Flexible conducting polymer transistors with supercapacitor function

Planar organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) using PEDOT:PSS as the channel material and nanostructured carbon (nsC) as the gate electrode material and poly(sodium 4‐styrenesulfonate (PSSNa) gel as the electrolyte were fabricated on flexible polyethylene terephthalate (Mylar^®) substrates. The nsC was deposited at room‐temperature by supersonic cluster beam deposition (SCBD). Interestingly, the OECT acts as a hybrid supercapacitor (to give a device that we indicate as transcap). The energy storage ability of transcaps has been studied with two cell configurations: one featuring PEDOT:PSS as the positive electrode and nsC as the negative electrode and another configuration with reversed electrode polarity. Potentiostatic charge/discharge studies show that both supercapacitors show good performance in terms of voltage retention, in particular, when PEDOT:PSS is used as the positive electrode. Galvanostatic charge–discharge characteristics show typical symmetric triangular shape, indicating a nearly ideal capacitive behavior with a high columbic efficiency (close to 100%). © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55, 96–103     

Auto-Tuning and Fractional Order Controller Implementation on Hardware in the Loop System

The paper deals with the design of an auto-tuning fractional order proportional-integrative-derivative controllers and its implementation on hardware in the loop simulator for the real-time control of unknown plants. The proposed procedure can be applied to systems with delay and order greater than one, once specifications on cross-over frequency and phase margin are given. The auto-tuning procedure consists of two phases: the first one dedicated to the identification of the process at the desired cross-over frequency and the second one to determine all the parameters of the fractional order proportional-integrative-derivative controllers. The obtained controller ensures an iso-damping response of the plant. Experimental results are given to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach and show that the requirements are totally met for the system to be controlled.     

Neutron- and muon-induced background in underground physics experiments

Background induced by neutrons in deep underground laboratories is a critical issue for all experiments looking for rare events, such as dark matter interactions or neutrinoless ββ decay. Neutrons can be produced either by natural radioactivity, via spontaneous fission or (α, n) reactions, or by interactions initiated by high-energy cosmic rays. In all underground experiments, Monte Carlo simulations of neutron background play a crucial role for the evaluation of the total background rate and for the optimization of rejection strategies. The Monte Carlo methods that are commonly employed to evaluate neutron-induced background and to optimize the experimental setup, are reviewed and discussed. Focus is given to the issue of reliability of Monte Carlo background estimates. We dedicate this work to the memory of our friend and colleague Nicola Ferrari, who prematurely passed away in July 2006.     

A Continuous-Time Random Walk Extension of the Gillis Model

We consider a continuous-time random walk which is the generalization, by means of the introduction of waiting periods on sites, of the one-dimensional non-homogeneous random walk with a position-dependent drift known in the mathematical literature as Gillis random walk. This modified stochastic process allows to significantly change local, non-local and transport properties in the presence of heavy-tailed waiting-time distributions lacking the first moment: we provide here exact results concerning hitting times, first-time events, survival probabilities, occupation times, the moments spectrum and the statistics of records. Specifically, normal diffusion gives way to subdiffusion and we are witnessing the breaking of ergodicity. Furthermore we also test our theoretical predictions with numerical simulations.     

The N-terminal 1-16 peptide derived in vivo from protein seminal vesicle protein IV modulates alpha-thrombin activity: potential clinical implications

We have previously shown that seminal vesicle protein IV (SV-IV) and its 1-70 N-terminal fragment have anti-inflammatory activity and modulate anti-thrombin III (AT) activity. Moreover, mass spectrometry analysis of purified SV-IV has shown that the protein was found to be highly heterogeneous and 14% of the total SV-IV molecules are truncated forms, of particular interest the 1-16, 1-17, and 1-18 peptides. In this work we report experimental data which demonstrate that the 1-16 peptide (P1-16) possesses a marked effect on the AT activity by preventing the formation of the thrombin-AT complex. We found that the formation of thrombin-AT complex is markedly decreased in the presence of P1-16 used at equimolar concentration with thrombin as evaluated with SDS-PAGE. We also monitored the conformational changes of thrombin in the presence of different P1-16 concentrations, and calculated the K(d) of thrombin/P1-16 system by circular dichroism technique. The probable interaction sites of P1-16 with thrombin have been also evaluated by molecular graphics and computational analyses. These results have potential implications in the treatment of sterility and thrombotic diseases.     

Integrated Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Bio-Based Amphiphiles using a Functionalization-Defunctionalization Approach

Concerns over the sustainability and end-of-life properties of fossil-derived surfactants have driven interest in bio-based alternatives. Lignocellulosic biomass with its polar functional groups is an obvious feedstock for surfactant production but its use is limited by process complexity and low yield. Here, we present a simple two-step approach to prepare bio-based amphiphiles directly from hemicellulose and lignin at high yields (29 % w/w based on the total raw biomass and >80 % w/w of these two fractions). Acetal functionalization of xylan and lignin with fatty aldehydes during fractionation introduced hydrophobic segments and subsequent defunctionalization by hydrogenolysis of the xylose derivatives or acidic hydrolysis of the lignin derivatives produced amphiphiles. The resulting biodegradable xylose acetals and/or ethers, and lignin-based amphiphilic polymers both largely retained their original natural structures, but exhibited competitive or superior surface activity in water/oil systems compared to common bio-based surfactants.     

The Astrochemical Observatory: Molecules in the Laboratory and in the Cosmos

Astrochemistry is a discipline consolidated recently, although its roots extend back to the dawn of early civilization with the observation and mapping of the sky. The way to the understanding of the common natural laws on earth and in space paved by Galilei's observations by the telescope, has been extended in the last decades, by new technologies such as radioastronomy and space missions. Plenty of new chemistry was surprisingly discovered. Extreme rich information on the chemical “composition” of the universe is being obtained, either from the other planets and satellites in the Solar System, from meteorites and comets, or from the interstellar space. In this article we will present selected topics regarding the chemical structures and reactions being discovered. Particular attention will be devoted to aspects considered as relevant for the prebiotic processes on earth, such as those involving chirality and its role played in the origin and evolution of life.     

Data structures to vectorize CG algorithms for general sparsity patterns

We describe an implementation of Conjugate Gradient-type iterative algorithms for problems with general sparsity patterns on a vector processor with a hierarchy of memories, such as the IBM 3090/VF. The implementation relies on the wavefront approach to vectorize the solution of the two sparse triangular systems that arise when using ILU type preconditioners. The data structure is the key to an effective implementation of sparse computational kernels on a vector processor. A data structure is a combination of a layout of the matrix coefficients and ordering schemes for the vectors to increase data locality. With the data structure we describe, we achieve comparable performance on both the matrix-vector product and the solution of the sparse triangular systems on a variety of real problems, such as those arising from large scale reservoir simulation or structural analysis.     

Efficient offline algorithms for the bicriteria k-server problem and online applications

In this paper we consider the bicriteria version of the well-known k-server problem in which the cost incurred by an algorithm is evaluated simultaneously with respect to two different edge weightings.We show that it is possible to achieve the same competitive ratios of the previously known online algorithms with a dramatic improvement of the running time, i.e., from exponential to polynomial.Such results are obtained by exploiting new polynomial time algorithms able to find offline solutions whose costs differ from the optimal ones only of additive terms independent from the sequence of requests.