Enthalpic effect of polyacrylonitrile on the concentrated solutions in dimethyl sulfoxide: Strong thixotropic behavior and formation of bound solvents

The effect of dipole–dipole interaction by nitrile groups of PAN on the bound state of solvent molecules and the concentrated solution properties in DMSO was investigated. Variation of a solution viscosity exhibited three overlap concentrations, C1*, C2*, and C3*, at 2.7, 8.6, and 16.3 wt%, respectively, representing the transition of concentration regions in the order of dilute, unentangled‐semi dilute, entangled‐semi dilute, and concentrated regions. The two‐dimensional mapping of FT‐IR analysis and dielectric measurement confirmed that the intermolecular interaction of PAN was suddenly enhanced at the C*s, inducing polarization to DMSO. In the ice‐melting process of PAN solutions, two different melting peaks (T_m2 and T_m3) of DMSO newly appeared at each C2* and C3*, suggesting the different types of bound solvents. In the concentrated solutions, the saturated dielectric constant and the strongly delayed evaporation of the solvent even at the boiling point of DMSO along with strong thixotropic behavior were indicative of the stronger confinement state of bound DMSO than in the semidilute solutions. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 1080–1089     

Time evolution of Wikipedia network ranking

X-ray circular magnetic dichroism, polarized neutron diffraction, ac susceptibility, and Seebeck effect have been measured for several members of the RCo₂ series (R = Ho, Tm, Er) as a function of temperature and applied magnetic field. The experimental results show robust parimagnetism (a general behaviour along the RCo₂ series with R being a heavy rare earth ion) and two reversal temperatures in some systems, which is an unexpected result. Polarised neutron diffraction show differences between results obtained on single crystals or polycrystalline ingots. We propose an interpretation of parimagnetic RCo₂ as a Griffiths phase of the high temperature, magnetically ordered, amorphous RCo₂ phase.     

Catalytic conversion of lactic acid into propylene glycol over various metals supported on silica

Catalytic hydrogenation of lactic acid to propylene glycol was performed over various metals (Ag, Co, Cu, Ni, Pt, and Ru) supported on silica prepared by an incipient wetness impregnation method. The loading amount of each metal was 5 wt%. Crystallinity of the synthesized catalysts was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the BET method was utilized to examine the surface area. Pore volume and pore size of catalysts were determined using BJH analysis of the N₂ adsorption isotherm. Particle sizes of various metals were determined from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. The catalytic activity was found to be strongly dependent on the supported metal. Among catalysts tested, Ru/SiO₂ showed the highest propylene glycol yield. The yield of propylene glycol increased with pressure, and the highest yield was achieved at 130 °C.     

Natural Melanin Nanoparticle‐decorated Screen‐printed Carbon Electrode: Performance Test for Amperometric Determination of Hexavalent Chromium as Model Trace

A biosensor was prepared with natural melanin nanoparticles (MNP) decorated on a screen‐printed carbon electrode (SPCE). Hexavalent chromium was selected as a well‐known heavy metal ion to be detected for testing the performance of novel biosensor. Natural MNP was extracted from cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) ink. Surface decoration of SPCEs with MNP was performed by two different methods. The first one was layer‐by‐layer assembly (LBL‐A) for different cycle times(n). In the second one, plasma treatment of SPCE incorporated with evaporation‐induced self‐assembly (EI‐SA) techniques including different incubation times in MNP solutions. The performance of both modified SPCEs were tested for amperometric detection of Cr(VI) in various water samples, and peak reduction of Cr(VI) was determined at 0.33 V. Amperometric results showed wide linear ranges of 0.1–2 μM and 0.1–5 μM of Cr(VI) for SPCEs modified with 14n‐LBL‐A and 12h‐EI‐SA, respectively. The sensitivities of SPCEs modified with 14n‐LBL‐A and 12h‐EI‐SA techniques were 0.27 μA μM^?1 and 0.52 μA μM^?1, respectively. In addition, both modified SPCEs selectively detected Cr(VI) in a model aqueous system composed of certain other heavy metals and minerals, and tap and lake water samples. The LOD and LOQ values for 12h‐EI‐SA were 0.03 μM and 0.1 μM, respectively. This showed that MNP‐modified‐SPCEs generated via EI‐SA techniques have the potential to be an alternative to conventional detection methods such as ICP‐MS.     

The effect of a market factor on information flow between stocks using the minimal spanning tree

We empirically investigated the effects of market factors on the information flow created from N(N−1)/2 linkage relationships among stocks. We also examined the possibility of employing the minimal spanning tree (MST) method, which is capable of reducing the number of links to N−1. We determined that market factors carry important information value regarding information flow among stocks. Moreover, the information flow among stocks showed time-varying properties according to the changes in market status. In particular, we noted that the information flow increased dramatically during periods of market crises. Finally, we confirmed, via the MST method, that the information flow among stocks could be assessed effectively with the reduced linkage relationships among all links among stocks from the perspective of the overall market.     

Design variable tolerance effects on the natural frequency variance of constrained multi-body systems in dynamic equilibrium

The design variable tolerance effects on the natural frequency variance of constrained multi-body systems in dynamic equilibrium are investigated in this study. Monte-Carlo simulation is often employed for such investigations, but it is known to have serious drawbacks. Excessive amount of computation time needs to be consumed since a large number of evaluations are usually required for the method. Furthermore, the solution accuracy cannot be always guaranteed in spite of the excessive amount of computation time. In order to overcome such drawbacks, a method employing eigenvalue sensitivity information is proposed to obtain the variance of natural frequency in this study. In order to verify the accuracy and the efficiency of the method, some numerical examples of multi-body systems in dynamic equilibrium are solved and the results are compared to those obtained by an analytical method and Monte-Carlo simulation.     

Palladium-catalyzed hydrodehalogenation of aryl halides using paraformaldehyde as the hydride source: high-throughput screening by paper-based colorimetric iodide sensor

Paraformaldehyde was employed as a hydride source in the palladium-catalyzed hydrodehalogenation of aryl iodides and bromides. High throughput screening using a paper-based colorimetric iodide sensor (PBCIS) showed that Pd(OAc)₂ and Cs₂CO₃ were the best catalyst and base, respectively. Aryl iodides and bromides were hydrodehalogenated to produce the reduced arenes using Pd(OAc)₂ and Pd(PPh₃)₄ catalyst. This catalytic system showed good functional group tolerance. In addition, it was found that paraformaldehyde is the hydride source and the reducing agent for the formation of palladium nanoparticles.     

Photonic Crystal Fiber Attenuator

We propose a novel fiber attenuator based on photonic crystal fibers. The difference in the modal field diameters of a conventional single mode fiber and a photonic crystal fiber was used. A variable optical attenuator was also achieved by applying macro-bending on the PCF part of the proposed attenuator     

Microstructure and transport properties of various 90° grain boundaries in YBa2Cu3O7 thin films

The microstructure and transport properties of various 90° grain boundaries in (103) oriented YBa₂Cu₃O₇(YBCO) thin films grown epitaxially in situ by 90° off-axis sputtering are compared. The (103) films grown on (101) LaAlO₃ and (101) SrTiO₃ substrates have specific sets of 90° grain boundaries in both principal in-plane directions: 90° [010] twist boundaries along the [101] direction, and 90° [010] symmetrical tilt boundaries and 90° [010] basal-plane-faced tilt boundaries along the (301) direction. No weak-link behavior is observed across some of these boundaries by transport critical current density and normalized magnetic field dependence of J _c measurements along both those in-plane directions. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals variations in the structure and microfaceting of the 90° boundaries, which may contribute to the absence of weak-link behavior. These results have important implications for understanding the behavior of step-edge Josephson junctions.