Weak Bimetal Coupling-Assisted MN Catalyst for Enhanced Carbon Dioxide Reduction Reaction.

The design of multimetal catalysts holds immense significance for efficient CO capture and its conversion into economically valuable chemicals. Herein, heterobimetallic catalysts (MM)L were exploited for the CO reduction reactions (CORR) using relativistic density functional theory (DFT). The octadentate Pacman-like polypyrrolic ligand (HL) accommodates two metal ions (Mo, W, Nd, and U) inside (M) and outside (M) its month, rendering a weak bimetal coupling-assisted MN catalytically active site.

Theoretical Investigation of Catalytic Water Splitting by the Arene-Anchored Actinide Complexes.

Actinide complexes, which could enable the electrocatalytic HO reduction, are not well documented because of the fact that actinide-containing catalysts are precluded by extremely stable actinyl species. Herein, by using relativistic density functional theory calculations, the arene-anchored trivalent actinide complexes (ArO)An (marked as [AnL]) with desirable electron transport between metal and ligand arene are investigated for H production. The metal center is changed from Ac to Pu.

CO Cleavage Reaction Driven by Alkylidyne Complexes of Group 6 Metals and Uranium: A Density Functional Theory Study on Energetics, Reaction Mechanism, and Structural/Bonding Properties.

Designing novel catalysts is essential for the efficient conversion of metal alkylidyne into metal oxo ketene complexes in the presence of CO, which to some extent resolves the environmental concerns of the ever-increasing carbon emission. In this regard, a series of metal alkylidyne complexes, []M≡CCH(THF) ([] = {(CH[C(CF)O])N}; M = Cr, Mo, W, and U), have been comprehensively studied by relativistic density functional theory calculations. The calculated thermodynamics and kinetics unravel that the tungsten complex is capable of catalyzing the CO cleavage reaction, agreeing with the experimental findings for its analogue.

The effects of varying tympanic-membrane material properties on human middle-ear sound transmission in a three-dimensional finite-element model.

An anatomically based three-dimensional finite-element human middle-ear (ME) model is used to test the sensitivity of ME sound transmission to tympanic-membrane (TM) material properties. The baseline properties produce responses comparable to published measurements of ear-canal input impedance and power reflectance, stapes velocity normalized by ear-canal pressure (P), and middle-ear pressure gain (MEG), i.e.

Traveling waves on the organ of corti of the chinchilla cochlea: spatial trajectories of inner hair cell depolarization inferred from responses of auditory-nerve fibers.

Spatial magnitude and phase profiles for inner hair cell (IHC) depolarization throughout the chinchilla cochlea were inferred from responses of auditory-nerve fibers (ANFs) to threshold- and moderate-level tones and tone complexes. Firing-rate profiles for frequencies ≤2 kHz are bimodal, with the major peak at the characteristic place and a secondary peak at 3-5 mm from the extreme base. Response-phase trajectories are synchronous with peak outward stapes displacement at the extreme cochlear base and accumulate 1.

Effects of coiling on the micromechanics of the mammalian cochlea.

The cochlea transduces sound-induced vibrations in the inner ear into electrical signals in the auditory nerve via complex fluid-structure interactions. The mammalian cochlea is a spiral-shaped organ, which is often uncoiled for cochlear modelling. In those few studies where coiling has been considered, the cochlear partition was often reduced to the basilar membrane only.

Evidence and implications of inhomogeneity in tectorial membrane elasticity.

The motion of the tectorial membrane (TM) with respect to the reticular lamina subserves auditory function by bending the outer hair cell bundles and inducing fluid flows that shear the inner hair bundles in response to sound energy. Little is currently known about its intrinsic elasticity or about the relation between the mechanical properties and function of the membrane. Here we subdivide the TM into three longitudinal regions and five radial zones and map the shear modulus of the TM using atomic force microscopy, and present evidence that the TM elasticity varies radially, after the distribution of type A collagen fibrils.

Evidence of tectorial membrane radial motion in a propagating mode of a complex cochlear model.

Knowledge of vibratory patterns in the cochlea is crucial to understanding the stimulation of mechanosensory cells. Experiments to determine the motion of the cochlear partition and surrounding fluid are extremely challenging. As a result, the motion data are incomplete and often contradictory.

Motion analysis in the hemicochlea.

Optical flow techniques are often used to estimate velocity fields to represent motion in successive video images. Usually the method is mathematically ill-posed, because the single scalar equation representing the conservation of local intensity contains more than one unknown velocity component. Instead of regularizing the problem using optimization techniques, we formulate a well-posed problem for the gerbil hemicochlea preparation by introducing an in-plane incompressibility constraint, and then show that local brightness is also conserved.

A model of the structural and functional development of the normal human fetal left ventricle based on a global growth law.

The purpose of this research is to study the growth of the normal human left ventricle (LV) during the fetal period from 14 to 40 weeks of gestation. A new constitutive law for the active myocardium describing the mechanical properties of the active muscle during the whole cardiac cycle has been proposed. The LV model is a thick-walled, incompressible, hyperelastic cylinder, with families of helicoidal fibers running on cylindrical surfaces [1].