Seed-mediated growth of palladium nanocrystals on indium tin oxide surfaces and their applicability as modified electrodes

Palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) were successfully attached and grown on an indium tin oxide (ITO) surface using a seed-mediated growth method, i.e., via a simple two-step immersion of the ITO substrate into the seed and growth solutions. After the growth treatment for 24 h, PdNPs grew up to 60-80 nm, exhibiting crystal-like appearances and accompanying the formation of short rodlike nanocrystals as a minor product. Thus prepared PdNPs tend to stick each other, so that the dense gathering of PdNPs was observed on the ITO surfaces. Due to the dense attachment, the PdNPs directly attached to the ITO (PdNP/ITO) electrode had a significantly lowered charge-transfer resistivity compared with that of a bare ITO, and the redox reaction of [Fe(CN)6]3-/[Fe(CN)6]4- was observed as reversible in 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution. The electrocatalytic property of PdNPs was confirmed for the reduction of oxygen. In addition, some typical responses were observed in 0.5 M H2SO4 with the PdNP/ITO electrode, reflecting both the characteristics of NPs and the thin layer in nanoscale. The present preparation method of PdNP-attached surfaces would be promising for catalytic applications as well as electrochemical uses.     

Nonequilibrium Green's function approach to phonon transport in defective carbon nanotubes

We have developed a new theoretical formalism for phonon transport in nanostructures using the nonequilibrium phonon Green's function technique and have applied it to thermal conduction in defective carbon nanotubes. The universal quantization of low-temperature thermal conductance in carbon nanotubes can be observed even in the presence of local structural defects such as vacancies and Stone-Wales defects, since the long wavelength acoustic phonons are not scattered by local defects. At room temperature, however, thermal conductance is critically affected by defect scattering since incident phonons are scattered by localized phonons around the defects. We find a remarkable change from quantum to classical features for the thermal transport through defective carbon nanotubes with increasing temperature.     

Synchronization of eukaryotic cells by periodic forcing

We study a cell population described by a minimal mathematical model of the eukaryotic cell cycle subject to periodic forcing that simultaneously perturbs the dynamics of the cell cycle engine and cell growth, and we show that the population can be synchronized in a mode-locked regime. By simplifying the model to two variables, for the phase of cell cycle progression and the mass of the cell, we calculate the Lyapunov exponents to obtain the parameter window for synchronization. We also discuss the effects of intrinsic mitotic fluctuations, asymmetric division, and weak mutual coupling on the pace of synchronization.     

Solid State Intercalation of 4,4′-Bipyridine into the Interlayer Space of Montmorillonites

Abstract

Intercalation of 4,4′-bipyridine into the interlayer spaces of cobalt(II), nickel(II) and copper(II)-montmorillonites by solid-solid reactions was investigated. The successful intercalation of 4,4′-bipyridine and the complex formation in the interlayer spaces of montmorillonites was confirmed by powder XRD (the change in the basal spacings) as well as IR and the thermal analysis of the products.     

REVIEW: High pressure NMR study of proteins – seeking roots for function,evolution, disease and food applications

NMR experiments at variable pressure reveal a wide range of conformation of a globular protein spanning from within the folded ensemble to the fully unfolded ensemble, herewith collectively called “high-energy conformers”. The observation of “high-energy conformers” in a wide variety of globular proteins has led to the “volume theorem”: the partial molar volume of a protein decreases with the decrease in its conformational order. Since “high-energy conformers” are intrinsically more reactive than the basic folded conformer, they could play decisive roles in all phenomena of proteins, namely function, environmental adaptation and misfolding. Based on the information on high-energy conformers and the rules on their partial volume in its monomeric state and amyloidosis, one may have a general view on what is happening on proteins under pressure. Moreover, one may even choose a high-energy conformer of a protein with pressure as variable for a particular purpose. Bridging “high-energy conformers” to macroscopic pressure effects could be a key to success in pressure application to biology, medicine, food technology and industry in the near future.     

The Total Squared Curvature of Curves and Approximation by Piecewise Circular Curves

For a smooth curve in the Euclidean spaces, the total squared curvature is defined as the integral of the square of the curvature. If one takes three points on the curve which are close to one another, the reciprocal of the radius of the circle passing through those points approximates the curvature. We use this to approximate the total squared curvature and study its convergence rate.     

Photo-reversible Valence Tautomerism in a Co Compound

Photo-illumination effects have been measured for the compound [Co III-LS (tmpda)(3,6-DBSQ)(3,6-DBCat)]. When the aforementioned compound was illuminated at 5 K, the magnetization value increased from w eff = 1.87 to 2.03 w B . The absorption spectra after illumination show that the absorption band at around 730 nm, which is characteristic of the [Co II-HS (tmpda)(3,6-DBSQ) 2 ] state, increased in intensity and that the charge transfer band from 3,6-DBCat to 3,6-DBSQ at 2500 nm was reduced in intensity. IR spectra show that the C-O stretching peak at 1279 cm m 1 is decreased in intensity. These results confirm that a photo-induced intra-molecular electron transfer, [Co III-LS (tmpda)(3,6-DBSQ)(3,6-DBCat)] to; [Co II-HS (tmpda)(3,6-DBSQ) 2 ], was induced. The lifetime of the metastable state at 5 K was 15 min. Furthermore, it was found that reverse valence tautomerism can be induced by exciting the Co II-HS to 3,6-DBSQ charge transfer band in metastable [Co II-HS (tmpda)(3,6-DBSQ) 2 ].     

A Model of Competition Among More than Two Languages

We extend the Abrams–Strogatz model for competition between two languages (Abrams and Strogatz in Nature 424:900, 2003) to the case of n (≥2) competing states (i.e., languages). Although the Abrams–Strogatz model for n=2 can be interpreted as modeling either majority preference or minority aversion, the two mechanisms are distinct when n≥3. We find that the condition for the coexistence of different states is independent of n under the pure majority preference, whereas it depends on n under the pure minority aversion. We also show that the stable coexistence equilibrium and stable monopoly equilibria can be multistable under the minority aversion and not under the majority preference. Furthermore, we obtain the phase diagram of the model when the effects of the majority preference and minority aversion are mixed, under the condition that different states have the same attractiveness. We show that the multistability is a generic property of the model facilitated by large n.     

Impulsive control of stochastic systems with applications in chaos control, chaos synchronization, and neural networks

Real systems are often subject to both noise perturbations and impulsive effects. In this paper, we study the stability and stabilization of systems with both noise perturbations and impulsive effects. In other words, we generalize the impulsive control theory from the deterministic case to the stochastic case. The method is based on extending the comparison method to the stochastic case. The method presented in this paper is general and easy to apply. Theoretical results on both stability in the pth mean and stability with disturbance attenuation are derived. To show the effectiveness of the basic theory, we apply it to the impulsive control and synchronization of chaotic systems with noise perturbations, and to the stability of impulsive stochastic neural networks. Several numerical examples are also presented to verify the theoretical results.