Gaudin subalgebras and wonderful models

Gaudin Hamiltonians form families of r-dimensional abelian Lie subalgebras of the holonomy Lie algebra of the arrangement of reflection hyperplanes of a Coxeter group of rank r. We consider the set of principal Gaudin subalgebras, which is the closure in the appropriate Grassmannian of the set of spans of Gaudin Hamiltonians. We show that principal Gaudin subalgebras form a smooth projective variety isomorphic to the De Concini–Procesi compactification of the projectivized complement of the arrangement of reflection hyperplanes.     

Fast and Simple Preparation of a Sensor Based on Electrochemically Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) for the Determination of Zopiclone in Pharmaceutical Dosage by Square Wave Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry (SWAdSV)

The interactions of zopiclone with electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (rGO) modified electrode were examined. A comparison of GC/rGO and glassy carbon electrode (GC) by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) shows that the modified surface is much less conductive than GC. The role of rGO is to act as a site of specific adsorption of the analyte. Molecular dynamics showed that the monoanionic form of zopiclone presents more interactions with defects of rGO. The analytical methodology allowed obtaining a linearity of 10–130 μg L⁻¹, with a limit of detection of 2.14 μg L⁻¹ using SWAdSV at pH 10.0.     

Synergic effect of catalyst/binder in passivation side-products of Li-oxygen cells

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - While used in minor proportion respect to other components in cathode formulations, binders play a crucial role in lithium batteries cathode. This is...     

Thermodynamic and structural study of complexation of phenylboronic acid with salicylhydroxamic acid and related ligands

Stability constants of boronate complexes with a highly efficient bioconjugation ligand salicylhydroxamic acid, its derivatives and some structurally related compounds were determined by potentiometric and spectroscopic titrations at variable pH allowing one to obtain detailed stability – pH profiles and to identify the optimum pH for complexation with each ligand. The N,O‐binding of salicylhydroxamic acid via condensation of boronic acid with phenolic OH and hydroxamic NH groups was established by crystal structure determination of isolated complexes with phenylboronic and 4‐nitrophenylboronic acids. Although this type of binding is impossible for N‐methylated salicylhydroxamic acid it still forms stable boronate complexes supposedly involving unusual 7‐membered –O‐B‐O‐ cycle supported by ¹H NMR studies. Hydroxamic acids lacking ortho‐OH group and salicyloyl hydrazide form less stable boronate complexes, which nevertheless possess stabilities similar to those of catechole complexes and may be useful for conjugation applications. In contrast to other ligands, which form tetrahedral anionic complexes, salicylamidoxime forms tetrahedral, but neutral boronate complex with high stability in weakly acid solutions. The highest affinity in neutral and acid solutions surpassing that of salicylhydroxamic acid is observed with 2,6‐dihydroxybenzhydroxamic acid (K_obs = 5.2 × 10⁴ at pH 7.4). Fairly stable mono‐ and bisboronate complexes are formed with 2,5‐dihydroxy‐1,4‐benzdihydroxamic acid, which also possesses intense fluorescence and may serve as a boronic acid sensor with detection limit 4 μM. Results presented in this study provide quantitative basis for rational applications of hydroxamic acid derivatives in bioconjugation and sensing.     

Identification and nonlinearity compensation of hysteresis using NARX models

This paper deals with two problems: the identification and compensation of hysteresis nonlinearity in dynamical systems using nonlinear polynomial autoregressive models with exogenous inputs (NARX). First, based on gray-box identification techniques, some constraints on the structure and parameters of NARX models are proposed to ensure that the identified models display a key feature of hysteresis. In addition, a more general framework is developed to explain how hysteresis occurs in such models. Second, two strategies to design hysteresis compensators are presented. In one strategy, the compensation law is obtained through simple algebraic manipulations performed on the identified models. In the second strategy, the compensation law is directly identified from the data. Both numerical and experimental results are presented to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed procedures. Also, it has been found that the compensators based on gray-box models outperform the cases with models identified using black-box techniques.

     

To smooth or not to smooth? ROC analysis of perfusion fMRI data

Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) contrast has been widely used for visualizing regional neural activation. Temporal filtering and parameter estimation algorithms are generally used to account for the intrinsic temporal autocorrelation present in BOLD data. Arterial spin labeling perfusion imaging is an emerging methodology for visualizing regional brain function both at rest and during activation. Perfusion contrast manifests different noise properties compared with BOLD contrast, represented by the even distribution of noise power and spatial coherence across the frequency spectrum. Consequently, different strategies are expected to be employed in the statistical analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data based on perfusion contrast. In this study, the effect of different analysis methods upon signal detection efficacy, as assessed by receiver operator characteristic (ROC) measures, was examined for perfusion fMRI data. Simulated foci of neural activity of varying amplitude and spatial extent were added to resting perfusion data, and the accuracy of each analysis was evaluated by comparing the results with the known distribution of pseudo-activation. In contrast to the BOLD fMRI, temporal smoothing or filtering reduces the power of perfusion fMRI data analyses whereas spatial smoothing is beneficial to the efficacy of analyses.     

Optimization of yield in kinetically controlled synthesis of ampicillin with immobilized penicillin acylase in organic media

Immobilized penicillin acylase is a moderately priced versatile enzyme, that is able to catalyze the synthesis of derived penicillins and cephalosporins from the corresponding β-lactam nuclei and proper side-chain precursors. Kinetically controlled synthesis is a better strategy when product yield is a key issue. Yield should increase at reduced water activity by depressing the competing hydrolytic reactions in favor of synthesis; therefore, organic cosolvents can be a suitable reaction media for synthesis. Using response surface methodology and product yield as objective function, temperature and pH were optimized in the kinetically controlled synthesis of ampicillin using previously screened cosolvents and reaction conditions. Optimum pH was 6.0 for ethylene glycol (EG) and glycerol (GL) and 6.6 for 1–2 propanediol (PD); optimum temperature was 30°C for GL and for EG and PD was in the lower extreme of the range studied, optimum lying below 26°C. Maximum molar yields predicted by the model were 58,51, and 46% for EG, GL, and PD, respectively, which were experimentally validated. Highest yield in aqueous buffer was always <40%. Molar yields about 60% compare favorably with values reported for the kinetically and thermodynamically controlled synthesis of ampicillin and other derived penicillins.     

Coexistence of Three Ferroic Orders in the Multiferroic Compound [(CH3)4N][Mn(N3)3] with Perovskite‐Like Structure

The perovskite azido compound [(CH₃)₄N][Mn(N₃)₃], which undergoes a first‐order phase change at T_t=310 K with an associated magnetic bistability, was revisited in the search for additional ferroic orders. The driving force for such structural transition is multifold and involves a peculiar cooperative rotation of the [MnN₆] octahedral as well as order/disorder and off‐center shifts of the [(CH₃)₄N]⁺ cations and bridging azide ligands, which also bend and change their coordination mode. According to DFT calculations the latter two give rise to the appearance of electric dipoles in the low‐temperature (LT) polymorph, the polarization of which nevertheless cancels out due to their antiparallel alignment in the crystal. The conversion of this antiferroelectric phase to the paraelectric phase could be responsible for the experimental dielectric anomaly detected at 310 K. Additionally, the structural change involves a ferroelastic phase transition, whereby the LT polymorph exhibits an unusual and anisotropic thermal behavior. Hence, [(CH₃)₄N][Mn(N₃)₃] is a singular material in which three ferroic orders coexist even above room temperature.