Surjections‐‐a classroom discussion

Learning pure mathematics through problem solving, group work and classroom discussion can be very motivating for students provided that they are given suitable problems, and appropriate guidance and instruction. Problems should be simple to state and they should yield some results easily but have very much more challenging components so that, with some early success, students will have the confidence and determination to learn new mathematics if necessary in order to reach a final solution. Students can be encouraged to work in groups and then to compare the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches. The problem outlined here is one suitable for undergraduates, and for very able school students, involving the definition of a function and simple combinatorics. It can be solved by a variety of methods involving algebraic expansions using the multinomial theorem, or solution of sets of linear equations using matrices and inverse matrices, or the inclusion exclusion formula as applied to the number of elements in the union of sets.     

Structural and electrical analysis of In–Sb–Te‐based PCM cells

Two In–Sb–Te compounds with low Te content (12 at.% and 17 at.%), deposited by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition, were implemented into prototype phase‐change memory devices of size 50 × 50 nm² and 93 × 93 nm². These chalcogenides yielded devices with higher threshold voltage than those based on Ge–Sb–Te alloys. The endurance and programming window were markedly improved (from 10³ to 10⁶ cycles and from 1 to 2 orders of magnitude, respectively) when employing the Te‐richer alloy. Moreover, in situ structural and electrical analysis on TiN/In–Sb–Te/dielectric stacks provided additional insight on the thermal stability of the two ternary phases In₃SbTe₂ and InSb_0.8Te_0.2, which were found to coexist in these compounds. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Optical wireless quantum communication coding system using decimal convertor

In this study, a system of microring resonators and an add/drop filter are used to generate a large bandwidth signal as a localized multi wavelength, applicable for continuous dense coding and continuous variable encoding generation. This technique uses the Kerr nonlinear type of light in the MRR to generate multi wavelength of bright and dark soliton for quantum network cryptography. Afterwards, generated bright and dark optical pulses are converted into digital logic quantum codes using a decimal convertor system in which transmission of secured information are performed via an optical wireless communication system. Results show that ranges of multi bright and dark soliton wavelengths from 1.45 to $1.65\,\upmu \mathrm{m}$ with central wavelength of $1.55\,\upmu \mathrm{m}$ could be simulated, where the FWHM and FSR of 50 and 1,440 pm are obtained, respectively.     

A deterministic algorithm for constructing multiple rank-1 lattices of near-optimal size

Advances in Computational Mathematics - We present a novel family of C1 quadrilateral finite elements, which define global C1 spaces over a general quadrilateral mesh with vertices of arbitrary...     

BRUTUS: optimization of a grid-based similarity function for rigid-body molecular superposition. II. Description and characterization

Finding novel lead molecules is one of the primary goals in early phases of drug discovery projects. However, structurally dissimilar compounds may exhibit similar biological activity, and finding new and structurally diverse lead compounds is difficult for computer algorithms. Molecular energy fields are appropriate for finding structurally novel molecules, but they are demanding to calculate and this limits their usefulness in virtual screening of large chemical databases. In our approach, energy fields are computed only once per superposition and a simple interpolation scheme is devised to allow coarse energy field lattices having fewer grid points to be used without any significant loss of accuracy. The resulting processing speed of about 0.25 s per conformation on a 2.4 GHz Intel Pentium processor allows the method to be used for virtual screening on commonly available desktop machines. Moreover, the results indicate that grid-based superposition methods could be efficiently used for the virtual screening of compound libraries.     

Intraindividual variability of striatal (1)H-MRS brain metabolite measurements at 3 T

PURPOSE: To measure possible positional and diurnal physiological effects on brain metabolites in single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) measurements of the right and left striatum. METHODS: (1)H-MRS measurements were performed in 10 healthy adult volunteers using a short echo PRESS sequence (TE=30 ms, TR=3000 ms). Each individual was scanned during both morning and afternoon hours. Regions of interest were right and left striatum. To control for systematic drift in scanner performance, (1)H-MRS measurements of a standard phantom solution were also acquired. Statistical analysis was performed using a repeated measures analysis of variance that included three within-subject factors: metabolite (N-acetyl-aspartate [NAA] or creatine [Cr]), laterality (left or right caudate) and time (morning or afternoon). RESULTS: A significant interaction (P<.016) between time of day and metabolite levels was observed. Further exploration of this finding revealed a significant difference between morning and afternoon levels of NAA (P<.044) but not Cr. In addition, no significant morning-to-afternoon differences were observed for the (1)H-MRS phantom measurements. CONCLUSIONS: Systematic variation due to scanner performance does not account for the changes observed in repeated measurements of striatal NAA levels. This difference may be accounted for by either repositioning effects or circadian physiological effects. Further studies are required to learn whether time of day standardization of (1)H-MRS acquisitions may contribute to improved reproducibility of measurements.     

3D printed plano-freeform optics for non-coherent discontinuous beam shaping

Optical Review - The design, fabrication, and characterization of freeform optics for LED-based complex target irradiance distribution are challenging. Here, we investigate a 3D printing technology...     

Science Self‐Efficacy of Preservice Teachers in Face‐to‐Face versus Blended Environments

Using a quasi‐experimental mixed methods concurrent design, this study measured the science self‐efficacy of pre‐service elementary teachers before and after a survey of science content course. Further, this course was delivered in two different formats: face‐to‐face and hybrid (approximately 50% online), and compared pre‐and post‐science self‐efficacy of students in the two different course formats. Our quantitative results showed increases in personal efficacy, but not outcome expectancy for both formats, and no significant differences between the increases for either format. Our qualitative data showed that participants attributed their increased levels of personal efficacy to the hands‐on components of the course, as well as perceived teacher attitudes toward science, both of which would be challenging to replicate in a purely online format, as opposed to the hybrid format included in this study.     

Isolation of fatty acids and aromatics from cell suspension cultures of Lavandula angustifolia

Cell suspension cultures of Lavandula angustifolia Mill. ssp. angustifolia (syn.: L. officinalis Chaix.) afforded a fatty acid composition, cis and trans p-coumaric acids (=p-hydroxy cinnamic acids), and beta-sitosterol. The fatty acid composition was analyzed by GC-MS, and the structures of the isolated three compounds were determined by 1H- and 13C-NMR, and MS spectroscopic techniques.