Formation–containment control for networked Euler–Lagrange systems with input saturation

Nonlinear Dynamics - This paper studies the formation–containment control problem for networked nonlinear Euler–Lagrange systems with input saturation. To realize the concurrency of...     

A Disulfide Switch Providing Absolute Handedness Control in Double Helices via Conversion from the Antiparallel to Parallel Helical Pattern

A strategy to reversibly switch the parallel/antiparallel helical conformation of aromatic double helices through the formation/breakage of a disulfide bond is presented. Single-crystal X-ray structures, NMR, and circular dichroism spectroscopy demonstrate that the double helices with terminal thiol groups favor an antiparallel helical arrangement both in the solid state and in solution, while the P/M bias of helicity induced by chiral segments from another extremity of the sequence is weak in this structural motif. The antiparallel helices can be rearranged to parallel helices through the disulfide connection of the sequences. This change enhances the bias of helical handedness and results in absolute chirality control of the double helices. The handedness-mediated process can be governed by the oxidation-reduction cycle, thereby switching the structural arrangement and the enhancement of chiral bias. In addition, we find that the sequences can dimerize into an intermolecular double helix with the disulfide connection. And the helical handedness is also fully controlled due to the head-to-head structural motif.     

Separation of isomeric disaccharides by traveling wave ion mobility mass spectrometry using CO2 as drift gas

The use of CO₂ as a massive and polarizable drift gas is shown to greatly improve peak‐to‐peak resolution (R_p‐p), as compared with N₂, for the separation of disaccharides in a Synapt G2 traveling wave ion mobility cell. Near or baseline R_p‐p was achieved for three pairs of sodiated molecules of disaccharide isomers, that is, cellobiose and sucrose (R_p‐p = 0.76), maltose and sucrose (R_p‐p = 1.04), and maltose and lactose (R_p‐p = 0.74). Ion mobility mass spectrometry using CO₂ as the drift gas offers therefore an attractive alternative for fast and efficient separation of isomeric disaccharides. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Oxygen consumption and chemisorption in low-temperature oxidation of sub-bituminous pulverized coal

Studying the effect of oxygen in coal oxidation is very important for understanding and controlling coal spontaneous combustion. However, the oxygen effect is not very easy to determine clearly due to the large effect of heat source on coal oxidation in temperature rising experiments. Here, focused on sub-bituminous coal, the oxygen effect was separated from coal oxidation by continuously measuring FTIR spectra of coal with respect to varying temperatures and under oxygen and nitrogen. The active groups’ real-time changes of coal oxidation, thermal treatment and oxygen effect were measured. The carboxylic ester and carboxyl units are the main functional groups that increase with temperatures increasing under oxygen and nitrogen, while the other functional groups decrease in quantity. The oxygen effect promoted the consumption of aliphatic hydrocarbons and hydroxyl groups and also promoted the formation of oxygen-containing groups (except hydroxyl). Four characteristic temperature stages involved in the oxygen effect and their key functional groups were identified. Simultaneously, the relationship of oxygen consumption and chemisorption in oxygen effect was analyzed. The starting temperature of oxygen chemisorption is between 50 and 60°C. The maximum contribution of oxygen effect was observed in methyl and methylene groups. These results are important for chemical control of coal spontaneous combustion. The oxidation of aliphatic hydrocarbon should be controlled before oxygen chemisorption. The value of oxygen consumption between 70 and 80°C can be measured accurately due to the constant chemisorption rate, which help to identify the tendency for spontaneous combustion. These results will help in better understanding of the reaction mechanism of coal oxidation, especially the oxygen effect.     

1H MRS detection of glycine residue of reduced glutathione in vivo

Glutathione (GSH) is a powerful antioxidant found inside different kinds of cells, including those of the central nervous system. Detection of GSH in the human brain using ¹H MR spectroscopy is hindered by low concentration and spectral overlap with other metabolites. Previous MRS methods focused mainly on the detection of the cysteine residue (GSH-Cys) via editing schemes. This study focuses on the detection of the glycine residue (GSH-Gly), which is overlapped by glutamate and glutamine (Glx) under physiological pH and temperature. The first goal of the study was to obtain the spectral parameters for characterization of the GSH-Gly signal under physiological conditions. The second goal was to investigate a new method of separating GSH-Gly from Glx in vivo. The characterization of the signal was carried out by utilization of numerical simulations as well as experiments over a wide range of magnetic fields (4.0–14 T). The proposed separation scheme utilizes J-difference editing to quantify the Glx contribution to separate it from the GSH-Gly signal. The presented method retains 100% of the GSH-Gly signal. The overall increase in signal to noise ratio of the targeted resonance is calculated to yield a significant SNR improvement compared to previously used methods that target GSH-Cys residue. This allows shorter acquisition times for in vivo human clinical studies.     

Magnetic properties and large cryogenic low-field magnetocaloric effect of HoCo<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoparticles without core/shell structure

The HoCo₂ nanoparticles are found to be stable in air without any shell protection. The HoCo₂ nanoparticles display superparamagnetic properties between their blocking temperature of 40 K and Curie temperature of 78 K. The magnetic-entropy change increases with decreasing temperature at a certain magnetic-field change, which is ascribed to the competition between the Zeeman energy and thermal-agitation energy at low temperatures. A large magnetic-entropy change of 19.4 J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹ was found at 7.5 K in an applied-field change from 1 to 7 T, while 6.1 J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹ was achieved in a low field change of 1 T. HoCo₂ nanoparticles are useful for application of magnetic refrigeration at low temperatures.     

Double-image sharing encryption based on associated fractional Fourier transform and gyrator transform

<正>We present a novel method for realizing double-image encryption algorithm by combining the images in different transform domains.Two original images are encrypted into two interim images by fractional Fourier transform and gyrator transform,respectively.The two encrypted images can be obtained by means of the addition and subtraction of the two interim images.This is defined as a double-image sharing scheme,in which the original images are encrypted into two parts.The original images cannot be recovered only with any one of the two interim images.Numerical simulation experiments demonstrate the validity of the algorithm.     

Titanium dioxide doped with transition metals (MxTi1?xO2, M: Ni, Co): synthesis and characterization for its potential application as photoanode

This study presents the synthesis of TiO₂ doped with different amounts of Co and Ni, starting from a simple metallic titanium powder. A successful electrophoretic deposition of these materials on ITO electrodes was achieved for its potential application as photoanodes. EDX, diffuse reflectance UV–Vis spectroscopy, and XRD measurements gave information on the chemical composition of the material and the location of the Ni or Co within the crystal structure of TiO₂. Raman spectroscopy suggests that for a higher content of doping metal above a defined percentage, the formation of metal oxide is promoted. A preliminary study of photoelectrocatalytic orange dye degradation shows higher color removal efficiency as compared to the commercial TiO₂ material.     

How Fear of Future Outcomes Affects Social Dynamics

Journal of Statistical Physics - Mutualistic relationships among the different species are ubiquitous in nature. To prevent mutualism from slipping into antagonism, a host often invokes a...