Smart molecules at work-mimicking advanced logic operations

Molecular logic is an interdisciplinary research field, which has captured worldwide interest. This tutorial review gives a brief introduction into molecular logic and Boolean algebra. This serves as the basis for a discussion of the state-of-the-art and future challenges in the field. Representative examples from the most recent literature including adders/subtractors, multiplexers/demultiplexers, encoders/decoders, and sequential logic devices (keypad locks) are highlighted. Other horizons, such as the utility of molecular logic in bio-related applications, are discussed as well

The agent architecture InteRRaP : concept and application

One of the basic questions of research in Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI) is how agents have to be structured and organized, and what functionalities they need in order to be able to act and to interact in a dynamic environment. To cope with this question is the purpose of models and architectures for autonomous and intelligent agents. In the first part of this report, InteRRaP, an agent architecture for multi-agent systems is presented. The basic idea is to combine the use of patterns of behaviour with planning facilities in order to be able to exploit the advantages both of the reactive, behaviour-based and of the deliberate, plan-based paradigm. Patterns of behaviour allow an agent to react flexibly to changes in its environment. What is considered necessary for the performance of more sophisticated tasks is the ability of devising plans deliberately. A further important feature of the model is that it explicitly represents knowledge and strategies for cooperation. This makes it suitable for describing high-level interaction among autonomous agents. In the second part of the report, the loading-dock domain is presented, which has been the first application the InteRRaP agent model has been tested with. An automated loading-dock is described where the agent society consists of forklifts which have to load and unload trucks in a shared, dynamic environment

Cooperative transportation scheduling : an application domain for DAI

A multiagent approach to designing the transportation domain is presented. The MARS system is described which models cooperative order scheduling within a society of shipping companies. We argue why Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI) offers suitable tools to deal with the hard problems in this domain. We present three important instances for DAI techniques that proved useful in the transportation application: cooperation among the agents, task decomposition and task allocation, and decentralised planning. An extension of the contract net protocol for task decomposition and task allocation is presented; we show that it can be used to obtain good initial solutions for complex resource allocation problems. By introducing global information based upon auction protocols, this initial solution can be improved significantly. We demonstrate that the auction mechanism used for schedule optimisation can also be used for implementing dynamic replanning. Experimental results are provided evaluating the performance of different scheduling strategies

Unifying control in a layered agent architecture

In this paper, we set up a unifying perspective of the individual control layers of the architecture InteRRaP for autonomous interacting agents. InteRRaP is a pragmatic approach to designing complex dynamic agent societies, e.g. for robotics Müller & Pischel and cooperative scheduling applications Fischer et al.94. It is based on three general functions describing how the actions an agent commits to are derived from its perception and from its mental model: belief revision and abstraction, situation recognition and goal activation, and planning and scheduling. It is argued that each InteRRaP control layer - the behaviour-based layer, the local planning layer, and the cooperative planning layer - can be described by a combination of different instantiations of these control functions. The basic structure of a control layer is defined. The individual functions and their implementation in the different layers are outlined. We demonstrate various options for the design of interacting agents within this framework by means of an interacting robots application. The performance of different agent types in a multiagent environment is empirically evaluated by a series of experiments

Acute and Chronic Effects of Green Oat (Avena sativa) Extract on Cognitive Function and Mood during a Laboratory Stressor in Healthy Adults: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study in Healthy Humans

Green oat (Avena sativa) extracts contain several groups of potentially psychoactive phytochemicals. Previous research has demonstrated improvements in cognitive function following a single dose of these extracts, but not following chronic supplementation. Additionally, whilst green oat extracts contain phytochemicals that may improve mood or protect against stress, for instance species-specific triterpene saponins, to date this possibility has not been examined. The current study investigated the effects of a single dose and four weeks of administration of a novel, Avena sativa herbal extract (cognitaven®) on cognitive function and mood, and changes in psychological state during a laboratory stressor. The study adopted a dose-ranging, double-blind, randomised, parallel groups design in which 132 healthy males and females (35 to 65 years) received either 430 mg, 860 mg, 1290 mg green oat extract or placebo for 29 days. Assessments of cognitive function, mood and changes in psychological state during a laboratory stressor (Observed Multitasking Stressor) were undertaken pre-dose and at 2 h and 4 h post-dose on the first (Day 1) and last days (Day 29) of supplementation. The results showed that both a single dose of 1290 mg and, to a greater extent, supplementation for four weeks with both 430 mg and 1290 mg green oat extract resulted in significantly improved performance on a computerised version of the Corsi Blocks working memory task and a multitasking task (verbal serial subtractions and computerised tracking) in comparison to placebo. After four weeks, the highest dose also decreased the physiological response to the stressor in terms of electrodermal activity. There were no treatment-related effects on mood. These results confirm the acute cognitive effects of Avena sativa extracts and are the first to demonstrate that chronic supplementation can benefit cognitive function and modulate the physiological response to a stressor

Excited-State Dynamics in Borylated Arylisoquinoline Complexes in Solution and in cellulo

Two four-coordinate organoboron N,C-chelate complexes with different functional terminals on the PEG chains are studied with respect to their photophysical properties within human MCF-7 cells. Their excited-state properties are characterized by time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy and fluorescence lifetime microscopy. The excited-state relaxation dynamics of the two complexes are similar when studied in DMSO. Aggregation of the complexes with the carboxylate terminal group is observed in water. When studying the light-driven excited-state dynamics of both complexes in cellulo, i. e., after being taken up into human MCF-7 cells, both complexes show different features depending on the nature of the anchoring PEG chains. The lifetime of a characteristic intramolecular charge-transfer state is significantly shorter when studied in cellulo (360±170 ps) as compared to in DMSO (∼960 ps) at 600 nm for the complexes with an amino group. However, the kinetics of the complexes with the carboxylate group are in line with those recorded in DMSO. On the other hand, the lifetimes of the fluorescent state are almost identical for both complexes in cellulo. These findings underline the importance to evaluate the excited-state properties of fluorophores in a complex biological environment in order to fully account for intra- and intermolecular effects governing the light-induced processes in functional dyes.This work was supported by the European Union (via the ITN LogicLab funded under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the grant agreement No 813920). We thank Prof. Dr. Rainer Heintzmann and Dr. Benedict Diederich for providing BioLab facilities and supporting the image acquisition. The ELYRA 7 (used for producing Figure 3 and S8) was funded by the Free State of Thuringia with grant number 2019 FGI 0003 and supported by the Microverse Imaging Center (funded by the DFG under Germany Âs Excellence Strategy �R EXC 2051 �R Project-ID 390713860). We further acknowledge funding by the DFG (Project number 316213987 – SFB 1278, INST 1757/25-1 FUGG), the Free State of Thuringia (TAB, TMWWDG, AdvancedSTED/2018 FGI 0022; Advanced Flu-Spec/ 2020 FGI 0031), BMBF (Photonics Research Germany (FKZ; 3N15713/13N15717) integrated into the Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI)) and the innovation program by the German BMWi (ZIM; project 16KN070934 / Labon- a-chip FCS-Easy). The Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grants PID2020-119992GB-I00, PID2019-106358GBC21, and PID2019-106358GB-C22), the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (grant 202080I005 for A.R.), and the Junta de Andalucía/University of Huelva (grant UHU-202070) are thanked for financial support. We thank Dr. Z. Dom Nguez for assistance in the early stage of this project. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL

Über die schwingungsspektroskopische Untersuchung von Anregungen im mittleren und fernen Infrarot an Oberflächen metallischer Einkristalle

In dieser Arbeit wurden einkristalline Metalloberflächen und deren Wechselwirkung mit Adsorbaten mittels Schwingungsspektroskopie im Ultrahochvakuum (UHV) charakterisiert. Die untersuchten Systeme reichen von der glatten, unbedeckten Oberfläche über aufgeraute und oxidierte Oberflächen bis hin zu anorganischen und organischen Adsorbaten auf den Oberflächen: Die Existenz des akustischen Oberflächenplasmons der Cu(111)-Oberfläche wurde bestätigt; bisherige Annahmen über seine Gruppengeschwindigkeit konnten korrigiert werden. Es konnte weiter gezeigt werden, dass die dissoziative Adsorption von Sauerstoff auf der Cu(110)-Oberfläche zu einer anisotropen, aber in beide Hauptsymmetrierichtungen von Null verschiedenen Änderung des Oberflächenwiderstands führt. Die erste schwingungsspektroskopische Untersuchung der Adsorption von CO auf Au(111) unter UHV-Bedingungen brachte den Nachweis einer chemischen Wechselwirkung zwischen Molekül und glatter Oberfläche. Aufgeraute Cu(110)-Oberflächen weisen wie raue Cu(111)-Oberflächen niederenergetische Anregungen auf, die als Schwingungen von unterkoordinierten Atomen an Stufenkanten oder als an Adatom-Inseln lokalisierte plasmonische Anregungen interpretiert werden können. Aufrauung des Substrats auf atomarer Größenordnung führt zu einer signifikanten Änderung der Schwingungsspektren der Adsorbate CO auf Au(111) und Ethen auf Cu(110). HTMGT, ein großes guanidinyl-funktionalisiertes Aromat, bildet auf Au(111) bei Bedeckungen in der Submonolage Oberflächenkomplexe, deren Infrarotspektren denen des HTMGT-Kations ähneln. Tiefe Substrattemperaturen unterdrücken die Ausbildung solcher Komplexe effektiv

Anke Hennig: <i>Sowjetische Kinodramaturgien. Konfliktlinien zwischen Literatur und Film in der Sowjetunion</i>

Christian Pischel`s review of the book Sowjetische Kinodramaturgien by Anke Henni