An analysis of over-relaxation in a kinetic approximation of systems of conservation laws

The over-relaxation approach is an alternative to the Jin–Xin relaxation method in order to apply the equilibrium source term in a more precise way. This is also a key ingredient of the lattice Boltzmann method for achieving second-order accuracy. In this work, we provide an analysis of the over-relaxation kinetic scheme. We compute its equivalent equation, which is particularly useful for devising stable boundary conditions for the hidden kinetic variables.     

3D‐morphology reconstruction of nanoscale phase‐separation in polymer memory blends

In many organic electronic devices functionality is achieved by blending two or more materials, typically polymers or molecules, with distinctly different optical or electrical properties in a single film. The local scale morphology of such blends is vital for the device performance. Here, a simple approach to study the full 3D morphology of phase‐separated blends, taking advantage of the possibility to selectively dissolve the different components is introduced. This method is applied in combination with AFM to investigate a blend of a semiconducting and ferroelectric polymer typically used as active layer in organic ferroelectric resistive switches. It is found that the blend consists of a ferroelectric matrix with three types of embedded semiconductor domains and a thin wetting layer at the bottom electrode. Statistical analysis of the obtained images excludes the presence of a fourth type of domains. The criteria for the applicability of the presented technique are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1231–1237     

A volatolomic approach using cerumen as biofluid to diagnose bovine intoxication by Stryphnodendron rotundifolium

An innovative volatolomic approach employs the detection of biomarkers present in cerumen (earwax) to identify cattle intoxication by Stryphnodendron rotundifolium Mart., Fabaceae (popularly known as barbatimão). S. rotundifolium is a poisonous plant with the toxic compound undefined and widely distributed throughout the Brazilian territory. Cerumen samples from cattle of two local Brazilian breeds (‘Curraleiro Pé-Duro’ and ‘Pantaneiro’) were collected during an experimental intoxication protocol and analyzed using headspace (HS)/GC–MS followed by multivariate analysis (genetic algorithm for a partial least squares, cluster analysis, and classification and regression trees). A total of 106 volatile organic metabolites were identified in the cerumen samples of bovines. The intoxication by S. rotundifolium influenced the cerumen volatolomic profile of the bovines throughout the intoxication protocol. In this way, it was possible to detect biomarkers for cattle intoxication. Among the biomarkers, 2-octyldecanol and 9-tetradecen-1-ol were able to discriminate all samples between intoxicated and nonintoxicated bovines. The cattle intoxication diagnosis by S. rotundifolium was accomplished by applying the cerumen analysis using HS/GC–MS, in an easy, accurate, and noninvasive way. Thus, the proposed bioanalytical chromatography protocol is a useful tool in veterinary applications to determine this kind of intoxication.     

Light and heat control over secondary structure and amyloid-like fiber formation in an overcrowded-alkene-modified Trp zipper

The external photocontrol over peptide folding, by the incorporation of molecular photoswitches into their structure, provides a powerful tool to study biological processes. However, it is limited so far to switches that exhibit only a rather limited geometrical change upon photoisomerization and that show thermal instability of the photoisomer. Here we describe the use of an overcrowded alkene photoswitch to control a model β-hairpin peptide. This photoresponsive unit undergoes a large conformational change and has two thermally stable isomers which has major influence on the secondary structure and the aggregation of the peptide, permitting the phototriggered formation of amyloid-like fibrils.     

Spectral estimates for saddle point matrices arising in weak constraint four‐dimensional variational data assimilation

We consider the large sparse symmetric linear systems of equations that arise in the solution of weak constraint four‐dimensional variational data assimilation, a method of high interest for numerical weather prediction. These systems can be written as saddle point systems with a 3 × 3 block structure but block eliminations can be performed to reduce them to saddle point systems with a 2 × 2 block structure, or further to symmetric positive definite systems. In this article, we analyse how sensitive the spectra of these matrices are to the number of observations of the underlying dynamical system. We also obtain bounds on the eigenvalues of the matrices. Numerical experiments are used to confirm the theoretical analysis and bounds.