Direct glass-to-glass bonding obtained simplified ammonia-based low-temperature procedure resists high shear stress and powerful CW fiber laser irradiation.

Direct glass-to-glass bonding is important for high-technology components in optics, microfluidics, and micro-electromechanical systems applications. We studied direct bonding of 1 mm thick soda-lime float glass substrates. The process is based on the classic RCA-1 cleaning procedure from the semiconductor industry modified with an ammonium hydroxide rinse, followed by a thermal treatment under unidirectional pressure without the need for a dedicated drying step.

Should I Stay or Should I Go? International Students' Decision-Making About Staying in Canada.

Recent decades have seen an increase in the popularity of international education. Approximately 500,000 international students were in Canada in 2018 and this number is projected to grow. While we know that many international students decide to stay in Canada, we do not fully understand the decision-making process employed by international students regarding staying in Canada or going back home after completing their education.

A stable TiO-graphene nanocomposite anode with high rate capability for lithium-ion batteries.

A rapid microwave hydrothermal process is adopted for the synthesis of titanium dioxide and reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites as high-performance anode materials for Li-ion batteries. With the assistance of hydrazine hydrate as a reducing agent, graphene oxide was reduced while TiO nanoparticles were grown on the nanosheets to obtain the nanocomposite material. The morphology of the nanocomposite obtained consisted of TiO particles with a size of ∼100 nm, uniformly distributed on the reduced graphene oxide nanosheets.

cationic gemini and zwitterionic surfactants - a thermodynamic analysis of their mixed micelle formation.

Micelle formation enthalpies (Δ values) have been calorimetrically determined at 298 K for three sets of mixed zwitterionic/cationic gemini systems consisting of -dodecyl-,-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propanesulfonate (ZW3-12) and a series of structurally related gemini surfactants, the ,'-bis(dimethyldodecyl)-α,ω-alkanediammonium dibromide (12--12) systems. From the experimental and the estimated ideal micelle formation enthalpies, the excess enthalpies were obtained. The degrees of nonideality of the interaction in the mixed micelle ( ) from our previous work was used along with the excess enthalpy values to determine excess thermodynamic quantities of the surfactants in the mixed system according to Regular Solution Theory (RST) and Motomura's theory.

Parameterizing a dynamic influenza model using longitudinal versus age-stratified case notifications yields different predictions of vaccine impacts.

Dynamic transmission models of influenza are sometimes used in decision-making to identify which vaccination strategies might best reduce influenza-associated health burdens. Our goal was to use laboratory confirmed influenza cases to fit model parameters in an age-structured, two-type (influenza A/B) dynamic model of influenza. We compared the fitted model under two fitting methodologies: using longitudinal weekly case notification data versus using cross-sectional age-stratified cumulative case notification data.

Nitrogen-doped graphene-TiO N nanocomposite electrode for highly efficient capacitive deionization.

In this work, the first-ever reported nanocomposite electrode of nitrogen-doped graphene-titanium oxynitride (NG-TiO N ) for capacitive deionization (CDI) was synthesized hydrothermal reaction and a high-temperature nitridation process. The physiochemical characterizations revealed that the nitrogen was doped in the graphene structure mainly in the form of graphitic nitrogen and the TiO N was successfully formed TiO nitridation process. The layered NG nanosheets facilitated the diffusion of ions in saline water and formed electrical double layer on the surface of the electrode material, while the presence of TiO N enhanced the electrochemical performance by increasing surface area and generating surface vacancies nitridation.

Life cycle assessment of emerging Ni-Co hydroxide charge storage electrodes: impact of graphene oxide and synthesis route.

Decoupling energy supply from fossil fuels through electrification and sustainable energy management requires efficient and environmentally low-impact energy storage technologies. Potential candidates are charge storage electrodes that combine nickel and cobalt hydroxides with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) designed to achieve high-energy, high-power density and long cycling lifetimes. An early eco-efficiency analysis of these electrodes seeks to examine the impacts of materials and processes used in the synthesis, specifically while focusing on the use of rGO.

Confirming the need for virus disinfection in municipal subsurface drinking water supplies.

Enteric viruses pose the greatest acute human health risks associated with subsurface drinking water supplies, yet quantitative risk assessment tools have rarely been used to develop health-based targets for virus treatment in drinking water sourced from these supplies. Such efforts have previously been hampered by a lack of consensus concerning a suitable viral reference pathogen and dose-response model as well as difficulties in quantifying pathogenic viruses in water. A reverse quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) framework and quantitative polymerase chain reaction data for norovirus genogroup I in subsurface drinking water supplies were used herein to evaluate treatment needs for such water supplies.

Natural Stimuli Calibration with Fining Direction Regularization in an Integrated Hydrologic Model.

The interaction between surface water and groundwater during flood events is a complex process that has traditionally been described using simplified analytical solutions, or abstracted numerical models. To make the problem tractable, it is common to idealize the flood event, simplify river channel geometry, and ignore bank soil heterogeneity, often resulting in a model that only loosely represents the site, thus limiting its applicability to any specific river cross-section. In this study, we calibrate a site-specific fully-integrated surface and subsurface HydroGeoSphere model using flood events for a cross-section along the South River near Waynesboro, VA.

Simulation before fabrication: a case study on the utilization of simulators for the design of droplet microfluidic networks.

The functional performance of passively operated droplet microfluidics is sensitive with respect to the dimensions of the channel network, the fabrication precision as well as the applied pressure because the entire network is coupled together. Especially, the local and global hydrodynamic resistance changes caused by droplets make the task to develop a robust microfluidic design challenging as plenty of interdependencies which all affect the intended behavior have to be considered by the designer. After the design, its functionality is usually validated by fabricating a prototype and testing it with physical experiments.

Tapasin's protein interactions in the rainbow trout peptide-loading complex.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I receptors play a key role in the immune system by presenting non-self peptides to T cell lymphocytes. In humans, the assembly of the MHC class I with a peptide is mediated by machinery in the endoplasmic reticulum referred as the peptide loading complex (PLC). Although, the identity of the PLC has been widely explored in humans, this complex has not been characterized in fish.

Prussian Blue Mg-Li Hybrid Batteries.

The major advantage of Mg batteries relies on their promise of employing an Mg metal negative electrode, which offers much higher energy density compared to graphitic carbon. However, the strong coulombic interaction of Mg ions with anions leads to their sluggish diffusion in the solid state, which along with a high desolvation energy, hinders the development of positive electrode materials. To circumvent this limitation, Mg metal negative electrodes can be used in hybrid systems by coupling an Li insertion cathode through a dual salt electrolyte.

Nitric oxide scavengers differentially inhibit ammonia oxidation in ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria.

Differential inhibitors are important for measuring the relative contributions of microbial groups, such as ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), to biogeochemical processes in environmental samples. In particular, 2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl 3-oxide (PTIO) represents a nitric oxide scavenger used for the specific inhibition of AOA, implicating nitric oxide as an intermediate of thaumarchaeotal ammonia oxidation. This study investigated four alternative nitric oxide scavengers for their ability to differentially inhibit AOA and AOB in comparison to PTIO.

The impacts of simultaneous disease intervention decisions on epidemic outcomes.

Mathematical models of the interplay between disease dynamics and human behavioural dynamics can improve our understanding of how diseases spread when individuals adapt their behaviour in response to an epidemic. Accounting for behavioural mechanisms that determine uptake of infectious disease interventions such as vaccination and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) can significantly alter predicted health outcomes in a population. However, most previous approaches that model interactions between human behaviour and disease dynamics have modelled behaviour of these two interventions separately.

An experimental and theoretical approach to investigate the effect of chain length on aminothiol adsorption and assembly on gold.

Despite the numerous studies on the self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkylthiols on gold, the mechanisms involved, especially the nature and influence of the thiol-gold interface are still under debate. In this work the adsorption of aminothiols on Au(111) surfaces has been studied by using surface IR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as well as by density functional theory (DFT) modeling. Two aminothiols were used, cysteamine (CEA) and mercaptoundecylamine (MUAM), which contain two and eleven carbon atoms, respectively.

Is the prescribing behavior of Chinese physicians driven by financial incentives?

The prescribing behavior to prescribe high-priced drugs has been hypothesized to be related to the increasing drug expenditures in China, but little empirical evidence exists. The purpose of this study was to examine whether Chinese physicians, driven by financial incentives, tend to prescribe high-priced drugs. The 2000-2008 drug data in the Yangtze River Basin Hospitals' Drug Use Analysis System were analyzed to examine the prescription patterns of penicillins and cephalosporins in Shanghai.

Distribution of estrogens, 17beta-estradiol and estrone, in Canadian municipal wastewater treatment plants.

The distribution of female hormones, 17beta-estradiol and estrone, was determined in effluents of 18 selected municipal treatment plants across Canada. Replicate 24-h composite samples were collected from the influent and final effluent of each treatment plant, and the removal efficiency compared to the operational characteristics of the plants. In conventional activated sludge and lagoon treatment systems, the mean concentrations of 17beta-estradiol and estrone in influent were 15.

Chemical and carbon isotopic composition of dissolved organic carbon in a regional confined methanogenic aquifer.

This study demonstrates the advantage of a combined use of chemical and isotopic tools to understand the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) cycle in a regional confined methanogenic aquifer. DOC concentration and carbon isotopic data demonstrate that the soil zone is a primary carbon source of groundwater DOC in areas close to recharge zones. An in-situ DOC source linked to organic rich sediments present in the aquifer matrix is controlling the DOC pool in the central part of the groundwater flow system.