Complexation of di-benzyloxy ether derivatives of calix[4]arene with alkali earth metal cations

The synthesis and complexing abilities of 26,28-bis-benzyloxy-25,27-dihydroxy-5,11,17,23-tetra-tertbutyl-calix[4]arene towards alkali earth metal ions Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Sr²⁺, and Ba²⁺ in a methanol-chloroform mixture have been evaluated at 25°C, using UV-Vis spectrophotometric techniques. The results showed that the ligand is capable to complex all alkali earth cations by 1:1 metal to ligand ratios. The selectivity presented considering the calculated stability constants are in the order Mg²⁺ > Ca²⁺ > Sr²⁺ > Ba²⁺ towards the ligand.     

F-Continuous Graphs

For a nontrivial connected graph F, the F-degree of a vertex in a graph G is the number of copies of F in G containing . A graph G is F-continuous (or F-degree continuous) if the F-degrees of every two adjacent vertices of G differ by at most 1. All P₃-continuous graphs are determined. It is observed that if G is a nontrivial connected graph that is F-continuous for all nontrivial connected graphs F, then either G is regular or G is a path. In the case of a 2-connected graph F, however, there always exists a regular graph that is not F-continuous. It is also shown that for every graph H and every 2-connected graph F, there exists an F-continuous graph G containing H as an induced subgraph.     

Protonation Constants of Uridine 5′-Monophosphate in Different Aqueous Solutions of Methanol

The protonation equilibria of uridine 5′-monophosphate disodium salt (UMP) was determined in binary solvent mixtures of water–methanol containing 0, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 % (v/v) methanol, using a combination of spectrophotometric and potentiometric methods at 25 °C and constant ionic strength (0.1 mol·dm^?3 NaClO₄). The protonation constants were analyzed using Kamlet, Abboud, and Taft parameters. A good linear correlation of the protonation constants (on the logarithmic scale) was obtained. Dual-parameter correlation of log₁₀ K versus π* (dipolarity/polarizability) and α (hydrogen-bond donor acidity), as well as π* and β (hydrogen-bond acceptor basicity), gave good results in various aqueous solutions of methanol. Finally, the results are compared with CMP, a homolog of UMP, and are discussed in terms of the effect of the solvent on the protonation constants.     

Risk-adjusted control charts for health care assessment

The recent Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization (JCAHO) requirement that hospital accreditation be based upon a Total Quality Management (TQM) approach has focused the attention of health care administrations on the use of techniques such as control charts. However, control charts are not typically adjusted for severity of illness. This adjustment is needed because, unlike industrial organizations, hospitals are not able to control all of their inputs and must accept variances in their patients. In this paper, we present a methodology for adjusting a health care organization's control charts to reflect their patient population's severity of illness during different time intervals. We then demonstrate that risk-adjusting expected patient outcomes can change our assessments of the relative quality of care offered by a health care organization in different time periods.     

A cofferdam design optimization

The design of circular type cellular cofferdams is formulated as a nonlinear optimization model that takes explicit account of relevant economic and technologic aspects. The objective is minimization of total expected cost. The constraints arise from stability critera to protect against failures due to slipping of the sheet piles on the river side and interlock stresses at the joint. A solution achieved with geometric programming techniques, yields optimal cell sizes and design heights. The geometric programming approach provides important design insights by yielding the proportions of the total cost to be assigned to the cost components, fill material, sheet piling and flooding in an optimal design.Currently on leave at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., USA.     

Preferential solvation and solvation shell composition of free base and protonated 5, 10, 15, 20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin in aqueous organic mixed solvents

The solvatochromic properties of the free base and the protonated 5, 10, 15, 20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin (TPPS) were studied in pure water, methanol, ethanol (protic solvents), dimethylsulfoxide, DMSO, (non-protic solvent), and their corresponding aqueous-organic binary mixed solvents. The correlation of the empirical solvent polarity scale (E(T)) values of TPPS with composition of the solvents was analyzed by the solvent exchange model of Bosch and Roses to clarify the preferential solvation of the probe dyes in the binary mixed solvents. The solvation shell composition and the synergistic effects in preferential solvation of the solute dyes were investigated in terms of both solvent-solvent and solute-solvent interactions and also, the local mole fraction of each solvent composition was calculated in cybotactic region of the probe. The effective mole fraction variation may provide significant physico-chemical insights in the microscopic and molecular level of interactions between TPPS species and the solvent components and therefore, can be used to interpret the solvent effect on kinetics and thermodynamics of TPPS. The obtained results from the preferential solvation and solvent-solvent interactions have been successfully applied to explain the variation of equilibrium behavior of protonation of TPPS occurring in aqueous organic mixed solvents of methanol, ethanol and DMSO.     

Hydrolysis of diphenylmethyltin(iv) chloride in different aqueous solutions of ethanol

The hydrolysis of [(Ph)₂MeSn(IV)]⁺ has been studied spectrophotometrically at 25ˆC and constant ionic strength of 0.1 mol dm⁻³ sodium perchlorate. Over a wide pH range, 1–11, the investigation has been performed in different aqueous solutions of ethanol. The species formed together with their formation constants have been determined using the computer program Squad. The hydrolysis constants at different media were analyzed in terms of Kamlet and Taft's parameters. A single‐parameter correlation of the formation constants, K_1‐1 and K_1‐2, versus α (hydrogen‐bond donor acidity), β (hydrogen‐bond acceptor basicity), and π^* (dipolarity/polarizability) for both cases are relatively poor in all solutions, but multiparameter correlation represents significant improvement with regard to the single‐parameter models. In this work, we have also used the normalized polarity parameter, E, alone and in combination with the Kamlet–Taft's parameters to find a better correlation of the formation constants in different aqueous solutions of ethanol. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 19:654–660, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/hc.20484     

Interaction of Dioxovanadium(V) with Alanine, Alanylalanine, and Alanylglycine

The stability constants of the systems dioxovanadium(V) with alanylalanine, alanylglycine, and alanine have been determined in aqueous solution in 0.8 pH 5 at 25°C and 0.1 mol-dm^–3 (NaClO₄), using a combination of potentiometric and spectrophotometric techniques. The compositions of the formed complexes were determined and it was shown that dioxovanadium(V) forms two mononuclear 1:1 and 1:2 species with alanine of the type VO₂L and VO₂L₂ ^–, and two mononuclear 1:1 complexes with alanylpeptides of the type VO₂HL and VO₂L^–.