Phase synchronization between collective rhythms of globally coupled oscillator groups: noiseless nonidentical case

We theoretically study the synchronization between collective oscillations exhibited by two weakly interacting groups of nonidentical phase oscillators with internal and external global sinusoidal couplings of the groups. Coupled amplitude equations describing the collective oscillations of the oscillator groups are obtained by using the Ott-Antonsen ansatz, and then coupled phase equations for the collective oscillations are derived by phase reduction of the amplitude equations. The collective phase coupling function, which determines the dynamics of macroscopic phase differences between the groups, is calculated analytically. We demonstrate that the groups can exhibit effective antiphase collective synchronization even if the microscopic external coupling between individual oscillator pairs belonging to different groups is in-phase, and similarly effective in-phase collective synchronization in spite of microscopic antiphase external coupling between the groups.     

Analytic first and second derivatives of the energy in the fragment molecular orbital method combined with molecular mechanics

Analytic first and second derivatives of the energy are developed for the fragment molecular orbital method interfaced with molecular mechanics in the electrostatic embedding scheme at the level of Hartree-Fock and density functional theory. The importance of the orbital response terms is demonstrated. The role of electrostatic embedding upon molecular vibrations is analyzed, comparing force field and quantum mechanical treatments for an ionic liquid and a solvated protein. The method is applied for 100 protein conformations sampled in molecular dynamics (MD) to take into account the complexity of a flexible protein structure in solution, and a good agreement with experimental data is obtained: Frequencies from an experimental infrared (IR) spectrum are reproduced within 17 cm⁻¹ .     

Synthesis of Pyridine N‐Oxide–BF2CF3 Complexes and Their Fluorescence Properties

Pyridine N‐oxide–BF₂CF₃ and –BF₂C₂F₅ complexes and their derivatives were synthesized. Most of the complexes show fluorescence both in solution and in the solid state. By expanding the π‐conjugated skeleton, the color of the fluorescence could be changed dramatically. A fluorophore with a high solvent dependency could also be produced. Since such compounds can be synthesized on a gram scale in high yield, and are stable to oxygen, water, and heat, the complexes hold great potential as organic functional materials.     

A new solvent polymeric membrane electrode incorporating poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) as a polymer

Here, we report on a new solvent polymeric membrane electrode incorporating thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PIPA) as a polymer with the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of ca. 32 °C. The response of the solvent polymeric membrane electrode to the ions changes at 25 and 40 °C. Pulsed NMR analyses demonstrated the novel effects of the LCST behaviour on the potentiometric polymeric membrane.     

A theoretical study of Ne3 using hyperspherical coordinates and a slow variable discretization approach

We study theoretically the ground and excited bound states of the bosonic rare gas van der Waals trimer Ne(3). A slow variable discretization approach is adopted to solve the nuclear Schro?dinger equation, in which the Schro?dinger equation in hyperangular coordinates is solved using basis splines at a series of fixed finite-element methods discrete variable representation hyper-radii. We consider not only zero total nuclear orbital angular momentum, J = 0, states but also J > 0 states. By using the best empirical neon dimer interaction potentials, all the bound state energy levels of Ne(3) will be calculated for total angular momenta up to J = 6, as well as their average root-mean-square radii. We also analyze the wave functions in hyperspherical coordinates for several selected bound states.     

Electrochemical Detection of Free Chlorine Using Ni Metal Nanoparticles Combined with Multilayered Graphene Nanoshells

An electrochemical detection of free chlorine using carbon‐metal (C?M) composite powder, with a nickel‐metal nanoparticle combined with a multilayered graphene nanoshell (Ni metal@multilayered graphene) as the main component, synthesized from CH₄ via multimode microwave‐assisted catalytic decomposition, was studied. Morphological analysis of the C?M composite powder was performed by TEM–EDX and Raman spectroscopy. The C?M composite powder was packed in a porous microelectrode (PME), and its electrochemical activity with respect to free chlorine was evaluated using a potential sweep method. The C?M composite powder exhibited a sufficient activity against free chlorine. A current based on the reduction of free chlorine was observed in the potential < around+0.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl. A linear relationship was observed between the current and the concentration.     

Collective phase sensitivity

The collective phase response to a macroscopic external perturbation of a population of interacting nonlinear elements exhibiting collective oscillations is formulated for the case of globally coupled oscillators. The macroscopic phase sensitivity is derived from the microscopic phase sensitivity of the constituent oscillators by a two-step phase reduction. We apply this result to quantify the stability of the macroscopic common-noise-induced synchronization of two uncoupled populations of oscillators undergoing coherent collective oscillations.