Competing orders and the doping and momentum dependent quasiparticle excitations in cuprate superconductors

The low-energy quasiparticle excitations in hole- and electron-type cuprate superconductors are investigated via both experimental and theoretical means. It is found that the doping and momentum dependence of the empirical low-energy quasiparticle excitations is consistent with a scenario of coexisting competing orders and superconductivity in the ground state of the cuprates. This finding, based on zero-field quasiparticle spectra, is further corrobarated by the spatially resolved vortex-state scanning tunneling spectroscopy, which reveals pseudogap-like features consistent with a remaining competing order inside the vortex core upon the suppression of superconductivity. The competing orders compatible with empirical observations include the charge-density wave and spin-density wave. In contrast, spectral characteristics derived from incorporating the d-density wave as a competing order appear unfavorable in comparison with experiments.     

Study of the structure of borromean nucleus 17Ne

The 17Ne nucleus is a possible candidate with a two-proton borromean halo structure. Since the theoretical model is difficult to handle the three-body system, it is difficult to determine the two-proton halo structure in 17Ne. In the present research, we try to study the breakup reaction of 17Ne. For the Borromean nuclei, one-proton knockout results in an unstable nucleus which is decaying further by proton emission. This process will result in an angular correlation between the direction of the aligned recoiling unstable nucleus and its decay products. The angular correlations can give us information about the configuration of the valence proton in the 17Ne. Furthermore, theoretical calculations indicate that the momentum distributions of 16F c.m are sensitive to the structure of the halo in 17Ne. Thus the measurement of momentum distributions of 16F c.m may also give us conclusive information on the structure of 17Ne. The present experiment has been done at IMP in Lanzhou using the radioactive beam 17Ne at 30.8 MeV/u on a 43mg/cm2 12C target. The data analysis is under procedure and the primary results are provided.     

Synthesis and characterization of 1,3,4‐oxadiazole‐triazolopyridinone hybrid derivatives as new blue‐greenish photoluminescent materials

Recently, New functionalized oxadiazole‐triazolopyridinone hybrid compounds were investigated as photoluminescent materials. In this work, we introduce triazolopyridinone to synthesize a series of oxadiazole‐triazolopyridinone hybrid derivatives as potential photoluminescent materials and explore the effect of modification of the triazolopyridinone moiety. The λ_max values of the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of 1,3,4‐oxadiazole‐triazolopyridinone hybrids are promoted to longer wavelengths (470‐486 nm) than the traditional 1,2,3‐triazole derivatives (410‐425 nm) in solutions. PL spectra 5a, 5d , and 5g of the vacuum evaporated films on quartz substrates, with a maximum at 487 nm, shows a red‐shift (～15‐20 nm), with respect to the solution spectrum. The solution fluorescence quantum yields (Φ_f) were measured, all of which fell into the range 0.65‐0.76, and were determined relative to that of 2‐phenyl‐5‐(4‐biphenyl)‐1,3,4‐oxadiazole in benzene (Φ_f = 0.80). 1,3,4‐Oxadiazole‐triazolopyridinone hybrid derivatives show clearly non‐reversible reduction processes in cyclic voltammogram measurements. Following spectroscopic studies and observation of the electrochemical behaviors, 1,3,4‐oxadiazole‐triazolopyridinone derivatives were determined to be potential efficient bluegreenish photoluminescent materials.     

Comparing micellar electrokinetic chromatography and microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography for the analysis of preservatives in pharmaceutical and cosmetic products

In this study, separation and determination of nine preservatives ranging from hydrophilic to hydrophobic properties, which are commonly used as additives in various pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, by micellar electrokinetic chromatograpy (MEKC) and microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC) were compared. The effect of temperature, buffer pH, and concentration of surfactant on separation were examined. In MEKC, the separation resolution of preservatives improved markedly by changing the sodium dodecyl sulfate concentration. Temperature and pH of running buffers were used mainly to shorten the magnitude of separation time. However, in order to detect all preservatives in a single run in a MEEKC system, a microemulsion of higher pH was needed. The separation resolution was improved dramatically by changing temperature, and a higher concentration of SDS was necessary for maintaining a stable microemulsion solution, therefore the separation of the nine preservatives in MEEKC took longer than in MEKC. An optimum MEKC method for separation of the nine preservatives was obtained within 9.0 min with a running buffer of pH 9.0 containing 20 mM SDS at 25 degrees C. A separation with baseline resolution was also obtained within 16 min using a microemulsion of pH 9.5 which composed of SDS, 1-butanol, and octane, and a shorter capillary column at 34 degrees C. Finally, the developed MEKC and MEEKC methods determined successfully preservatives in various cosmetic and pharmaceutical products.     

Characterization of multiferroic LiTMxCu2−xO2 (TM=Ni and Zn) single crystals

We investigate a series of single crystalline samples of LiT_MxCu_2−xO₂ (T_M=Ni and Zn) grown by floating-zone technique. As-grown crystals showed a clear X-ray diffraction pattern of pure(single) phase. These crystals exhibit varied magnetic and electrical properties owing to successful incorporation of Ni and Zn dopants.     

Dimers Belonging to Three Orientations on Plane Honeycomb Lattices

It is well known that there are three types of dimers belonging to the three different orientations in a honeycomb lattice, and in each type all dimers are mutually parallel. Based on a previous result, we can compute the partition function of the dimer problem of the plane (free boundary) honeycomb lattices with three different activities by using the number of its pure dimer coverings (perfect matchings). The explicit expression of the partition function and free energy per dimer for many types of plane honeycomb lattices with fixed shape of boundaries is obtained in this way (for a shape of plane honeycomb lattices, the procedure that the size goes to infinite, corresponds to a way that the honeycomb lattice goes to infinite). From these results, an interesting phenomena is observed. In the case of the regions of the plane honeycomb lattice has zero entropy per dimer—when its size goes to infinite—though in the thermodynamic limit, there is no freedom in placing a dimer at all, but if we distinguish three types of dimers with nonzero activities, then its free energy per dimer is nonzero. Furthermore, a sufficient condition for the plane honeycomb lattice with zero entropy per dimer (when the three activities are equal to 1) is obtained. Finally, the difference between the plane honeycomb lattices and the plane quadratic lattices is discussed and a related problem is proposed.     

Electronic versus lattice match for metal-semiconductor epitaxial growth: Pb on Ge(111)

Lattice match is important for epitaxial growth. We show that a competing mechanism, electronic match, can dominate at small film thicknesses for metal-semiconductor systems, where quantum confinement and symmetry requirements may favor a different growth pattern. For Pb(111) on Ge(111), an accidental lattice match leads to a √3 × √3 configuration involving a 30° in-plane rotation at large film thicknesses, but it gives way to an incommensurate (1 × 1) configuration at small film thickness. The transformation follows an approximately inverse-film-thickness dependence with superimposed bilayer oscillations.     

Assessment of tumor vasculature for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in a mouse model in vivo using 25-MHz power Doppler imaging

Objective

The blood flow rate in the microcirculation associated with angiogenesis plays an important role in the progression and treatment of cancer. Since the microvascular status of tumor vessels can yield useful clinical information, assessing changes in the tumor microcirculation could be particularly helpful for tumor evaluation and treatment planning.

Methods

In this study we used a self-developed 25-MHz ultrasound imaging system with a spatial resolution of 150 μm for assessing tumor-microcirculation development and the pattern of the vasculature in three tumor-bearing mice in vivo based on power Doppler images. The total Doppler power (DP) and color pixel density (CPD) revealed the presence of functional vessels distributed throughout a tumor volume. The vasculature distributions in the core and periphery were compared to the regulation of vasculature function, which facilitated determination of when the tumor grew rapidly.

Results

The data obtained from a quantified analysis of power Doppler images indicated that the tumor vascularity initially increased throughout the tumor. Both DP and CPD increased rapidly in the tumor periphery when the tumor volume exceeded 10 mm³.

Conclusion

Our preclinical findings suggest that power Doppler imaging could be useful for detecting the changes in tumor vascular perfusion and for determining the optimal treatment timing when a tumor begins its rapid volumetric growth.     

Density functional theory-based electrochemical models for the oxygen reduction reaction: comparison of modeling approaches for electric field and solvent effects

A series of density functional theory (DFT) based electrochemical models are applied to systematically examine the effect of solvent, local electric field, and electrode potential on oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics. Specifically, the key elementary reaction steps of molecular oxygen dissociation, molecular oxygen protonation, and reduction of a hydroxyl adsorbate to water over the Pt(111) surface were considered. The local electric field has slight influence on reaction energetics at the vacuum interface. Solvent molecules stabilize surface adsorbates, assisting oxygen reduction. A collective solvation-potential coupled effect is identified by including long range solvent-solvent interactions in the DFT model. The dominant path of the ORR reaction varies with electrode potential and among the modeling approaches considered. The potential dependent reaction path determined from the solvated model qualitatively agrees with experiment ORR kinetics.     

Mechanism of carbon-halogen bond reductive cleavage in activated alkyl halide initiators relevant to living radical polymerization: theoretical and experimental study

The mechanism of reductive cleavage of model alkyl halides (methyl 2-bromoisobutyrate, methyl 2-bromopropionate, and 1-bromo-1-chloroethane), used as initiators in living radical polymerization (LRP), has been investigated in acetonitrile using both experimental and computational methods. Both theoretical and experimental investigations have revealed that dissociative electron transfer to these alkyl halides proceeds exclusively via a concerted rather than stepwise manner. The reductive cleavage of all three alkyl halides requires a substantial activation barrier stemming mainly from the breaking C-X bond. The activation step during single electron transfer LRP (SET-LRP) was originally proposed to proceed via formation and decomposition of RX(?-) through an outer sphere electron transfer (OSET) process (Guliashvili, T.; Percec, V. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2007, 45, 1607). These radical anion intermediates were proposed to decompose via heterolytic rather than homolytic C-X bond dissociation. Here it is presented that injection of one electron into RX produces only a weakly associated charge-induced donor-acceptor type radical anion complex without any significant covalent σ type bond character between carbon-centered radical and associated anion leaving group. Therefore, neither homolytic nor heterolytic bond dissociation applies to the reductive cleavage of C-X in these alkyl halides inasmuch as a true radical anion does not form in the process. In addition, the whole mechanism of SET-LRP has to be revisited since it is based on presumed OSET involving intermediate RX(?-), which is shown here to be nonexistent.