Self-oscillating gels based on novel catalyst for the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction

We report on the synthesis of new Ru(bpy)₂(phen) catalyst for the oscillatory Belousov–Zhabotinsky chemical reaction and on the preparation of novel Ru(bpy)₂(phen)-based self-oscillating gels. The synthesized gels exhibit high-amplitude autonomous mechanical oscillations when the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction proceeds inside these gels     

Bifurcation analysis of visual angle model with anticipated time and stabilizing driving behavior

In the light of the visual angle model (VAM), an improved car-following model considering driver's visual angle, anticipated time and stabilizing driving behavior is proposed so as to investigate how the driver's behavior factors affect the stability of the traffic flow. Based on the model, linear stability analysis is performed together with bifurcation analysis, whose corresponding stability condition is highly fit to the results of the linear analysis. Furthermore, the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) equation and the modified Korteweg-de Vries (mKdV) equation are derived by nonlinear analysis, and we obtain the relationship of the two equations through the comparison. Finally, parameter calibration and numerical simulation are conducted to verify the validity of the theoretical analysis, whose results are highly consistent with the theoretical analysis.     

Versatile Near-Infrared Super-Resolution Imaging of Amyloid Fibrils with the Fluorogenic Probe CRANAD-2

CRANAD-2 is a fluorogenic curcumin derivative used for near-infrared detection and imaging in vivo of amyloid aggregates, which are involved in neurodegenerative diseases. We explore the performance of CRANAD-2 in two super-resolution imaging techniques, namely stimulated emission depletion (STED) and single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM), with markedly different fluorophore requirements. By conveniently adapting the concentration of CRANAD-2, which transiently binds to amyloid fibrils, we show that it performs well in both techniques, achieving a resolution in the range of 45–55 nm. Correlation of SMLM with atomic force microscopy (AFM) validates the resolution of fine features in the reconstructed super-resolved image. The good performance and versatility of CRANAD-2 provides a powerful tool for near-infrared nanoscopic imaging of amyloids in vitro and in vivo.     

A branch-and-bound method for the minimum k−enclosing ball problem

The minimum k-enclosing ball problem seeks the ball with smallest radius that contains at least k of m given points. This problem is NP-hard. We present a branch-and-bound algorithm on the tree of the subsets of k points to solve this problem. Our method is able to solve the problem exactly in a short amount of time for small and medium sized datasets.     

A posteriori error analysis of a quadratic finite volume method for nonlinear elliptic problems

In this article, we construct and analyze a residual-based a posteriori error estimator for a quadratic finite volume method (FVM) for solving nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. We shall prove that the a posteriori error estimator yields the global upper and local lower bounds for the norm error of the FVM. So that the a posteriori error estimator is equivalent to the true error in a certain sense. Numerical experiments are performed to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Synthesis and characterization of VO–vanillin complex immobilized on MCM-41 and its facile catalytic application in the sulfoxidation reaction,and synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones and disulfides in green media

In this work, a vanillin complex is immobilized onto MCM-41 and characterized by FT-IR, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and BET techniques. This supported Schiff base complex was found to be an efficient and recoverable catalyst for the chemoselective oxidation of sulfides into sulfoxides and thiols into their corresponding disulfides (using hydrogen peroxide as a green oxidant) and also a suitable catalyst for the preparation of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one derivatives in water at 90°C. Using this protocol, we show that a variety of disulfides, sulfoxides, and 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one derivatives can be synthesized in green conditions. The catalyst can be recovered and recycled for further reactions without appreciable loss of catalytic performance.