Spectroelectrochemical characterisation of poly[Ni(saltMe)]-modified electrodes

Electrogenerated polymers based on the nickel(II) complex 2,3-dimethyl-N,N'-bis(salicylidene)butane-2,3-diaminatonickel(II), poly[Ni(saltMe)], were characterised by in situ FTIR and UV/Vis spectroscopy and ex-situ EPR spectroscopy in order to gain insights into film structure, electronic states and charge conduction. The role of the nickel ions during film oxidation was probed by using EPR to study naturally abundant Ni and 61Ni-enriched polymers. The data from all the spectroscopic techniques are consistent, and clearly indicate that polymerisation and redox switching are associated with oxidative ligand based processes; coulometry suggests that one positive charge was delocalised through each monomer unit. EPR provided evidence for the non-direct involvement of the metal in polymer oxidation: the polymer is best described as a polyphenylene-type compound (conducting polymer), rather than an aggregation of nickel complexes (redox polymer), and the main charge carriers are identified as polarons. An explanation for the high electrochemical stability and conductivity of poly[Ni(saltMe)] with respect to that of poly[Ni(salen)] is proposed. based on stereochemical repulsion between monomeric units; this can impose a less compact supramolecular structure on polymers with bulkier substituents.     

Electron transfer in proteins: nonorthogonal projections onto donor-acceptor subspace of the Hilbert space

We develop nonorthogonal projectors, called L?wdin projectors, to construct an effective donor-acceptor system composed of localized donor (D) and acceptor (A) states of a long-distance electron transfer problem. When these states have a nonvanishing overlap with the bridge states these projectors are non-Hermitian and there are various possible effective two-level systems that can be built. We show how these can be constructed directly from the Schr?dinger or Dyson equation projected onto the D-A subspace of the Hilbert space and explore these equations to determine the connection between Hamiltonian and Green function partitioning. We illustrate the use of these effective two-level systems in estimating the electron transfer rate in the context of a simple electron transfer model.     

Phase transition in an occupationally disordered sulfate system

We have investigated the behavior of the Li_1.43Cs_0.57SO₄ single-crystal Raman spectra and dielectric permittivity as a function of temperature. It was observed that the crystal, which is an occupationally disordered system, with orthorhombic C_2v² structure at room temperature, undergoes a phase transition at 230 K. In the new phase the SO₄ tetrahedra remain in two non-equivalent sites and there is no evidence of the doubling of the unit cell.     

Interface-related effects on confined excitons in GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs single quantum wells

Confined excitons in non-abrupt GaAs/Al_xGa_1−xAs single quantum wells are studied. The graded interfaces are described taking into account fluctuations in their thickness a and positioning with respect to the abrupt interface picture. Numerical results for confined (0,0),(1,1) and (0,2) excitons in GaAs/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As quantum wells show that while the interfacial fluctuations produce small changes (<0.5 meV) in the exciton binding energies, the confined exciton energies can be red- or blue-shifted as much as 25 meV for wells with mean width of 50 Å and 2 ML wide interfaces.     

Exciton energy broadening due to interface fluctuations in ZnSe/ZnSxSe1−x strained quantum wells

The excitonic properties of a ZnSe/ZnS_xSe_1−x strained quantum well (QW) are calculated taking into account interface effects. Numerical results obtained with ZnS_0.18Se_0.82/ZnSe QWs show that graded interfaces can be responsible for a strong broadening of excitonic spectra.     

Abelian Ward identity from the background field dependence of the effective action

The dependence of the effective action for gauge theories on the background field obeys an exact identity. We show that for Abelian theories the Ward identity follows from the more general background field identity. This observation is relevant for the formulation of effective actions with an infrared cutoff since the solution of exact flow equations must obey an anomalous Ward identity.     

Nanoscale interaction mechanism between a solid tip and a layered material while in relative motion: the boric acid case

The interaction occurring between a layered material (boric acid) and an atomic force microscope tip is discussed. It is shown that images containing the periodicity of a boric acid crystal, and the low friction occurring between the tip and the crystal surface, are caused by an effective tip composed of boric acid molecules. The friction at the sliding system decreases with an increase of the scanning velocity, suggesting that the dependence of friction on the velocity can be caused by a change of the energy dissipation regime from the nonlinear dynamics of a sliding system to phonon excitation.     

Ultrastructural analysis of midgut cells from Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) larvae resistant to Bacillus sphaericus

The larvicidal action of the entomopathogen Bacillus sphaericus towards Culex quinquefasciatus is due to the binary (Bin) toxin present in crystals, which are produced during bacterial sporulation. The Bin toxin needs to recognize and bind specifically to a single class of receptors, named Cqm1, which are 60-kDa α-glucosidases attached to the apical membrane of midgut cells by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor. C. quinquefasciatus resistance to B. sphaericus has been often associated with the absence of the α-glucosidase Cqm1 in larvae midgut microvilli. In this work, we aimed to investigate, at the ultrastructural level, the midgut cells from C. quinquefasciatus larvae whose resistance relies on the lack of the Cqm1 receptor. The morphological analysis showed that midgut columnar cells from the resistant larvae are characterized by a pronounced production of lipid inclusions, throughout the 4th instar. At the end of this stage, resistant larvae had an increased size and number of these inclusions in the midgut cells, while only a small number were observed in the cells from susceptible larvae. The morphological differences in the midgut cells of resistant larvae found in this work suggested that the lack of the Cqm1 receptor, which also has a physiological role as being an α-glucosidase, can be related to changes in the cell metabolism. The ultrastructural effects of Bin toxin on midgut epithelial cells from susceptible and resistant larvae were also investigated. The cytopathological alterations observed in susceptible larvae treated with a lethal concentration of toxin included breakdown of the endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondrial swelling, microvillar disruption and vacuolization. Some effects were observed in cells from resistant larvae, although those alterations did not lead to larval death, indicating that the receptor Cqm1 is essential to mediate the larvicidal action of the toxin.This is the first ultrastructural study to show differences in the cell morphology of resistant larvae and further investigation is needed to understand the impact of the lack of expression of midgut enzymes on the physiology of resistant insects.