Chalcogenide based all-solid-state thin electroplated ion-selective membrane for Hg(II) flow-injection determinations

The response to Hg(II) of a thin all-solid-state Te-doped silver chalcogenide membrane, described by the general formula Ag₂ + δSe_{1 − x}Te_x, which has been electrochemically prepared following a previously proposed approach, has been investigated. The kinetics of formation of the membrane's secondary dynamic response to Hg(II) has been successfully combined with the precise timing and transient signal, typical for flow-injection (FI) measurements, in developing a sensitive and reliable mercury FI detector. Under optimized stream conditions it exhibits a linear Nernstian response, with a double slope of the calibration graph of 59 mV dec⁻¹, over the mercury(II) concentration range 10⁻⁶ − 10⁻³ M, the typical sample throughput amounting to about 70 samples per hour. The observed chemical amplification of the signal is due to the specificity of the processes dominating the initial step in formation of the steady-state signal of the membrane to mercury. The analytical performance of the Hg(II) FI detector, as regards sensitivity, reproducibility, selectivity and long-term stability has been thoroughly investigated. The exact procedure for membrane electrodeposition is given and the potential of the proposed approach as a cost-effective way for preparing chalcogenides of unique structure and properties has been outlined in the above context.     

Universality in some classical Coulomb systems of restricted dimension

Coulomb systems in which the particles interact through thed-dimensional Coulomb potential but are confined in a flat manifold of dimensiond–1 are considered. The actual Coulomb potential acting is defined by particular boundary conditions involving a characteristic macroscopic distanceW in the direction perpendicular to the manifold: either it is periodic of periodW in that direction, or it vanishes on one ideal conductor wall parallel to the manifold at a distanceW from it, or it vanishes on two parallel walls at a distanceW from each other with the manifold equidistant from them. Under the assumptions that classical equilibrium statistical mechanics is applicable and that the system has the macroscopic properties of a conductor, it is shown that the suitably smoothed charge correlation function is universal, and that the free energy and the grand potential have universal dependences onW (universal means independent of the microscopic detail). The casesd=2 are discussed in detail, and the generic results are checked on an exactly solvable model. The cased=3 of a plane parallel to an ideal conductor is also explicitly worked out.Laboratoire associé au Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-URA D0063.     

Reaction of D2 with palladium fulleride C60Pd4.9

Fullerene deuteride was obtained by the reaction of deuterium with solid palladium fulleride C₆₀Pd_4.9 under fairly mild conditions. The compound was identified by FD-MS, UV-Vis and IR spectroscopies, and TLC.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 483–484, February, 1996     

Rule-based procedures in short-term electricity load forecasting

A short-term load-forecasting system has been developed to predictload demand for the Irish Electricity Supply Board from 1 to10 days in advance. Model output is acceptably accurate at mosttimes, but special days such as public holidays and the Easterweekend etc. require individual treatment. The basic model usedin everyday load forecasting is presented first, and specialdays when this model fails in accuracy are then examined andtreated separately using rule-based procedures. These proceduresare based on identified relationships between weather conditionsand prevailing daily load shapes. Comparisons are made betweenthe forecasts for these special days as given by the standardmodel and the ruled-based procedures.     

Frontiers in 2D NMR of paramagnetic metalloproteins

The possibilities and the limitations of 2D NMR for the structural characterization of paramagnetic metalloproteins are reviewed. We survey the general strategies for 2D¹H NMR investigations of hyperfine shifted signals. Careful adaptation of classical 2D NMR experiments to fast relaxing systems results in the detection of previously not observed scalar and dipolar connectivities, thus leading to the specific assignment of selected resonances. The approach is of general applicability for paramagnetic metalloproteins. We report here on the application of the application of the method to an iron sulfur protein and a heme protein. In both cases specific assignment of several hyperfine shifted signals, corresponding to active site protons, were obtained; this allowed significant insight into the structure-function relationships of these metalloproteins.     

Max-semistable laws

In this paper we give a characterization of the classMSS of all one-dimensional d.f.'s G satisfying the functional equation G^α(x)=G(L(x)), where α∈(0, 1] andL(x) is strictly monotone. Supported by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science (grant MM-17/1993). Proceedings of the Seminar on Stability Problems for Stochastic Models, Moscow, 1993.