Call of (civic) duty: Action games and civic behavior in a large sample of youth

The positive and negative influences of violent/action games, henceforth called “action games”, remains controversial in the scholarly literature. Although debate continues whether action games influence aggressive behavior, little research has examined the influence of action games on civic engagement. The current study addresses this gap by examining the correlation between exposure to action games on civic engagement and on-line prosocial behavior in a sample of 873 teenagers. Results indicated that girls as well as teens who had parents who were more technologically savvy tended to engage in more civic behaviors. Exposure to action games predicted more prosocial behavior on-line, but did not predict civic engagement either positively or negatively. However, exposure to action games and parental involvement interacted to promote youth civic engagement. Action-game-playing-youth whose parents were involved in game play and supervision were most civically involved, compared to youth who did not play action games, or whose parents were less involved. These results indicated little support for the belief that exposure to violence in video games decreases prosocial behavior and/or civic engagement. Conversely some support was found for the possibility that playing action games is associated with small increased prosocial behavior and civic engagement in the real world, possibly due to the team-oriented multiplayer options in many of these games.     

ForceSpinning of polyacrylonitrile for mass production of lithium‐ion battery separators

We present results on the Forcespinning^® (FS) of Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) for mass production of polymer nanofiber membranes as separators for Lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). Our results presented here show that uniform, highly fibrous mats from PAN produced using Forcespinning^®, exhibit improved electrochemical properties such as electrolyte uptake, low interfacial resistance, high oxidation limit, high ionic conductivity, and good cycling performance when used in lithium ion batteries compared to commercial PP separator materials. This article introduces ForceSpinning^®, a cost effective technique capable of mass producing high quality fibrous mats, which is completely different technology than the commonly used in‐house centrifugal method. This Forcespinning^® technology is thus the beginning of the nano/micro fiber revolution in large scale production for battery separator application. This is the first time to report results on the cycle performance of LIB‐based polymer nanofiber separators made by Forcespinning^® technology. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 132, 42847.     

Selected equipment,materials, and process interactions in a surface-imaging process

The advantages of surface-imaging photoresist processes have been well documented; it has shown to have greater resolution, wider focus budget, and less sensitivity to topography and reflections from the substrate. The DESIRE process (Diffusion Enhanced Silylated Resist) is a good example of a surface-imaging process. In previous papers we have described the characterization of this process in a lab environment, discussed some of the issues involved in the implementation of this process in a manufacturing environment, and more recently presented results from its implementation in a dynamic random memory, DRAM, manufacturing environment. A large of knowledge must be acquired and disseminated in the process of implementing a new technology in a manufacturing environment. This is particularly true in the semiconductor industry because of the large and complex interactions that exist between the process and the electronic characteristics of the devices. Even within the same process, complex interactions between the different steps can take place. Such is the case with the DESIRE process. Over the past few years a great deal of “know-how” has been acquired in the course of implementing this technology in a DRAM wafer fab of Texas Instruments in Dallas, Tex. We present here two selected cases where such complex interactions have been investigated: (1) radiation damage that might take place during the dry-development step of this process, and (2) the effect of the equipment and material on the electrical discharge, or arcing, during dry-development.     

Synthesis of α‐cellulose/polypyrrole composite for the removal of reactive red dye from aqueous solution: Kinetics and equilibrium modeling

In this work, a composite from α‐cellulose coated with conducting polypyrrole by in situ polymerization using potassium persulfate as oxidant was obtained. The composite was characterized by fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, UV/Vis spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed homogeneous coating of α‐cellulose with polypyrrole (PPy) to produce a composite with a conductivity of 3.5 × 10⁻⁵ S/m. Batch aqueous adsorption experiments of the reactive red 120 (RR120) dye onto the synthesized material were conducted. The results showed that this composite is an efficient adsorbent for RR120 dye removal. For the adsorption experiments set to an initial pH of 3.9, the adsorption capacity was 15.6 mg of dye/g of composite for an equilibrium concentration (in the liquid) of RR120 dye equal to 1,000 mg/L, whereas a value of 96.1 mg of dye/g of composite was obtained when the solution pH was set to 2.0 for the same equilibrium concentration. When performing adsorption experiments using pure α‐cellulose, dye adsorption was insignificant at any pH value. Adsorption isotherm for RR120 was described by a typical Freundlich model. The transient adsorption of RR120 on the synthesized composite was described by a general three‐resistance model that includes the transport on the film that surrounds the composite particles, diffusion inside the particles, and adsorption on the surface of the particles. A fitting of the uptake curves was performed allowing the estimation of values for the effective diffusivity, D₀, and the adsorption rate coefficient, k₁. For the adsorption experiments with an initial pH value set to 3.9, D₀ was estimated as 1.05 × 10⁻¹⁰ m²/s, whereas k₁ was 1.65 × 10⁻⁴ Lⁿ/g mg^{n − 1} s; the corresponding values of k₁ at pH = 2 and 9.0 were 3.18 × 10⁻⁴ and 5.16 × 10⁻⁵, respectively. POLYM. COMPOS., 36:312–321, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Determination of tylosin in milk samples by poly(ethylene terephthalate)-based molecularly imprinted polymer

Poly(ethylene terephthalate)-based molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were synthesized, and their recognition capability was evaluated. Adsorption isotherm was described by the Langmuir model and the maximum adsorption capacity of MIP_Ty reached 172.4 mg g⁻¹ in water at pH 6.2. A recognition coefficient of 1.17 was obtained. A solid-phase extraction cartridge was manufactured and its behavior was evaluated for tylosin extraction from aqueous and milk samples. An off-line SPE-UV method was applied. An acceptable linearity was obtained in the range of 1–20 μg ml⁻¹ and the average recovery at three spike levels in milk samples was higher than 92%. The limit of quantification was 2.6 × 10⁻² μg ml⁻¹. The manufactured SPE cartridge has a great potential for clean-up processes in complex media. The cartridge offers a fast and sensitive option to the existing sorbents for extracting this drug from milk samples.     

Potential mechanisms of metabolic imprinting that lead to chronic disease

This review synthesizes a subset of human epidemiologic and experimental animal studies that suggest that early nutrition affects susceptibility to chronic diseases in adulthood. These studies provide evidence that biological mechanisms may exist to "memorize" the metabolic effects of early nutritional environments. However, hypothesis-driven investigations of potential mechanisms have been scant. Thus, our understanding of the biology underlying metabolic imprinting is incomplete. A working definition of metabolic imprinting is proposed, emphasizing the adaptive nature and limited ontogenic window of the mechanisms putatively responsible for these relations. Five specific candidate mechanisms of metabolic imprinting are elaborated: 1) induced variations in organ structure, 2) alterations in cell number, 3) clonal selection, 4) metabolic differentiation, and 5) hepatocyte polyploidization. Last, experimental approaches for probing potential mechanisms with animal models are discussed.     

Sponsored Research and Its Impact on Universities, Faculty, and Journals

University promotion and tenure committees use sponsored research to judge a faculty member’s contribution to a discipline’s body of knowledge. Sponsored research is usually a crucial indicator in making promotion and tenure decisions.     

A comprehensive study of plastic deformation mechanism of the metallic materials by ‘X-ray’ computed tomography (‘X-ray’ CT)

The study of microstructure and texture deformation of the metallic materials necessitates detailed information of physical evidence about the plastic deformation mechanism, which involves a direct relationship between mechanical properties and their behaviours under the working conditions. Generally, the mechanical properties of materials are essentially the function of their structure and their compositions. So, the study of texture deformation of mechanical parts with an efficient way in manufacturing engineering is of considerable practical interest. The present paper entails the study of the deformation mechanism in microscopic scale—in situ observation of microstructure and texture deformation by using ‘X-ray’ computed tomography (CT) Medical Scanner installed in the CNAM-Paris, Industrial Materials Laboratory, for evaluating the plastic deformation mechanism. A tomographic inner-health analysis will be presented from 2D slices of the examined parts in the laboratory scale on the as-received and heat-treated aluminium specimens.     

The production of carbon nanotube reinforced poly(vinyl) butyral nanofibers by the Forcespinning® method

Poly(vinyl) butyral (PVB) nanofibers (NFs) and carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced PVB NF composites were developed by using the Forcespinning® technology. PVB was dissolved in a mixture of ethanol and methanol (7:3 wt/wt) at various concentrations, and the solutions were spun at rotational speeds varying between 3,000 and 9,000 rpm. The CNT/PVB solutions were prepared using the same solvent ratio with varying the concentration of CNTs. The results show that the diameter of the PVB fibers increased with increasing rotational speed; however the standard deviation of the fiber diameter distribution decreased. The morphology and thermal properties of the developed fiber systems were studied by DSC, TGA, Raman, and FTIR. The effect of CNT on the mechanical properties of the developed fibers was investigated by carrying out tensile tests at different strain rates. Raman and FTIR analyses indicate a noncovalent π–π stacking interactions and hydrogen bonding between CNT and the PVB NFs. Adding CNT to the PVB NF matrix resulted in improved tensile strength by 150%. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:81–87, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers