Effect of Alkaline Salts on Calcium Sulfoaluminate Cement Hydration

This work analyzes the effect of the presence of 5 wt.% of solid sodium salts (Na₂SO₄, Na₂CO₃, and Na₂SiO₃) on calcium sulfoaluminate cement (CSA) hydration, addresses hydration kinetics; 2-, 28-, and 90-d mechanical strength, and reaction product microstructure (with X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, (FTIR). The findings show that the anions affect primarily the reactions involved. Ettringite and AH₃, are the majority hydration products, while monosulfates are absent in all of the samples. All three salts hasten CSA hydration and raise the amount of ettringite formed. Na₂SO₄ induces cracking in the ≥28-d pastes due to post-hardening gypsum and ettringite formation from the excess SO₄^2– present. Anhydrite dissolves more rapidly in the presence of Na₂CO₃, prompting carbonation. Na₂SiO₃ raises compressive strength and exhibits strätlingite as one of its reaction products.     

Total synthesis of naturally occurring (+)-psychotriasine and the related tetrahydro-β-carboline,dimeric tryptamines with NC connectivities

Naturally occurring (+)-psychotriasine (+)-1 and congener tetrahydro-β-carboline (+)-3, which are dimeric tryptophan-derived alkaloids with tryptamine and carboline units connected by the indole nitrogen to the quaternary carbon atom of the pyrrolidinoindoline core, have been synthesized for the first time and their absolute configurations confirmed.     

Programmed Synthesis by Stimuli‐Responsive DNAzyme‐Modified Mesoporous SiO2 Nanoparticles

DNAzyme‐capped mesoporous SiO₂ nanoparticles (MP SiO₂ NPs) are applied as stimuli‐responsive containers for programmed synthesis. Three types of MP SiO₂ NPs are prepared by loading the NPs with Cy3‐DBCO (DBCO=dibenzocyclooctyl), Cy5‐N₃, and Cy7‐N₃, and capping the NP containers with the Mg²⁺, Zn²⁺, and histidine‐dependent DNAzyme sequences, respectively. In the presence of Mg²⁺ and Zn²⁺ ions as triggers, the respective DNAzyme‐capped NPs are unlocked, leading to the “click” reaction product Cy3‐Cy5. In turn, in the presence of Mg²⁺ ions and histidine as triggers the second set of DNAzyme‐capped NPs is unlocked leading to the Cy3‐Cy7 conjugated product. The unloading of the respective NPs and the time‐dependent formation of the products are followed by fluorescence spectroscopy (FRET). A detailed kinetic model for the formation of the different products is formulated and it correlates nicely with the experimental results.     

Array waveguide evanescent ribbon coupler for card-to-backplane optical interconnects

A flexible array waveguide evanescent coupler for card-to-backplane optical interconnects is presented. The proposed technique eliminates traditional 90 degrees out-of-plane turns and local waveguide termination of multidrop bus architectures that hinder conventional card-to-backplane optical interconnections. Evanescent coupling between array waveguide ribbons has been successfully demonstrated. Further experiments have been performed to quantify array waveguide coupling length versus transfer efficiency and waveguide misalignment tolerance. Preliminary optical interconnect testing has demonstrated 2.5GHz operation of the coupler ribbons. The successful high-speed coupling confirms the effectiveness of the proposed method for high-speed computing systems.     

Nonequilibrium GW approach to quantum transport in nano-scale contacts

Correlation effects within the GW approximation have been incorporated into the Keldysh nonequilibrium transport formalism. We show that GW describes the Kondo effect and the zero-temperature transport properties of the Anderson model fairly well. Combining the GW scheme with density functional theory and a Wannier function basis set, we illustrate the impact of correlations by computing the I-V characteristics of a hydrogen molecule between two Pt chains. Our results indicate that self-consistency is fundamental for the calculated currents, but that it tends to wash out satellite structures in the spectral function.     

Combining two-body density correlation functionals with multiconfigurational wave functions using natural orbitals and occupation numbers

We propose a procedure that combines multiconfigurational (MC) wave functions with two-body density correlation functionals by transforming the latter into functionals of the MC natural orbitals and occupation numbers. The method is tested with the spectroscopic constants of a set of 11 diatomics, the diradical-involved automerization barrier of cyclobutadiene, the energy difference between triplet and open-shell singlet states in He and the methylene molecule, and the magnetic coupling constants of several systems, such as NiO, KNiF(3), K(2)NiF(4), La(2)CuO(4), alpha-4-dehydrotoluene, 1,1('),5,5(')-tetramethyl-6,6(')-dioxo-3,3(')-biverdazyl, [Cu(2)Cl(6)](-2), copper(II) acetate monohidrate and H-He-H. The procedure is applied to the Colle-Salvetti [Theor. Chim. Acta 37, 329 (1975); 53, 55 (1979)], functional and to a size-consistent functional depending on the on-top pair density (F1-5-N(eff)). On average, the best results are provided by the transformed F1-5-N(eff) [J. Chem. Phys. 114, 2022 (2001)] functional.     

The electrostatic surface term: (I) periodic systems

The authors propose a new approach to understand the electrostatic surface contributions to the interactions of large but finite periodic distributions of charges. They present a simple method to derive and interpret the surface contribution to any electrostatic field produced by a periodic distribution of charges. They discuss the physical and mathematical interpretations of this term. They present several examples and physical details associated with the calculation of the surface term. Finally, they provide a simple derivation of the surface contribution to the virial. This term does not disappear even if tinfoil boundary conditions are applied.     

Sulfoxide-induced stereoselection in [1,5]-sigmatropic hydrogen shifts of vinylallenes. A computational study

The sulfoxide-induced preference for a migrating trajectory in the vinylallene [1,5]-H sigmatropic shift (resulting in stereodefined trienes in the conceptual equivalent of torquoselectivity in electrocyclizations), originally reported by Okamura, has been computationally studied at the B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,2p)//B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) level. The face selectivity this group induces in the [1,5]-H shift is enhanced by bulky geminal substituents and is not reproduced by any of the other (more than 20) substituents tested. Analysis of transition-state geometries or charges and evaluation of steric effects did not show any correlation with the preferences. The origin of this selectivity is thought to lie in a secondary orbital interaction (SOI) involving the termini of the pericyclic array and the sulfinyl group which is only observed for this substituent. This secondary orbital interaction, arising from the favorable energies of the orbitals involved, is enhanced in the transition structure due to a better orbital overlap (piC2-C3-->sigma*C1-S), which correlates with a piC2-C3-->sigma*C6-H SOI, which is more important in the transition structure, that weakens the C-H bond, thus lowering the energy of the corresponding transition structure.     

Design and characterization of two-dye and three-dye binary fluorescent probes for mRNA detection

We report the design, synthesis, and characterization of binary oligonucleotide probes for mRNA detection. The probes were designed to avoid common problems found in standard binary probes such as direct excitation of the acceptor fluorophore and overlap between the donor and acceptor emission spectra. Two different probes were constructed that contained an array of either two or three dyes and were characterized using steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy, time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, and fluorescence depolarization measurements. The three-dye binary probe (BP-3d) consists of a Fam fluorophore which acts as a donor, collecting light and transferring it as energy to Tamra, which subsequently transfers energy to Cy5 when the two probes are hybridized to mRNA. This design allows the use of 488 nm excitation, which avoids the direct excitation of Cy5 and at the same time provides a good fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) efficiency. The two-dye binary probe system (BP-2d) was constructed with Alexa488 and Cy5 fluorophores. Although the overlap between the fluorescence of Alexa488 and the absorption of Cy5 is relatively low, FRET still occurs due to their close physical proximity when the probes are hybridized to mRNA. This framework also decreases the direct excitation of Cy5 and reduces the fluorescence overlap between the donor and the acceptor. Picosecond time-resolved spectroscopy showed a reduction in the fluorescence lifetime of donor fluorophores after the formation of the hybrid between the probes and target mRNA. Interestingly, BP-2d in the presence of mRNA shows a slow rise in the fluorescence decay of Cy5 due to a relatively slow FRET rate, which together with the reduction in the Alexa488 lifetime provides a way to improve the signal to background ratio using time-resolved fluorescence spectra (TRES). In addition, fluorescence depolarization measurements showed complete depolarization of the acceptor dyes (Cy5) for both BP-3d (due to sequential FRET steps) and BP-2d (due to the relatively low FRET rate) in the presence of the mRNA target.