Humean Supervenience in the Light of Contemporary Science

It is shown that Lewis’ ontological doctrine of Humean supervenience incorporates at its foundation the so-called separability principle of classical physics. In view of the systematic violation of the latter within quantum mechanics, the claim that contemporary physical science may posit non-supervenient relations beyond the spatiotemporal ones is reinforced on a foundational basis concerning constraints on the state representation of physical systems. Depending on the mode of assignment of states to quantum systems — unit state vectors versus statistical density operators — we distinguish between strongly and weakly non-Humean, non-supervenient relations. It is demonstrated that in either case, the relations of quantum entanglement constitute prototypical examples of irreducible physical relations that do not supervene upon a spatiotemporal arrangement of Humean qualities, weakening, thereby, the thesis of Humean supervenience. In this respect, the status of Lewis’ recombination principle is examined, whereas his conception of lawhood is critically investigated. It is concluded that the assumption of ontological reductionism, as expressed in Lewis’ Humean doctrine, cannot be regarded as a reliable code of the nature of the physical world and its contents. It is proposed instead that due to the undeniable existence of non-supervenient relations, a metaphysic of relations of a moderate kind ought to be acknowledged as an indispensable part of our understanding of the natural world at a fundamental level.     

Low temperature electronic transport in sputter deposited a-IGZO films

We report on the electrical properties of a-IGZO thin films prepared by reactive sputtering. Without oxygen injection, dc resistivity measured at room temperature is ρ_300K = 1.22 × 10⁻³ Ωm. The lowest resistivity ρ_300K = 4.86 × 10⁻⁵ Ωm is obtained at a certain oxygen supply into the deposition process. Hall effect measurements of these films reveal a metallic-like behavior from mobility and carrier concentration vs. temperature in the range 15–300 K whereas films deposited without oxygen or for the highest oxygen flows behave as semiconductors. These enhanced electrical properties are connected to the oxygen vacancies and the local coordination structure around the In³⁺ cations.     

Pentanuclear complexes with unusual structural topologies from the initial use of two aliphatic amino-alcohol ligands in Fe chemistry

Five novel pentanuclear Fe(3+) clusters with the aliphatic amino-alcohol ligands 3-amino-1-propanol (Hap) and 2-(hydroxymethyl)piperidine (Hhmpip) [Fe(5)(μ(3)-Ο)(2)(L)(4)(O(2)CR)(7)] [L = ap(-), R = Ph (1); L = ap(-), R = C(CH(3))(3) (2); L = hmpip(-), R = Ph (3); L = hmpip(-), R = C(CH(3))(3) (4)] and [Fe(5)(μ(4)-Ο)(μ(3)-Ο)(O(2)CC(CH(3))(3))(8)(ap)(2)Cl(HO(2)CC(CH(3))(3))] (5) are reported. Compounds 1-4 were prepared from reactions of preformed trinuclear Fe(3+) clusters with the ligands in a molar ratio 1 : 5 in MeCN (1, 3, 4) or DMF (2), whereas compound 5 was prepared from the reaction of FeCl(3) with Hap in the presence of HO(2)CC(CH(3))(3) in a molar ratio 1 : 3 : 2 in MeCN. To the best of our knowledge, 1-5 are the first examples of Fe(3+) complexes with the ligands Hap and Hhmpip. The structures of 1-4 are composed of a quasi-planar [Fe(5)(μ(3)-O)(2)](11+) core which consists of two vertex-sharing [Fe(3)(μ(3)-O)](7+) triangles. The structure of 5 is based on the [Fe(5)(μ(4)-O)(μ(3)-O)](11+) core, in which the five Fe(3+) ions adopt a monocapped trigonal pyramidal topology. Variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements on powdered microcrystalline samples of 1 and 5 revealed the existence of antiferromagnetic interactions which led to an S = 5/2 ground state. M?ssbauer spectroscopy studies on powdered microcrystalline samples of 1 and 5 confirmed that all iron ions of both complexes are in the Fe(3+) (S = 5/2) state. The variation of the ligand environment in the various iron sites was reflected in their different quadruple splitting parameters. At T < 50 K the M?ssbauer spectra indicated the onset of spin relaxation effects in the time scale of the technique (10(-7)-10(-8) s).     

Ground-state energy of a two level system with phonon coupling

The coupling of a two-level system to quantized boson modes has been the focus of many researchers for a number of years. Applications to exciton motion, molecular polaron formation, chaos in quantum systems as well as a number of other effects in condensed matter physics have also been studied. Here we investigate the interaction of bosonic modes with a two-level fermionic system. This quantum system is used as a testing ground for a recently developed Generalized Moments Expansion, GMX(m,n), of which the well-known Connected Moments Expansion (CMX) and Alternate Moments Expansion (AMX) are special cases. The convergence and viability of this scheme are discussed and comparisons are made with a related Canonical Sequence Method (CSM) as well as a Lanczos tridiagonal truncation scheme.     

Aspartyl methyl ester formation via aspartimide ring opening: a proposed modification of the protocols used in Boc- and Fmoc-based solid-phase peptide synthesis

Aspartimide formation is still an unresolved problem in the solid-phase peptide synthesis of aspartic acid-containing peptides, following either Boc- or Fmoc-based synthetic strategies. α-Aspartyl peptides of high purity can be obtained, despite aspartimide formation, by incorporating an additional step in the Boc- and Fmoc-based solid-phase peptide synthesis protocols, consisting of treatment of the peptide-resin with methanol in the presence of 2% DIEA (v/v) for 15 min immediately after completion of the peptide chain elongation.     

Experimental Study and Numerical Modeling of Rheological and Flow Behavior of Xanthan Gum Solutions Using Artificial Neural Network

This study investigated effect of temperature, concentration, and shear rate on rheological properties of xanthan gum aqueous solutions using a Couette viscometer at temperatures between 25°C and 55°C and concentrations of 0.25 wt% to 1.0 wt%. The Herschel–Bulkley model described very well the non-Newtonian behavior of xanthan gum solutions. Shear rate, temperature, and concentration affected apparent viscosity and an equation was proposed for the temperature and concentration effect valid for each shear rate. This article also presents an artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict apparent viscosity. Based on statistical analysis, the ANN method estimated viscosity with high accuracy and low error.     

Chromeno[2,3-c]pyrroles by one-pot multicomponent domino addition–amination reaction

A new aspect concerning chromone chemistry leading to the one-pot synthesis of chromeno[2,3-c]pyrroles is described. The synthesis involves a multicomponent reaction of 3-formylchromones with isocyanides and azodicarboxylates, whereupon novel chromeno[2,3-c]pyrrole derivatives were formed in good yields. The structures of the products were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR experiments and were unambiguously confirmed by the use of crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Full assignment of all ¹H and ¹³C NMR chemical shifts has been achieved. A plausible mechanistic scheme is proposed.     

Glandulaurencianols A–C,brominated diterpenes from the red alga, Laurencia glandulifera and the sea hare, Aplysia punctata

Glandulaurencianols A and B were isolated from the organic extract of the red alga, Laurencia glandulifera, collected from the island of Crete in South Greece. Investigation of the mollusk, Aplysia punctata, collected from the coast of Nea Makri, Central Greece, resulted in the isolation of glandulaurencianols A and C. The structures of the new metabolites, as well as their relative configurations, were established on the basis of thorough analyses of their spectroscopic data.     

Structural and Photosensitizing Features of Phthalocyanine—Zeolite Hybrid Nanomaterials

In this work, we have quantified for the first time the fluorescence and singlet oxygen quantum yields of a silicon(IV) phthalocyanine bound to the surface of zeolite L nanocrystals. The photophysical properties were correlated with the absorption spectra and the morphology of the nanoparticles, and most importantly, with the fraction of photoactive chromophores. By comparison with the fluorescence and singlet oxygen quantum yields of the free phthalocyaninate in dilute solution (Φ_F = 0.50 and Φ_? = 0.50, respectively), we conclude that for the most efficient nanoparticles nearly 80% of chromophores are active as monomeric units on the surface, as indicated by the corresponding quantum yields (Φ_F = 0.40 and Φ_? = 0.40). We further functionalized and raised the ζ‐potential of the best performing nanomaterial to improve its water dispersibility. The functionalization was monitored by thermogravimetric analysis and time‐of‐flight secondary‐ion mass spectrometry, and its influence on the photophysical properties was assessed. The resulting nanomaterials are capable of establishing stable suspensions in water while retaining the ability to form reactive oxygen species upon irradiation with red light. This provides a basis for the rational design of photoactive nanomaterials for photodynamic therapy or water decontamination.