Stacking in sediments of colloidal hard spheres

We use computer simulations to investigate the crystallization dynamics of sedimenting hard spheres in large systems (hundreds of thousands of particles). We show that slow sedimentation results primarily in face-centered cubic (fcc) stacked crystals, instead of random hexagonal close packed or hexagonal close packed (hcp) crystals. We also find slanted stacking faults, in the fcc regions. However, we attribute the formation of fcc to the free energy difference between fcc and hcp and not to the presence of these slanted stacking faults. Although the free energy difference between hcp and fcc per particle is small (only 10(-3) times the thermal energy), it can become considerable, when multiplied by the number of particles in each domain. The ratio of fcc to hcp obtained from dynamic simulations is in excellent agreement with well-equilibrated Monte Carlo simulations, in which no slanted stacking faults were found. Our results explain a range of experiments on colloids, in which the amount of fcc increases upon lowering the sedimentation rate or decreasing the initial volume fraction.     

Chemical Modification of A Vinyl Ester Resin by Acid Anhydrides and Characterization of the Products by l3C NMR

A vinyl ester resin was modified into half ester-acids by reaction with phthalic, maleic, and succinic anhydrides, using pyridine as catalyst. GPC analysis indicated that the reaction proceeds without crosslinking or polymerization. ¹³C-NMR analysis showed that the β-isomer of the vinyl ester resin containing a primary hydroxyl group reacts much more rapidly than the α-isomer with a secondary hydroxyl group.     

Determination of phenylalanine and tyrosine by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

Phenylketonuria is a common metabolic disorder disease. Those affected appear normal at birth, but without treatment they develop severe psychomotor retardation. Throughout life, they must control their blood levels of phenylalanine (Phe) and consume a diet containing adequate amounts of Phe and tyrosine (Tyr). We have developed a liquid chromatographic/mass spectrometric (LC/MS) method for the quantitative evaluation of Phe and Tyr in food samples. This method takes advantage of the good separation of LC and the selective and reliable quantification provided by MS in the electrospray ionization mode. The LC/MS method is very suitable for the determination of selected amino acids in various matrixes. It is sensitive to levels as low as about 0.30 ppm for Tyr and 0.70 ppm for Phe and robust. Nearly 100 nondietary food samples were analyzed by the developed method.     

MnOx Nanoparticles Supported on a New Mesostructured Silicate with Textural Porosity

A two‐step synthesis of a novel mesostructured silicate, KIL‐2, and its manganese‐containing analogue, Mn/KIL‐2, has been developed. KIL‐2 possesses interparticle mesopores with pore dimensions between 5 and 60 nm and a surface area of 448 m². The mesopores are formed by the aggregation of silica nanoparticles, which creates a network with interparticle voids. The particle size and the pore diameters depend on the temperature of the ageing step (first step) and on the solvothermal treatment in ethanol (second step), respectively. Mn/KIL‐2 contains octahedrally coordinated Mn³⁺ (80 %) and tetrahedrally coordinated Mn²⁺ (20 %) ions. Mn³⁺ ions are present in the extra‐framework MnO_x nanoparticles with typical dimensions of 2 nm, which are homogeneously distributed throughout the material. Mn²⁺ ions occur as isolated manganese framework sites. The material is also able to retain its structure characteristics after the hydrothermal treatment in boiling water. Because of its non‐toxic nature and cost‐effective synthesis, Mn/KIL‐2 thus exhibits properties that are needed for an environment‐friendly catalyst.     

Gap Functions for Quasivariational Inequalities and Generalized Nash Equilibrium Problems

The gap function (or merit function) is a classic tool for reformulating a Stampacchia variational inequality as an optimization problem. In this paper, we adapt this technique for quasivariational inequalities, that is, variational inequalities in which the constraint set depends on the current point. Following Fukushima (J. Ind. Manag. Optim. 3:165–171, 2007), an axiomatic approach is proposed. Error bounds for quasivariational inequalities are provided and an application to generalized Nash equilibrium problems is also considered.     

Feasibility study for cell electroporation detection and separation by means of dielectrophoresis

Electroporation is a phenomenon during which exposure of a cell to high voltage electric pulses results in a significant increase in its membrane permeability. Aside from the fact that after the electroporation the cell membrane becomes more permeable, the cells' geometrical and electrical properties change considerably. These changes enable use of the force on dielectric particles exposed to non-uniform electric field (dielectrophoresis) for separation of non-electroporated and electroporated cells. This paper reports the results of an attempt to separate non-electroporated and electroporated cells by means of dielectrophoresis. In several experiments we managed to separate the non-electroporated and electroporated cells suspended in a medium with conductivity 0.174 S/m by exposing them to a non-uniform electric field at a frequency of 2 MHz. The behaviour of electroporated cells exposed to dielectrophoresis raises the presumption that in addition to conductivity, considerable changes in membrane permittivity occur after the electroporation.     

Density functional theory of heterogeneous crystallization

This mini-review summarizes recent progress in describing heterogeneous crystallization processes and microstructure formation within microscopic classical density functional theory (DFT). After outlining the basic features of DFT, we discuss several applications ranging from the structure and thermodynamics of fluid-crystal interfaces for hard sphere and Yukawa systems to dynamical phenomena such as crystal growth on structured substrates and induced by externally imposed seeds.     

Further studies on the synthesis of quinazolines from 2-fluorobenzonitriles

Recently, we reported that appropriately substituted 2-fluorobenzonitriles undergo cyclization with guanidine carbonate to afford 2,4-diaminoquinazolines usually in good to excellent yield. This paper describes the preparation of a variety of new 2,4-diaminoquinazolines substituted at positions five or seven. In addition, the reactions of selected 2-fluorobenzonitriles with formamidine acetate or acetamidine acetate were examined. The results obtained demonstrate that the analogous 4-amino- and 2-methyl-4-aminoquinazolines can be prepared by this approach but that the yields are considerably lower than when guanidine carbonate is employed as the cyclization reagent.     

Syntheses and transformations of some heterocyclic hydroxylamines

Syntheses of some hydroxylaminoazines, their quaternized derivatives or N-oxides and N-amino compounds are described. Several transformations of these compounds and cyclization reactions are presented.