An experimental study on the kinetics of leaching for the preparation of a Raney-silver catalyst

A Raney-Ag catalyst was prepared by leaching out aluminium from a Raney Ag-Al alloy with NaOH solution. The kinetics of leaching has been investigated in a stirred-batch-reactor at various temperatures by using alloy particles of different sizes. The kinetic model best fitting the experimental results has been determined. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Structure of MgSO_4 in Concentrated Aqueous Solutions by X-Ray Diffraction

Detailed time-and-space-averaged structure of MgSO4 in the concentrated aqueous solutions was investigated via X-ray diffraction with an X’pert Pro θ-θ diffractometer at 298 K, yielding structural function and radial distribution function(RDF). The developed KURVLR program was employed for the theoretical investigation in consideration of the ionic hydration and ion association. Multi-peaks Gaussian fitting method was applied to deconvolving the overlapping bands of Differential radial distribution function...     

Distinguished Connections on Finsler Algebroids

Considering the prolongation of a Lie algebroid,the authors introduce Finsler algebroids and present important geometric objects on these spaces.Important endomorphisms like conservative and Barthel,Cartan tensor and some distinguished connections like Berwald,Cartan,Chern-Rund and Hashiguchi are introduced and studied.     

On the well-posedness of the inviscid SQG equation

In this paper we consider the inviscid SQG equation on the Sobolev spaces $H^s({\mathbb{R}}^2)$, $s>2$. Using a geometric approach we show that for any $T>0$ the corresponding solution map, $\theta (0)?\theta (T)$, is nowhere locally uniformly continuous.     

Electron-rich heteroaroylphosphonates and their reaction with trimethyl phosphite

Dialkyl heteroaroylphosphonates based on thiophene, pyrrole or furan have been prepared and their reactions with trimethyl phosphite investigated. Deoxygenation of the carbonyl groups in these heteroaroylphosphonates occurs to give carbene intermediates, which then undergo further reaction. In the case of the furan-3-oylphosphonates and those systems containing a thiophene or pyrrole ring, the major reaction pathway involves intermolecular trapping of the carbene intermediates by the trimethyl phosphite, leading to the formation of ylidic phosphonates that can be readily converted into the corresponding 1,1-bisphosphonates. However, in some furan-2-oylphosphonates the carbenes generated undergo ring-opening to initially give acyclic alkynylphosphonates which may react further to give other novel phosphorus compounds. The effects of substituents on the extent to which intermolecular trapping of the initially formed carbene competes with intramolecular rearrangement has been investigated. The latter process appears to be suppressed by a substituent at the 5-position of the furan ring, the resulting ylidic phosphonates being a rare example of an efficient intermolecular trapping of a furan-2-yl carbene.     

Affinity of a new copper(II) complex to DNA/BSA and antioxidant/radical scavenging activities: crystal structure of [Cu(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline)(leucine)(NO3)(H2O)]

A new copper(II) complex, [Cu(Bphen)(Leu)(NO₃)(H₂O)] (Bphen = 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline, leu = L-leucine), has been synthesized and characterized by IR spectroscopy, CHN analysis, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. The CT-DNA binding properties of the complex have been investigated by both absorption and emission spectroscopy. The binding parameters for the fluorescence Scatchard plot were also determined. Further, the interaction of the complex with bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been investigated using absorption and emission spectroscopy. The thermodynamic parameters, free energy change (ΔG), enthalpy change (ΔH), and entropy change (ΔS), were calculated by the van’t Hoff equation and discussed. The distance between BSA and the complex has been obtained according to fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Conformational changes of BSA have been observed from synchronous fluorescence. Antioxidant and radical scavenging activities of the complex were determined by various in vitro assays such as 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl free radicals (DPPH˙), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radicals (ABTS˙⁺), and reducing ability determination by H₂O₂ scavenging methods.     

On the well-posedness of the Holm-Staley b-family of equations

In this paper we consider the Holm-Staley b-family of equations in the Sobolev spaces H^s(?) for s>3/2. Using a geometric approach we show that, for any value of the parameter b, the corresponding solution map,u(0)?u(T ), is nowhere locally uniformly continuous.     

Optically tunable microcavity in a planar photonic crystal silicon waveguide buried in oxide

We present all-optical tuning and switching of a microcavity inside a two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguide. The photonic crystal structure is fabricated in silicon-on-insulator using complementary metal-oxide semiconductor processing techniques based on deep ultraviolet lithography and is completely buried in a silicon dioxide cladding that provides protection from the environment. By focusing a laser onto the microcavity region, both a thermal and a plasma dispersion effect are generated, allowing tuning and fast modulation of the in-plane transmission. By means of the temporal characteristics of the in-plane transmission, we experimentally identify a slower thermal and a fast plasma dispersion effect with modulation bandwidths of the order of several 100 kHz and up to the gigahertz level, respectively.     

A comparison of the effect of the ellipticity on the small and large solid-core PCF’s characteristics

In this paper we study small and large solid-core PCFs with elliptical shaped air-holes for the hexagonal lattice, which were constructed by omitting one air-hole (small core) and seven air-holes (large core), respectively, and we compare their characteristics with those with circular holes. We use two types of ellipticity: vertical and horizontal. Birefringence, dispersion, and the numerical apertures of the fundamental modes are analyzed using commercial simulation software. Also, the confinement loss is obtained. The effect of ellipticity on these characteristics is investigated in detail. It is found that the type of ellipticity of the air holes affects the numerical aperture and hence confinement loss significantly, but it has no crucial effect on either the dispersion or the birefringence for the small and large core PCFs.