Chemical Composition and Antifungal Activity of Essential Oil from the Roots of Tinomiscium petiolare

Chemistry of Natural Compounds -     

Bounds on the Elastic Moduli of Completely Random Two-Dimensional Polycrystals

Explicit bounds on the elastic moduli of completely random planar polycrystals, the shape and crystalline orientations of the constituent grains of which are uncorrelated, are derived and calculated for a number of crystals of general two-dimensional anisotropy. The bounds on the elastic two-dimensional bulk modulus happen to coincide with the simple third order (in anisotropy contrast) bounds for the subclass of idealistic circular cell polycrystals. The bounds on the shear modulus are close to the much simpler bounds for circular cell polycrystals, which approximate aggregates of equiaxed grains.     

On bounding the effective conductivity of isotropic composite materials

In this paper inequalities for the effective conductivity of isotropic composite materials are derived. These inequalities depend on several coefficients characterizing the microstructure of composites. The obtained coefficients can be exactly calculated for models of a two-component aggregate of multisized, coated ellipsoidal inclusions, packed to fill all space. As a result, new bounds for effective conductivity, considerably narrower than those of Hashin-Shtrikman, are established for such models of composite materials.     

A nanocomposite prepared from FeOOH and N-doped carbon nanosheets as a peroxidase mimic,and its application to enzymatic sensing of glucose in human urine

A method is described for the synthesis of a nanocomposite containing FeOOH and N-doped carbon nanosheets. The nanocomposite was synthesized by a hydrothermal method using a Fe₃O₄/chitosan nanocomposite as the precursor. The nanocomposite displays peroxidase-like activity and catalyzes the oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) by H₂O₂. This results in the formation of a blue colored product with an absorption maximum at 652 nm in the UV-vis spectra. Based on these findings, colorimetric assays were worked out for both hydrogen peroxide and glucose. The H₂O₂ assay works in the 5 to 19 μM concentration range, and the limit of detection is 5 nM. The glucose assay works in the 8 μM to 0.8 mM concentration range and has a 0.2 μM detection limit. The method was successfully applied to the determination of glucose in human urine.

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Graphical abstract Schematic of the hydrothermal synthesis of a FeOOH/N-doped carbon nanocomposite. It was used to replace peroxidase enzyme for the catalytic oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in a visual colorimetric test for glucose in human urine.

     

Nonlinear optical characteristics of monolayer MoSe2

In this study, we utilized picosecond pulses from an Nd:YAG laser to investigate the nonlinear optical characteristics of monolayer MoSe₂. Two‐step growth involving the selenization of pulsed‐laser‐deposited MoO₃ film was employed to yield the MoSe₂ monolayer on a SiO₂/Si substrate. Raman scattering, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy verified the high optical quality of the monolayer. The second‐order susceptibility χ⁽²⁾ was calculated to be ～50 pm V^?1 at the second harmonic wavelength ～810 nm, which is near the optical gap of the monolayer. Interestingly, our wavelength‐dependent second harmonic scan can identify the bound excitonic states including negatively charged excitons much more efficiently, compared with the PL method at room temperature. Additionally, the MoSe₂ monolayer exhibits a strong laser‐induced damage threshold ～16 GW cm^?2 under picosecond‐pulse excitation_. Our findings suggest that monolayer MoSe₂ can be considered as a promising candidate for high‐power, thin‐film‐based nonlinear optical devices and applications.     

Squark Pair Production at Muon Colliders in the MSSM with CP Violation

We study the pair production of scalar quark in a muon collider within the MSSM with CP violation. We show that including the CP phases can strongly affect the cross section of the process: \(\mu^{+}\mu^{-}\rightarrow \tilde{q}_{i}\bar{\tilde{q}}_{j}\). This could have an important impact on the search for squarks and the determination of the MSSM parameters at future colliders.     

On the scatter ranges for the elastic moduli of random aggregates of general anisotropic crystals

A randomly inhomogeneous material may have macroscopic properties (elasticity, conductivity) scattered over some uncertainty intervals, despite the idealistic uniqueness assumption of homogenization theory. Based on minimum energy principles and certain statistical isotropy-symmetry hypotheses, our partly third-order bounds on the effective properties of random polycrystals are expected to estimate those scatter ranges. Explicit expressions are given and calculated for the elastic moduli of the random aggregates of some known monoclinic and triclinic crystals, which yield results in agreement with those calculated for higher-symmetry crystals: the moduli are determinable within an accuracy of two or three significant digits in most cases. It is shown, however, that with some real-world exotic crystals the bounds may fall far apart, and further theoretical and experimental studies on them deserve attention.     

Facile synthesis of SnO2–ZnO core–shell nanowires for enhanced ethanol-sensing performance

The design of core–shell heteronanostructures is powerful tool to control both the gas selectivity and the sensitivity due to their hybrid properties. In this work, the SnO₂–ZnO core–shell nanowires (NWs) were fabricated via two-step process comprising the thermal evaporation of the single crystalline SnO₂ NWs core and the spray-coating of the grainy polycrystalline ZnO shell for enhanced ethanol sensing performance. The as-obtained products were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and photoluminescence. The ethanol gas-sensing properties of pristine SnO₂ and ZnO–SnO₂ core–shell NW sensors were studied and compared. The gas response to 500 ppm ethanol of the core–shell NW sensor increased to 33.84, which was 12.5-fold higher than that of the pristine SnO₂ NW sensor. The selectivity of the core–shell NW sensor also improved. The response to 100 ppm ethanol was about 14.1, whereas the response to 100 ppm liquefied petroleum gas, NH₃, H₂, and CO was smaller, and ranged from 2.5 to 5.3. This indicates that the core–shell heterostructures have great potential for use as gas sensing materials.     

Bioactive Compounds,Antioxidants, and Health Benefits of Sweet Potato Leaves

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is one of the most important food crops worldwide and its leaves provide a dietary source of nutrients and various bioactive compounds. These constituents of sweet potato leaves (SPL) vary among varieties and play important roles in treating and preventing various diseases. Recently, more attentions in health-promoting benefits have led to several in vitro and in vivo investigations, as well as the identification and quantification of bioactive compounds in SPL. Among them, many new compounds have been reported as the first identified compounds from SPL with their dominant bioactivities. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the bioactive compositions of SPL and their health benefits. Since SPL serve as a potential source of micronutrients and functional compounds, they can be further developed as a sustainable crop for food and medicinal industries.