Branching spin chain dynamics

We study the dynamics of various branched spin chain systems. In such systems entanglement can be generated and distributed, providing an essential resource for teleportation or distributed quantum processing. We show in detail how simple operations can be employed at chosen times to change the subsequent dynamics of the branched spin chains, rendering the distributed entanglement more accessible.     

Characterization of microstructures induced in the workpiece of aluminum alloy by excimer laser micromachining

Excimer laser emitting at 248 nm is applied to produce microstructures on the surface of aluminum alloy. The surface morphology shows that hotspots and thermal fluidic structures both come to light. Two possible mechanisms of hotspots formation are proposed: near-field diffraction and interference, and extremely fast rapid thermal annealing. And for the formation of thermal fluidic pattern structure, a thin film model is applied.     

Effect of chitosan and thiolated chitosan coating on the inhibition behaviour of PIBCA nanoparticles against intestinal metallopeptidases

Surface modified nanoparticles composed of poly(isobutylcyanoacrylate) (PIBCA) cores surrounded by a chitosan and thiolated chitosan gel layer were prepared and characterized in previous works. The presence of such biopolymers on the nanoparticle surface conferred those nanosystems interesting characteristics that might partially overcome the gastrointestinal enzymatic barrier, improving the oral administration of pharmacologically active peptides. In the present work, the antiprotease behaviour of this family of core–shell nanoparticles was in vitro tested against two model metallopeptidases present in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT): Carboxypeptidase A -CP A- (luminal protease) and Leucine Aminopeptidase M -LAP M- (membrane protease). As previous step, the zinc-binding capacity of these nanoparticles was evaluated. Interestingly, an improvement of both the zinc-binding capacity and the antiprotease effect of chitosan was observed when the biopolymers (chitosan and thiolated chitosan) were used as coating component of the core–shell nanoparticles, in comparison with their behaviour in solution, thanks to the different biopolymer chains rearrangement. The presence of amino, hydroxyl and thiol groups on the nanoparticle surface promoted zinc binding and hence the inhibition of the metallopeptidases analysed. On the contrary, the occurrence of a cross-linked structure in the gel layer surrounding the PIBCA cores of thiolated formulations, due to the formation of interchain and intrachain disulphide bonds, partially limited the inhibition of the proteases. The low accessibility of cations to the active groups of the cross-linked polymeric shell was postulated as a possible explanation of this behaviour. Results obtained in this work make this family of surface-modified nanocarriers promising candidates for the successfull administration of pharmacologically active peptides and proteins by the oral route.     

Dielectric Relaxation of the β-Cyclodextrin Complexes with Tridecanoic Acid and 1,13-Tridecanedioic Acid

The frequency and temperature dependence of the real (') and imaginary (') parts of the dielectric permittivity of the polycrystalline complex-cyclodextrin-tridecanoic acid in two hydration forms (with 16.2 and 10.7 water molecules) and -cyclodextrin-1,13-tridecanedioic acid with 16.4 and 10.5 water molecules have been investigated, in the frequency range 0.1–100 kHz and temperature range 120–310 K. The dielectric behavior is described well by Debye-type relaxation dispersion. All systems except for the complex of partially dehydrated monocarboxylic acid, exhibit an additional -dispersion, at low frequencies (f < 1000 Hz). Only one-step was found in the ' vs. Tplots of both complexes in the two hydration forms, a fact indicating that the watermolecules cannot be divided into strongly bound and easily movable molecules. The'vs. T plots, at a fixed frequency (200 Hz), show the characteristic peakattributed to a transition between ordered and disordered -CD hydroxyl groupsand water molecules. The transition temperature was 202.7 K for all systems examinedexcept for the complex -CD-tridecanoic acid.16.2 H₂O (214.5 K). This means that the order to disorder transformation process was unaffected by the dehydration process in the case of the dicarboxylic acid complex, whereas in the case of the monocarboxylic acid, it was unexpectedly facilitated. The relaxation time varies with temperature, in a like curve (in the range 8–14 s), with maximum values located at the corresponding order-disorder transition temperatures. The activation energies of the fully hydrated complexes have absolute values of 5 kJ/mol in the range 1.98–3.82 K_{BT transition} which are higher than the corresponding values of :2 kJ/mol of the dehydrated complexes. A thermal hysteresis observed in all complexes is a result of the order-disorder transformation.     

Ferrocenoyl glycylcystamine: organization into a supramolecular helicate structure

Extensive intermolecular hydrogen bonding in ferrocenoyl glycylcystamine gives rise to a novel ordered double helical arrangement with a helical pitch height of 14 A.     

Development of an HPLC-NMR method for the determination of PAHs in soil samples - a comparison with conventional methods

A hyphenated HPLC-(1)H NMR method for the identification and quantification of PAHs in soil samples has been developed and applied to a PAH reference sample provided by the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM, Berlin, Germany). The results were compared with those obtained by HPLC-DAD, HPLC-F, and GC-MS analyses of the same sample.     

The Surface Energy of MgO: Multiscale Reconstruction from Thermal Groove Geometry

The surface energy of MgO is determined using experimental data collected from equilibrated thermal grooves circumscribing island grains. Local equilibrium assumptions at each groove require that the Herring equations be satisfied at each data site, thereby yielding a large and overdetermined system of equations involving the surface energy . This inverse problem is then solved using a new technique that is statistical in nature and multiscale in implementation. The resulting discrete solution represents a statistically significant representation of the surface energy of MgO as a function of surface orientation. Comparisons to results derived from a more traditional approach, along with suggested further applications, are discussed.     

Caged H atom and H2 molecule in relation to Monte Carlo study of molecular dissociation at constant volume

Summary Analytic results for electronic kinetic energy are first presented for a hydrogen atom in a spherical cage for two radii near to the corresponding densities employed in the path-integral Monte Carlo study of isochoric molecular dissociation in dense hydrogen by Magroet al. (Magro W. R., Ceperley D. M., Pierleoni C. andBernu B.,Phys. Rev. Lett.,76 (1996) 1240). The relevance of the ?cage? results to the behaviour of dense atomic hydrogen is pointed out. Attention is then shifted to the molecular regime, and the variation with density of electronic kinetic energy for a H₂ molecule in a rigid spheroidal cage is compared and contrasted with the Monte Carlo findings. The rigid-cage model mimics this, as well as bond length contraction, under compression.     

The personalization of security selection: An application of fuzzy set theory

We apply the theory of fuzzy subsets to the multiple objective decision problem of stock selection. We allow our objectives to have varying degrees of importance. We discuss various criteria used in selecting stocks. We indicate some procedures for subjectively evaluating the membership functions associated with these criteria.