The first balloon-borne sample analysis of atmospheric carbonaceous components reveals new insights into formation processes.

Atmospheric aerosol optical, physical, and chemical properties play a fundamental role in the Earth's climate system. A better understanding of the processes involved in their formation, evolution, and interaction with radiation and the water cycle is critical. We report the analysis of atmospheric molecules/particles collected with a new sampling system that flew under regular weather balloons for the first time.

Evaluation of a virtual reality E-cigarette prevention game for adolescents.

Objective: To test preliminary efficacy and acceptability of Invite Only VR: A Vaping Prevention Game (Invite Only VR), an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) prevention game that uses virtual reality (VR) hardware.

Methods: 285 adolescents (146 boys; ages 11-14; M = 12.45 years; SD = 0.

Atmospheric Chemistry of -CHF and -CF: Temperature-Dependent OH Reaction Rate Coefficients, Degradation Products, Infrared Spectra, and Global Warming Potentials.

-CHF (1-heptafluorocyclopentene) and -CF (perfluorocyclopentene) are potent greenhouse gases presently used as replacement compounds in Si etching. A thorough understanding of their potential impact on climate and air quality necessitates studies of their atmospheric reactivity, radiative properties, and atmospheric degradation pathways. The predominant atmospheric removal process for these compounds is expected to be via reaction with the OH radical.

Atmospheric Fate and Impact of Perfluorinated Butanone and Pentanone.

Perfluoroketones, used as replacement to halons and CFCs, are excluded from the Montreal Protocol because they are considered as nonozone depleting substances. However, their chemical structure makes them possible greenhouse gases if their atmospheric lifetimes are long enough. To assess that possibility, we investigated the photolysis of perfluoro-2-methyl-3-pentanone (PF-2M3P), and perfluoro-3-methyl-2-butanone (PF-3M2B) using outdoor atmospheric simulation chambers.

Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from Aromatic Alkene Ozonolysis: Influence of the Precursor Structure on Yield, Chemical Composition, and Mechanism.

The influence of the precursor chemical structure on secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation was investigated through the study of the ozonolysis of two anthropogenic aromatic alkenes: 2-methylstyrene and indene. Experiments were carried out in three different simulation chambers: ICARE 7300L FEP Teflon chamber (ICARE, Orléans, France), EUPHORE FEP Teflon chamber (CEAM, Valencia, Spain), and CESAM evacuable stainless steel chamber (LISA, Créteil, France). For both precursors, SOA yield and growth were studied on a large range of initial concentrations (from ∼60 ppbv to 1.

Using Motion Tracking to Measure Avoidance in Children and Adults: Psychometric Properties, Associations With Clinical Characteristics, and Treatment-Related Change.

Avoidance is implicated in many areas of psychopathology, particularly anxiety and its disorders. Accurate, reliable, valid, and objective measurement of avoidance behavior poses methodological challenges. Two key technological advances, increased computing power and the advent of motion-tracking technology, offer novel solutions to these challenges.

Diurnal Variability and Emission Pattern of Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D) from the Application of Personal Care Products in Two North American Cities.

Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D) is a cyclic volatile methyl siloxane (cVMS) that is widely used in consumer products and commonly observed in urban air. This study quantifies the ambient mixing ratios of D from ground sites in two North American cities (Boulder, CO, USA, and Toronto, ON, CA). From these data, we estimate the diurnal emission profile of D in Boulder, CO.

Temperature Dependent Rate Coefficients for the Gas-Phase Reaction of the OH Radical with Linear (L, L) and Cyclic (D, D) Permethylsiloxanes.

Permethylsiloxanes are emitted into the atmosphere during production and use as personal care products, lubricants, and cleaning agents. The predominate atmospheric loss process for permethylsiloxanes is expected to be via gas-phase reaction with the OH radical. In this study, rate coefficients, k(T), for the OH radical gas-phase reaction with the two simplest linear and cyclic permethylsiloxanes were measured using a pulsed laser photolysis-laser induced fluorescence technique over the temperature range of 240-370 K and a relative rate method at 294 K: hexamethyldisiloxane ((CH)SiOSi(CH), L), k; octamethyltrisiloxane ([(CH)SiO]Si(CH), L), k; hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane ([-Si(CH)O-], D), k; and octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane ([-Si(CH)O-], D), k.

Measurements of nitrous acid (HONO) in urban area of Shanghai, China.

Nitrous acid (HONO), as a precursor of the hydroxyl radical (OH), plays an important role in the photochemistry of the troposphere, especially in the polluted urban atmosphere. A field campaign was conducted to measure atmospheric HONO concentration and that of other pollutants (such as NO2 and particle mass concentration) in the autumn of 2009 at Shanghai urban areas. HONO mixing ratios were simultaneously measured by three different techniques: long path absorption photometer (LOPAP), differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) and chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS).

Reaction of NO(2) with selected conjugated alkenes.

The gas phase reactions of selected alkenes (isoprene, myrcene, ocimene, and 1,3-cyclohexadiene) with NO2 under dark condition have been investigated at T ∼ 298 K and P ∼ 760 Torr of purified air. The kinetic studies were performed under pseudo-first-order conditions using a large excess of NO2 concentration to those of the alkenes. The rate coefficients (in 10(-19) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1)) obtained are 1.

Atmospheric chemistry of benzyl alcohol: kinetics and mechanism of reaction with OH radicals.

The atmospheric oxidation of benzyl alcohol has been investigated using smog chambers at ICARE, FORD, and EUPHORE. The rate coefficient for reaction with OH radicals was measured and an upper limit for the reaction with ozone was established; kOH = (2.8 ± 0.

The Lourdes medical cures revisited.

This article examines the cures recorded in Lourdes, France, between 1858, the year of the Visions, and 1976, the date of the last certified cure of the twentieth century. Initially, the records of cures were crude or nonexistent, and allegations of cures were accepted without question. A Medical Bureau was established in 1883 to examine and certify the cures, and the medical methodology improved steadily in the subsequent years.

Aerosol scattering coefficients and major chemical compositions of fine particles observed at a rural site in the central Pearl River Delta, south China.

During November-December 2010 aerosol scattering coefficients were monitored using a single-waved (525 nm) Nephelometer at a regional monitoring station in the central Pearl River Delta region and 24-hr fine particle (PM2.5) samples were also collected during the period using quartz filters for the analysis of major chemical components including organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), sulfate, nitrate and ammonium. In average, these five components accounted for about 85% of PM2.

Studies of the gas phase reactions of linalool, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-ol and 3-methyl-1-penten-3-ol with O3 and OH radicals.

The reactions of three unsaturated alcohols (linalool, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-ol, and 3-methyl-1-penten-3-ol) with ozone and OH radicals have been studied using simulation chambers at T ∼ 296 K and P ∼ 760 Torr. The rate coefficient values (in cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1)) determined for the three compounds are linalool, k(O3) = (4.1 ± 1.

Design of potent IGF1-R inhibitors related to bis-azaindoles.

From an azaindole lead, identified in high throughput screen, a series of potent bis-azaindole inhibitors of IGF1-R have been synthesized using rational drug design and SAR based on a in silico binding mode hypothesis. Although the resulting compounds produced the expected improved potency, the model was not validated by the co-crystallization experiments with IGF1-R.

Moclobemide attenuates anoxia and glutamate-induced neuronal damage in vitro independently of interaction with glutamate receptor subtypes.

Recent data suggested the existence of a bidirectional relation between depression and neurodegenerative diseases resulting from cerebral ischemia injury. Glutamate, a major excitatory neurotransmitter, has long been recognised to play a key role in the pathophysiology of anoxia or ischemia, due to its excessive accumulation in the extracellular space and the subsequent activation of its receptors. A characteristic response to glutamate is the increase in cytosolic Na(+) and Ca(2+) levels which is due mainly to influx from the extracellular space, with a consequent cell swelling and oxidative metabolism dysfunction.