Electroclinic properties of chiral smectic a liquid crystalline polymers and block copolymers

The scope for the synthesis and investigation of chiral smectic A liquid crystalline (LC) polymers and block copolymers is discussed. LC block copolymers can combine the molecular order of liquid crystals and the supramolecular order typical of block copolymers, thus allowing to attain information on mesomorphic responses in restricted geometries. We present a general overview on several aspects of the syntheses and properties of LC block copolymers, specifically those obtained by starting from azomacroinitiators. These materials can exhibit an electroclinic effect, that is an electrically induced molecular tilt, which is characterized by a linear dependence on the applied field and a very fast response time in the paraelectric smectic A phase. The current progress in their potential application in electrooptics is outlined.     

Information Network Modeling for U.S. Banking Systemic Risk

In this work we investigate whether information theory measures like mutual information and transfer entropy, extracted from a bank network, Granger cause financial stress indexes like LIBOR-OIS (London Interbank Offered Rate-Overnight Index Swap) spread, STLFSI (St. Louis Fed Financial Stress Index) and USD/CHF (USA Dollar/Swiss Franc) exchange rate. The information theory measures are extracted from a Gaussian Graphical Model constructed from daily stock time series of the top 74 listed US banks. The graphical model is calculated with a recently developed algorithm (LoGo) which provides very fast inference model that allows us to update the graphical model each market day. We therefore can generate daily time series of mutual information and transfer entropy for each bank of the network. The Granger causality between the bank related measures and the financial stress indexes is investigated with both standard Granger-causality and Partial Granger-causality conditioned on control measures representative of the general economy conditions.     

Atomic control of water interaction with biocompatible surfaces: the case of SiC(001)

The interaction of water with Si- and C- terminated beta-SiC(001) surfaces was investigated by means of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. Irrespective of coverage, varied from 1/4 to 1 monolayer, we found that water dissociates on the Si-terminated surface, substantially modifying the clean surface reconstruction, while the C-terminated surface is nonreactive and hydrophobic. Based on our results, we propose that STM images and photoemission experiments may detect specific changes induced by water on both the structural and electronic properties of SiC(001) surfaces.     

C-Fe chains due to segregated carbon impurities on Fe(1 0 0)

Bulk carbon impurities segregate at the Fe(1 0 0) surface and, upon thermal annealing, can form metastable surface phases with local and long range order and peculiar electronic properties. We present a surface science study of C-segregated Fe(1 0 0) with scanning tunneling microscopy, angle resolved photoemission, and ab initio calculations of the surface structure and electron states. In particular the c(3√2 × √2) structure, observed for 0.67 atomic layers of C segregated at the iron surface, is found to be due to self-organized carbon stripes made of zig-zag chains. The strong hybridization between C and Fe was observed in ARPES spectra.     

Comparison of Spaces of Hardy Type for the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck Operator

Denote by γ the Gauss measure on ℝ ⁿ and by ${\mathcal{L}}${\mathcal{L}} the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck operator. In this paper we introduce a Hardy space \mathfrakh¹g{{\mathfrak{h}}^1}{{\rm \gamma}} of Goldberg type and show that for each u in ℝ ∖ {0} and r > 0 the operator (rI+L)^iu(r{\mathcal{I}}+{\mathcal{L}})^{iu} is unbounded from \mathfrakh¹g{{\mathfrak{h}}^1}{{\rm \gamma}} to L ¹γ. This result is in sharp contrast both with the fact that (rI+L)^iu(r{\mathcal{I}}+{\mathcal{L}})^{iu} is bounded from H ¹γ to L ¹γ, where H ¹γ denotes the Hardy type space introduced in Mauceri and Meda (J Funct Anal 252:278–313, 2007), and with the fact that in the Euclidean case (rI-D)^iu(r{\mathcal{I}}-\Delta)^{iu} is bounded from the Goldberg space \mathfrakh¹\mathbbRⁿ{{\mathfrak{h}}^1}{{\mathbb{R}}^n} to L ¹ℝ ⁿ . We consider also the case of Riemannian manifolds M with Riemannian measure μ. We prove that, under certain geometric assumptions on M, an operator T{\mathcal{T}}, bounded on L ² μ, and with a kernel satisfying certain analytic assumptions, is bounded from H ¹ μ to L ¹ μ if and only if it is bounded from \mathfrakh¹m{{\mathfrak{h}}^1}{\mu} to L ¹ μ. Here H ¹ μ denotes the Hardy space introduced in Carbonaro et al. (Ann Sc Norm Super Pisa, 2009), and \mathfrakh¹m{{\mathfrak{h}}^1}{\mu} is defined in Section 4, and is equivalent to a space recently introduced by M. Taylor (J Geom Anal 19(1):137–190, 2009). The case of translation invariant operators on homogeneous trees is also considered.     

Multi-Dimensional Pattern Matching with Dimensional Wildcards: Data Structures and Optimal On-Line Search Algorithms

We introduce a new multidimensional pattern matching problem that is a natural generalization of string matching, a well studied problem[1]. The motivation for its algorithmic study is mainly theoretical. LetA[1:n₁,…,1:n_d] be a text matrix withN = n₁…n_dentries andB[1:m₁,…,1:m_r] be a pattern matrix withM = m₁…m_rentries, whered ≥ r ≥ 1 (the matrix entries are taken from an ordered alphabet Σ). We study the problem of checking whether somer-dimensional submatrix ofAis equal toB(i.e., adecisionquery).Acan be preprocessed andBis given on-line. We define a new data structure for preprocessingAand propose CRCW-PRAM algorithms that build it inO(log N) time withN²/n_maxprocessors, wheren_max = max(n₁,…,n_d), such that the decision query forBtakesO(M) work andO(log M) time. By using known techniques, we would get the same preprocessing bounds but anO((^d_r)M) work bound for the decision query. The latter bound is undesirable since it can depend exponentially ond; our bound, in contrast, is independent ofdand optimal. We can also answer, in optimal work, two further types of queries: (a) anenumerationquery retrieving all ther-dimensional submatrices ofAthat are equal toBand (b) anoccurrencequery retrieving only the distinct positions inAthat correspond to all of these submatrices. As a byproduct, we also derive the first efficient sequential algorithms for the new problem.     

Improved extraction of vegetable oils under high-intensity ultrasound and/or microwaves

Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) techniques have been employed as complementary techniques to extract oils from vegetable sources, viz, soybean germ and a cultivated marine microalga rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Ultrasound (US) devices developed by ourselves, working at several frequencies (19, 25, 40 and 300 kHz), were used for US-based protocols, while a multimode microwave (MW) oven (operating with both open and closed vessels) was used for MAE. Combined treatments were also studied, such as simultaneous double sonication (at 19 and 25 kHz) and simultaneous US/MW irradiation, achieved by inserting a non-metallic horn in a MW oven. Extraction times and yields were compared with those resulting from conventional procedures. With soybean germ the best yield was obtained with a ‘cavitating tube’ prototype (19 kHz, 80 W), featuring a thin titanium cylinder instead of a conventional horn. Double sonication, carried out by inserting an immersion horn (25 kHz) in the same tube, improved the yield only slightly but halved the extraction time. Almost comparable yields were achieved by closed-vessel MAE and simultaneous US/MW irradiation. Compared with conventional methods, extraction times were reduced by up to 10-fold and yields increased by 50–500%. In the case of marine microalgae, UAE worked best, as the disruption by US of the tough algal cell wall considerably improved the extraction yield from 4.8% in soxhlet to 25.9%. Our results indicate that US and MW, either alone or combined, can greatly improve the extraction of bioactive substances, achieving higher efficiency and shorter reaction times at low or moderate costs, with minimal added toxicity.     

estimates for overdetermined Radon transforms

We prove several variations on the results of F. Ricci and G. Travaglini (2001), concerning bounds for convolution with all rotations of arc length measure on a fixed convex curve in . Estimates are obtained for averages over higher-dimensional convex (nonsmooth) hypersurfaces, smooth -dimensional surfaces, and nontranslation-invariant families of surfaces. We compare Ricci and Travaglini's approach, based on average decay of the Fourier transform, with an approach based on boundedness of Fourier integral operators, and show that essentially the same geometric condition arises in proofs using the two techniques.

     

Green ultrasound-assisted extraction of carotenoids based on the bio-refinery concept using sunflower oil as an alternative solvent

A green, inexpensive and easy-to-use method for carotenoids extraction from fresh carrots assisted by ultrasound was designed in this work. Sunflower oil was applied as a substitute to organic solvents in this green ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE): a process which is in line with green extraction and bio-refinery concepts. The processing procedure of this original UAE was first compared with conventional solvent extraction (CSE) using hexane as solvent. Moreover, the UAE optimal conditions for the subsequent comparison were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) and ultra performance liquid chromatography – diode array detector – mass spectroscopy (UPLC–DAD–MS). The results showed that the UAE using sunflower as solvent has obtained its highest β-carotene yield (334.75 mg/l) in 20 min only, while CSE using hexane as solvent obtained a similar yield (321.35 mg/l) in 60 min. The green UAE performed under optimal extraction conditions (carrot to oil ratio of 2:10, ultrasonic intensity of 22.5 W cm^?2, temperature of 40 °C and sonication time of 20 min) gave the best yield of β-carotene.     

Shortest Path Auction Algorithm Without Contractions Using Virtual Source Concept

In this paper, the problem of finding a shortest path tree rooted at a given source node on a directed graph (SPT) is considered. A new efficient algorithm based on a primal-dual approach is presented, which improves both the convergence and the complexity of the best known auction-like algorithm. It uses the virtual source (VS) concept based on the following consideration: when a node i is visited for the first time by any algorithm which preserves verified the dual admissibility conditions, then the shortest path (SP) from the source node to i is found. Therefore, the SP from the source to the remaining nodes may be computed by considering i as a virtual source.We propose a very efficient implementation of an auction-like algorithm that uses this concept and enables us to obtain a computational cost of O(n ²), where n is the number of nodes.Numerical experimentsare reported showing that the new method outdoes previously proposed auction-like algorithms and is highly competitive with other state-of-art SP approaches.