Photodissociation of cyclobutyl bromide at 234 nm studied using velocity map imaging

This study investigates the 234 nm photodissociation dynamics of cyclobutyl bromide using a two-dimensional photofragment velocity imaging technique. The spin-orbit ground- and excited-state Br(2P) atoms are state-selectively detected via [2+1] resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI), whereas the cyclobutyl radicals are ionized using 157 nm laser light. The Br(2P(3/2)) and the Br(2P(1/2)) atoms and their c-C4H7 radical cofragments evidence a single-peaked, Gaussian-shaped translational energy distribution ranging from approximately 14 to approximately 39 kcal/mol and angular distributions with significant parallel character. The Br(2P(1/2))/ Br(2P(3/2)) spin-orbit branching ratio is determined to be 0.11 +/- 0.07 by momentum match between the Br(2P) photofragments and the recoiling c-C4H7 fragments, assuming a uniform photoionization probability of the c-C4H7 radicals with an internal energy range of 10-35 kcal/mol. The REMPI line strength ratio for the detection of Br(2P(3/2)) and Br(2P(1/2)) atoms at 233.681 and 234.021 nm, respectively, is therefore derived to be 0.10 +/- 0.07. The measured recoil kinetic energies of the c-C4H7 radicals, and the resulting distribution of internal energies, indicates some of the radicals are formed with total internal energies above the barrier to isomerization and subsequent dissociation, but our analysis indicates they may be stable due to the substantial fraction of the internal energy which is partitioned to rotational energy of the radicals.     

Physical mechanisms behind the SERS enhancement of pyramidal pit substrates

In this paper we theoretically consider the physical mechanisms behind the surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement produced by commercially available Klarite substrates, which consist of rectangular arrays of micrometre‐sized pyramidal pits in silicon with a thin gold coating. Full three‐dimensional numerical simulations of the pits are conducted for both a real gold metal coating and a perfect electrical conductor (PEC) to determine whether the SERS enhancement is due to diffraction or plasmon effects. The pit apex angle and metal coating thickness are also varied to determine whether it is possible to further enhance the SERS signal by optimising the structural parameters of these substrates. By decreasing the film thickness and adjusting the apex angle, it is possible to achieve an enhancement almost double that of a standard Klarite substrate. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fixed point property for Banach algebras associated to locally compact groups

In this paper we investigate when various Banach algebras associated to a locally compact group G have the weak or weak^∗ fixed point property for left reversible semigroups. We proved, for example, that if G is a separable locally compact group with a compact neighborhood of the identity invariant under inner automorphisms, then the Fourier-Stieltjes algebra of G has the weak^∗ fixed point property for left reversible semigroups if and only if G is compact. This generalizes a classical result of T.C. Lim for the case when G is the circle group T.     

Thermal stability of cubic boron nitride films deposited by chemical vapor deposition

Thermal stability of well-crystallized cubic boron nitride (cBN) films grown by chemical vapor deposition has been investigated by cathodoluminescence (CL), Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with the cBN films annealed at various temperatures up to 1,300 degrees C. The crystallinity of the cBN films further improves, as indicated by a reduction of the relevant Raman line width, when the annealing temperature exceeds 1,100 degrees C. Structural damage or amorphization was observed on the grain boundaries of the cBN crystals when annealing temperature reaches 1,300 degrees C. The CL spectra are found to be unchanged up to 1,100 degrees C after annealing at 500 degrees C, showing the stability of the cBN films in electronic properties up to this temperature. New features were observed in the CL spectra when annealing temperature reaches 1,200-1,300 degrees C.     

Organogels derived from tetranitrated crown ethers

[reaction: see text] The 3,3',4'4'-tetranitrodibenzocrown ethers TNDB24C8 and TNDB30C10 form organogels with chloroalkanes at 3% w/v. Atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy have been used to characterize the superstructure of the gels. Gels prepared using TNDB30C10 and CHCl(3) are more fibrous and are ordered into elongated domains attributable to exposed parts of intermingled fibers. Differential scanning calorimetry shows that the gel aids in the formation of supercooled CHCl(3) (DeltaT = 21 K, DeltaH(av) = 19.0 +/- 1.5 kJ mol(-)(1)) and that the gel liquefies at 307 K.     

Enumerative meaning of mirror maps for toric Calabi–Yau manifolds

We prove that the inverse of a mirror map for a toric Calabi–Yau manifold of the form _KY$K_Y$, where Y$Y$ is a compact toric Fano manifold, can be expressed in terms of generating functions of genus 0 open Gromov–Witten invariants defined by Fukaya–Oh–Ohta–Ono (2010)  [15]. Such a relation between mirror maps and disk counting invariants was first conjectured by Gross and Siebert (2011)  [24, Conjecture 0.2 and Remark 5.1] as part of their program, and was later formulated in terms of Fukaya–Oh–Ohta–Ono’s invariants in the toric Calabi–Yau case in Chan et al. (2012)  [8, Conjecture 1.1].     

Precisely Controlled Delivery of Abaloparatide through Injectable Hydrogel to Promote Bone Regeneration

Side‐effects from allograft, limited bone stock, and site morbidity from autograft are the major challenges to traditional bone defect treatments. With the advance of tissue engineering, hydrogel injection therapy is introduced as an alternative treatment. Therapeutic drugs and growth factors can be carried by hydrogels and delivered to patients. Abaloparatide, as an analog of human recombinant parathyroid hormone protein (PTHrp) and an alternative to teriparatide, has been considered as a drug for treating postmenopausal osteoporosis since 2017. Since only limited cases of receiving abaloparatide with polymeric scaffolds have been reported, the effects of abaloparatide on pre‐osteoblast MC3T3‐E1 are investigated in this study. It is found that in vitro abaloparatide treatment can promote pre‐osteoblast MC3T3‐E1 cells’ viability, differentiation, and mineralization significantly. For the drug delivery system, 3D porous structure of the methacrylated gelatin (GelMA) hydrogel is found effective for prolonging the release of abaloparatide (more than 10 days). Therefore, injectable photo‐crosslinked GelMA hydrogel is used in this study to prolong the release of abaloparatide and to promote healing of defected bones in rats. Overall, data collected in this study show no contradiction and imply that Abaloparatide‐loaded GelMA hydrogel is effective in stimulating bone regeneration.     

Conduction switching in aluminum nitride thin films containing Al nanocrystals

Conduction switching, i.e., a sharp change in the conduction from a lower-conductance state to a higher-conductance state or vice versa in aluminum nitride thin films embedded with Al nanocrystals (nc–Al) has been observed in the ramped-voltage and ramped-current current–voltage (I–V) measurements and the time-domain current measurement as well. Each state is well defined and its I–V characteristic follows a power law. It is observed that the conductance decreases (or increases) with charging (or discharging) in the nc–Al. It is shown that the conduction switching is due to the charging and discharging in the nc–Al at certain strategic sites. With the connecting (or breaking) of some conductive tunneling paths formed by the uncharged nc–Al due to the discharging (or charging) in the nc–Al at the strategic sites, a conduction switching occurs.     

Subconvexity bounds for Rankin–Selberg L-functions for congruence subgroups

Estimation of shifted sums of Fourier coefficients of cusp forms plays crucial roles in analytic number theory. Its known region of holomorphy and bounds, however, depend on bounds toward the general Ramanujan conjecture. In this article, we extended such a shifted sum meromorphically to a larger half plane Res>1/2 and proved a better bound. As an application, we then proved a subconvexity bound for Rankin–Selberg L-functions which does not rely on bounds toward the Ramanujan conjecture: Let f be either a holomorphic cusp form of weight k, or a Maass cusp form with Laplace eigenvalue 1/4+k², for . Let g be a fixed holomorphic or Maass cusp form. What we obtained is the following bound for the L-function L(s,fg) in the k aspect:

L(1/2+it,fg)k^{1−1/(8+4θ)+ε},