New alternating D–A1–D–A2 copolymer containing two electron‐deficient moieties based on benzothiadiazole and 9‐(2‐Octyldodecyl)‐8H‐pyrrolo[3,4‐b]bisthieno[2,3‐f:3',2'‐h]quinoxaline‐8,10(9H)‐dione for efficient polymer solar cells

A novel D–A₁–D–A₂ copolymer denoted as P1 containing two electron withdrawing units based on benzothiadiazole (BT) and 9‐(2‐octyldodecyl)?8H‐pyrrolo[3,4‐b] bisthieno[2,3‐f:3′,2′‐h]quinoxaline‐8,10(9H)–dione (PTQD) units was synthesized and characterized. The resulting copolymer exhibits a broad‐absorption spectrum, relatively deep lying HOMO energy level (?5.44 eV) and narrow optical bandgap (1.50 eV). Bulk heterojunction (BHJ) polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on P1 as donor and PC₇₁BM as acceptor with optimized donor to acceptor weight ratio of 1:2 and processed with DIO/CB solvent showed good photovoltaic performance with power conversion efficiency of 6.21% which is higher than that of the device processed without solvent additive (4.40%). The absorption and morphology investigations of the active layers indicated that structural and morphological changes were induced by the solvent additive. This higher power conversion efficiency could be mainly attributed to the absorption enhancement and improved charge transported in the active layer induced by the better nanoscale morphology of the active layer. This study demonstrated that a copolymer with two different acceptor moieties in the backbone may be promising candidate as donor copolymer for solution processed BHJ PSCs. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 155–168     

Analysis of a bacterial model with nutrient‐dependent degenerate diffusion

We introduce and study a degenerate reaction‐diffusion system that can serve as a model prototype for the pattern formation of a bacterial multicellular community where the bacteria produce biofilm, grow and spread in the presence of a nutrient. Under proper conditions on the reaction terms, we prove the global existence and the uniqueness of solutions and illustrate the possible model behaviour in numerical simulations for a two‐dimensional setting. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Weak formulation and first order form of the equations of motion for a class of constrained mechanical systems

Some new theoretical results are presented on modeling the dynamic response of a class of discrete mechanical systems subject to equality motion constraints. Both the development and presentation are facilitated by employing some fundamental concepts of differential geometry. At the beginning, the equations of motion of the corresponding unconstrained system are presented on a configuration manifold with general properties, first in strong and then in a primal weak form, using Newton׳s law of motion as a foundation. Next, the final weak form is obtained by performing a crucial integration by parts step, involving a covariant derivative. This step required the clarification and enhancement of some concepts related to the variations employed in generating the weak form. The second part of this work is devoted to systems involving holonomic and non-holonomic scleronomic constraints. The equations of motion derived in a recent study of the authors are utilized as a basis. The novel characteristic of these equations is that they form a set of second order ordinary differential equations (ODEs) in both the coordinates and the Lagrange multipliers associated to the constraint action. Based on these equations, the corresponding weak form is first obtained, leading eventually to a consistent first order ODE form of the equations of motion. These equations are found to appear in a form resembling the form obtained after application of the classical Hamilton׳s canonical equations. Finally, the new theoretical findings are illustrated by three representative examples.     

Influence of charged intramolecular hydrogen bonds in weak polyelectrolytes: A Monte Carlo study of flexible and extendible polymeric chains in solution and near charged spheres

For weak polyelectrolytes, the interplay between pH, solvent properties, and polymer structure affects the amount of charges, their distribution, and hence their conformations via Coloumb repulsion. Attractive interactions can also develop between charged and neutral sites counteracting the expected Coulomb‐induced expansion. To gauge how such competition affects polyelectrolyte structure and ionization, the titration of a single polyelectrolyte chain, isolated or close to a charged sphere, mimicked with a novel many‐body potential model is simulated with Monte Carlo. Apart from showing a 10‐fold higher ionization than isolated monomers at low pH, interacting species contracted forming short‐range clusters of charged and neutral ionizable groups. The presence of a charged sphere synergically boosted both effects due to monomer interactions, forcing the chains to condense onto its surface at much lower pH. Structural properties, however, seem to be controlled only by the ionization degree despite the presence of the topological restraint represented by the spherical surface. Using Monte Carlo titration results, the equilibrium ionization of isolated chains is also estimated; the results evidence that even weak interactions can easily lead to a doubling of the total charge. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 650–663     

Birth-pulse models of Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility in mosquitoes for dengue virus control

Dengue fever, which affects more than 50 million people a year, is the most important arboviral disease in tropical countries. Mosquitoes are the principal vectors of the dengue virus but some endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria can stop the mosquitoes from reproducing and so interrupt virus transmission. A birth-pulse model of the spread of Wolbachia through a population of mosquitoes, incorporating the effects of cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) and different density dependent death rate functions, is proposed. Strategies for either eradicating mosquitoes or using population replacement by substituting uninfected mosquitoes with infected ones for dengue virus prevention were modeled. A model with a strong density dependent death function shows that population replacement can be realized if the initial ratio of number of infected to the total number of mosquitoes exceeds a critical value, especially when transmission from mother to offspring is perfect. However, with a weak density dependent death function, population eradication becomes difficult as the system’s solutions are sensitive to initial values. Using numerical methods, it was shown that population eradication may be achieved regardless of the infection ratio only when parameters lie in particular regions and the initial density of uninfected is low enough.     

Weak subdifferential/superdifferential,weak exhausters and optimality conditions

In this work, the notion of weak superdifferential is presented. Some calculation rules are given to evaluate weak subdifferential and weak superdifferential of some classes of functions represented by support functions. Moreover, some methods are obtained to calculate weak subdifferential of convex functions. In addition, the concept of weak lower and weak upper exhausters of positively homogeneous functions are introduced by using weak subdifferential and weak superdifferential, respectively. In terms of weak exhausters, some optimality conditions are given to find local or global minimizers/maximizers of some classes of functions.     

On Decomposition of the ABS Lattice Equations and Related Bäcklund Transformations

The Adler-Bobenko-Suris (ABS) list contains scalar quadrilateral equations which are consistent around the cube, and have D₄ symmetry and tetrahedron property. Each equation in the ABS list admits a beautiful decomposition. We revisit these decomposition formulas and by means of them we construct Bäcklund transformations (BTs). BTs are used to construct lattice equations, their new solutions and weak Lax pairs.     

各向异性光子晶体中熵压缩动力学行为

本文详细分析了各向异性光子晶体环境中量子弱测量和测量反转对原子熵压缩的影响,得到一些重要结论。研究发现,量子比特和光子晶体带隙边缘频率之间的失谐量δ以及量子弱测量和测量反转强度对熵压缩起着重要作用,通过调节它们,可以获得更好的熵压缩。