Dark‐cure studies of cationic photopolymerizations of epoxides: Characterization of the active center lifetime and kinetic rate constants

We have characterized the effective rate constants for termination/trapping (k_t/t) and propagation (k_p) for solvent‐free cationic photopolymerizations of phenyl glycidyl ether for conversions up to 50%. We have performed dark‐cure experiments in which active centers are produced photochemically for a specified period of time until the initiating light is shuttered off, and then the polymerization rate is monitored in the dark. This method is especially well suited for characterizing cationic polymerizations because of the long active center lifetimes. Our analysis provides profiles of the instantaneous kinetic rate constants as functions of conversion (or time). For photopolymerizations of phenyl glycidyl ether initiated with iodonium photoinitiators, k_t/t and k_p remain essentially invariant for conversions up to 50%. For the photoinitiator (tolycumyl) iodonium tetrakis (pentafluorophenyl) borate (IPB), the values of k_t/t at 50 and 60 °C are 0.027 and 0.033 min^?1, respectively. The corresponding values of k_t/t for diaryliodonium hexafluoroantimonate (IHA) are 0.041 and 0.068 min^?1. The values of k_p at 50 °C for IPB and IHA are 0.6 and 0.4 L mol^?1 s^?1, respectively. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2064–2072, 2003     

Singlet and triplet excitation management in a bichromophoric near-infrared-phosphorescent BODIPY-benzoporphyrin platinum complex

Multichromophoric arrays provide one strategy for assembling molecules with intense absorptions across the visible spectrum but are generally focused on systems that efficiently produce and manipulate singlet excitations and therefore are burdened by the restrictions of (a) unidirectional energy transfer and (b) limited tunability of the lowest molecular excited state. In contrast, we present here a multichromophoric array based on four boron dipyrrins (BODIPY) bound to a platinum benzoporphyrin scaffold that exhibits intense panchromatic absorption and efficiently generates triplets. The spectral complementarity of the BODIPY and porphryin units allows the direct observation of fast bidirectional singlet and triplet energy transfer processes (k(ST)((1)BDP→(1)Por) = 7.8 × 10(11) s(-1), k(TT)((3)Por→(3)BDP) = 1.0 × 10(10) s(-1), k(TT)((3)BDP→(3)Por) = 1.6 × 10(10) s(-1)), leading to a long-lived equilibrated [(3)BDP][Por]?[BDP][(3)Por] state. This equilibrated state contains approximately isoenergetic porphyrin and BODIPY triplets and exhibits efficient near-infrared phosphorescence (λ(em) = 772 nm, Φ = 0.26). Taken together, these studies show that appropriately designed triplet-utilizing arrays may overcome fundamental limitations typically associated with core-shell chromophores by tunable redistribution of energy from the core back onto the antennae.     

Controlling the second harmonic in a phase-matched negative-index metamaterial

Nonlinear metamaterials have been predicted to support new and exciting domains in the manipulation of light, including novel phase-matching schemes for wave mixing. Most notable is the so-called nonlinear-optical mirror, in which a nonlinear negative-index medium emits the generated frequency towards the source of the pump. In this Letter, we experimentally demonstrate the nonlinear-optical mirror effect in a bulk negative-index nonlinear metamaterial, along with two other novel phase-matching configurations, utilizing periodic poling to switch between the three phase-matching domains.     

The MELBS team winning entry for the EVA2017 competition for spatiotemporal prediction of extreme rainfall using generalized extreme value quantiles

We present our winning entry for the EVA2017 challenge on spatiotemporal prediction of extreme precipitation. The aim of the competition is to predict extreme rainfall quantiles that score as low as possible on the competition error metric. Good or bad predictions are defined only by the metric used. Our methodology was simple and produced accurate predictions under this metric. This outcome emphasizes the importance of cross-validation and identifying model over-fitting.     

EFFECTS OF ACRIDINE PLUS NEAR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT ON ESCHERICHIA COLI MEMBRANES AND DNA IN VIVO

Results from a variety of experiments indicate that photodynamic damage to E. coli treated with the hydrophobic photosensitizer acridine plus near-UV light involves both cell membranes and DNA. Split-dose survival experiments with various E. coli mutants reveal that cells defective in rec A, uvr A, or pol A functions are all capable of recovery from photodynamic damage. Alkaline sucrose gradient analysis of DNA from control and treated cells revealed that acridine plus near-UV light treatment converts normal DNA into a more slowly sedimenting form. However, the normal DNA sedimentation properties are not restored under conditions where split-dose recovery is effective. Several lines of evidence suggest that membrane damage may be important in the inactivation of cells by acridine plus near-UV light. These include (a) a strong dependence of sensitivity on the fatty acid composition of the membranes; (b) a strong dependence of sensitivity on the osmolarity of the external medium; and (c) the extreme sensitivity of an E. coli mutant having a defect in its outer membrane barrier properties. Direct evidence that acridine plus near-UV light damages cell membranes was provided by the observations that (a) the plasma membrane becomes permeable to o-nitrophenyl-ß-D-galactopyranoside and (b) the outer membrane becomes permeable to lysozyme after treatment. A notable result was that cells previously sensitized to lysozyme by exposure to acridine plus near-UV light lose that sensitivity upon subsequent incubation. This strongly suggests that E. coli cells are capable of repairing damage localized in the outer membrane.     

Direct catalytic asymmetric aldol additions of methyl ynones. Spontaneous reversal in the sense of enantioinduction

In this Communication, we report the direct, catalytic, asymmetric aldol addition of methyl ynones using our dinuclear zinc catalyst. A spontaneous reversal in the sense of enantioinduction was observed for these reactions; formation of the (S)-enantiomer is favored in the early stages (69% ee after 5 min), whereas the (R)-enantiomer is isolated as the major product after prolonged reaction times (97% ee after 22 h). It could be shown that this reversal in enantioselectivity is due to formation of a new catalytic species which incorporates the aldol product.     

Bayesian Inference for Extremes: Accounting for the Three Extremal Types

The Extremal Types Theorem identifies three distinct types of extremal behaviour. Two different strategies for statistical inference for extreme values have been developed to exploit this asymptotic representation. One strategy uses a model for which the three types are combined into a unified parametric family with the shape parameter of the family determining the type: positive (Fréchet), zero (Gumbel), and negative (negative Weibull). This form of approach never selects the Gumbel type as that type is reduced to a single point in a continuous parameter space. The other strategy first selects the extremal type, based on hypothesis tests, and then estimates the best fitting model within the selected type. Such approaches ignore the uncertainty of the choice of extremal type on the subsequent inference. We overcome these deficiencies by applying the Bayesian inferential framework to an extended model which explicitly allocates a non-zero probability to the Gumbel type. Application of our procedure suggests that the effect of incorporating the knowledge of the Extremal Types Theorem into the inference for extreme values is to reduce uncertainty, with the degree of reduction depending on the shape parameter of the true extremal distribution and the prior weight given to the Gumbel type.     

The influence of transducer operating point on distortion generation in the cochlea

Distortion generated by the cochlea can provide a valuable indicator of its functional state. In the present study, the dependence of distortion on the operating point of the cochlear transducer and its relevance to endolymph volume disturbances has been investigated. Calculations have suggested that as the operating point moves away from zero, second harmonic distortion would increase. Cochlear microphonic waveforms were analyzed to derive the cochlear transducer operating point and to quantify harmonic distortions. Changes in operating point and distortion were measured during endolymph manipulations that included 200-Hz tone exposures at 115-dB SPL, injections of artificial endolymph into scala media at 80, 200, or 400 nl/min, and treatment with furosemide given intravenously or locally into the cochlea. Results were compared with other functional changes that included action potential thresholds at 2.8 or 8 kHz, summating potential, endocochlear potential, and the 2 f1-f2 and f2-f1 acoustic emissions. The results demonstrated that volume disturbances caused changes in the operating point that resulted in predictable changes in distortion. Understanding the factors influencing operating point is important in the interpretation of distortion measurements and may lead to tests that can detect abnormal endolymph volume states.     

Continuous monitoring of Rabi oscillations in a Josephson flux qubit

Under resonant irradiation, a quantum system can undergo coherent (Rabi) oscillations in time. We report evidence for such oscillations in a continuously observed three-Josephson-junction flux qubit, coupled to a high-quality tank circuit tuned to the Rabi frequency. In addition to simplicity, this method of Rabi spectroscopy enabled a long coherence time of about 2.5 micros, corresponding to an effective qubit quality factor approximately 7000.