Determination of activation effect of Ca(OH)<Subscript>2</Subscript> upon the hydration of BFS and related heat by isothermal calorimeter

Isothermal conduction calorimetry, differential thermal analysis (DTA)–thermogravimetric analysis (TG) analysis, and SEM observations have proved the activation effect of Ca(OH)₂ released from the C₃S hydration upon blast furnace slag (BFS). Five sample mixtures of BFS and C₃S and two samples of pure BFS and C₃S were submitted to reaction with water inside the calorimeter at room temperature. The values of hydration heat were recorded up to 7 days. Samples were stored in humidity during 28 days and then were submitted to DTA–TG and SEM analysis. The effect of Ca(OH)₂ upon heat evolution of sample mixtures has been quantified and its influence upon the formation of new hydrates and microstructure of pastes was evidenced.     

On multiplication groups of relatively free quasigroups isotopic to Abelian groups

If Q is a quasigroup that is free in the class of all quasigroups which are isotopic to an Abelian group, then its multiplication group Mlt Q is a Frobenius group. Conversely, if Mlt Q is a Frobenius group, Q a quasigroup, then Q has to be isotopic to an Abelian group. If Q is, in addition, finite, then it must be a central quasigroup (a T-quasigroup).This work was supported by institutional grant MSM 113200007, and by Grant Agency of Czech Republic, grant number 201/99/0263.     

An acceleration of Erlenkotter-Körkel’s algorithms for the uncapacitated facility location problem

This contribution is focused on an acceleration of branch and bound algorithms for the uncapacitated facility location problem. Our approach is based on the well-known Erlenkotters’ procedures and Körkels’ multi-ascent and multi-adjustment algorithms, which have proved to be the efficient tools for solving the large-sized instances of the uncapacitated facility location problem. These two original approaches were examined and a thorough analysis of their performance revealed how each particular procedure contributes to the computational time of the whole algorithms. These analyses helped us to focus our effort on the most frequent procedures. The unique contribution of this paper is a new dual ascent procedure. This procedure leads to considerable acceleration of the lower bound computation process and reduces the resulting computational time. To demonstrate more efficient performance of amended algorithms we present the results of extensive numerical experiments.     

Polyaniline/montmorillonite nanocomposite thin layers deposited on different substrates

Preparation method of polyaniline/montmorillonite (PANI/MMT) nanocomposite in the form of thin layer deposited on various substrates is optimized in this work to obtain high electrical conductivity. Simple method (i.e. polymerization of anilinium sulfate in the presence of MMT) has been used for the preparation and following four conditions were varied: preparation temperature (T = 10 or 20 °C), preparation time (t = 4 or 6 h), size fraction of MMT (p < 1 or 5 µm), and type of substrate (microscope glass slides, silica glass slides, polyester foils). Therefore, 24 samples were prepared, characterized and their electrical conductivity was compared. Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used for the characterization of the structure of samples. Thickness of layers was measured using atomic force microscopy. Based on the comparison of samples and with respect to the aim of obtaining high electrical conductivity, it was found that the most suitable substrate is polyester foil and preparation conditions are T = 20 °C, t = 6 h, p < 5 µm. To obtain highly conductive layers on glass substrates (although less conductive than layers on foil), preparation time have to be shortened to 4 h.     

Raman study of PANI thin film during long time period in dependence on storage conditions

Conducting polymer polyaniline which is nowadays in forefront of the interest was in our study prepared in a form of thin films from anilinium sulfate by its chemical oxidation using ammonium peroxydisulfate. During the oxidation process, the polyaniline was deposited on glass slides and immersed into reaction mixture. Two sets of polyaniline thin films were prepared with different oxidation times (10, 20, 30, and 40 min). The first set was kept dry in desiccator and the second one was freely exposed to air moisture. Raman spectroscopy, nondestructive technique which is very sensitive to changes in structure of polymers, was used for the characterization of the protonation state of prepared polyaniline thin films. It was found that storage conditions affect the protonation state which in case of samples kept in desiccator is maintained without significant changes for longer time. Raman spectroscopy also revealed the dependence of protonation state on the oxidation time and 10 min proved as not sufficient for the creation of the protonation form of polyaniline.     

Antimicrobial activity of newly synthesized thienoquinolizidines derivatives: inspired by natural plant alkaloids

The antimicrobial activity of 16 newly prepared quinolizidines derivatives using bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Proteus sp., Escherichia coli) acid fast bacterium Mycobacterium smegmatis, yeasts (Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis), and filamentous fungi (Fusarium culmorum, Microsporum gypseum, Aspergillus flavus, Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria alternata) was studied in this paper. The best antibacterial properties were demonstrated by derivatives 11Ba, trans10Bb and 11Bb, and the most sensitive microorganism was found to be the gram-positive bacterium S. epidermidis. The derivative 11Bb showed the best antifungal activity, while C. albicans was resistant to all tested derivatives, and C. parapsilosis was fully inhibited in the presence of the derivative 11Ba and 11Bb. Among the filamentous fungi, only the dermatophyte M. gypseum was partially inhibited. Biofilms represent the most prevalent type of microbial growth in nature and are crucial to the development of clinical infections. Newly synthesized derivatives were also added into the medium throughout the biofilm formation. We have observed a significant decrease of biofilm formation in the presence of quinolizidine derivatives, testifying to their significant antimicrobial activity. It seems that the relationship between antimicrobial activity and the structure is based on the alkaline character due to nitrogen, the saturated basic quinolizidine skeleton, and the position of sulfur in the molecule.     

Low-density polyethylene in mixtures of hexane and benzene derivates

Preferential sorption, equilibrium swelling degree, and volume of the swollen membrane in systems low-density polyethylene + hexane + aromatic compound (benzene, methylbenzene, or ethylbenzene) were studied using gravimetric and dilatometric methods at the temperature of 25 °C. Aromatic compounds are preferentially sorbed in low-density polyethylene compared to hexane. Experimental volume changes of the membrane were found to be noticeably different from those calculated on the basis of mass sorption data under the assumption of additivity. This difference points to the existence of the interactions between the polymer and the surrounding liquid mixture. The volume swelling degree curves are close to each other in the whole concentration range of the binary liquid mixture (hexane + aromatics) suggesting that the attractive forces between the polymer chains are the deciding factor limiting the volume expansion of the membrane in all three systems to the same extent.