Effects of chlorine gas exposure on the optical properties of rhodium phthalocyanine films

We investigated the effects of exposing rhodium phthalocyanine films deposited on glass substrates by the Lagmuir-Blodgett technique to chlorine gas. The visual aspect of the films is altered upon chlorination, changing in color from blue to transparent. We performed optical absorption and Raman Scattering measurements on our films prior to and after exposing it to chlorine gas. We observed a pronounced quenching of the characteristic triplet centered around the Q-absorption band at 662 nm as a result of chlorine incorporation. Another absorption band, in the near UV part of the spectrum, is not greatly affected by the process. No new optical structures appear as a consequence of chlorination. Equivalent effects were observed in the Raman spectra. Leaving the previously exposed films in air for several hours results in a slow partial recovery of the optical spectra. This recovery, as well as the amount of original quenching, depends on the amount of time during which the film was exposed to chlorine.     

Hypersurfaces of the Euclidean sphere with nonnegative Ricci curvature

In this paper we prove that a compact oriented hypersurface of a Euclidean sphere with nonnegative Ricci curvature and infinite fundamental group is isometric to an H(r)-torus with constant mean curvature. Furthermore, we generalize, whithout any hypothesis about the mean curvature, a characterization of Clifford torus due to Hasanis and Vlachos. Received: 19 March 2002     

Semiconductor nanocrystals obtained by colloidal chemistry for biological applications

Semiconductor nanoparticles in the quantum confinement regime used as biolabels present many advantages over the other chemical species used as fluorophores. They are composed of 2000-6000 atoms rendering a far greater photostability and allowing for long time bioimaging experiments. In this work we present a synthetic route for the obtention of large quantities of highly fluorescent CdSe and CdTe/CdS core-shell nanocrystals based on aqueous colloidal chemistry. The methodologies were optimized and the systems were characterized by optical spectroscopy, transmission electronic microscopy and X-Ray diffractometry. The fluorescent biolabels were tested in live macrophages.     

Crystal structure and theoretical calculations of Julocrotine,a natural product with antileishmanial activity

Julocrotine, N‐(2,6‐dioxo‐1‐phenethyl‐piperidin‐3‐yl)‐2‐methyl‐butyramide, is a potent antiproliferative agent against the promastigote and amastigote forms of Leishmania amazonensis (L.). In this work, the crystal structure of Julocrotine was solved by X‐ray diffraction, and its geometrical parameters were compared with theoretical calculations at the B3LYP and HF level of theory. IR and NMR spectra also have been obtained and compared with theoretical calculations. IR absorptions calculated with the B3LYP level of theory employed together with the 6‐311G+(d,p) basis set, are close to those observed experimentally. Theoretical NMR calculations show little deviation from experimental results. The results show that the theory is in accordance with the experimental data. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2008     

An Overview on Non-Ideal Vibrations

We analyze the dynamical coupling between energy sources and structural response that must not be ignored in real engineering problems, since real motors have limited output power.     

On Hypersurfaces of Spheres with Two Principal Curvatures

In this paper we obtain a classification of hypersurfaces in the Euclidean sphere having two principal curvatures; for some of the results we impose that the sectional curvature (Ricci curvature, resp.) is non-negative Ricci.     

A spectral characterization of the -torus by the first stability eigenvalue

Let be a compact hypersurface with constant mean curvature immersed into the unit Euclidean sphere . In this paper we derive a sharp upper bound for the first eigenvalue of the stability operator of in terms of the mean curvature and the length of the total umbilicity tensor of the hypersurface. Moreover, we prove that this bound is achieved only for the so-called -tori in , with . This extends to the case of constant mean curvature hypersurfaces previous results given by Wu (1993) and Perdomo (2002) for minimal hypersurfaces.

     

Complete hypersurfaces with constant scalar curvature in spheres

To a given immersion ${i:M^n\to \mathbb S^{n+1}}$ with constant scalar curvature R, we associate the supremum of the squared norm of the second fundamental form sup |A|². We prove the existence of a constant C _n (R) depending on R and n so that R ≥ 1 and sup |A|² = C _n (R) imply that the hypersurface is a H(r)-torus ${\mathbb S^1(\sqrt{1-r^2})\times\mathbb S^{n-1} (r)}$ . For R > (n ? 2)/n we use rotation hypersurfaces to show that for each value C > C _n (R) there is a complete hypersurface in ${\mathbb S^{n+1}}$ with constant scalar curvature R and sup |A|² = C, answering questions raised by Q. M. Cheng.     

Connecting a population dynamic model with a multi-period location-allocation problem for post-disaster relief operations

In this study, we propose a mathematical model and heuristics for solving a multi-period location-allocation problem in post-disaster operations, which takes into account the impact of distribution over the population. Logistics restrictions such as human and financial resources are considered. In addition, a brief review on resilience system models is provided, as well as their connection with quantitative models for post-disaster relief operations. In particular, we highlight how one can improve resilience by means of OR/MS strategies. Then, a simpler resilience schema is proposed, which better reflects an active system for providing humanitarian aid in post-disaster operations, similar to the model focused in this work. The proposed model is non-linear and solved by a decomposition approach: the master level problem is addressed by a non-linear solver, while the slave subproblem is treated as a black-box coupling heuristics and a Variable Neighborhood Descent local search. Computational experiments have been done using several scenarios, and real data from Belo Horizonte city in Brazil.