Conductance studies of NaBPh4, NBu4I, NaI, NaCl, NaBr, NaClO4 and the limiting ionic conductance in water + propan-1-ol mixtures at 298.15 K

The electrical conductivities of NaBPh₄, NBu₄I, NaI, NaCl, NaBr and NaClO₄ have been studied in the mixtures of propan-1-ol with water. The obtained results were analysed using the Fuoss–Justice equation. The individual limiting ionic conductivities of Na⁺, NBu₄⁺, BPh₄⁻, I⁻, Cl⁻, Br⁻, ClO₄⁻ ions have been determined using the Fuoss–Hirsch assumption. The dependencies of the limiting molar conductances Λ_o and Walden products Λ_oη versus mixed solvent composition have been discussed.     

Evaluation of semiconducting sensor materials on the basis of catalytic test reaction

Oxidative-reductive properties on the acid-base surfaces of the oxide compositions Sn-Ce-Rh-O and Zr-Mg-Y-O, active as catalysts in the ketonization of secondary alcohols were determined based on the isopropanol conversion selectivity. The kinetics of isopropanol conversion was measured in the oxygen-free atmosphere. Activation energies for both directions of conversion (dehydration to propylene and dehydrogenation to acetone) were calculated. The results were compared with the kinetics over SnO₂ and ZrO₂. Both oxide compositions, Sn-Ce-Rh-O and Zr-Mg-Y-O are oxidative-reductive catalysts containing Lewis acid centers.     

Removal of graffiti from the mortar by using Q-switched Nd:YAG laser

This paper presents part of the larger study on microstructural features of mortars and it's effects on laser cleaning process. It focuses on the influence of surface roughness, porosity and moisture content of mortars on the removal of graffiti by Nd:YAG laser. The properties of this laser are as follows: wavelength (λ) 1.06 μm, energy: 500 mJ per pulse, pulse duration: 10 ns. The investigation shows that the variation of laser fluence with the number of pulses required for the laser cleaning can be divided into two zones, namely effective zone and ineffective zone. There is a linear relationship observed between number of pulses required for laser cleaning and the laser fluence in the effective zone, while the number of pulses required for the laser cleaning is almost constant even though the laser fluence increases in the ineffective zone. Moreover, surface roughness, porosity and moisture content of mortar samples have influence on the laser cleaning process. The effect of these parameters become however negligible at the high level of laser fluence. The number of pulses required for the laser cleaning is low for smooth surface or less porous mortar. Furthermore, the wetness of the samples facilitates the cleaning process.     

Bicyclic [b]‐heteroannulated pyridazine derivatives. 9. cyclization reactions of 4,4‐dimethyl‐ and 4‐phenyltetrahydropyridazine‐3,6‐dione 3‐hydrazones with esters of keto dicarboxylic acids

Bis(ethoxycarbonyl)alkylidene derivatives 4 and 5 of the respective title hydrazones were obtained in the reactions with diethyl oxomalonate, diethyl oxosuccinate, diethyl 2‐oxoglutarate, and diethyl oxalo‐propionate as mixtures of geometric isomers with high predominance of one of them. On heating at 160‐200° without any solvent or on refluxing in ethanol 4 cyclized to yield the corresponding pyri‐dazino[6, 1‐c]triazines 6 , whereas heating of 5 gave, depending on the chain length, the corresponding pyra‐zolylpyridazines 8b and 8d or the pyridazinylpyridazine 8c . X‐ray analysis was used to determine the structures of 6 and 8 ; the unit cell of 6c was found to accommodate 16 molecules representing four conforma‐tional varieties. The different behavior of 4 and 5 in the cyclization reactions was interpreted in terms of the tautomeric equilibrium which was shifted towards the enamine form in 4 , and towards the imine form, in 5 . Transmission of a long‐range chirality effect in 4d and 5a‐d manifested itself in the ¹H nmr spectra as the magnetic non‐equivalence of the CH₂ protons in one or both ester ethyl groups.     

Analysis of exhaled breath from smokers,passive smokers and non‐smokers by solid‐phase microextraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

In this study, 38 samples of expired air were collected and analyzed from 20 non‐smoking volunteers, four passive smokers and 14 smokers (21 women and 17 men). Measurements were carried out using solid‐phase microextraction (SPME) as an isolation and preconcentration technique. The determination and identification were accomplished by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Our data showed that ca 32% of all identified compounds in the breath of healthy non‐smokers were saturated hydrocarbons. In the breath of smoking and passive smoking volunteers hydrocarbons were predominant, but also present were more exogenous analytes such as furan, acetonitrile and benzene than in the breath of non‐smokers. Acetonitrile, furan, 3‐methylfuran, 2,5‐dimethylfuran, 2‐butanone, octane and decane were identified in breath of smoking and passive smoking persons. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Edge-disjoint Open Trails in Complete Bipartite Multigraphs

Let ^r K _a,b be a complete bipartite multigraph. We show a necessary and sufficient condition for a multigraph ^r K _a,b to be arbitrarily decomposable into open trails. We extend the results obtained by Balister for complete graphs (Balister in Probab Comput 10:463–499, 2001). Moreover we show that a multigraph ^r K _a,b with even r and a ≥ 3 or b ≥ 3 is arbitrarily decomposable into open and closed trails.     

On the Locally Polynomial Complexity of the Projection-Gradient Method for Solving Piecewise Quadratic Optimisation Problems

This paper proposes a method for solving optimisation problems involving piecewise quadratic functions. The method provides a solution in a finite number of iterations, and the computational complexity of the proposed method is locally polynomial of the problem dimension, i.e., if the initial point belongs to the sufficiently small neighbourhood of the solution set. Proposed method could be applied for solving large systems of linear inequalities.     

Manganese(II), cobalt(II), nickel(II), copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes with 4-oxo-4H-1-benzopyran-3-carboxaldehyde

The complexes Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II) with 4-oxo-4H-1-benzopyran-3-carboxaldehyde were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, infrared and UV spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction patterns, magnetic susceptibility, thermal gravimetric analysis, conductivity and also solubility measurements in water, methanol and DMF solution at 298 K. They are polycrystalline compounds with various formula and different ratio of metal ion:ligand. Their formula are following: [MnL₂(H₂O)](NO₃)₂·2H₂O, [CoL₂](NO₃)₂·3H₂O, [NiL₂](NO₃)₂·3H₂O, [CuL₂](NO₃)₂·H₂O and [ZnL₃](NO₃)₂, where L = C₁₀H₆O₃. The coordination of metal ions is through oxygen atoms present in 4-position of γ-pyrone ring and of aldehyde group of ligand. Chelates of Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) obey Curie–Weiss law and they are high-spin complexes with the weak ligand fields. The thermal stability of analyzed complexes was studied in air at 293–1,173 K. On the basis of the thermoanalytical curves, it appears that thermal stability of anhydrous analysed chelates changed following: Cu (423 K) < Zn (438 K) ~ Co (440 K) < Ni (468 K). The gaseous products of thermal decomposition of those compounds in air atmosphere are following: CO₂, CO, NO₂, N₂O, hydrocarbons and in case of hydrates also water. The molar conductance data confirm that the all studied complexes are 1:2 electrolytes in DMF solution.