Marked fatgraph complexes and surface automorphisms

Combinatorial aspects of the Torelli–Johnson–Morita theory of surface automorphisms are extended to certain subgroups of the mapping class groups. These subgroups are defined relative to a specified homomorphism from the fundamental group of the surface onto an arbitrary group K. For K abelian, there is a combinatorial theory akin to the classical case, for example, providing an explicit cocycle representing the first Johnson homomophism with target Λ ³ K. Furthermore, the Earle class with coefficients in K is represented by an explicit cocyle.     

A large hydrothermal reservoir beneath Taal Volcano (Philippines) revealed by magnetotelluric observations and its implications to the volcanic activity

Taal Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines. The magnetotelluric 3D forward analyses indicate the existence of a large high resistivity anomaly (∼100 Ω·m) with a volume of at least 3 km × 3 km × 3 km, which is capped by a conductive layer (∼10 Ω·m), beneath the Main Crater. This high resistivity anomaly is hypothesized to be a large hydrothermal reservoir, consisting of the aggregate of interconnected cracks in rigid and dense host rocks, which are filled with hydrothermal fluids coming from a magma batch below the reservoir. The hydrothermal fluids are considered partly in gas phase and liquid phase. The presence of such a large hydrothermal reservoir and the stagnant magma below may have influences on the volcano’s activity. Two possibilities are presented. First, the 30 January 1911 explosion event was a magmatic hydrothermal eruption rather than a base-surge associated with a phreato-magmatic eruption. Second, the earlier proposed four eruption series may be better interpreted by two cycles, each consisting of series of summit and flank eruptions.     

General Information to Obtain Spherical Particles with Ordered Mesoporous Structures

Conditions for the synthesis of aluminum organophosphonate (AOP) and aluminophosphate (AlPO) spheres containing periodic mesopores were optimized and demonstrated to be general morphological controls for the surfactant‐assisted synthesis of mesoporous materials. High‐quality AOP and AlPO spheres with uniform mesopores were obtained at low and high temperatures, respectively. The aerosol‐assisted synthesis of materials with uniform mesopores was categorized by using the difference in relative density of soluble AOP and AlPO oligomers that interact with ethylene oxide (EO) units in EO_nPO_mEO_n triblock copolymer (PO=propylene oxide). Then, ordered mesoporous structures are constructed with the adequate amount of species in resultant frameworks, and the number of interactive points in soluble species determines the resultant density of the frameworks after self‐assembly. Consequently, temperature‐dependent synthesis, which allows controlled infiltration of soluble species to match the density of resultant frameworks, is required for the formation of ordered mesoporous structures under morphological control.     

Synthesis, characterization, and OLED application of oligo(p-phenylene ethynylene)s with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) as pendant groups

Two new classes of mono- and oligo(p-phenylene ethynylene)s grafted with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) were synthesized via ‘click’ chemistry and palladium-catalyzed Sonogashira cross-coupling. These materials with cubic silsesquioxanes are very robust with excellent thermal stability in air (T_5%loss>330 °C) and exhibited T_g>80 °C. All the compounds showed high photoluminescence with a range of blue emission and quantum yield up to 80% in the solution. Extended π conjugation molecules of oligo-pPEs POSS maintain relatively high PL quantum efficiencies in the solid state, compared to mono-pPEs POSS. A preliminary report is made of some of the materials as multilayer OLED components with active dopants PVK and PBD.     

Development and validation of a hydrophilic interaction chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for quantification of nicotine and its metabolites in human maternal and cord sera

A selective and sensitive HILIC‐MS/MS method for the simultaneous quantification of nicotine and its metabolites in human maternal and cord sera was developed and validated. After solid‐phase extraction, LC separation was achieved on a hydrophilic interaction chromatography. The validated method is capable of selective identification as well as accurate and sensitive quantification. Analyte recovery ranged from 86.2 to 107.7% and intra‐ and inter‐day assay precision were less than 15% relative standard deviation. This sensitive HILIC‐MS/MS method can be used to determine nicotine and its metabolic profile in smokers. This validated method is useful for the determination of nicotine and its metabolites in human serum in future studies of the effects of nicotine exposure on neonatal outcome. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Elimination of the uninformative calibration sample subset in the modified UVE(Uninformative Variable Elimination)-PLS (Partial Least Squares) method.

In order to increase the predictive ability of the PLS (Partial Least Squares) model, we have developed a new algorithm, by which uninformative samples which cannot contribute to the model very much are eliminated from a calibration data set. In the proposed algorithm, uninformative wavelength (or independent) variables are eliminated at the first stage by using the modified UVE (Uninformative Variable Elimination)-PLS method that we reported previously. Then, if the prediction error of the ith (1 < or =i< or = n) sample is larger than 3sigma, the corresponding sample is eliminated as uninformative, where n is the total number of calibration samples and sigma is the standard deviation calculated from the other n(-1) samples. Calculation of sigma by the leave-one-out manner enhances the ability to identify the uninformative samples. The final PLS model is constructed precisely because both uninformative wavelength variables and uninformative samples are eliminated. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of the algorithm, we have applied it to two kinds of mid-infrared spectral data sets.