A facile method for the synthesis of large‐size Ag nanoparticles as efficient SERS substrates

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) enjoy a reputation as an ultrasensitive substrate for surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). However, large‐scale synthesis of Ag NPs in a controlled manner is a challenging task for a long period of time. Here, we reported a simple seed‐mediated method to synthesize Ag NPs with controllable sizes from 50 to 300 nm, which were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV–Vis spectroscopy. SERS spectra of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) from the as‐prepared Ag NPs substrates indicate that the enhancement capability of Ag NPs varies with different excitation wavelengths. The Ag NPs with average sizes of ~150, ~175, and ~225 nm show the highest SERS activities for 532, 633, and 785‐nm excitation, respectively. Significantly, 150‐nm Ag NPs exhibit an enhancement factor exceeding 10⁸ for pyridine (Py) molecules in electrochemical SERS (EC‐SERS) measurements. Furthermore, finite‐difference time‐domain (FDTD) calculation is employed to explain the size‐dependent SERS activity. Finally, the potential of the as‐prepared SERS substrates is demonstrated with the detection of malachite green. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling red coral (Corallium rubrum) and African snail (Helixia aspersa) shell pigments: Raman spectroscopy versus DFT studies

Pigments from red coral (Corallium rubrum) and African snail (Helixia aspersa) shell were studied non‐invasively using Raman spectroscopy with 1064‐nm laser beam. The two observed bands because of organic pigments confined in biomineralized CaCO₃ matrix at about 1500 and 1100 cm⁻¹ were assigned to ν(CC) and ν(C―C), respectively. Both signals originate from polyene(s) of largely unknown structure, containing several conjugated CC bonds. The small peak at 1016 cm⁻¹ in the Raman spectrum of coral pigment was assigned to in‐plane ―CH₃ rocking or structural deformation of polyene chain because of spatial confinement in the mineral matrix. The organic pigments in red coral and snail shell were present in inorganic matrix containing aragonite (shell) and calcite (coral). In addition, using Raman spectroscopy, it was observed that aragonite was replaced by calcite as result of healing damaged parts of snail shell. This is an important finding which indicates a great potential of nondestructive Raman spectroscopy instead of X‐ray technique, as a diagnostic tool in environmental studies. To support analysis of the observed Raman spectra detailed calculations using density functional theory (DFT with B3LYP and BLYP density functionals) on structure and vibrations of model all‐trans polyenes were undertaken. DFT calculated CC and C―C stretching frequencies for all‐trans polyenes containing from 2 to 14 CC units were compared with the observed ν(CC) and ν(C―C) band positions of the studied coral and shell. Individual correction factors were used to better match theoretical wavenumbers with observed band positions in red coral and African snail. It was concluded that all‐trans polyene pigments of red coral and dark parts of African snail shell contain 11–12 and 14 CC double bond units, respectively. However, Raman spectroscopy cannot produce any clear information on the presence and nature of the end‐chain substituents in the studied pigments. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Different classification algorithms and serum surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy for noninvasive discrimination of gastric diseases

In this study, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was used to investigate the spectral characteristics of blood serum for the purpose of diagnosing stomach diseases. SERS spectral data was collected from patients with atrophic gastritis, both pre‐operation and post‐operation gastric cancer, and from healthy individuals. Visual differences in the SERS spectra were observed between the four groups which indicate corresponding biomolecule concentration changes in blood. To further investigate the diagnostic ability of human serum, the spectral data was analyzed with three chemometric processes. These three methods extracted features and classified from the spectral data. Principal component analysis (PCA) was first performed to reduce the dimensionality of the original spectral data. Then, the classification methods support vector machine (SVM), linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and classification and regression tree (CART) were used for the evaluation of diagnostic ability. Accuracies of 96.5%, 88.8% and 87.1% were obtained for PCA‐SVM, PCA‐LDA and PCA‐CART, respectively. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stability Analysis of a Fully Coupled Implicit Scheme for Inviscid Chemical Non-Equilibrium Flows

Von Neumann stability theory is applied to analyze the stability of a fully coupled implicit (FCI) scheme based on the lower-upper symmetric Gauss-Seidel (LU-SGS) method for inviscid chemical non-equilibrium flows. The FCI scheme shows excellent stability except the case of the flows involving strong recombination reactions, and can weaken or even eliminate the instability resulting from the stiffness problem, which occurs in the subsonic high-temperature region of the hypersonic flow field. In addition, when the full Jacobian of chemical source term is diagonalized, the stability of the FCI scheme relies heavily on the flow conditions. Especially in the case of high temperature and subsonic state, the CFL number satisfying the stability is very small. Moreover, we also consider the effect of the space step, and demonstrate that the stability of the FCI scheme with the diagonalized Jacobian can be improved by reducing the space step. Therefore, we propose an improved method on the grid distribution according to the flow conditions. Numerical tests validate sufficiently the foregoing analyses. Based on the improved grid, the CFL number can be quickly ramped up to large values for convergence acceleration.     

增长速度对合作网络参与者节点度分布的影响

采用率方程对合作网络自组织演化模型进行解析,得到参与者节点度分布服从Yule-Simon分布,这种分布可以用漂移幂律分布近似.分析参与者节点增长速度与参与者节点度分布之间的关系,发现随节点增长速度加快,参与者节点度分布远离幂律,表明节点增长速度是除优先连接之外的另一个影响合作网络拓扑性质的重要因素.通过对城市公交网络和科研合作网络的实证研究,验证了度分布解析结果的正确性.结合实证研究,探讨了合作网络中参与者节点增长速度的形成机制及其实际意义.     

紫外分光光度法测定艾叶中总黄酮含量

测定波长为290nm,以柚皮素为对照品,紫外分光光度法测定了艾叶中总黄酮含量。柚皮素在1—8μg/mL具有良好的线性关系,艾叶中总黄酮含量为1.186%,平均加标回收率为101.5%。该方法简便、快捷、准确、重现性好,可作为检测艾叶中总黄酮含量的一种好方法。     

The stability of a non-extensive relativistic Fermi system

Based on the statistical theory of non-extensive relativity,and using theoretical analysis and numerical simulation,the non-extensive mechanical stability of ultra-relativistic free Fermi gas is investigated.The expressions of the stability conditions under high and low temperatures are given,and the mechanisms of the influences of temperature,ultrarelativistic effect,and non-extensive parameter q on stability are analysed.Our results show that at high temperature and under the condition of q < 1,the stability of a non-extensive system is weaker than that of an extensive system,and the relativistic effect reduces system stability as compared with a non-relativistic system.However,under the condition of q > 1,the stability of the non-extensive system is stronger than that of the extensive system,and the relativistic effect strengthens the system stability as compared with the non-relativistic system.In addition,under the condition of low temperature,the variation of the stability of the non-extensive system with temperature has a turning point.     

Fractional charges and fractional spins for composite fermions in quantum electrodynamics

By using the Faddeev-Senjanovic path integral quantization method, we quantize the composite fermions in quantum electrodynamics (QED). In the sense of Dirac’s conjecture, we deduce all the constraints and give Dirac’s gauge transformations (DGT). According to that the effective action is invariant under the DGT, we obtain the Noether theorem at the quantum level, which shows the fractional charges for the composite fermions in QED. This result is better than the one deduced from the equations of motion for the statistical potentials, because this result contains both odd and even fractional numbers. Furthermore, we deduce the Noether theorem from the invariance of the effective action under the rotational transformations in 2-dimensional (x, y) plane. The result shows that the composite fermions have fractional spins and fractional statistics. These anomalous properties are given by the constraints for the statistical gauge potential.     

A theoretical study of the oxygen K-edge near-edge X-ray absorption ne structure of N2O/Ir(110)

A multiple-scattering cluster method is employed to calculate the oxygen K-edge near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure of N₂O/Ir(110) and its monolayer. Two peaks and one weak resonance appear in both cases. The selfconsistent field DV-X calculations of the peaks and resonance show that the physical origin of the pre-edge peak x is different from those of the main peak 1 and the other weak resonance σ₁. This setup is intrinsic to the N₂O monolayer, owing to the interaction between the neighbouring molecular chains in the monolayer and partly to the adsorbed atomic oxygen, according to both the theoretical and experimental data.     

Effects of information asymmetry on cooperation in the prisoners’ dilemma game

Effects of information asymmetry on cooperation in the prisoners’ dilemma game are investigated. The amplitude A is introduced to describe the degree of information asymmetry. It is found that there exists an optimal value of amplitude Aopt at which the fraction of cooperation reaches its maximal value. The reason lies in that cooperators on the two-dimensional grid form large clusters at Aopt . In addition, the theoretical analysis in terms of the meanfield theory is used to understand this kind of phenomenon. It is confirmed that the information asymmetry plays an important role in the dynamics of the dilemma games of spatial prisoners.