Modelling non-equilibrium self-assembly from dissipation

Non-equilibrium self-assembly is ubiquitous in physico-chemical and biological systems, and manifests itself at different scales, ranging from the molecular to the cosmological. The formation of microtubules, gels, cells and living beings among many others takes place through self-assembly under nonequilibrium conditions. We propose a general thermodynamic non-equilibrium model to understand the formation of assembled structures such as gels and Liesegang patterns and at the same time able to describe the kinetics and the energetics of the structure formation process. The model is supported for a global mechanism to obtain self-assembled structures from building blocks via activation, deactivation, assembly, and disassembly processes. It is proposed that the resulting structures can be characterised by a structural parameter. Our model may contribute to a better understanding of non-equilibrium self-assembly processes and give deeper insight as to how to obtain a specific structural architecture to materials, such as hydrogels which are of great importance in the design of advanced devices and novel materials.     

Precision Interferometry as a New Method for Studying the Conformational State of Protein and Its Interaction with a Solvent

Optics and Spectroscopy - A new method for studying the conformational state of a protein and its interaction with a solvent has been developed. The method is based on measuring the refractive...     

Design of Structures of Neutral Nonpolarizing Interference Systems Placed between Media with the Same Refraction Indices

Optics and Spectroscopy - The design of neutral nonpolarizing interference systems formed on the face of one of the two prisms that are components of an optical element in the form of a cube is...     

Study of the Spectrumof Low-Frequency Current Fluctuations in Filaments of Electric Lamps

Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics - We study experimentally the spectral characteristics of low-frequency current fluctuations in tungsten filaments of lighting lamps in the ranges of...     

Highly charged ions in a new era of high resolution X-ray astrophysics

X-ray astronomy and ground-based atomic physics have a long history of fruitful collaboration: Sound understanding of the underlying atomic physics is the key to reliable interpretation of the spectra from celestial sources; conversely, astronomical spectra have been used to benchmark and advance atomic physics. This interplay is about to become even more important as we enter a new era of high-resolution X-ray astrophysics with large effective collection area. Although high-resolution observations with the gratings on the Chandra and XMM-Newton observatories continue to drive new science, upcoming planned and proposed missions will open up new discovery space in the near future that is currently challenging to access: high-resolution spectroscopy on extended sources, in the Fe K band, and on short time scales. This review summarizes open questions in these areas and the design parameters for the Hitomi, XRISM, Athena, and Arcus observatories. The expected high quality of spectra taken with these observatories puts new constraints on the accuracy of atomic reference data required to take full advantage of the diagnostic potential of these spectra.     

The connected partition lattice of a graph and the reconstruction conjecture

Previously we showed that many invariants of a graph can be computed from its abstract induced subgraph poset, which is the isomorphism class of the induced subgraph poset, suitably weighted by subgraph counting numbers. In this paper, we study the abstract bond lattice of a graph, which is the isomorphism class of the lattice of distinct unlabelled connected partitions of a graph, suitably weighted by subgraph counting numbers. We show that these two abstract posets can be constructed from each other except in a few trivial cases. The constructions rely on certain generalisations of a lemma of Kocay in graph reconstruction theory to abstract induced subgraph posets. As a corollary, trees are reconstructible from their abstract bond lattice. We show that the chromatic symmetric function and the symmetric Tutte polynomial of a graph can be computed from its abstract induced subgraph poset. Stanley has asked if every tree is determined up to isomorphism by its chromatic symmetric function. We prove a counting lemma, and indicate future directions for a study of Stanley's question.     

Structurally and Surface-Modified Alumina Particles as a Reinforcement in Polyester-Based Composites with an Improved Toughness

Mechanics of Composite Materials - Commercial γ ? Al2O3 particles, Al2O3 n, and synthesized Al2O3 doped with iron oxide (Al2O3 Fe) were used as reinforcements to enhance the toughness of...     

Effect of “Sodium Sulfite–Ascorbic Acid” Complex Antioxidant Additive on the Composition,Structure and Semiconducting Properties of PbSe Film

Physics of the Solid State - Comparative experimental data, using dynamic light scattering methods, scanning electron and atomic force microscopy, on the composition, crystal structure,...     

The Influence of the Percolation Transition on the Electric Conductive and Optical Properties of Ultrathin Metallic Films

Physics of the Solid State - The results of the study of the peculiarities of changes in the electrophysical, optical, and plasmonic properties of ultrathin metallic films during the percolation...     

Propagation of Low-Energy Electrons and the Density of Unoccupied States in Ultrathin TCNQ Layers on the Oxidized Silicon Surface

Physics of the Solid State - The formation of unoccupied electronic states and the boundary potential barrier during thermal deposition of tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) films to 7 nm in thickness...