Avalanche dynamics in an ensemble of self-propelled camphor boats are studied. The self-propelled agents are camphor infused circular paper disks moving on the surface of water. The ensemble exhibits bursts of activity in the autonomous state triggered by stochastic fluctuations. This type of dynamics has been previously reported in a slightly different system (J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., 2015, 84, 034802). Fourier analysis of the autonomous ensemble's average speed reveals a unimodal spectrum, indicating the presence of a preferred time scale in the dynamics. We therefor, entrain such an ensemble by external forcing by using periodic air perturbations on the surface of the water. This forcing is able to replace the stochastic fluctuations which trigger a burst in the autonomous ensemble, thus entraining the system. Upon varying the periodic forcing frequency, an optimal frequency is revealed at which the quality of entrainment of the ensemble by the forcing is augmented. This optimal frequency is found to be in the vicinity of the Fourier spectrum peak of the autonomous ensemble's average speed. This indicates the existence of an underlying deterministic component in the apparent aperiodic bursts of motion of the autonomous ensemble of active particles. A qualitative reasoning for the observed phenomenon is presented.Double-layered V2O5 and its analogues have received increasing attention as a proper cathode for Mg2+, Na+, Li+ ion batteries, even for ammonium ion batteries. Our theoretical research focuses on the effects of NH4+ ions on the structural stability and the ion diffusion properties of double-layered V2O5. The elastic constant calculations indicate the NH4+ and water contents have a dramatic influence on the stability of the electrode. When the ratio of H2O and ammonia ions decreases to (NH4)0.125V2O5·0.125H2O, double-layered bronze will transform into other phases. The predicted specific capacity for the redox process from (NH4)0.5V2O5·0.5H2O to (NH4)0.125V2O5·0.125H2O is 54.6 mA h g-1, which agrees with the experimental value of 55.6 mA h g-1. From the diffusion barrier calculations, it is found that the H2O molecules can shield the polarization of NH4+ and lower the diffusion barrier of NH4+ ions. Furthermore, the migrations of common charge carriers in NH4+ pre-intercalated V2O5 have also been studied, which implies that Li+, Zn2+, Na+, Mg2+ ions may move easily in the electrode with energy barriers lower than 525 meV. Our findings match well with the reported experimental results. A special structure of Mg6NH4V8O20 with a much higher Mg ion concentration has been reported. Our findings show that the theoretical specific density of Mg batteries based on NH4+ pre-intercalated V2O5 can be improved to 431 mA h g-1, which is 2.5 times larger than the reported values. This work highlights the effects of the ratio of NH4+ and H2O on double-layered V2O5 and provides insights into designing vanadium oxide based fast-diffusion multivalent ion conductors, which are suitable for battery applications.The formation of aggregates and amyloids, a hallmark of many protein misfolding diseases, depends on many intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Many approaches (in vitro, in vivo, and in silico) have been attempted to inhibit the aggregation process so that the progression of these diseases can be controlled. We investigate the effect of a static electric field (EF; 120 V cm-1 and 200 V cm-1) on the conformational change of elastin protein using light scattering, spectroscopy, and microscopy techniques. Laser light scattering and photoluminescence spectroscopy show the formation of fibrils of unexposed elastin with aging, whereas disruption of fibril formation with EF exposed elastin. The size of EF exposed elastin first increases and exhibits an apex, and subsequently decreases with an increasing time of exposure. We observed that a decrease in the size of EF exposed elastin depends on the strength of the EF, faster decrement at higher EF. FTIR data show that EF modifies elastin protein's secondary structures; it facilitates the interconversion of β-sheets and turns into α-helix structures. The SEM images of unexposed and EF exposed elastin confirms the observation through light scattering and PL techniques. The effect of an EF on protein conformation and amyloids is promising to treat Parkinson's disease, a protein misfolding disease.Samples of H2O, HDO, and D2O were isolated in solid parahydrogen (pH2) matrices and irradiated by vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation at 147 nm. Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra showed a clear depletion of D2O and an enrichment of both HDO and H2O by 147 nm irradiation. These irradiation-dependent changes are attributed to the production of OH and/or OD radicals through photodissociations of H2O, HDO, and D2O. The radicals subsequently react with the hydrogen matrix, leading to the observed enrichment of H2O. No trace of isolated OH or OD was detected in the FTIR spectra, indicating that the OH/OD radicals react with the surrounding matrix hydrogen molecules via quantum tunneling within our experimental timescale. The observed temporal changes in concentrations, especially the increase of HDO concentration during VUV irradiation, can be interpreted by a model with a rapid conversion from orthohydrogen (oH2) to pH2 in water-oH2 complexes upon VUV photodissociation, indicating either the acceleration of the nuclear spin conversion (NSC) of H2 due to the magnetic moment of the intermediate OH/OD radical, or the preferential reaction of the OH/OD radical with a nearby oH2 molecule over other pH2 molecules. We have also identified and quantified an anomalously slow NSC of H2O and D2O complexed with oH2 in solid pH2.Modelling of flow-induced nucleation in polymers suggest that long chains are enriched in nuclei, relative to their melt concentration. This enrichment has important consequences for the nucleation rate and mechanism, but cannot be directly observed with current experimental techniques. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/s63845.html Instead, we ran united atom molecular dynamics simulations of bimodal polyethylene blends, comprising linear chains at a 50  50 mix of long (1000 carbon) and short (500-125 carbon) chains, under shear flow. We developed a method to extract the nucleus composition during a transient start-up flow. Our simulations show significant and systematic enrichment of long-chains for all nucleus sizes up to and beyond the critical nucleus. This enrichment is quantitatively predicted by the recent polySTRAND model [Read et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2020, 124, 147802]. The same model parameters also correctly capture the nucleus induction time in our simulations. All parameters of the model were fitted to a small subset of our data in which long chain enhancement was absent.