Determination of Water and Solute Transport in Polyacrylamide Gels

Summary: Water exchange between five polyacrylamide gels (Bulkamid®, Aquamid®, Rectamid®, HV-PAAG, Acuvue) with a physiological salt solution was determined by means of tritium-labeled water. Urea and chloride exchange was also determined in Acuvue. The method was a modified version to measure rapid transport processes in red blood cells. The study shows that water and solutes easily exchange between the hydrogel under study and the surrounding medium, independent of the solid polymer content (2.5–40 wt%) and an over ten-fold variation of the cross-linking density.     

Reversible formation of a PdC(x) phase in Pd nanoparticles upon CO and O2 exposure

The structure and chemical composition of Pd nanoparticles exposed to pure CO and mixtures of CO and O(2) at elevated temperatures have been studied in situ by a combination of X-ray Diffraction and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy in pressures ranging from ultra high vacuum to 10 mbar and from room temperature to a few hundred degrees celsius. Our investigation shows that under CO exposure, above a certain temperature, carbon dissolves into the Pd particles forming a carbide phase. Upon exposure to CO and O(2) mixtures, the carbide phase forms and disappears reversibly, switching at the stoichiometric ratio for CO oxidation. This finding opens new scenarios for the understanding of catalytic oxidation of C-based molecules.     

Fluoride-bridged {Ln(2)Cr(2)} polynuclear complexes from semi-labile mer-[CrF(3)(py)(3)] and [Ln(hfac)(3)(H(2)O)(2)

The trifluorido complex mer-[CrF(3)(py)(3)] (py = pyridine) reacts with 1 equiv. of [Ln(hfac)(3)(H(2)O)(2)] and depending on the solvent forms the tetranuclear clusters [Cr(2)Ln(2)(μ-F)(4)(μ-OH)(2)(py)(4)(hfac)(6)], 1Ln, and [Cr(2)Ln(2)(μ-F)(4)F(2)(py)(6)(hfac)(6)], 2Ln, in acetonitrile and 1,2-dichloroethane, respectively (Ln = Y, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, and Er; hfacH = 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoroacetylacetone). Reaction with [Dy(hfac)(3)(H(2)O)(2)] in dichloromethane produces the dinuclear cluster [CrDy(μ-F)F(OH(2))(py)(3)(hfac)(4)], 3Dy. All the clusters feature fluoride bridges between the chromium(iii) and lanthanide(iii) centres. Fits of susceptibility data for 1Gd and 2Gd reveal the fluoride-mediated chromium(iii)-lanthanide(iii) exchange interactions to be 0.43(5) cm(-1) and 0.57(7) cm(-1), respectively (in the convention). Heat capacity measurements on 2Gd reveal a moderate magneto-caloric effect (MCE) reaching -ΔS(m)(T) = 11.4 J kg(-1) K(-1) for ΔB(0) = 9 T → 0 T at T = 4.1 K. Out-of-phase alternating-current susceptibility (χ') signals are observed for 1Dy, 2Dy and 2Tb, demonstrating slow relaxation of the magnetization.     

Fundamental limitations to gain enhancement in periodic media and waveguides

A common strategy to compensate for losses in optical nanostructures is to add gain material in the system. By exploiting slow-light effects it is expected that the gain may be enhanced beyond its bulk value. Here we show that this route cannot be followed uncritically: inclusion of gain inevitably modifies the underlying dispersion law, and thereby may degrade the slow-light properties underlying the device operation and the anticipated gain enhancement itself. This degradation is generic; we demonstrate it for three different systems of current interest (coupled-resonator optical waveguides, Bragg stacks, and photonic crystal waveguides). Nevertheless, a small amount of added gain may be beneficial.     

The Home Care Crew Scheduling Problem: Preference-based visit clustering and temporal dependencies

In the Home Care Crew Scheduling Problem a staff of home carers has to be assigned a number of visits to patients’ homes, such that the overall service level is maximised. The problem is a generalisation of the vehicle routing problem with time windows. Required travel time between visits and time windows of the visits must be respected. The challenge when assigning visits to home carers lies in the existence of soft preference constraints and in temporal dependencies between the start times of visits.     

Ni(HF2)(3-Clpy)4]BF4 (py = pyridine): evidence for spin exchange along strongly distorted F···H···F- bridges in a one-dimensional polymeric chain

[Ni(HF(2))(3-Clpy)(4)]BF(4) (py = pyridine) is a simple one-dimensional (1D) coordination polymer composed of compressed NiN(4)F(2) octahedra that form chains with bridging HF(2)(-) ligands. In spite of significant distortion of the HF(2)(-) bridge, a quasi-1D antiferromagnetic (AFM) behavior was observed with J(FHF) = 4.86 K.     

Self-Assembly of DNA–Peptide Supermolecules: Coiled-Coil Peptide Structures Templated by d-DNA and l-DNA Triplexes Exhibit Chirality-Independent but Orientation-Dependent Stabilizing Cooperativity

DNA nanostructures have been designed and used in many different applications. However, the use of nucleic acid scaffolds to promote the self-assembly of artificial protein mimics is only starting to emerge. Herein five coiled-coil peptide structures were templated by the hybridization of a d -DNA triplex or its mirror-image counterpart, an l -DNA triplex. The self-assembly of the desired trimeric structures in solution was confirmed by gel electrophoresis and small-angle X-ray scattering, and the stabilizing synergy between the two domains was found to be chirality-independent but orientation-dependent. This is the first example of using a nucleic acid scaffold of l -DNA to template the formation of artificial protein mimics. The results may advance the emerging POC-based nanotechnology field by adding two extra dimensions, that is, chirality and polarity, to provide innovative molecular tools for rational design and bottom-up construction of artificial protein mimics, programmable materials and responsive nanodevices.     

Structured Space-Sphere Point Processes and K-Functions

Methodology and Computing in Applied Probability - This paper concerns space-sphere point processes, that is, point processes on the product space of $\mathbb {R}^{d}$ (the d-dimensional Euclidean...     

Tailoring the dispersion properties of photonic crystal fibers

Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) have had a substantial impact on nonlinear fiber optics and shortpulsed fiber laser systems due to their novel dispersion properties. The large normal or anomalous waveguide dispersion available in such fibers opens up a number of new opportunities not accessible with standard fiber technology. In this contribution, the fundamentals of PCF dispersion are briefly reviewed along with earlier results. In addition, some of our recent work on dispersion tailoring to facilitate nonlinear processes, and dispersion control in lasers will be presented.