Pb（NO3）2 Mediated Synthesis of Pyrazine

Lead nitrate was used as an efficient catalyst in the oxidation and condensation reaction of hydroxy ketone with diamine leading to the formation of pyrazine derivatives in excellent yields.     

Biosynthesis of (+)-,(-)- and (±)-tetrahydropalmatines

Specific incorporation of didehydroreticuline and reticuline into (±)- (+)-, and (-)-tetrahydropalmatines in Cocculus laurifolius and of (R)- and (S)-reticulines into (R)- and (S)-tetrahydropalmatines respectively has been demonstrated. Feeding of[l-³H, 4'-methoxy-¹⁴C]reticuline suggested that reticuline was not converted in the plants into didehydroreticuline and racemisation of optically active forms of tetrahydropalmatine did not take place via dehydrotetrahydropalmatine     

Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic studies of dithia tetraphenylporphine

We present here infrared absorption spectra of dithia tetraphenylporphine and its cation in the 450–1600 and 2900–3400 cm⁻¹ regions. Most of the allowed IR bands are observed in pairs due to overallD _2h point group symmetry of the molecule. The observed bands have been assigned to the porphyrin skeleton and phenyl ring modes. Some weak bands, which are forbidden underD _2h , also appear in the spectra due to the distortion of the molecule from planarity-caused by the out-of-plane positioned N and S atoms. Increased intensity of some phenyl ring bands compared to free-base tetraphenylporphine is explained on the basis of rotation of phenyl rings towards the mean molecular plane. Contrary to the point group symmetry of cation of dithia tetraphenylporphine, certain bands are observed to be degenerate due to identical bonding arrangements in pyrrole rings of the cation     

Biosynthesis of tetrahydropalmatine and palmatine

The incorporation of (±)-norlaudanosoline, norprotosinomenine, nororientaline, norlaudanidine, reticuline and laudanosine into tetrahydropalmatine and palmatine has been studied, and specific utilization of reticuline demonstrated. Feeding of (±)-[N-methyl-¹⁴C] reticuline showed that C atom 8 of tetrahydropalmatine and palmatine are formed by oxidative cyclisation of the N-Me group of reticuline. Parallel experiments with (R)-; and (S)-, reticulines demonstrated specific incorporation of (R)- isomer into these bases. Feeding experiments also revealed that the plants can convert tetrahydropalmatine into palmatine with high efficiency.     

Crystal structure of zeolite MCM-68: a new three-dimensional framework with large pores

The crystal structure of the aluminosilicate MCM-68 was solved from synchrotron powder diffraction data by the program FOCUS. The unit cell framework contains Si100.6Al11.4O224. This material crystallizes in space group P42/mnm, where, after Rietveld refinement, a=18.286(1) A and c=20.208(2) A. A three-dimensional framework is found that contains continuous 12-ring channels and two orthogonal, intersecting, undulating 10-ring channels. Rietveld refinement of the model coordinates optimizes the framework geometry, to match the observed intensity profile by Rwp=0.1371, R(F2)=0.1411. It is not possible to determine the location of approximately 0.84 K+ cations remaining in the unit cell after the material is steamed and then dehydrated. The framework model also successfully predicts observed electron diffraction data in two projections, and the tetragonal projection can be determined independently from these data by direct methods. The calculated density of the framework structure is 1.66 g/cm3, and the T-site framework density is 16.6 T/1000 A3.     

Theoretical and experimental investigation of morphology and temperature effects on adsorption of organic vapors in single-walled carbon nanotubes

Hexane adsorption on single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) bundles is studied by both simulation and experimentally using a previously developed computer-aided methodology, which employed a smaller physisorbed probe molecule, nitrogen, to explore the porosity of nanotube samples. Configurational-bias grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation of hexane adsorption on localized sites of the bundles is carried out to predict adsorption on their external surface and in their internal sites. These localized isotherms are then combined into a global isotherm for a given sample by using knowledge of its tube-diameter distribution and structural parameters, such as the fraction of open-ended nanotubes and the external surface area of bundles in samples, which have been independently determined from the standard nitrogen adsorption isotherm. The near-perfect replication of experimental isotherms demonstrates the validity of our method for structural characterization of SWNT samples. The effect of temperature on adsorption is also studied and the simulation results are extrapolated to predict the limiting hexane adsorption capacity of the samples. The similarity between the hexane adsorption isotherms and those of other organic molecules demonstrates that the adsorption mechanisms explored here are not specific to hexane, and that the proposed methodology can be potentially applicable to other sorbates with equal success.     

Superconductivity in Restricted Chromo-Dynamics (RCD) in SU(2) and SU(3) Gauge Theories

Characterizing the dyonically condensed vacuum by the presence of two massive modes (one determining how fast the perturbative vacuum around a colour source reaches the condensation and the other giving the penetration length of colored flux) in SU(2) theory, it has been shown that due to the dynamical breaking of magnetic symmetry the vacuum of RCD acquires the properties similar to those of relativistic superconductor. Analysing the behaviour of dyons around RCD string, the solutions of classical field equations have been obtained and it has been shown that magnetic constituent of dyonic current is zero at centre of the string and also at the points far away from the string. Extending RCD in the realistic color gauge group SU(3), it has been shown that the resulting Lagrangian leads to dyonic condensation, color confinement and the superconductivity with the presence of two scalar modes and two vector modes.     

Design of Hamming Code Checker Using Titanium-Diffused Lithium Niobate-Based Waveguide

ABSTRACT

This work presents an electro-optic effect-based design for the widely used Hamming code for checking single bit errors in the received data. The structure is based on Mach-Zehnder Interferometer, designed using Titanium-diffused Lithium Niobate-based waveguides. The proposed device has been successfully tested using the beam propagation method. For a received 7-bit code, the three simultaneously generated check bits are combined to check the error position. Critical performance parameters like extinction ratio (24.39dB), contrast ratio (25.711dB), insertion loss (0.041dB), and amplitude modulation (0.079dB) calculated for the overall device are within acceptable limits for the feasibility of the device.     

Degradation Studies of Polycaprolactone in Banana Fibers Reinforced Thermoplastics Composites

In this paper we report the fabrication, properties and degradation studies of banana fibers–reinforced thermoplastic polymers. In order to impart hydrophobicity to the fibers and also to concomitantly increase interfacial bond strength, which is a critical factor for obtaining better mechanical properties of composites, banana fibers were treated with sodium hydroxide (5% and 10% for 4 h), sebacoyl chloride (SC) (0.5 g, 4 h), or toluene diisocyanate (TDl) (1.5 mL, 4 h). Mechanical properties of banana fibers treated with TDl were not affected to any significant extent, but there was an increase in tensile strength of fibers treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Deterioration in mechanical properties was observed upon SC treatment. In thermograssimetre analogue (TGA) studies fibers showed initial mass loss (6.5%–9.5%) in the 50–150°C temperature region. Major weight loss occurred above 200°C. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies revealed an increase in surface roughness after alkali treatment. High density polyethylene (HDPE) modified by blending with poly (ε‐caprolactone) (80:20 w/w) was used as a thermoplastic matrix. Composites were fabricated by using 1 cm long banana fibers; the weight fraction of fibers was varied from 0.05–0.13. An increase in weight fraction of fibers resulted in an increase in tensile strength and modulus and decrease in elongation at break. Thin sheets and dumbbells were used for enzymatic and chemical hydrolysis degradation tests. The degradation of the material was monitored by weight change and loss of mechanical properties. The enzymatic degradation in (PCL) presence of Pseudomonas cepacia lipase (PCL) gave appreciable weight loss in PCL and blended materials.     

The concert queueing game: strategic arrivals with waiting and tardiness costs

We consider the noncooperative choice of arrival times by individual users, who seek service at a first-come first-served queueing system that opens up at a given time. Each user wishes to obtain service as early as possible, while minimizing the expected wait in the queue. This problem was recently studied within a simplified fluid-scale model. Here, we address the unscaled stochastic system, assuming a finite (possibly random) number of homogeneous users, exponential service times, and linear cost functions. In this setting, we establish that there exists a unique Nash equilibrium, which is symmetric across users, and characterize the equilibrium arrival-time distribution of each user in terms of a corresponding set of differential equations. We further establish convergence of the Nash equilibrium solution to that of the associated fluid model as the number of users is increased. We finally consider the price of anarchy in our system and show that it exceeds 2, but converges to this value for a large population size.