Rhythmic Growth-Induced Ring-Banded Spherulites with Radial Periodic Variation of Thicknesses Grown from Poly(epsilon-caprolactone) Solution with Constant Concentration

Birefringent ring-banded spherulites with radial periodic variation of thicknesses were grown from poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) solutions under conditions for which the Solution concentration was held constant during the whole development of the morphology. The as-grown ring-banded spherulites were investigated by optical (OM) and atomic force (AFM) microscopies, by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of samples sectioned parallel to the plane of film, and also by electron diffraction (ED) and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) techniques.

Synthesis and Characterization of Urea Bridged Hybrid Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica Materials

Urea bridged organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous SiO2 materials (U-BSQMs) were synthesized through a sol-gel procedure by co-condensation of bis(triethoxysilyl propyl) urea (BSPU) under basic conditions using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as organic template. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the mesoporous structure of the sample. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), solid state CP-MAS NMR spectroscopy of Si-29 (Si-29, CP-MAS NMR) and C-13 (C-13 CP NMR) indicated that most of the Si-C bonds are unbroken during the synthesis process.

Synthesis, Spectroscopic Properties, and Stabilities of Ternary Europium Complex in SBA-15 and Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica: A Comparative Study

Ternary europium complex Eu(tta)(3)phen was covalently bonded with the general mesoporous. material SBA-15 and SBA-15-type of periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) material via impregnation of Eu(tta)(3)center dot 2H(2)O into phen-S15 and phen-PMO, respectively, through a ligand exchange reaction. The parent materials of phen-S15 and phen-PMO were synthesized by co-condensation of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) or 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTESE) and the functionalized chelate ligand 5-(N,N-bis(3-triethoxysilyl)propyl)ureyl-1,10-phenanthroline (phen-Si) in the presence of Pluronic P123 surfactant as template, which were confirmed by SEM, XRD, FTIR, Si-29 CP-MAS NMR, and N-2 adsorption measurements.

Novel hybrid periodic mesoporous organosilica material grafting with Tb complex: Synthesis, characterization and photoluminescence property

A novel periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) material was synthesized through one-step co-condensation of 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTESE) and benzoic acid-functionalized organosilane (BA-Si) using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a structure-directing agent under basic conditions. The materials were fully characterized by FTIR, XRD, N-2 adsorption-desorption isotherms and FESEM. FTIR spectra proved that BA-Si was successfully incorporated into the PMO materials (PMOs) via benzyl group as a linker. XRD and N-2 adsorption-desorption isotherms revealed the characteristic mesoporous structure with highly uniform pore size distributions. FESEM confirmed that the morphology of the PMOs was significantly dependent cri the molar ratio of two organosilica precursors.

A novel way to synthesize high regular and periodic organic mesoporous silicas

Organic mesoporous silicas (OMSs) were synthesized in the presence of urea via one-pot synthesis method, in which tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilica (APTES) were used as the silica resources, non-ionic surfactant was used as the template. XRD results showed that the average periodic mesopore sizes of OMSs in the presence of urea were larger than those in the absence of urea. It was also found that the pore sizes of the products in the presence of urea distributed more narrowly than those in the absence of urea, and the contents of organosiloxane incorporated into OMSs, the pore wall thicknesses, the pore volumes and the surface areas of the products all increased with the use of urea. This shows a novel way to synthesize high regular and periodic organic mesoporous silicas.

Periodic radial growth in ring-banded spherulites of poly(epsilon-caprolactone)/poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) blends

The isothermal crystallization process of a PCL/SAN blend (90/10 wt.-%) was investigated by using real time image analysis and hot stage optical microscopy. It was found that the growth rate of ring-banded spherulites in the isothermal crystallization process is not constant. Slow growth occurs in the bright bands, while fast growth is found in the dark bands. The radially unequal growth rate of ring-banded spherulites in PCL/SAN blends may be related to the convex band structure on the surface. This new discovery gives us the idea that rhythmic growth is effective in the growth process of ring banded spherulites.

Highly ordered periodic mesoporous ethanesilica synthesized under neutral conditions

Highly ordered mesoporous ethanesilica (MES) with 2D hexagonal structure was synthesized from 1,2-bis(trimethoxysilyl) ethane under neutral conditions for the first time. Divalent salts, such as NiCl2, MgCl2, ZnCl2, ZnSO4 and Zn(NO3)(2), were used to help the formation of the ordered mesostructure. The MES samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, nitrogen sorption, transmission electron microscopy, FT-IR, C-13 and Si-29 solid-state NMR and thermal gravimetric analysis. A phase transition from a disordered wormhole-like structure to an ordered P6mm structure was observed upon the addition of inorganic salts. The pore size of the MES decreases from 4.7 to 3.9 nm with increasing content of the inorganic salts. Fluoride was also found to be important for the formation of ordered MES under neutral conditions.

Periodic Motion Detection and Estimation via Space-Time Sampling

A novel technique to detect and localize periodic movements in video is presented. The distinctive feature of the technique is that it requires neither feature tracking nor object segmentation. Intensity patterns along linear sample paths in space-time are used in estimation of period of object motion in a given sequence of frames. Sample paths are obtained by connecting (in space-time) sample points from regions of high motion magnitude in the first and last frames. Oscillations in intensity values are induced at time instants when an object intersects the sample path. The locations of peaks in intensity are determined by parameters of both cyclic object motion and orientation of the sample path with respect to object motion. The information about peaks is used in a least squares framework to obtain an initial estimate of these parameters. The estimate is further refined using the full intensity profile. The best estimate for the period of cyclic object motion is obtained by looking for consensus among estimates from many sample paths. The proposed technique is evaluated with synthetic videos where ground-truth is known, and with American Sign Language videos where the goal is to detect periodic hand motions.

Typical delay determines waiting time on periodic-food schedules: Static and dynamic tests.

Pigeons and other animals soon learn to wait (pause) after food delivery on periodic-food schedules before resuming the food-rewarded response. Under most conditions the steady-state duration of the average waiting time, t, is a linear function of the typical interfood interval. We describe three experiments designed to explore the limits of this process. In all experiments, t was associated with one key color and the subsequent food delay, T, with another. In the first experiment, we compared the relation between t (waiting time) and T (food delay) under two conditions: when T was held constant, and when T was an inverse function of t. The pigeons could maximize the rate of food delivery under the first condition by setting t to a consistently short value; optimal behavior under the second condition required a linear relation with unit slope between t and T. Despite this difference in optimal policy, the pigeons in both cases showed the same linear relation, with slope less than one, between t and T. This result was confirmed in a second parametric experiment that added a third condition, in which T + t was held constant. Linear waiting appears to be an obligatory rule for pigeons. In a third experiment we arranged for a multiplicative relation between t and T (positive feedback), and produced either very short or very long waiting times as predicted by a quasi-dynamic model in which waiting time is strongly determined by the just-preceding food delay.

Resonant transmission near nonrobust periodic slab modes.

We present a precise theoretical explanation and prediction of certain resonant peaks and dips in the electromagnetic transmission coefficient of periodically structured slabs in the presence of nonrobust guided slab modes. We also derive the leading asymptotic behavior of the related phenomenon of resonant enhancement near the guided mode. The theory applies to structures in which losses are negligible and to very general geometries of the unit cell. It is based on boundary-integral representations of the electromagnetic fields. These depend on the frequency and on the Bloch wave vector and provide a complex-analytic connection in these parameters between generalized scattering states and guided slab modes. The perturbation of three coincident zeros-those of the dispersion relation for slab modes, the reflection constant, and the transmission constant-is central to calculating transmission anomalies both for lossless dielectric materials and for perfect metals.

The inoculum effect and band-pass bacterial response to periodic antibiotic treatment.

The inoculum effect (IE) refers to the decreasing efficacy of an antibiotic with increasing bacterial density. It represents a unique strategy of antibiotic tolerance and it can complicate design of effective antibiotic treatment of bacterial infections. To gain insight into this phenomenon, we have analyzed responses of a lab strain of Escherichia coli to antibiotics that target the ribosome. We show that the IE can be explained by bistable inhibition of bacterial growth. A critical requirement for this bistability is sufficiently fast degradation of ribosomes, which can result from antibiotic-induced heat-shock response. Furthermore, antibiotics that elicit the IE can lead to 'band-pass' response of bacterial growth to periodic antibiotic treatment: the treatment efficacy drastically diminishes at intermediate frequencies of treatment. Our proposed mechanism for the IE may be generally applicable to other bacterial species treated with antibiotics targeting the ribosomes.