Temperature analysis of driver and optical behavior of LED lamps

This exploratory study was carried out with the objective to know the optical behavior of light-emitting diode (LED) lamps used and the temperature reached by electronic components that compose the driver (electronic circuit situated inside the body LED lamp) responsible to convert electrical alternating current from power line to direct current to operate the LED devices. Then, two different experiments were carried out with LED lamps. In the first experiment, 131 LED lamps used were chosen randomly and bought from household appliances store (bargain market product) presenting different nominal powers, 8, 10, 12 and 15 watts. All LED lamps were polarized at the power line at 127 V and revealed different optical behaviors, such as: not turn-on; flashing light (as strobe effect); flashing light (as strobe effect) with high intensity (more intense than normal); flashing light (as strobe effect) with low intensity (less intense than normal); fast turnon and turn-off only; and turn-on with low intensity of light (less intense than normal). The hypothesis for these behaviors can be attributed by three different behaviors: in lamps not turn-on, this failure can be attributed for dark spots that are created on the surface of LED device. In these lamps, all LED devices are electrically connected in serial. When a LED is inoperative, the electrical current is interrupted for all LED devices; damage to the electronic components caused by internal high temperature confined inside the lamp body during the operation causing electrical oscillations, as observed from different behaviors from flashing light, flashing light with high intensity, flashing light with low intensity and fast turn-on and turn-off only; swelling of the electrolytic capacitors causing low energy storage and varying the electrical current flow, the electrical current for other electronic components altered the normal optical behavior of the LED lamps. In the second experiment, the temperatures of electronic components located in driver were obtained out of body lamp revealing: from 33 (lowest temperature attributed to inductor) to 52.5ºC (highest temperature attributed to electrolytic capacitor). These temperature values represent the ideal or normal condition of operation for electronic components, but, when they are operating inside the lamp body, the found temperature values increased considerably. This characteristic can be better evidenced by strong color change (caused by accumulative temperature during the elapsed days used) on the printed circuit board used in the driver.

A New Strategy to Regulate the Selectivity of Photo-Mediated Catalytic Reaction

Here we developed a new method for regulating the selectivity of photo-mediated catalytic reaction by manipulating the surface charge of Au/TiO2 (gold/titanium dioxide) catalysts within chemical reaction timescales. Two kinds of photocatalytic reactions, hydrogenation of acetophenone and benzyl alcohol oxidation, have been applied to investigate the photocatalytic performance over Au/TiO2 catalysts with tunable surface charges. We found that a suitable timescale of switching surface charge on Au would benefit for the enhanced quantum efficiency and play different roles in the selectivity of desired products in hydrogenation and oxidation reactions. Au/TiO2 catalyst under 5 μs flashing light irradiation exhibits much higher selectivity of 1-phenylethanol in the hydrogenation of acetophenone than that under continuous light and 5 s flashing light irradiation; by contrast, Au/TiO2 catalysts under both flashing light and continuous light irradiation exhibit a similar selectivity of benzaldehyde in benzyl alcohol oxidation. Our findings will benefit for a better understanding of electronic structure–mediated reaction mechanism and be helpful for achieving highly efficient photocatalytic systems.

Hippocampal disinhibition reduces contextual and elemental fear conditioning while sparing the acquisition of latent inhibition

Hippocampal neural disinhibition, i.e. reduced GABAergic inhibition, is a key feature of schizophrenia pathophysiology. The hippocampus is an important part of the neural circuitry that controls fear conditioning and can also modulate prefrontal and striatal mechanisms, including dopamine signalling, which play a role in salience modulation. Therefore, hippocampal neural disinhibition may contribute to impairments in fear conditioning and salience modulation reported in schizophrenia. To test this hypothesis, we examined the effect of ventral hippocampus (VH) disinhibition in male rats on fear conditioning and salience modulation, as reflected by latent inhibition (LI), in a conditioned emotional response procedure (CER). A flashing light was used as the conditioned stimulus (CS) and conditioned suppression was used to index conditioned fear. In Experiment 1, VH disinhibition via infusion of the GABA-A receptor antagonist picrotoxin prior to CS pre-exposure and conditioning markedly reduced fear conditioning to both the CS and context; LI was evident in saline-infused controls, but could not be detected in picrotoxin-infused rats due to the low level of fear conditioning to the CS. In Experiment 2, VH picrotoxin infusions prior to CS pre-exposure only did not affect the acquisition of fear conditioning or LI. Together, these findings indicate that VH neural disinhibition disrupts contextual and elemental fear conditioning, without affecting the acquisition of LI. The disruption of fear conditioning resembles aversive conditioning deficits reported in schizophrenia and may reflect disruption of neural processing within the hippocampus and its projection sites.

Long- and short-range bimodal signals mediate mate location and recognition in yellow fever mosquitoes

As recently reported, light flashes of incident sunlight reflecting off the wings of in-flight dipterans serve as mate recognition signals. Mate location and mate selection behavior in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, take place in mating swarms but the mechanisms underlying swarm formation and long-range detection of females by males remain largely unexplored. Here we show that swarm formation and mate recognition are mediated, in part, by light flash signals and wingbeat sound signals that operate at long and short range, respectively. To test for range-dependent effects of these signals, we presented ‘mating swarms’ in form of two paired 8-LED assemblies that were fitted with micro-speakers and placed either well separated in a large space or side-by-side in a small space. In the large but not the small space, the LED assembly flashing light at the wingbeat frequency of females (665 Hz), and emitting their wingbeat sound (665 Hz), attracted and prompted 5.8-times more alightings by males than the LED assembly emitting constant light and wingbeat sound. In the small space, the LED assembly flashing light and emitting wingbeat sound induced 5.0-times more alightings by males than the LED assembly flashing light without wingbeat sound. Females responded to light flash signals of males, but males failed to respond to the synthetic female pheromone component ketoisophorone added to the bimodal complex of light and sound signals. The attractiveness of light flash signals to males increased with increasing numbers of signals but did not vary according to their wavelengths (UV or blue). As predicted by the sensory drive theory, light flashes had no signal function for crepuscular house mosquitoes, Culex pipiens.