Self-organizing surface-initiated polymerization: facile access to complex functional systems

Facile access to complex systems is crucial to generate the functional materials of the future. Herein, we report self-organizing surface-initiated polymerization (SOSIP) as a user-friendly method to create ordered as well as oriented functional systems on transparent oxide surfaces. In SOSIP, self-organization of monomers and ring-opening disulfide exchange polymerization are combined to ensure the controlled growth of the polymer from the surface. This approach provides rapid access to thick films with smooth, reactivatable surfaces and long-range order with few defects and high precision, including panchromatic photosystems with oriented four-component redox gradients. The activity of SOSIP architectures is clearly better than that of disordered controls.     

Chemiluminescence as a PDT light source for microbial control

The photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a combination of using a photosensitizer agent, light and oxygen that can cause oxidative cellular damage. This technique is applied in several cases, including for microbial control. The most extensively studied light sources for this purpose are lasers and LED-based systems. Few studies treat alternative light sources based PDT. Sources which present flexibility, portability and economic advantages are of great interest. In this study, we evaluated the in vitro feasibility for the use of chemiluminescence as a PDT light source to induce Staphylococcus aureus reduction. The Photogem? concentration varied from 0 to 75 μg/ml and the illumination time varied from 60 min to 240 min.The long exposure time was necessary due to the low irradiance achieved with chemiluminescence reaction at μW/cm2 level. The results demonstrated an effective microbial reduction of around 98% for the highest photosensitizer concentration and light dose. These data suggest the potential use of chemiluminescence as a light source for PDT microbial control, with advantages in terms of flexibility, when compared with conventional sources.     

Diffusion and reaction in an immobilized enzyme starch saccharification catalyst

Effectiveness factors were predicted from measurements of basic parameters made on single oligosaccharides, and the prediction was compared to experimental effec tiveness factors for the reaction of each oligosaccharide in the immobilized enzyme catalyst. Kinetic parameters were obtained for the hydrolysis of each oligosaccharide catalyzed by soluble glucoamylase, and were fit with a subsite model equation capable of generalization to all sizes of oligosaccharide. Diffusion coefficients in free solution were determined from movement out of a capillary tube. Spatial characteristics of the immobilized enzyme bed were obtained from pulse response experiments, allowing the calculation of effective diffusivities. Experimental effectiveness factors plotted against modulus were in reasonable agreement with the predictions.     

Dynamic-finite-element and dynamic-photoelastic analyses of two fracturing homalite-100 plates

A dynamic-finite-element code, HONDO, was used to analyze two single-edged-notch fracturing Homalite-100 plates which had been previously studied by dynamic photoelasticity. A single-edged crack in the finite-element model was advanced in incremental jumps such that the time-averaged crack velocity matched the measured crack velocity in the Homalite-100 plate. Dynamic-energy-release rates were computed for a constant-velocity crack and a crack which arrested after a somewhat constant deceleration. These results were compared with the corresponding dynamic-energy-release rates, which were computed from the dynamic-stress-intensity factors determined by dynamic photoelasticity, and with static-strain energyrelease rates. Despite the crude modeling of the running crack, the coarseness of the finite-element-grid breakdown and the differences in the modeled and actual grip conditions, the computed and measured dynamic-energy-release rates, except for occasional large differences, generally agreed within 10 percent of each other.     

First excited 0+ states in the germanium isotopes via the Se(d, 6Li) reaction

A systematic study of the even-A germanium isotopes with mass 70 ≦ A ≦ 78 via the Se(d, ⁶Li) reaction has been performed at E_d = 45 MeV. The reaction products were momentum analysed and mass identified with a QMG/2 magnetic spectrograph and the accompanying focal-plane detector system. The main emphasis of this investigation was on the nature of the first excited 0⁺ states. The striking variation in strength from one isotope to the other already observed in the (p, t) reactions to the same final nuclei is also seen for the α-pickup reaction. Previously derived wave functions that assume the excited 0⁺₂ states to be pure proton configuration states can also account for the present results.     

Sur un théorème de J.M. Bismut

Sans résumé     

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy on the novel superconductor CaC6

We present scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of the newly discovered superconductor CaC6. The tunneling conductance spectra, measured between 3 and 15 K, show a clear superconducting gap in the quasiparticle density of states. The gap function extracted from the spectra is in good agreement with the conventional BCS theory with Delta0=1.6+/-0.2 meV. The possibility of gap anisotropy and two-gap superconductivity is also discussed. In a magnetic field, direct imaging of the vortices allows us to deduce a coherence length in the ab plane xiab approximately 33 nm.     

Stable isotope analysis of white-tailed deer teeth as a paleoenvironmental proxy at the Maya site of La Joyanca,northwestern Petén,Guatemala*

ABSTRACT

Carbon and oxygen isotopes ratios from herbivore teeth have previously been used as paleo-environmental proxies in temperate zones. However, their utility in tropical zones remains uncertain. In this study, sequential sub-samples from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) teeth (second and third molars) from the Maya archaeological site of La Joyanca, located in northwestern Petén, Guatemala, show that δ¹⁸O of enamel carbonate corresponds broadly to modern observed precipitation δ¹⁸O over the 10-month period of tooth formation, capturing rainfall seasonality. The analyses also detect significant diachronic differences in the δ¹⁸O between the periods 1100–1000 BP (850–950 A.D.) and 1000–900 BP (950–1050 A.D.) at La Joyanca. The δ¹³C in both periods are indicative of a C₃-plant based diet, which suggests cultivation of maize did not differentially affect deer diet during this period.