Air-breathing laminar flow-based microfluidic fuel cell

This communication reports the design and characterization of an air-breathing laminar flow-based microfluidic fuel cell (LFFC). The performance of previous LFFC designs was cathode-limited due to the poor solubility and slow transport of oxygen in aqueous media. Introduction of an air-breathing gas diffusion electrode as the cathode addresses these mass transfer issues. With this design change, the cathode is exposed to a higher oxygen concentration, and more importantly, the rate of oxygen replenishment in the depletion boundary layer on the cathode is greatly enhanced as a result of the 4 orders of magnitude higher diffusion coefficient of oxygen in air as opposed to that in aqueous media. The power densities of the present air-breathing LFFCs are 5 times higher (26 mW/cm2) than those for LFFCs operated using formic acid solutions as the fuel stream and an oxygen-saturated aqueous stream at the cathode ( approximately 5 mW/cm2). With the performance-limiting issues at the cathode mitigated, these air-breathing LFFCs can now be further developed to fully exploit their advantages of direct control over fuel crossover and the ability to individually tailor the chemical composition of the cathode and anode media to enhance electrode performance and fuel utilization, thus increasing the potential of laminar flow-based fuel cells.     

Some optical specificity of ultrathin crystalline films

The changes of optical properties under boundary presence in molecular crystal nanofilm were theoretically investigated in this work. The dispersion law and states of excitons as well as their space distribution along boundary direction have been determined using adjusted Green's function method and also by combined analytical and numerical calculations. On the basis of real and imaginary part of relative permittivity, both absorption and refraction indices were determined, and the influences of boundary parameters on occurrence of a very selective and strictly discrete absorption were analyzed.     

Synthesis and characterization of end‐group modified hyperbranched polyetherimides

End‐group modified hyperbranched polyetherimides were prepared by a one‐pot, two‐step reaction sequence. General synthetic techniques were developed to prepare both monofunctional terminating segments and the corresponding modified polyetherimide hyperbranched polymers. Monofunctional groups were used to terminate an AB₂‐type polycondensation reaction, generating capped hyperbranched polymers (HBPs). The composition and constitution of the end groups controlled the solubility and thermal properties of the HBPs. For the same polymer backbone, different end groups were able to shift the glass‐transition temperature nearly 100 °C. End‐group modification greatly influenced the film‐forming ability of the HBPs. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 936–946, 2002     

New99mTc-diiodine substituted IDA derivative (DIIODIDA) for hepatobiliary imaging

A new diiodine substituted IDA derivative, 2,4-diiodine-6-methyl IDA (DIIODIDA) was synthesized and labeled with^99mTc. It was established that^99mTc-DIIODIDA had high radiochemical purity. Biodistribution and influence of bilirubin on^99mTc-DIIODIDA biokinetics has been studied in rats and compared to the corresponding results for^99mTc-SOLCOIODIDA. Related to^99mTc-SOLCOIODIDA,^99mTc-DIIODIDA has much better biliary exretion (55.18 versus 43.63%). No change of^99mTc-DIIODIDA biokinetics, under influence of bilirubin was noticed. Biliary excretion of^99mTc-SOLCOIODIDA has been reduced for about 60%. The protein binding of^99mTc-DIIODIDA and^99mTc-SOLCOIODIDA were also determined, using in vitro method of precipitation. These results showed that^99mTc-DIIODIDA hepatobiliary imaging agent is superior to the presently used^99mTc-monoiodine IDA derivatives.     

一般n阶特征量泛函的Euler-Lagrange方程及与定量因果原理、相对性原理和广义牛顿三定律的统一

本文获得了有各种相互作用的一般n阶特征量泛函,其耦合系数反映了不同特征量泛函之间的耦合强度.依据定量因果原理,导出了一般n阶特征量泛函的变分原理,获得了一般n阶特征量泛函的Euler-Lagrange方程,它的不同系数可拟合不同的物理现实,如从线性到任意n阶非线性物理系统,使复杂难解的任意n阶非线性物理系统变得具体可解.并获得了该对称变换下不变的m个的守恒量,以及它们之间的关系和统一描述.依据定量因果原理导出了相对性原理,证明了绝对加速参考系、牵连参考系和相对参考系的力都有来自加速度和质量变化的贡献.利用定量因果原理自然导出了广义牛顿第一定律和广义牛顿第二定律,而且还导出了一个新定律,即广义牛顿第三定律,亦即平移不变性系统合力为零定理.进而将研究结论应用于对银河系的修正引力势、分子势、夸克禁闭势等,且其结果与物理实验一致.     

On relative stability of linear stationary feedback control systems with time delay

A method is presented whereby the absolute and relative stabilityof linear control systems containing transport lag can be determined.As a result feedback systems with variable time delay and loopgain, may be investigated in straightforward manner.     

Synthesis and aggregation behavior of thermally responsive star polymers

To mimic the three-dimensional (3-D) globular architecture resulting from the precise positioning of hydrophobic/hydrophilic domains (blocks) of naturally occurring proteins, water-soluble linear and star homopolymers of N,N'-dimethylacrylamide (DMA) were synthesized with prescribed molecular weights via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and subsequently used as macro chain transfer agents for block copolymerization with N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM). For the star block copolymers, the interior block consisted of NIPAM while the exterior block was DMA. Since polyNIPAM thermally switches from hydrophilic to hydrophobic, the 3-D solution conformations of the polymers were studied as a function of temperature using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), static light scattering (SLS), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The polymers were observed to form monodisperse aggregates in an aqueous pH 4 buffer solution when heated above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of polyNIPAM. The temperature at which the polymers aggregated and the size of the aggregates were dependent on the NIPAM block length and the core architecture. A simple model based on an optimal area per headgroup was used to analyze our experimental findings and was useful for predicting the final size and molecular weight of the aggregates formed.     

Ends and quasicomponents

Let X be a connected locally compact metric space. It is known that if X is locally connected, then the space of ends (Freudenthal ends), EX, can be represented as the inverse limit of the set (space) S(X C) of components of X C, i.e., as the inverse limit of the inverse system