The intriguing recovery of an extremely Cu-rich cupropearceite crystal (Cu = 7.62 a.p.f.u.) from Tsumeb, Namibia, allowed us to study the effect of the entry of Cu in the positions usually occupied by Ag in the B module layer in the structure of the minerals belonging to the pearceite-polybasite group. Electron microprobe analysis yields the formula [Cu6(As1.89Fe0.01) Σ=1.90S7.05][(Ag8.36Cu0.62...

Efficient regulation of fluorescence in molecular systems has raised considerable interest in recent years because of its significant potential application in fluorescent probes,[1] sensors,[2] memory devices,[3] logic gates,[4] etc. A large number of fluorescent molecular switches with response to light,[5] temperature,[6] electrochemical potential,[7] pH,[2a,8] and metal ions[2b,9] have thus ...

A short description about the importance of glycan biorecognition in physiological (blood cell type) and pathological processes (infections by human and avian influenza viruses) is provided in this review. Glycans are described as much better information storage media, compared to proteins or DNA, due to the extensive variability of glycan structures. Techniques able to detect an exact glycan s...

Nucleic acids are astonishingly versatile. In addition to their natural role as storage medium for biological information(1), they can be utilized in parallel computing(2,3) , recognize and bind molecular or cellular targets(4,5) , catalyze chemical reactions(6,7) , and generate calculated responses in a biological system(8,9). Importantly, nucleic acids can be programmed to self-assemble into ...

Depletion of fossil oil deposits and the escalating threat of global warming have put clean energy research, which includes the search for clean energy carriers such as hydrogen and methane as well as the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, on the urgent agenda. A significant technical challenge has been recognized as the development of a viable method to efficiently trap hydrogen, methane a...

Despite the fact that images constitute the main objects in machine vision, there is remarkably little concern about their actual deenition. We propose a deenition beyond machine-speciic technicalities. Such a deenition is of interest in the design of applications for which the details of the storage medium are not crucially important (the usual case). It provides a uniied conceptual framework ...

A significant improvement in molecular hydrogen uptake properties is revealed by our ab initio calculations for Li-decorated metal-organic framework 5. We have found that two Li atoms are strongly adsorbed on the surfaces of the six-carbon rings, one on each side, carrying a charge of +0.9e per Li atom. Each Li can cluster three H(2) molecules around itself with a binding energy of 12 kJ (mol H...