Effect of Various Colors of Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) on the Biomass Composition of Arthrospira platensis Cultivated in Semi-continuous Mode

In the present study, semi-continuous cultivation of Arthrospira platensis using various colors of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as artificial lighting was performed in order to study their effects on the biomass composition of A. platensis. The lowest biomass productivity was obtained with blue LED (4.68 mg l^?1 day^?1), while the highest was obtained with pink and red LEDs (30.89 and 30.69 mg l^?1 day^?1, respectively). All biomass compound contents were affected by the different colors studied, except that of total carotenoids. The lowest phycocyanin content was observed in pink LED (8.2 %) while the maximum in blue LED (17.6?±?2.4 %). Chlorophyll content was lowest in red LED (1.04 %) and highest in blue LED (1.42 %). The highest protein content was obtained with white and green LEDs (50.1 and 49.8 %, respectively), while the lowest was obtained with blue LED (42.1 %). Carbohydrate content was contrarily affected as that of proteins. The highest carbohydrate content was obtained in blue LED (11.3 %) and the lowest under white and pink LEDs (8.8 and 8.8 %, respectively). Lipid content seems to follow the same trend as that of carbohydrates; the highest lipid content was obtained in blue LED (6.0 %), and the lowest was obtained under pink LED (3.8 %).     

Observation of Asymmetric Oxidation Catalysis with B20 Chiral Crystals**

The study of heterogeneous reactions for enantiomeric processes based on inorganic crystals has been resurgent in recent years. However, the question remains how homochirality develops in nature and chemical reactions. Here, the successful growth of B20 group PdGa single crystals with different chiral lattices enabled us to achieve enantioselective recognition of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) based on a new mechanism, namely orbital angular momentum (OAM) polarization. The orbital textures of PdGa crystals indicate large OAM polarization near the Fermi level and carrying opposite signs. A positive or negative magnetization in the [111] direction is expected depending on the chiral lattice of PdGa crystals. Due to this, the adsorption energies of PdGa crystals and DOPA molecules differ depending on how well the O-2p orbital of DOPA pairs with the Pd-4d orbital of PdGa. The results provide one possible explanation for how chirality arises in nature by providing an enantioselective route with pure inorganic crystals.     

A distributed mass structural system for soil-structure-interaction and base isolation studies

A base isolation system placed within a structure for seismic protection will perform differently in the presence of soil-structure-interaction phenomena, as compared to the case where the structure is founded on competent soil and/or rock. This is so for two basic reasons: (a) there is filtering affecting the input ground motion signal at the base of the structure, and (b) the overall mechanical characteristics of the combined soil-structure system have changed as compared to the original structure resting on firm ground. Thus, a base isolation design has to account for soil-structure-interaction in order to have the system fine-tuned to the particular geological conditions and seismicity of the construction site in question. In this work, we introduce a distributed mass representation of the superstructure that has four possible dynamic response modes, namely flexure, shearing, torsion and axial vibrations. The foundation is treated as a rigid block, and the soil is represented by the equivalent spring-damper-virtual mass system, whereby these mechanical parameters may be frequency dependent. Typical base isolation systems used nowadays are lead rubber bearing designs whose mechanical behavior comprises a spring element, a damper and a hysteretic component. In terms of analysis, a substructuring methodology is employed that is cast in the frequency domain, with conditions of equilibrium and compatibility enforced at the common structure-foundation-soil boundaries. This approach is both efficient and adequate for investigating soil-structure-interaction effects, but cannot handle the hysteretic behavior of the base isolator, which is better captured by using time-stepping algorithms. In closing, some comments are made regarding possible ways for incorporating the base isolator in the present soil-structural system analysis, along with some preliminary results.     

Effects of layering and magnetic annealing on the texture of CoPt films

The effect of magnetic field annealing of magnetron sputtered CoPt alloy films and Co/Pt bilayers on the crystallographic texture of the obtained chemically ordered (L1₀) CoPt films is presented. In CoPt alloy films the main effect of the magnetic field is to suppress (1 1 1) growth in the early stages of L1₀ formation whereas the development of (0 0 1) versus (1 0 0) texture is related to chemical ordering strain. A higher degree of (0 0 1) texture is obtained by magnetically annealing Co/Pt bilayers since the initial (1 1 1) texture in the as-sputtered films is avoided and Co-Pt alloying occurs in the presence of the magnetic field.     

Magnetic properties of Co films and Co/Pt multilayers deposited on PDMS nanostructures

The magnetic properties of magnetron sputtered Co films (with in-plane anisotropy) and Co/Pt multilayers (with perpendicular anisotropy) deposited on elastomeric poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films and nanostructured templates are presented. Apart from the etched nanosize features, maze-like submicron features develop after the sputter deposition as a result of film buckling due to thermal contraction of the underlying PDMS layer. The nanostructured templates can physically isolate the magnetic entities but magnetic correlations within the range of the buckling features remain. By using oblique deposition geometries in-plane anisotropy develops and it is transferred to the PDMS buckling patterns. In the case of Co/Pt multilayers deposition on PDMS nanostructured templates results in a loss of the perpendicular anisotropy, attributed to the acuteness of the PDMS nanostructures.     

Maximizing the guarded boundary of an Art Gallery is APX-complete

In the Art Gallery problem, given is a polygonal gallery and the goal is to guard the gallery's interior or walls with a number of guards that must be placed strategically in the interior, on walls or on corners of the gallery. Here we consider a more realistic version: exhibits now have size and may have different costs. Moreover the meaning of guarding is relaxed: we use a new concept, that of watching an expensive art item, i.e. overseeing a part of the item. The main result of the paper is that the problem of maximizing the total value of a guarded weighted boundary is APX-complete. This is shown by an appropriate ‘gap-preserving’ reduction from the Max-5-occurrence-3-Sat problem. We also show that this technique can be applied to a number of maximization variations of the art gallery problem. In particular we consider the following problems: given a polygon with or without holes and k available guards, maximize a) the length of walls guarded and b) the total cost of paintings watched or overseen. We prove that all the above problems are APX-complete.