocability property. This scheme can be incorporated into any biometric verification scheme while maintaining, if not improving, the accuracy of the original biometric system. However, we shall demonstrate the result of applying such transforms on face biometric templates and compare the efficiency of our approach with that of the well-known random projection techniques. We shall also present the results of experimental work on recognition accuracy before and after applying the proposed transform on feature vectors that are generated by wavelet transforms. These results are based on experiments conducted on a number of well-known face image databases, e.g. Yale and ORL databases.

Organic or organometallic template mediated clay synthesis

DOEpatents

Gregar, Kathleen C.; Winans, Randall E.; Botto, Robert E.

1994-01-01

A method for incorporating diverse Varieties of intercalants or templates directly during hydrothermal synthesis of clays such as hectorite or montmorillonite-type layer-silicate clays. For a hectorite layer-silicate clay, refluxing a gel of silica sol, magnesium hydroxide sol and lithium fluoride for two days in the presence of an organic or organometallic intercalant or template results in crystalline products containing either (a) organic dye molecules such as ethyl violet and methyl green, (b) dye molecules such as alcian blue that are based on a Cu(II)-phthalocyannine complex, or (c) transition metal complexes such as Ru(II)phenanthroline and Co(III)sepulchrate or (d) water-soluble porphyrins and metalloporphyrins. Montmorillonite-type clays are made by the method taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,454 issued to Hickson, Jun. 13, 1975; however, a variety of intercalants or templates may be introduced. The intercalants or templates should have (i) water-solubility, (ii) positive charge, and (iii) thermal stability under moderately basic (pH 9-10) aqueous reflux conditions or hydrothermal pressurized conditions for the montmorillonite-type clays.

Organic or organometallic template mediated clay synthesis

DOEpatents

Gregar, K.C.; Winans, R.E.; Botto, R.E.

1994-05-03

A method is described for incorporating diverse varieties of intercalates or templates directly during hydrothermal synthesis of clays such as hectorite or montmorillonite-type layer-silicate clays. For a hectorite layer-silicate clay, refluxing a gel of silica sol, magnesium hydroxide sol and lithium fluoride for two days in the presence of an organic or organometallic intercalate or template results in crystalline products containing either (a) organic dye molecules such as ethyl violet and methyl green, (b) dye molecules such as alcian blue that are based on a Cu(II)-phthalocyannine complex, or (c) transition metal complexes such as Ru(II)phenanthroline and Co(III)sepulchrate or (d) water-soluble porphyrins and metalloporphyrins. Montmorillonite-type clays are made by the method taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,454 issued to Hickson, Jun. 13, 1975; however, a variety of intercalates or templates may be introduced. The intercalates or templates should have (i) water-solubility, (ii) positive charge, and (iii) thermal stability under moderately basic (pH 9-10) aqueous reflux conditions or hydrothermal pressurized conditions for the montmorillonite-type clays. 22 figures.

Template identification technology of nuclear warheads and components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Su-Ping; Gong, Jian; Hao, Fan-Hua; Hu, Guang-Chun

2008-02-01

Template identification technology (TIT) is designed for the scenarios where a batch of disarmed nuclear weapons or components would be dismantled to observe a nuclear disarmament treaty. The core function played by the TIT is to make a judgment on whether the verified item belongs to a certain kind of nuclear weapons or component (NW/NC) or to which kind the verified item belongs. This paper analyses the functions played by the TIT in the process of NW/NC dismantlement, and proposes that two phases would be followed when applying the TIT: firstly to establish NW/NC templates with a sample of size n drawn from a certain kind of disarmament NW; secondly to authenticate NW/NC by means of the TIT. This paper also expatiates some terms related to the concept of the TIT and investigates on the development status of NW/NC TIT based on radiation signatures. The study concludes that the design of template structure is crucial to the establishment of an effective TIT and that starting from different research angles and aiming at the same goal of classification different template structures and corresponding template identification methods can be built up to meet specific identification requirements.

E3 Charter Template

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This is a charter template which includes decisions made during the project planning phase, as well as local project goals, a communication strategy, an outreach strategy, distribution of responsibilities and a schedule.

Correlation-coefficient-based fast template matching through partial elimination.

PubMed

Mahmood, Arif; Khan, Sohaib

2012-04-01

Partial computation elimination techniques are often used for fast template matching. At a particular search location, computations are prematurely terminated as soon as it is found that this location cannot compete with an already known best match location. Due to the nonmonotonic growth pattern of the correlation-based similarity measures, partial computation elimination techniques have been traditionally considered inapplicable to speed up these measures. In this paper, we show that partial elimination techniques may be applied to a correlation coefficient by using a monotonic formulation, and we propose basic-mode and extended-mode partial correlation elimination algorithms for fast template matching. The basic-mode algorithm is more efficient on small template sizes, whereas the extended mode is faster on medium and larger templates. We also propose a strategy to decide which algorithm to use for a given data set. To achieve a high speedup, elimination algorithms require an initial guess of the peak correlation value. We propose two initialization schemes including a coarse-to-fine scheme for larger templates and a two-stage technique for small- and medium-sized templates. Our proposed algorithms are exact, i.e., having exhaustive equivalent accuracy, and are compared with the existing fast techniques using real image data sets on a wide variety of template sizes. While the actual speedups are data dependent, in most cases, our proposed algorithms have been found to be significantly faster than the other algorithms.

Intermediate Templates Guided Groupwise Registration of Diffusion Tensor Images

PubMed Central

Jia, Hongjun; Yap, Pew-Thian; Wu, Guorong; Wang, Qian; Shen, Dinggang

2010-01-01

Registration of a population of diffusion tensor images (DTIs) is one of the key steps in medical image analysis, and it plays an important role in the statistical analysis of white matter related neurological diseases. However, pairwise registration with respect to a pre-selected template may not give precise results if the selected template deviates significantly from the distribution of images. To cater for more accurate and consistent registration, a novel framework is proposed for groupwise registration with the guidance from one or more intermediate templates determined from the population of images. Specifically, we first use a Euclidean distance, defined as a combinative measure based on the FA map and ADC map, for gauging the similarity of each pair of DTIs. A fully connected graph is then built with each node denoting an image and each edge denoting the distance between a pair of images. The root template image is determined automatically as the image with the overall shortest path length to all other images on the minimum spanning tree (MST) of the graph. Finally, a sequence of registration steps is applied to progressively warping each image towards the root template image with the help of intermediate templates distributed along its path to the root node on the MST. Extensive experimental results using diffusion tensor images of real subjects indicate that registration accuracy and fiber tract alignment are significantly improved, compared with the direct registration from each image to the root template image. PMID:20851197

Effects of incorporation of nano-fluorapatite or nano-fluorohydroxyapatite on a resin-modified glass ionomer cement.

PubMed

Lin, Jun; Zhu, Jiajun; Gu, Xiaoxia; Wen, Wenjian; Li, Qingshan; Fischer-Brandies, Helge; Wang, Huiming; Mehl, Christian

2011-03-01

This study aimed to investigate the fluoride release properties and the effect on bond strength of two experimental adhesive cements. Synthesized particles of nano-fluorapatite (nano-FA) or nano-fluorohydroxyapatite (nano-FHA) were incorporated into a resin-modified glass ionomer cement (Fuji Ortho LC) and characterized using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Blocks with six different concentrations of nano-FA or nano-FHA were manufactured and their fluoride release properties evaluated by ultraviolet spectrophotometry. The unaltered glass ionomer cement Fuji Ortho LC (GC, control) and the two experimental cements with the highest fluoride release capacities (nano-FA+Fuji Ortho LC (GFA) and nano-FHA+Fuji Ortho LC (GFHA)) were used to bond composite blocks and orthodontic brackets to human enamel. After 24 h water storage all specimens were debonded, measuring the micro-tensile bond strength (μTBS) and the shear bond strength (SBS), respectively. The optimal concentration of added nano-FA and nano-FHA for maximum fluoride release was 25 wt.%, which nearly tripled fluoride release after 70 days compared with the control group. GC exhibited a significantly higher SBS than GFHA/GFA, with GFHA and GFA not differing significantly (P>0.05). The μTBS of GC and GFA were significantly higher than that of GFHA (P≤0.05). The results seem to indicate that the fluoride release properties of Fuji Ortho LC are improved by incorporating nano-FA or nano-FHA, simultaneously maintaining a clinically sufficient bond strength when nano-FA was added. Copyright © 2010 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The relative viscosity of NaNO 3 and NaNO 2 aqueous solutions

DOE PAGES

Reynolds, Jacob G.; Mauss, Billie M.; Daniel, Richard C.

2018-05-09

In aqueous solution, both nitrate and nitrite are planar, monovalent, and have the same elements but different sizes and charge densities. Comparing the viscosity of NaNO 2 and NaNO 3 aqueous solutions provides an opportunity to determine the relative importance of anion size versus strength of anion interaction with water. The viscosity of aqueous NaNO 2 and NaNO 3 were measured over a temperature and concentration range relevant to nuclear waste processing. The viscosity of NaNO 2 solutions was consistently larger than NaNO 3 under all conditions, even though nitrate is larger than nitrite. This was interpreted in terms ofmore » quantum mechanical charge field molecular dynamics calculations that indicate that nitrite forms more and stronger hydrogen bonds with water per oxygen atom than nitrate. Furthermore, these hydrogen bonds inhibit rotational motion required for fluid flow, thus increasing the nitrite solution viscosity relative to that of an equivalent nitrate solution.« less

The relative viscosity of NaNO 3 and NaNO 2 aqueous solutions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reynolds, Jacob G.; Mauss, Billie M.; Daniel, Richard C.

In aqueous solution, both nitrate and nitrite are planar, monovalent, and have the same elements but different sizes and charge densities. Comparing the viscosity of NaNO 2 and NaNO 3 aqueous solutions provides an opportunity to determine the relative importance of anion size versus strength of anion interaction with water. The viscosity of aqueous NaNO 2 and NaNO 3 were measured over a temperature and concentration range relevant to nuclear waste processing. The viscosity of NaNO 2 solutions was consistently larger than NaNO 3 under all conditions, even though nitrate is larger than nitrite. This was interpreted in terms ofmore » quantum mechanical charge field molecular dynamics calculations that indicate that nitrite forms more and stronger hydrogen bonds with water per oxygen atom than nitrate. Furthermore, these hydrogen bonds inhibit rotational motion required for fluid flow, thus increasing the nitrite solution viscosity relative to that of an equivalent nitrate solution.« less

Assessing usefulness and researcher satisfaction with consent form templates.

PubMed

Larson, Elaine L; Teller, Alan; Aguirre, Alejandra N; Jackson, Jhia; Meyer, Dodi

2017-08-01

We aimed to improve the research consenting process by developing and evaluating simplified consent forms. Four templates written at the eighth-tenth grade reading level were developed and trialed by a group of experts in clinical research, health literacy, national regulatory requirements, and end users. Researchers from protocols which had received expedited review were surveyed at 2 time points regarding their use and assessment of the templates. At baseline 18/86 (20.9%) responding researchers had heard of the templates and 5 (5.8%) reported that they had used them; 2 years later, 54.2% (32/59) had heard of the templates and 87.5% (28/32) had used them ( p <0.001). Consent form templates may be one mechanism to improve patient comprehension of research protocols as well as efficiency of the review process, but require considerable time for development and implementation, and one key to their success is involvement and support from the IRB and technical staff.

The therapeutic effect of nano-encapsulated and nano-emulsion forms of carvacrol on experimental liver fibrosis.

PubMed

Hussein, Jihan; El-Banna, Mona; Mahmoud, Khaled F; Morsy, Safaa; Abdel Latif, Yasmin; Medhat, Dalia; Refaat, Eman; Farrag, Abdel Razik; El-Daly, Sherien M

2017-06-01

The present study aimed to compare the therapeutic efficiency of nano-encapsulated and nano-emulsion carvacrol administration on liver injury in thioacetamide (TAA) treated rats. To fulfill our target, we used sixty male albino rats classified into six groups as follow: control, nano-encapsulated carvacrol, nano-emulsion carvacrol, thioacetamide, treated nano-encapsulated carvacrol and treated nano-emulsion carvacrol groups. Blood samples were collected from all groups and the separated serum was used for analysis of the following biochemical parameters; aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), S100 B protein, alpha fetoprotein (AFP) and caspase-3. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), nitric oxide (NO), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1) and hydroxyproline content were all evaluated in liver tissue homogenate. Histopathological examinations for liver tissues were also performed. Thioacetamide induced hepatic damage in rats as revealed by the significant increase in the levels of serum ALT, AST and produced oxidative stress as displayed by the significant elevation in the levels of hepatic MDA and NO concomitant with a significant decrease in GSH. In addition, thioacetamide significantly increased serum S100B protein, alpha fetoprotein and caspase-3 along with hepatic MCP-1 and hydroxyproline; these results were confirmed by the histopathological investigation. In contrast, nano-encapsulated and nano-emulsion carvacrol were able to ameliorate these negative changes in the thioacetamide injected rats. However, the effect of the nano-encapsulated form of carvacrol was more prominent than the nano-emulsion form. Nano-encapsulated and nano-emulsion carvacrol can ameliorate thioacetamide induced liver injury. These results could be attributed to the potential anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-apoptotic activities of carvacrol in addition to the effectiveness of the encapsulation technique that can protect

Template-directed synthesis on the pentanucleotide CpCpGpCpC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Inoue, T.; Joyce, G. F.; Grzeskowiak, K.; Orgel, L. E.; Brown, J. M.; Reese, C. B.

1984-01-01

Experiments in which CpCpGpCpC is used as a template to facilitate the co-oligomerization of 2-MeImpG and 2-MeImpC are described. It is shown that 3' to 5' prime-linked pGpGpCpGpG, whose sequence is complementary to that of the template, is substantially the most adundant pentameric product of the template-directed reaction. The yield of pGpGpCpGpG is never large (less than 20 percent), presumably becauase off-template reactions consume template-directed products. Thus pGpGpCpGpG is converted to the various isomers of G5C and G4C2 by off-template terminal addition of G or C. The 3' to 5' isomer of GpG is elongated on the template to give GpGpC, GpGpCpG, and GpGpCpGpG, while the 2' to 5' isomer does not initiate the synthesis of detectable amounts of longer oligomers.

Nano-immunoassay with improved performance for detection of cancer biomarkers

DOE PAGES

Krasnoslobodtsev, Alexey V.; Torres, Maria P.; Kaur, Sukhwinder; ...

2015-01-01

Nano-immunoassay utilizing surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effect is a promising analytical technique for the early detection of cancer. In its current standing the assay is capable of discriminating samples of healthy individuals from samples of pancreatic cancer patients. Further improvements in sensitivity and reproducibility will extend practical applications of the SERS-based detection platforms to wider range of problems. In this report, we discuss several strategies designed to improve performance of the SERS-based detection system. We demonstrate that reproducibility of the platform is enhanced by using atomically smooth mica surface as a template for preparation of capture surface in SERS sandwichmore » immunoassay. Furthermore, the assay's stability and sensitivity can be further improved by using either polymer or graphene monolayer as a thin protective layer applied on top of the assay addresses. The protective layer renders the signal to be more stable against photo-induced damage and carbonaceous contamination.« less

Open tubular capillary columns with basic templates made by the generalized preparation protocol in capillary electrochromatography chiral separation and template structural effects on chiral separation capability.

PubMed

Zaidi, Shabi Abbas; Lee, Seung Mi; Cheong, Won Jo

2011-03-04

Some open tubular (OT) molecule imprinted polymer (MIP) silica capillary columns have been prepared using atenolol, sulpiride, methyl benzylamine (MBA) and (1-naphthyl)-ethylamine (NEA) as templates by the pre-established generalized preparation protocol. The four MIP thin layers of different templates showed quite different morphologies. The racemic selectivity of each MIP column for the template enantiomers was optimized by changing eluent composition and pH. The template structural effects on chiral separation performance have been examined. This work verifies the versatility of the generalized preparation protocol for OT-MIP silica capillary columns by extending its boundary toward templates with basic functional group moieties. This study is the very first report to demonstrate a generalized MIP preparation protocol that is valid for both acidic and basic templates. The chiral separation performances of atenolol and sulpiride by the MIPs of this study were found better than or comparable to those of atenolol and sulpiride obtained by non-MIP separation techniques and those of some basic template enantiomers obtained by MIP based techniques. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multi-template tensor-based morphometry: Application to analysis of Alzheimer's disease

PubMed Central

Koikkalainen, Juha; Lötjönen, Jyrki; Thurfjell, Lennart; Rueckert, Daniel; Waldemar, Gunhild; Soininen, Hilkka

2012-01-01

In this paper methods for using multiple templates in tensor-based morphometry (TBM) are presented and comparedtothe conventional single-template approach. TBM analysis requires non-rigid registrations which are often subject to registration errors. When using multiple templates and, therefore, multiple registrations, it can be assumed that the registration errors are averaged and eventually compensated. Four different methods are proposed for multi-template TBM. The methods were evaluated using magnetic resonance (MR) images of healthy controls, patients with stable or progressive mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) from the ADNI database (N=772). The performance of TBM features in classifying images was evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively. Classification results show that the multi-template methods are statistically significantly better than the single-template method. The overall classification accuracy was 86.0% for the classification of control and AD subjects, and 72.1%for the classification of stable and progressive MCI subjects. The statistical group-level difference maps produced using multi-template TBM were smoother, formed larger continuous regions, and had larger t-values than the maps obtained with single-template TBM. PMID:21419228

Effect of Body Mass Index on Digital Templating for Total Hip Arthroplasty.

PubMed

Sershon, Robert A; Diaz, Alejandro; Bohl, Daniel D; Levine, Brett R

2017-03-01

Digital templating is becoming more prevalent in orthopedics. Recent investigations report high accuracy using digital templating in total hip arthroplasty (THA); however, the effect of body mass index (BMI) on templating accuracy is not well described. Digital radiographs of 603 consecutive patients (645 hips) undergoing primary THA by a single surgeon were digitally templated using OrthoView (Jacksonville, FL). A 25-mm metallic sphere was used as a calibration marker. Preoperative digital hip templates were compared with the final implant size. Hips were stratified into groups based on BMI: BMI <30 (315), BMI 30-35 (132), BMI 35-40 (97), and BMI >40 (101). Accuracy between templating and final size did not vary by BMI for acetabular or femoral components. Digital templating was within 2 sizes of the final acetabular and femoral implants in 99.1% and 97.1% of cases, respectively. Digital templating is an effective means of predicting the final size of THA components. BMI does not appear to play a major role in altering THA digital templating accuracy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Recombinant viral RdRps can initiate RNA synthesis from circular templates

PubMed Central

RANJITH-KUMAR, C.T.; KAO, C.C.

2006-01-01

The crystal structure of the recombinant hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) revealed extensive interactions between the fingers and the thumb subdomains, resulting in a closed conformation with an established template channel that should specifically accept single-stranded templates. We made circularized RNA templates and found that they were efficiently used by the HCV RdRp to synthesize product RNAs that are significantly longer than the template, suggesting that RdRp could exist in an open conformation prior to template binding. RNA synthesis using circular RNA templates had properties similar to those previously documented for linear RNA, including a need for higher GTP concentration for initiation, usage of GTP analogs, sensitivity to salt, and involvement of active-site residues for product formation. Some products were resistant to challenge with the template competitor heparin, indicating that the elongation complexes remain bound to template and are competent for RNA synthesis. Other products were not elongated in the presence of heparin, indicating that the elongation complex was terminated. Lastly, recombinant RdRps from two other flaviviruses and from the Pseudomonas phage φ6 also could use circular RNA templates for RNA-dependent RNA synthesis, although the φ6 RdRp could only use circular RNAs made from the 3′-terminal sequence of the φ6 genome. PMID:16373481

Template-mediated, Hierarchical Engineering of Ordered Mesoporous Films and Powders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Zheng

Hierarchical control over pore size, pore topology, and meso/mictrostructure as well as material morphology (e.g., powders, monoliths, thin films) is crucial for meeting diverse materials needs among applications spanning next generation catalysts, sensors, batteries, sorbents, etc. The overarching goal of this thesis is to establish fundamental mechanistic insight enabling new strategies for realizing such hierarchical textural control for carbon materials that is not currently achievable with sacrificial pore formation by 'one-pot' surfactant-based 'soft'-templating or multi-step inorganic 'hard-templating. While 'hard'-templating is often tacitly discounted based upon its perceived complexity, it offers potential for overcoming key 'soft'-templating challenges, including bolstering pore stability, accommodating a more versatile palette of replica precursors, realizing ordered/spanning porosity in the case of porous thin films, simplifying formation of bi-continuous pore topologies, and inducing microstructure control within porous replica materials. In this thesis, we establish strategies for hard-templating of hierarchically porous and structured carbon powders and tunable thin films by both multi-step hard-templating and a new 'one-pot' template-replica precursor co-assembly process. We first develop a nominal hard-templating technique to successfully prepare three-dimensionally ordered mesoporous (3DOm) and 3DOm-supported microporous carbon thin films by exploiting our ability to synthesize and assemble size-tunable silica nanoparticles into scalable, colloidal crystalline thin film templates of tunable mono- to multi-layer thickness. This robust thin film template accommodates liquid and/or vapor-phase infiltration, polymerization, and pyrolysis of various carbon sources without pore contraction and/or collapse upon template sacrifice. The result is robust, flexible 3DOm or 3DOm-supported ultra-thin microporous films that can be transferred by stamp

Modulation of gene expression using electrospun scaffolds with templated architecture.

PubMed

Karchin, A; Wang, Y-N; Sanders, J E

2012-06-01

The fabrication of biomimetic scaffolds is a critical component to fulfill the promise of functional tissue-engineered materials. We describe herein a simple technique, based on printed circuit board manufacturing, to produce novel templates for electrospinning scaffolds for tissue-engineering applications. This technique facilitates fabrication of electrospun scaffolds with templated architecture, which we defined as a scaffold's bulk mechanical properties being driven by its fiber architecture. Electrospun scaffolds with templated architectures were characterized with regard to fiber alignment and mechanical properties. Fast Fourier transform analysis revealed a high degree of fiber alignment along the conducting traces of the templates. Mechanical testing showed that scaffolds demonstrated tunable mechanical properties as a function of templated architecture. Fibroblast-seeded scaffolds were subjected to a peak strain of 3 or 10% at 0.5 Hz for 1 h. Exposing seeded scaffolds to the low strain magnitude (3%) significantly increased collagen I gene expression compared to the high strain magnitude (10%) in a scaffold architecture-dependent manner. These experiments indicate that scaffolds with templated architectures can be produced, and modulation of gene expression is possible with templated architectures. This technology holds promise for the long-term goal of creating tissue-engineered replacements with the biomechanical and biochemical make-up of native tissues. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Silver metal nano-matrixes as high efficiency and versatile catalytic reactors for environmental remediation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dumée, Ludovic F.; Yi, Zhifeng; Tardy, Blaise; Merenda, Andrea; Des Ligneris, Elise; Dagastine, Ray R.; Kong, Lingxue

2017-03-01

Nano-porous metallic matrixes (NMMs) offer superior surface to volume ratios as well as enhanced optical, photonic, and electronic properties to bulk metallic materials. Such behaviours are correlated to the nano-scale inter-grain metal domains that favour the presence of electronic vacancies. In this work, continuous 3D NMMs were synthesized for the first time through a simple diffusion-reduction process whereby the aerogel matrix was functionalized with (3-Mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane. The surface energy of the silica monolith templates was tuned to improve the homogeneity of the reduction process while thiol functionalization facilitated the formation of a high density of seeding points for metal ions to reduce. The diameter of NMMs was between 2 and 1000 nm, corresponding to a silver loading between 1.23 and 41.16 at.%. A rates of catalytic degradation kinetics of these NMMS which is three orders of magnitude higher than those of the non-functionalized silver-silica structures. Furthermore, the enhancement in mechanical stability at nanoscale which was evaluated by Atomic Force Microscopy force measurements, electronic density and chemical inertness was assessed and critically correlated to their catalytic potential. This strategy opens up new avenues for design of complex architectures of either single or multi-metal alloy NMMs with enhanced surface properties for various applications.

Silver metal nano-matrixes as high efficiency and versatile catalytic reactors for environmental remediation

PubMed Central

Dumée, Ludovic F.; Yi, Zhifeng; Tardy, Blaise; Merenda, Andrea; des Ligneris, Elise; Dagastine, Ray R.; Kong, Lingxue

2017-01-01

Nano-porous metallic matrixes (NMMs) offer superior surface to volume ratios as well as enhanced optical, photonic, and electronic properties to bulk metallic materials. Such behaviours are correlated to the nano-scale inter-grain metal domains that favour the presence of electronic vacancies. In this work, continuous 3D NMMs were synthesized for the first time through a simple diffusion-reduction process whereby the aerogel matrix was functionalized with (3-Mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane. The surface energy of the silica monolith templates was tuned to improve the homogeneity of the reduction process while thiol functionalization facilitated the formation of a high density of seeding points for metal ions to reduce. The diameter of NMMs was between 2 and 1000 nm, corresponding to a silver loading between 1.23 and 41.16 at.%. A rates of catalytic degradation kinetics of these NMMS which is three orders of magnitude higher than those of the non-functionalized silver-silica structures. Furthermore, the enhancement in mechanical stability at nanoscale which was evaluated by Atomic Force Microscopy force measurements, electronic density and chemical inertness was assessed and critically correlated to their catalytic potential. This strategy opens up new avenues for design of complex architectures of either single or multi-metal alloy NMMs with enhanced surface properties for various applications. PMID:28332602

Differential effect of hydroxyapatite nano-particle versus nano-rod decorated titanium micro-surface on osseointegration.

PubMed

Bai, Long; Liu, Yanlian; Du, Zhibin; Weng, Zeming; Yao, Wei; Zhang, Xiangyu; Huang, Xiaobo; Yao, Xiaohong; Crawford, Ross; Hang, Ruiqiang; Huang, Di; Tang, Bin; Xiao, Yin

2018-06-15

Coating materials applied for intraosseous implants must be optimized to stimulate osseointegration. Osseointegration is a temporal and spatial physiological process that not only requires interactions between osteogenesis and angiogenesis but also necessitates a favorable immune microenvironment. It is now well-documented that hierarchical nano-micro surface structures promote the long-term stability of implants, the interactions between nano-micro structure and the immune response are largely unknown. Here, we report the effects of microporous titanium (Ti) surfaces coated with nano-hydroxyapatite (HA) produced by micro-arc oxidation and steam-hydrothermal treatment (SHT) on multiple cell behavior and osseointegration. By altering the processing time of SHT it was possible to shift HA structures from nano-particles to nano-rods on the microporous Ti surfaces. Ti surfaces coated with HA nano-particles were found to modulate the inflammatory response resulting in an osteoimmune microenvironment more favorable for osteo-/angio-genesis, most likely via the activation of certain key signaling pathways (TGF-β, OPG/RANKL, and VEGF). By contrast, Ti surfaces coated with nano-rod shaped HA particles had a negative impact on osteo-/angio-genesis and osteoimmunomodulation. In vivo results further demonstrated that Ti implant surfaces decorated with HA nano-particles can stimulate new bone formation and osseointegration with enhanced interaction between osteocytes and implant surfaces. This study demonstrated that Ti implants with micro-surfaces coated with nano-particle shaped HA have a positive impact on osseointegration. Osteo-/angio-genesis are of importance during osteointegration of the implants. Recent advances unravel that immune response of macrophages and its manipulated osteoimmunomodulation also exerts a pivotal role to determine the fate of the implant. Surface nano-micro modification has evidenced to be efficient to influence osteogenesis, however, little is

Titanium template for scaphoid reconstruction.

PubMed

Haefeli, M; Schaefer, D J; Schumacher, R; Müller-Gerbl, M; Honigmann, P

2015-06-01

Reconstruction of a non-united scaphoid with a humpback deformity involves resection of the non-union followed by bone grafting and fixation of the fragments. Intraoperative control of the reconstruction is difficult owing to the complex three-dimensional shape of the scaphoid and the other carpal bones overlying the scaphoid on lateral radiographs. We developed a titanium template that fits exactly to the surfaces of the proximal and distal scaphoid poles to define their position relative to each other after resection of the non-union. The templates were designed on three-dimensional computed tomography reconstructions and manufactured using selective laser melting technology. Ten conserved human wrists were used to simulate the reconstruction. The achieved precision measured as the deviation of the surface of the reconstructed scaphoid from its virtual counterpart was good in five cases (maximal difference 1.5 mm), moderate in one case (maximal difference 3 mm) and inadequate in four cases (difference more than 3 mm). The main problems were attributed to the template design and can be avoided by improved pre-operative planning, as shown in a clinical case. © The Author(s) 2014.

Fabrication of a multifunctional nano-in-micro drug delivery platform by microfluidic templated encapsulation of porous silicon in polymer matrix.

PubMed

Zhang, Hongbo; Liu, Dongfei; Shahbazi, Mohammad-Ali; Mäkilä, Ermei; Herranz-Blanco, Bárbara; Salonen, Jarno; Hirvonen, Jouni; Santos, Hélder A

2014-07-09

A multifunctional nano-in-micro drug delivery platform is developed by conjugating the porous silicon nanoparticles with mucoadhesive polymers and subsequent encapsulation into a pH-responsive polymer using microfluidics. The multistage platform shows monodisperse size distribution and pH-responsive payload release, and the released nanoparticles are mucoadhesive. Moreover, this platform is capable of simultaneously loading and releasing multidrugs with distinct properties. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Creating Shape Templates for Patient Specific Biventricular Modeling in Congenital Heart Disease

PubMed Central

Gilbert, Kathleen; Farrar, Genevieve; Cowan, Brett R.; Suinesiaputra, Avan; Occleshaw, Christopher; Pontré, Beau; Perry, James; Hegde, Sanjeet; Marsden, Alison; Omens, Jeff; McCulloch, Andrew; Young, Alistair A.

2018-01-01

Survival rates for infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) are improving, resulting in a growing population of adults with CHD. However, the analysis of left and right ventricular function is very time-consuming owing to the variety of congenital morphologies. Efficient customization of patient geometry and function depends on high quality shape templates specifically designed for the application. In this paper, we combine a method for creating finite element shape templates with an interactive template customization to patient MRI examinations. This enables different templates to be chosen depending on patient morphology. To demonstrate this pipeline, a new biventricular template with 162 elements was created and tested in place of an existing 82-element template. The method was able to provide fast interactive biventricular analysis with 0.31 sec per edit response time. The new template was customized to 13 CHD patients with similar biventricular topology, showing improved performance over the previous template and good agreement with clinical indices. PMID:26736353

Designing Templates for Interactive Tasks in CALL Tutorials.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruhlmann, Felicitas

The development of templates for computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is discussed, based on experiences with primarily linear multimedia tutorial programs. Design of templates for multiple-choice questions and interactive tasks in a prototype module is described. Possibilities of enhancing interactivity by introducing problem-oriented…

Template-Growth of Highly Ordered Carbon Nanotube Arrays on Silicon POSTPRINT

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-01

packed uni- form CNTs that are spatially isolated from each other is to use a growth template. Highly ordered anodic aluminum oxide ( AAO ) template can...process for evaporating thick aluminum of high quality and good adhesion. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Anodic Aluminum Oxide Template, Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs...within the highly ordered nanopores of an alumina oxide template, which is in turn formed on silicon through anodization of aluminum of unprecedented

Order of magnitude improvement of nano-contact spin torque nano-oscillator performance.

PubMed

Banuazizi, Seyed Amir Hossein; Sani, Sohrab R; Eklund, Anders; Naiini, Maziar M; Mohseni, Seyed Majid; Chung, Sunjae; Dürrenfeld, Philipp; Malm, B Gunnar; Åkerman, Johan

2017-02-02

Spin torque nano-oscillators (STNO) represent a unique class of nano-scale microwave signal generators and offer a combination of intriguing properties, such as nano sized footprint, ultrafast modulation rates, and highly tunable microwave frequencies from 100 MHz to close to 100 GHz. However, their low output power and relatively high threshold current still limit their applicability and must be improved. In this study, we investigate the influence of the bottom Cu electrode thickness (t Cu ) in nano-contact STNOs based on Co/Cu/NiFe GMR stacks and with nano-contact diameters ranging from 60 to 500 nm. Increasing t Cu from 10 to 70 nm results in a 40% reduction of the threshold current, an order of magnitude higher microwave output power, and close to two orders of magnitude better power conversion efficiency. Numerical simulations of the current distribution suggest that these dramatic improvements originate from a strongly reduced lateral current spread in the magneto-dynamically active region.

A new template matching method based on contour information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Huiying; Zhu, Feng; Wu, Qingxiao; Li, Sicong

2014-11-01

Template matching is a significant approach in machine vision due to its effectiveness and robustness. However, most of the template matching methods are so time consuming that they can't be used to many real time applications. The closed contour matching method is a popular kind of template matching methods. This paper presents a new closed contour template matching method which is suitable for two dimensional objects. Coarse-to-fine searching strategy is used to improve the matching efficiency and a partial computation elimination scheme is proposed to further speed up the searching process. The method consists of offline model construction and online matching. In the process of model construction, triples and distance image are obtained from the template image. A certain number of triples which are composed by three points are created from the contour information that is extracted from the template image. The rule to select the three points is that the template contour is divided equally into three parts by these points. The distance image is obtained here by distance transform. Each point on the distance image represents the nearest distance between current point and the points on the template contour. During the process of matching, triples of the searching image are created with the same rule as the triples of the model. Through the similarity that is invariant to rotation, translation and scaling between triangles, the triples corresponding to the triples of the model are found. Then we can obtain the initial RST (rotation, translation and scaling) parameters mapping the searching contour to the template contour. In order to speed up the searching process, the points on the searching contour are sampled to reduce the number of the triples. To verify the RST parameters, the searching contour is projected into the distance image, and the mean distance can be computed rapidly by simple operations of addition and multiplication. In the fine searching process

Development of nanoimprint lithography templates for the contact hole layer application (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ichimura, Koji; Hikichi, Ryugo; Harada, Saburo; Kanno, Koichi; Kurihara, Masaaki; Hayashi, Naoya

2017-04-01

Nanoimprint lithography, NIL, is gathering much attention as one of the most potential candidates for the next generation lithography for semiconductor. This technology needs no pattern data modification for exposure, simpler exposure system, and single step patterning process without any coat/develop truck, and has potential of cost effective patterning rather than very complex optical lithography and/or EUV lithography. NIL working templates are made by the replication of the EB written high quality master templates. Fabrication of high resolution master templates is one of the most important issues. Since NIL is 1:1 pattern transfer process, master templates have 4 times higher resolution compared with photomasks. Another key is to maintain the quality of the master templates in replication process. NIL process is applied for the template replication and this imprint process determines most of the performance of the replicated templates. Expectations to the NIL are not only high resolution line and spaces but also the contact hole layer application. Conventional ArF-i lithography has a certain limit in size and pitch for contact hole fabrication. On the other hand, NIL has good pattern fidelity for contact hole fabrication at smaller sizes and pitches compared with conventional optical lithography. Regarding the tone of the templates for contact hole, there are the possibilities of both tone, the hole template and the pillar template, depending on the processes of the wafer side. We have succeeded to fabricate both types of templates at 2xnm in size. In this presentation, we will be discussing fabrication or our replica template for the contact hole layer application. Both tone of the template fabrication will be presented as well as the performance of the replica templates. We will also discuss the resolution improvement of the hole master templates by using various e-beam exposure technologies.

Constructing and assessing brain templates from Chinese pediatric MRI data using SPM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Qingjie; Ye, Qing; Yao, Li; Chen, Kewei; Jin, Zhen; Liu, Gang; Wu, Xingchun; Wang, Tingting

2005-04-01

Spatial normalization is a very important step in the processing of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. So the quality of brain templates is crucial for the accuracy of MRI analysis. In this paper, using the classical protocol and the optimized protocol plus nonlinear deformation, we constructed the T1 whole brain templates and apriori brain tissue data from 69 Chinese pediatric MRI data (age 7-16 years). Then we proposed a new assessment method to evaluate our templates. 10 pediatric subjects were chosen to do the assessment as the following steps. First, the cerebellum region, the region of interest (ROI), was located on both the pediatric volume and the template volume by an experienced neuroanatomist. Second, the pediatric whole brain was mapped to the template with affine and nonlinear deformation. Third, the parameter, derived from the second step, was used to only normalize the ROI of the child to the ROI of the template. Last, the overlapping ratio, which described the overlapping rate between the ROI of the template and the normalized ROI of the child, was calculated. The mean of overlapping ratio normalized to the classical template was 0.9687, and the mean normalized to the optimized template was 0.9713. The results show that the two Chinese pediatric brain templates are comparable and their accuracy is adequate to our studies.

The Utility of Template Analysis in Qualitative Psychology Research.

PubMed

Brooks, Joanna; McCluskey, Serena; Turley, Emma; King, Nigel

2015-04-03

Thematic analysis is widely used in qualitative psychology research, and in this article, we present a particular style of thematic analysis known as Template Analysis. We outline the technique and consider its epistemological position, then describe three case studies of research projects which employed Template Analysis to illustrate the diverse ways it can be used. Our first case study illustrates how the technique was employed in data analysis undertaken by a team of researchers in a large-scale qualitative research project. Our second example demonstrates how a qualitative study that set out to build on mainstream theory made use of the a priori themes (themes determined in advance of coding) permitted in Template Analysis. Our final case study shows how Template Analysis can be used from an interpretative phenomenological stance. We highlight the distinctive features of this style of thematic analysis, discuss the kind of research where it may be particularly appropriate, and consider possible limitations of the technique. We conclude that Template Analysis is a flexible form of thematic analysis with real utility in qualitative psychology research.

Scaling digital radiographs for templating in total hip arthroplasty using conventional acetate templates independent of calibration markers.

PubMed

Brew, Christopher J; Simpson, Philip M; Whitehouse, Sarah L; Donnelly, William; Crawford, Ross W; Hubble, Matthew J W

2012-04-01

We describe a scaling method for templating digital radiographs using conventional acetate templates independent of template magnification without the need for a calibration marker. The mean magnification factor for the radiology department was determined (119.8%; range, 117%-123.4%). This fixed magnification factor was used to scale the radiographs by the method described. Thirty-two femoral heads on postoperative total hip arthroplasty radiographs were then measured and compared with the actual size. The mean absolute accuracy was within 0.5% of actual head size (range, 0%-3%) with a mean absolute difference of 0.16 mm (range, 0-1 mm; SD, 0.26 mm). Intraclass correlation coefficient showed excellent reliability for both interobserver and intraobserver measurements with intraclass correlation coefficient scores of 0.993 (95% CI, 0.988-0.996) for interobserver measurements and intraobserver measurements ranging between 0.990 and 0.993 (95% CI, 0.980-0.997). Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Formation of Au nano-patterns on various substrates using simplified nano-transfer printing method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jong-Woo; Yang, Ki-Yeon; Hong, Sung-Hoon; Lee, Heon

2008-06-01

For future device applications, fabrication of the metal nano-patterns on various substrates, such as Si wafer, non-planar glass lens and flexible plastic films become important. Among various nano-patterning technologies, nano-transfer print method is one of the simplest techniques to fabricate metal nano-patterns. In nano-transfer printing process, thin Au layer is deposited on flexible PDMS mold, containing surface protrusion patterns, and the Au layer is transferred from PDMS mold to various substrates due to the difference of bonding strength of Au layer to PDMS mold and to the substrate. For effective transfer of Au layer, self-assembled monolayer, which has strong bonding to Au, is deposited on the substrate as a glue layer. In this study, complicated SAM layer coating process was replaced to simple UV/ozone treatment, which can activates the surface and form the -OH radicals. Using simple UV/ozone treatments on both Au and substrate, Au nano-pattern can be successfully transferred to as large as 6 in. diameter Si wafer, without SAM coating process. High fidelity transfer of Au nano-patterns to non-planar glass lens and flexible PET film was also demonstrated.

A Ground Systems Template for Remote Sensing Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McClanahan, Timothy P.; Trombka, Jacob I.; Floyd, Samuel R.; Truskowski, Walter; Starr, Richard D.; Clark, Pamela E.; Evans, Larry G.

2002-10-01

Spaceborne remote sensing using gamma and X-ray spectrometers requires particular attention to the design and development of reliable systems. These systems must ensure the scientific requirements of the mission within the challenging technical constraints of operating instrumentation in space. The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft included X-ray and gamma-ray spectrometers (XGRS), whose mission was to map the elemental chemistry of the 433 Eros asteroid. A remote sensing system template, similar to a blackboard systems approach used in artificial intelligence, was identified in which the spacecraft, instrument, and ground system was designed and developed to monitor and adapt to evolving mission requirements in a complicated operational setting. Systems were developed for ground tracking of instrument calibration, instrument health, data quality, orbital geometry, solar flux as well as models of the asteroid's surface characteristics, requiring an intensive human effort. In the future, missions such as the Autonomous Nano-Technology Swarm (ANTS) program will have to rely heavily on automation to collectively encounter and sample asteroids in the outer asteroid belt. Using similar instrumentation, ANTS will require information similar to data collected by the NEAR X-ray/Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (XGRS) ground system for science and operations management. The NEAR XGRS systems will be studied to identify the equivalent subsystems that may be automated for ANTS. The effort will also investigate the possibility of applying blackboard style approaches to automated decision making required for ANTS.

NanoStringNormCNV: pre-processing of NanoString CNV data.

PubMed

Sendorek, Dorota H; Lalonde, Emilie; Yao, Cindy Q; Sabelnykova, Veronica Y; Bristow, Robert G; Boutros, Paul C

2018-03-15

The NanoString System is a well-established technology for measuring RNA and DNA abundance. Although it can estimate copy number variation, relatively few tools support analysis of these data. To address this gap, we created NanoStringNormCNV, an R package for pre-processing and copy number variant calling from NanoString data. This package implements algorithms for pre-processing, quality-control, normalization and copy number variation detection. A series of reporting and data visualization methods support exploratory analyses. To demonstrate its utility, we apply it to a new dataset of 96 genes profiled on 41 prostate tumour and 24 matched normal samples. NanoStringNormCNV is implemented in R and is freely available at http://labs.oicr.on.ca/boutros-lab/software/nanostringnormcnv. paul.boutros@oicr.on.ca. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

A Hybrid Approach to Protect Palmprint Templates

PubMed Central

Sun, Dongmei; Xiong, Ke; Qiu, Zhengding

2014-01-01

Biometric template protection is indispensable to protect personal privacy in large-scale deployment of biometric systems. Accuracy, changeability, and security are three critical requirements for template protection algorithms. However, existing template protection algorithms cannot satisfy all these requirements well. In this paper, we propose a hybrid approach that combines random projection and fuzzy vault to improve the performances at these three points. Heterogeneous space is designed for combining random projection and fuzzy vault properly in the hybrid scheme. New chaff point generation method is also proposed to enhance the security of the heterogeneous vault. Theoretical analyses of proposed hybrid approach in terms of accuracy, changeability, and security are given in this paper. Palmprint database based experimental results well support the theoretical analyses and demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed hybrid approach. PMID:24982977

A hybrid approach to protect palmprint templates.

PubMed

Liu, Hailun; Sun, Dongmei; Xiong, Ke; Qiu, Zhengding

2014-01-01

Biometric template protection is indispensable to protect personal privacy in large-scale deployment of biometric systems. Accuracy, changeability, and security are three critical requirements for template protection algorithms. However, existing template protection algorithms cannot satisfy all these requirements well. In this paper, we propose a hybrid approach that combines random projection and fuzzy vault to improve the performances at these three points. Heterogeneous space is designed for combining random projection and fuzzy vault properly in the hybrid scheme. New chaff point generation method is also proposed to enhance the security of the heterogeneous vault. Theoretical analyses of proposed hybrid approach in terms of accuracy, changeability, and security are given in this paper. Palmprint database based experimental results well support the theoretical analyses and demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed hybrid approach.

Cellular-level surgery using nano robots.

PubMed

Song, Bo; Yang, Ruiguo; Xi, Ning; Patterson, Kevin Charles; Qu, Chengeng; Lai, King Wai Chiu

2012-12-01

The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a popular instrument for studying the nano world. AFM is naturally suitable for imaging living samples and measuring mechanical properties. In this article, we propose a new concept of an AFM-based nano robot that can be applied for cellular-level surgery on living samples. The nano robot has multiple functions of imaging, manipulation, characterizing mechanical properties, and tracking. In addition, the technique of tip functionalization allows the nano robot the ability for precisely delivering a drug locally. Therefore, the nano robot can be used for conducting complicated nano surgery on living samples, such as cells and bacteria. Moreover, to provide a user-friendly interface, the software in this nano robot provides a "videolized" visual feedback for monitoring the dynamic changes on the sample surface. Both the operation of nano surgery and observation of the surgery results can be simultaneously achieved. This nano robot can be easily integrated with extra modules that have the potential applications of characterizing other properties of samples such as local conductance and capacitance.

Emergency medical support system for extravehicular activity training held at weightless environment test building (WETS) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) : future prospects and a look back over the past decade.

PubMed

Nakajima, Isao; Tachibana, Masakazu; Ohashi, Noriyoshi; Imai, Hiroshi; Asari, Yasushi; Matsuyama, Shigenori

2011-12-01

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) provides extravehicular activity (EVA) training to astronauts in a weightless environment test building (WETS) located in Tsukuba City. For EVA training, Tsukuba Medial Center Hospital (TMCH) has established an emergency medical support system, serving as operations coordinator. Taking the perspective of emergency physicians, this paper provides an overview of the medical support system and examines its activities over the past decade as well as future issues. Fortunately, no major accident has occurred during the past 10 years of NBS. Minor complaints (external otitis, acute otitis media, transient dizziness, conjunctival inflammation, upper respiratory inflammation, dermatitis, abraded wounds, etc.) among the support divers have been addressed onsite by attending emergency physicians. Operations related to the medical support system at the WETS have proceeded smoothly for the former NASDA and continue to proceed without event for JAXA, providing safe, high-quality emergency medical services. If an accident occurs at the WETS, transporting the patient by helicopter following initial treatment by emergency physicians can actually exacerbate symptoms, since the procedure exposes a patient who was recently within a hyperbaric environment to the low-pressure environment involved in air transportation. If a helicopter is used, the flight altitude should be kept as low as possible by taking routes over the river.

3-D matrix template-assisted growth of oriented oxide nanowire arrays using glancing angle pulsed laser deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, N.; Mateo-Feliciano, D.; Ostoski, A.; Mukherjee, P.; Witanachchi, S.

Nanosphere lithography is a combination of different methods to nanofabrication. In this work nanosphere lithography is used to study the growth of Zinc Oxide Nano-columns (ZnO NCs) on different diameter Silica Nanosphere (SNS) self-assembled templates. ZnO NCs are promising building blocks for many existing and emerging optical, electrical, and piezoelectric devices, specifically, the seeded growth of other oxide materials. Recently, reports have shown a ferroelectric phase of zinc stannate (ZnSnO3) and while lead zirconium titanate oxide (PZT) has been the main material of interest in ferroelectric and piezoelectric applications, the toxicity of lead has been of great concern. The possibility of developing lead free piezoelectric materials is of great interest in the ferroelectric community. Langmuir-Blodgett method was used to construct a self-assembled monolayer of SNSs on silicon substrates. Oriented ZnO NCs were grown on top of the spheres using the glancing angle pulsed laser deposition technique. Columns were formed in a spatially ordered closed-packed hexagonal configuration. Growth of ZnO NCs was studied as function of ambient Oxygen pressure with SNS size ranging from 250-1000 nm. Cross-sectional Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to study the template structure. Relative aspect ratios were studied and showed tunability of column dimensions with sphere size. XRD revealed ZnO NC arrays were c-axis oriented with hexagonal wurtzite structure.

Template protection and its implementation in 3D face recognition systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Xuebing

2007-04-01

As biometric recognition systems are widely applied in various application areas, security and privacy risks have recently attracted the attention of the biometric community. Template protection techniques prevent stored reference data from revealing private biometric information and enhance the security of biometrics systems against attacks such as identity theft and cross matching. This paper concentrates on a template protection algorithm that merges methods from cryptography, error correction coding and biometrics. The key component of the algorithm is to convert biometric templates into binary vectors. It is shown that the binary vectors should be robust, uniformly distributed, statistically independent and collision-free so that authentication performance can be optimized and information leakage can be avoided. Depending on statistical character of the biometric template, different approaches for transforming biometric templates into compact binary vectors are presented. The proposed methods are integrated into a 3D face recognition system and tested on the 3D facial images of the FRGC database. It is shown that the resulting binary vectors provide an authentication performance that is similar to the original 3D face templates. A high security level is achieved with reasonable false acceptance and false rejection rates of the system, based on an efficient statistical analysis. The algorithm estimates the statistical character of biometric templates from a number of biometric samples in the enrollment database. For the FRGC 3D face database, the small distinction of robustness and discriminative power between the classification results under the assumption of uniquely distributed templates and the ones under the assumption of Gaussian distributed templates is shown in our tests.

Affordance Templates for Shared Robot Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hart, Stephen; Dinh, Paul; Hambuchen, Kim

2014-01-01

This paper introduces the Affordance Template framework used to supervise task behaviors on the NASA-JSC Valkyrie robot at the 2013 DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Trials. This framework provides graphical interfaces to human supervisors that are adjustable based on the run-time environmental context (e.g., size, location, and shape of objects that the robot must interact with, etc.). Additional improvements, described below, inject degrees of autonomy into instantiations of affordance templates at run-time in order to enable efficient human supervision of the robot for accomplishing tasks.

Visual cluster analysis and pattern recognition template and methods

DOEpatents

Osbourn, Gordon Cecil; Martinez, Rubel Francisco

1999-01-01

A method of clustering using a novel template to define a region of influence. Using neighboring approximation methods, computation times can be significantly reduced. The template and method are applicable and improve pattern recognition techniques.

3D nano-structures for laser nano-manipulation

PubMed Central

Seniutinas, Gediminas; Gervinskas, Gediminas; Brasselet, Etienne; Juodkazis, Saulius

2013-01-01

Summary The resputtering of gold films from nano-holes defined in a sacrificial PMMA mask, which was made by electron beam lithography, was carried out with a dry plasma etching tool in order to form well-like structures with a high aspect ratio (height/width ≈ 3–4) at the rims of the nano-holes. The extraordinary transmission through the patterns of such nano-wells was investigated experimentally and numerically. By doing numerical simulations of 50-nm and 100-nm diameter polystyrene beads in water and air, we show the potential of such patterns for self-induced back-action (SIBA) trapping. The best trapping conditions were found to be a trapping force of 2 pN/W/μm2 (numerical result) exerted on a 50-nm diameter bead in water. The simulations were based on the analytical Lorentz force model. PMID:24062979

A novel BA complex network model on color template matching.

PubMed

Han, Risheng; Shen, Shigen; Yue, Guangxue; Ding, Hui

2014-01-01

A novel BA complex network model of color space is proposed based on two fundamental rules of BA scale-free network model: growth and preferential attachment. The scale-free characteristic of color space is discovered by analyzing evolving process of template's color distribution. And then the template's BA complex network model can be used to select important color pixels which have much larger effects than other color pixels in matching process. The proposed BA complex network model of color space can be easily integrated into many traditional template matching algorithms, such as SSD based matching and SAD based matching. Experiments show the performance of color template matching results can be improved based on the proposed algorithm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study about how to model the color space of images using a proper complex network model and apply the complex network model to template matching.

Sustainable nano-catalysis

EPA Science Inventory

A novel nano-catalyst system which bridges the homogenous and heterogeneous system is described that is cheaper, easily accessible (sustainable) and requires no need of catalyst filtration during the work-up. Because of its nano-size, i.e. high surface area, the contact between r...

Instrumentation for Nano-porous, Nano-particulate Geopolymeric Materials Research

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-04

and their composites . This grant was used to procure equipment to synthesize and characterize the nano- and meso-porous geopolymers , and study their...and meso-porosity and microstructure of geopolymers and their composites is part of an ongoing research project in the PIs research group, which has...the synthesis and processing of geopolymers and geopolymer composites . The attritor mill enables synthesis Technical Report of nano-sized high

Instrumentation for Nano-porous, Nano-particulate Geopolymeric Materials Research

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-04

working on tailoring the nano- and meso-porosity, and the microstructure of geopolymers and their composites . This grant was used to procure equipment...and tailor the nano and meso-porosity and microstructure of geopolymers and their composites is part of an ongoing research project in the Pis...purchased to improve the synthesis and processing of geopolymers and geopolymer composites . The attritor mill enables synthesis Technical Report of

Morphology effect of nano-hydroxyapatite as a drug carrier of methotrexate.

PubMed

Sun, Haina; Liu, Shanshan; Zeng, Xiongfeng; Meng, Xianguang; Zhao, Lina; Wan, Yizao; Zuo, Guifu

2017-09-13

In this study, morphology effect of nano-hydroxyapatite as a drug carrier was investigated for the first time. Hydroxyapatite/methotrexate (HAp/MTX) hybrids with different morphologies were successfully prepared in situ using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a template. SEM, TEM, XRD and FTIR results confirmed that the hybrids of different morphologies (laminated, rod-like and spherical) with similar phase composition and functional groups were obtained by changing the preparation parameters. UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to identify the drug loading capacity and drug release mechanism of the three hybrids with different morphologies. It is concluded that the laminated hybrid exhibits a higher drug loading capacity compared to the other two hybrids, and all the three hybrids showed a sustained slow release which were fitted well by Bhaskar equation. Additionally, the result of in vitro bioassay test confirms that the inhibition efficacy of the three hybrids showed a positive correlation to the drug loading capacity.

Facile synthesis of flake-like TiO2/C nano-composites for photocatalytic H2 evolution under visible-light irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Baolin; Zhou, Juan; Liang, Xiaoyu; Song, Kainan; Su, Xintai

2017-01-01

The production of H2 by photocatalytic water splitting has become a promising approach for clean, economical, and renewable evolution of H2 by using solar energy. In spite of tremendous efforts, the present challenge for materials scientists is to build a highly active photocatalytic system with high efficiency and low cost. Here we report a facile method for the preparation of TiO2/C nano-flakes, which was used as an efficient visible-light photocatalyst for H2 evolution. This composite material was prepared by using a phase-transfer strategy combined with salt-template calcination treatment. The results showed that anatase TiO2 nanoparticles with the diameter of ∼10 nm were uniformly dispersed on the carbon nano-flakes. In addition, the samples prepared at 600 °C (denoted as T600) endowed a larger surface area of 196 m2 g-1 and higher light absorption, resulting in enhanced photocatalytic activity. Further, the T600 product reached a high H2 production rate of 57.2 μmol h-1 under visible-light irradiation. This unusual photocatalytic activity arose from the positive synergetic effect between the TiO2 and carbon in this hybrid catalyst. This work highlights the potential of TiO2/C nano-flakes in the field of photocatalytic H2 evolution under visible-light irradiation.

Multifunctional carbon nano-paper composite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhichun; Chu, Hetao; Wang, Kuiwen; Liu, Yanjv; Leng, Jinsong

2013-08-01

Carbon Nanotube (CNT), for its excellent mechanical, electrical properties and nano size, large special surface physical property, become the most promising material. But carbon nanotube can still fabricated in micro dimension, and can't be made into macro size, so to the carbon nanotube filled composite can't explore the properties of the CNT. Carbon nano-paper is made of pure CNT, with micro pore, and it turn micro sized CNT into macro shaped membrane. Based on the piezo-resistivity and electrical conductivity of the carbon nano-paper, we used the carbon nano-paper as functional layers fabricate functional composite, and studies its strain sensing, composite material deicing and shape memory polymer (SMP) material electric actuation performance. The results shown that the resin can pregnant the nano paper, and there was good bond for nano paper and composite. The functional composite can monitoring the strain with high sensitivity comparing to foil strain gauge. The functional composite can be heated via the carbon nano paper with low power supply and high heating rate. The composite has good deicing and heat actuation performance to composite material. For the good strain sensing, electric conductivity and self-heating character of the carbon nano-paper composite, it can be used for self sensing, anti lightning strike and deicing of composite materials in aircrafts and wind turbine blades.

Template-Free Synthesis of Hollow-Structured Co 3 O 4 Nanoparticles as High-Performance Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Deli; Yu, Yingchao; He, Huan

2015-02-24

We have developed a template-free procedure to synthesize Co3O4 hollow-structured nanoparticles on a Vulcan XC-72 carbon support. The material was synthesized via an impregnation–reduction method followed by air oxidation. In contrast to spherical particles, the hollow-structured Co3O4 nanoparticles exhibited excellent lithium storage capacity, rate capability, and cycling stability when used as the anode material in lithium-ion batteries. Electrochemical testing showed that the hollow-structured Co3O4 particles delivered a stable reversible capacity of about 880 mAh/g (near the theoretical capacity of 890 mAh/g) at a current density of 50 mA/g after 50 cycles. The superior electrochemical performance is attributed to its uniquemore » hollow structure, which combines nano- and microscale properties that facilitate electron transfer and enhance structural robustness.« less

Template-Directed Crystallization of High Energy Materials

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-01

objectives of this grant were to (a) examine the solution crystallization of RDX , HMX and CL-20 from a variety of solvents, withdetailed analysis of...crystal nucleation templates and (c) to assess the growth of RDX , HMX and CL-20 on these templates. High explosives, crystallization, RDX , CL-20...crystallization of RDX , HMX and CL-20 from a variety of solvents, with detailed analysis of their phase, size, and morphological properties; (b) to

Template-Stripped Tunable Plasmonic Devices on Stretchable and Rollable Substrates

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

We use template stripping to integrate metallic nanostructures onto flexible, stretchable, and rollable substrates. Using this approach, high-quality patterned metals that are replicated from reusable silicon templates can be directly transferred to polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates. First we produce stretchable gold nanohole arrays and show that their optical transmission spectra can be modulated by mechanical stretching. Next we fabricate stretchable arrays of gold pyramids and demonstrate a modulation of the wavelength of light resonantly scattered from the tip of the pyramid by stretching the underlying PDMS film. The use of a flexible transfer layer also enables template stripping using a cylindrical roller as a substrate. As an example, we demonstrate roller template stripping of metallic nanoholes, nanodisks, wires, and pyramids onto the cylindrical surface of a glass rod lens. These nonplanar metallic structures produced via template stripping with flexible and stretchable films can facilitate many applications in sensing, display, plasmonics, metasurfaces, and roll-to-roll fabrication. PMID:26402066

A Novel BA Complex Network Model on Color Template Matching

PubMed Central

Han, Risheng; Yue, Guangxue; Ding, Hui

2014-01-01

A novel BA complex network model of color space is proposed based on two fundamental rules of BA scale-free network model: growth and preferential attachment. The scale-free characteristic of color space is discovered by analyzing evolving process of template's color distribution. And then the template's BA complex network model can be used to select important color pixels which have much larger effects than other color pixels in matching process. The proposed BA complex network model of color space can be easily integrated into many traditional template matching algorithms, such as SSD based matching and SAD based matching. Experiments show the performance of color template matching results can be improved based on the proposed algorithm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study about how to model the color space of images using a proper complex network model and apply the complex network model to template matching. PMID:25243235

Visual cluster analysis and pattern recognition template and methods

DOEpatents

Osbourn, G.C.; Martinez, R.F.

1999-05-04

A method of clustering using a novel template to define a region of influence is disclosed. Using neighboring approximation methods, computation times can be significantly reduced. The template and method are applicable and improve pattern recognition techniques. 30 figs.

Photocatalytic activity of self-assembled porous TiO2 nano-columns array fabricated by oblique angle sputter deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Pengjun; Li, Xibo; Zhang, Qiuju; Yi, Zao; Luo, Jiangshan

2018-04-01

A well-separated and oriented TiO2 nano-columns arrays with porous structure were fabricated by the oblique angle sputter deposition technique and subsequently annealing at 450 °C in Ar/O2 mixed atmosphere. The deposited substrate was firstly modified by a template of self-assembled close-packed arrays of 500 nm-diameter silica (SiO2) spheres. Scanning electronic microscopic (SEM) images show that the porous columnar nanostructure is formed as a result of the geometric shadowing effect and surface diffusion of the adatoms in oblique angle deposition (OAD). X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements reveal that the physically OAD film with annealing treatment are generally mixed phase of rutile and anatase TiO2 polymorphic forms. The morphology induced absorbance and band gap tuning by different substrates was demonstrated by the UV–vis spectroscopy. The well-separated one-dimensional (1D) nano-columns array with specific large porous surface area is beneficial for charge separation in photocatalytic degradation. Compared with compact thin film, such self-assembled porous TiO2 nano-columns array fabricated by oblique angle sputter deposition performed an enhanced visible light induced photocatalytic activity by decomposing methyl orange (MO) solution. The well-designed periodic array-structured porous TiO2 films by using modified patterned substrates has been demonstrated significantly increased absorption edge in the UV-visible light region with a narrower optical band gap, which are expected to be favorable for application in photovoltaic, lithium-ion insertion and photocatalytic, etc.

Nano-encrypted Morse code: a versatile approach to programmable and reversible nanoscale assembly and disassembly.

PubMed

Wong, Ngo Yin; Xing, Hang; Tan, Li Huey; Lu, Yi

2013-02-27

While much work has been devoted to nanoscale assembly of functional materials, selective reversible assembly of components in the nanoscale pattern at selective sites has received much less attention. Exerting such a reversible control of the assembly process will make it possible to fine-tune the functional properties of the assembly and to realize more complex designs. Herein, by taking advantage of different binding affinities of biotin and desthiobiotin toward streptavidin, we demonstrate selective and reversible decoration of DNA origami tiles with streptavidin, including revealing an encrypted Morse code "NANO" and reversible exchange of uppercase letter "I" with lowercase "i". The yields of the conjugations are high (>90%), and the process is reversible. We expect this versatile conjugation technique to be widely applicable with different nanomaterials and templates.

Temperature-dependent radiative and non-radiative dynamics of photo-excited carriers in extremely high-density and small InGaN nanodisks fabricated by neutral-beam etching using bio-nano-templates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yafeng; Kiba, Takayuki; Takayama, Junichi; Higo, Akio; Tanikawa, Tomoyuki; Chen, Shula; Samukawa, Seiji; Murayama, Akihiro

2018-05-01

Temperature-dependent radiative and non-radiative dynamics of photoexcited carriers were studied in In0.3Ga0.7N nanodisks (NDs) fabricated from quantum wells (QWs) by neutral-beam etching using bio-nano-templates. The NDs had a diameter of 5 nm, a thickness of 2 and 3 nm, and a sheet density of 2 × 1011 cm-2. The radiative decay time, reflecting the displacement between the electron and hole wavefunctions, is about 0.2 ns; this value is almost constant as a function of temperature in the NDs and not dependent on their thickness. We observed non-exponential decay curves of photoluminescence (PL) in the NDs, particularly at temperatures above 150 K. The thermal activation energies of PL quenching in the NDs are revealed to be about 110 meV, corresponding to the barrier heights of the valence bands in the disks. Therefore, hole escape is deemed responsible for the PL quenching, while thermal activation energies of 12 meV due to the trapping of carriers by defects were dominant in the mother QWs. The above-mentioned non-exponential PL decay curves can be attributed to variations in the rate of hole escape in the NDs because of fluctuations in the valence-band barrier height, which, in turn, is possibly due to compositional fluctuations in the QWs. We found that non-radiative trapping, characteristic of the original QW, also exists in about 1% of the NDs in a form that is not masked by other newly formable defects. Therefore, we suggest that additional defect formation is not significant during our ND fabrication process.

Automatic Prediction of Protein 3D Structures by Probabilistic Multi-template Homology Modeling.

PubMed

Meier, Armin; Söding, Johannes

2015-10-01

Homology modeling predicts the 3D structure of a query protein based on the sequence alignment with one or more template proteins of known structure. Its great importance for biological research is owed to its speed, simplicity, reliability and wide applicability, covering more than half of the residues in protein sequence space. Although multiple templates have been shown to generally increase model quality over single templates, the information from multiple templates has so far been combined using empirically motivated, heuristic approaches. We present here a rigorous statistical framework for multi-template homology modeling. First, we find that the query proteins' atomic distance restraints can be accurately described by two-component Gaussian mixtures. This insight allowed us to apply the standard laws of probability theory to combine restraints from multiple templates. Second, we derive theoretically optimal weights to correct for the redundancy among related templates. Third, a heuristic template selection strategy is proposed. We improve the average GDT-ha model quality score by 11% over single template modeling and by 6.5% over a conventional multi-template approach on a set of 1000 query proteins. Robustness with respect to wrong constraints is likewise improved. We have integrated our multi-template modeling approach with the popular MODELLER homology modeling software in our free HHpred server http://toolkit.tuebingen.mpg.de/hhpred and also offer open source software for running MODELLER with the new restraints at https://bitbucket.org/soedinglab/hh-suite.

Directional templates for real-time detection of coronal axis rotated faces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez, Claudio A.; Estevez, Pablo A.; Garate, Patricio

2004-10-01

Real-time face and iris detection on video images has gained renewed attention because of multiple possible applications in studying eye function, drowsiness detection, virtual keyboard interfaces, face recognition, video processing and multimedia retrieval. In this paper, a study is presented on using directional templates in the detection of faces rotated in the coronal axis. The templates are built by extracting the directional image information from the regions of the eyes, nose and mouth. The face position is determined by computing a line integral using the templates over the face directional image. The line integral reaches a maximum when it coincides with the face position. It is shown an improvement in localization selectivity by the increased value in the line integral computed with the directional template. Besides, improvements in the line integral value for face size and face rotation angle was also found through the computation of the line integral using the directional template. Based on these results the new templates should improve selectivity and hence provide the means to restrict computations to a fewer number of templates and restrict the region of search during the face and eye tracking procedure. The proposed method is real time, completely non invasive and was applied with no background limitation and normal illumination conditions in an indoor environment.

Agarose template for the fabrication of macroporous metal oxide structures.

PubMed

Zhou, Jingfang; Zhou, Meifang; Caruso, Rachel A

2006-03-28

Agarose gels have been applied as templates for the formation of macroporous metal oxide structures. The preparation of the agarose template is extremely simple, and with variation of the agarose content, control over morphology is demonstrated: The average pore size decreases from 180 to 55 nm and the surface area increases from 238 to 271 m2 g(-1) with increasing agarose content in the gel. The gelling temperature was also found to influence the final template morphology. Conducting sol-gel chemistry within the template structure followed by removal of the template by heating to 450 degrees C gives porous inorganic oxides. The technique has been demonstrated for the oxides of titanium, zirconium, niobium, and tin. The final morphology of the metal oxide is homogeneous and results from a coating of the agarose structure. The pore diameter decreased and the specific surface area of the titanium dioxide materials increased from 28 to 66 m2 g(-1) as the agarose content in the template is increased from 0.5 to 5.0 wt%. The overall pore size and surface area are lower than the original gel due to shrinkage occurring with the sol-gel process, as well as crystallization and a loss of microporosity in the final material.

DEXTRON TEMPLATED MICROWAVE-ASSISTED SYNTHESIS OF POROUS TITANIUM DIOXIDE

EPA Science Inventory

An alternative route to the preparation and formation of porous titania powders and carbon coated titania using microwave radiation is described. Inexpensive dextrose was chosen as capping agent or template in view of its high water solubility when compared to other sugar templat...

A comparison of RNA with DNA in template-directed synthesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zielinski, M.; Kozlov, I. A.; Orgel, L. E.; Bada, J. L. (Principal Investigator)

2000-01-01

Nonenzymatic template-directed copying of RNA sequences rich in cytidylic acid using nucleoside 5'-(2-methylimidazol-1-yl phosphates) as substrates is substantially more efficient than the copying of corresponding DNA sequences. However, many sequences cannot be copied, and the prospect of replication in this system is remote, even for RNA. Surprisingly, wobble-pairing leads to much more efficient incorporation of G opposite U on RNA templates than of G opposite T on DNA templates.

Chitin Liquid-Crystal-Templated Oxide Semiconductor Aerogels.

PubMed

Chau, Trang The Lieu; Le, Dung Quang Tien; Le, Hoa Thi; Nguyen, Cuong Duc; Nguyen, Long Viet; Nguyen, Thanh-Dinh

2017-09-13

Chitin nanocrystals have been used as a liquid crystalline template to fabricate layered oxide semiconductor aerogels. Anisotropic chitin liquid crystals are transformed to sponge-like aerogels by hydrothermally cross-linked gelation and lyophilization-induced solidification. The hydrothermal gelation of chitin aqueous suspensions then proceeds with peroxotitanate to form hydrogel composites that recover to form aerogels after freeze-drying. The homogeneous peroxotitanate/chitin composites are calcined to generate freestanding titania aerogels that exhibit the nanostructural integrity of layered chitin template. Our extended investigations show that coassembling chitin nanocrystals with other metal-based precursors also yielded semiconductor aerogels of perovskite BaTiO 3 and CuO x nanocrystals. The potential of these materials is great to investigate these chitin sponges for biomedicine and these semiconductor aerogels for photocatalysis, gas sensing, and other applications. Our results present a new aerogel templating method of highly porous, ultralight materials with chitin liquid crystals.

Inter-ictal spike detection using a database of smart templates.

PubMed

Lodder, Shaun S; Askamp, Jessica; van Putten, Michel J A M

2013-12-01

Visual analysis of EEG is time consuming and suffers from inter-observer variability. Assisted automated analysis helps by summarizing key aspects for the reviewer and providing consistent feedback. Our objective is to design an accurate and robust system for the detection of inter-ictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) in scalp EEG. IED Templates are extracted from the raw data of an EEG training set. By construction, the templates are given the ability to learn by searching for other IEDs within the training set using a time-shifted correlation. True and false detections are remembered and classifiers are trained for improving future predictions. During detection, trained templates search for IEDs in the new EEG. Overlapping detections from all templates are grouped and form one IED. Certainty values are added based on the reliability of the templates involved. For evaluation, 2160 templates were used on an evaluation dataset of 15 continuous recordings containing 241 IEDs (0.79/min). Sensitivities up to 0.99 (7.24fp/min) were reached. To reduce false detections, higher certainty thresholds led to a mean sensitivity of 0.90 with 2.36fp/min. By using many templates, this technique is less vulnerable to variations in spike morphology. A certainty value for each detection allows the system to present findings in a more efficient manner and simplifies the review process. Automated spike detection can assist in visual interpretation of the EEG which may lead to faster review times. Copyright © 2013 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Photovoltaic cell with nano-patterned substrate

DOEpatents

Cruz-Campa, Jose Luis; Zhou, Xiaowang; Zubia, David

2016-10-18

A photovoltaic solar cell comprises a nano-patterned substrate layer. A plurality of nano-windows are etched into an intermediate substrate layer to form the nano-patterned substrate layer. The nano-patterned substrate layer is positioned between an n-type semiconductor layer composed of an n-type semiconductor material and a p-type semiconductor layer composed of a p-type semiconductor material. Semiconductor material accumulates in the plurality of nano-windows, causing a plurality of heterojunctions to form between the n-type semiconductor layer and the p-type semiconductor layer.

Aligned Layers of Silver Nano-Fibers.

PubMed

Golovin, Andrii B; Stromer, Jeremy; Kreminska, Liubov

2012-02-01

We describe a new dichroic polarizers made by ordering silver nano-fibers to aligned layers. The aligned layers consist of nano-fibers and self-assembled molecular aggregates of lyotropic liquid crystals. Unidirectional alignment of the layers is achieved by means of mechanical shearing. Aligned layers of silver nano-fibers are partially transparent to a linearly polarized electromagnetic radiation. The unidirectional alignment and density of the silver nano-fibers determine degree of polarization of transmitted light. The aligned layers of silver nano-fibers might be used in optics, microwave applications, and organic electronics.

Self-aligned periodic Ni nano dots embedded in nano-oxide layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doi, M.; Izumi, M.; Kawasaki, S.; Miyake, K.; Sahashi, M.

The Ni nano constriction dots embedded in the Ta-nano-oxide layer (NOL) was prepared by the ion beam sputtering (IBS) method. After the various conditions of the oxidations, the structural analyses of the NOL were performed by RHEED, AES and in situ STM/AFM observations. From the current image of the conductive AFM for NOL, the periodically aligned metallic dots with the size around 5-10 nm were successfully observed. The mechanism of the formation of the self-organized aligned Ni nano constriction dots is discussed from the standpoint of the grain size, the crystal orientation, the preferred oxidation of Ta at the diffused interface.

Patterned FePt nanostructures using ultrathin self-organized templates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Chen Hua; Zhang, Min; Wang, Fang; Xu, Xiao Hong

2018-02-01

Patterned magnetic thin films are both scientifically interesting and technologically useful. Ultrathin self-organized anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template can be used to fabricate large area nanodot and antidot arrays. The magnetic properties of these nanostructures may be tuned by the morphology of the AAO template, which in turn can be controlled by synthetic parameters. In this work, ultrathin AAO templates were used as etching masks for the fabrication of both FePt nanodot and antidot arrays with high areal density. The perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of L10 FePt thin films are preserved in the nanostructures.

Creation of structured documentation templates using Natural Language Processing techniques.

PubMed

Kashyap, Vipul; Turchin, Alexander; Morin, Laura; Chang, Frank; Li, Qi; Hongsermeier, Tonya

2006-01-01

Structured Clinical Documentation is a fundamental component of the healthcare enterprise, linking both clinical (e.g., electronic health record, clinical decision support) and administrative functions (e.g., evaluation and management coding, billing). One of the challenges in creating good quality documentation templates has been the inability to address specialized clinical disciplines and adapt to local clinical practices. A one-size-fits-all approach leads to poor adoption and inefficiencies in the documentation process. On the other hand, the cost associated with manual generation of documentation templates is significant. Consequently there is a need for at least partial automation of the template generation process. We propose an approach and methodology for the creation of structured documentation templates for diabetes using Natural Language Processing (NLP).

Nano-JASMINE Data Analysis and Publication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamada, Y.; Hara, T.; Yoshioka, S.; Kobayashi, Y.; Gouda, N.; Miyashita, H.; Hatsutori, Y.; Lammers, U.; Michalik, D.

2012-09-01

The core data reduction for the Nano-JASMINE mission is planned to be done with Gaia's Astrometric Global Iterative Solution (AGIS). A collaboration between the Gaia AGIS and Nano-JASMINE teams on the Nano-JASMINE data reduction started in 2007. The Nano-JASMINE team writes codes to generate AGIS input, and this is called Initial Data Treament (IDT). Identification of observed stars and their observed field of view, getting color index, are different from those of Gaia because Nano-JASMINE is ultra small satellite. For converting centroiding results on detector to the celestial sphere, orbit and attitude data of the satellite are used. In Nano-JASMINE, orbit information is derived from on board GPS data and attitude is processed from on-board star sensor data and on-ground Kalman filtering. We also show the Nano-JASMINE goals, status of the data publications and utilizations, and introduce the next Japanese space astrometric mission.

From scores to face templates: a model-based approach.

PubMed

Mohanty, Pranab; Sarkar, Sudeep; Kasturi, Rangachar

2007-12-01

Regeneration of templates from match scores has security and privacy implications related to any biometric authentication system. We propose a novel paradigm to reconstruct face templates from match scores using a linear approach. It proceeds by first modeling the behavior of the given face recognition algorithm by an affine transformation. The goal of the modeling is to approximate the distances computed by a face recognition algorithm between two faces by distances between points, representing these faces, in an affine space. Given this space, templates from an independent image set (break-in) are matched only once with the enrolled template of the targeted subject and match scores are recorded. These scores are then used to embed the targeted subject in the approximating affine (non-orthogonal) space. Given the coordinates of the targeted subject in the affine space, the original template of the targeted subject is reconstructed using the inverse of the affine transformation. We demonstrate our ideas using three, fundamentally different, face recognition algorithms: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Mahalanobis cosine distance measure, Bayesian intra-extrapersonal classifier (BIC), and a feature-based commercial algorithm. To demonstrate the independence of the break-in set with the gallery set, we select face templates from two different databases: Face Recognition Grand Challenge (FRGC) and Facial Recognition Technology (FERET) Database (FERET). With an operational point set at 1 percent False Acceptance Rate (FAR) and 99 percent True Acceptance Rate (TAR) for 1,196 enrollments (FERET gallery), we show that at most 600 attempts (score computations) are required to achieve a 73 percent chance of breaking in as a randomly chosen target subject for the commercial face recognition system. With similar operational set up, we achieve a 72 percent and 100 percent chance of breaking in for the Bayesian and PCA based face recognition systems, respectively. With

Template synthesis of indium nanowires using anodic aluminum oxide membranes.

PubMed

Chen, Feng; Kitai, Adrian H

2008-09-01

Indium nanowires with diameters approximately 300 nm have been synthesized by a hydraulic pressure technique using anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates. The indium melt is injected into the AAO template and solidified to form nanostructures. The nanowires are dense, continuous and uniformly run through the entire approximately 60 microm thickness of the AAO template. X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals that the nanowires are polycrystalline with a preferred orientation. SEM is performed to characterize the morphology of the nanowires.

Design of a highly sensitive ethanol sensor using a nano-coaxial p-Co3O4/n-TiO2 heterojunction synthesized at low temperature.

PubMed

Liang, Y Q; Cui, Z D; Zhu, S L; Li, Z Y; Yang, X J; Chen, Y J; Ma, J M

2013-11-21

In this paper, we describe the design, fabrication and gas-sensing tests of nano-coaxial p-Co3O4/n-TiO2 heterojunction. Specifically, uniform TiO2 nanotubular arrays have been assembled by anodization and used as templates for generation of the Co3O4 one-dimensional nanorods. The structure morphology and composition of as-prepared products have been characterized by SEM, XRD, TEM, and XPS. A possible growth mechanism governing the formation of such nano-coaxial heterojunctions is proposed. The TiO2 nanotube sensor shows a normal n-type response to reducing ethanol gas, whereas TiO2-Co3O4 exhibits p-type response with excellent sensing performances. This conversion of sensing behavior can be explained by the formation of p-n heterojunction structures. A possible sensing mechanism is also illustrated, which can provide theoretical guidance for the further development of advanced gas-sensitive materials with p-n heterojunction.

Applications of Nano palm oil fuel ash and Nano fly ash in concrete

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamada, Hussein M.; Jokhio, Gul Ahmed; Mat Yahaya, Fadzil; Humada, Ali M.

2018-04-01

This paper discusses the applications of Nano waste materials including palm oil fuel ash and fly ash in the concrete production. The implementation of nanotechnology has been instrumental in the development of significant interest among the stakeholders to improve the mechanical and chemical properties of materials involved in the production of concrete. Although many researchers have shown the potential of nanomaterials to increase strength and durability of concrete and improve its physical and chemical properties, there is still a knowledge gap regarding the preparation of Nano waste materials from agricultural waste to use as cement replacement instead of non-renewable materials. Therefore, it should be focused on to study Nano- waste materials to benefit from these characteristics during preparation of concrete mixtures. Therefore, this paper highlights the potential of waste materials in the Nano size to partially replace cement in concrete and achieve the same or better result than the traditional concrete. This paper recommends to conduct further experimental works to improve the concrete material properties by investigating the properties of waste materials in Nano size.

Mango core inner shell membrane template-directed synthesis of porous ZnO films and their application for enzymatic glucose biosensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yu; Wang, Lei; Ye, Zhizhen; Zhao, Minggang; Cai, Hui; Huang, Jingyun

2013-11-01

Micro/nano-porous ZnO films were synthesized through a simple biotemplate-directed method using mango core inner shell membranes as templates. The achieved ZnO films with wrinkles on the surface are combined of large holes and small pores in the bulk. High specific surface area, numerous microspaces, and small channels for fluid circulation provided by this unique structure along with the good biocompatibility and electron communication features of ZnO material make the product an ideal platform for the immobilization of enzymes The fabricated glucose biosensor based on the porous ZnO films exhibits good selective detection ability of analyte with good stability, high sensitivity of 50.58 μA cm-2 mM-1 and a wide linear range of 0.2-5.6 mM along with a low detection limit of 10 μM.

The effect of brushing with nano calcium carbonate and calcium carbonate toothpaste on the surface roughness of nano-ionomer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anisja, D. H.; Indrani, D. J.; Herda, E.

2017-08-01

Nanotechnology developments in dentistry have resulted in the development of nano-ionomer, a new restorative material. The surface roughness of restorative materials can increase bacteria adhesion and lead to poor oral hygiene. Abrasive agents in toothpaste can alter tooth and restorative material surfaces. The aim of this study is to identify the effect of brushing with nano calcium carbonate, and calcium carbonate toothpaste on surface roughness of nano-ionomer. Eighteen nano-ionomer specimens were brushed with Aquabidest (doubledistilled water), nano calcium carbonate and calcium carbonate toothpaste. Brushing lasted 30 minutes, and the roughness value (Ra) was measured after each 10 minute segment using a surface roughness tester. The data was analyzed using repeated ANOVA and one-way ANOVA test. The value of nano-ionomer surface roughness increased significantly (p<0.05) after 20 minutes of brushing with the nano calcium carbonate toothpaste. Brushing with calcium carbonate toothpaste leaves nano-ionomer surfaces more rugged than brushing with nano calcium carbonate toothpaste.

Selective Photophysical Modification on Light-Emitting Polymer Films for Micro- and Nano-Patterning

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xinping; Liu, Feifei; Li, Hongwei

2016-01-01

Laser-induced cross-linking in polymeric semiconductors was utilized to achieve micro- and nano-structuring in thin films. Single- and two-photon cross-linking processes led to the reduction in both the refractive index and thickness of the polymer films. The resultant photonic structures combine the features of both relief- and phase-gratings. Selective cross-linking in polymer blend films based on different optical response of different molecular phases enabled “solidification” of the phase-separation scheme, providing a stable template for further photonic structuring. Dielectric and metallic structures are demonstrated for the fabrication methods using cross-linking in polymer films. Selective cross-linking enables direct patterning into polymer films without introducing additional fabrication procedures or additional materials. The diffraction processes of the emission of the patterned polymeric semiconductors may provide enhanced output coupling for light-emitting diodes or distributed feedback for lasers. PMID:28773248

Template-constrained macrocyclic peptides prepared from native, unprotected precursors

PubMed Central

Lawson, Kenneth V.; Rose, Tristan E.; Harran, Patrick G.

2013-01-01

Peptide–protein interactions are important mediators of cellular-signaling events. Consensus binding motifs (also known as short linear motifs) within these contacts underpin molecular recognition, yet have poor pharmacological properties as discrete species. Here, we present methods to transform intact peptides into stable, templated macrocycles. Two simple steps install the template. The key reaction is a palladium-catalyzed macrocyclization. The catalysis has broad scope and efficiently forms large rings by engaging native peptide functionality including phenols, imidazoles, amines, and carboxylic acids without the necessity of protecting groups. The tunable reactivity of the template gives the process special utility. Defined changes in reaction conditions markedly alter chemoselectivity. In all cases examined, cyclization occurs rapidly and in high yield at room temperature, regardless of peptide composition or chain length. We show that conformational restraints imparted by the template stabilize secondary structure and enhance proteolytic stability in vitro. Palladium-catalyzed internal cinnamylation is a strong complement to existing methods for peptide modification. PMID:24043790

Moving template analysis of crack growth. 1: Procedure development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padovan, Joe; Guo, Y. H.

1994-06-01

Based on a moving template procedure, this two part series will develop a method to follow the crack tip physics in a self-adaptive manner which provides a uniformly accurate prediction of crack growth. For multiple crack environments, this is achieved by attaching a moving template to each crack tip. The templates are each individually oriented to follow the associated growth orientation and rate. In this part, the essentials of the procedure are derived for application to fatigue crack environments. Overall the scheme derived possesses several hierarchical levels, i.e. the global model, the interpolatively tied moving template, and a multilevel element death option to simulate the crack wake. To speed up computation, the hierarchical polytree scheme is used to reorganize the global stiffness inversion process. In addition to developing the various features of the scheme, the accuracy of predictions for various crack lengths is also benchmarked. Part 2 extends the scheme to multiple crack problems. Extensive benchmarking is also presented to verify the scheme.

Sacrificial template method of fabricating a nanotube

DOEpatents

Yang, Peidong [Berkeley, CA; He, Rongrui [Berkeley, CA; Goldberger, Joshua [Berkeley, CA; Fan, Rong [El Cerrito, CA; Wu, Yi-Ying [Albany, CA; Li, Deyu [Albany, CA; Majumdar, Arun [Orinda, CA

2007-05-01

Methods of fabricating uniform nanotubes are described in which nanotubes were synthesized as sheaths over nanowire templates, such as using a chemical vapor deposition process. For example, single-crystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires are utilized as templates over which gallium nitride (GaN) is epitaxially grown. The ZnO templates are then removed, such as by thermal reduction and evaporation. The completed single-crystalline GaN nanotubes preferably have inner diameters ranging from 30 nm to 200 nm, and wall thicknesses between 5 and 50 nm. Transmission electron microscopy studies show that the resultant nanotubes are single-crystalline with a wurtzite structure, and are oriented along the <001> direction. The present invention exemplifies single-crystalline nanotubes of materials with a non-layered crystal structure. Similar "epitaxial-casting" approaches could be used to produce arrays and single-crystalline nanotubes of other solid materials and semiconductors. Furthermore, the fabrication of multi-sheath nanotubes are described as well as nanotubes having multiple longitudinal segments.

Porous Networks Through Colloidal Templates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Qin; Retsch, Markus; Wang, Jianjun; Knoll, Wolfgang; Jonas, Ulrich

Porous networks represent a class of materials with interconnected voids with specific properties concerning adsorption, mass and heat transport, and spatial confinement, which lead to a wide range of applications ranging from oil recovery and water purification to tissue engineering. Porous networks with well-defined, highly ordered structure and periodicities around the wavelength of light can furthermore show very sophisticated optical properties. Such networks can be fabricated from a very large range of materials by infiltration of a sacrificial colloidal crystal template and subsequent removal of the template. The preparation procedures reported in the literature are discussed in this review and the resulting porous networks are presented with respect to the underlying material class. Furthermore, methods for hierarchical superstructure formation and functionalization of the network walls are discussed.

Development of a template for the classification of traditional medical knowledge in Korea.

PubMed

Kim, Sungha; Kim, Boyoung; Mun, Sujeong; Park, Jeong Hwan; Kim, Min-Kyeoung; Choi, Sunmi; Lee, Sanghun

2016-02-03

Traditional Medical Knowledge (TMK) is a form of Traditional Knowledge associated with medicine that is handed down orally or by written material. There are efforts to document TMK, and make database to conserve Traditional Medicine and facilitate future research to validate traditional use. Despite of these efforts, there is no widely accepted template in data file format that is specific for TMK and, at the same time, helpful for understanding and organizing TMK. We aimed to develop a template to classify TMK. First, we reviewed books, articles, and health-related classification systems, and used focus group discussion to establish the definition, scope, and constituents of TMK. Second, we developed an initial version of the template to classify TMK, and applied it to TMK data. Third, we revised the template, based on the results of the initial template and input from experts, and applied it to the data. We developed the template for classification of TMK. The constituents of the template were summary, properties, tools/ingredients, indication/preparation/application, and international standard classification. We applied International Patent Classification, International Classification of Diseases (Korea version), and Classification of Korean Traditional Knowledge Resources to provide legal protection of TMK and facilitate academic research. The template provides standard terms for ingredients, preparation, administration route, and procedure method to assess safety and efficacy. This is the first template that is specialized for TMK for arranging and classifying TMK. The template would have important roles in preserving TMK, and protecting intellectual property. TMK data classified with the template could be used as the preliminary data to screen potential candidates for new pharmaceuticals. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Applications of Nano-optics.

PubMed

Zhou, Changhe; Fainman, Yeshaiahu; Sheng, Yunlong

2011-11-01

As nanoscale fabrication techniques advance, nano-optics continues to offer enabling solutions to numerous practical applications for information optics. This Applied Optics feature issue focuses on the Application of Nano-optics. © 2011 Optical Society of America

A conceptual model and assessment template for capacity evaluation in adult guardianship.

PubMed

Moye, Jennifer; Butz, Steven W; Marson, Daniel C; Wood, Erica

2007-10-01

We develop a conceptual model and associated assessment template that is usable across state jurisdictions for evaluating the independent-living capacity of older adults in guardianship proceedings. We used an iterative process in which legal provisions for guardianship and prevailing clinical practices for capacity assessment were integrated, through expert group consensus and external review by legal and health care professionals, to form a conceptual model and template. The model and template provide a structure for conducting and documenting a capacity evaluation in guardianship by using six assessment domains of interest to the courts: (a) medical condition, (b) cognition, (c) functional abilities, (d) values, (e) risk of harm and level of supervision needed, and (f) means to enhance capacity. The template also addresses the participation of the person in the guardianship hearing, confidentiality and privilege issues, and certification by the examiner. An online version of the template can be adapted to address specific jurisdictional requirements. A conceptual model and evaluation template provide a useful cross-jurisdictional format for conducting and documenting capacity assessments of older adults in guardianship proceedings. The template may be particularly useful to clinicians for providing courts with information to support limited guardianship orders.

Research on surface modification of nano-zirconia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Wen; Zhang, Cun-Lin; Yang, Xiao-Yi

2005-02-01

The mechanisms about the aggregation and dispersibility of nano-zirconia were analyzed in detail. And nano-zirconia powders which were surface-modified with silane coupling reagent WD70 were prepared in order to disperse homogeneously in ethanol in this investigation. The grain size and grain phase of nano-zirconia were obtained by XRD. Research and characterization on the structure and surface characteristic of surface-modified nano-zirconia were achieved by XPS, TG-DSC, TEM and FT-IR. The results given by FT-IR and XPS showed WD70 was jointed on the surface of nano-zirconia through both physical adsorption and chemical binding after the de-methanol reaction between the methoxyl groups of WD70 and the hydroxy groups on the surface of nano-zirconia. And the corresponding model of surface-modified nano-zirconia was given. The images provided by TEM presented intuitionistic effect of surface modification on the dispersibility of nano-zirconia in ethanol. And TG-DSC analysis ascertained the amount of WD70 that was jointed on the surface of nano-zirconia and the amount was about 6.21 percent.

Template for success: using a resident-designed sign-out template in the handover of patient care.

PubMed

Clark, Clancy J; Sindell, Sarah L; Koehler, Richard P

2011-01-01

Report our implementation of a standardized handover process in a general surgery residency program. The standardized handover process, sign-out template, method of implementation, and continuous quality improvement process were designed by general surgery residents with support of faculty and senior hospital administration using standard work principles and business models of the Virginia Mason Production System and the Toyota Production System. Nonprofit, tertiary referral teaching hospital. General surgery residents, residency faculty, patient care providers, and hospital administration. After instruction in quality improvement initiatives, a team of general surgery residents designed a sign-out process using an electronic template and standard procedures. The initial implementation phase resulted in 73% compliance. Using resident-driven continuous quality improvement processes, real-time feedback enabled residents to modify and improve this process, eventually attaining 100% compliance and acceptance by residents. The creation of a standardized template and protocol for patient handovers might eliminate communication failures. Encouraging residents to participate in this process can establish the groundwork for successful implementation of a standardized handover process. Integrating a continuous quality-improvement process into such an initiative can promote active participation of busy general surgery residents and lead to successful implementation of standard procedures. Copyright © 2011 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ward round template: enhancing patient safety on ward rounds.

PubMed

Gilliland, Niall; Catherwood, Natalie; Chen, Shaouyn; Browne, Peter; Wilson, Jacob; Burden, Helena

2018-01-01

Concerns had been raised at clinical governance regarding the safety of our inpatient ward rounds with particular reference to: documentation of clinical observations and National Early Warning Score (NEWS), compliance with Trust guidance for venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk assessment, antibiotic stewardship, palliative care and treatment escalation plans (TEP). This quality improvement project was conceived to ensure these parameters were considered and documented during the ward round, thereby improving patient care and safety. These parameters were based on Trust patient safety guidance and CQUIN targets. The quality improvement technique of plan-do-study-act (PDSA) was used in this project. We retrospectively reviewed ward round entries to record baseline measurements, based on the above described parameters, prior to making any changes. Following this, the change applied was the introduction of a ward round template to include the highlighted important baseline parameters. Monthly PDSA cycles are performed, and baseline measurements are re-examined, then relevant changes were made to the ward round template. Documentation of baseline measurements was poor prior to introduction of the ward round template; this improved significantly following introduction of a standardised ward round template. Following three cycles, documentation of VTE risk assessments increased from 14% to 92%. Antibiotic stewardship documentation went from 0% to 100%. Use of the TEP form went from 29% to 78%. Following introduction of the ward round template, compliance improved significantly in all safety parameters. Important safety measures being discussed on ward rounds will lead to enhanced patient safety and will improve compliance to Trust guidance and comissioning for quality and innovation (CQUIN) targets. Ongoing change implementation will focus on improving compliance with usage of the template on all urology ward rounds.

The role of the micro-pattern and nano-topography of hydroxyapatite bioceramics on stimulating osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells.

PubMed

Zhao, Cancan; Wang, Xiaoya; Gao, Long; Jing, Linguo; Zhou, Quan; Chang, Jiang

2018-06-01

The micro/nano hybrid structure is considered to be a biomaterial characteristic to stimulate osteogenesis by mimicking the three-dimensional structure of the bone matrix. However, the mechanism of the hybrid structure induced osteogenic differentiation of stem cells is still unknown. For elucidating the mechanisms, one of the challenge is to directly fabricate micro/nano hybrid structure on bioceramics because of its brittleness. In this study, hydroxyapatite (HA) bioceramics with the micro/nano hybrid structure were firstly fabricated via a hydrothermal treatment and template method, and the effect of the different surface structures on the expression of integrins, BMP2 signaling pathways and cell-cell communication was investigated. Interestingly, the results suggested that the osteogenic differentiation induced by micro/nano structures was modulated first through activating integrins and then further activating BMP2 signaling pathway and cell-cell communication, while activated BMP2 could in turn activate integrins and Cx43-related cell-cell communication. Furthermore, differences in activation of integrins, BMP2 signaling pathway, and gap junction-mediated cell-cell communication were observed, in which nanorod and micropattern structures activated different integrin subunits, BMP downstream receptors and Cx43. This finding may explain the synergistic effect of the micro/nano hybrid structure on the activation of osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Based on our study, we concluded that the different activation mechanisms of micro- and nano-structures led to the synergistic stimulatory effect on integrin activation and osteogenesis, in which not only the direct contact of cells on micro/nano structure played an important role, but also other surface characteristics such as protein adsorption might contribute to the bioactive effect. The micro/nano hybrid structure has been found to have synergistic bioactivity on osteogenesis. However, it is still a challenge

RNA 3D Structure Modeling by Combination of Template-Based Method ModeRNA, Template-Free Folding with SimRNA, and Refinement with QRNAS.

PubMed

Piatkowski, Pawel; Kasprzak, Joanna M; Kumar, Deepak; Magnus, Marcin; Chojnowski, Grzegorz; Bujnicki, Janusz M

2016-01-01

RNA encompasses an essential part of all known forms of life. The functions of many RNA molecules are dependent on their ability to form complex three-dimensional (3D) structures. However, experimental determination of RNA 3D structures is laborious and challenging, and therefore, the majority of known RNAs remain structurally uncharacterized. To address this problem, computational structure prediction methods were developed that either utilize information derived from known structures of other RNA molecules (by way of template-based modeling) or attempt to simulate the physical process of RNA structure formation (by way of template-free modeling). All computational methods suffer from various limitations that make theoretical models less reliable than high-resolution experimentally determined structures. This chapter provides a protocol for computational modeling of RNA 3D structure that overcomes major limitations by combining two complementary approaches: template-based modeling that is capable of predicting global architectures based on similarity to other molecules but often fails to predict local unique features, and template-free modeling that can predict the local folding, but is limited to modeling the structure of relatively small molecules. Here, we combine the use of a template-based method ModeRNA with a template-free method SimRNA. ModeRNA requires a sequence alignment of the target RNA sequence to be modeled with a template of the known structure; it generates a model that predicts the structure of a conserved core and provides a starting point for modeling of variable regions. SimRNA can be used to fold small RNAs (<80 nt) without any additional structural information, and to refold parts of models for larger RNAs that have a correctly modeled core. ModeRNA can be either downloaded, compiled and run locally or run through a web interface at http://genesilico.pl/modernaserver/ . SimRNA is currently available to download for local use as a precompiled

Second harmonic generation of template synthesized PbTiO 3 nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Ki-Seog; Park, Yong-Heon; Bu, Sang-Don; Hernandez, Bernadette A.; Fisher, Ellen R.; Dorhout, Peter K.

2007-09-01

The lead titanate (PbTiO3) nanotubes were prepared with a chelate sol-gel of titanium isopropoxide (Ti(OiPr)4) and lead acetate (Pb(OAc)2-3H2O) by using AlOx template. Whatman® anodisc membranes (with a 200 nm pore size) served as the template. The template was dipped into the precursor, PbTiO3 solution, allowed to air dry, and then calcined at 650 °C. Recently, we have characterized a signal of second harmonic generation (SHG); 532 nm on 1064 nm of Nd:YAG laser beam in the PbTiO3 nanotubes with AlOx template.

Facilitated sequence counting and assembly by template mutagenesis

PubMed Central

Levy, Dan; Wigler, Michael

2014-01-01

Presently, inferring the long-range structure of the DNA templates is limited by short read lengths. Accurate template counts suffer from distortions occurring during PCR amplification. We explore the utility of introducing random mutations in identical or nearly identical templates to create distinguishable patterns that are inherited during subsequent copying. We simulate the applications of this process under assumptions of error-free sequencing and perfect mapping, using cytosine deamination as a model for mutation. The simulations demonstrate that within readily achievable conditions of nucleotide conversion and sequence coverage, we can accurately count the number of otherwise identical molecules as well as connect variants separated by long spans of identical sequence. We discuss many potential applications, such as transcript profiling, isoform assembly, haplotype phasing, and de novo genome assembly. PMID:25313059

Assessing the applicability of template-based protein docking in the twilight zone.

PubMed

Negroni, Jacopo; Mosca, Roberto; Aloy, Patrick

2014-09-02

The structural modeling of protein interactions in the absence of close homologous templates is a challenging task. Recently, template-based docking methods have emerged to exploit local structural similarities to help ab-initio protocols provide reliable 3D models for protein interactions. In this work, we critically assess the performance of template-based docking in the twilight zone. Our results show that, while it is possible to find templates for nearly all known interactions, the quality of the obtained models is rather limited. We can increase the precision of the models at expenses of coverage, but it drastically reduces the potential applicability of the method, as illustrated by the whole-interactome modeling of nine organisms. Template-based docking is likely to play an important role in the structural characterization of the interaction space, but we still need to improve the repertoire of structural templates onto which we can reliably model protein complexes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In situ microscopy of rapidly heated nano-Al and nano-Al/WO{sub 3} thermites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sullivan, Kyle T.; Zachariah, Michael R.; Chiou, Wen-An

2010-09-27

The initiation and reaction mechanism of nano-Al and nano-Al thermites in rapid heating environments is investigated in this work. A semiconductor-based grid/stage was used, capable of in situ heating of a sample from room temperature to 1473 K, and at a rate of 10{sup 6} K/s, inside an electron microscope. Nano-Al was rapidly heated in a transmission electron microscope, and before and after images indicate that the aluminum migrates through the shell, consistent with a diffusion-based mechanism. A nano-Al/WO{sub 3} composite was then heated in a scanning electron microscope. The results indicate that a reactive sintering mechanism is occurring formore » the nano-Al/WO{sub 3} thermite, as the products are found to be in surface contact and significantly deformed after the heating pulse.« less

Transdisciplinary Pedagogical Templates and Their Potential for Adaptive Reuse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dobozy, Eva; Dalziel, James

2016-01-01

This article explores the use and usefulness of carefully designed transdisciplinary pedagogical templates (TPTs) aligned to different learning theories. The TPTs are based on the Learning Design Framework outlined in the Larnaca Declaration (Dalziel et al. in this collection). The generation of pedagogical plans or templates is not new. However,…

A novel diamond micro-/nano-machining process for the generation of hierarchical micro-/nano-structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Zhiwei; To, Suet; Ehmann, Kornel F.; Xiao, Gaobo; Zhu, Wule

2016-03-01

A new mechanical micro-/nano-machining process that combines rotary spatial vibrations (RSV) of a diamond tool and the servo motions of the workpiece is proposed and applied for the generation of multi-tier hierarchical micro-/nano-structures. In the proposed micro-/nano-machining system, the servo motion, as the primary cutting motion generated by a slow-tool-servo, is adopted for the fine generation of the primary surfaces with complex shapes. The RSV, as the tertiary cutting operation, is superimposed on the secondary fundamental rotary cutting motion to construct secondary nano-structures on the primary surface. Since the RSV system generally works at much higher frequencies and motion resolution than the primary and secondary motions, it leads to an inherent hierarchical cutting architecture. To investigate the machining performance, complex micro-/nano-structures were generated and explored by both numerical simulations and actual cutting tests. Rotary vibrations of the diamond tool at a constant rotational distance offer an inherent constant cutting velocity, leading to the ability for the generation of homogeneous micro-/nano-structures with fixed amplitudes and frequencies of the vibrations, even over large-scale surfaces. Furthermore, by deliberately combining the non-resonant three-axial vibrations and the servo motion, the generation of a variety of micro-/nano-structures with complex shapes and with flexibly tunable feature sizes can be achieved.

Supply-Chain Optimization Template

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quiett, William F.; Sealing, Scott L.

2009-01-01

The Supply-Chain Optimization Template (SCOT) is an instructional guide for identifying, evaluating, and optimizing (including re-engineering) aerospace- oriented supply chains. The SCOT was derived from the Supply Chain Council s Supply-Chain Operations Reference (SCC SCOR) Model, which is more generic and more oriented toward achieving a competitive advantage in business.

Nonenzymatic oligomerization reactions on templates containing inosinic acid or diaminopurine nucleotide residues

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kozlov, I. A.; Orgel, L. E.; Bada, J. L. (Principal Investigator)

1999-01-01

The template-directed oligomerization of nucleoside-5'-phosphoro-2-methyl imidazolides on standard oligonucleotide templates has been studied extensively. Here, we describe experiments with templates in which inosinic acid (I) is substituted for guanylic acid, or 2,6-diaminopurine nucleotide (D) for adenylic acid. We find that the substitution of I for G in a template is strongly inhibitory and prevents any incorporation of C into internal positions in the oligomeric products of the reaction. The substitution of D for A, on the contrary, leads to increased incorporation of U into the products. We found no evidence for the template-directed facilitation of oligomerization of A or I through A-I base pairing. The significance of these results for prebiotic chemistry is discussed.

Label it or ban it? Public perceptions of nano-food labels and propositions for banning nano-food applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chuah, Agnes S. F.; Leong, Alisius D.; Cummings, Christopher L.; Ho, Shirley S.

2018-02-01

The future of nano-food largely hinges on public perceptions and willingness to accept this novel technology. The present study utilizes the scientific literacy model and psychometric paradigm as the key theoretical frameworks to examine the factors influencing public support for labeling and banning of nano-food in Singapore. Using data collected from a nationally representative survey of 1001 respondents, the findings demonstrated that attitudes toward technology, preference for natural product, science knowledge, and risk perception were found to substantially affect public support for both labeling and banning of nano-food. Conversely, attention to food safety news on traditional media and attention to nano-news on new media were only associated with public support for labeling of nano-food. Similarly, benefit perception was only significantly associated with public support for banning of nano-food. Theoretically, these findings support the growing body of literature that argues for the significant role played by predispositions, media use, science knowledge, and risk and benefit perceptions on attitude formation toward nano-food. It serves as the pioneering piece to address the aspect of banning in the field of nano-food. Practically, insights drawn from this study could aid relevant stakeholders in enlisting effecting strategies to convey the benefits of nano-food while mitigating the risk perceptions among the public.

Reactive oxygen species-related activities of nano-iron metal and nano-iron oxides.

PubMed

Wu, Haohao; Yin, Jun-Jie; Wamer, Wayne G; Zeng, Mingyong; Lo, Y Martin

2014-03-01

Nano-iron metal and nano-iron oxides are among the most widely used engineered and naturally occurring nanostructures, and the increasing incidence of biological exposure to these nanostructures has raised concerns about their biotoxicity. Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced oxidative stress is one of the most accepted toxic mechanisms and, in the past decades, considerable efforts have been made to investigate the ROS-related activities of iron nanostructures. In this review, we summarize activities of nano-iron metal and nano-iron oxides in ROS-related redox processes, addressing in detail the known homogeneous and heterogeneous redox mechanisms involved in these processes, intrinsic ROS-related properties of iron nanostructures (chemical composition, particle size, and crystalline phase), and ROS-related bio-microenvironmental factors, including physiological pH and buffers, biogenic reducing agents, and other organic substances. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Template-free modeling by LEE and LEER in CASP11.

PubMed

Joung, InSuk; Lee, Sun Young; Cheng, Qianyi; Kim, Jong Yun; Joo, Keehyoung; Lee, Sung Jong; Lee, Jooyoung

2016-09-01

For the template-free modeling of human targets of CASP11, we utilized two of our modeling protocols, LEE and LEER. The LEE protocol took CASP11-released server models as the input and used some of them as templates for 3D (three-dimensional) modeling. The template selection procedure was based on the clustering of the server models aided by a community detection method of a server-model network. Restraining energy terms generated from the selected templates together with physical and statistical energy terms were used to build 3D models. Side-chains of the 3D models were rebuilt using target-specific consensus side-chain library along with the SCWRL4 rotamer library, which completed the LEE protocol. The first success factor of the LEE protocol was due to efficient server model screening. The average backbone accuracy of selected server models was similar to that of top 30% server models. The second factor was that a proper energy function along with our optimization method guided us, so that we successfully generated better quality models than the input template models. In 10 out of 24 cases, better backbone structures than the best of input template structures were generated. LEE models were further refined by performing restrained molecular dynamics simulations to generate LEER models. CASP11 results indicate that LEE models were better than the average template models in terms of both backbone structures and side-chain orientations. LEER models were of improved physical realism and stereo-chemistry compared to LEE models, and they were comparable to LEE models in the backbone accuracy. Proteins 2016; 84(Suppl 1):118-130. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A robust and non-invertible fingerprint template for fingerprint matching system.

PubMed

Trivedi, Amit Kumar; Thounaojam, Dalton Meitei; Pal, Shyamosree

2018-05-20

Fingerprint Recognition System is widely deployed in variety of application domain, ranging from forensic to mobile phones. Its widespread deployment in various applications were person authentication are required, has caused concern that a leaked fingerprint template may be used to reconstruct the original fingerprint and the reconstructed fingerprint can be used to circumvent all the applications the person is enrolled. In this paper, a non-invertible fingerprint template that stores only the relative geometric information about the minutiae points is proposed. The spatial location of the minutiae points in original fingerprint and its orientations are not available in the proposed template which makes it impossible to estimate the orientation of fingerprint from the template. The proposed template is invariant to rotation, translation and distortion and immune to reconstruction algorithm. The proposed system is experimented using standard FVC2000 database and yields better results in terms of EER and FMR as compared with latest techniques. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Molecular modeling in structural nano-toxicology: interactions of nano-particles with nano-machinery of cells.

PubMed

Yanamala, Naveena; Kagan, Valerian E; Shvedova, Anna A

2013-12-01

Over the past two decades, nanotechnology has emerged as a key player in various disciplines of science and technology. Some of the most exciting applications are in the field of biomedicine - for theranostics (for combined diagnostic and therapeutic purposes) as well as for exploration of biological systems. A detailed understanding of the molecular interactions between nanoparticles and biological nano-machinery - macromolecules, membranes, and intracellular organelles - is crucial for obtaining adequate information on mechanisms of action of nanomaterials as well as a perspective on the long term effects of these materials and their possible toxicological outcomes. This review focuses on the use of structure-based computational molecular modeling as a tool to understand and to predict the interactions between nanomaterials and nano-biosystems. We review major approaches and provide examples of computational analysis of the structural principles behind such interactions. A rationale on how nanoparticles of different sizes, shape, structure and chemical properties can affect the organization and functions of nano-machinery of cells is also presented. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Influence of solvent polarity and supersaturation on template-induced nucleation of carbamazepine crystal polymorphs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parambil, Jose V.; Poornachary, Sendhil K.; Tan, Reginald B. H.; Heng, Jerry Y. Y.

2017-07-01

Studies on the use of template surfaces to induce heterogeneous crystal nucleation have gained momentum in recent years-with potential applications in selective crystallisation of polymorphs and in the generation of seed crystals in a continuous crystallisation process. In developing a template-assisted solution crystallisation process, the kinetics of homogeneous versus heterogeneous crystal nucleation could be influenced by solute-solvent, solute-template, and solvent-template interactions. In this study, we report the effect of solvents of varying polarity on the nucleation of carbamazepine (CBZ) crystal polymorphs, a model active pharmaceutical ingredient. The experimental results demonstrate that functionalised template surfaces are effective in promoting crystallisation of either the metastable (form II) or stable (form III) polymorphs of CBZ only in moderately (methanol, ethanol, isopropanol) and low polar (toluene) solvents. A solvent with high polarity (acetonitrile) is thought to mask the template effect on heterogeneous nucleation due to strong solute-solvent and solvent-template interactions. The current study highlights that a quality-by-design (QbD) approach-considering the synergistic effects of solute concentration, solvent type, solution temperature, and template surface chemistry on crystal nucleation-is critical to the development of a template-induced crystallisation process.

Activities of JAXA's Innovative Technology Center on Space Debris Observation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yanagisawa, T.; Kurosaki, H.; Nakajima, A.

The innovative technology research center of JAXA is developing observational technologies for GEO objects in order to cope with the space debris problem. The center had constructed the optical observational facility for space debris at Mt. Nyukasa, Nagano in 2006. As observational equipments such as CCD cameras and telescopes were set up, the normal observation started. In this paper, the detail of the facilities and its activities are introduced. The observational facility contains two telescopes and two CCD cameras. The apertures of the telescopes are 35cm and 25 cm, respectively. One CCD camera in which 2K2K chip is installed can observe a sky region of 1.3 times 1.3-degree using the 35cm telescope. The other CCD camera that contains two 4K2K chips has an ability to observe 2.6 times 2.6-degree's region with the 25cm telescope. One of our main objectives is to detect faint GEO objects that are not catalogued. Generally, the detection limit of GEO object is determined by the aperture of the telescope. However, by improving image processing techniques, the limit may become low. We are developing some image processing methods that use many CCD frames to detect faint objects. We are trying to use FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) system to reduce analyzing time. By applying these methods to the data taken by a large telescope, the detection limit will be significantly lowered. The orbital determination of detected GEO debris is one of the important things to do. Especially, the narrow field view of an optical telescope hinders us from re-detection of the GEO debris for the orbital determination. Long observation time is required for one GEO object for the orbital determination that is inefficient. An effective observation strategy should be considered. We are testing one observation method invented by Umehara that observes one inertia position in the space. By observing one inertia position for two nights, a GEO object that passed through the position in the

Battery Data MI Importer Template Quick Start Guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levinson, Laurie H.

2017-01-01

In order to ensure the persistent availability and reliability of test data generated over the course of the project, the M-SHELLS Project has decided to store acquired test data, as well as associated pedigree information, in the Granta Materials Intelligence (MI) database. To facilitate that effort, an importer template and associated graphical user interface (GUI) software have been developed, with this guide providing the operating instructions for their use. The template and automation software GUI are contained in the BatteryDataImporter.xlsm Excel workbook, and are to be used to import M-SHELLS summary, or pedigree, data and the associated raw test data results into an importer template-based file, formatted in such a way as to be ready for immediate upload to the Test Data: Battery Performance table of the Granta MI database. The provided GUI enables the user to select the appropriate summary data file(s), with each file containing the required information to identify any associated raw test data file(s) to be processed. In addition to describing the setup and operation of the importer template and GUI software, this guide also provides instructions for uploading processed data to the database and for viewing the data following upload.

Zeolite-templated carbons - three-dimensional microporous graphene frameworks.

PubMed

Nishihara, H; Kyotani, T

2018-05-31

Zeolite-templated carbons (ZTCs) are ordered microporous carbons synthesized by using zeolite as a sacrificial template. Unlike well-known ordered mesoporous carbons obtained by using mesoporous silica templates, ZTCs consist of curved and single-layer graphene frameworks, thereby affording uniform micropore size (ca. 1.2 nm), developed microporosity (∼1.7 cm3 g-1), very high surface area (∼4000 m2 g-1), good compatibility with chemical modification, and remarkable softness/elasticity. Thus, ZTCs have been used in many applications such as hydrogen storage, methane storage, CO2 capture, liquid-phase adsorption, catalysts, electrochemical capacitors, batteries, and fuel cells. Herein, the relevant research studies are summarized, and the properties as well as the performances of ZTCs are compared with those of other materials including metal-organic frameworks, to elucidate the intrinsic advantages of ZTCs and their future development.

Chromosome rearrangements via template switching between diverged repeated sequences

PubMed Central

Anand, Ranjith P.; Tsaponina, Olga; Greenwell, Patricia W.; Lee, Cheng-Sheng; Du, Wei; Petes, Thomas D.

2014-01-01

Recent high-resolution genome analyses of cancer and other diseases have revealed the occurrence of microhomology-mediated chromosome rearrangements and copy number changes. Although some of these rearrangements appear to involve nonhomologous end-joining, many must have involved mechanisms requiring new DNA synthesis. Models such as microhomology-mediated break-induced replication (MM-BIR) have been invoked to explain these rearrangements. We examined BIR and template switching between highly diverged sequences in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, induced during repair of a site-specific double-strand break (DSB). Our data show that such template switches are robust mechanisms that give rise to complex rearrangements. Template switches between highly divergent sequences appear to be mechanistically distinct from the initial strand invasions that establish BIR. In particular, such jumps are less constrained by sequence divergence and exhibit a different pattern of microhomology junctions. BIR traversing repeated DNA sequences frequently results in complex translocations analogous to those seen in mammalian cells. These results suggest that template switching among repeated genes is a potent driver of genome instability and evolution. PMID:25367035

Synthesis mechanism and improved (100) oriented NaNbO3 templates by ultrasonication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramdasi, O. A.; Kolekar, Y. D.; Kim, D. J.; Song, T. K.; Kambale, R. C.

2016-05-01

The plate-like NaNbO3 (NN) templates with (100) preferential orientation was synthesized from bismuth layer structured ferroelectric Bi2.5Na3.5Nb5O18 (BNN) precursor by topochemical microcrystal conversion (TMC) method. The large platelets of BNN were first obtained by molten salt synthesis at the 1125 °C with a salt-to oxide weight ratio 1.5: 1. The anisotropic NN templates were derived from BNN at the 975 °C with BNN/ Na2CO3 molar ratio of 1:1.5. The NaNbO3 templates have an average length of ~ 10-14 µm. The NN templates retains their elemental constitutes of Na, Nb and O in stoichiometric proportion. The effect of ultrasonication on the orientation factor (Fh00) of NN templates was understood by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results. The degree of (100) orientation of as synthesized NN templates (~57%) was found to be increased (~89%) after ultrasonication. Moreover, the microstructure i.e. alignment / shape of as synthesized NN templates was changed from rectangular (110) orientation to square (100) orientation geometry after ultrasonication. Hence, ultrasonication is a cost effective approach to preparing the textured piezoelectric ceramics by the template grain growth technique using tape casting.

Pre-operative digital templating in cemented hip hemiarthroplasty for neck of femur fractures.

PubMed

Kwok, Iris H Y; Pallett, Scott J C; Massa, Edward; Cundall-Curry, Duncan; Loeffler, Mark D

2016-03-01

Pre-operative digital templating allows the surgeon to foresee any anatomical anomalies which may lead to intra-operative problems, and anticipate appropriate instruments and implants required during surgery. Although its role is well-established in successful elective total hip arthroplasty, little work has been done on its use in hip hemiarthroplasty in neck of femur fractures. We describe our initial experience of digital templating in 40 consecutive patients who have undergone cemented hip hemiarthroplasty, assessing templating accuracy between templated implant sizes to actual implant sizes. 81% of implanted heads were templated to within two head sizes, and 89% of implanted stems were templated to within two sizes. Although there was a moderately strong correlation of 0.52 between templated and actual head sizes, this correlation was not demonstrated in femoral stem sizes. Mean leg length discrepancy was -2.5mm (S.D. 8.5), and the mean difference in femoral offset between the operated and non-operated hip was -1mm (S.D. 4.4). Digital templating is a useful adjunct to the surgeon in pre-operative planning of hip hemiarthroplasty in the restoration of leg length and femoral offset. However, its accuracy is inferior to that of elective total hip arthroplasty. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Metallization of Self-Assembled DNA Templates for Electronic Circuit Fabrication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uprety, Bibek

This work examines the deposition of metallic and semiconductor elements onto self-assembled DNA templates for the fabrication of nanodevices. Biological molecules like DNA self-assemble into a variety of 2- and 3-D architectures without the need for patterning tools. The templates can also be designed to controllably place functional nanomaterials with molecular precision. These characteristics make DNA an attractive template for fabricating electronic circuits. However, electrically conductive structures are needed for electronic applications. While metallized DNA nanostructures have been demonstrated, the ability to make thin, continuous wires that are electrically conductive still represents a formidable challenge. DNA-templated wires have generally been granular in appearance with a resistivity approximately two to three orders of magnitude higher than that of the bulk material. An improved method for the metallization of DNA origami is examined in this work that addresses these challenges of size, morphology and conductivity of the metallized structure. Specifically, we demonstrated a metallization process that uses gold nanorod seeds followed by anisotropic electroless (autocatalytic) plating to provide improved morphology and greater control of the final metallized width of conducting metal lines. Growth during electroless deposition occurs preferentially in the length direction at a rate that is approximately four times the growth rate in the width direction, which enables fabrication of narrow, continuous wires. The electrical properties of 49 nanowires with widths ranging from 13 nm to 29 nm were characterized, and resistivity values as low as 8.9 x 10-7 -m were measured, which represent some of the smallest nanowires and the lowest resistivity values reported in the literature. The metallization procedure developed on smaller templates was also successfully applied to metallize bigger DNA templates of tens of micrometers in length. In addition, a

Comparison of five-axis milling and rapid prototyping for implant surgical templates.

PubMed

Park, Ji-Man; Yi, Tae-Kyoung; Koak, Jai-Young; Kim, Seong-Kyoon; Park, Eun-Jin; Heo, Seong-Joo

2014-01-01

This study aims to compare and evaluate the accuracy of surgical templates fabricated using coordinate synchronization processing with five-axis milling and design-related processing with rapid prototyping (RP). Master phantoms with 10 embedded gutta-percha cylinders hidden under artificial gingiva were fabricated and imaged using cone beam computed tomography. Vectors of the hidden cylinders were extracted and transferred to those of the planned implants through reverse engineering using virtual planning software. An RP-produced template was fabricated by stereolithography in photopolymer at the RP center according to planned data. Metal sleeves were bonded after holes were bored (group RP). For the milled template, milling coordinates were synchronized using the conversion process for the coordinate synchronization platform located on the model's bottom. Metal bushings were set on holes milled on the five-axis milling machine, on which the model was fixed through the coordinate synchronization plate, and the framework was constructed on the model using orthodontic resin (group CS). A computed tomography image was taken with templates firmly fixed on models using anchor pins (RP) or anchor screws (CS). The accuracy was analyzed via reverse engineering. Differences between the two groups were compared by repeated measures two-factor analysis. From the reverse-engineered image of the template on the experimental model, RP-produced templates showed significantly larger deviations than did milled surgical guides. Maximum deviations of the group RP were 1.58 mm (horizontal), 1.68 mm (vertical), and 8.51 degrees (angular); those of the group CS were 0.68 mm (horizontal), 0.41 mm (vertical), and 3.23 degrees (angular). A comparison of milling and RP template production methods showed that a vector-milled surgical guide had significantly smaller deviations than did an RP-produced template. The accuracy of computer-guided milled surgical templates was within the safety

Controlling the anodizing conditions in preparation of an nanoporous anodic aluminium oxide template

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nazemi, Azadeh; Abolfazl, Seyed; Sadjadi, Seyed

2014-12-01

Porous anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) template is commonly used in the synthesis of one-dimensional nanostructures, such as nanowires and nanorods, due to its simple fabrication process. Controlling the anodizing conditions is important because of their direct influence on the size of AAO template pores; it affects the size of nanostructures that are fabricated in AAO template. In present study, several alumina templates were fabricated by a two-step electrochemical anodization in different conditions, such as the time of first process, its voltage, and electrolyte concentration. The effect of these factors on pore diameters of AAO templates was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Effect of migration in a diffusion model for template coexistence in protocells.

PubMed

Fontanari, José F; Serva, Maurizio

2014-03-01

The compartmentalization of distinct templates in protocells and the exchange of templates between them (migration) are key elements of a modern scenario for prebiotic evolution. Here we use the diffusion approximation of population genetics to study analytically the steady-state properties of such a prebiotic scenario. The coexistence of distinct template types inside a protocell is achieved by a selective pressure at the protocell level (group selection) favoring protocells with a mixed template composition. In the degenerate case, where the templates have the same replication rate, we find that a vanishingly small migration rate suffices to eliminate the segregation effect of random drift and so to promote coexistence. In the nondegenerate case, a small migration rate greatly boosts coexistence as compared with the situation where there is no migration. However, increase of the migration rate beyond a critical value leads to the complete dominance of the more efficient template type (homogeneous regime). In this case, we find a continuous phase transition separating the homogeneous and the coexistence regimes, with the order parameter vanishing linearly with the distance to the transition point.

Morphology-preserving chemical conversion of bioorganic and inorganic templates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vernon, Jonathan Paul

The generation of nanostructured assemblies with complex (three-dimensional, 3D) self-assembled morphologies and with complex (multicomponent) tailorable inorganic compositions is of considerable technological and scientific interest. This dissertation demonstrates self-assembled 3D organic templates of biogenic origin can be converted into replicas comprised of numerous other functional nanocrystalline inorganic materials. Nature provides a spectacular variety of biologically-assembled 3D organic structures with intricate, hierarchical (macro-to-micro-to-nanoscale) morphologies. Such processing on readily-available structurally complex templates provides a framework for chemical conversion of synthetic organic templates and, potentially, production of organic/inorganic composites. Four specific research thrusts are detailed in this document. First, chemical conversion of a nanostructured bioorganic template into a multicomponent oxide compound (tetragonal BaTiO3) via SSG coating and subsequent morphology-preserving microwave hydrothermal processing is demonstrated. Second, morphology-preserving chemical conversion of bioorganic templates into hierarchical photoluminescent microparticles is demonstrated to reveal both the dramatic change in properties such processing can provide, and the potential utility of chemically transformed templates in anti-counterfeiting / authentication applications. Third, determination of the reaction mechanism(s) for morphology-preserving microwave hydrothermal conversion of TiO2 to BaTiO3, through Au inert markers on single crystal rutile titania, is detailed. Finally, utilization of constructive coating techniques (SSG) and moderate temperature (< 500°C) heat treatments to modify and replicate structural color is coupled with deconstructive focused ion beam microsurgery to prepare samples for microscale structure interrogation. Specifically, the effects of coating thickness and composition on reflection spectra of structurally

Action video game play facilitates the development of better perceptual templates.

PubMed

Bejjanki, Vikranth R; Zhang, Ruyuan; Li, Renjie; Pouget, Alexandre; Green, C Shawn; Lu, Zhong-Lin; Bavelier, Daphne

2014-11-25

The field of perceptual learning has identified changes in perceptual templates as a powerful mechanism mediating the learning of statistical regularities in our environment. By measuring threshold-vs.-contrast curves using an orientation identification task under varying levels of external noise, the perceptual template model (PTM) allows one to disentangle various sources of signal-to-noise changes that can alter performance. We use the PTM approach to elucidate the mechanism that underlies the wide range of improvements noted after action video game play. We show that action video game players make use of improved perceptual templates compared with nonvideo game players, and we confirm a causal role for action video game play in inducing such improvements through a 50-h training study. Then, by adapting a recent neural model to this task, we demonstrate how such improved perceptual templates can arise from reweighting the connectivity between visual areas. Finally, we establish that action gamers do not enter the perceptual task with improved perceptual templates. Instead, although performance in action gamers is initially indistinguishable from that of nongamers, action gamers more rapidly learn the proper template as they experience the task. Taken together, our results establish for the first time to our knowledge the development of enhanced perceptual templates following action game play. Because such an improvement can facilitate the inference of the proper generative model for the task at hand, unlike perceptual learning that is quite specific, it thus elucidates a general learning mechanism that can account for the various behavioral benefits noted after action game play.

Action video game play facilitates the development of better perceptual templates

PubMed Central

Bejjanki, Vikranth R.; Zhang, Ruyuan; Li, Renjie; Pouget, Alexandre; Green, C. Shawn; Lu, Zhong-Lin; Bavelier, Daphne

2014-01-01

The field of perceptual learning has identified changes in perceptual templates as a powerful mechanism mediating the learning of statistical regularities in our environment. By measuring threshold-vs.-contrast curves using an orientation identification task under varying levels of external noise, the perceptual template model (PTM) allows one to disentangle various sources of signal-to-noise changes that can alter performance. We use the PTM approach to elucidate the mechanism that underlies the wide range of improvements noted after action video game play. We show that action video game players make use of improved perceptual templates compared with nonvideo game players, and we confirm a causal role for action video game play in inducing such improvements through a 50-h training study. Then, by adapting a recent neural model to this task, we demonstrate how such improved perceptual templates can arise from reweighting the connectivity between visual areas. Finally, we establish that action gamers do not enter the perceptual task with improved perceptual templates. Instead, although performance in action gamers is initially indistinguishable from that of nongamers, action gamers more rapidly learn the proper template as they experience the task. Taken together, our results establish for the first time to our knowledge the development of enhanced perceptual templates following action game play. Because such an improvement can facilitate the inference of the proper generative model for the task at hand, unlike perceptual learning that is quite specific, it thus elucidates a general learning mechanism that can account for the various behavioral benefits noted after action game play. PMID:25385590

Liquid foam templating - A route to tailor-made polymer foams.

PubMed

Andrieux, Sébastien; Quell, Aggeliki; Stubenrauch, Cosima; Drenckhan, Wiebke

2018-06-01

Solid foams with pore sizes between a few micrometres and a few millimetres are heavily exploited in a wide range of established and emerging applications. While the optimisation of foam applications requires a fine control over their structural properties (pore size distribution, pore opening, foam density, …), the great complexity of most foaming processes still defies a sound scientific understanding and therefore explicit control and prediction of these parameters. We therefore need to improve our understanding of existing processes and also develop new fabrication routes which we understand and which we can exploit to tailor-make new porous materials. One of these new routes is liquid templating in general and liquid foam templating in particular, to which this review article is dedicated. While all solid foams are generated from an initially liquid(-like) state, the particular notion of liquid foam templating implies the specific condition that the liquid foam has time to find its "equilibrium structure" before it is solidified. In other words, the characteristic time scales of the liquid foam's stability and its solidification are well separated, allowing to build on the vast know-how on liquid foams established over the last 20 years. The dispersed phase of the liquid foam determines the final pore size and pore size distribution, while the continuous phase contains the precursors of the desired porous scaffold. We review here the three key challenges which need to be addressed by this approach: (1) the control of the structure of the liquid template, (2) the matching of the time scales between the stability of the liquid template and solidification, and (3) the preservation of the structure of the template throughout the process. Focusing on the field of polymer foams, this review gives an overview of recent research on the properties of liquid foam templates and summarises a key set of studies in the emerging field of liquid foam templating. It

Partial bisulfite conversion for unique template sequencing

PubMed Central

Kumar, Vijay; Rosenbaum, Julie; Wang, Zihua; Forcier, Talitha; Ronemus, Michael; Wigler, Michael

2018-01-01

Abstract We introduce a new protocol, mutational sequencing or muSeq, which uses sodium bisulfite to randomly deaminate unmethylated cytosines at a fixed and tunable rate. The muSeq protocol marks each initial template molecule with a unique mutation signature that is present in every copy of the template, and in every fragmented copy of a copy. In the sequenced read data, this signature is observed as a unique pattern of C-to-T or G-to-A nucleotide conversions. Clustering reads with the same conversion pattern enables accurate count and long-range assembly of initial template molecules from short-read sequence data. We explore count and low-error sequencing by profiling 135 000 restriction fragments in a PstI representation, demonstrating that muSeq improves copy number inference and significantly reduces sporadic sequencer error. We explore long-range assembly in the context of cDNA, generating contiguous transcript clusters greater than 3,000 bp in length. The muSeq assemblies reveal transcriptional diversity not observable from short-read data alone. PMID:29161423

Reducing Individual Variation for fMRI Studies in Children by Minimizing Template Related Errors

PubMed Central

Weng, Jian; Dong, Shanshan; He, Hongjian; Chen, Feiyan; Peng, Xiaogang

2015-01-01

Spatial normalization is an essential process for group comparisons in functional MRI studies. In practice, there is a risk of normalization errors particularly in studies involving children, seniors or diseased populations and in regions with high individual variation. One way to minimize normalization errors is to create a study-specific template based on a large sample size. However, studies with a large sample size are not always feasible, particularly for children studies. The performance of templates with a small sample size has not been evaluated in fMRI studies in children. In the current study, this issue was encountered in a working memory task with 29 children in two groups. We compared the performance of different templates: a study-specific template created by the experimental population, a Chinese children template and the widely used adult MNI template. We observed distinct differences in the right orbitofrontal region among the three templates in between-group comparisons. The study-specific template and the Chinese children template were more sensitive for the detection of between-group differences in the orbitofrontal cortex than the MNI template. Proper templates could effectively reduce individual variation. Further analysis revealed a correlation between the BOLD contrast size and the norm index of the affine transformation matrix, i.e., the SFN, which characterizes the difference between a template and a native image and differs significantly across subjects. Thereby, we proposed and tested another method to reduce individual variation that included the SFN as a covariate in group-wise statistics. This correction exhibits outstanding performance in enhancing detection power in group-level tests. A training effect of abacus-based mental calculation was also demonstrated, with significantly elevated activation in the right orbitofrontal region that correlated with behavioral response time across subjects in the trained group. PMID:26207985

Nano-encapsulation of fish oil in nano-liposomes and its application in fortification of yogurt.

PubMed

Ghorbanzade, Tahere; Jafari, Seid Mahdi; Akhavan, Sahar; Hadavi, Roxana

2017-02-01

Fish oils have many dietary benefits, but due to their strong odors and rapid deterioration, their application in food formulations is limited. For these reasons, nano-liposome was used to nano-encapsulate fish oil in this study and encapsulated fish oil was utilized in fortifying yogurt. Physicochemical properties of produced yogurt including pH, acidity, syneresis, fatty acid composition, peroxide value as well as sensory tests were investigated during three weeks storage at 4°C. Nano-liposome encapsulation resulted in a significant reduction in acidity, syneresis and peroxide value. The results of gas chromatography analyses revealed that after 21days storage, yogurt fortified with nano-encapsulated fish oil had a higher DHA and EPA contents than yogurt containing free fish oil. Overall, the results of this study indicates that adding nano-encapsulated fish oil into yogurt gave closer characteristics to control sample in terms of sensory characteristics than yogurt fortified with free fish oil. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New immobilisation protocol for the template used in solid-phase synthesis of MIP nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Lu; Muhammad, Turghun; Yakup, Burabiye; Piletsky, Sergey A.

2017-06-01

As a novel imprinting method, solid-phase synthesis has proven to be a promising approach to prepare polymer nanoparticles with specific recognition sites for a template molecule. In this method, imprinted polymer nanoparticles were synthesized using template immobilized on a solid support. Herein, preparation of immobilized templates on quartz chips through homogeneous route was reported as an efficient alternative strategy to heterogeneous one. The template molecule indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) was reacted with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) to produce silylated template (IBA-APTES), and it was characterized by IR, 1H NMR and GC-MS. Then, the silylated template molecule was grafted onto the activated surfaces of quartz chip to prepare immobilized template (SiO2@IBA-APTES). The immobilization was confirmed by contact angle, XPS, UV and fluorescence measurement. Immobilization protocol has shown good reproducibility and stability of the immobilized template. MIP nanoparticles were prepared with high selectivity toward the molecule immobilized onto the solid surface. This provides a new approach for the development of molecularly imprinted nanoparticles.

Superconducting properties of Nb-Cu nano-composites and nano-alloys

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Parab, Pradnya, E-mail: pradnyaprb@gmail.com; Kumar, Sanjeev; Bhui, Prabhjyot

The evolution of the superconducting transition temperature (T{sub c}) in nano-composite and nano-alloys of Nb-Cu, grown by DC magnetron co-sputtering are investigated. Microstructure of these films depends less strongly on the ratio of Nb:Cu but more on the growth temperature. At higher growth temperature, phase separated granular films of Nb and Cu were formed which showed superconducting transition temperatures (T{sub c}) of ~ 7.2±0.5 K, irrespective of the composition. Our results show that this is primarily influenced by the microstructure of the films determined during growth which rules out the superconducting proximity effect expected in these systems. At room temperaturemore » growth, films with nano-scale alloying were obtained at the optimal compositional range of 45-70 atomic% (At%) of Nb. These were also superconducting with a T{sub c} of 3.2 K.« less

Mechano-micro/nano systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horie, Mikio

2004-10-01

In recent years, the researches about Micro/Nano Systems are down actively in the bio-medical research fields, DNA research fields, chemical analysis systems fields, etc. In the results, a new materials and new functions in the systems are developed. In this invited paper, Mechano-Micro/Nano Systems, especially, motion systems are introduced. First, the research activities concerning the Mechano-Micro/Nano Systems in the world(MST2003, MEMS2003 and MEMS2004) and in Japan(Researech Projects on Nanotechnology and Materials in Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) are shown. Secondary, my research activities are introduced. As my research activities, (1) a comb-drive static actuator for the motion convert mechanisms, (2) a micro-nano fabrication method by use of FAB(Fast Atom Beam) machines, (3) a micro optical mirror manipulator for inputs-outputs optical switches, (4) a miniature pantograph mechanism with large-deflective hinges and links made of plastics are discussed and their performances are explained.

Nano-composite materials

DOEpatents

Lee, Se-Hee; Tracy, C. Edwin; Pitts, J. Roland

2010-05-25

Nano-composite materials are disclosed. An exemplary method of producing a nano-composite material may comprise co-sputtering a transition metal and a refractory metal in a reactive atmosphere. The method may also comprise co-depositing a transition metal and a refractory metal composite structure on a substrate. The method may further comprise thermally annealing the deposited transition metal and refractory metal composite structure in a reactive atmosphere.

Template-directed deposition of amyloid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ha, Chanki

The formation of amyloid plaques in tissue is a pathological feature of many neurodegenerative diseases. Amyloid deposition, the process of amyloid plaque growth by the association of individual soluble amyloid molecules with a pre-existing amyloid template (i.e. plaque), is known to be critical for amyloid formation in vivo. In order to characterize amyloid deposition, we developed novel, synthetic amyloid templates like amyloid plaques in the human Alzheimer's brain by attaching amyloid seeds covalently onto an N-hydroxysuccinimide-activated surface. Amyloid plaques with a characteristic beta-sheet structure formed through a conformational rearrangement of soluble insulin or Abeta monomers upon interaction with the template. The amyloid deposition rate followed saturation kinetics with respect to insulin concentration in the solution. According to visualization of temporal evolution of Abeta plaque deposition on a template, it was found that mature amyloid plaques serve as a sink of soluble Abeta in a solution as well as a reservoir of small aggregates such as oligomers and protofibrils. Quantitative analysis of seeding efficiencies of three different Abeta species revealed that oligomeric forms of Abeta act more efficiently as seeds than monomers or fibrils do. Furthermore, studies on the interaction between Abeta40 and 42 showed an important role of Abeta42 in amyloid deposition. A slightly acidic condition was found to be unfavorable for amyloid plaque formation. Effects of metal ions on amyloid deposition indicated that Fe3+, but not Cu3 and Zn2+, is important for the deposition of amyloid plaques. The binding of Fe3+ to Abeta42 peptide was confirmed by using SIMS analysis. Zn2+ induced nonfibrillar amorphous aggregates, but the release of Zn2+ from Abeta42 deposits by Fe3+ triggered the formation of amyloid fibers. Effects or metal ion chelators such as ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid, deferoxamine, and clioquinol on amyloid deposition were tested to

Nano Mechanical Machining Using AFM Probe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mostofa, Md. Golam

Complex miniaturized components with high form accuracy will play key roles in the future development of many products, as they provide portability, disposability, lower material consumption in production, low power consumption during operation, lower sample requirements for testing, and higher heat transfer due to their very high surface-to-volume ratio. Given the high market demand for such micro and nano featured components, different manufacturing methods have been developed for their fabrication. Some of the common technologies in micro/nano fabrication are photolithography, electron beam lithography, X-ray lithography and other semiconductor processing techniques. Although these methods are capable of fabricating micro/nano structures with a resolution of less than a few nanometers, some of the shortcomings associated with these methods, such as high production costs for customized products, limited material choices, necessitate the development of other fabricating techniques. Micro/nano mechanical machining, such an atomic force microscope (AFM) probe based nano fabrication, has, therefore, been used to overcome some the major restrictions of the traditional processes. This technique removes material from the workpiece by engaging micro/nano size cutting tool (i.e. AFM probe) and is applicable on a wider range of materials compared to the photolithographic process. In spite of the unique benefits of nano mechanical machining, there are also some challenges with this technique, since the scale is reduced, such as size effects, burr formations, chip adhesions, fragility of tools and tool wear. Moreover, AFM based machining does not have any rotational movement, which makes fabrication of 3D features more difficult. Thus, vibration-assisted machining is introduced into AFM probe based nano mechanical machining to overcome the limitations associated with the conventional AFM probe based scratching method. Vibration-assisted machining reduced the cutting forces

Preformed template fluctuations promote fibril formation: Insights from lattice and all-atom models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kouza, Maksim, E-mail: mkouza@chem.uw.edu.pl; Kolinski, Andrzej; Co, Nguyen Truong

2015-04-14

Fibril formation resulting from protein misfolding and aggregation is a hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Despite the fact that the fibril formation process is very slow and thus poses a significant challenge for theoretical and experimental studies, a number of alternative pictures of molecular mechanisms of amyloid fibril formation have been recently proposed. What seems to be common for the majority of the proposed models is that fibril elongation involves the formation of pre-nucleus seeds prior to the creation of a critical nucleus. Once the size of the pre-nucleus seed reaches the critical nucleusmore » size, its thermal fluctuations are expected to be small and the resulting nucleus provides a template for sequential (one-by-one) accommodation of added monomers. The effect of template fluctuations on fibril formation rates has not been explored either experimentally or theoretically so far. In this paper, we make the first attempt at solving this problem by two sets of simulations. To mimic small template fluctuations, in one set, monomers of the preformed template are kept fixed, while in the other set they are allowed to fluctuate. The kinetics of addition of a new peptide onto the template is explored using all-atom simulations with explicit water and the GROMOS96 43a1 force field and simple lattice models. Our result demonstrates that preformed template fluctuations can modulate protein aggregation rates and pathways. The association of a nascent monomer with the template obeys the kinetics partitioning mechanism where the intermediate state occurs in a fraction of routes to the protofibril. It was shown that template immobility greatly increases the time of incorporating a new peptide into the preformed template compared to the fluctuating template case. This observation has also been confirmed by simulation using lattice models and may be invoked to understand the role of template

Looking sharp: Becoming a search template boosts precision and stability in visual working memory.

PubMed

Rajsic, Jason; Ouslis, Natasha E; Wilson, Daryl E; Pratt, Jay

2017-08-01

Visual working memory (VWM) plays a central role in visual cognition, and current work suggests that there is a special state in VWM for items that are the goal of visual searches. However, whether the quality of memory for target templates differs from memory for other items in VWM is currently unknown. In this study, we measured the precision and stability of memory for search templates and accessory items to determine whether search templates receive representational priority in VWM. Memory for search templates exhibited increased precision and probability of recall, whereas accessory items were remembered less often. Additionally, while memory for Templates showed benefits when instances of the Template appeared in search, this benefit was not consistently observed for Accessory items when they appeared in search. Our results show that becoming a search template can substantially affect the quality of a representation in VWM.

Nanos genes and their role in development and beyond.

PubMed

De Keuckelaere, Evi; Hulpiau, Paco; Saeys, Yvan; Berx, Geert; van Roy, Frans

2018-06-01

The hallmark of Nanos proteins is their typical (CCHC) 2 zinc finger motif (zf-nanos). Animals have one to four nanos genes. For example, the fruit fly and demosponge have only one nanos gene, zebrafish and humans have three, and Fugu rubripes has four. Nanos genes are mainly known for their evolutionarily preserved role in germ cell survival and pluripotency. Nanos proteins have been reported to bind the C-terminal RNA-binding domain of Pumilio to form a post-transcriptional repressor complex. Several observations point to a link between the miRNA-mediated repression complex and the Nanos/Pumilio complex. Repression of the E2F3 oncogene product is, indeed, mediated by cooperation between the Nanos/Pumilio complex and miRNAs. Another important interaction partner of Nanos is the CCR4-NOT deadenylase complex. Besides the tissue-specific contribution of Nanos proteins to normal development, their ectopic expression has been observed in several cancer cell lines and various human cancers. An inverse correlation between the expression levels of human Nanos1 and Nanos3 and E-cadherin was observed in several cancer cell lines. Loss of E-cadherin, an important cell-cell adhesion protein, contributes to tumor invasion and metastasis. Overexpression of Nanos3 induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition in lung cancer cell lines partly by repressing E-cadherin. Other than some most interesting data from Nanos knockout mice, little is known about mammalian Nanos proteins, and further research is needed. In this review, we summarize the main roles of Nanos proteins and discuss the emerging concept of Nanos proteins as oncofetal antigens.

Dynamic probabilistic material flow analysis of nano-SiO2, nano iron oxides, nano-CeO2, nano-Al2O3, and quantum dots in seven European regions.

PubMed

Wang, Yan; Nowack, Bernd

2018-04-01

Static environmental exposure assessment models based on material flow analysis (MFA) have previously been used to estimate flows of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) to the environment. However, such models do not account for changes in the system behavior over time. Dynamic MFA used in this study includes the time-dependent development of the modelling system by considering accumulation of ENMs in stocks and the environment, and the dynamic release of ENMs from nano-products. In addition, this study also included regional variations in population, waste management systems, and environmental compartments, which subsequently influence the environmental release and concentrations of ENMs. We have estimated the flows and release concentrations of nano-SiO 2 , nano-iron oxides, nano-CeO 2 , nano-Al 2 O 3 , and quantum dots in the EU and six geographical sub-regions in Europe (Central Europe, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, South-eastern Europe, and Switzerland). The model predicts that a large amount of ENMs are accumulated in stocks (not considering further transformation). For example, in the EU 2040 Mt of nano-SiO 2 are stored in the in-use stock, 80,400 tonnes have been accumulated in sediments and 65,600 tonnes in natural and urban soil from 1990 to 2014. The magnitude of flows in waste management processes in different regions varies because of differences in waste handling. For example, concentrations in landfilled waste are lowest in South-eastern Europe due to dilution by the high amount of landfilled waste in the region. The flows predicted in this work can serve as improved input data for mechanistic environmental fate models and risk assessment studies compared to previous estimates using static models. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improved dielectric functions in metallic films obtained via template stripping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hyuk Park, Jong; Nagpal, Prashant; Oh, Sang-Hyun; Norris, David J.

2012-02-01

We compare the dielectric functions of silver interfaces obtained via thermal evaporation with those obtained with template stripping. Ellipsometry measurements show that the smoother template-stripped surfaces exhibit effective dielectric functions with a more negative real component and a smaller imaginary component, implying higher conductivity and less energy loss, respectively. These results agree with the relation between dielectric function and surface roughness derived from combining the effective-medium model and the Drude-Lorentz model. The improvement in the effective dielectric properties shows that metallic films prepared via template stripping can be favorable for applications in electronics, nanophotonics, and plasmonics.

A Stochastic Point Cloud Sampling Method for Multi-Template Protein Comparative Modeling.

PubMed

Li, Jilong; Cheng, Jianlin

2016-05-10

Generating tertiary structural models for a target protein from the known structure of its homologous template proteins and their pairwise sequence alignment is a key step in protein comparative modeling. Here, we developed a new stochastic point cloud sampling method, called MTMG, for multi-template protein model generation. The method first superposes the backbones of template structures, and the Cα atoms of the superposed templates form a point cloud for each position of a target protein, which are represented by a three-dimensional multivariate normal distribution. MTMG stochastically resamples the positions for Cα atoms of the residues whose positions are uncertain from the distribution, and accepts or rejects new position according to a simulated annealing protocol, which effectively removes atomic clashes commonly encountered in multi-template comparative modeling. We benchmarked MTMG on 1,033 sequence alignments generated for CASP9, CASP10 and CASP11 targets, respectively. Using multiple templates with MTMG improves the GDT-TS score and TM-score of structural models by 2.96-6.37% and 2.42-5.19% on the three datasets over using single templates. MTMG's performance was comparable to Modeller in terms of GDT-TS score, TM-score, and GDT-HA score, while the average RMSD was improved by a new sampling approach. The MTMG software is freely available at: http://sysbio.rnet.missouri.edu/multicom_toolbox/mtmg.html.

A Stochastic Point Cloud Sampling Method for Multi-Template Protein Comparative Modeling

PubMed Central

Li, Jilong; Cheng, Jianlin

2016-01-01

Generating tertiary structural models for a target protein from the known structure of its homologous template proteins and their pairwise sequence alignment is a key step in protein comparative modeling. Here, we developed a new stochastic point cloud sampling method, called MTMG, for multi-template protein model generation. The method first superposes the backbones of template structures, and the Cα atoms of the superposed templates form a point cloud for each position of a target protein, which are represented by a three-dimensional multivariate normal distribution. MTMG stochastically resamples the positions for Cα atoms of the residues whose positions are uncertain from the distribution, and accepts or rejects new position according to a simulated annealing protocol, which effectively removes atomic clashes commonly encountered in multi-template comparative modeling. We benchmarked MTMG on 1,033 sequence alignments generated for CASP9, CASP10 and CASP11 targets, respectively. Using multiple templates with MTMG improves the GDT-TS score and TM-score of structural models by 2.96–6.37% and 2.42–5.19% on the three datasets over using single templates. MTMG’s performance was comparable to Modeller in terms of GDT-TS score, TM-score, and GDT-HA score, while the average RMSD was improved by a new sampling approach. The MTMG software is freely available at: http://sysbio.rnet.missouri.edu/multicom_toolbox/mtmg.html. PMID:27161489

External and semi-internal controls for PCR amplification of homologous sequences in mixed templates.

PubMed

Kalle, Elena; Gulevich, Alexander; Rensing, Christopher

2013-11-01

In a mixed template, the presence of homologous target DNA sequences creates environments that almost inevitably give rise to artifacts and biases during PCR. Heteroduplexes, chimeras, and skewed template-to-product ratios are the exclusive attributes of mixed template PCR and never occur in a single template assay. Yet, multi-template PCR has been used without appropriate attention to quality control and assay validation, in spite of the fact that such practice diminishes the reliability of results. External and internal amplification controls became obligatory elements of good laboratory practice in different PCR assays. We propose the inclusion of an analogous approach as a quality control system for multi-template PCR applications. The amplification controls must take into account the characteristics of multi-template PCR and be able to effectively monitor particular assay performance. This study demonstrated the efficiency of a model mixed template as an adequate external amplification control for a particular PCR application. The conditions of multi-template PCR do not allow implementation of a classic internal control; therefore we developed a convenient semi-internal control as an acceptable alternative. In order to evaluate the effects of inhibitors, a model multi-template mix was amplified in a mixture with DNAse-treated sample. Semi-internal control allowed establishment of intervals for robust PCR performance for different samples, thus enabling correct comparison of the samples. The complexity of the external and semi-internal amplification controls must be comparable with the assumed complexity of the samples. We also emphasize that amplification controls should be applied in multi-template PCR regardless of the post-assay method used to analyze products. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Minimum ignition energy of nano and micro Ti powder in the presence of inert nano TiO₂ powder.

PubMed

Chunmiao, Yuan; Amyotte, Paul R; Hossain, Md Nur; Li, Chang

2014-06-15

The inerting effect of nano-sized TiO2 powder on ignition sensitivity of nano and micro Ti powders was investigated with a Mike 3 apparatus. "A little is not good enough" is also suitable for micro Ti powders mixed with nano-sized solid inertants. MIE of the mixtures did not significantly increase until the TiO2 percentage exceeded 50%. Nano-sized TiO2 powders were ineffective as an inertant when mixed with nano Ti powders, especially at higher dust loadings. Even with 90% nano TiO2 powder, mixtures still showed high ignition sensitivity because the statistic energy was as low as 2.1 mJ. Layer fires induced by ignited but unburned metal particles may occur for micro Ti powders mixed with nano TiO2 powders following a low level dust explosion. Such layer fires could lead to a violent dust explosion after a second dispersion. Thus, additional attention is needed to prevent metallic layer fires even where electric spark potential is low. In the case of nano Ti powder, no layer fires were observed because of less flammable material involved in the mixtures investigated, and faster flame propagation in nanoparticle clouds. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Template-Based 3D Reconstruction of Non-rigid Deformable Object from Monocular Video

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yang; Peng, Xiaodong; Zhou, Wugen; Liu, Bo; Gerndt, Andreas

2018-06-01

In this paper, we propose a template-based 3D surface reconstruction system of non-rigid deformable objects from monocular video sequence. Firstly, we generate a semi-dense template of the target object with structure from motion method using a subsequence video. This video can be captured by rigid moving camera orienting the static target object or by a static camera observing the rigid moving target object. Then, with the reference template mesh as input and based on the framework of classical template-based methods, we solve an energy minimization problem to get the correspondence between the template and every frame to get the time-varying mesh to present the deformation of objects. The energy terms combine photometric cost, temporal and spatial smoothness cost as well as as-rigid-as-possible cost which can enable elastic deformation. In this paper, an easy and controllable solution to generate the semi-dense template for complex objects is presented. Besides, we use an effective iterative Schur based linear solver for the energy minimization problem. The experimental evaluation presents qualitative deformation objects reconstruction results with real sequences. Compare against the results with other templates as input, the reconstructions based on our template have more accurate and detailed results for certain regions. The experimental results show that the linear solver we used performs better efficiency compared to traditional conjugate gradient based solver.

Anticipatory Eye Movements in Interleaving Templates of Human Behavior

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matessa, Michael

2004-01-01

Performance modeling has been made easier by architectures which package psychological theory for reuse at useful levels of abstraction. CPM-GOMS uses templates of behavior to package at a task level (e.g., mouse move-click, typing) predictions of lower-level cognitive, perceptual, and motor resource use. CPM-GOMS also has a theory for interleaving resource use between templates. One example of interleaving is anticipatory eye movements. This paper describes the use of ACT-Stitch, a framework for translating CPM-GOMS templates and interleaving theory into ACT-R, to model anticipatory eye movements in skilled behavior. The anticipatory eye movements explain performance in a well-practiced perceptual/motor task, and the interleaving theory is supported with results from an eye-tracking experiment.

Sub-diffraction nano manipulation using STED AFM.

PubMed

Chacko, Jenu Varghese; Canale, Claudio; Harke, Benjamin; Diaspro, Alberto

2013-01-01

In the last two decades, nano manipulation has been recognized as a potential tool of scientific interest especially in nanotechnology and nano-robotics. Contemporary optical microscopy (super resolution) techniques have also reached the nanometer scale resolution to visualize this and hence a combination of super resolution aided nano manipulation ineluctably gives a new perspective to the scenario. Here we demonstrate how specificity and rapid determination of structures provided by stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscope can aid another microscopic tool with capability of mechanical manoeuvring, like an atomic force microscope (AFM) to get topological information or to target nano scaled materials. We also give proof of principle on how high-resolution real time visualization can improve nano manipulation capability within a dense sample, and how STED-AFM is an optimal combination for this job. With these evidences, this article points to future precise nano dissections and maybe even to a nano-snooker game with an AFM tip and fluorospheres.

New equipment the ion beam irradiation equipment installed at ISAS / JAXA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakauchi, Yusuke; Matsumoto, Toru; Asada, Yuma; Abe, Masanao; Tsuchiyama, Akira; Takigawa, Aki; Watanabe, Naoki; Yusuke Nakauchi

2017-10-01

Understanding of the space weathering effect by the solar wind implantation is thought to be important for the interpretation of the reflectance spectra on the airless body’s surface [e.g. 1]. It is important to elucidate the space weathering effect by hydrogen ions and helium ions which account for most of solar wind. In particular, it is suggested that the solar wind protons interact with the minerals in the surface layer of the airless bodies to form OH and H2O. To understanding the space weathering effect by solar wind protons will be an important clue to reveal the origin and the abundance of lunar water [e.g. 2].Solar wind consists of 95% protons, 4% helium and other ions [3]. The energy of protons is mainly 1.1 keV and the one of helium ions is mainly 4 keV. Then, we established the ion beam irradiation equipment in ISAS/JAXA. This device consists of a cold cathode ion gun, an ion irradiation chamber, a load lock chamber for specimen preparation and reflection spectrum measurement, and FTIR. The ion sources capable of irradiation are hydrogen and helium which occupy the most of solar wind and it is possible to selectively irradiate each ion with a magnetic separator. The energy can be selected from 500 eV to 5 keV. The ultimate degree of vacuum is about 10-6 Pa. The samples can move between the irradiation chamber and the load lock chamber without being exposed to the air. Moreover, since the nitrogen purge is possible for the optical path of FTIR, the influence of the adsorbed water can be ignored when measuring the reflection spectra.In this presentation, we will report the first results of the performance of ion beam irradiation equipment (e.g. beam current, beam-shape) and the proton irradiation to Sun Carlos olivine.[1] T. Noguchi et al., MPS, 49(2):188-214, 2014. [2] C.M. Pieters et al., Science, 326(5952):568-572, 2009. [3] J.T. Gosling, Encyclopedia of the Solar System (Second Edition), pages 99 -116, 2007. Acknowledgements Part of this work has

Nano-Fiber Reinforced Enhancements in Composite Polymer Matrices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chamis, Christos C.

2009-01-01

Nano-fibers are used to reinforce polymer matrices to enhance the matrix dependent properties that are subsequently used in conventional structural composites. A quasi isotropic configuration is used in arranging like nano-fibers through the thickness to ascertain equiaxial enhanced matrix behavior. The nano-fiber volume ratios are used to obtain the enhanced matrix strength properties for 0.01,0.03, and 0.05 nano-fiber volume rates. These enhanced nano-fiber matrices are used with conventional fiber volume ratios of 0.3 and 0.5 to obtain the composite properties. Results show that nano-fiber enhanced matrices of higher than 0.3 nano-fiber volume ratio are degrading the composite properties.

Effect of template in MCM-41 on the adsorption of aniline from aqueous solution.

PubMed

Yang, Xinxin; Guan, Qingxin; Li, Wei

2011-11-01

The effect of the surfactant template cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in MCM-41 on the adsorption of aniline was investigated. Various MCM-41 samples were prepared by controlling template removal using an extraction method. The samples were then used as adsorbents for the removal of aniline from aqueous solution. The results showed that the MCM-41 samples with the template partially removed (denoted as C-MCM-41) exhibited better adsorption performance than MCM-41 with the template completely removed (denoted as MCM-41). The reason for this difference may be that the C-MCM-41 samples had stronger hydrophobic properties and selectivity for aniline because of the presence of the template. The porosity and cationic sites generated by the template play an important role in the adsorption process. The optimal adsorbent with moderate template was achieved by changing the ratio of extractant; it has the potential for promising applications in the field of water pollution control. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nano-based PCMs for building energy efficiency

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Biswas, Kaushik

Thermal storage using phase change materials (PCMs) is seen as a viable method for improving the energy efficiency of buildings. PCMs have been used in building applications in various forms PCM slurries in heat exchangers, macro- or microencapsulated PCMs in building envelopes, bulk PCM for modulating photovoltaic temperatures, etc. In the last decade a new class of PCMs, called nano-enhanced PCM (or nanoPCM), has been extensively investigated with the goal of improving the heat transfer and thermal storage properties of PCMs. NanoPCMs can primarily be categorized as nano-encapsulated PCMs and nanoparticle-PCM composites. The former are nano-sized capsules in which themore » PCM forms the core and is surrounded by a high-conductivity membrane or shell. The latter consist of PCM supported within nanostructures or nanoparticles dispersed in PCMs. This article reviews the current state of nanoPCM synthesis and characterization of their heat transfer and thermal storage properties. Further, a critical review of nanoPCM applications and their potential energy benefits is performed. Nano-enhanced PCMs exhibit higher thermal conductivities than regular PCM. However, whether the higher conductivity is desirable in all applications and if the property enhancements are worth the cost and effort needed to create nanoPCMs are questions that still need to be answered.« less

Autoclave method for rapid preparation of bacterial PCR-template DNA.

PubMed

Simmon, Keith E; Steadman, Dewey D; Durkin, Sarah; Baldwin, Amy; Jeffrey, Wade H; Sheridan, Peter; Horton, Rene; Shields, Malcolm S

2004-02-01

An autoclave method for preparing bacterial DNA for PCR template is presented, it eliminates the use of detergents, organic solvents, and mechanical cellular disruption approaches, thereby significantly reducing processing time and costs while increasing reproducibility. Bacteria are lysed by rapid heating and depressurization in an autoclave. The lysate, cleared by microcentrifugation, was either used directly in the PCR reaction, or concentrated by ultrafiltration. This approach was compared with seven established methods of DNA template preparation from four bacterial sources which included boiling Triton X-100 and SDS, bead beating, lysozyme/proteinase K, and CTAB lysis method components. Bacteria examined were Enterococcus and Escherichia coli, a natural marine bacterial community and an Antarctic cyanobacterial-mat. DNAs were tested for their suitability as PCR templates by repetitive element random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis. The autoclave method produced PCR amplifiable template comparable or superior to the other methods, with greater reproducibility, much shorter processing time, and at a significantly lower cost.

A pilot study of a heuristic algorithm for novel template identification from VA electronic medical record text.

PubMed

Redd, Andrew M; Gundlapalli, Adi V; Divita, Guy; Carter, Marjorie E; Tran, Le-Thuy; Samore, Matthew H

2017-07-01

Templates in text notes pose challenges for automated information extraction algorithms. We propose a method that identifies novel templates in plain text medical notes. The identification can then be used to either include or exclude templates when processing notes for information extraction. The two-module method is based on the framework of information foraging and addresses the hypothesis that documents containing templates and the templates within those documents can be identified by common features. The first module takes documents from the corpus and groups those with common templates. This is accomplished through a binned word count hierarchical clustering algorithm. The second module extracts the templates. It uses the groupings and performs a longest common subsequence (LCS) algorithm to obtain the constituent parts of the templates. The method was developed and tested on a random document corpus of 750 notes derived from a large database of US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) electronic medical notes. The grouping module, using hierarchical clustering, identified 23 groups with 3 documents or more, consisting of 120 documents from the 750 documents in our test corpus. Of these, 18 groups had at least one common template that was present in all documents in the group for a positive predictive value of 78%. The LCS extraction module performed with 100% positive predictive value, 94% sensitivity, and 83% negative predictive value. The human review determined that in 4 groups the template covered the entire document, with the remaining 14 groups containing a common section template. Among documents with templates, the number of templates per document ranged from 1 to 14. The mean and median number of templates per group was 5.9 and 5, respectively. The grouping method was successful in finding like documents containing templates. Of the groups of documents containing templates, the LCS module was successful in deciphering text belonging to the template

Design and Fabrication of a Precision Template for Spine Surgery Using Selective Laser Melting (SLM).

PubMed

Wang, Di; Wang, Yimeng; Wang, Jianhua; Song, Changhui; Yang, Yongqiang; Zhang, Zimian; Lin, Hui; Zhen, Yongqiang; Liao, Suixiang

2016-07-22

In order to meet the clinical requirements of spine surgery, this paper proposes the fabrication of the customized template for spine surgery through computer-aided design. A 3D metal printing-selective laser melting (SLM) technique was employed to directly fabricate the 316L stainless steel template, and the metal template with tiny locating holes was used as an auxiliary tool to insert spinal screws inside the patient's body. To guarantee accurate fabrication of the template for cervical vertebra operation, the contact face was placed upwards to improve the joint quality between the template and the cervical vertebra. The joint surface of the printed template had a roughness of Ra = 13 ± 2 μm. After abrasive blasting, the surface roughness was Ra = 7 ± 0.5 μm. The surgical metal template was bound with the 3D-printed Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic model. The micro-hardness values determined at the cross-sections of SLM-processed samples varied from HV0.3 250 to HV0.3 280, and the measured tensile strength was in the range of 450 MPa to 560 MPa, which showed that the template had requisite strength. Finally, the metal template was clinically used in the patient's surgical operation, and the screws were inserted precisely as the result of using the auxiliary template. The geometrical parameters of the template hole (e.g., diameter and wall thickness) were optimized, and measures were taken to optimize the key geometrical units (e.g., hole units) in metal 3D printing. Compared to the traditional technology of screw insertion, the use of the surgical metal template enabled the screws to be inserted more easily and accurately during spinal surgery. However, the design of the high-quality template should fully take into account the clinical demands of surgeons, as well as the advice of the designing engineers and operating technicians.

Performance Evaluation of Fusing Protected Fingerprint Minutiae Templates on the Decision Level

PubMed Central

Yang, Bian; Busch, Christoph; de Groot, Koen; Xu, Haiyun; Veldhuis, Raymond N. J.

2012-01-01

In a biometric authentication system using protected templates, a pseudonymous identifier is the part of a protected template that can be directly compared. Each compared pair of pseudonymous identifiers results in a decision testing whether both identifiers are derived from the same biometric characteristic. Compared to an unprotected system, most existing biometric template protection methods cause to a certain extent degradation in biometric performance. Fusion is therefore a promising way to enhance the biometric performance in template-protected biometric systems. Compared to feature level fusion and score level fusion, decision level fusion has not only the least fusion complexity, but also the maximum interoperability across different biometric features, template protection and recognition algorithms, templates formats, and comparison score rules. However, performance improvement via decision level fusion is not obvious. It is influenced by both the dependency and the performance gap among the conducted tests for fusion. We investigate in this paper several fusion scenarios (multi-sample, multi-instance, multi-sensor, multi-algorithm, and their combinations) on the binary decision level, and evaluate their biometric performance and fusion efficiency on a multi-sensor fingerprint database with 71,994 samples. PMID:22778583

Replication of surface nano-structure of the wing of dragonfly ( Pantala Flavescens) using nano-molding and UV nanoimprint lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Joong-Yeon; Kim, Gyutae; Kim, Sungwook; Lee, Heon

2013-07-01

The hydrophobicity of a dragonfly's wing originates from the naturally occurring nano-structure on its surface. The nano-structure on a dragonfly's wing consists of an array of nano-sized pillars, 100 nm in diameter. We re-create this hydrophobicity on various substrates, such as Si, glass, curved acrylic polymer, and flexible PET film, by replicating the nano-structure using UV curable nano-imprint lithography (NIL) and PDMS molding. The success of the nano-structure duplication was confirmed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The hydrophobicity was measured by water-based contact angle measurements. The water contact angle of the replica made of UV cured polymer was 135° ± 2°, which was slightly lower than that of the original dragonfly's wing (145° ± 2°), but much higher than that of the UV cured polymer surface without any nano-sized pillars (80°). The hydrophobicity was further improved by applying a coating of Teflon-like material.

A prebiotic template-directed peptide synthesis based on amyloids.

PubMed

Rout, Saroj K; Friedmann, Michael P; Riek, Roland; Greenwald, Jason

2018-01-16

The prebiotic replication of information-coding molecules is a central problem concerning life's origins. Here, we report that amyloids composed of short peptides can direct the sequence-selective, regioselective and stereoselective condensation of amino acids. The addition of activated DL-arginine and DL-phenylalanine to the peptide RFRFR-NH 2 in the presence of the complementary template peptide Ac-FEFEFEFE-NH 2 yields the isotactic product FRFRFRFR-NH 2 , 1 of 64 possible triple addition products, under conditions in which the absence of template yields only single and double additions of mixed stereochemistry. The templating mechanism appears to be general in that a different amyloid formed by (Orn)V(Orn)V(Orn)V(Orn)V-NH 2 and Ac-VDVDVDVDV-NH 2 is regioselective and stereoselective for N-terminal, L-amino-acid addition while the ornithine-valine peptide alone yields predominantly sidechain condensation products with little stereoselectivity. Furthermore, the templating reaction is stable over a wide range of pH (5.6-8.6), salt concentration (0-4 M NaCl), and temperature (25-90 °C), making the amyloid an attractive model for a prebiotic peptide replicating system.

The Appropriateness of Language Found in Research Consent Form Templates: A Computational Linguistic Analysis.

PubMed

Villafranca, Alexander; Kereliuk, Stephanie; Hamlin, Colin; Johnson, Andrea; Jacobsohn, Eric

2017-01-01

To facilitate informed consent, consent forms should use language below the grade eight level. Research Ethics Boards (REBs) provide consent form templates to facilitate this goal. Templates with inappropriate language could promote consent forms that participants find difficult to understand. However, a linguistic analysis of templates is lacking. We reviewed the websites of 124 REBs for their templates. These included English language medical school REBs in Australia/New Zealand (n = 23), Canada (n = 14), South Africa (n = 8), the United Kingdom (n = 34), and a geographically-stratified sample from the United States (n = 45). Template language was analyzed using Coh-Metrix linguistic software (v.3.0, Memphis, USA). We evaluated the proportion of REBs with five key linguistic outcomes at or below grade eight. Additionally, we compared quantitative readability to the REBs' own readability standards. To determine if the template's country of origin or the presence of a local REB readability standard influenced the linguistic variables, we used a MANOVA model. Of the REBs who provided templates, 0/94 (0%, 95% CI = 0-3.9%) provided templates with all linguistic variables at or below the grade eight level. Relaxing the standard to a grade 12 level did not increase this proportion. Further, only 2/22 (9.1%, 95% CI = 2.5-27.8) REBs met their own readability standard. The country of origin (DF = 20, 177.5, F = 1.97, p = 0.01), but not the presence of an REB-specific standard (DF = 5, 84, F = 0.73, p = 0.60), influenced the linguistic variables. Inappropriate language in templates is an international problem. Templates use words that are long, abstract, and unfamiliar. This could undermine the validity of participant informed consent. REBs should set a policy of screening templates with linguistic software.

The Role of Morphology in Word Recognition of Hebrew as a Templatic Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oganyan, Marina

2017-01-01

Research on recognition of complex words has primarily focused on affixational complexity in concatenative languages. This dissertation investigates both templatic and affixational complexity in Hebrew, a templatic language, with particular focus on the role of the root and template morphemes in recognition. It also explores the role of morphology…

Asymmetric segregation of template DNA strands in basal-like human breast cancer cell lines

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background and methods Stem or progenitor cells from healthy tissues have the capacity to co-segregate their template DNA strands during mitosis. Here, we set out to test whether breast cancer cell lines also possess the ability to asymmetrically segregate their template DNA strands via non-random chromosome co-segregation, and whether this ability correlates with certain properties attributed to breast cancer stem cells (CSCs). We quantified the frequency of asymmetric segregation of template DNA strands in 12 human breast cancer cell lines, and correlated the frequency to molecular subtype, CD44+/CD24-/lo phenotype, and invasion/migration ability. We tested if co-culture with human mesenchymal stem cells, which are known to increase self-renewal, can alter the frequency of asymmetric segregation of template DNA in breast cancer. Results We found a positive correlation between asymmetric segregation of template DNA and the breast cancer basal-like and claudin-low subtypes. There was an inverse correlation between asymmetric segregation of template DNA and Her2 expression. Breast cancer samples with evidence of asymmetric segregation of template DNA had significantly increased invasion and borderline significantly increased migration abilities. Samples with high CD44+/CD24-/lo surface expression were more likely to harbor a consistent population of cells that asymmetrically segregated its template DNA; however, symmetric self-renewal was enriched in the CD44+/CD24-/lo population. Co-culturing breast cancer cells with human mesenchymal stem cells expanded the breast CSC pool and decreased the frequency of asymmetric segregation of template DNA. Conclusions Breast cancer cells within the basal-like subtype can asymmetrically segregate their template DNA strands through non-random chromosome segregation. The frequency of asymmetric segregation of template DNA can be modulated by external factors that influence expansion or self-renewal of CSC populations. Future

A Smart pH-responsive Nano-Carrier as a Drug Delivery System: A hybrid system comprised of mesoporous nanosilica MCM-41 (as a nano-container) & a pH-sensitive polymer (as smart reversible gatekeepers): Preparation, characterization and in vitro release studies of an anti-cancer drug.

PubMed

Abbaszad Rafi, Abdolrahim; Mahkam, Mehrdad; Davaran, Soodabeh; Hamishehkar, Hamed

2016-10-10

A smart pH-responsive drug nano-carrier for controlled release of anti-cancer therapeutics was developed through a facile route. The nano-carrier consisted of two main parts: first, the nano-container part (that mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MCM-41) were selected for this aim); and second, pH-sensitive gatekeepers (that a pH-sensitive polymer, Poly4-vinylpyridine, played this role). In the first step, MCM-41 was synthesized via template assisted sol-gel process. In the second step, polymerizable functional groups were attached onto pore entrances rather than inside walls. In the third step, polymeric gatekeepers were introduced onto pore entrances via precipitation polymerization of functionalized MCM-41 with monomers. Different methods and analysis, such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), Zeta Potentials, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) were employed to approve the successful attachment of gatekeepers. Furthermore, the release studies of methotroxate (MTX), an anti-cancer drug, were performed in different media (pH4, 5.8 and 7.4) at 37±1°C. The release profiles and curves show that the release rates are completely pH-dependent and it proceeds with a decrease in pH. It is concluded that in the higher pH the gatekeepers are in their close state, but they switch to the open state as a consequence of repulsive forces between positively charged polymer chains appear in acidic media. The results suggest that this smart nano-carrier can be considered as an appropriate candidate to deliver therapeutics to cancerous tissues. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simplifying structure analysis projects with customizable chime-based templates*.

PubMed

Thompson, Scott E; Sears, Duane W

2005-09-01

Structure/function relationships are fundamental to understanding the properties of biological molecules, and thus it is imperative that biochemistry students learn how to analyze such relationships. Here we describe Chime-based web page templates and tutorials designed to help students develop their own strategies for exploring macromolecular three-dimensional structures like those on our course website. The templates can easily be customized for any structure of interest, and some templates include a Command Entry Line and a Message Recall Box for more refined macromolecular exploration using RasMol/Chime image modification commands. The tutorials present students with an integrated overview of the image modification capabilities of the Chime plug-in and its underlying RasMol-based command structure as accessed through the Command Entry Line. The tutorial also illustrates how RasMol/Chime command syntax addresses specific formatted structural information in a standard Protein Data Bank file. Judging by the high quality of structure-based presentations given by students who have used these templates and tutorials, it appears that these resources can help students learn to analyze complex macromolecular structures while also providing them with convenient tools for creating scientifically meaningful and visually effective molecular images to share with others. (The templates, tutorials, and our course website can be viewed at the following URLs, respectively: tutor.lscf.ucsb.edu/instdev/sears/biochemistry/presentations/demos-downloads.htm, tutor.lscf.ucsb.edu/instdev/sears/biochemistry/tutorials/pdbtutorial/frontwindow.html, and tutor.lscf.ucsb.edu/instdev/sears/biochemistry/.). Copyright © 2005 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Comparison on exfoliated graphene nano-sheets and triturated graphite nano-particles for mode-locking the Erbium-doped fibre lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chun-Yu; Lin, Yung-Hsiang; Wu, Chung-Lun; Cheng, Chih-Hsien; Tsai, Din-Ping; Lin, Gong-Ru

2018-06-01

Comparisons on exfoliated graphene nano-sheets and triturated graphite nano-particles for mode-locking the Erbium-doped fiber lasers (EDFLs) are performed. As opposed to the graphite nano-particles obtained by physically triturating the graphite foil, the tri-layer graphene nano-sheets is obtained by electrochemically exfoliating the graphite foil. To precisely control the size dispersion and the layer number of the exfoliated graphene nano-sheet, both the bias of electrochemical exfoliation and the speed of centrifugation are optimized. Under a threshold exfoliation bias of 3 volts and a centrifugation at 1000 rpm, graphene nano-sheets with an average diameter of 100  ±  40 nm can be obtained. The graphene nano-sheets with an area density of 15 #/µm2 are directly imprinted onto the end-face of a single-mode fiber made patchcord connector inside the EDFL cavity. Such electrochemically exfoliated graphene nano-sheets show comparable saturable absorption with standard single-graphene and perform the self-amplitude modulation better than physically triturated graphite nano-particles. The linear transmittance and modulation depth of the inserted graphene nano-sheets are 92.5% and 53%, respectively. Under the operation with a power gain of 21.5 dB, the EDFL can be passively mode-locked to deliver a pulsewidth of 454.5 fs with a spectral linewidth of 5.6 nm. The time-bandwidth product of 0.31 is close to the transform limit. The Kelly sideband frequency spacing of 1.34 THz is used to calculate the chirp coefficient as  ‑0.0015.

International developments in openEHR archetypes and templates.

PubMed

Leslie, Heather

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are a complex knowledge domain. The ability to design EHRs to cope with the changing nature of health knowledge, and to be shareable, has been elusive. A recent pilot study1 tested the applicability of the CEN 13606 as an electronic health record standard. Using openEHR archetypes and tools2, 650 clinical content specifi cations (archetypes) were created (e.g. for blood pressure) and re-used across all clinical specialties and contexts. Groups of archetypes were aggregated in templates to support clinical information gathering or viewing (e.g. 80 separate archetypes make up the routine antenatal visit record). Over 60 templates were created for use in the emergency department, antenatal care and delivery of an infant, and paediatric hearing loss assessment. The primary goal is to define a logical clinical record architecture for the NHS but potentially, with archetypes as the keystone, shareable EHRs will also be attainable. Archetype and template development work is ongoing, with associated evaluation occurring in parallel.

The construction of MRI brain/head templates for Chinese children from 7 to 16 years of age

PubMed Central

Xie, Wanze; Richards, John E.; Lei, Du; Zhu, Hongyan; Lee, Kang; Gong, Qiyong

2015-01-01

Population-specific brain templates that provide detailed brain information are beneficial to both structural and functional neuroimaging research. However, age-specific MRI templates have not been constructed for Chinese or any Asian developmental populations. This study developed novel T1-weighted average brain and head templates for Chinese children from 7 to 16 years of age in two-year increments using high quality magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and well-validated image analysis techniques. A total of 138 Chinese children (51 F/87 M) were included in this study. The internally and externally validated registrations show that these Chinese age-specific templates fit Chinese children’s MR images significantly better than age-specific templates created from U.S. children, or adult templates based on either Chinese or North American adults. It implies that age-inappropriate (e.g., the Chinese56 template, the US20–24 template) and nationality-inappropriate brain templates (e.g., U.S. children’s templates, the US20–24 template) do not provide optimal reference MRIs for processing MR brain images of Chinese pediatric populations. Thus, our age-specific MRI templates are the first of the kind and should be useful in neuroimaging studies with children from Chinese or other Asian populations. These templates can also serve as the foundations for the construction of more comprehensive sets of nationality-specific templates for Asian developmental populations. These templates are available for use in our database. PMID:26343862

Rational Design and Synthesis of Carboxylate Gemini Surfactants with an Excellent Aggregate Behavior for Nano-La2O3 Morphology-Controllable Preparation.

PubMed

Liao, Xueming; Gao, Zhinong; Xia, Yan; Niu, Fei; Zhai, Wenzhong

2017-04-04

A series of carboxylate gemini surfactants (CGS, C n -Φ-C n , n = 12, 14, 16, 18) with diphenyl ketone as a spacer group were prepared using a simple and feasible synthetic method. These CGS exhibited an excellent surface activity with extremely low critical micelle concentration (CMC) value (approximately 10 -5 mol/L), good performance in reducing surface tension (nearly 30 mN/m), and the ability of molecular self-assembly into different aggregate morphologies via adjusting the concentrations, which is attributed to the introduction of diphenyl ketone and carboxylic acid ammonium salt in the molecular structure. Moreover, the surface activity and self-assembly ability of CGS were further optimized by tuning the length of the tail chain. These excellent properties imply that CGS can be a soft template to prepare nanomaterials, especially in morphology-controllable synthesis. By adjusting the concentration of one of CGS (C 12 -Φ-C 12 ), nano-La 2 O 3 particles with diverse morphologies were obtained, including spherical shape, bead-chain shape, rod shape, velvet-antler shape, cedar shape, and bowknot shape. This work offers a vital insight into the rational design of template agents for the development of morphology-controllable nanomaterials.

Zinc oxide nanostructures as low-cost templates for neuronal circuit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kritharidou, A.; Georgoussi, Z.; Tsamis, C.; Makarona, E.

2013-05-01

ZnO nanostructures were explored as templates for the development of topography-mediated neuronal cultures. Nanostructures of varying features were produced on 4" Si substrates via a rapid, facile and low-cost technique that allows the systematic investigation of nanotopographically-mediated formation of neuronal cultures. The developed ZnO-nanowire based templates were seeded with Neuro-2A mouse neuroblastoma cells and their viability over the course of 1 to 4 days was assessed. Our studies demonstrate that the ZnO-templates can support neuronal cell growth and proliferation suggesting that ZnO substrate can be used for the development of neuronal cell-based platform technologies.

Design reflowable digital book template

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasetya, Didik Dwi; Widiyaningtyas, Triyanna; Arifin, M. Zainal; Wahyu Sakti G., I.

2017-09-01

Electronic books (e-books or digital books) increasingly in demand and continue to grow in the form of future books. One of the standard format electronic books that potential is EPUB (electronic publication) published by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). This digital book has major advantages are able to provide interactive and reflowable content, which are not found in another book format, such as PDF. Reflowable content allows the book can be accessed through a variety of reader device, like desktop and mobile with a fit and comfort view. However, because the generating process of an EPUB digital book is not as easy a PDF, so this format is less popular. Therefore, in order to help overcome the existing problems, this paper develops digital reflowable text book templates to support electronic learning, especially in Indonesia. This template can be used by anyone to produce a standard digital book quickly and easily without requiring additional specialized knowledge.

The Applicability of Interactive Item Templates in Varied Knowledge Types

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koong, Chorng-Shiuh; Wu, Chi-Ying

2011-01-01

A well-edited assessment can enhance student's learning motives. Applicability of items, which includes item content and template, plays a crucial role in authoring a good assessment. Templates in discussion contain not only conventional true & false, multiple choice, completion item and short answer but also of those interactive ones. Methods…

Metallogel templated synthesis and stabilization of silver-particles and its application in catalytic reduction of nitro-arene.

PubMed

Sharma, Mukesh; Sarma, Plaban Jyoti; Goswami, Manash Jyoti; Bania, Kusum K

2017-03-15

Metallogel of iron-carboxylates was obtained from trans-1,2-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid in dimethylformamide (DMF) at basic condition. Spectroscopic and SEM morphology study of the iron-metallogel revealed that the iron complex with dicarboxylic acid was linked together via carboxylates and led to a supramolecular helical like architecture. The synthesized metallogel served as an excellent template for in-situ reduction of silver ion to silver particles micro to nano scale range. Variation of AgNO 3 concentration shepherd to change the morphology of the Ag-particles. AgNO 3 concentration was found to affect the shape and size of silver particles. On going from lower to higher concentration shape of silver particles changed from spherical to large agglomerated particles. Cubic shape Ag-particles were found on treatment of 0.05M AgNO 3 solution with metallogel. Cubical shape silver particles were found to be effective catalyst for nitro-arene reduction in presence of NaBH 4 . Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to rationalize the role of Ag-particles in catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol. Based on DFT study, we proposed that catalytic reduction occurred via Ag-hydride complex formation. Since metallogels as well as the 4-aminophenol are finding large application in pharmaceuticals industries therefore the current work can provide an alternatives path in production of 4-aminophenols. In addition to this, the synthesis of Ag-nanomaterials using metallogel as template can pave a new direction in the development of nanotechnology and might find wide applications in catalytic industrial processes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nano-Satellite Avionics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Culver, Harry

1999-01-01

Abstract NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is currently developing a new class of satellites called the nano-satellite (nano-sat). A major objective of this development effort is to provide the technology required to enable a constellation of tens to hundreds of nano-satellites to make both remote and in-situ measurements from space. The Nano-sat will be a spacecraft weighing a maximum of 10 kg, including the propellant mass, and producing at least 5 Watts of power to operate the spacecraft. The electronics are required to survive a total radiation dose rate of 100 krads for a mission lifetime of two years. There are many unique challenges that must be met in order to develop the avionics for such a spacecraft. The first challenge is to develop an architecture that will operate on the allotted 5 Watts and meet the diverging requirements of multiple missions. This architecture will need to incorporate a multitude of new advanced microelectronic technologies. The microelectronics developed must be a modular and scalable packaging of technology to solve the problem of developing a solution to both reduce cost and meet the requirements of various missions. This development will utilize the most cost effective approach, whether infusing commercially driven semiconductor devices into spacecraft applications or partnering with industry to design and develop low cost, low power, low mass, and high capacity data processing devices. This paper will discuss the nano-sat architecture and the major technologies that will be developed. The major technologies that will be covered include: (1) Light weight Low Power Electronics Packaging, (2) Radiation Hard/Tolerant, Low Power Processing Platforms, (3) High capacity Low Power Memory Systems (4) Radiation Hard reconfiguragble field programmable gate array (rFPGA)