A note on the dynamical zeta function of general toral endomorphisms

It is well-known that the Artin-Mazur dynamical zeta function of a hyperbolic or quasi-hyperbolic toral automorphism is a rational function, which can be calculated in terms of the eigenvalues of the corresponding integer matrix. We give an elementary proof of this fact that extends to the case of general toral endomorphisms without change. The result is a closed formula that can be calculated by integer arithmetic only. We also address the functional equation and the relation between the Artin-Mazur and Lefschetz zeta functions.     

The reaction of chlorine monofluoride with selenium dioxide,tetrachloride and sulphur tetrachloride

Chlorine monofluoride reacts with SCl₄ and SeCl₄ to give the corresponding tetrafluorides, with SeO₂ it yields SeOF₂ and with excess ClF, SeF₄. The behaviour of the tetrafluorides, tetrachlorides, dioxides, and oxydifluorides of sulphur, selenium and tellurium with ClF are compared.     

Representations of twisted current algebras

We use evaluation representations to give a complete classification of the finite-dimensional simple modules of twisted current algebras. This generalizes and unifies recent work on multiloop algebras, current algebras, equivariant map algebras, and twisted forms.     

Universal Alignment Probabilities and Subset Selection for Ordinal Optimization

We examine in this paper the subset selection procedure in the context of ordinal optimization introduced in Ref. 1. Major concepts including goal softening, selection subset, alignment probability, and ordered performance curve are formally introduced. A two-parameter model is devised to calculate alignment probabilities for a wide range of cases using two different selection rules: blind pick and horse race. Our major result includes the suggestion of quantifiable subset selection sizes which are universally applicable to many simulation and modeling problems, as demonstrated by the examples in this paper.     

The effect of functionalization on structure and electrical conductivity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Nanosized powders of Ti-Nb oxide core-shell nanocrystals with atomic ratios of Nb/Ti = 0.11, 0.25, and 0.38 have been prepared by two preparation routes. The first route was co-precipitation, followed by␣annealing, using NbCl₅ as a source of Nb. The second route was coating of pure TiO₂ nanocrystals by Nb-isopropoxide in liquid medium, followed by impregnation of the Nb into the nanoparticles by annealing. Both methods yielded anatase nanocrystals with a Nb-rich shell and a core, which had much lower Nb loadings. The anatase structure solid solution (with Nb incorporated) was stable under annealing up to 760°C. The particle size remained within the nanometric scale (<50 nm) under heat-treatment up to 760°C. It has been shown that the fabricated powders can be redispersed in aqueous media by simple ultrasound treatment, resulting in nanosized dispersions. Using a variety of analytical techniques, including depth profiling of single nanocrystallites by AES combined with sputtering by Ar ions, the mechanism of the core-shell structure creation was studied. It is proposed that the formation of the core-shell structure is governed by solubility limitations in the co-precipitation route and by solubility and diffusion limitations in the coating-incorporation route.     

The exterior Dirichlet problem for quasi-linear elliptic equations with small boundary data

It is shown that if the order of non-uniformity of a quasi-linear elliptic equation is h,10,2(h–1)/h norm. For 0h1,existence of a bounded solution is guaranteed without any smallness assumption on the given boundary data.More precise information is given for the special case of the minimal surface equation.     

Luminescent biological probes derived from ruthenium(II) estradiol polypyridine complexes

Four luminescent ruthenium(II) polypyridine estradiol complexes [Ru(NwedgeN)2(bpy-estradiol)](PF6)2 (NwedgeN = 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy), 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Ph2-phen); bpy-estradiol = 5-(4-(17alpha-ethynylestradiolyl)phenyl)-2,2'-bipyridine (bpy-ph-est), 4-(N-(6-(4-(17alpha-ethynylestradiolyl)benzoylamino)hexyl)aminomethyl)-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine (mbpy-C6-est)) have been designed as new luminescent biological probes. The lipophilicity and photophysical and electrochemical properties of these complexes have been investigated. Upon photoexcitation, all the complexes exhibited intense and long-lived triplet metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (3MLCT) (dpi(Ru) --> pi*(diimine)) emission in fluid solutions at 298 K and in low-temperature glass. The binding of the complexes to estrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha) has been studied by emission titrations. The Ph2-phen complexes showed emission enhancement and increased lifetimes upon binding to the protein. Additionally, the cytotoxicity of the complexes toward the HeLa cell line has been examined by the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and the IC50 values ranged from 83.1 to 166.6 microM (cisplatin showed an IC50 value of 34.3 microM under the same experimental conditions). Furthermore, the cellular uptake of the complexes has been investigated by flow cytometry and laser-scanning confocal microscopy.     

Flow behavior and deposition study of pollen-shape carrier particles in an idealized inhalation path model

Pollen-shape (spiked sphere) hydroxyapatite (HA) particles for drug carrier application are studied. The particle shape and size effect on flow characteristics and deposition are assessed. The pollen-shape HA particles are synthesized to have comparable size as typical carrier particles with mean diameter of 30-50 m and effective density less than 0.3 g/cm 3 . The flow behaviors of HA and commonly used lactose (LA) carrier particles are characterized by the Carr's compressibility index (CI). The HA particle...