Neural Networks in Chemistry

The capabilities of the human brain have always fascinated scientists and led them to investigate its inner workings. Over the past 50 years a number of models have been developed which have attempted to replicate the brain's various functions. At the same time the development of computers was taking a totally different direction. As a result, today's computer architectures, operating systems, and programming have very little in common with information processing as performed by the brain. Currently we are experiencing a reevaluation of the brain's abilities, and models of information processing in the brain have been translated into algorithms and made widely available. The basic building-block of these brain models (neural networks) is an information processing unit that is a model of a neuron. An artificial neuron of this kind performs only rather simple mathematical operations; its effectiveness is derived solely from the way in which large numbers of neurons may be connected to form a network. Just as the various neural models replicate different abilities of the brain, they can be used to solve different types of problem: the classification of objects, the modeling of functional relationships, the storage and retrieval of information, and the representation of large amounts of data. This potential suggests many possibilities for the processing of chemical data, and already applications cover a wide area: spectroscopic analysis, prediction of reactions, chemical process control, and the analysis of electrostatic potentials. All these are just a small sample of the great many possibilities.     

Photoexcited electron dynamics in Kondo insulators and heavy fermions

We have studied the photoexcited carrier relaxation dynamics in the Kondo insulator SmB6 and the heavy fermion metal YbAgCu4 as a function of temperature and excitation level. The dynamic response is found to be both strongly temperature dependent and nonlinear. The data are analyzed with a Rothwarf-Taylor bottleneck model, where the dynamics are governed by the presence of a narrow gap in the density of states near the Fermi level. The remarkable agreement with the model suggests that carrier relaxation in a broad class of heavy electron systems (both metals and insulators) is governed by the presence of a (weakly temperature dependent) hybridization gap.     

Interaction energies of ZnO in acrylic polymer lattices

Water‐based acrylic polymers are frequently used as binders in ceramic materials that contain ZnO as a major component. Thin flexible ceramic films used in semiconductor elements are prepared from ceramic powder, polymer binder, dispergant and plasticizer. In the present work, the chemical reaction of acrylic acid, a part of the polymer, and ceramic powder (ZnO) has been studied by semi‐empirical calculations and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Systematic evaluation of model structures using varying contents of acrylic acid showed that ZnO adhesion increases as the carboxylate content in the polymer system increases. Interaction energy surfaces provide a quantitative insight into the spatial distribution of ZnO particles in various model structures. These results are also in good agreement with our infrared spectroscopy measurements.     

双连续型乳液凝胶(Bijel)的研究进展

双连续型结构是指同一体系中存在两种连续态,这在刚体中很容易实现,但对于流体却十分困难.要使两种流体同时保持连续态,不仅对它们的相容性、密度、极性等方面要求极高,还需要稳定剂来牢牢稳定住液-液界面.最早的双连续型凝胶是在对高聚物进行研究时发现的,后来英国爱丁堡大学软物质课题组进行了一系列研究,最终在低分子量液体体系中实现了重大突破,制备出本文所要讨论的bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gel(Bijel).这种结构可以被称作"双连续型乳液凝胶",它兼有乳液(emulsion)和凝胶(gel)的物理性质,独特的双连续结构使它拥有更为广阔的应用空间.本文简短地回顾了Bijel的研发过程,总结近年来的研究进展,指出它在工业应用中受到的限制,并对室温下通过直接搅拌制备Bijel的方法做重点介绍.     

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.     

Strong law of large numbers in D-posets

The notion of an observable and a state on a D-poset have been introduced. In the present paper the independence of a sequence of observables is defined and the strong law of large numbers is proved.     

Analyse der Polyoxyäthylenverbindungen. V

Zusammenfassung Ein neues Verfahren zur Bestimmung der Oxyäthylengruppen wurde ausgearbeitet. Es beruht auf der Spaltung der Polyoxyäthylenverbindungen mit Jodwasserstoffsäure in statu nasoendi, die durch Einwirkung von Kaliumjodid und Phosphorsäure im Reaktionsgemisch hergestellt wird. Die bei der Spaltungsreaktion gebildete, dem Gehalt an Oxyäthylengruppen äquivalente Menge Jod wird mit Thiosulfat titriert.

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Summary A new method was worked out for determining oxyethylene groups. It is based on the splitting of polyoxyethylene compounds with nascent hydriodic acid that is prepared by the action of potassium iodide and phosphoric acid in the reaction mixture. The quantity of iodine produced in the cleavage reaction is equivalent to the content of oxyethylene groups present. It is titrated with thiosulfate.

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Résumé On a mis au point un procédé nouveau pour doser les groupements oxydes d'éthylène. Il repose sur la dissociation des composés polyoxyéthyléniques par l'acide iodhydrique naissant, préparé par action d'iodure de potassium et d'acide phosphorique dans le milieu réactionnel. On titre par le thiosulphate l'iode formé par la réaction de dissociation, en quantité équivalente à la teneur en groupements oxydes d'éthylène.

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IV. Mitteilung siehe¹.