There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Three parallel algorithms for classical molecular dynamics are presented. The first assigns each processor a fixed subset of atoms; the second assigns each a fixed subset of inter-atomic forces to compute; the third assigns each a fixed spatial region. The algorithms are suitable for molecular dynamics models which can be difficult to parallelize efficiently—those with short-range forces where the neighbors of each atom change rapidly. They can be implemented on any distributed-memory parallel machine which allows for message-passing of data between independently executing processors. The algorithms are tested on a standard Lennard-Jones benchmark problem for system sizes ranging from 500 to 100,000,000 atoms on several parallel supercomputers--the nCUBE 2, Intel iPSC/860 and Paragon, and Cray T3D. Comparing the results to the fastest reported vectorized Cray Y-MP and C90 algorithm shows that the current generation of parallel machines is competitive with conventional vector supercomputers even for small problems. For large problems, the spatial algorithm achieves parallel efficiencies of 90% and a 1840-node Intel Paragon performs up to 165 faster than a single Cray C9O processor. Trade-offs between the three algorithms and guidelines for adapting them to more complex molecular dynamics simulations are also discussed.

Fast parallel algorithms for short-range molecular dynamics

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) is an independent organization devoted to the development of standards.

American Society for Testing and Materials

Direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) are attracting increasing interest as power sources for portable applications due to some unquestionable advantages over analogous devices fed with hydrogen.1 Alcohols, such as methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol, and glycerol, exhibit high volumetric energy density, and their storage and transport are much easier as compared to hydrogen. On the other hand, the oxidation kinetics of any alcohol are much slower and still H2-fueled polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs) exhibit superior electrical performance as compared to DAFCs with comparable electroactive surface areas.2,3 Increasing research efforts are therefore being carried out to design and develop more efficient anode electrocatalysts for DAFCs.

Palladium-Based Electrocatalysts for Alcohol Oxidation in Half Cells and in Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells

http://chglib.icp.ac.ru/subjex/2012/pdf05/JPowSources-2010-195(11)3431.pdf

Alkaline direct alcohol fuel cells

Differences in structure and property of carbon paper and carbon cloth diffusion media and their impact on proton exchange membrane fuel cell flow field design

High yield formation of carbon nanotubes using a rotating cathode in open air

In this article, we report the synthesis and use of a novel drug delivery particle, based on bio-compatible polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG-400) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). MWCNTs in PEG-400 were broken into small tubes by vortex mixing with tungsten-carbide balls for about 15 h. Length separation of MWCNTs was then done using differential centrifugation with various concentrations of PEG-400. The separated MWCNTs in PEG solution were further pelletized using high speed centrifugation and re-dispersed in water. Novel cocoon like oval nanoparticles of about 100–200 nm size was observed in one of the centrifuged fractions. TEM shows that the cocoons primarily have PEG enclosing few MWCNTs. However, similar structures were not found when differential centrifugation was done without MWCNTs. These nano-cocoons are hemo-compatible, non-toxic to mice fibroblast cell lines (L929), have great potential to be used as nano biomaterials and they could be loaded with naturally anti-cancerous drug curcumin. The cocoon–curcumin complex is dispersible in saline and could be internalized by brain cancer cells (C6 glioma) while free curcumin dispersed in saline could not enter C6 glioma cells.

Novel nano-cocoon like structures of polyethylene glycol–multiwalled carbon nanotubes for biomedical applications

The invention provides an anode gas diffusion layer for a fuel cell and methods for preparation and use thereof. In particular, a hydrophilic anode gas diffusion layer promotes water transfer through the fuel cell. As an example, in one aspect, the invention provides a fuel cell system, including a fuel cell with an anode gas diffusion layer. The anode gas diffusion layer has a contact angle with water less than 140° (e.g., in some cases less than 120° or less than 100°). In another aspect, the invention provides a gas diffusion layer for a hydrogen electrode of a PEM fuel cell that includes a carbon fiber media having a water contact angle of less than 140°.

Prathap Haridoss

Papers

Differences in structure and property of carbon paper and carbon cloth diffusion media and their impact on proton exchange membrane fuel cell flow field design

High yield formation of carbon nanotubes using a rotating cathode in open air

Novel nano-cocoon like structures of polyethylene glycol–multiwalled carbon nanotubes for biomedical applications

Hydrophilic anode gas diffusion layer

Optical properties of zinc oxide nanocrystals embedded in mesoporous silica