Ideological Complex Systems: Mathematical Theory

The goal of this article is to build an abstract mathematical theory rather than a computational one of the process of transmission of ideology. The basis of much of the argument is Patten's Environment Theory that characterizes a system with its double environment (input or stimulus and output or response) and the existing interactions among them. Ideological processes are semiotic processes, and if in Patten's theory, the two environments are physical, in this theory ideological processes are physical and semiotic, as are stimulus and response. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 47–65, 2015     

The Roles of Composition and Mesostructure of Cobalt-Based Spinel Catalysts in Oxygen Evolution Reactions

By using the crystalline precursor decomposition approach and direct co-precipitation the composition and mesostructure of cobalt-based spinels can be controlled. A systematic substitution of cobalt with redox-active iron and redox-inactive magnesium and aluminum in a cobalt spinel with anisotropic particle morphology with a preferred 111 surface termination is presented, resulting in a substitution series including Co₃O₄, MgCo₂O₄, Co₂FeO₄, Co₂AlO₄ and CoFe₂O₄. The role of redox pairs in the spinels is investigated in chemical water oxidation by using ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN test), electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and H₂O₂ decomposition. Studying the effect of dominant surface termination, isotropic Co₃O₄ and CoFe₂O₄ catalysts with more or less spherical particles are compared to their anisotropic analogues. For CAN-test and OER, Co³⁺ plays the major role for high activity. In H₂O₂ decomposition, Co²⁺ reveals itself to be of major importance. Redox active cations in the structure enhance the catalytic activity in all reactions. A benefit of a predominant 111 surface termination depends on the cobalt oxidation state in the as-prepared catalysts and the investigated reaction.     

Emergence of the sub‐THz central peak at phase transitions in artificial BaTiO3/(Ba,Sr)TiO3 superlattices

A prominent central peak in the sub‐THz frequency range was observed in the Raman spectra of BaTiO₃/(Ba,Sr)TiO₃ (BT/BST) superlattice grown on (001)MgO substrate. Both soft and central mode show an anomaly around 200 K and 280 K, which can be correlated with orthorhombic to monoclinic phase transition of BST and BT, respectively. The observed temperature dependence of the central mode enabled us to explain rather broad temperature dependence of the dielectric permittivity previously observed in BT/BST superlattices. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Subcellular mass determination by <Superscript>4</Superscript>He<Superscript>+</Superscript> energy-loss micro-spectrometry

The scanning transmission ion microscope (STIM) has been used to determine the intracellular mass of human cultured cells. A 4He+ microbeam of 2.0 MeV energy was chosen to obtain enhanced ion-energy-loss sensitivity through the micron-thick freeze-dried cells. Local sample mass calculation, based on energy-loss conversion by use of appropriate matrix stopping powers, was performed by use of dedicated software. The method was validated with epoxy resin sections and polymer foil as analogues of biological samples in the range of (intra)cellular thickness, 150 to 3000 nm. STIM analysis resulted in less than 5% error in mass determination. 4He+ energy-loss micro-spectrometry was performed on freeze-dried human ovarian cancer cells, the mean areal mass obtained was 120 microg cm(-2) (200 microg cm(-2) in the nucleus and 250 microg cm(-2) in nucleoli). This method is particularly useful for mass normalization of X-ray fluorescence yields resulting from particle-induced X-ray emission microanalysis (micro-PIXE). When performed successively these two ion-beam micro-analytical methods enable the mapping of true element concentrations within single cells.     

Gas phase infrared spectroscopy of selectively prepared ions

The first example of direct structural characterization of polyaromatic ions by coupling a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer with an infrared free-electron laser is presented. Measurement of the IR spectra of selectively prepared ionic reactive intermediates is allowed by the association of the high peak power and wide tunability of the laser with the flexibility of the spectrometer, where several mass selection and ion reaction steps can be combined, as demonstrated in the case of iron cation complexes of hydrocarbons. The present experimental setup opens the way to understanding chemical reaction paths.     

Synthesis and structure of isomeric palladium(II)-pyrazole chelate complexes with and without an N-H group as hydrogen bond donor

Four new ligands containing a pyrazole ring and either a phosphine or thioether were prepared and converted to their cis-dichloropalladium(II) complexes. Two of the ligands are especially notable for the attachment of a side chain at pyrazole carbon, rather than at nitrogen. The new metal complexes include dichloro[3-(diphenylphosphinomethyl)pyrazole]palladium(II) (1-PdCl2) and dichloro[3-(methylthiomethyl)pyrazole]palladium(II) (2-PdCl2), which both feature an N-H group as a potential proton or hydrogen bond donor. For comparison, isomeric complexes lacking an NH group were prepared: dichloro[1-(diphenylphosphinomethyl)pyrazole]palladium(II) (3-PdCl2) and dichloro[1-(methylthiomethyl)pyrazole]palladium(II) (4-PdCl2). As determined by X-ray crystallography, all four complexes were found to have slightly distorted square planar geometry. Complexes 1-PdCl2 and 2-PdCl2, which contain an NH group, exhibit both intermolecular and intramolecular hydrogen bonding, whereas isomers 3-PdCl2 and 4-PdCl2 do not. Single-crystal X-ray structure determinations on the following compounds are reported: 1-PdCl2, space group P1, a = 8.4488(9) A, b = 8.9175(13) A, c = 12.731(2) A, Z = 2, V = 871.8(2) A3; 2-PdCl2, space group Pbca, a = 10.8827(10) A, b = 11.7721(7) A, c = 14.874(2) A, Z = 8, V = 1905.6 A3; 3-PdCl2, space group P2(1)/c, a = 20.520(2) A, b = 12.549(2) A, c = 13.9784(13) A, Z = 8, V = 3401.1(6) A3; 4-PdCl2, space group Pbca, a = 10.6545(10) A, b = 12.0205(11) A, c = 14.6474(14) A, Z = 8, V = 1875.9(3) A3.