Surfactant gel adsorption of platinum(II), (IV) and palladium(II) as chloro-complexes and kinetic separation of palladium from platinum using EDTA.

A micellar solution of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) can separate into two phases due to a temperature change or to the addition of salts. Platinum(II), (IV) and palladium(II) reacted with chloride ions to form stable anionic complexes of PtCl4(2-), PtCl6(2-) and PdCl4(2-), respectively, and were adsorbed onto the CPC gel phase. The CPC phase plays the role of an ion-exchange adsorbent for the anionic complexes. By such a procedure, the precious metals of platinum and palladium could be separated from base metals such as copper, zinc and iron. The kinetic separation was performed by a ligand exchange reaction of the palladium(II) chloro-complex with EDTA at 60 degrees C. The anionic palladium(II)-EDTA complex could not bind the opposite charged CP+ and was desorbed from the CPC phase. In the aqueous phase, the recovery of palladium(II) by the double-desorption was 101.1 +/- 1.2%. The platinum(II) and (IV) chloro-complexes were stable for at least 30 min and remained in the CPC phase.     

Upper Limit of Nitrogen Content in Carbon Materials

Nitrogen‐doped carbon materials (NDCs) play an important role in various fields. A great deal of effort has been devoted to obtaining carbon materials with a high nitrogen content; however, much is still unknown about the structure of the nitrogen‐doped materials and the maximum nitrogen content possible for such compounds. Here, we demonstrate an interesting relationship between the N/C molar ratio and the N content of NDCs. The upper limit for the nitrogen content of NDCs that might be achieved was estimated and found to strongly depend on the carbonization temperature (14.32 wt % at 1000 °C and 21.66 wt % at 900 °C), irrespective of the precursor or preparation conditions. Simulations suggest that, especially in the carbon architectures obtained at high temperatures, nitrogen atoms are always located on separate hexagon moieties in a graphitic configuration, thereby yielding a critical N/C molar ratio very close to the value estimated from the experimental results.     

Anonymous and leakage resilient IBE and IPE

We construct identity-based encryption and inner product encryption schemes under the decision linear assumption. Their private user keys are leakage-resilient in several scenarios. In particular,

• In the bounded memory leakage model (Akavia et al., TCC, vol. 5444, pp. 474–495, 2009), our basic schemes reach the maximum-possible leakage rate \(1-o(1)\).
• In the continual memory leakage model (Brakerski et al., Overcoming the hole in the bucket: public-key cryptography resilient to continual memory leakage, 2010; Dodis et al., Cryptography against continuous memory attacks, 2010), variants of the above schemes enjoy leakage rate at least \(\frac{1}{2} -o(1)\). Among the results, we improve upon the work of Brakerski et al. by presenting adaptively secure IBE schemes.

In addition, we prove that our IBE schemes are anonymous under the DLIN assumption, so that ciphertexts leaks no information on the corresponding identities. Similarly, attributes in IPE are proved computationally hidden in the corresponding ciphertexts.

     

How to make a linear network code (strongly) secure

A linear network code is called k-secure if it is secure even if an adversary eavesdrops at most k edges. In this paper, we show an efficient deterministic construction algorithm of a linear transformation T that transforms an (insecure) linear network code to a k-secure one for any k, and extend this algorithm to strong k-security for any k . Our algorithms run in polynomial time if k is a constant, and these time complexities are explicitly presented. We also present a concrete size of \(|\mathsf{F}|\) for strong k-security, where \(\mathsf{F}\) is the underling finite field.     

Past-present-future Intertemporal DEA models

It has been well recognized that to thoroughly evaluate a firm’s performance, the evaluator must assess not only its past and present records but also future potential. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no data envelopment analysis (DEA)-type models proposed in the literature that simultaneously take past, present and, especially, future performance indicators into account. Hence, this research aims at developing a new type of DEA model referred to as Intertemporal DEA models that can be used to fully measure a firm’s efficiency by explicitly considering its key inputs and outputs involving the past-present-future time span. In this research, the proposed Intertemporal DEA models are applied to the performance evaluation of high-tech Integrated Circuit design companies in Taiwan to demonstrate their advantages over other DEA models that ignore intertemporal efficiency.     

Halichonines A, B, and C, novel sesquiterpene alkaloids from the marine sponge Halichondria okadai Kadota

Novel sesquiterpene alkaloids, halichonines A (1), B (2), and C (3), were identified from the marine sponge Halichondria okadai Kadota. By spectroscopic analyses and synthesis, their structures were revealed to include a 6,6-bicyclic ring system and two prenylated amine moieties. In addition, 2 induced apoptosis in HL60 human leukemia cells.     

The liquid-liquid extraction using hydrophilic solvents occluded to an oil-adsorbent as an organic phase: extraction of 8-quinolinolato complexes of alkaline earth metals into tetrahydrofuran.

In order to use a hydrophilic solvent as an organic phase in liquid-liquid extraction by retaining it to a solid support, the occlusion and desorption of nine hydrophilic solvents, such as methanol, to three kinds of commercially available oil-adsorbent were examined. The combination of tetrahydrofuran and WOSEP made by fibrous polypropylene was finally selected, and was subjected to the extraction of alkaline Earth metals with 8-quinolinol. It was proved that Mg2+, Ca2+, and Sr2+ ions could be successfully extracted into the tetrahydrofuran phase in the form of 8-quinolinolato complexes, which could not be extracted into CHCl3.     

Diffusion Coefficients of Tris(<Emphasis Type="Italic">β</Emphasis>-diketonato)ruthenium Complexes of Different Charge Numbers in Acetonitrile Solutions,Measured by Chronoamperometry

The diffusion coefficients of several tris(β-diketonato) ruthenium complexes in acetonitrile solutions containing a supporting electrolyte were determined by chronoamperometry. The diffusion coefficients of the charged complexes, which were produced by electrochemical oxidation or reduction, were also determined by double potential step chronoamperometry. Two kinds of radii of the complexes were evaluated. One was the Van der Waals radius and the other was the geometric distance from the center of the complex to the outer surface of the farthest atom. The latter quantity was determined from X-ray diffractometric data. The diffusion coefficients of the neutral complexes were discussed on the basis of the Stokes-Einstein equation. Those of charged complexes could not be explained by the theoretical equation presented by Hubbard and Onsager.     

Molecular structure and puckering potential of gas-phase 1-pyrroline as determined by microwave and infrared spectroscopy

The microwave spectrum of 1-pyrroline has been measured from 8 to 48 GHz. The transitions have been assigned to those of the ground state and the four lowest excited states of the ring-puckering vibration of monomer, which is a five-membered ring molecule with one CN double bond. The trimer, which exists in the liquid phase, has not been detected in the gas phase. The geometrical structure of the monomer has been estimated by an ab initio calculation and the trimer by a molecular mechanics calculation. The former is consistent with the experimental rotational constants. A gas-phase infrared spectrum has also been measured, and the ring-puckering potential has been determined by an analysis of the combination bands of the ring-puckering mode and the ring-stretching modes. The potential is described using a puckering coordinate, z, as V(z) = az² + bz⁴, where $\text{a = ?3.358(16) × 10}{}^4\text{cm}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}\text{A}\text{?}{}^{\mathrm{?2}}$ and $\text{b = 1.345(9) × 10}{}^6\text{cm}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}\text{A}\text{?}{}^{\mathrm{?4}}$; these values are intermediate of the corresponding values for cyclopentene and 1-pyrazoline. The nuclear quadrupole coupling constants, χ_aa = ?4.39(10), χ_bb = 1.04(10), and χ_cc = 3.35(10) MHz, have been determined by an analysis of well-resolved hyperfine splittings. These constants have been reproduced by an ab initio calculation with a 4-31G(N¹) basis set.     

Almost Complex Structures Which Are Compatible with Kähler or Symplectic Structures

In this note we prove that half of all homotopy classes of almost complex structures on M is not compatible with any symplectic structure for a certain class of oriented compact 4-manifolds M. In particular, half of all homotopy classes of almost complex structures on an oriented 4-manifold is not compatible to any Kähler structure.