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This book focuses on a central question in the field of complex systems: Given a fluctuating (in time or space), uni- or multi-variant sequentially measured set of experimental data (even noisy data), how should one analyse non-parametrically the data, assess underlying trends, uncover characteristics of the fluctuations (including diffusion and jump contributions), and construct a stochastic evolution equation?
Here, the term "non-parametrically" exemplifies that all the functions and parameters of the constructed stochastic evolution equation can be determined directly from the measured data.
The book provides an overview of methods that have been developed for the analysis of... 

Multi-component photocatalysts based on apatite-coated Ag/AgBr/TiO(2) were prepared by the deposition method. The effects of various kinds of apatites, with hydroxyl and fluoro substituents, on photocatalytic activity were investigated. The antibacterial processes in the dark, and under visible light, on two types of bacteria indicate that the multi-composites can inhibit the growth of bacteria by two different mechanisms. TEM images and optical microscopic data demonstrate that by attaching the nanosize catalyst to the outer membrane of the cell, the bacteria could not derive nourishment from surrounding media, i.e. this component acts as bacteria-static. The mechanism for deactivation of... 

Solute-solvent and solvent-solvent interactions were investigated for binary mixtures of an ionic liquid (IL) 2-hydroxy ethylammonium formate as with methanol, ethylene glycol and glycerol. The physicochemical properties of the solvent mixtures at 25 °C, over the whole range of mole fractions, were determined using solvatochromic probes. High normal polarity ( ENT ) in the alcohol-rich region confirms solute-solvent interactions in this medium. Dipolarity/polarizability (π ∗) show a different trend to ENT with a positive deviation from ideal behavior in IL-glycerol mixtures. However, these deviations for other solvent mixtures are insignificant. Contrary to what is observed for ENT and π ∗,... 

Zeolite-based Ag/AgBr and Ag/AgBr/TiO2 photocatalysts were prepared by sol–gel and deposition methods and were characterized. Their photocatalytic activities were evaluated by inactivation of Escherichia (E.) coli and the photodegradation of Acid Blue 92 and potassium permanganate. The composites containing Ag/AgBr showed the antibacterial activity in the dark by releasing Ag+ ions into the medium. The results for inactivation of E. coli indicated that Ag/AgBr/TiO2 modified photocatalyst had better antibacterial activity than Ag/AgBr/zeolite, while zeolite and TiO2/zeolite did not show any antibacterial activity under visible light and dark conditions. Photodecolarization rate was affected... 

Various ionic liquids (ILs) and their mixtures were coated on the Pt/Al2O3 catalyst and the resulting IL-coated catalysts were used in the synchronous hydrogenation of cyclohexene and acetone. The rate constant (k) and selectivity (S) toward CO hydrogenation were determined for several catalysts in various solvents. The solvatochromic parameters (ETN, normalized polarity parameter; π*, dipolarity-polarizability; β, hydrogen-bond acceptor basicity; α, hydrogen-bond donor acidity) were determined for the used ILs and solvents and the obtained selectivities were modeled based on the solvatochromic parameters of the IL layer and bulk solvent while using the Multiparameter Linear Regression (MLR)... 

The reaction kinetics of 2-bromo-5-nitro thiophene with piperidine was studied in a solvent with a mixture of propan-2-ol with methanol and n-hexane at 25°C. The measured rate coefficients of the reaction demonstrated dramatic variations in propan-2-ol–n-hexane mixtures and mild variations in propan-2-ol–methanol system. The second-order rate coefficients of the reaction, kA, decreased sharply with n-hexane content. The multiparameter correlation of log kA versus molecular-microscopic solvent parameters shows interesting results in these solutions. Linear free energy relationship investigations confirm that polarity has a major effect on the reaction rate and hydrogen bond ability of the... 

Both security and error control coding are very extensive subjects, each with a variety of sub-disciplines. A secure channel coding (joint encryption-channel coding) scheme provides both data secrecy and data reliability in one process to combat problems in an insecure and unreliable channel. In this paper, an adaptive secure channel coding scheme based on serial or parallel concatenated turbo codes is developed. Recent results indicate that the turbo principle delivers near-to-optimal strategies for the channel coding. Reliability and security are achieved by adapting the pseudo-random puncturing strategy to the conditions of the noisy channel. Simulation results show the relevance and... 

Selective oxidations of alkenes were investigated using molecular oxygen in aqueous solution under mild conditions. Colloidal gold nanoparticles are particularly versatile catalysts for oxidation reaction with exceptionally high efficiency and significant selectivity. Gold nanorods (Au NRs) exhibited a slightly enhanced activity compare to gold nanospheres  

Owing to the inherent incompatibility with water, cyanation of aryl halides may be the most challenging category of palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions. The major challenges are attributed to the catalyst deactivation by the soluble cyanide (CN−) ions and desirable conversions only could be obtained by employing toxic organic solvents. The current minireview highlights mechanistic insights and breakthrough achievements for this reaction in the aqueous media  

Due to unstoppable growth of social networks and the large number of users, the detection of communities have become one of the most popular and successful domain of research areas. Detecting communities is a significant aspect in analyzing networks because of its various applications such as sampling, link prediction and communications among members of social networks. There have been proposed many different algorithms for solving community detection problem containing optimization methods. In this paper we propose a novel algorithm based on extended distributed learning automata for solving this problem. Our proposed algorithm benefits from cooperation between learning automata to detect... 

A combined experimental and computational study was carried out on the gas phase pyrolysis reaction of diallylsulfoxide. Allylalcohol and Thioacrolein were detected as the major products during a unimolecular reaction. Experimental kinetic studies were carried out via a static system over the pressure of 21-55 torr and temperature of 435.2-475.1 K. Based on the experiments, the reaction is homogeneous and proceeds through a zwitterionic intermediate. Computational studies at the DFT (B3LYP) and QCISD(T) levels with 6-311++G(d,p) basis set indicated a two-step concerted pathway as the possible route. Comparison between the experimental and theoretical activation parameters for the most... 

Functionalized magnetic core–zeolitic shell nanocomposites were prepared via hydrothermal and precipitation methods. The products were characterized by vibrating sample magnetometer, X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms, and transmission electron microscopy analysis. The growth of mordenite nanocrystals on the outer surface of silica-coated magnetic nanoparticles at the presence of organic templates was well approved. The removal performance and the selectivity of mixed metal ions (Pb2+ and Cd2+) in aqueous solution were investigated via the sorption process. The batch method was employed to study the sorption kinetic,... 

Ab initio, DFT, Monte Carlo statistical mechanics and atom in molecule methods have been applied to investigate the hydrogen bonding effect of protic solvents, apart from the bulk properties, on the reaction of cyclopentadiene and vinyl acetate. The results show that methanol accelerates the rate of the reaction more than water. DFT calculations demonstrate that the interaction of the carbonyl group oxygen atom with solvent molecules in transition state is stronger and more effective than the ether-type oxygen atom. Also, when the solvent molecule is near the oxygen of the carbonyl group the rate of reaction is larger than when it is near the ether-type oxygen. In addition, methanol... 

Structural and intermolecular interactions of solvatochromic probes 4-nitroaniline, 4-nitroanisole, and Reichardt’s dye were investigated in the binary mixtures of 2-hydroxy ethylammonium formate as an ionic liquid with N,N-dimethyl formamide, dimethyl amine, and dimethyl sulfoxide. Solvatochromic parameters (ETN, normalized polarity parameter; π*, dipolarity/polarizability; β, hydrogen-bond acceptor basicity; α, hydrogen -bond donor acidity) were determined in ionic liquid mixtures at 25 °C using UV−vis spectroscopy. ETN parameters obtained from absorbance of Reichardt’s dye within various mixtures of ionic liquid were observed to be higher than predicted values from ideal additive... 

This article has been retracted at the request of the Editorial Board of Current Applied Physics. Please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). Reason: The authors have plagiarized part of a paper that had already appeared in J. Phys. Chem. B, 109 (2005) 3334–3339: “Changes of Coupling between the Electrodes and the Molecule under External Bias Bring Negative Differential Resistance, by Xingqiang Shi, Xiaohong Zheng, Zhenxiang Dai, Yang Wang, and Zhi Zeng”. One of the conditions of submission of a paper for publication is that authors declare explicitly that their work is original and has not appeared in a publication elsewhere. Re-use... 

The fabrication of strong photocatalysts applied to the degradation of organic pollutants is necessary in environmental applications. In a single-stage method, acetate precursor and poly vinyl pyrolydine are used to produce ZnO nanostructures with various morphologies in annealing temperatures ranging from 300 to 900 °C. The physical properties of the prepared nanostructures were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, BET, DRS, CHN analysis and PL spectroscopy. The SEM images exhibit a variety of the as-prepared hexagonal zinc oxides including wires, rods, particles and porous network of welded particles of ZnO nanoparticles. The results of the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue as an... 

Nanocomposite films based on low density polyethylene (LDPE), containing of 2, 3, and 4. wt.% organoclay (OC) and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer as a new compatibilizer were prepared and characterized using rheological tests, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, oxygen permeation measurements, and tensile tests. There was no exfoliation or intercalation of the clay layers in the absence of EVA, while an obvious increase in d-spacing was observed when the samples were prepared with EVA present. This issue was reflected in the properties of nanocomposites. The oxygen barrier properties of the LDPE/EVA/OC film were significantly better than those of the LDPE/OC film.... 

Large-scale ab initio molecular-dynamics simulations have been carried out to compute, at human-body temperature, the vibrational modes and lifetimes of pure and hydrated dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) lipids. The projected atomic vibrations calculated from the spectral energy density are used to compute the vibrational modes and the lifetimes. All the normal modes of the pure and hydrated DPPC and their frequencies are identified. The computed lifetimes incorporate the full anharmonicity of the atomic interactions. The vibrational modes of the water molecules close to the head group of DPPC are active (possess large projected spectrum amplitudes) in the frequency range 0.5-55 THz,... 

Zeolite-based photocatalysts were prepared by the sol-gel and deposition methods. The photocatalysts were characterised by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry. The activity of the prepared photocatalysts was evaluated by the UV-induced degradation of acid blue 92, a textile dye in common use. The effect of various parameters, such as catalyst concentration, initial dye concentration, thiosulphate concentration and pH, on the rate and efficiency of the photocatalytic degradation of acid blue 92 was investigated. The results showed that each parameter influenced the degradation... 

This review addresses a central question in the field of complex systems: given a fluctuating (in time or space), sequentially measured set of experimental data, how should one analyze the data, assess their underlying trends, and discover the characteristics of the fluctuations that generate the experimental traces? In recent years, significant progress has been made in addressing this question for a class of stochastic processes that can be modeled by Langevin equations, including additive as well as multiplicative fluctuations or noise. Important results have emerged from the analysis of temporal data for such diverse fields as neuroscience, cardiology, finance, economy, surface science,...