Ultrastrong coupling regime and plasmon polaritons in parabolic semiconductor quantum wells

Ultrastrong coupling is studied in a modulation-doped parabolic potential well coupled to an inductance-capacitance resonant circuit. In this system, in accordance to Kohn's theorem, strong reduction of the energy level separation caused by the electron-electron interaction compensates the depolarization shift. As a result, a very large ratio of 27% of the Rabi frequency to the center resonance frequency as well as a polariton gap of width 2π × 670 GHz are observed, suggesting parabolic quantum wells as the system of choice in order to explore the ultrastrong coupling regime.     

Modeling Unsaturated Flow in Absorbent Swelling Porous Media: Part 1. Theory

The flow and deformation processes in swelling porous media are modeled for absorbent hygiene products (e.g., diapers, wipes, papers etc.). The first part of the article derives the fundamental equations for the hysteretic unsaturated flow, liquid absorption, and large deformation. The final set of model equations consists of balance equations of mobile and absorbed (immobile) liquid combined with a series of constitutive relationships. The resulting equation system is strongly nonlinear and requires advanced numerical strategies for solving. The second part of the article focuses on numerical solution and presents simulation results for 2D and 3D applications.     

Synthesis and conformational studies of a beta-turn mimetic incorporated in Leu-enkephalin

A beta-turn mimetic in which the four amino acids of a beta-turn have been replaced by a 10-membered ring has been designed, synthesized, and subjected to conformational studies. In the mimetic, the intramolecular CO(i)-HN(i)(+3) hydrogen bond that is often found in beta-turns has been replaced by an ethylene bridge. In addition, the amide bond between residues i and i + 1 was exchanged for a methylene ether isoster. Such a beta-turn mimetic, based on the first four residues of Leu-enkephalin (Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu), was prepared in 15 steps. The synthesis relied on a beta-azido alcohol prepared in five steps from Cbz-Tyr(tBu)-OH as a key, i-position building block. tert-Butyl bromoacetate, glycine, and a Phe-Leu dipetide were then used as building blocks for positions i + 1, i + 2, and i + 3, respectively. Conformational studies based on (1)H NMR data showed that the beta-turn mimetic was flexible, but that it resembled a type-II beta-turn at low temperature. This low energy conformer closely resembled the structure determined for crystalline Leu-enkephalin.     

On the structure and desorption dynamics of DNA bases adsorbed on gold: a temperature-programmed study

The structure and desorption dynamics of mono- and multilayer samples of adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine on polycrystalline gold thin films are studied using temperature-programmed desorption-infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (TPD-IRAS) and temperature-programmed desorption-mass spectroscopy (TPD-MS). It is shown that the pyrimidines, adenine and guanine, adsorb to gold in a complex manner and that both adhesive (adenine) and cohesive (guanine) interactions contribute the apparent binding energies to the substrate surface. Adenine displays at least two adsorption sites, including a high-energy site (210 degrees C, approximately 136 kJ/mol), wherein the molecule coordinates to the gold substrate via the NH2 group in an sp3-like, strongly perturbed, nonplanar configuration. The purines, cytosine and thymine, display a less complicated adsorption/desorption behavior. The desorption energy for cytosine (160 degrees C, approximately 122 kJ/mol) is similar to those obtained for adenine and guanine, but desorption occurs from a single site of dispersed, nonaggregated cytosine. Thymine desorbs also from a single site but at a significantly lower energy (100 degrees C, approximately 104 kJ/mol). Infrared data reveal that the monolayer architectures discussed herein are structurally very different from those observed for the bases in the bulk crystalline state. It is also evident that both pyrimidines and purines adsorb on gold with the plane of the molecule in a nonparallel orientation with respect to the substrate surface. The results of this work are discussed in the context of improving the understanding of the design of capturing oligonucleotides or DNA strands for bioanalytical applications, in particular, for gold nanoparticle-based assays.     

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) microchip: microchannel with integrated open electrospray tip

A polymer microchip with an open tip for electrospray mass spectrometry is presented. The tip consists of a groove with parallel walls where a droplet can form at the end surface. A lid covers the whole chip except at the microchannel tip, which is left open. Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microchips were cast using a nickel mould which in turn was replicated from a dry etched silicon wafer. Tips with microchannel widths of around 50 microm could easily be replicated. Since the tip had no cover, the assembly of microchip and cover was simplified. A total ion current variation of 5% during 300 s was achieved for a 1 microM myoglobin solution. The non-complex design of the cover makes it suitable for versatile tests of chip prototypes. The nickel mould was found to be useful for PDMS microstructure fabrication. Also, such a robust mould allows casting electrospray tips in more rigid thermoset materials.     

Silicate-Phenolic Networks: Coordination-Mediated Deposition of Bioinspired Tannic Acid Coatings

Surface modification with polyphenolic molecules has been pursued in biomedical materials owing to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial characteristics. Recently, the use of silicic acid (Si_aq) as a mediator for efficient surface deposition of tannic acid (TA) was reported, but the postulated Si-TA polymeric networks were not characterized. Herein, we present unambiguous evidence for silicate-TA networks that involve Si−O−C motifs by using solid-state NMR spectroscopy, further supported by XPS and ToF-SIMS. By using QCM-D we demonstrate the advantages of Si_aq, compared to using transition-metal ions, to improve the coating efficiency under mildly acidic conditions. The presented homogenous coating buildup and validated applicability in inorganic buffers broadens the use of TA for surface modifications in technological and biomedical applications.     

Nonlinear Isolator Dynamics at Finite Deformations: An Effective Hyperelastic,Fractional Derivative,Generalized Friction Model

In presenting a nonlinear dynamic model of a rubber vibrationisolator, the quasistatic and dynamic motion influences on theforce response are investigated within the time and frequencydomain. It is found that the dynamic stiffness at the frequency ofa harmonic displacement excitation, superimposed upon the longterm isolator response, is strongly dependent on staticprecompression, dynamic amplitude and frequency. The problems ofsimultaneously modelling the elastic, viscoelastic and frictionforces are removed by additively splitting them, modelling theelastic force response by a nonlinear, shape factor basedapproach, displaying results that agree with those of aneo-Hookean hyperelastic isolator at a long term precompression.The viscoelastic force is modeled by a fractional derivativeelement, while the friction force governs from a generalizedfriction element displaying a smoothed Coulomb force. A harmonicdisplacement excitation is shown to result in a force responsecontaining the excitation frequency and its every otherhigher-order harmonic, while using a linearized elastic forceresponse model, whereas all higher-order harmonics are present forthe fully nonlinear case. It is furthermore found that the dynamicstiffness magnitude increases with static precompression andfrequency, while decreasing with dynamic excitationamplitude – eventually increasing at the highest amplitudes due tononlinear elastic effects – with its loss angle displaying amaximum at an intermediate amplitude. Finally, the dynamicstiffness at a static precompression, using a linearized elasticforce response model, is shown to agree with the fully nonlinearmodel except at the highest dynamic amplitudes.     

A component tracking algorithm for accelerated and improved liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method development

A method for tracking of sample components during liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method development has been proposed. The method manages to, fully automatically and without user intervention, find the chromatographic peaks in the data sets, discriminate them to sample components and track them when the separation conditions have been changed. The algorithm utilises the resolution obtained from all considered data sets and has the ability to discriminate the non informative parts. The technique has a great sensitivity even in cases where a majority of the tracked components cannot easily be spotted by means of traditional total ion chromatogram (TIC) or base peak chromatogram (BPC) representations. The method was tested on an experimental sample using six different columns and an average of 79% of the suggested sample components could be successfully tracked at a minimum area of 0.05% of the main component in the sample. 66 components with 79-92% of the total suggested component area were able to be tracked between all data sets. The method could be used to rapidly investigate selectivity during different types of separation conditions.     

Combining column generation and constraint programming to solve the tail assignment problem

Within the area of short term airline operational planning, Tail Assignment is the problem of assigning flight legs to individual identified aircraft while satisfying all operational constraints, and optimizing some objective function. In this article, we propose that Tail Assignment should be solved as part of both the short and the long term airline planning. We further present a hybrid column generation and constraint programming solution approach. This approach can be used to quickly produce solutions for operations management, and also to produce close-to-optimal solutions for long and mid term planning scenarios. We present computational results which illustrate the practical usefulness of the approach.