Importance of Acid–Base Equilibrium in Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Formic Acid on Platinum

This work was supported by Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grants Nos. 24550143 and 24750117 and MEXT Project of Integrated Research on Chemical Synthesis. M.T.M.K. gratefully acknowledges the award of Long-Term Fellowship of JSPS (No. L-11527) and Visiting Professorship of Hokkaido University. T.U. acknowledges Grants-in-Aid for Regional R&D Proposal-Based Program from Northern Advancement Center for Science & Technology of Hokkaido, Japan. J.J. acknowledges scholarship of Asian Graduate School, Hokkaido University.Peer reviewedPostprin

How social interactions matter when distance dies?

We consider an economic geography model with two inter-regional proximity structures, one due to trade linkages and the other due to social interactions. We investigate how the network structure of social interactions, or the social proximity structure, affects the timing of endogenous agglomeration and the spatial distribution of workers across regions. Endogenous agglomeration emerges when inter-regional trade and/or social interactions incur high transportation costs, and the uniform dispersion occurs when these costs become negligibly small (i.e., when distance dies). In many-region geography, the network structure of social proximity emerges as the determinant of the geographical distribution of workers when trade becomes freer. If social proximity is governed by geographical distance (as in ground transportation), a mono-centric concentration emerges. If geographically distant pairs of regions are “socially close” (due to, e.g., passenger transportation modes with strong distance economy such as regional airlines), then geographically multi-centric spatial distribution can be sustainable.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Innovation through inter-regional interaction in a spatial economic model

This paper analyses a two-region model with vertical innovations that enhance the quality of varieties of the horizontally differentiated manufactures produced in each of the two regions. We look at how the creation and diffusion of knowledge and increasing returns in manufacturing interact to shape the spatial economy. Innovations occur with a probability that depends on the inter-regional interaction between researchers (mobile workers). We find that, if the weight of interaction with foreign scientists is relatively more important for the success of innovation, the model accounts for re-dispersion of economic activities after an initial stage of progressive agglomeration as transport costs decrease from a high level

Breaking and sustaining bifurcations in SN-Invariant equidistant economy

This paper elucidates the bifurcation mechanism of an equidistant economy in spatial economics. To this end, we derive the rules of secondary and further bifurcations as a major theoretical contribution of this paper. Then we combine them with pre-existing results of direct bifurcation of the symmetric group SN [Elmhirst, 2004]. Particular attention is devoted to the existence of invariant solutions which retain their spatial distributions when the value of the bifurcation parameter changes. Invariant patterns of an equidistant economy under the replicator dynamics are obtained. The mechanism of bifurcations from these patterns is elucidated. The stability of bifurcating branches is analyzed to demonstrate that most of them are unstable immediately after bifurcation. Numerical analysis of spatial economic models confirms that almost all bifurcating branches are unstable. Direct bifurcating curves connect the curves of invariant solutions, thereby creating a mesh-like network, which appears as threads of warp and weft. The theoretical bifurcation mechanism and numerical examples of networks advanced herein might be of great assistance in the study of spatial economics.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Construction of testers for reversion assay.

Construction of testers for reversion assay

Microscopic mechanism of fullerene fusion

Combining total energy calculations with a search of phase space, we investigate the microscopic fusion mechanism of C60 fullerenes. We find that the (2 + 2) cycloaddition reaction, a necessary precursor for fullerene fusion, may be accelerated inside a nanotube. Fusion occurs along the minimum energy path as a finite sequence of Stone-Wales transformations, determined by a graphical search program. Search of the phase space using the "string method" indicates that Stone-Wales transformations are multistep processes, and provides detailed information about the transition states and activation barriers associated with fusion.open413

Neural Advantages of Older Musicians Involve the Cerebellum: Implications for Healthy Aging Through Lifelong Musical Instrument Training

This study compared 30 older musicians and 30 age-matched non-musicians to investigate the association between lifelong musical instrument training and age-related cognitive decline and brain atrophy (musicians: mean age 70.8 years, musical experience 52.7 years; non-musicians: mean age 71.4 years, no or less than 3 years of musical experience). Although previous research has demonstrated that young musicians have larger gray matter volume (GMV) in the auditory-motor cortices and cerebellum than non-musicians, little is known about older musicians. Music imagery in young musicians is also known to share a neural underpinning [the supramarginal gyrus (SMG) and cerebellum] with music performance. Thus, we hypothesized that older musicians would show superiority to non-musicians in some of the abovementioned brain regions. Behavioral performance, GMV, and brain activity, including functional connectivity (FC) during melodic working memory (MWM) tasks, were evaluated in both groups. Behaviorally, musicians exhibited a much higher tapping speed than non-musicians, and tapping speed was correlated with executive function in musicians. Structural analyses revealed larger GMVs in both sides of the cerebellum of musicians, and importantly, this was maintained until very old age. Task-related FC analyses revealed that musicians possessed greater cerebellar-hippocampal FC, which was correlated with tapping speed. Furthermore, musicians showed higher activation in the SMG during MWM tasks; this was correlated with earlier commencement of instrumental training. These results indicate advantages or heightened coupling in brain regions associated with music performance and imagery in musicians. We suggest that lifelong instrumental training highly predicts the structural maintenance of the cerebellum and related cognitive maintenance in old age