There is a standard convention that the icosahedral groups are classified separately from the cubic groups, but these two symmetry types have been conflated as "cubic" in some chemistry textbooks. In this note, the connection between cubic and icosahedral symmetries is examined, using a simple pictorial model. It is shown that octahedral and…

Diverse biological data may be used to create illustrations of molecules in their cellular context. I describe the scientific results that support a recent textbook illustration of a mitochondrion. The image magnifies a portion of the mitochondrion by one million times, showing the location and form of membranes and individual macromolecules,…

Coenzyme Q[subscript 10] (CoQ[subscript 10]) is an essential electron carrier in the mitochondrial respiratory chain and an important antioxidant. Deficiency of CoQ[subscript 10] is a clinically and molecularly heterogeneous syndrome, which, to date, has been found to be autosomal recessive in inheritance and generally responsive to CoQ[subscript…

We present a quantum analysis of two-mode single-photon states based on the probability distributions of the optical field strength (or position quadrature) in order to describe their quantum polarization characteristics, where polarization is understood as a significative confinement of the optical field-strength values on determined regions of…

An experiment analogous to the classical diffraction of light from a circular aperture has been realized with electrons. The results are used to introduce undergraduate students to the wave behaviour of electrons. The diffraction fringes produced by the circular aperture are compared to those predicted by quantum mechanics and are exploited to…

The impact of touch-screen technology on spatial cognitive skills as related to molecular geometries was assessed through 102 one-on-one interviews with undergraduate students. Participants were provided with either printed 2D ball-and-stick images of molecules or manipulable projections of 3D molecular structures on an iPad. Following a brief…

Recent insight into the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms of fragile X syndrome (FXS) has led to the proposal and development of new pharmaceutical treatment strategies, and the initiation of clinical trials aimed at correcting core symptoms of the developmental disorder. Consequently, there is an urgent and critical need for outcome…

Proton beams have been colliding at 7 TeV in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) since 30 March 2010, meaning that the LHC research programme is underway. Particle physicists around the world are looking forward to using the data from these collisions, as the LHC is running at an energy three and a half times higher than previously achieved at any…

Effectively teaching the concepts of osmosis to college-level students is a major obstacle in biological education. Therefore, a novel computer model is presented that allows students to observe the random nature of particle motion simultaneously with the seemingly directed net flow of water across a semipermeable membrane during osmotic…

Excitation of molecular iodine vapor with a green (543.4 nm) helium-neon laser produces a fluorescence spectrum that is well suited for the upper-level undergraduate physical chemistry laboratory. Application of standard evaluation techniques to the spectrum yields ground electronic-state molecular parameters in good agreement with literature…

In this work we evaluated the level of difficulty found in learning stereochemistry concepts, by students intending to teach physical sciences at the Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS) Kouba (Algeria). A paper and pencil questionnaire was administered to 170 students to evaluate: their familiarity with Newman representations; their ability of linking…

Molecular modeling is a powerful tool used for three-dimensional visualization and for exploring electrostatic forces involved in drug transport. This tool enhances student understanding of structure-property relationships, as well as actively engaging them in class. Molecular modeling of several central nervous system (CNS) drugs is used to…

The concept of nanotechnology was first introduced in 1959 by Richard Feynman at a meeting of the American Physical Society. Nanotechnology opens the door to an exciting new science/technology/engineering field. The possibilities for the uses of this technology should inspire the imagination to think big. Many are already pursuing such feats…

Results of analysis of responses to a first-year undergraduate engineering activity are presented. Teams of students were asked to develop a procedure for quantifying the roughness of a surface at the nanoscale, which is typical of problems in Materials Engineering where qualities of a material need to be quantified. Thirty-five teams were…

Adolescence is characterized by increased risk-taking, novelty-seeking, and locomotor activity, all of which suggest a heightened appetitive drive. The neurotransmitter dopamine is typically associated with behavioral activation and heightened forms of appetitive behavior in mammalian species, and this pattern of activation has been described in…