Stigmergy in comparative settlement choice and palaeoenvironment simulation

Decisions on settlement location in the face of climate change and coastal inundation may have resulted in success, survival or even catastrophic failure for early settlers in many parts of the world. In this study, we investigate various questions related to how individuals respond to a palaeoenvironmental simulation, on an interactive tabletop device where participants have the opportunity to build a settlement on a coastal landscape, balancing safety, and access to resources, including sea and terrestrial foodstuffs, while taking into consideration the threat of rising sea levels. The results of the study were analyzed to consider whether decisions on settlement were predicated to be near to locations where previous structures were located, stigmergically, and whether later settler choice would fare better, and score higher, as time progressed. The proximity of settlements was investigated and the reasons for clustering were considered. The interactive simulation was exhibited to thousands of visitors at the 2012 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition at the “Europe's Lost World” exhibit. 347 participants contributed to the simulation, providing a sufficiently large sample of data for analysis. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 59–73, 2016     

Self-Assembly of Trisiloxane-Tailed Sugar Surfactant in Aqueous Solution

Abstract

A lactobionamide-based trisiloxane surfactant (Si3N2–LA) was prepared via a two-step method. Structure characterization of Si3N2–LA was performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR). Surface activity and aggregation behavior in aqueous solution of Si3N2–LA were investigated by surface tension measurements, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and negative-stained transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the surfactants can self-assemble into spherical vesicles with diameters in the range from 50 to 150 nm due to the introduction of trisiloxane tail.     

New basis sets for the evaluation of interaction‐induced electric properties in hydrogen‐bonded complexes

Interaction‐induced static electric properties, that is, dipole moment, polarizability, and first hyperpolarizability, of the CO? (HF)_n and N₂? (HF)_n, n = 1–9 hydrogen‐bonded complexes are evaluated within the finite field approach using the Hartree–Fock, density functional theory, Møller–Plesset second‐order perturbation theory, and coupled cluster methods, and the LPol‐n (n = ds, dl, fs, fl) basis sets. To compare the performance of the different methods with respect to the increase of the complex size, we consider as model systems linear chains of the complexes. We analyze the results in terms of the many‐body and cooperative effects. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Salinity Controlled Vesicle Formation and Growth in Aqueous Mixture of Aerosol OT/Triton X‐100

Mixed vesicles can be formed spontaneously from aqueous mixture of the double‐tailed anionic surfactant sodium bis(2‐ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) and the nonionic surfactant octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol (Triton X‐100) under the inducement of salt, the formation mechanism of which should be attributed to the compression of salt on the electric bilayers of the head groups. The stability and the polydispersity of the vesicles are superior to single‐component AOT vesicles, which can be proved by the TEM image and visual observation. The vesicle region was presented in a pseudo‐ternary diagram of AOT/TX‐100/brine. The size of the vesicle was measured using dynamic light scattering. It is found that the vesicle size increases with the salinity but decreases with the content of TX‐100 in the mixture at the same salinity. Especially, the vesicle size is independent of the surfactant concentration at fixed salinity.     

Aggregate Conformation and Rheological Properties of Didodecyldimethylammonium Bromide in Aqueous Solution

Aggregation behavior of didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB) in aqueous solution was investigated using negative-staining and freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods. With the concentration increase, the vesicle size enlarged from the range of 100–200 nm to 500–3000 nm and the structure transform from unilamella to multilamella. Rheological and viscosity measurement results indicated that the system exhibited a gel-like material characteristic and shearing thinning in property, as shown that the apparent viscosity decreased gradually during the shear rate ascended from 1 × 10^?4–1 × 10⁴ s^?1. Furthermore, the relationship between aggregate conformation and solution rheological properties was discussed.     

Fusion Dynamics of Aqueous Glutamic Acid/Aminodecane/Ibuprofen Vesicles

Vesicles have been prepared at a constant molar ratio of L-glutamic acid/1-aminodecane/ibuprofen/H₂O. The fusion dynamics of the vesicles have been directly observed and followed by using optical microscopy and freeze fracture replication-electron microscopy technologies. With time increasing up to 25 minutes, the vesicles slowly fuse to form large stable vesicles. A membrane phase transition temperature is detected at 97°C.     

Supramolecular Polymerization of C3‐Symmetric Organogelators: Cooperativity,Solvent, and Gelation Relationship

A systematic study of the influence of solvent and the size of C₃‐symmetric discotics on their supramolecular polymerization mechanism is presented. The cooperativity of the self‐assembly of the reported compounds is directly related to their gelation ability. The two series of C₃‐symmetric discotics investigated herein are based on benzene‐1,3,5‐tricarboxamides (BTAs) and oligo(phenylene ethynylene)‐based tricarboxamides (OPE? TAs) that are peripherally decorated with achiral ( 1 a and 2 a ) or chiral N‐(2‐aminoethyl)‐3,4,5‐trialkoxybenzamide units ( 1 b and 2 b ). The supramolecular polymerization of compounds 1 a , b and 2 a , b has been exhaustively investigated in a number of solvents and by using various techniques: variable‐temperature circular dichroism (VT‐CD) spectroscopy, concentration‐dependent ¹H NMR spectroscopy, and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The supramolecular polymerization mechanism of compounds 2 is highly cooperative in solvents such as methylcyclohexane and toluene and is isodesmic in CHCl₃. Unexpectedly, chiral compound 1 b is practically CD‐silent, in contrast with previously reported BTAs. ITC measurements in CHCl₃ demonstrated that the supramolecular polymerization of BTA 1 a is isodesmic. These results confirm the strong influence of the π‐surface of the central aromatic core of the studied discotic and the branched nature of the peripheral side chains on the supramolecular polymerization. The gelation ability of these organogelators is negated in CHCl₃, in which the supramolecular polymerization mechanism is isodesmic.     

Electroformed Giant Vesicles from a Binary Mixture of Phospholipids and Quaternary Ammonium Salts

In this article, positively charged GVs were electroformed in a binary system of quaternary ammonium salts and egg phosphatidylcholine (EggPC) under an alternative current (AC) electric field. The diameter and charge density of the GVs is controlled by doping suitable cationic quaternary ammonium molecules into the EggPC bilayer. By developing positively charged GVs, there will be expanded the applications for phospholipids vesicles, especially the investigation of charge-induced interactions between cationic lipid membranes and macromolecules, such as colloidal particles or proteins.     

固态电解质中锂离子传输机理研究进展

固态电解质在室温下表现出非凡的离子导电性,使其有潜力应用于全固态锂离子电池。开发新的高性能固态电解质需要对锂离子传输机理及其规律进行深入研究。本文论述了近期研究中锂离子传输机理方面的研究进展,包括离子传输理论基础的概述;总结Li₁₀GeP₂S₁₂、Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂和Li_1+xAl_xTi_2-x(PO₄)₃固态电解质材料中晶体结构、离子传输和研究进展;阐述锂离子传输中结构特征、传输机理（单离子跳跃传输和多离子协同传输）以及构效关系;总结（反）Meyer-Neldel规则的关键问题和相关电解质材料。最后,展望了给出电解质材料的设计策略和未来机理研究的重点,为无机固态电解质材料的探索提供新的思路和方向。