2,629 research outputs found
Spatially resolved electrochemistry in ionic liquids : surface structure effects on triiodide reduction at platinum electrodes
Understanding the relationship between electrochemical activity and electrode structure is vital for improving the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells. Here, the reduction of triiodide to iodide in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([BMIm][BF4]) room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) is investigated on polycrystalline platinum using scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) and correlated to the crystallographic orientation from electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Although the rate determining step in all grains was the first electron transfer, significant grain-dependent variations in activity were revealed, with grains with a dominant (110) crystallographic character exhibiting higher catalytic activity compared to those with a major (100) orientation. The SECCM technique is demonstrated to resolve heterogeneity in activity, highlighting that methods incorporating polycrystalline electrodes miss vital details for understanding and optimizing electrocatalysts. An additional advantage of the SECCM over single-crystal techniques is its ability to probe high index facets
Conservation Easements and Climate Change
The current law of conservation easements does not recognize the full potential for carbon capture resulting from land conservation, in part because the tax code limits the types of land that may benefit from such easements. Current laws will need to be revised and expanded to better recognize the climate change benefits that could be achieved from placing land under conservation easements
Influence Of Continuous Precipitation Upon The Growth Kinetics Of The Cellular Reaction In An Al-Ag Alloy
The influence of the prior formation of a continuous precipitate upon the growth kinetics of the cellular reaction has been evaluated in an Al-17.9 wt. % Ag alloy. The continuous precipitate, in the form of intragranular plates of the γ′ transition phase, was shown to have reduced the upper bound of the driving force for the cellular reaction from the silver content of the untransformed alloy to that corresponding to the coherent solvus. When this reduction (≥ 98 %) is taken into account, the growth of cells is found to be controlled by cell boundary rather than by volume diffusion on the basis of both the Turnbull and the Cahn theories of the cellular reaction. Changing the mode of heat treatment from the usual quenching-and-aging to that of isothermal transformation reduces both the rate of growth of cells and the proportion of cellular structure formed by about an order of magnitude and increases the interlamellar spacing by 50-100%. These effects appear to result from a further decrease in the driving force. This decrease is attributed to a higher rate of introduction of misfit dislocations into the broad faces of the γ′ plates constituting the continuous precipitate, and thus to smaller values of the coherent solvus. © 1968
Infinite ergodic theory and Non-extensive entropies
We bring into account a series of result in the infinite ergodic theory that
we believe that they are relevant to the theory of non-extensive entropie
Quantum Algorithm for Molecular Properties and Geometry Optimization
It is known that quantum computers, if available, would allow an exponential
decrease in the computational cost of quantum simulations. We extend this
result to show that the computation of molecular properties (energy
derivatives) could also be sped up using quantum computers. We provide a
quantum algorithm for the numerical evaluation of molecular properties, whose
time cost is a constant multiple of the time needed to compute the molecular
energy, regardless of the size of the system. Molecular properties computed
with the proposed approach could also be used for the optimization of molecular
geometries or other properties. For that purpose, we discuss the benefits of
quantum techniques for Newton's method and Householder methods. Finally, global
minima for the proposed optimizations can be found using the quantum basin
hopper algorithm, which offers an additional quadratic reduction in cost over
classical multi-start techniques.Comment: 6 page
Circulatory Assist Devices 2000: An Update
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71424/1/j.1527-5299.2000.80165.x.pd
Spectroscopic Constraints on the Stellar Population of Elliptical Galaxies in the Coma Cluster
Near-IR spectra for a sample of 31 elliptical galaxies in the Coma cluster
are obtained. The galaxies are selected to be ellipticals (no lenticulars),
with a large spatial distribution, covering both the core and outskirt of the
cluster (ie. corresponding to regions with large density contrasts).
Spectroscopic CO (2.3 micron) absorption indices, measuring contribution from
intermediate-age red giant and supergiant stars to the near-IR light of the
ellipticals, are then estimated.
It is found that the strength of spectroscopic CO features in elliptical
galaxies increases from the core (r 0.2 deg)
of the Coma cluster. Using the Mg2 strengths, it is shown that the observed
effect is not due to metallicity and is mostly caused by the presence of a
younger population (giant and supergiant stars) in ellipticals in outskirts
(low density region) of the cluster.
Using the spectroscopic CO features, the origin of the scatter on the near-IR
Fundamental Plane of elliptical galaxies is studied. Correcting this relation
for contributions from the red giant and supergiant stars, the rms scatter
reduces from 0.077dex to 0.073dex. Although measurable, the contribution from
these intermediate-age stars to the scatter on the near-IR Fundamental Plane of
ellipticals is only marginal.
A relation is found between the CO and V-K colours of ellipticals with a
slope 0.036 +/- 0.016. This is studied using stellar synthesis models.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS Repoprt-no
Interaction between src family kinases and rho-kinase in agonist-induced Ca2+-sensitization of rat pulmonary artery
Aims: We investigated the role of src family kinases (srcFK) in agonist-mediated Ca2+-sensitization in pulmonary artery and whether this involves interaction with the rho/rho-kinase pathway.
Methods and results: Intra-pulmonary arteries (IPAs) and cultured pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMC) were obtained from rat. Expression of srcFK was determined at the mRNA and protein levels. Ca2+-sensitization was induced by prostaglandin F(2 alpha) (PGF(2 alpha)) in alpha-toxin-permeabilized IPAs. Phosphorylation of the regulatory subunit of myosin phosphatase (MYPT-1) and of myosin light-chain-20 (MLC20) and translocation of rho-kinase in response to PGF(2 alpha) were also determined. Nine srcFK were expressed at the mRNA level, including src, fyn, and yes, and PGF(2 alpha) enhanced phosphorylation of three srcFK proteins at tyr-416. In alpha-toxin-permeabilized IPAs, PGF(2 alpha) enhanced the Ca2+-induced contraction (pCa 6.9) approximately three-fold. This enhancement was inhibited by the srcFK blockers SU6656 and PP2 and by the rho-kinase inhibitor Y27632. Y27632, but not SU6656 or PP2, also inhibited the underlying pCa 6.9 contraction. PGF(2 alpha) enhanced phosphorylation of MYPT-1 at thr-697 and thr-855 and of MLC20 at ser-19. This enhancement, but not the underlying basal phosphorylation, was inhibited by SU6656. Y27632 suppressed both basal and PGF(2 alpha)-mediated phosphorylation. The effects of SU6656 and Y27632, on both contraction and MYPT-1 and MLC20 phosphorylation, were not additive. PGF(2 alpha) triggered translocation of rho-kinase in PASMC, and this was inhibited by SU6656.
Conclusions: srcFK are activated by PGF(2 alpha) in the rat pulmonary artery and may contribute to Ca2+-sensitization and contraction via rho-kinase translocation and phosphorylation of MYPT-1
Physical consequences of PNP and the DMRG-annealing conjecture
Computational complexity theory contains a corpus of theorems and conjectures
regarding the time a Turing machine will need to solve certain types of
problems as a function of the input size. Nature {\em need not} be a Turing
machine and, thus, these theorems do not apply directly to it. But {\em
classical simulations} of physical processes are programs running on Turing
machines and, as such, are subject to them. In this work, computational
complexity theory is applied to classical simulations of systems performing an
adiabatic quantum computation (AQC), based on an annealed extension of the
density matrix renormalization group (DMRG). We conjecture that the
computational time required for those classical simulations is controlled
solely by the {\em maximal entanglement} found during the process. Thus, lower
bounds on the growth of entanglement with the system size can be provided. In
some cases, quantum phase transitions can be predicted to take place in certain
inhomogeneous systems. Concretely, physical conclusions are drawn from the
assumption that the complexity classes {\bf P} and {\bf NP} differ. As a
by-product, an alternative measure of entanglement is proposed which, via
Chebyshev's inequality, allows to establish strict bounds on the required
computational time.Comment: Accepted for publication in JSTA
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