Host-guest Assembly Based on γ-Cyclodextrin-functionalized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes for Rutin Electrochemical Sensing

Here, we report multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) functionalized with γ-cyclodextrins (γCD) as a novel electrochemical strategy for Rutin determination, showing superior performance than β-cyclodextrins (βCD) modified MWCNTs, suggesting an adequate environment for host-guest interactions. Under optimized conditions, the sensor showed a linear range of 39–975 nmol L⁻¹ and a limit of detection of 7 nmol L⁻¹. When tested with quercetin, catechin, and caffeine, the platform presented high selectivity with an interference response <10 %. The method was employed to quantify Rutin in spiked pharmaceutical and herbal extracts, providing recovery of 93–98.4 %. Also, HPLC-PDA confirmed the method‘s accuracy.     

Laboratory simulation of Hg<Superscript>0</Superscript> emissions from a snowpack

Snow surfaces play an important role in the biogeochemical cycle of mercury in high-latitude regions. Snowpacks act both as sources and sinks for gaseous compounds. Surprisingly, the roles of each environmental parameter that can govern the air–surface exchange over snow are not well understood owing to the lack of systematic studies. A laboratory system called the laboratory flux measurement system was used to study the emission of gaseous elemental mercury from a natural snowpack under controlled conditions. The first results from three snowpacks originating from alpine, urban and polar areas are presented. Consistent with observations in the field, we were able to reproduce gaseous mercury emissions and showed that they are mainly driven by solar radiation and especially UV-B radiation. From these laboratory experiments, we derived kinetic constants which show that divalent mercury can have a short natural lifetime of about 4–6 h in snow.     

Phosphorescent self-assembled Pt(II) tetranuclear metallocycles

A series of rigid Pt(II) diimine diacetylide complexes and their corresponding metallocyclic derivatives were synthesized through coordination-driven self-assembly. The photophysical properties of these complexes have been studied in detail, revealing exceptionally high RT phosphorescence quantum yields and lifetimes when the excited state becomes localized on the π-conjugated bridging-ligand following intramolecular charge-transfer sensitization.     

Polarization analysis of terahertz radiation generated by four-wave mixing in air

We examine the generation of terahertz (THz) by optical rectification of a fundamental infrared beam with its first harmonic in ionized air. From polarization measurements we identify an important, yet so far unreported (to our knowledge), cross term (chi(3)(xyxy)) + chi(3)(xyyx)) of the nonlinear susceptibility tensor. Omission of this term leads to an error by a factor of 10(6) of the THz intensity obtained with certain polarization configurations.     

Mesoporous and nanowire Co3O4 as negative electrodes for rechargeable lithium batteries

The conversion reactions associated with mesoporous and nanowire Co(3)O(4) when used as negative electrodes in rechargeable lithium batteries have been investigated. Initially, Li is intercalated into Co(3)O(4) up to x approximately 1.5 Li in Li(x)Co(3)O(4). Thereafter, both materials form a nanocomposite of Co particles imbedded in Li(2)O, which on subsequent charge forms CoO. The capacities on cycling increase on initial cycles to values exceeding the theoretical value for Co(3)O(4) + 8 Li(+) + 8e(-) --> 4 Li(2)O + 3 Co, 890 mAhg(-1), and this is interpreted as due to charge storage in a polymer layer that forms on the high surface area of nanowire and mesoporous Co(3)O(4). After 15 cycles, the capacity decreases drastically for the nanowires due to formation of grains that are separated one from another by a thick polymer layer, leading to electrical isolation. In contrast, the mesoporous Co(3)O(4) losses its mesoporosity and forms a morphology similar to bulk Co(3)O(4) (Co particles imbedded in Li(2)O matrix) with which it exhibits a similar capacity on cycling. In contrast to mesoporous lithium intercalation compounds, which show superior capacity at high rates compared to bulk materials, mesoporosity does not seem to improve the capacity of conversion reactions on extended cycling. If, however, mesoporosity could be retained during the conversion reaction, then higher capacities could be obtained in such systems.     

Protecting the data-driven newsvendor against rare events: a correction-term approach

We propose an approach to the data-driven newsvendor problem that incorporates a correction factor to account for rare events, when the decision-maker has few historical data points at his disposal but knows the range of the demand. This mitigates a weakness of pure data-driven methodologies, specifically, the fact that they under-protect the system against tail events, which are in general under-observed in the empirical demand distribution. We test the approach in extensive computational experiments and provide a summary table of the numerical experiments to help the decision maker gain further insights.     

New product launch decisions with robust optimization

We consider a problem where a company must decide the order in which to launch new products within a given time horizon and budget constraints, and where the parameters of the adoption rate of these new products are subject to uncertainty. This uncertainty can bring significant change to the optimal launch sequence. We present a robust optimization approach that incorporates such uncertainty on the Bass diffusion model for new products as well as on the price response function of partners that collaborate with the company in order to bring its products to market. The decision-maker optimizes his worst-case profit over an uncertainty set where nature chooses the time periods in which (integer) units of the budgets of uncertainty are used for worst impact. This leads to uncertainty sets with binary variables. We show that a conservative approximation of the robust problem can nonetheless be reformulated as a mixed integer linear programming problem, is therefore of the same structure as the deterministic problem and can be solved in a tractable manner. Finally, we illustrate our approach on numerical experiments. Our model also incorporates contracts with potential commercialization partners. The key output of our work is a sequence of product launch times that protects the decision-maker against parameter uncertainty for the adoption rates of the new products and the response of potential partners to partnership offers.     

Non-Hermitian electronics multipods of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and absorption (EIA)

Optical and Quantum Electronics - In the past few decades, the academic research and industrial synergy is dramatically accelerating to conceptualize high data rate services. The congestion in the...     

A study of accelerated Newton methods for multiple polynomial roots

We analyze and compare several accelerated Newton methods with built in multiplicity estimates. We also introduce the concept of indicator functions and discuss the Crouse-Putt method. It is shown that many of the accelerated Newton methods not only derive from Schröder’s classic approach but are equivalent. The related computational experiments show that the built in multiplicity estimates can significantly decrease the number of Newton iterations, while the error of these estimates may significantly increase.