OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this study was to validate the use of edible taste strips for measuring taste recognition thresholds for the bitter-tasting compound 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP). STUDY DESIGN: Taste recognition thresholds for PROP were obtained by two separate methods. Thresholds were also identified in subjects whose airflow through the nose ...

Strong few-cycle light fields with stable electric field waveforms allow controlling electrons on time scales down to the attosecond domain. We have studied the dissociative ionization of randomly oriented DCl in 5 fs light fields at 720 nm in the tunneling regime. Momentum distributions of D(+) and Cl(+) fragments were ...

High-speed biplane x-ray and neutral density targets were used to examine brain displacement and deformation, as well as aortic motion and deformation within the mediastinum, during impact. Thirty-five impacts using eight human cadaver head and neck specimens and eight impacts of the intact cadaver thorax are summarized. During impact, local ...

Confusion exists about the effect of mass and size of the vocal folds on fundamental frequency (F0) of phonation. In particular, greater vocal fold thickness is often assumed to be associated with lower F0. The purpose here is to show that such a relationship does not exist and that F0 ...

We report on several features in the energy spectrum from an ultralow-noise germanium detector operated deep underground. By implementing a new technique able to reject surface events, a number of cosmogenic peaks can be observed for the first time. We discuss an irreducible excess of bulklike events below 3 keV in ...

When animals travel on tree branches, avoiding falls is of paramount importance. Animals swiftly running on a narrow branch must rely on movement to create stability rather than on static methods. We examined how Siberian chipmunks (Tamias sibiricus) remain stable while running on a narrow tree branch trackway. We examined ...

There are dramatic and physiologically relevant changes in both skylight color and intensity during evening twilight as the pathlength of direct sunlight through the atmosphere increases, ozone increasingly absorbs long wavelengths and skylight becomes increasingly blue shifted. The moon is above the horizon at sunset during the waxing phase of ...

There are 3 significant challenges to sit-to-stand: (a) bringing the center of mass forward, (b) vertically raising the center of mass from the sitting to standing position, and (c) transition from a relatively large and stable base of support in sitting to a considerably smaller base of support when standing. ...

Changes in running mechanics and spring-mass behavior due to fatigue induced by a mountain ultra-marathon race (MUM, 166km, total positive and negative elevation of 9500m) were studied in 18 ultra-marathon runners. Mechanical measurements were undertaken pre- and 3h post-MUM at 12kmh(-1) on a 7m long pressure walkway: contact (t(c)), aerial ...

In cultured juvenile Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis), reducing the mass deaths caused by collision or contact with tank or net walls at night is a priority for seedling production. Pacific bluefin tuna is a visually dependant species, although its scotopic vision is poor. We recorded electroretinograms to investigate the ...

Perturbation analysis was used to determine the relative contribution of target enhancement and noise cancellation in the identification of rudimentary sound source in noise. In a two-interval, forced-choice procedure, listeners identified the impact sound produced by the larger of two stretched membranes as target. The noise on each presentation was ...

It is commonly assumed that bacterial presence on a QCM sensor-surface is associated with a negative frequency shift according to conventional mass-loading theory. Here, we demonstrate that bacteria adhering to QCM sensor-surface may yield positive frequency shifts up to 1.9×10(-6) Hz per bacterium according to a coupled-oscillator theory. Furthermore, it ...

To compare the spectral transmission of different intraocular lenses (IOLs) with either ultraviolet (UV) or blue-light filters, and to analyze the performance of these filters with artificial light sources as well as sunlight. Experimental study. The spectral transmission curve of 10 IOLs was measured using a PerkinElmer Lambda 800 UV/VIS ...

The stiffness of insect wings is typically determined through experimental measurements. Such experiments are performed on wings removed from insects. However, the wings are subject to desiccation which typically leads to an increase in their stiffness. Although this effect of desiccation is well known, a comprehensive study of the rate ...

Detection of light in the eye underlies image-forming vision, but also regulates adaptive responses in physiology and behavior. Typically these adaptive responses do not involve image-forming vision, but depend on a relatively absolute measure of brightness (nonimage-forming irradiance detection). The goal of this study was to further understand how image-forming ...

Patterns of connectivity are important in understanding the geographic scale of local adaptation in marine populations. While natural selection can lead to local adaptation, high connectivity can diminish the potential for such adaptation to occur. Connectivity, defined as the exchange of individuals among subpopulations, is presumed to be significant in ...

With an increasing use of quantum dots (QDs) in many applications, their potential hazard is of growing concern. However, little is known about their ecotoxicity, especially in vivo. In the present study, we employed freshwater macroinvertebrate, Daphnia magna, to evaluate toxicity characteristics of cadmium selenide/zinc selenide (CdSe/ZnSe) in relation to ...

While sunlight is important for life, ultraviolet radiation (UVR) can have harmful and mutagenic effects. This duality is particularly relevant to human skin, in which UVR both participates in evolutionarily important photochemical reactions yet may act as a potential carcinogen. UVR can upregulate production of melanin, the "tanning response" that ...

Several heavyweight impact sources have been used in applying standardized excitation forces to evaluate the noise generation characteristics of building floors. In this study, heavyweight sources (a bang machine and an impact ball) were filmed with a high-speed camera on the period of deformation and restitution of the impact. The ...

A new strategy is described to immobilize photoactive C(60) aminofullerene on silica gel (3-(2-succinic anhydride)propyl functionalized silica), thus enabling facile separation of the photocatalyst for recycling and repeated use. An organic linker moiety containing an amide group was used to anchor C(60) aminofullerene to the functionalized silica support. The linker ...

Only one type of lanthanide-doped upconverting nanoparticle (UCNP) is needed to reversibly toggle photoresponsive organic compounds between their two unique optical, electronic, and structural states by modulating merely the intensity of the 980 nm excitation light. This reversible "remote-control" photoswitching employs an excitation wavelength not directly absorbed by the organic ...

The visible-light-induced photocatalytic conversion of aqueous benzene to phenol on Au-nanoparticle-supported layered titanate was accelerated when the reaction was conducted in the presence of aqueous phenol.

Band-gap narrowing is generally considered to be a primary method in the design of visible-light-active photocatalysts because it can decrease the photo threshold to lower energies. However, controlling the valence band by up-shifting the top of the band or inducing localized levels above the band results in quantum efficiencies under ...

This study identified and compared the full body kinematics of different skill levels in the forehand groundstroke when balls were hit cross court and down the line. Forty-three three-dimensional retroreflective marker trajectories of six elite and seven high-performance players were recorded using an eight-camera 400 Hz, Vicon motion analysis system. ...

We demonstrate the piezoelectric effect on the responsivity of a metal-semiconductor-metal ZnO micro-/nanowire photodetector. The responsivity of the photodetector is respectively enhanced by 530%, 190%, 9%, and 15% upon 4.1 pW, 120.0 pW, 4.1 nW, and 180.4 nW UV light illumination onto the wire by introducing a -0.36% compressive strain ...

We present a new concept of light-controlled conductance switching based on metal/polymer nanocomposites with dissolved chromophores that do not have intrinsic current switching ability. Photoswitchable metal/PMMA nanocomposites were prepared by physical vapor deposition of Au and Pt clusters, respectively, onto spin-coated thin poly(methylmethacrylate) films doped with azo-dye molecules. High dye ...

Titanium dioxide nanotubes offer distinct advantages over films of the same material in the production of hydroxyl radicals and subsequent inactivation of Escherichia coli in wastewater. However, their visible light absorption capabilities are limited. Semiconducting nanocrystals of cadmium sulfide have been used to increase the sensitivity of TiO(2) nanotubes to ...

Microcrystalline sodium tungsten bronze nanowire bundles were obtained via a facile hydrothermal synthesis, and were applied in water purification as visible-light-driven photocatalysts for the first time.

We propose a scheme to enhance near-UV band absorption of a rutile TiO(2) nanoparticle by placing Au nanoparticles in its neighborhood. The discrete-dipole approximation method was employed to calculate the absorption spectrum of pure rutile TiO(2) and that of TiO(2) mixed with Au nanoparticles. The results indicate that pure rutile ...

Very few attempts, if any, have been made to use visible light in corneal reflection approaches to the problem of gaze tracking. The reasons usually given to justify the limited application of this type of illumination are that the required image features are less accurately depicted, and that visible light ...

We propose a new method to extract the light quark mass ratio m(u)/m(d) using the Υ(4S)→h(b)π⁰(η) bottomonia transitions. The decay amplitudes are dominated by the light quark mass differences, and the corrections from other effects are rather small, allowing for a precise extraction. We also discuss how to reduce the ...

In this communication, we report that the depletion zone thickness of the p-n junction between an n-type ZnO and a p-type polyaniline could be controlled by UV and visible light illumination. Based on this princile, photoresponsive sensors were constructed by combining polyaniline thin film and ZnO nanorods. Different from pure ...

Nitrogen and carbon codopants-stabilized hierarchical porous ZnS microspheres undergo an unexpected dynamic transformation into hollow microspheres when nitrogen and carbon are removed from the former. Thus, such a transformation is evidence for the unprecedented stability of non-metal doped visible light-responsive photocatalysts.

Lyngbya majuscula is a dominant organism in the east coast of India forming characteristic mat in dried saline soils simultaneously exposed to solar radiation of the tropics. Studies on the growth response, changes in the spectral properties of the methanolic extract and protein profile of this estuarine sheathed cyanobacterium to ...

Studies on photocatalytic inactivation of spores of Bacillus anthracis have been carried out using nanosized titania materials and UVA light or sun light. Results demonstrated pseudo first order behaviour of spore inactivation kinetics. The value of kinetic rate constant increased from 0.4h(-1) to 1.4h(-1) indicating photocatalysis facilitated by addition of ...

The ability to perceive rapid movement is an essential adaptation in birds, which are involved in rapid flight, pursuing prey and escaping predators. Nevertheless, the temporal resolution of the avian visual systems has been less well explored than spectral sensitivity. There are indications that birds are superior to humans in ...

A 41-year-old man presented with a ten-year history of recurrent erythema and swelling of skin that occurred following sun exposure even as little as ten minutes. The lesion affected only on the sun exposed area. A phototesting was carried out and revealed that urticaria was induced following ultraviolet A (UVA) ...

We show photorheology in aqueous solutions of weakly entangled wormlike micelles prepared with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), salicylic acid (HSal), and dilute amounts of the photochromic multistate compound trans-2,4,4'-trihydroxychalcone (Ct). Different chemical species of Ct are associated with different colorations and propensities to reside within or outside CTAB micelles. A light-induced ...

Exposure of dark- or ambient visible light-grown broad bean seedlings to low (LL) and high (HL) visible light intensities, UV-A or UV-C, either alone or in combination, induced significant increases in total phenolic compounds as well as in anthocyanins content, throughout the germination period, as compared with the respective levels ...

The effect of 8-methoxypsoralen-UVA therapy on the catalysis of histidine to trans-urocanic acid by histidine ammonia lyase (HAL, EC 4.3.1.3) was examined using an enzymatic assay from Sigma-Aldrich where the growth of the trans-urocanic acid peak at 277 nm was monitored. A Rayonet Photochemical Mini Reactor (Model RMR-600) equipped with eight, ...

Here we demonstrate a bioinspired system where light stimulus is used to trigger the wavelength-dependent release and then reuptake of chloride ions in nonaqueous solutions. A chiral aryl-triazole foldamer with two azobenzene end groups has been synthesized to define a folded binding pocket for chloride ions that unfolds with UV ...

Free-standing CeO(2) nanorods with different morphology grew directly on Ti substrates via an electrochemical assembly process, and their absorption edges show a remarkable red-shift to the visible region. Moreover, photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) measurements demonstrate these CeO(2) nanorods exhibit a photovoltaic response under visible light illumination (λ≥ 390 nm).

The semiconductor and the surface-adsorbed antenna molecule (dyes or other color species) can constitute efficient photochemical systems for environmental remediation. The major advantage of these systems is that they are able to achieve the degradation of organic pollutants by using visible light from the sun as energy and O(2) in ...

Kinematic studies have shown that fast bowlers have run-up velocities, based on centre of mass velocity calculations, which are comparable to elite javelin throwers. In this study, 34 fast bowlers (22.3 +/- 3.7 years) of premier grade level and above were tested using a three-dimensional (3-D) motion analysis system (240 ...

This study presents the first report on enhanced bacterial inactivation of E. coli by RF-plasma pretreated cotton with high-surface-area CuO powders compared with nonpretreated cotton textiles. The high-surface-area CuO (65 m/g) powder was fully characterized. The E. coli inactivation proceeded in the dark and was accelerated under visible and sunlight ...

A new chemical structure, the 4,2',4",2'''-tetrahydroxy-6',6'''-dimethoxy-4'-O-4'''- bichalcone, named achyrobichalcone was isolated and identified from an Achyrocline satureioides spray-dried powder (SDP80). The thermal and photo stability of this new compound as well as that of the main polyphenols present in the spray dried powder, quercetin, luteolin, 3-O-metylquercetin and the corresponding kinetics ...

Visible-light-responsive nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide nanorods have been synthesized by a hydrothermal method at low temperature. X-Ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, and contact angle measurements were used to obtain the crystal structures, morphologies, visible-light absorbance, and hydrophobicity, respectively, of the prepared nanorods. The surface wettability of the samples could ...

Photoinhibition is light-induced inactivation of PSII, and action spectrum measurements have shown that UV light causes photoinhibition much more efficiently than visible light. In the present study, we quantified the contribution of the UV part of sunlight in photoinhibition of PSII in leaves. Greenhouse-grown pumpkin leaves were pretreated with lincomycin ...

The photocatalytic degradation of malachite green (MG) dye molecules in aqueous solution was investigated by using palladium (Pd) modified tungsten trioxide (WO(3)) under simulated solar light. The optimum values for Pd content vs. WO(3) and catalyst concentration in solution for MG (5.0 μmol L(-1)) degradation were 0.5 wt.% and 150 ...

We investigated the effects of annealing in air on fluorinated N-doped TiO(2) (F/N-TiO(2)) photocatalysts prepared by hydrothermal process. The textural properties (specific surface areas) and surface properties (surface defect density, surface [triple bond]Ti-F density) were significantly modified upon annealing. In contrast, due to the shielding effect of surface fluorination, the ...