Triboelectric charging of insulators – Mass transfer versus electrons/ions

In a recent publication on the mechanisms of triboelectric charging of insulators we interpreted our experimental results in terms of electron and ion transfer. We now report that these results can equally well be interpreted by the mass transfer mechanism. A process is proposed to distinguish between these. This would provide information relating to the idea that classification of triboelectric mechanisms of insulators may result from considering the amount of applied forces and frictional energy involved in the process, thus distinguishing between the mechanisms of non-frictional contact and pressing or rubbing contacts.     

Palladium-catalysed direct arylation of a tris-cyclometallated Ir(III) complex bearing 2,2'-thienylpyridine ligands: a powerful tool for the tuning of luminescence properties

Palladium-catalysed direct 5-arylation of metallated thiophenes of fac-Ir(N^C(3')-thpy)(3) with aryl bromides via C-H bond functionalisation allows the synthesis of a variety of new Ir complexes in only one step (thpyH = 2,2'-thienylpyridine). The method offers simple modification of the nature of the ligand and hence of the photophysical properties of such complexes.     

Photophysical and biological investigation of novel luminescent Ru(II)-polypyridyl-1,8-naphthalimide Tröger's bases as cellular imaging agents

The synthesis and photophysical properties of 1 and 2, two Ru(II)-polypyridyl based-1,8-naphthalimide Tr?ger's bases, are described; these were found to stabilize double stranded DNA, undergo rapid cellular uptake, displaying good luminescence without affecting cell viability even after 24 hours of incubation.     

Dibenz[a,c]anthracene derivatives exhibiting columnar mesophases over broad temperature ranges

We report the synthesis and characterization of a series of novel hexaalkoxydibenz[a,c]anthracenes. While the parent compound is not mesomorphic, the introduction of substituents in the 10- and 13-positions yields compounds with columnar liquid crystalline phases over very broad temperature ranges.     

Poly[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethylphosphorylcholine]-coated iron oxide nanoparticles: synthesis, colloidal stability and evaluation for stem cell labelling

Poly[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethylphosphorylcholine]-coated SPIONs were prepared through ATRP and amidation coupling reactions. The coated SPIONs exhibited high stability and re-dispersability in phosphate buffered saline and uptake in a stem cell line, with high T(2) relaxivity.     

Discriminant analysis in the presence of interferences: Combined application of target factor analysis and a Bayesian soft-classifier

A method is described for performing discriminant analysis in the presence of interfering background signal. The method is based on performing target factor analysis on a data set comprised of contributions from analyte(s) and interfering components. A library of data from representative analyte classes is tested for possible contributing factors by performing oblique rotations of the principal factors to obtain the best match, in a least-squares sense, between test and predicted vectors. The degree of match between the test and predicted vectors is measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient, r, and the distribution of r for each class is determined. A Bayesian soft classifier is used to calculate the posterior probability based on the distributions of r for each class, which assist the analyst in assessing the presence of one or more analytes. The method is demonstrated by analyses performed on spectra obtained by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Single and multiple bullet jacketing transfers to steel and porcelain substrates were analyzed to identify the jacketing materials. Additionally, the metal surrounding bullet holes was analyzed to identify the class of bullet jacketing that passed through a stainless steel plate. Of 36 single sample transfers, the copper jacketed (CJ) and non-jacketed (NJ) class on porcelain had an average posterior probability of the metal deposited on the substrate of 1.0. Metal jacketed (MJ) bullet transfers to steel and porcelain were not detected as successfully. Multiple transfers of CJ/NJ and CJ/MJ on the two substrates resulted in posterior probabilities that reflected the presence of both jacketing materials. The MJ/NJ transfers gave posterior probabilities that reflected the presence of the NJ material, but the MJ component was mistaken for CJ on steel, while non-zero probabilities were obtained for both CJ and MJ on porcelain. Jacketing transfer from a bullet to steel as the projectile passed through the steel also proved difficult to analyze. Over 50% of the samples left insufficient transfer to be identified. Transfer from NJ and CJ jacketing was successfully identified by posterior probabilities greater than 0.8.     

Synthesis of substituted asymmetrical biphenyl amino esters as alpha helix mimetics

As part of our ongoing project to develop new molecular probes for estrogen receptor-alpha, we are exploring the utility of internally-substituted asymmetric biphenyls as a proteomimetic scaffold. In this study, we describe synthetic methods for preparing the requisite substituted-bromophenol precursors, their further elaboration, and the subsequent Suzuki–Miyaura coupling of these sterically-hindered and electronically-rich aromatic systems. The results provide an efficient route with which to generate further libraries of novel asymmetric biphenyl compounds as potential proteomimetics.     

A novel iterative direct-forcing immersed boundary method and its finite volume applications

We present a novel iterative immersed boundary (IB) method in which the body force updating is incorporated into the pressure iterations. Because the body force and pressure are solved simultaneously, the boundary condition on the immersed boundary can be fully verified. The computational costs of this iterative IB method is comparable to those of conventional IB methods. We also introduce an improved body force distribution function which transfers the body force in the discrete volume of IB points to surrounding Cartesian grids totally. To alleviate the demanding computational requirements of a full-resolved direct numerical simulation, a wall-layer model is presented. The accuracy and capability of the present method is verified by a variety of two- and three-dimensional numerical simulations, ranging from laminar flow past a cylinder and a sphere to turbulent flow around a cylinder. The improvement of the iterative IB method is fully demonstrated and the influences of different body force distribution strategies is discussed.     

Magnetic structure variation in manganese-oxide clusters

Negative-ion photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio simulations are used to study the variation in magnetic structure in Mn(x)O(y) (x = 3, 4[semicolon] y = 1, 2) clusters. The ferrimagnetic and antiferromagnetic ground-state structures of Mn(x)O(y) are 0.16-1.20 eV lower in energy than their ferromagnetic isomers. The presence of oxygen thus stabilizes low-spin isomers relative to the preferred high-spin ordering of bare Mn(3) and Mn(4). Each cluster has a preferred overall magnetic moment, and no evidence is seen of competing states with different spin multiplicities. However, non-degenerate isomags, which possess the same spin multiplicity but different arrangements of local moments, do contribute additional features and peak broadening in the photoelectron spectra. Proper accounting for all possible isomags is shown to be critical for accurate computational prediction of the spectra.     

Uranium pyrrolylamine complexes featuring a trigonal binding pocket and interligand noncovalent interactions

The syntheses of tri- and tetravalent uranium complexes of the Ar(F)(3)TPA(3-) ligand [Ar(F) = 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl; TPA = tris(pyrrolyl-α-methylamine)] are described. Interligand noncovalent interactions between arene groups within the complexes are detected both in the solid state and in solution.