Surface Hydrophobization of Block-Shaped Wood with Rapid Benzylation

With the aim of utilizing wood as a carbon cycle-oriented material, the improvement of hydrophobicity has been actively studied to solve manufacturing problems, such as dimensional stability and biodeterioration resistance. The introduction of benzyl group is a promising chemical modification for hydrophobizing wood. However, conventional benzylation methods are not suitable for industrial applications because they require high temperature and long reaction times. In this study, a novel method was developed for quickly benzylating the surface of block-shaped wood using an aqueous solution of tetra-n-butylphosphonium hydroxide as a pretreatment solvent and no heat. The color and shape of the benzylated wood was almost unchanged from that before the treatment. Analysis of the resulting chemical structure suggested that the developed method causes less damage to carbohydrates compared with the conventional method, which involves heating and stirring. The proposed method successfully imparted hydrophobicity and thermoplasticity to the benzylated wood surface. Furthermore, hydrophobicity of the benzylated wood was further improved by a simple heat treatment for only approximately 5 min. The water contact angle became ≥110° and remained almost unchanged even after 1 min after water dropping.

Hybrid material of structural DNA with inorganic compound: synthesis, applications, and perspective

Owing to its precise manipulation in nanoscale, DNA as a genetic code becomes a promising and generic material in lots of nanotechnological outstanding exploitations. The nanoscale assembly of nucleic acids in aqueous solution has showed very remarkable capability that is not achievable from any other material resources. In the meantime, their striking role played by effective intracellular interactions have been identified, making these more attractive for a variety of biological applications. Lately, a number of interesting attempts have been made to augment their marvelous diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities, as being integrated with inorganic compounds involving gold, iron oxide, quantum dot, upconversion, etc. It was profoundly studied how structural DNA-inorganic hybrid materials have complemented with each other in a synergistic way for better-graded biological performances. Such hybrid materials consisting of both structural DNAs and inorganics are gradually receiving much attention as a practical and future-oriented material substitute. However, any special review articles highlighting the significant and innovative materials have yet to be published. At the first time, we here demonstrate novel hybrid complexes made of structural DNAs and inorganics for some practical applications.

Mathematics as a Means of Professional Self-Determination of Students

The main provisions of the concept of professional self-determination of students by means of the discipline “Mathematics” are given. There are three main stages of the self-determination process. It is argued that at each stage of mathematics is inherent in the ability to indirectly promote professional self-determination in various fields of activity, and the means of realizing such opportunities is task-oriented material of a practice-oriented and professionally-oriented nature. It is proposed to consider these problems in the context of the process of mathematical modeling. The tasks of the “pre-professional” orientation were analyzed and recommended for use, corresponding to each of the stages of self-determination and stimulating interest in such areas of professional activity as construction, economics, medicine, jurisprudence, etc.

The Female Gaze? Postmodernism and the Search for Women in the Digitized Photographic Collections of Swedish Memory Institutions

Both the photograph and digitization are often defined as democratizing forces. But neither exists outside the system of power dynamics that structure art, history, and cultural heritage. This article uses postmodernist theorization of knowledge hierarchies in the archive developed by archival scholars Terry Cook and Joan Schwartz to examine the gendered nature of metadata and data connected to digitized photographic material available on the platforms of the three major Swedish memory institutions: the Royal Library, the Nordic Museum, and the National Archives. Given that digitized photographs require the addition of machine-readable data and metadata to be findable, this information demonstrates the extent to which digitization staffs have consciously thought about the visibility of gender in their online collections. The research questions of this article are thus twofold: (1) to what extend have Swedish memory institutions embraced a postmodern approach to the archive in their photography digitization projects, and (2) has this approach resulted in the greater visibility of women-oriented material? The findings indicate that Swedish institutions have adopted postmodernist thinking about archival flexibility to varying degrees, but none have thought thoroughly about increasing the visibility of woman-oriented material.

EMPLOYER BRAND IMAGE DEPENDING ON STAKEHOLDERS’ MATERIAL VALUE TENDENCY: COMMUNICATION MARKET IN TURKEY

According to branding and reputation literature, all stakeholders shares a common value system, which also leads developing similar perceptions towards corporates. As a value, materialism, especially effects the way that people mentally coding their environment and their lives. Preferences of consumers can differ from each other depending on how they judge the success depending on possessions or centralize the possessions in their life or are satisfied by owning them. The aim of this research is to test meaningful differences between employer brand images in terms of stakeholders’ material value tendency. A questionnaire composed of Employer Brand Image and Material Value Scales was conducted to three primary stakeholder groups. Results reveal that employer brand image differs depending on the stakeholders’ success-oriented and centrality-oriented material values for communication brands. The employer brand images of Vodafone and Turk Telekom that have the best and the worst reputation status in the market depending on being involved in a serious scandal, did not differ according to the stakeholders’ material values, whereas the employer brand image of Turkcell which has an average position in the market, statistically differed.

EMPLOYER BRAND IMAGE DEPENDING ON STAKEHOLDERS’ MATERIAL VALUE TENDENCY: COMMUNICATION MARKET IN TURKEY

According to branding and reputation literature, all stakeholders shares a common value system, which also leads developing similar perceptions towards corporates. As a value, materialism, especially effects the way that people mentally coding their environment and their lives. Preferences of consumers can differ from each other depending on how they judge the success depending on possessions or centralize the possessions in their life or are satisfied by owning them. The aim of this research is to test meaningful differences between employer brand images in terms of stakeholders’ material value tendency. A questionnaire composed of Employer Brand Image and Material Value Scales was conducted to three primary stakeholder groups. Results reveal that employer brand image differs depending on the stakeholders’ success-oriented and centrality-oriented material values for communication brands. The employer brand images of Vodafone and Turk Telekom that have the best and the worst reputation status in the market depending on being involved in a serious scandal, did not differ according to the stakeholders’ material values, whereas the employer brand image of Turkcell which has an average position in the market, statistically differed.