Hydro­gen‐bonded azo­pyridine and succinic acid co‐crystal

In the 1:1 supramolecular adduct of azo­pyridine (AZP) and succinic acid (SA) [systematic name: di‐4‐pyridyl­diazene–succinic acid (1/1)], C₁₀H₈N₄·C₄H₆O₄ or AZP·SA, both components lie on inversion centers. Alternating AZP and SA mol­ecules are linked by O—H·N hydrogen bonds to form a linear chain extending in the [31] direction. Between chains there is a strong pyridyl–azo π–π interaction, with a 3.340 Å separation between the inversion center at the mid‐point of the azo bond and the centroid of the pyridine ring; this interaction results in the formation of sheets.     

ON EQUILIBRIUM PRICING AS CONVEX OPTIMIZATION

We study competitive economy equilibrium computation. We show that, for the first time, the equilibrium sets of the following two markets： 1. A mixed Fisher and Arrow- Debreu market with homogeneous and log-concave utility functions; 2. The Fisher and Arrow-Debreu markets with several classes of concave non-homogeneous utility functions; are convex or log-convex. Furthermore, an equilibrium can be computed as convex opti- mization by an interior-point algorithm in polynomial time.     

Solution-combusting preparation of mono-dispersed Mn3O4 nanoparticles for electrochemical applications

Manganese oxide (Mn₃O₄) nanoparticles with average diameter of 15 nm were prepared using alcohol solution of manganese chloride as starting material via a facile solution-combusting method. The flame core zone was chosen to prepare mono-dispersed and high crystalline products, which were employed to modify glassy carbon electrode and detect dopamine via cyclic voltammetry. The results exhibited excellent electrochemical sensitivity. A linear relationship between the concentration of dopamine and its oxidation peak current was obtained by differential pulse voltammetry, which will find wide application in the biological detection.     

GPU accelerated simulations of 3D deterministic particle transport using discrete ordinates method

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), originally developed for real-time, high-definition 3D graphics in computer games, now provides great faculty in solving scientific applications. The basis of particle transport simulation is the time-dependent, multi-group, inhomogeneous Boltzmann transport equation. The numerical solution to the Boltzmann equation involves the discrete ordinates (S_n) method and the procedure of source iteration. In this paper, we present a GPU accelerated simulation of one energy group time-independent deterministic discrete ordinates particle transport in 3D Cartesian geometry (Sweep3D). The performance of the GPU simulations are reported with the simulations of vacuum boundary condition. The discussion of the relative advantages and disadvantages of the GPU implementation, the simulation on multi GPUs, the programming effort and code portability are also reported. The results show that the overall performance speedup of one NVIDIA Tesla M2050 GPU ranges from 2.56 compared with one Intel Xeon X5670 chip to 8.14 compared with one Intel Core Q6600 chip for no flux fixup. The simulation with flux fixup on one M2050 is 1.23 times faster than on one X5670.     

Magnetic Screening of the Potential Targeted Protein of Salvianolic Acid B Using T7 Phage Display Library

Salvianolic acid B is one of the effective components from the Chinese traditional drug Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen), which is widely used as a usual clinic drug for atherosclerosis-related disorder patients in China. But the targeting protein of salvianolic acid B is still not known. The possible targeting proteins of salvianolic acid B were explored by high throughput screening in this paper. Attached to the magnetic nanoparticles, salvianolic acid B was used for screening the high-affinity protein from the displaying cDNA peptide library phage. After biopanning, the selected protein or peptide sequences were used to explore the whole proteins containing the selected sequences in the National Center for Biotechnology Information website using blast. One of the selected phages was carried out by affinity analysis with salvianolic acid B using capillary electrophoresis (CE). The CE results indicated that the protein or peptide on the surface of the selected phages could bind the drug salvianolic acid B. The results are helpful to preliminarily explain the pharmacology of salvianolic acid B.     

The influence of the band structure of epitaxial graphene on SiC on the transistor characteristics

We fabricated high-mobility field-effect transistors based on epitaxial graphene synthesized by vacuum graphitization of both the Si- and C-faces of SiC. Room-temperature field-effect mobilities >4000 cm²/V s for both electrons and holes were achieved, although with wide distributions. By using a high-k gate dielectric, we were able to measure the transistor characteristics in a wide carrier density range, where the mobility is seen to decrease as the carrier density increases. We formulate a simple semiclassical model of electrical transport in graphene, and explain the sublinear dependence of conductivity on carrier density from the view point of the few-layer graphene energy band structure. Our analysis reveals important differences between the few-layer graphene energy dispersions on the SiC Si- and C-faces, providing the first evidence based on electrical device characteristics for the theoretically proposed energy dispersion difference between graphene synthesized on these two faces of SiC.     

Electronic energy gaps and optical properties of LaMnO3

We investigate electronic structure and optical properties of LaMnO₃ through density-functional-theory calculations with a recent improved exchange potential. Calculated gaps are consistent with recent experimental values, and calculated optical conductivities and dielectric constants as functions of photon energy are in excellent agreement with low-temperature experimental results. These lead to a satisfactory theoretical understanding of the electronic gaps and optical properties of LaMnO₃ without tuning atomic parameters and can help elucidate electronic structures and magnetic properties of other manganite materials.