Nanomagnetically modified vitamin B3 (Fe3O4@Niacin): An efficient and reusable green biocatalyst for microwave‐assisted rapid synthesis of 2‐amino‐3‐cyanopyridines in aqueous medium

Superparamagnetic nanoparticles of modified vitamin B₃ (Fe₃O₄@Niacin) represent a new, efficient and green biocatalyst for the one‐pot synthesis of 2‐amino‐3‐cyanopyridine derivatives via four‐component condensation reaction between aldehydes, ketones, malononitrile, and ammonium acetate under microwave irradiation in water. This new magnetic organocatalyst was easily isolated from the reaction mixture by magnetic decantation using an external magnet and reused at least six times without significant degradation in the activity. The catalyst was fully characterized by FT‐IR, XRD, SEM, VSM, UV–Vis, DLS and EDS. Excellent yield, very short reaction time (7–10 min), operational simplicity, easy work‐up procedure, avoidance of hazardous or toxic catalysts and organic solvents are the main advantages of this green methodology which makes it more economic than the other conventional methods.     

Dynamic and rheological properties of soft biological cell suspensions

Quantifying dynamic and rheological properties of suspensions of soft biological particles such as vesicles, capsules, and red blood cells (RBCs) is fundamentally important in computational biology and biomedical engineering. In this review, recent studies on dynamic and rheological behavior of soft biological cell suspensions by computer simulations are presented, considering both unbounded and confined shear flow. Furthermore, the hemodynamic and hemorheological characteristics of RBCs in diseases such as malaria and sickle cell anemia are highlighted.     

Atomic scale imaging and spectroscopy of a CuO(2) plane at the surface of Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta)

We have used a scanning tunneling microscope to demonstrate that a single CuO2 plane can form a stable and atomically ordered layer at the surface of Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta). In contrast to previous studies on high-T(c) surfaces, the CuO2-terminated surface exhibits a strongly suppressed tunneling conductance at low voltages. We consider a number of different explanations for this phenomena and propose that it may be caused by how the orbital symmetry of the CuO2 plane's electronic states affects the tunneling process.     

The magnetic properties of some R5Pt3 compounds (R = Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho)

The magnetic susceptibility and magnetization of the R₅Pt₃ intermetallic compounds have been studied. Gd₅Pt₃ is ferromagnetic while Tb₅Pt₃, Dy₅Pt₃ and Ho₅Pt₃ possess rather a non-linear magnetic structure, with strong ferromagnetic interaction and high anisotropy effects at low temperatures.     

Application of Sol–Gel Based Poly(ethylene glycol)/Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Coated Fiber for SPME of Methyl tert-Butyl Ether in Environmental Water Samples

In this research, the sol–gel technology was applied for the preparation of solid-phase microextraction fibers for extracting of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) from environmental water samples. For this purpose, two different polymers such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and combination of PEG and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were prepared using sol–gel technology as coating procedure for the fibers. The pre-concentration process followed by GC–FID determination was used and the results evidenced that pre-concentration factor for PEG/CNTs fiber was approximately five times higher than PEG. Parameters affecting the extraction efficiency such as temperature, extraction time, stirring speed and salt effect for each fiber were investigated and optimized. On the optimal conditions, the linear range for MTBE with PEG and PEG/CNT fibers were 10–3,000 and 1–1,000 ng mL^?1 and the detection limits (S/N = 3) were 1.0 and 0.3 ng mL^?1, respectively. The sol–gel PEG/CNTs fiber has good performance and therefore relatively better figures of merit and experimental results such as thermal stability (up to 320 °C), average of life time (over 150 times) and repeatability (RSD < 4) in comparison to conventional PDMS/Carboxen fiber, which was already reported for determination of MTBE.     

Complex network analysis of water distribution systems

This paper explores a variety of strategies for understanding the formation, structure, efficiency, and vulnerability of water distribution networks. Water supply systems are studied as spatially organized networks for which the practical applications of abstract evaluation methods are critically evaluated. Empirical data from benchmark networks are used to study the interplay between network structure and operational efficiency, reliability, and robustness. Structural measurements are undertaken to quantify properties such as redundancy and optimal-connectivity, herein proposed as constraints in network design optimization problems. The role of the supply demand structure toward system efficiency is studied, and an assessment of the vulnerability to failures based on the disconnection of nodes from the source(s) is undertaken. The absence of conventional degree-based hubs (observed through uncorrelated nonheterogeneous sparse topologies) prompts an alternative approach to studying structural vulnerability based on the identification of network cut-sets and optimal-connectivity invariants. A discussion on the scope, limitations, and possible future directions of this research is provided.     

Deformation and failure mechanism in AISI 4340 steel under ballistic impact

Deformation and failure mechanism in quench-hardened AISI 4340 steel under ballistic impact is investigated. The influence of microstructure on damage evolution is also evaluated. Strain localization and shear failure along adiabatic shear bands are the dominant deformation and failure mechanisms. The time and critical strain for the commencement of strain localization is influenced by strain rate and microstructure. The microstructure of the steel sample also influenced the type of adiabatic shear bands formed during impact. Failure mechanism involves nucleation of micro-voids, which clusters to form bigger pores. Extremely fine micro-cracks are initiated adjacent to the pores and in shear flow direction along the shear bands. These micro-cracks become interconnected and grow to macro-cracks, which cause fracture of some of the investigated cylindrical steel samples under impact. The susceptibility of the adiabatic shear bands to cracking increases with decreasing tempering temperature of the steel.     

New enclosure algorithms for the verified solutions of nonlinear Volterra integral equations

This paper is concerned with new algorithms which provide the sharp bounds that are guaranteed to contain the exact solutions of nonlinear Volterra integral equations. We develop new enclosure algorithms based on the interval methods which was first introduced by Moore in [24] together with the Taylor polynomials to improve the accuracy of the scheme by reducing the width of interval solutions. The modified methods calculate a priori bound automatically in parallel with the computation of solutions of integral equations. We will show that the accuracy of the proposed algorithms is dependent on the number of interval subdivisions. Some numerical experiments are also included to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the scheme and showing a marked improvement in comparison with the recent existing numerical results.