Sensor properties of hybrid SnO2-polysilazane materials

New hybrid materials based on nanocrystalline tin dioxide and two types of surface-immobilized polymer organosilicon structures with hydrocarbon substitutes were synthesized for gas sensors application. The sensing responses of pure SnO₂ and hybrid samples were determined in the presence of NO₂ (ppb range), CO (ppm range) and different humidity (RH = 15 – 95 %). Also the influence of water presence on sensor signal towards NO₂ and CO was analyzed. Strong influence of nature of hydrocarbon substitutes on sensor response value towards NO₂ and H₂O was discovered.     

Holographic Study of Surface Relief Using a Shear Interferometer

Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics - We describe experimental studies of the recording of the relief of a diffusely reflecting surface using a shear interferometer. The interferometer uses a...     

Enzyme-mediated biodegradation of heat treated commercial polyethylene by Staphylococcal species

Extruded low-density polyethylene (LDPE) films commonly available in the market as 20-micron thick carrier bags were autoclaved, overlaid on nutrient agar plates and inoculated with BP/SU1 strain of Staphylococcus epidermis. The nutrient agar plate showed growth of the organism within two to three days. The polymer film supporting the growth of the organism showed pore formation as recorded by SEM analysis. The growth of BP/SU1 is supported by the presence of shredded LDPE as its only carbon source in inorganic salt minimal nutrient medium. The organism survives even after three months of inoculation and this is accompanied by gradual breakdown of the size of the shredded plastic as seen by light scattering. The cell-free supernatant of the organism, grown with the help of shredded plastic shows the presence of the over expressed proteins with approximate molecular weight of about 55 kDa and 35 kDa, through SDS-PAGE analysis.     

Mechanism of methanol conversion on ZrO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and 5% Cu/ZrO<Subscript>2</Subscript> according to in situ IR spectroscopic data

It is demonstrated by in situ IR spectroscopy that, in methanol conversion on ZrO₂ and 5% Cu/ZrO₂ catalysts, methoxy groups are present on the catalyst surface, which result from O-H or C-O bond breaking in the methanol molecule. Two types of formate complexes, localized on ZrO₂ and CuO, are also observed. The formate complexes form via the oxidative conversion of the methoxy groups. There are two types of linear methoxy groups. First-type linear methoxy groups condense with the formate complex located on CuO to yield methyl formate and then CO and H₂. Second-type methoxy groups appear as intermediate products in the formation of dimethyl ether. The main hydrogen formation reactions are the recombination of hydrogen atoms (which result from the interconversion of surface complexes) on copper clusters and the decomposition of methyl formate. The source of CO₂ in the gas phase is the formate complex, and the source of CO is methyl formate. The effect of water vapor and oxygen the surface reactions and product formation is discussed.     

A High-Order Immersed Boundary Method for Acoustic Wave Scattering and Low-Mach Number Flow-Induced Sound in Complex Geometries

A new sharp-interface immersed boundary method based approach for the computation of low-Mach number flow-induced sound around complex geometries is described. The underlying approach is based on a hydrodynamic/acoustic splitting technique where the incompressible flow is first computed using a second-order accurate immersed boundary solver. This is followed by the computation of sound using the linearized perturbed compressible equations (LPCE). The primary contribution of the current work is the development of a versatile, high-order accurate immersed boundary method for solving the LPCE in complex domains. This new method applies the boundary condition on the immersed boundary to a high-order by combining the ghost-cell approach with a weighted least-squares error method based on a high-order approximating polynomial. The method is validated for canonical acoustic wave scattering and flow-induced noise problems. Applications of this technique to relatively complex cases of practical interest are also presented.     

New azo derivatives of gossypol

New azo derivatives of gossypol are described. Their physicochemical properties are reported. The presence of hydroxyazo- and quinonhydrazo-tautomers is proposed.A. S. Sadykov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, fax (99871) 162 70 71. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 145–148, March–April, 2000.     

A study of the hydrolysis of amino derivatives of gossypol at various pH values

The results are given of a study of the hydrolysis of alkyl- and heterylimines of gossypol at various pH values.A. S. Sadykov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, fax (371) 162 70 71. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 38–41, January–February, 1999.     

Carbohydrates ofAllium. II. A new type of glucofructan fromAllium sativum

By fractionating the total glucofructan from the bulbs ofAllium sativum L. a homogeneous glucofructan with a molecular weight of 2300 has been isolated. On the basis of its characteristics, a comparison of IR and¹³C NMR spectra, and the results of periodate and chromium trioxide oxidation and of methylation, it has been established that this glucofructan is a new type of compound of this class, containing both inulin (2 → 1) and levan (2 → 6) glycosidic bonds.     

A combined treatment of hydration and dynamical effects for the modeling of host–guest binding thermodynamics: the SAMPL5 blinded challenge

As part of the SAMPL5 blinded experiment, we computed the absolute binding free energies of 22 host–guest complexes employing a novel approach based on the BEDAM single-decoupling alchemical free energy protocol with parallel replica exchange conformational sampling and the AGBNP2 implicit solvation model specifically customized to treat the effect of water displacement as modeled by the Hydration Site Analysis method with explicit solvation. Initial predictions were affected by the lack of treatment of ionic charge screening, which is very significant for these highly charged hosts, and resulted in poor relative ranking of negatively versus positively charged guests. Binding free energies obtained with Debye–Hückel treatment of salt effects were in good agreement with experimental measurements. Water displacement effects contributed favorably and very significantly to the observed binding affinities; without it, the modeling predictions would have grossly underestimated binding. The work validates the implicit/explicit solvation approach employed here and it shows that comprehensive physical models can be effective at predicting binding affinities of molecular complexes requiring accurate treatment of conformational dynamics and hydration.