New ligands for the Fe(III)‐mediated reverse atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate

A series of (di)picolinic acids and their derivates are investigated as novel complexing tridentate or bidentate ligands in the iron‐mediated reverse atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate in N,N‐dimethylformamide at 100 °C with 2,2′‐azobisisobutyrontrile as an initiator. The polymerization rates and polydispersity indices (1.32–1.8) of the resulting polymers are dependent on the structures of the ligands employed. Different iron complexes may be involved in iron‐mediated reverse atom transfer radical polymerization, depending on the type of acid used. ¹H NMR spectroscopy has been used to study the structure of the resulting polymers. Chain‐extension reactions have been performed to further confirm the living nature of this catalytic system. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2912–2921, 2006     

Dynamic complexities in predator–prey ecosystem models with age-structure for predator

Natural populations, whose generations are non-overlapping, can be modelled by difference equations that describe how the populations evolve in discrete time-steps. In the 1970s ecological research detected chaos and other forms of complex dynamics in simple population dynamics models, initiating a new research tradition in ecology. However, in former studies most of the investigations of complex population dynamics were mainly concentrated on single populations instead of higher dimensional ecological systems. This paper reports a recent study on the complicated dynamics occurring in a class of discrete-time models of predator–prey interaction based on age-structure of predator. The complexities include (a) non-unique dynamics, meaning that several attractors coexist; (b) antimonotonicity; (c) basins of attraction (defined as the set of the initial conditions leading to a certain type of an attractor) with fractal properties, consisting of pattern of self-similarity and fractal basin boundaries; (d) intermittency; (e) supertransients; and (f) chaotic attractors.     

Structures and stability of Al<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">7</Emphasis></Subscript>C and Al<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">7</Emphasis></Subscript>N clusters

We report results of the atomic and electronic structures of Al₇C cluster using ab initio molecular dynamics with ultrasoft pseudopotentials and generalized gradient approximation. The lowest energy structure is found to be the one in which carbon atom occupies an interstitial position in Al₇ cluster. The electronic structure shows that the recent observation [Chem. Phys. Lett. 316, 31 (2000)] of magic behavior of Al₇C^- cluster is due to a large highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO) gap which makes Al₇C^- chemically inert. These results have further led us to the finding of a new neutral magic cluster Al₇N which has the same number of valence electrons as in Al₇C^- and a large HOMO-LUMO gap of 1.99 eV. Further, calculations have been carried out on (Al₇N)₂ to study interaction between magic clusters. Received 28 July 2001     

Molecular dynamics simulation of processing using AFM pin tool

A three-dimensional molecular dynamics (MD) model is utilized to investigate the effect of tool geometry on the deformation process of the workpiece and the nature of deformation process at the atomic-scale. Results show that different states exist between the atomic force microscope (AFM) pin tool and the workpiece surface, i.e. the non-wear state, the ploughing state, the state in which ploughing is dominant and the state in which cutting plays a key role. A relationship between the deformation process of the workpiece and the potential energy variation is presented. The potential energy variation of atoms in different deformed regions in the workpiece such as plastically deformed region, elastically deformed region and the mixed deformation region is different. The features of variations of potential energy are discussed.     

Oxidation process of SiGe on SOI substrates

The oxidation of SiGe film epitaxial grown on top of SOI wafers has been studied. These SiGe/SOI samples were oxidized at 700, 900, 1100 °C. Germanium atoms were rejected from SiGe film to SOI layer. A new Si_1−xGe_x (x is minimal) layer formed at SiGe/Si interface. As the germanium atoms diffused, the new Si_1−xGe_x (x is minimal) layer moved to Si/SiO₂ interface. Propagation of threading dislocation in SiGe film to SOI substrate was hindered by the new SiGe/Si interface. Strain in SOI substrate transferred from SiGe film was released through dislocation nucleation and propagation inner. The relaxation of SiGe film could be described as: strain relaxed through strain equalization and transfer process between SiGe film and SOI substrates. Raman spectroscopy was used to characterize the strain of SiGe film. Microstructure of SiGe/SOI was observed by transmission electron microscope (TEM).     

Structural evolution in amorphous silicon and germanium thin films.

The structural evolution in amorphous silicon and germanium thin films has been investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) in conjunction with autocorrelation function (ACF) analysis. The results established that the structure of as-deposited semiconductor films is of a high density of nanocrystallites embedded in the amorphous matrix. In addition, from ACF analysis, the structure of a-Ge is more ordered than that of a-Si. The density of embedded nanocrystallites in amorphous films was found to diminish with annealing temperature first, then to increase. The conclusions also corroborate well with the results of diminished medium-range order in annealed amorphous films determined previously by a variable coherence microscopy method.     

Canonical Modules of Semigroup Rings and a Conjecture of Reiner

We prove that the homotopy types of two naturally defined simplicial complexes are related in the following way: one is homotopy equivalent to a multiple suspension of the canonical Alexander dual of the other. These simplicial complexes arise in free resolutions of semigroup rings and modules. The relation between their homotopy types was conjectured by Reiner, and was suggested by a homological consequence of a result due independently to Danilov and Stanley on canonical modules of normal semigroup rings. Our proof is purely topological, and gives an alternative proof of their result. We also prove a generalization of a result of Hochster saying that these rings are Cohen—Macaulay, and indicate a new proof of Ehrhart's reciprocity law for rational polytopes. Received October 3, 2000, and in revised form April 2, 2001, and May 10, 2001. Online publication November 7, 2001.     

脉冲电场屏蔽效能测试系统及测试方法

 自主研制了一套小型脉冲电场屏蔽效能测试系统，该系统由脉冲电场发射设备和脉冲电场测试设备构成。脉冲电场发射设备的天线口面前60 cm处可产生峰值达7.5 kV/m的脉冲电场，测试设备的动态测试范围达97 dB。系统采用光纤测量设备，在测量工作中能有效抑制强电磁场干扰。采用Matlab编写自动测量及数据处理程序，实现了数据采集与处理自动化。实验测量了金属桥架、控制柜、屏蔽帐篷、导电水泥混凝土房的脉冲电场屏蔽效能，其脉冲电场峰值衰减量分别为52,64,66,30 dB。实验表明可用脉冲电场的峰值衰减量来评估屏蔽体的脉冲电场屏蔽效能。     

Er3+掺杂的Bi2O3-B2O3-SiO2玻璃的光谱性质

测试了Bi₂O₃-B₂O₃-SiO₂玻璃中的Er³⁺离子的吸收光谱、发射光谱、⁴I_13/2的荧光寿命、拉曼光谱,及OH^-的傅里叶红外吸收光谱。应用Judd-Ofelt理论计算了该玻璃中的Er³⁺离子的J-O参数、振子强度、⁴I_13/2能级的寿命,从而利用测得的⁴I_13/2的荧光寿命得出了⁴I_13/2能级的量子效率(15%)。由于较低量子效率可能与OH^-有关,所以计算了玻璃中的OH^-浓度,发现其浓度较高(1.66×10¹⁹cm^-1,相当于Er³⁺浓度的3倍)。应用McCumber理论和四能级模型计算了Er³⁺离子的受激发射截面和荧光发射光谱的半峰全宽,结果与通过吸收光谱计算所得基本吻合。根据透射率和折射率的关系计算了折射率,发现和测量值相差很大,说明有较大的散射,通过拉曼光谱和显微镜测试,认为是玻璃中的微小气泡造成的。     

Synthesis and biological activity of S-oxo-[(methylthio)-methyl]cysteinols

A convenient route was developed to synthesize S-oxo-[(methylthio)-methyl]cysteinols on a large scale from cheap l-serine as the starting material. The structures of diastereoisomers were determined by NMR, CD spectra, and X-ray diffraction analysis. All four diastereoisomers were examined for their ability to inhibit certain bacteria from growing.