Flux-Ratio Theorems for Nonlinear Equations of Generalized Diffusion

Flux-ratio theorems compare the flux of matter through partof the boundary of a medium with spatially inhomogeneous transportproperties incorporating diffusion, migration, and temporarytrapping of the transported substance, with the flux measuredin a complementary experiment and usually through a differentpart of the boundary. Any nonlinearity in the transport equationsleads to a breakdown of the Ussing flux-ratio theorem pertainingto all times. A fluxintegral theorem is proved for the casewhen the nonlinearity is in the kinetics of trapping. New resultson the time-lag constants for the asymptotics of the two complementaryfluxes associated with nonlinear trapping show that one canexpect deviations from the results that would hold if Ussing'sgeneral theorem were true for this case. When the nonlinearityis due both to nonlinear trapping kinetics and to concentrationdependence of the diffusion coefficient, a nonlinear flux-integral-ratiotheorem is shown to hold when the substance diffuses (but doesnot migrate) in a spatially homogeneous medium.     

Thermal decomposition of humboldtine: A high resolution thermogravimetric and hot stage Raman spectroscopic study

Evidence for the existence of primitive life forms such as lichens and fungi can be based upon the formation of oxalates. These oxalates form as a film like deposit on rocks and other host matrices. Humboldtine as the natural iron(II) oxalate mineral is a classic example. Thermogravimetry coupled to evolved gas mass spectrometry shows dehydration takes place in two steps at 130 and 141°C. Loss of the oxalate as carbon dioxide occurs at 312 and 332°C. Dehydration is readily followed by Raman microscopy in combination with a thermal stage and is observed by the loss of intensity of the OH stretching vibration at 3318 cm^-1. The application of infrared emission spectroscopy supports the results of the TG-MS. Three Raman bands are observed at 1470, 1465 and 1432 cm^-1 attributed the CO symmetric stretching mode. The observation of the three bands supports the concept of multiple iron(II) oxalate phases. The significance of this work rests with the ability of Raman spectroscopy to identify iron(II) oxalate which often occurs as a film on a host rock.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A Novel Route to the Synthesis of Mesoporous Titania with Full Anatase Nanocrystalline Domains

A porous, high surface area TiO₂ with anatase or rutile crystalline domains is advantageous for high efficiency photonic devices. Here, we report a new route to the synthesis of mesoporous titania with full anatase crystalline domains. This route involves the preparation of anatase nanocrystalline seed suspensions as the titania precursor and a block copolymer surfactant, Pluronic P123 as the template for the hydrothermal self-assembly process. A large pore (7–8 nm) mesoporous titania with a high surface area of 106–150 m²/g after calcination at 400°C for 4 h in air is achieved. Increasing the hydrothermal temperature decreases the surface area and creates larger pores. Characteristics of the seed precursors as well as the resultant mesoporous titania powder were studied using XRD analysis, N₂-adsorption/desorption analysis, and TEM. We believe these materials will be especially useful for photoelectrochemical solar cell and photocatalysis applications.     

An Animal Model for Human Melanoma

Abstract— Experimental animal models that are directly relevant to human melanoma are lacking. We propose the Angora goat as a potentially useful field model with experimental potential and to this end have examined the prevalence and site distribution of all skin cancers in 28 Angora goat herds in Queensland, Australia. The prevalence of benign melanocytic lesions (lentigines) and their experimental induction by sunlight were also investigated. Among 1731 goats over 2 years of age, 139 malignant skin tumors were excised from 95 affected animals. The prevalence of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was 3.8% and of melanoma, 2.2%. Main site of occurrence of melanoma (83%) was the dorsal surface of the ear; in contrast SCC occurred mostly (84%) on the perineum. Lentigines were darker and more prevalent on the exposed compared with the unexposed surface of the ear in Angoras, analogous to the higher prevalence of nevi on the exposed compared with the less exposed inner surface of the arm in humans. Lentigines, which were also found on the perineum though lighter in color than on the dorsal ear, were absent in young animals under 3 months but were numerous in 1–3 year olds. Furthermore in an experimental substudy eight goats, having one flank repeatedly shorn and the contralateral flank left unshorn, revealed consistently more solar lentigines on the shorn flank ( P < 0.05) when both sides were examined after 9 months. Histopathological examination of paired skin biopsies from five of these goats also showed more abundant pigmentation in skin from the exposed, as compared with the unexposed flank. These findings indicate that sunlight induces tumors and lentigines in goats in a highly site-specific manner. The Angora goat model may suggest paradigms for explaining the site differences observed for human melanoma and may also be useful in the future clarification of molecular changes following carcinogenic levels of sun exposure.     

Use of 9,10-diphenylanthracene as a contrast agent in chemiluminescence imaging: The observation of spreading of oxidative degradation in thin polypropylene films

Thin films of polypropylene were doped with a chemiluminescence (CL) activator, 9,10-diphenylanthracene (DPA), and were thermally oxidised in a CL imaging apparatus to determine whether heterogeneous oxidation processes such as spreading of oxidation could be observed. The presence of DPA resulted in significantly more intense CL images compared with undoped polymer, due to the efficient chemically induced electron exchange luminescence reaction between DPA and hydroperoxides. Hence, the CL images from DPA-doped PP were used to locate the position of hydroperoxides in the oxidising polymer. For thermal oxidation at 150 and 140 °C hydroperoxides were observed to form in localised regions of the films, whilst other areas remained hydroperoxide free. As the oxidation time increased the concentration of hydroperoxides in these areas increased and they were observed to spread to the remainder of the polymer. Time-resolved line maps from the images indicated that zones with high concentration of hydroperoxides travel through the polymer during oxidation. Integrals of CL images from the thermal oxidation of DPA-doped polymers indicated that a significant degree of oxidation had occurred by the end of the “induction period” for a conventional CL-intensity oxidation-time profile. This is a likely reason why spreading of oxidation has not previously been observed for undoped PP films.     

Characterization of Pore Structure and Coordination of Titanium in TiO(2) and SiO(2)-TiO(2) Sol-Pillared Clays

Titania sol-pillared clay (TiO(2) PILC) and silica-titania sol-pillared clay (SiO(2)-TiO(2) PILC) were synthesized by the sol-gel method. Supercritical drying (SCD) and treatment with quaternary ammonium surfactants were used to tailor the pore structure of the resulting clay. It was found that SCD approach increased the external surface area of the PILCs dramatically and that treatment with surfactants could be used to tailor pore size because the mesopore formation in the galleries between the clay layers follows the templating mechanism as observed in the synthesis of MCM-41 materials. Highly mesoporous solids were thus obtained. In calcined TiO(2) PILC, ultrafine crystallites in anatase phase, which are active for photocatalytic oxidation of organics, were observed. In SiO(2)-TiO(2) PILCs and their derivatives, titanium was highly dispersed in the matrix of silica and no crystal phase was observed. The highly dispersed titanium sites are good catalytic centers for selective oxidation of organic compounds. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Alpha-turn mimetics: short peptide alpha-helices composed of cyclic metallopentapeptide modules

Alpha-Helices are key structural components of proteins and important recognition motifs in biology. Short peptides (相似文献   

The structural characterization of carbon molecular sieve membrane (CMSM) via gas adsorption

The microstructure of a carbon molecular sieve membrane (CMSM) is characterized using adsorption equilibrium information. The pore size distributions of the CMSM derived from N₂ and CH₄ adsorption isotherm are found to be consistent with each other and in agreement with the results of gas permeation experiments as well as the general characteristics of such molecular sieve materials.     

Probing the pore wall structure of nanoporous carbons using adsorption

Hitherto, adsorption has been traditionally used to study only the porous structure in disordered materials, while the structure of the solid phase skeleton has been probed by crystallographic methods such as X-ray diffraction. Here we show that for carbons density functional theory, suitably adapted to consider heterogeneity of the pore walls, can be reliably used to probe features of the solid structure hitherto accessibly only approximately even by crystallographic methods. We investigate a range of carbons and determine pore wall thickness distributions using argon adsorption, with results corroborated by X-ray diffraction.     

Photolysis of poly(amino acid)s at 77K: An ESR study

The mechanism of the ultraviolet (λ > 250 nm) degradation of poly(amino acid)s has been studied by ESR spectroscopy at 77 K. In the aliphatic poly(amino acid)s of glycine, alanine and valine, absorption of energy occurs predominantly in the peptide group, and the initial degradation reaction is scission of the CONH bond. The imino radical, ·NHCHR, abstracts the main chain H from the CHR group, or the tertiary H from valine, to give secondary carbon radicals. The acyl radical, CHRCO·, readily loses CO to form a chain-end radical, CHR·. The aromatic poly(amino acid)s of phenylalanine and tyrosine absorb energy mainly in the phenyl chromophore and bond scission occurs in the side chain. The mechanism of photolysis of the poly(amino acid)s differs from that of the N-acetyl amino acids (except for tyrosine) due to the presence of the labile carboxyl group.