Di‐9‐anthryl disulfide at 193 K

The title compound, C₂₈H₁₈S₂, crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁/n and the structure shows pseudosymmetry close to the space group C2/c. At 193 K the compound has a long S—S bond of 2.1089 (12) Å and the S atom to anthracene bond distances are 1.776 (3) and 1.770 (2) Å. The C—S—S—C torsion angle is 76.06 (13)°.     

Critical behavior of non-order-parameter fields

We show that all of the relevant features of a phase transition can be determined using a non-order-parameter field which is a physical state of the theory. This fact allows us to describe the deconfining transition of the pure Yang-Mills theory via the physical excitations rather than using the Polyakov loop.     

An experimental study of scalability in shield-based on-wafer CMOS test fixtures

In this paper, the possibilities of employing full scalability to on-wafer complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) test fixtures is studied experimentally. Several test fixtures and in-fixture sets were fabricated and measured in order to find the significant parasitic components in shield-based fixtures. An improved method for applying bi-directional scaling to on-wafer shield-based test fixtures is proposed. This method takes into account the parasitic series resistance, series inductance, and parallel capacitance that are present in the test fixture. The proposed method can be used successfully in commonly known deembedding methods. This is verified through measurements. The test fixtures were fabricated on top of a lossy substrate using double-poly, three-metal-layer 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS technology.     

Prenatal stress and subsequent exposure to chronic mild stress influence dendritic spine density and morphology in the rat medial prefrontal cortex

Background  

Both prenatal stress (PS) and postnatal chronic mild stress (CMS) are associated with behavioral and mood disturbances in humans and rodents. The aim of this study was to reveal putative PS- and/or CMS-related changes in basal spine morphology and density of pyramidal neurons in the rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC).     

Measured Composite Collision Models: Quantum Trajectory Purities and Channel Divisibility

We investigate a composite quantum collision model with measurements on the memory part, which effectively probe the system. The framework allows us to adjust the measurement strength, thereby tuning the dynamical map of the system. For a two-qubit setup with a symmetric and informationally complete measurement on the memory, we study the divisibility of the resulting dynamics in dependence of the measurement strength. The measurements give rise to quantum trajectories of the system and we show that the average asymptotic purity depends on the specific form of the measurement. With the help of numerical simulations, we demonstrate that the different performance of the measurements is generic and holds for almost all interaction gates between the system and the memory in the composite collision model. The discrete model is then extended to a time-continuous limit.     

B-Site Co-Alloying with Germanium Improves the Efficiency and Stability of All-Inorganic Tin-Based Perovskite Nanocrystal Solar Cells

Colloidal lead-free perovskite nanocrystals have recently received extensive attention because of their facile synthesis, the outstanding size-tunable optoelectronic properties, and less or no toxicity in their commercial applications. Tin (Sn) has so far led to the most efficient lead-free solar cells, yet showing highly unstable characteristics in ambient conditions. Here, we propose the synthesis of all-inorganic mixture Sn-Ge perovskite nanocrystals, demonstrating the role of Ge²⁺ in stabilizing Sn²⁺ cation while enhancing the optical and photophysical properties. The partial replacement of Sn atoms by Ge atoms in the nanostructures effectively fills the high density of Sn vacancies, reducing the surface traps and leading to a longer excitonic lifetime and increased photoluminescence quantum yield. The resultant Sn-Ge nanocrystals-based devices show the highest efficiency of 4.9 %, enhanced by nearly 60 % compared to that of pure Sn nanocrystals-based devices.     

Optimized FPGA-based elliptic curve cryptography processor for high-speed applications

In this paper, we introduce an FPGA-based processor for elliptic curve cryptography on Koblitz curves. The processor targets specifically to applications requiring very high speed. The processor is optimized for performing scalar multiplications, which are the basic operations of every elliptic curve cryptosystem, only on one specific Koblitz curve; the support for other curves is achieved by reconfiguring the FPGA. We combine efficient methods from various recent papers into a very efficient processor architecture. The processor includes carefully designed processing units dedicated for different parts of the scalar multiplication in order to increase performance. The computation is pipelined providing simultaneous processing of up to three scalar multiplications. We provide experimental results on an Altera Stratix II FPGA demonstrating that the processor computes a single scalar multiplication on average in and achieves a throughput of 235,550 scalar multiplications per second on NIST K-163.     

A novel particle sampling system for physico-chemical and toxicological characterization of emissions

Several studies have shown that combustion-derived fine particles cause adverse health effects. Previous toxicological studies on combustion-derived fine particles have rarely involved multiple endpoints and a detailed characterization of chemical composition. In this study, we developed a novel particle sampling system for toxicological and chemical characterization (PSTC), consisting of the Dekati Gravimetric Impactor (DGI) and a porous tube diluter. Physico-chemical and toxicological properties of the particles emitted from various combustion sources were evaluated in two measurement campaigns. First, the DGI was compared with the High-Volume Cascade Impactor (HVCI) and to the Dekati Low-Pressure Impactor (DLPI), using the same dilution system and the same sampling conditions. Only small differences were observed in the mass size distributions, total particulate matter (PM), and particulate matter with diameter smaller than 1 um (PM(1)) concentrations and geometric mass mean diameters (GMMD) between these three impactors. Second, the PSTC was compared with the HVCI sampling system, which has been optimal for collection of particulate samples for toxicological and chemical analyses. Differences were observed in the mass size distributions, total PM and PM(1) emissions, and GMMDs, probably due to the different sampling and dilution methods as well as different sampling substrates which affected the behavior of semi-volatile and volatile organic compounds. However, no significant differences were detected in the in vitro measurements of cytotoxicity between the samples collected with the PSTC and the HVCI systems. In measurements of genotoxicity, significant differences between the two sampling systems were seen only with the particles emitted from the sauna stove. In conclusion, due to compact size, PSTC is an applicable method for use in particle sampling as part of the toxicological and chemical characterization of particulate emissions from different combustion sources. It offers some advantages compared to the previously used high-volume sampling methods including compactness for field measurements, simple preparation of sample substrates and high extraction efficiency.     

Strong Axial Preference of 2-S Substituents in 3,4-Dihydro-2 H -1-Benzopyrans

The synthesis and crystal structure of a O,S,S-acetal derivative (1 R *,2 R *,2' S *)-1-(3,4-dihydro-2 H -1-benzopyran-2-ylthio)-2-phenyl-1-phenylthiopropan-2-ol 4 are reported. The 2-S-sidechain orientation in solution determined by OCHS signals in 1 H NMR spectra is mainly axial in all the 3,4-dihydro-2 H -1-benzopyran derivatives. Compound 4 crystallizes in the triclinic space group P 1 with an axial 2-S-sidechain and an intramolecular hydrogen bond between the OH and the ether oxygen with the O;;;O distance of 2.799(3) Å.     

Direct determination of silver in geological reference samples after aqua regia leach by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry with matrix modification

Summary Silver was determined in 20 different geological samples by electrothermal AAS with and without (NH₄)₂HPO₄ matrix modifier after aqua regia leach. The results were compared with those obtained after total dissolution of samples.The ashing temperature can be 300 °C higher and the atomising temperature 100°C lower when matrix modifier is used. The sensitivity of the method for Ag was 25% better with modifier. The detection limit, calculated in relation to the original solid sample, was 0.01 g/g with modifier.The results were systematically lower with matrix modifier, the mean value of recovery being 91.2% with modifier and 97.2% without. The ranges of the recovery values were noticeably different: from 84.5 to 99.5 with matrix modifier and from 63.4 to 110.2 without. The matrix modifier tended to even out the differences in the effects of geological matrices.

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Direkte Silberbestimmung in geologischem Referenzmaterial mit Hilfe der Graphitofen-AAS mit Matrixmodifikation (nach Auslaugen mit Königwasser)