Stoichiometry-Controlled Synthesis of Nanoparticulate Mixed-Metal Oxyhydroxide Oxygen Evolving Catalysts by Electrochemistry in Aqueous Nanodroplets

Mixed-metal oxyhydroxides—especially those of Ni and Fe—are one of the most active classes of materials known for catalyzing the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Here, nanoparticulate mixed metal oxyhydroxides (of Ni, Fe, and Co) were prepared on an electrode surface by electrochemical reaction of a precursor solution encapsulated in aqueous nanodroplets (AnDs), with each of the droplets containing 10 s of attoliters of fluid. Electrode reactions and synthesis can be monitored in situ by electrochemistry as single AnD stochastically lands and interacts with the working electrode. Resultant metal oxyhydroxide nanoparticles can be size and composition controlled precisely by modulating the precursor solution stored in the AnD. Nanoparticulate metal oxyhydroxides were implemented as catalysts for the OER and exhibited superior catalysis compared to their thin-film counterparts, demonstrating a hundred-thousand-fold enhancement in atom efficiency at comparable turnover rates.     

An Isosteric Triaza Analogue of a Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Monkey Saddle

Since a few years, the interest in negatively-curved fused polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has significantly increased. Recently, the first chiral negatively-curved PAH with the topology of a monkey saddle was introduced. Herein the synthesis of its triaza congener is reported. The influence of this CH↔N exchange on photophysical and electrochemical properties is studied as well as the isomerization process of the enantiomers. The aza analogue has a significantly higher inversion barrier, which makes it easier to handle at room temperature. All experimental results are underpinned by theoretical DFT calculations.     

正负双向脉冲式爆炸及其诱导的簇发振荡

簇发振荡普遍存在.探索通向簇发振荡的可能路径是簇发研究的热点问题之一."脉冲式爆炸(pulsed-shaped explosion,PSE)"是一种最近被报道的可以诱发簇发振荡的新机制,其特征为平衡点和极限环表现出了与参数变化相关的脉冲式急剧量变.PSE会导致系统轨线急剧跃迁,从而诱发典型的簇发振荡.然而,目前报道的PSE中仅含有"单向的尖峰",未发现"双向的尖峰",且由其诱发的簇发振荡仅含单向的振荡簇.本文以多频激励Rayleigh系统为例,旨在揭示PSE的不同表现形式以及与此相关的簇发动力学.利用频率转换快慢分析法得到了Rayleigh系统的快子系统和慢变量.针对快子系统的分析表明,PSE表现出了较为复杂的动力学特性,其特征是PSE包含了正负双向两个不同的尖峰,此即所谓的正负双向PSE.其急剧量变行为,导致了系统轨线在单个振荡周期内出现正向和负向的多次跃迁,由此得到了由正负双向PSE所诱发的簇发振荡.根据吸引子类型分别揭示了点--点型和环--环型两类簇发振荡模式的产生机制.本文的研究给出了PSE的不同表现形式,丰富了多时间尺度下的簇发振荡的诱发机制.      

大脑血液动力学现象中的能量编码

神经信息的编码与解码是神经科学中的核心研究内容,同时又极具挑战性.传统的编码理论都具有各自的局限性,很难从脑的全局运行方式上给出有效的理论.而由于能量是一个标量具有可叠加性,因此能量编码理论可以从神经元活动的能量特征出发来研究脑功能的全局神经编码问题,取得了一系列的研究成果.本研究以王-张神经元能量计算模型为基础,构建了一个多层次结构的神经网络,通过计算机数值模拟得到了神经网络的能量消耗和血液中葡萄糖供能的变化情况.计算结果显示,和网络的神经活动达到峰值的时间相比,血液中葡萄糖的供能达到峰值的时间延迟了约5.6s.从定量的角度再现了功能性核磁共振(fMRI)中的血液动力学现象:大脑某个脑区的神经元集群被激活以后经过5~7 s的延迟,脑血流的变化才会大幅增加.模拟结果表明先前发表的由王-张神经元模型所揭示的负能量机制在控制大脑的血液动力学现象中起着核心的作用,预测了刺激条件下大脑的能量代谢与血流之间变化的本质是由神经元在发放动作电位过程中正、负能量之间的非平衡、不匹配性质所决定的.本文的研究结果为今后进一步探究血液动力学现象的生理学机制提供了新的研究方向,在神经网络的建模与计算方面给出了一个新的视角和研究方法.      

Transition probabilities of Lévy‐type processes: Parametrix construction

We present an existence result for Lévy‐type processes which requires only weak regularity assumptions on the symbol with respect to the space variable x. Applications range from existence and uniqueness results for Lévy‐driven SDEs with Hölder continuous coefficients to existence results for stable‐like processes and Lévy‐type processes with symbols of variable order. Moreover, we obtain heat kernel estimates for a class of Lévy and Lévy‐type processes. The paper includes an extensive list of Lévy(‐type) processes satisfying the assumptions of our results.     

A problem of determining a special spatial part of 3D memory kernel in an integro‐differential hyperbolic equation

The inverse problem of determining 2D spatial part of integral member kernel in integro‐differential wave equation is considered. It is supposed that the unknown function is a trigonometric polynomial with respect to the spatial variable y with coefficients continuous with respect to the variable x. Herein, the direct problem is represented by the initial‐boundary value problem for the half‐space x>0 with the zero initial Cauchy data and Neumann boundary condition as Dirac delta function concentrated on the boundary of the domain . Local existence and uniqueness theorem for the solution to the inverse problem is obtained.     

Birnbaum‐Saunders distribution: A review of models,analysis, and applications

Birnbaum and Saunders introduced a two‐parameter lifetime distribution to model the fatigue life of a metal, subject to cyclic stress. Since then, extensive work has been done on this model providing different interpretations, constructions, generalizations, inferential methods, and extensions to bivariate, multivariate, and matrix‐variate cases. More than 200 papers and one research monograph have already appeared describing all these aspects and developments. In this paper, we provide a detailed review of all these developments and, at the same time, indicate several open problems that could be considered for further research.