Dioxin levels in the breast milk of mothers residing near a contaminated former airbase in Vietnam remain much higher than in unsprayed areas, suggesting high perinatal dioxin exposure for their infants. The present study investigated the association of perinatal dioxin exposure with autistic traits in 153 3-year-old children living in a contaminated area in Vietnam. The children were followed up from birth using the neurodevelopmental battery Bayley-III. The high-2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) exposed groups (⩾3.5 pg per g fat) showed significantly higher Autism Spectrum Rating Scale (ASRS) scores for both boys and girls than the mild-TCDD exposed groups, without differences in neurodevelopmental scores. In contrast, the high total dioxin-exposed group, indicated by polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDDs/Fs)-the toxic equivalents (TEQ) levels ⩾ 17.9 pg-TEQ per g fat, had significantly lower neurodevelopmental scores than the mild-exposed group in boys, but there was no difference in the ASRS scores. The present study demonstrates a specific impact of perinatal TCDD on autistic traits in childhood, which is different from the neurotoxicity of total dioxins (PCDDs/Fs).

Purpose -To propose and develop an identification method of material parameters from dynamics test in the presence of extensively corrupted measurements. Design/methodology/approach -The method we propose, which is based on the use of the error in constitutive relation for identification problems in the framework of transient dynamics, leads to nonstandard wave propagation problems. For solving this numerical difficulty, we used the transition matrix method for short-duration tests and the combined Riccati constant/transition matrix approach for long-duration tests. Findings -A numerical strategy adapted to the problem. Results obtained appears to be insensitive to perturbation of measurements up to a very high level of perturbation. Research limitations/implications -Only simple case of elastic bar have been treated so far. Originality/value -Without any a priori information on the level of perturbation, this method is robust with respect to the perturbation. A coupling of two resolution methods allows to deal with problem of arbitrary duration.

A novel and highly efficient dye, Ru(H 2 dcbpy)(4-(4-(N,N-di(p-hexyloxyphenyl)amino)styryl)-4′-methyl-2,2′bipyridine)(NCS) 2 , HMP-2, with extinction coefficients of about 33 260 L • mol -1 • cm -1 at 534 nm and about 20 000 L • mol -1 • cm -1 at 490 nm, is designed and further applied onto ZnO nanocrystals for dye-sensitized solar cells application. ZnO nanocrystals of a few nanometers are spin coated onto an indium-tin oxide substrate for forming about 2.5 µm uniform film thickness. Change in the surface appearance of ZnO in the presence of N3 and in newly designed HMP-2 dye is illustrated. Structural elucidation of the newly developed HMP-2 dye is presented in depth. A ZnO nanoparticle electrode is dipped in HMP-2 dye and in commercially used N3 dyes for 24 h to see the influence of dye structure on the surface aggregation effect due to insulating Zn + /dye complex layer formation. Interestingly, the ZnO nanocrystal electrode surface with HMP-2 dye is almost free of this efficiency-diminishing effect, and a solar-to-electrical conversion efficiency of 4.03%, which is about 40-fold times higher than that of N3 dye, is obtained.

The motivation of the paper is to develop a method allowing us to make use, in the context of identification, of highly perturbed tests leading to nonreliable measurements. Such tests are not seldom especially when dealing with structural fracture in dynamics. We follow here the concept of the modified constitutive relation error (MCRE) [1] where error on the model and error on the experimental data are both introduced. A first paper was devoted to the extension of the MCRE method to transient elasticity [2]. This paper is devoted to the extension to nonlinear constitutive relations, in particular viscoplasticity and damage. The MCRE formulation in transient dynamics leads to the solving of a coupled direct and adjoint nonlinear problem, which implies dedicated methods, which is the core of this paper. This has led us to define a particular MCRE formulation well suited for numerical treatment and to develop an extension of the LATIN method [3] to ill-posed problems. Once the difficulties have been resolved and the formulation implemented in the one-dimensional case, the proposed identification strategy appears to be very robust with respect to perturbed measurements in the absence of a priori knowledge, even in the case of localization and rupture.