Critical behavior of a three-dimensional dimer model

The phase transition behavior of a dimer model on a three-dimensional lattice is studied. This model is of biological interest because of its relevance to the lipid bilayer main phase transition. The model has the same kind of inactive low-temperature behavior as the exactly solvable Kasteleyn dimer model on a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice. Because of low-temperature inactivity, determination of the lowest-lying excited states allows one to locate the critical temperature. In this paper the second-lowest-lying excited states are studied and exact asymptotic results are obtained in the limit of large lattices. These results together with a finite-size scaling ansatz suggest a logarithmic divergence of the specific heat aboveT _c for the three-dimensional model. Use of the same ansatz recovers the exact divergence (α=1/2) for the two-dimensional model.     

The oxidation of a series of phthalyl alcohols

A series of phthalyl alcohols containing methoxy and methyl substituents were prepared by lithium aluminum hydride reduction of phthalides. Oxidation of the phthalyl alcohols with activated manganese dioxide or with barium manganate gave phthalaldehydes or phthalides depending on the position of the ring substituents.     

Modeling and analytical simulation of rotating disk ultrafiltration module

An unsteady state mass transfer model has been developed for rotating disk ultrafiltration module. Starting from the basic physics of the system, analytical expression of back transport flux generated due to rotation-induced shear field is determined, which is subsequently incorporated in the fundamental material balance equation. In order to get an analytical solution of governing partial differential equation via Laplace transformation, pseudo steady state consideration is imposed both on permeate as well as back transport flux. Once the analytical form of concentration field is obtained using the expression permeate flux, membrane surface concentration are evaluated using polymer solution theory and irreversible thermodynamics. Finally an iterative scheme is designed to simulate the permeate flux and membrane surface concentration under specified set of operating parameters. The prediction from this model is found to be in good agreement with experimental data obtained from PEG-6000/water system using cellulose acetate membrane of 5000 Da molecular weight cut-off.     

Generation of nitrile oxides under nanometer micelles built in neutral aqueous media: synthesis of novel glycal-based chiral synthons and optically pure 2,8-dioxabicyclo[4.4.0]decene core

A highly efficient strategy for chemoselective oxidation of aldoximes to nitrile oxides by iodosobenzene in neutral aqueous media is reported. Their in situ intermolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (1,3-DC) with olefins in nanometer aqueous micelles occurs with improved stereoselectivity and acceleration of reaction rate toward synthesis of new chiral synthons, 3-(2'-C-3',4',6'-tri-O-benzylglycal)-Delta(2)-isoxazolines and others. Construction of optically pure 2,8-dioxabicyclo[4.4.0]decene skeleta is performed by this green approach, and the stereochemistry of the new chiral center is predicted by B3LYP density functional theory.     

On the sobriety of the inverse topology

An algebraic frame L with the finite intersection property (FIP) on compact elements is said to be polarised if every minimal prime element in it is complemented. In this note, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the inverse topology on the set of minimal prime elements of such a frame to be sober. We also establish some sufficient conditions for sobriety when the polarisation condition is relaxed.     

Structural studies of TcO2 by neutron powder diffraction and first-principles calculations

Crystalline technetium dioxide was prepared and for the first time its crystal structure determined by neutron powder diffraction. In addition, electronic structure calculations using density functional theory were performed to further elucidate the bonding mechanisms in TcO2. The crystal structure determined by Rietveld analysis with the NPD data is of a distorted rutile type, similar to that of MoO2; space group P21/c, a = 5.6891(1), b = 4.7546(1), c = 5.5195(1) A, and beta = 121.453(1) degrees . The NPD analysis also establishes a new neutron scattering length of 6.00(3) fm for 99Tc. Our results clearly show metal-metal bonding between Tc pairs along the edge-sharing chains of TcO6 octahedra. The Tc-Tc bond was found to be 2.622(1) A from NPD profile analysis and 2.59 A from first-principles DFT calculations. The bond is somewhat longer than expected from earlier predictions, suggesting that the nature of the Tc-Tc interaction is weaker than anticipated for the Tc(IV) cation with three outer electrons. The NPD results supported by the DFT calculations suggest that the filling of antibonding orbitals and the influence of the crystal field stabilization of the d3 Tc cations lead to more regular TcO6 octahedra and diminish the metal-metal bond strength compared with closely related oxides such MoO2 and WO2.     

Mimicking the Energy Funnel of the Photosynthetic Unit Using a Dendrimer-Dye Supramolecular Assembly

Photosynthesis involves light-harvesting complexes where an array of antenna pigment channels the absorbed solar energy to the reaction centre of a photosystem. This work reports a supramolecular dendrimer-dye assembly that mimics the natural light-harvesting mechanism. A dendrimeric molecule based on two-fluorophores has been constructed with three coumarin units at the end of three long arms and a 7-diethylaminocoumarin unit at the interior. The molecule self-aggregates in water into spherical micelles, which can encapsulate a rose-bengal dye (RB). On excitation, peripheral coumarin units shuttled the energy to the loaded RB dye reaction center via a two-step cascade resonance energy transfer (RET). The energy absorbed in the periphery is funnelled efficiently, resulting in a strong emission from the dye that resembles an energy funnel. The energy transfer cascade has been studied with both steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Molecular dynamics simulations of the self-assembled aggregates in water were also in agreement with the experimental observations.     

A new method for decomposition in the Jacobian of small genus hyperelliptic curves

Decomposing a divisor over a suitable factor basis in the Jacobian of a hyperelliptic curve is a crucial step in an index calculus algorithm for the discrete log problem in the Jacobian. For small genus curves, in the year 2000, Gaudry had proposed a suitable factor basis and a decomposition method. In this work, we provide a new method for decomposition over the same factor basis. The advantage of the new method is that it admits a sieving technique which removes smoothness checking of polynomials required in Gaudry’s method. Also, the total number of additions in the Jacobian required by the new method is less than that required by Gaudry’s method. The new method itself is quite simple and we present some example decompositions and timing results of our implementation of the method using Magma.     

Probing atomic migration in nanostructured multilayers: application of X-ray standing wave fields

X-ray standing wave fields, excited in periodic nanostructured multilayers during Bragg diffraction, have been used to probe atomic migration in multilayers. Ion beam induced migration of Fe impurity atoms from the C layers to the Pt layers in a Pt(Fe)/C(Fe) multilayer, where each layer is about 2 nm thick, has been detected. With a depth resolution better than 0.2 nm of this technique, the direction of Fe migration (here outward) and the change of Fe concentration in C (also Pt) layers have been determined. The results of such measurements are important for understanding the properties of multilayers, for example, the evolution of ferromagnetism in the present example [Dev, Microelectron. Eng. 83, 1721 (2006)10.1016/j.mee.2006.01.230].     

Dynamics of solvent and rotational relaxation of coumarin-153 in room-temperature ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium tetrafluoroborate confined in poly(oxyethylene glycol) ethers containing micelles

We have investigated solvent and rotational relaxation of coumarin 153 (C-153) in room-temperature ionic liquid (RTILs) 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([bmim][BF(4)]) and the ionic liquid confined in alkyl poly(oxyethylene glycol) ethers containing micelles. We have used octaethylene glycol monotetradecyl ether (C(14)E(8)) and octaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C(12)E(8)) as surfactants. In the [bmim][BF(4)]-C(14)E(8) micelle, we have observed only a 22% increase in solvation time compared to neat [bmim][BF(4)], whereas in the [bmim][BF(4)]-C(12)E(8) system, we have observed approximately 57% increase in average solvation time due to micelle formation. However, the slowing down in solvation time on going from neat RTIL to RTIL-confined micelles is much smaller compared to that on going from water to water confined micellar aggregates. The 22-57% increase in solvation time is attributed to the slowing down of collective motions of cations and anions in micelles. The rotational relaxation times become faster in both the micelles compare to neat [bmim][BF(4)].