Application of Magneto-optical Characteristic in Liquid: Verdet Constant as Quality Indicator of Repeatedly Cooking Oil

The Faraday Effect is a magnetooptical phenomenon in physics describing the interaction of light and magnetic fields in a medium. A parameter that indicates the interaction is the Verdet constant. In this research, Verdet constant was measured on cooking oil that has been used several times. Magneto-optical properties were measured using the polarimetry method, which uses a He-Ne Laser beam with a magnetic field treatment of 50 gauss, 80 gauss and 100 gauss. The samples analyzed were bulk and non-bulk cooking oil. Repeated use of cooking oil causes a change in the polarization axis of the polarized laser. This has an impact on the Verdet constant of the material. The difference in the Verdet constant shows that the Verdet constant can be used as an indicator of cooking oil that has been used up to three times.

Directional Diels–Alder cycloadditions of isoelectronic graphene and hexagonal boron nitride in oriented external electric fields: reaction axis rule vs. polarization axis rule

We introduced the distinct catalytic mechanisms of the oriented-external-electric-fields-promoted DA reactions of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride. The different responses to fields can be elucidated from the different charge transfer characters.

Network analysis reveals a distinct axis of macrophage activation in response to conflicting inflammatory cues

Macrophages are subject to a wide range of cytokine and pathogen signals in vivo, which contribute to differential activation and modulation of inflammation. Understanding the response to multiple, often conflicting, cues that macrophages experience requires a network perspective. Here, we integrate data from literature curation and mRNA expression profiles to develop a large-scale computational model of the macrophage signaling network. In response to stimulation across all pairs of 9 cytokine inputs, the model predicted activation along the classic M1-M2 polarization axis but also a second axis of macrophage activation that distinguishes unstimulated macrophages from a mixed phenotype induced by conflicting cues. Along this second axis, combinations of conflicting stimuli, interleukin 4 (IL4) with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), interferon-γ (IFNγ), IFNβ, or tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), produced mutual inhibition of several signaling pathways, e.g. nuclear factor κB (NFκB) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6), but also mutual activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) signaling module. In response to combined IFNγ and IL4, the model predicted genes whose expression was mutually inhibited, e.g. inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and arginase 1 (Arg1), or mutually enhanced, e.g. IL4 receptor-α (IL4Rα) and suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1), which was validated by independent experimental data. Knockdown simulations further predicted network mechanisms underlying functional crosstalk, such as mutual STAT3/STAT6-mediated enhancement of IL4Rα expression. In summary, the computational model predicts that network crosstalk mediates a broadened spectrum of macrophage activation in response to mixed pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine cues, making it useful for modeling in vivo scenarios.Summary sentenceNetwork modeling of macrophage activation predicts responses to combinations of cytokines along both the M1-M2 polarization axis and a second axis associated with a mixed macrophage activation phenotype.

Plasmonic layer-selective all-optical switching of magnetization with nanometer resolution

All-optical magnetization reversal with femtosecond laser pulses facilitates the fastest and least dissipative magnetic recording, but writing magnetic bits with spatial resolution better than the wavelength of light has so far been seen as a major challenge. Here, we demonstrate that a single femtosecond laser pulse of wavelength 800 nm can be used to toggle the magnetization exclusively within one of two 10-nm thick magnetic nanolayers, separated by just 80 nm, without affecting the other one. The choice of the addressed layer is enabled by the excitation of a plasmon-polariton at a targeted interface of the nanostructure, and realized merely by rotating the polarization-axis of the linearly-polarized ultrashort optical pulse by 90°. Our results unveil a robust tool that can be deployed to reliably switch magnetization in targeted nanolayers of heterostructures, and paves the way to increasing the storage density of opto-magnetic recording by a factor of at least 2.

Ultrafast isomerization-induced cooperative motions to higher molecular orientation in smectic liquid-crystalline azobenzene molecules

The photoisomerization of molecules is widely used to control the structure of soft matter in both natural and synthetic systems. However, the structural dynamics of the molecules during isomerization and their subsequent response are difficult to elucidate due to their complex and ultrafast nature. Herein, we describe the ultrafast formation of higher-orientation of liquid-crystalline (LC) azobenzene molecules via linearly polarized ultraviolet light (UV) using ultrafast time-resolved electron diffraction. The ultrafast orientation is caused by the trans-to-cis isomerization of the azobenzene molecules. Our observations are consistent with simplified molecular dynamics calculations that revealed that the molecules are aligned with the laser polarization axis by their cooperative motion after photoisomerization. This insight advances the fundamental chemistry of photoresponsive molecules in soft matter as well as their ultrafast photomechanical applications.

Off-shell fermion polarization and t-quark production

Standard calculation of the polarization of final electron for pure initial state may be reformulated as a problem of looking for the complete polarization axis of produced state. It gives method for calculation of polarization applicable for both final and intermediate state fermions. We discuss modification of the energy and spin projectors in theory with parity violation. The obtained projectors are used to give the most accurate parametrization of t-quark resonance curve and simultaneously for its off-shell polarization.

Orientation Dependence of Elastic and Piezoelectric Properties in Rhombohedral BiFeO3

Through a coordinate transformation approach, crystal orientation dependences of elastic and piezoelectric properties at room temperature have been investigated in a three-dimensional space for rhombohedral bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3). Elastic constants (stiffnesses) c11′, c12′, c13′ and piezoelectric constants d15′, d31′, d33′ along arbitrary orientations were obtained based on crystalline asymmetry characteristics of 3m point group BiFeO3. Parameters along specific orientations obtaining the largest values were presented. The max c11′ = 213 × 109 N/m2 could be achieved in planes with ϕ = 0° and 90°. The max c12′ = c13′ = 132.2 × 109 N/m2 could be achieved along directions at θ = 13° and θ = 77° inside three mirror planes, respectively. The max d15′ = 27.6 × 10−12 C/N and the max d31′ = 12.67 × 10−12 C/N could be both obtained along directions at θ = 69° inside mirror planes. The max d33′ = 18 × 10−12 C/N could be obtained at θ = 0°, along the spontaneous polarization axis. By adopting optimal directions, the elastic and piezoelectric parameters of BiFeO3 could be significantly enhanced which shows applications for the growth of BeFeO3 films with preferred orientations and enhanced properties.