Synthesis, NMR and X-ray structure analysis of macrolide aglycons

Macrolide aglycons (E)-9-hydroxyimino-6-O-methylerythronolide A (4), 9a-aza-9-deoxo-9,9-dihydro-9a,11-O-dimethyl-9a-homoerythronolide A (5) and 9a-aza-9-deoxo-9,9-dihydro-9a-homoerythronolide A (6) were prepared by multistep syntheses. A conformational study of these new macrolide aglycons was performed using single crystal X-ray crystallography to gain information about the solid state, while a combination of NMR spectroscopy and molecular modelling was employed to study the solution structures. The crystal structures were found to be stabilised by a complex network of hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions. To some extent, the same building motif of infinite molecular chains held together by O?CH···O hydrogen bonds was present in the crystal structure of all three compounds. Thorough analysis and comparison of the obtained solid state structures with their solution counterparts showed no significant differences between them, confirming the constrained flexibility of the macrocyclic ring. Moreover, in all three compounds, in both solution and solid state, the macrolactone ring adopts energetically more favoured folded-out conformations.     

Carbon nanocones/discs – a new type of filler to improve the thermal and mechanical properties of polymer films

The mechanical characteristics and thermal properties of composite films based on the thermally stable aromatic polyimide (PI) (PMDA‐ODA) and carbon nanocones/discs (CNC) were studied. The introduction of CNC to PMDA‐ODA leads to the substantial increase of film stiffness. The Young's modulus values of the composite films are somewhat higher than those of the previously characterized composite films of this PI filled with nanoclay, carbon nanofibers, and asbestos‐like hydrosilicate nanotubes. The introduction of CNC into PMDA‐ODA (concentrations of CNC were up to 15 vol%) does not cause any marked aggregation of nanoparticles. The presence of CNC in the PI matrix does not affect the glass transition temperature of the polymer but hinders chain mobility at temperatures above T_g. This behavior makes it possible to increase the working temperature range of the composite films containing more than 5 vol% of CNCs, up to the temperature of thermal decomposition. The introduction of CNC into PMDA‐ODA leads to dramatic (～12 orders of magnitude) increase of active electrical conductivity of the material. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring quantum non-locality with de Broglie-Bohm trajectories

Here in this paper, it is shown how the quantum nonlocality reshapes probability distributions of quantum trajectories in configuration space. By variationally minimizing the ground state energy of helium atom, we show that there exists an optimal nonlocal quantum correlation length which also minimizes the mean integrated square error of the smooth trajectory ensemble with respect to the exact many-body wave function. The nonlocal quantum correlation length can be used for studies of both static and driven many-body quantum systems.     

Three embeddings of the Klein simple group into the Cremona group of rank three

We study the action of the Klein simple group PSL₂( $ {\mathbb{F}_7} $ ) consisting of 168 elements on two rational threefolds: the three-dimensional projective space and a smooth Fano threefold X of anticanonical degree 22 and index 1. We show that the Cremona group of rank three has at least three non-conjugate subgroups isomorphic to PSL₂( $ {\mathbb{F}_7} $ ). As a by-product, we prove that X admits a K?hler?CEinstein metric, and we construct a smooth polarized K3 surface of degree 22 with an action of the group PSL₂( $ {\mathbb{F}_7} $ ). Unless explicitly stated otherwise, varieties are assumed to be projective, normal and complex.     

Full-rank block LDL ? decomposition and the inverses of n×n block matrices

Full-rank block LDL ^? decomposition of a Hermitian n×n block matrix A is examined, where the iterative procedure evaluating the sub-matrices appearing in L and D is provided. This factorization is used to evaluate the inverse and Moore-Penrose inverse of a Hermitian n×n block matrix. The method for the calculation of the Moore-Penrose inverse of an arbitrary 2×2 block matrix is also provided. Therefore, matrix products A ^? A and AA ^? and the corresponding full-rank block LDL ^? factorizations are observed. Also, a simple explicit formulae calculating the solution vector components of the normal system of equations is stated, where the LDL ^? decomposition of the system matrix is done.     

Micro-mechanical analysis of creep behavior in a multipass weld

A method of evaluating creep response of the multipass weld based on the micro-macro mechanics approach is introduced. Multipass weld microstructure that consists from columnar, coarse and fine grained zones is considered. Materials of these constituents assumed to be isotropic. Weld metal properties of inelastic behavior have general type of symmetry and are described by the anisotropic creep constitutive model. To model the microstructure of the multipass weld metal the representative volume element (RVE) is created for CAE Abaqus. Material properties of weld metal grain type zones are taken from the experiments. Numerical tests on uniform loading of the RVE are performed. Creep material properties for equivalent weld material are found for welds with different number of passes. The symmetry type of the creep material properties of multi-pass weld are evaluated for the equivalent weld material. As an example of macro model analysis of the welding, the creep calculation of the cylindrical shell with the welding under the uniform inner pressure is performed. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A directionally tunable but frequency-invariant beamformer on an acoustic velocity-sensor triad to enhance speech perception

Herein investigated are computationally simple microphone-array beamformers that are independent of the frequency-spectra of all signals, all interference, and all noises. These beamformers allow the listener to tune the desired azimuth-elevation "look direction." No prior information is needed of the interference. These beamformers deploy a physically compact triad of three collocated but orthogonally oriented velocity sensors. These proposed schemes' efficacy is verified by a jury test, using simulated data constructed with Mandarin Chinese (a.k.a. Putonghua) speech samples. For example, a desired speech signal, originally at a very adverse signal-to-interference-and-noise power ratio (SINR) of -30 dB, may be processed to become fully intelligible to the jury.     

Cochlear implant patients' localization using interaural level differences exceeds that of untrained normal hearing listeners

Bilateral cochlear implant patients are unable to localize as well as normal hearing listeners. Although poor sensitivity to interaural time differences clearly contributes to this deficit, it is unclear whether deficits in terms of interaural level differences are also a contributing factor. In this study, localization was tested while manipulating interaural time and level cues using head-related transfer functions. The results indicate that bilateral cochlear implant users' ability to localize based on interaural level differences is actually greater than that of untrained normal hearing listeners.     

Analysis of spectral properties of acoustic noise produced during magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique enables non-invasive analysis of the human vocal tract during phonation. Creation of MR images of the vocal tract is accompanied by simultaneous recording of the produced speech. The paper analyzes and compares spectral properties of an acoustical noise produced by mechanical vibration of the gradient coils during scanning in the open-air MRI equipment working in a weak magnetic field with low B₀ up to 0.2 T. This noise exhibits harmonic character, so it is suitable to analyze its properties in the spectral domain. Obtained results of spectral analysis will be used to devise a new cepstral-based filtering method for noise suppression of recorded speech.     

Approximation of thermoelasticity contact problem with nonmonotone friction

The paper presents the formulation and approximation of a static thermoelasticity problem that describes bilateral frictional contact between a deformable body and a rigid foundation. The friction is in the form of a nonmonotone and multivalued law. The coupling effect of the problem is neglected. Therefore, the thermic part of the problem is considered independently on the elasticity problem. For the displacement vector, we formulate one substationary problem for a non-convex, locally Lipschitz continuous functional representing the total potential energy of the body. All problems formulated in the paper are approximated with the finite element method.