Efficiency and current in a correlated ratchet

We present a detailed study of the transport and the efficiency of a ratchet system in a periodic potential in the presence of correlated noises. The current and the efficiency of the system are investigated. It is found that, when the potential is spatially symmetric, the correlation between the two noises can induce a net transport. The efficiency shows many interesting features as a function of the applied force, the noise intensity, the external load, etc. The efficiency can be maximized as a function of noise intensity (or temperature), which shows that the thermal fluctuation can facilitate the efficiency of energy transformation.     

Current reversals in an inhomogeneous system with asymmetric unbiased fluctuations

We present a study of the transport of a Brownian particle moving in a periodic symmetric potential in the presence of asymmetric unbiased fluctuations. The particle is considered to move in a medium with periodic space dependent friction. By tuning the parameters of the system, the direction of the current exhibits reversals, both as a function of temperature as well as the amplitude of rocking force. We found that the mutual interplay between the opposite driving factors is the necessary term for current reversals.Received: 11 October 2003, Published online: 9 April 2004PACS: 05.40.-a Fluctuation phenomena, random processes, noise, and Brownian motion - 02.50.Ey Stochastic processes - 87.10. + e General theory and mathematical aspects     

Efficient Stark deceleration of cold polar molecules

Stark deceleration has been utilized for slowing and trapping several species of neutral, ground-state polar molecules generated in a supersonic beam expansion. Due to the finite physical dimension of the electrode array and practical limitations of the applicable electric fields, only molecules within a specific range of velocities and positions can be efficiently slowed and trapped. These constraints result in a restricted phase space acceptance of the decelerator in directions both transverse and parallel to the molecular beam axis; hence, careful modeling is required for understanding and achieving efficient Stark decelerator operation. We present work on slowing of the hydroxyl radical (OH) elucidating the physics controlling the evolution of the molecular phase space packets both with experimental results and model calculations. From these results we deduce experimental conditions necessary for efficient operation of a Stark decelerator.     

A new 1,4-phenanthraquinone from Menispermum dauricum

A new 1,4-phenanthraquinone was isolated from the roots of Menispermum dauricum. The structure was elucidated as 7-hydroxy-3,6-dimethoxy-1,4-phenanthraquinone on the basis of spectral evidence.     

Improved first Rayleigh-sommerfeld method for analysis of cylindrical microlenses with small f-numbers

An improved first Rayleigh-Sommerfeld method (IRSM1) is proposed and applied to the analysis of cylindrical microlenses with small f-numbers. Numerical results obtained by both the IRSM1 and the original Rayleigh-Sommerfeld method (ORSM1) are compared with those obtained by the rigorous boundary element method (BEM). For both refractive and diffractive lenses, the results obtained by the IRSM1 are close to those obtained by the BEM even for small f-numbers; by contrast, the results by the ORSM1 differ significantly from those obtained by the BEM. Moreover, the IRSM1 uses much less time and computer memory in the computations than the BEM.     

New strategies for exploring RNA's 2'-OH expose the importance of solvent during group II intron catalysis

The 2'-hydroxyl group contributes inextricably to the functional behavior of many RNA molecules, fulfilling numerous essential chemical roles. To assess how hydroxyl groups impart functional behavior to RNA, we developed a series of experimental strategies using an array of nucleoside analogs. These strategies provide the means to investigate whether a hydroxyl group influences function directly (via hydrogen bonding or metal ion coordination), indirectly (via space-filling capacity, inductive effects, and sugar conformation), or through interactions with solvent. The nucleoside analogs span a broad range of chemical diversity, such that quantitative structure activity relationships (QSAR) now become possible in the exploration of RNA biology. We employed these strategies to investigate the spliced exons reopening (SER) reaction of the group II intron. Our results suggest that the cleavage site 2'-hydroxyl may mediate an interaction with a water molecule.     

Optical properties of singly charged conjugated oligomers: a coupled-cluster equation of motion study

We have implemented a coupled-cluster equation of motion approach combined with the intermediate neglect of differential overlap parametrization and applied it to study the excited states and optical absorptions in positively and negatively charged conjugated oligomers. The method is found to be both reliable and efficient. The theoretical results are in very good agreement with experiments and confirm that there appear two subgap absorption peaks upon polaron formation. Interestingly, the relative intensities of the polaron-induced subgap absorptions can be related to the extent of the lattice geometry relaxations.     

Direct synthesis of ordered mesoporous materials constructed with polymer-silica hybrid frameworks

Highly ordered mesoporous materials constructed with integrated polymer-silica hybrid frameworks can be obtained via a one-step synthetic strategy using a mixture of polymer and silicate as the framework sources in the presence of a structure-directing agent.     

Identification of peptides that promote the rapid precipitation of germania nanoparticle networks via use of a peptide display library

Peptides that promote the rapid, room-temperature precipitation of amorphous germania nanoparticle networks from solution have been identified via use of a combinatorial peptide display library.     

Passively mode-locked glass waveguide laser with 14-fs timing jitter

Ultralow jitter pulse trains are produced from a passively mode-locked, erbium/ytterbium co-doped, planar waveguide laser by use of high-bandwidth feedback control acting on the physical cavity length and optical pump power. Synchronization of a 750-MHz, fundamentally mode-locked laser to an external clock signal yields an ultralow, root-mean-square relative timing jitter of 14.4 fs integrated from 10 Hz to the Nyquist frequency of 375 MHz.