Marine emissions of methanethiol increase aerosol cooling in the Southern Ocean.

Ocean-emitted dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is a major source of climate-cooling aerosols. However, most of the marine biogenic sulfur cycling is not routed to DMS but to methanethiol (MeSH), another volatile whose reactivity has hitherto hampered measurements. Therefore, the global emissions and climate impact of MeSH remain unexplored.

Natural variability in air-sea gas transfer efficiency of CO.

The flux of CO between the atmosphere and the ocean is often estimated as the air-sea gas concentration difference multiplied by the gas transfer velocity (K). The first order driver for K over the ocean is wind through its influence on near surface hydrodynamics. However, field observations have shown substantial variability in the wind speed dependencies of K.

[Physical activity and activities of daily living of nursing homes residents: A systematic review and meta-analysis].

Background: Interventions to promote physical activity in nursing homes are among the priorities of German long-term care insurance funds. We summarized the evidence on the effectiveness of such interventions.

Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search in five electronic databases in November 2019, which was complemented by searching reference lists and trials registries.

Controlled heating and alignment platform enhances versatility in colloidal probe fabrication.

A colloidal probe, comprising a colloidal particle attached to an atomic force microscope cantilever, is employed to measure interaction forces between the particle and a surface. It is possible to change or even destroy a particle while attaching it to a cantilever, thus limiting the types of systems to which the colloidal probe technique may be applied. Here, we present the Controlled Heating and Alignment Platform (CHAP) for fabricating colloidal probes without altering the original characteristics of the attached particle.

[Effectiveness of interventions to strengthen cognitive resources in nursing home residents : A systematic review and network meta-analysis].

Background: Strengthening cognitive resources of residents in nursing homes is an important goal of preventive activities. The aim of this systematic review was to answer the question which intervention is most effective for nursing home residents to strengthen their cognitive resources.

Method: A systematic literature search was carried out in the Cochrane Library and the MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO and PEDro databases.

Topological Control of Polystyrene-Silica Core-Shell Microspheres.

Controllable surface morphology is requisite across a gamut of processes, industries, and applications. The surface morphology of silica-coated polystyrene microspheres was controllably modified to enable generation of both smooth and bumpy, or raspberry-like, surfaces. Although smooth and raspberry-like silica shells on polystyrene templates have been demonstrated extensively, the method described here used readily available materials to produce radical changes in surface morphology from a single polystyrene template coated in silica through a facile sol-gel reaction processes.

[Cognitive interventions in nursing homes : Systematic review of the preventive effectiveness on cognitive performance in persons in need of care].

Background: The strengthening of cognitive resources is considered to be a preventive field of action within inpatient care. The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions on cognitive performance in nursing home residents.

Methods: A systematic literature search was carried out in the databases MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, CINAHL and PsycINFO, as well as searches in trial registries and a screening of reference lists.

Piezoelectric Floating Element Shear Stress Sensor for the Wind Tunnel Flow Measurement.

A piezoelectric sensor with a floating element was developed for direct measurement of flow induced shear stress. The piezoelectric sensor was designed to detect the pure shear stress while suppressing the effect of normal stress generated from the vortex lift-up by applying opposite poling vectors to the piezoelectric elements. During the calibration stage, the prototyped sensor showed a high sensitivity to shear stress (91.

Further Insight into the Mechanism of Poly(styrene-co-methyl methacrylate) Microsphere Formation.

Polymeric microspheres have been utilized in a broad range of applications ranging from chromatographic separation techniques to analysis of air flow over aerodynamic surfaces. The preparation of microspheres from many different polymer families has consequently been extensively studied using a variety of synthetic approaches. Although there are a variety of methods of synthesis for polymeric microspheres, free-radical initiated emulsion polymerization is one of the most common techniques.

[Interventions for promoting physical activity in nursing homes : Systematic review of the effectiveness of universal prevention].

Background: Among residents of nursing homes, physical activity might be beneficial in maintaining health-related quality of life because impairment is caused in particular by functional decline. The aim is the evaluation of the effectiveness of universal preventive interventions directed at increasing physical activity on activities of daily living in nursing home residents.

Material And Methods: Relevant studies were identified through database searching in MEDLINE, the Cochrane library, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and PEDro.

Defining the Need for Skin Cancer Prevention Education in Uninsured, Minority, and Immigrant Communities.

Importance: As the minority population increases in the United States, the incidence of skin cancer has important public health consequences, including poor skin cancer outcomes, in part because of late-stage diagnosis. Therefore, it is important to identify obstacles in skin cancer prevention in these communities.

Objective: To characterize skin cancer prevention and education needs in uninsured, minority, and immigrant communities in South Florida.

Synthesis, Characterization and Evaluation of Urethane Co-Oligomers Containing Pendant Fluoroalkyl Ether Groups.

Coatings with the ability to minimize adhesion of insect residue and other debris are of great interest for future aircraft. These aircraft will exhibit increased fuel efficiency by maintaining natural laminar flow over greater wing chord distances. Successful coatings will mitigate the adhesion of debris on laminar flow surfaces that could cause a premature transition to turbulent flow.

Synthesis of Fluorophore-Doped Polystyrene Microspheres: Seed Material for Airflow Sensing.

Kiton red 620 (KR620) doped polystyrene latex microspheres (PSLs) were synthesized via soap-free emulsion polymerization to be utilized as a relatively nontoxic, fluorescent seed material for airflow characterization experiments. Poly(styrene-co-styrenesulfonate) was used as the PSL matrix to promote KR620 incorporation. Additionally, a bicarbonate buffer and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride), polyD, cationic polymer were added to the reaction solution to stabilize the pH and potentially influence the electrostatic interactions between the PSLs and dye molecules.

Laser velocimetry with fluorescent dye-doped polystyrene microspheres.

Simultaneous Mie scattering and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) signals are obtained from individual polystyrene latex microspheres dispersed in an air flow. Microspheres less than 1 μm mean diameter were doped with two organic fluorescent dyes, Rhodamine B (RhB) and dichlorofluorescein (DCF), intended either to provide improved particle-based flow velocimetry in the vicinity of surfaces or to provide scalar flow information (e.g.

Laser ablative surface treatment for enhanced bonding of Ti-6Al-4V alloy.

Adhesive bonding offers many advantages over mechanical fastening, but requires certification before it can be incorporated in primary structures for commercial aviation without disbond-arrestment features or redundant load paths. Surface preparation is widely recognized as the key step to producing robust and predictable adhesive bonds. Surface preparation by laser ablation provides an alternative to the expensive, hazardous, polluting, and less precise practices used currently such as chemical-dip, manual abrasion and grit blast.

Laser ablative patterning of copoly(imide siloxane)s generating superhydrophobic surfaces.

Low surface energy copoly(imide siloxane)s were generated via condensation polymerization reactions. The generated materials were characterized spectroscopically, thermally, mechanically, and via contact angle goniometry. The decrease in tensile modulus and opaque appearance of copoly(imide siloxane) films indicated phase segregation in the bulk.

Phospholipid bilayer free volume analysis employing the thermal ring-closing reaction of merocyanine molecular switches.

The free volume properties of phospholipid bilayers have been determined using a new assay that applies the photochromic and solvatochromic properties of merocyanines. The orientation and embedding depth of the merocyanines in the bilayer are controlled using substitution on the merocyanine indole moiety. The free volume changes at the aqueous interface (region 1), the phospholipid headgroup (region 2), and the aliphatic interior (region 3) of the bilayer are compared by analyzing the rate constants for the merocyanine ring-closing reaction.

Excited-state dynamics of spiropyran-derived merocyanine isomers.

Merocyanine (MC) isomers that are formed after absorption of a UV photon by 1',3'-dihydro-1',3'-3'-trimethyl-6-nitrospiro[2H-1-benzopyran-2',2'-(2H)-indole] were studied. Several, predominantly TTC and TTT, merocyanine isomers are present in toluene solution ("T" and "C" indicate trans and cis conformations of the C-C bonds in the methine bridge). Excitation in the MC visible absorption band (at 490, 550, and 630 nm) with 100 fs laser pulses was used to study MC excited-state dynamics.

Isomerization dynamics of photochromic spiropyran molecular switches in phospholipid bilayers.

Transient absorption spectroscopy was used to investigate the dynamics of the photochromic indolinobenzospiropyran reaction in toluene solution and in phosphatidylcholine bilayers (1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC), 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC), and 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC)). After excitation with UV light, colorless (R/S)-2-(3',3'-dimethyl-6-nitro-3'H-spiro[chromene-2,2'-indol]-1'-yl)ethanol derivatives are converted to colored merocyanine products in high yield; Phi = 0.45 in DMPC liposomes.

Chemistry of the t-butoxyl radical: evidence that most hydrogen abstractions from carbon are entropy-controlled.

Absolute rate constants and Arrhenius parameters for hydrogen abstractions (from carbon) by the t-butoxyl radical ((t) BuO.) are reported for several hydrocarbons and tertiary amines in solution. Combined with data already in the literature, an analysis of all the available data reveals that most hydrogen abstractions (from carbon) by (t) BuO.

Retinoic acid enhances neuronal proliferation and astroglial differentiation in cultures of CNS stem cell-derived precursors.

Stem cells isolated from the embryonic day 14 mouse striatum proliferate in response to epidermal growth factor (EGF). These stem cells produce clonally derived clusters of undifferentiated cells (spheres) which, in turn, produce neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. Reverse transcription followed by polymerase chain reaction showed that EGF-generated spheres express several of the retinoid receptors.

Multipotent CNS stem cells are present in the adult mammalian spinal cord and ventricular neuroaxis.

Neural stem cells in the lateral ventricles of the adult mouse CNS participate in repopulation of forebrain structures in vivo and are amenable to in vitro expansion by epidermal growth factor (EGF). There have been no reports of stem cells in more caudal brain regions or in the spinal cord of adult mammals. In this study we found that although ineffective alone, EGF and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) cooperated to induce the proliferation, self-renewal, and expansion of neural stem cells isolated from the adult mouse thoracic spinal cord.