Copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes with 2-formylpyridine-derived hydrazones

In the present work 2-formylpyridine-para-chloro-phenyl hydrazone (H2FopClPh) and 2-formylpyridine-para-nitro-phenyl hydrazone (H2FopNO₂Ph) were obtained, as well as their copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes [Cu(H2FopClPh)Cl₂] (1), [Cu(2FopNO₂Ph)Cl] (2), [Zn(H2FopClPh)Cl₂] (3) and [Zn(H2FopNO₂Ph)Cl₂] (4). Upon re-crystallization in DMSO:acetone conversion of 2 into [Cu(2FopNO₂Ph)Cl(DMSO)] (2a) and of 4 into [Zn(2FopNO₂Ph)Cl(DMSO)] (4a) occurred. The crystal structures of 1, 2a, 3 and 4a were determined.     

Interlacing and degree conditios for invariat polynomials

It is well known that the invariant factors of a polynomial matrix interlace with ihose of one of its submatrices. If we restrict the degrees of the entries of our matrices in some prescribed way then the invariant factors of such matrices and submatrices satisfy other conditions that may be predicted and, in some cases, even completely described. That is the kind of problem we deal with Our main result is a sort of interlacing theorem for row proper matrices. Convexity and majorization also enter into play.     

Existence theory for first order discontinuous functional differential equations

We prove the existence of extremal solutions for a first order functional differential equation subject to nonlinear boundary conditions of functional type. Moreover, the functions that define our problem are allowed to be discontinuous. The proof of our main result is based on a generalized iterative technique.

     

Determination of trace amounts of sulphide in human red blood cells by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection after derivatization with p-phenylenediamine and iron(III).

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method based on pre-column fluorescence derivatization has been developed for the determination of trace amounts of sulphide. After the sulphide had been converted into a fluorescent derivative, thionine, by the reaction with p-phenylenediamine and Fe3+, it was separated on a reversed-phase column and detected fluorimetrically (excitation, 600 nm; emission, 623 nm). Sulphide ion can be determined in the range from 0.01 to 3.0 mumol dm-3 with a relative standard deviation (n = 5) of 2.54% at 0.02 mumol dm-3 and 1.74% at 1.0 mumol dm-3. The proposed method was applied to the determination of sulphide in human red blood cells from ten healthy subjects, by generating sulphide in a microdiffusion apparatus; the concentrations found ranged from 0.123 to 0.189 mumol dm-3.     

Paradox in Wave-Particle Duality

We report on the simultaneous determination of complementary wave and particle aspects of light in a double-slit type “welcher-weg” experiment beyond the limitations set by Bohr’s Principle of Complementarity. Applying classical logic, we verify the presence of sharp interference in the single photon regime, while reliably maintaining the information about the particular pinhole through which each individual photon had passed. This experiment poses interesting questions on the validity of Complementarity in cases where measurements techniques that avoid Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle and quantum entanglement are employed. We further argue that the application of classical concepts of waves and particles as embodied in Complementarity leads to a logical inconsistency in the interpretation of this experiment. A Preliminary version of this paper was presented by S.S.A. at a Seminar titled “Waving Copenhagen Good-bye: Were the Founders of Quantum Mechanics Wrong?,” Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, 23 March, 2004.     

Detrended fluctuation analysis of heart intrabeat dynamics

We investigate scaling properties of electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings of healthy subjects and heart failure patients based on detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). While the vast majority of scaling analysis has focused on the characterization of the long-range correlations of interbeat (i.e., beat-to-beat) dynamics, in this work we consider instead the characterization of intrabeat dynamics. That is, here we use DFA to study correlations for time scales smaller than one heart beat period (about 0.75 s). Our results show that intrabeat dynamics of healthy subject are less correlated than for heart failure dynamics. As in the case of interbeat dynamics, the DFA scaling exponents can be used to discriminate healthy and pathological data. It is shown that 0.5 h recordings suffices to characterize the ECG correlation properties.     

FIA-potentiometry in the sub-Nernstian response region for rapid and direct chloride assays in milk and in coconut water

A simple and reliable FIA-potentiometric system for rapid assays of chloride in certain food samples is described and evaluated. The system is constituted by an aquarium air pump to propel the carrier solution, a manually operated injector, a homemade dialysis flow cell, a solid-state chloride detector (Ag/AgCl), a reference electrode and a multimeter connected to a microcomputer for data acquisition. The dialysis unit enables direct analysis of liquid food samples without any other previous treatment. The principal novelties are the precision (R.S.D. of 1.2% for whole milk) and rapidity (90 determinations/h) of FIA measurements near and below the lower end of the linear (Nernstian) response region of the chloride ion-selective electrode (ISE), with an estimated detection limit (3 s) of 0.4 mg L⁻¹ Cl⁻ in the sample injected in donor stream. Data of peak potential versus sample chloride concentration (donor stream) was accurately fitted with a quadratic polynomial over the range between 4 and 1000 mg L⁻¹ (r² = 0.9999) and used as a calibration curve. The method was applied to the determination of chloride in milk and in coconut water samples. The validation of the results was done by comparison with a NIST reference material (milk) or by capillary electrophoresis (coconut water). For all analysis, no significant difference at a 95% confidence level was observed.     

Heck coupling of haloaromatics with octavinylsilsesquioxane: solution processable nanocomposites for application in electroluminescent devices

A new solution processable nanocomposite material has been prepared via the Heck coupling of octavinylsilsesquioxane with a selected bromoaromatic hole transport compound. Resultant electroluminescent devices show an 18% improvement in external quantum efficiencies over their small molecule analogues.     

Stability of ferromagnetism in the Hubbard model on the kagome lattice

The Hubbard model on the kagome lattice has highly degenerate ground states (the flat lowest band) in the corresponding single-electron problem and exhibits the so-called flat-band ferromagnetism in the many-electron ground states as was found by Mielke [J. Phys. A 24, L73 (1991)]]. Here we study the model obtained by adding extra hopping terms to the above model. The lowest single-electron band becomes dispersive, and there is no band gap between the lowest band and the other band. We prove that, at half filling of the lowest band, the ground states of this perturbed model remain saturated ferromagnetic if the lowest band is nearly flat.