A note on the theorem of Johnson,Palmer and Sell

The well-known theorem of Johnson, Palmer and Sell asserts that the endpoints of the Sacker–Sell spectrum of a given cocycle \(\mathcal {A}\) over a topological dynamical system (M, f) are realized as Lyapunov exponents with respect to some ergodic invariant probability measure for f. The main purpose of this note is to give an alternative proof of this theorem which uses a more recent and independent result of Cao which formulates sufficient conditions for the uniform hyperbolicity of a given cocyle \(\mathcal {A}\) in terms of the nonvanishing of Lyapunov exponents for \(\mathcal {A}\). We also discuss the possibility of obtaining positive results related to the stability of the Sacker–Sell spectra under the perturbations of the cocycle \(\mathcal {A}\).     

Microwave-Accelerated Ruthenium-Catalyzed [2π + 2π] Cycloadditions of Dimethylacetylene Dicarboxylate with Norbornenes

An efficient and convenient procedure has been developed for the ruthenium-catalyzed [2π + 2π] cycloadditions of dimethylacetylene dicarboxylate with norbornenes. Reaction is significantly accelerated in microwave conditions, while the commonly used benzene solvent was replaced by environmentally benign tetrahydrofuran.

Trapping Reactive Intermediates by Mechanochemistry: Elusive Aryl N‐Thiocarbamoylbenzotriazoles as Bench‐Stable Reagents

Monitoring of mechanochemical thiocarbamoylation by in situ Raman spectroscopy revealed the formation of aryl N‐thiocarbamoylbenzotriazoles, reactive intermediates deemed unisolable in solution. The first‐time isolation and structural characterization of these elusive molecules demonstrates the ability of mechanochemistry to access otherwise unobtainable intermediates and offers a new range of masked isothiocyanate reagents.     

AlFe层柱粘土催化剂催化甲苯在水中的降解

The catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) of toluene on two bentonite-based AlFe-pillared clays (PILCs) with different iron contents was investigated. The PILCs were obtained using bentonite clay from Bogovina, Serbia. The change in chemical and phase composition and textural properties of the starting clay and synthesized catalysts was monitored using X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectrometry, and physisorption of nitrogen. The catalytic performance was examined using gas chromatography. The Na-exchange process lowered the (001) smectite basal plane spacing, but the clay retained its swelling properties, while the pillaring process increased it. The surface areas of both synthesized pillared clays increased to similar values although their Fe content was different. At 37 ℃, both catalysts show significant toluene degradation, with the one richer in Fe having higher efficiency. The leaching of the active cations during reaction was negligible, and the catalysts were stable. AlFe-pillared clay catalysts can be used in CWPO for the elimination of BTEX compounds from plant effluent streams.     

Photosynthetic models with maximum entropy production in irreversible charge transfer steps

Steady-state bacterial photosynthesis is modelled as cyclic chemical reaction and is examined with respect to overall efficiency, power transfer efficiency, and entropy production. A nonlinear flux–force relationship is assumed. The simplest two-state kinetic model bears complete analogy with the performance of an ideal (zero ohmic resistance of the P–N junction) solar cell. In both cases power transfer to external load is much higher than the 50% allowed by the impedance matching theorem for the linear flux–force relationship. When maximum entropy production is required in the transition with a load, one obtains high optimal photochemical yield of 97% and power transfer efficiency of 91%. In more complex photosynthetic models, entropy production is maximized in all irreversible electron/proton (non-slip) transitions in an iterative procedure. The resulting steady-state is stable with respect to an extremely wide range of initial values for forward rate constants. Optimal proton current increases proportionally to light intensity and decreases with an increase in the proton-motive force (the backpressure effect). Optimal affinity transfer efficiency is very high and nearly perfectly constant for different light absorption rates and for different electrochemical proton gradients. Optimal overall efficiency (of solar into proton-motive power) ranges from 10% (bacteriorhodopsin) to 19% (chlorophyll-based bacterial photosynthesis). Optimal time constants in a photocycle span a wide range from nanoseconds to milliseconds, just as corresponding experimental constants do. We conclude that photosynthetic proton pumps operate close to the maximum entropy production mode, connecting biological to thermodynamic evolution in a coupled self-amplifying process.     

Forecasting human exposure to PM10 at the national level using an artificial neural network approach

A neural network model for predicting country‐level concentrations of the fraction of particulates in the air with sizes less than 10 µm (PM10) has been developed using widely available sustainability and economical/industrial parameters as inputs. The model was trained and validated with the data for 23 European Union (EU) countries plus the EU27 as a group for the period from 2000 to 2008. The inputs for the model were selected using correlation analyses. Country‐level PM10 concentration data that were used as a model output were obtained from the World Bank. The artificial neural network (ANN) model, created with inputs chosen by correlation analyses, has shown very good performance in the forecast of country‐level PM10 concentrations. The mean absolute error for the ANN model prediction, in the case of most of the EU countries, was less than 13%, indicating stable and accurate predictions. The predictions obtained from the principal component regression model, which was trained and tested using the same datasets and input variables, had mean absolute errors from 20% to 150% for most of the countries. The wide availability of input parameters used in this model can overcome the problem of lack and scarcity of data in many countries, which can in turn prevent the determination of human exposure to PM10 at the national level. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Protein secondary structure preferencs

This paper addresses the question to what extent steric properties of sequence neighbors effect the preferences of an amino acid residue to assume the-helical or some other secondary structure conformation. We find that an amino acid has increased tendency to be in-helical conformation when its sequence neighbors are bulky. This result is an outcome of our automated method for finding conformational preferences as functions of physical parameters important for protein folding. The steric environment for a given residue in a protein is defined as an average of water-accessible surface areas of its primary structure neighbors in extended conformation for model tripeptides. For all amino acids, including non-helix formers like glycine and arginine, the preference for the helical structure increases if their primary structure neighbors form a larger steric environment.     

Pyramidalized olefins: a DFT study of bicyclo[2.1.1]-, -[3.2.1]-, and -[3.2.2]alkenes and their fused derivatives. Two rare examples of pi-facially symmetric pyramidal olefins

Density functional theory (B3LYP/6-31G) was used to study a large series of bridged polycyclic alkenes based on the bicyclo[2.1.1], -[3.2.1], and -[3.2.2] nuclei. In those compounds with pi-facial dissymmetry, butterfly bending of the strained olefinic bonds was generally predicted. Surprisingly, large pyramidalizations are calculated for the highly strained but pi-facially symmetric tetracyclo[5.1.1.1.(3,5)0(2,6)]dec-2-ene (28, psi = 19.8 degrees ) and tetracyclo[5.2.2.1.(3,5)0(2,6)]dodec-2,8,10-triene (33, psi = 14.4 degrees ). The preference for propano-directed bending in the bicyclo[3.2.1]octenes is about as strong as that for endo bending in norbornenes.