Electronic band structure of tetracene-TCNQ and perylene-TCNQ compounds

The relationship between the crystal structures, band structures, and electronic properties of acene-TCNQ complexes has been investigated. We focus on the newly synthesized crystals of the charge-transfer salt tetracene-TCNQ and similar to it perylene-TCNQ, potentially interesting for realization of ambipolar transport. The band structures were calculated from first principles using density-functional theory (DFT). Despite the similarity in the crystal structures of the acene-TCNQ complexes studied here, the band structures are very different. Hole and electron transport properties are predicted to be equally good in perylene-TCNQ, in contrast to the tetracene-TCNQ, which has good transport properties for electrons only. The estimated degree of charge transfer for tetracene-TCNQ is 0.13e and for perylene-TCNQ 0.46e.     

Bimodal, dimetallic lanthanide complexes that bind to DNA: the nature of binding and its influence on water relaxivity

UV-visible titrations, (1)H NMRD experiments and molecular docking studies show that emissive anthraquinone appended dimetallic lanthanide complexes bind to DNA. The strength of binding and the observed relaxivity behaviour depend on the nature of the substituted anthraquinone core.     

Rapid catalytic oxidation of CO to CO(2) - On the development of a new approach to on-line oxygen isotope analysis of organic matter

A new approach to on-line oxygen isotope analysis has been developed which utilises existing elemental analyser and mass spectrometry technology to produce a sample of carbon dioxide gas for oxygen isotople analysis. The method relies on on-line high temperature pyrolysis of the sample over a carbon source followed by a rapid, non-contributive partial catalytic oxidation over nickel powder at between 550 and 600 degrees C. Initial results demonstrate both good precision (better than 0.2 per thousand) and accuracy for both cellulose and silver nitrate samples. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Editorial for Focus Issue on Enabling Science and Technology for High-Speed Optical Communications

<正>Fiber optics underpins the communications infrastructure for the information society today. Cables consisting of hair-like fibers speed data around the globe in the form of rapid pulses of light. Modern telecom     

7,8-Dihydropyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-one; a bicyclic cytosine analogue capable of enhanced stabilisation of DNA duplexes

Incorporation of a bicyclic cytosine analogue, 3-beta-D-(2'-deoxyribofuranosyl)-7,8-dihydropyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine, into synthetic DNA duplexes results in a greatly enhanced thermal stability (3-4 degrees C per modification) compared to the corresponding unmodified duplex.     

Nonlinear polarization effects and mitigation in polarization-division-multiplexed coherent transmission systems

Using numerical simulations, the nonlinear transmission performance of polarization-division-multiplexed quadrature-phase-shift-keying （PDM-QPSK） coherent systems is studied. It is found that inter-channel cross-polarization modulation （XPolM） induced nonlinear polarization scattering can significantly degrade the transmission performance of PDM-QPSK coherent systems and change the perspective of dispersion management in optical coherent transmission systems. Some techniques to mitigate nonlinear polarization scattering in dispersion-managed PDM coherent transmission systems are discussed, including the use of time-interleaved return-to-zero （RZ） PDM formats, the use of periodic-group-delay PGD dispersion compensators, and the judicious addition of some polarization-mode-dispersion （PMD） in the transmission link. It is shown that if nonlinear polarization scattering can be well mitigated, a polarization multiplexed optical coherent transmission system with dispersion management could perform better than that without it.     

The nature of the micellar stern region as studied by reaction kinetics. 2

The nature of rate-retarding effects of cationic micelles on the water-catalyzed hydrolyses of a series of para-substituted 1-benzoyl-1,2,4-triazoles (1a-f) and 1-benzoyl-3-phenyl-1,2,4-triazole (2) has been studied using kinetic methods. A comparison is drawn between medium effects in the micellar Stern region and in model solutions for the micellar Stern region. Simple model solutions involving concentrated aqueous solutions of a small ionic molecule resembling the surfactant headgroup, as reported before,(1) were improved. New model solutions for alkyltrimethylammonium bromide micelles contain both tetramethylammonium bromide (TMAB), mimicking micellar headgroups, and 1-propanol, mimicking hydrophobic tails. The rate-retarding effect of micelles on the hydrolysis of 1a-f and 2 is caused by the high concentration of headgroups as well as by hydrophobic tails in the Stern region where 1a-f and 2 bind to the micelle. Individual contributions of these interactions are quantified. Rate-retarding effects found for different probes, with different sensitivities for interactions as they occur when the probe binds to the micellar Stern region, as well as the micellar Stern region's micropolarity as reported by the E(T)(30) probe, are satisfactorily reproduced by new model solutions containing both TMAB and 1-propanol.     

Heat convection and transport barriers in low-magnetic-shear rijnhuizen tokamak project plasmas

Layers of reduced electron heat transport ("transport barriers") have been observed in the Rijnhuizen Tokamak Project when the plasma is dominantly heated by electron cyclotron heating (ECH). Experiments into the properties of the transport barriers are reported. Modulation of the ECH power was used to probe electron heat transport in the barriers by means of propagating electron temperature perturbations. The observed propagation shows that transport inside the barriers is dominated by heat convection. This convection is inward, i.e., up the temperature gradient.