Accelerated degradation of yttria stabilized zirconia electrolyte during high-temperature water electrolysis

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - The accelerated degradation of a commercial LSCF/YDC/YSZ/Ni-YSZ solid oxide electrolyzer cell...     

Size-Controlled Hapticity Switching in [Ln(C9H9)(C8H8)] Sandwiches

Sandwich complexes of lanthanides have recently attracted a considerable amount of interest due to their applications as Single Molecule Magnet (SMM). Herein, a comprehensive series of heteroleptic lanthanide sandwich complexes ligated by the cyclononatetraenyl (Cnt) and the cyclooctatetraenyl (Cot) ligand [Ln(Cot)(Cnt)] (Ln=Tb, Dy, Er, Ho, Yb, and Lu) is reported. The coordination behavior of the Cnt ligand has been investigated along the series and shows different coordination patterns in the solid-state depending on the size of the corresponding lanthanide ion without altering its overall anisotropy. Besides the characterization in the solid state by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and in solution by ¹H NMR, static magnetic studies and ab initio computational studies were performed.     

Detailed Investigation of the Immunodominant Role of O‐Antigen Stoichiometric O‐Acetylation as Revealed by Chemical Synthesis,Immunochemistry, Solution Conformation and STD‐NMR Spectroscopy for Shigella flexneri 3a

Shigella flexneri 3a causes bacillary dysentery. Its O‐antigen has the {2)‐[α‐d ‐Glcp‐(1→3)]‐α‐l ‐Rhap‐(1→2)‐α‐l ‐Rhap‐(1→3)‐[Ac→2]‐α‐l ‐Rhap‐(1→3)‐[Ac→6]_{≈40 %}‐β‐d ‐GlcpNAc‐(1→} ([(E)AB_AcC_AcD]) repeating unit, and the non‐O‐acetylated equivalent defines S. flexneri X. Propyl hepta‐, octa‐, and decasaccharides sharing the (E′)A′B_AcCD(E)A sequence, and their non‐O‐acetylated analogues were synthesized from a fully protected B_AcCD(E)A allyl glycoside. The stepwise introduction of orthogonally protected mono‐ and disaccharide imidate donors was followed by a two‐step deprotection process. Monoclonal antibody binding to twenty‐six S. flexneri types 3a and X di‐ to decasaccharides was studied by an inhibition enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and STD‐NMR spectroscopy. Epitope mapping revealed that the 2_C‐acetate dominated the recognition by monoclonal IgG and IgM antibodies and that the B_AcCD segment was essential for binding. The glucosyl side chain contributed to a lesser extent, albeit increasingly with the chain length. Moreover, tr‐NOESY analysis also showed interaction but did not reveal any meaningful conformational change upon antibody binding.     

Decrease of the carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) loading above Jungfraujoch,based on high resolution infrared solar spectra recorded between 1999 and 2011

The long-term trend of the atmospheric carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) burden has been retrieved from high spectral resolution infrared solar absorption spectra recorded between January 1999 and June 2011. The observations were made with a Fourier transform spectrometer at the northern mid-latitude, high altitude Jungfraujoch station in Switzerland (46.5°N latitude, 8.0°E longitude, 3580 m altitude). Total columns were derived from spectrometric analysis of the strong CCl₄ ν₃ band at 794 cm^?1, accounting for all interfering molecules (e.g., H₂O, CO₂, O₃, and a dozen weakly absorbing gases). A significant improvement in the fitting residuals and in the retrieved CCl₄ columns was obtained by taking into account line mixing in a strong interfering CO₂ Q branch. This procedure had never been implemented in remote sensing CCl₄ retrievals though its importance was noted in earlier studies. A fit to the CCl₄ daily mean total column time series returns a statistically-significant long-term trend of (?1.49±0.08×10¹³ mol/cm²)/yr, 2?σ. This corresponds to an annual decrease of (?1.31±0.07) pptv for the mean free tropospheric volume mixing ratio. Furthermore, the total column data set reveals a weak seasonal cycle with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 4.5%, with minimum and maximum values occurring in mid-February and mid-September, respectively. This small seasonal modulation is attributed primarily to the residual influence of tropopause height changes throughout the year. The negative trend of the CCl₄ loading reflects the continued impact of the regulations implemented by the Montreal Protocol and its strengthening amendments and adjustments. Despite this statistically significant decrease, the CCl₄ molecule currently remains an important contributor to the atmospheric chlorine budget, and thus deserves further monitoring, to ensure continued compliance with these strengthenings, globally. Our present findings are briefly discussed with respect to recent relevant CCl₄ investigations at the ground and from space.     

A new look at probability-weighted moments estimators

In this article, we propose to study, in more generality, the probability-weighted moments method used by Hosking and Wallis (1987) in the case of generalized Pareto distributions which depend on two parameters γ and σ. The objective is to extend the domain of validity: γ<1/2 required in order to obtain the asymptotic properties of their estimators. By simulations, we show the efficiency of our technique. To cite this article: J. Diebolt et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 338 (2004).     

A comparison between a plume path model and a virtual point source model for a stack plume

Some years ago we developed a theoretical model for the calculation of the rise of a stack plume in the atmosphere. Recently we have extended this model in such a way that the ground level concentration of gases emitted by a stack can also be calculated. The cross-section of the plume, which was originally assumed to be a circle, is now assumed to be an ellipse. The height-to-width ratio of the ellipse is chosen in accordance with full-scale data. The entrainment of air into the plume due to atmospheric turbulence can now be calculated not only for neutral atmospheric conditions, but also for stable and unstable conditions.Predictions of the ground level concentration made with this model have been compared with predictions made with the often used virtual point source model. For neutral and unstable atmospheric conditions the agreement is rather good. For stable conditions the differences can be rather large. The sensitivity of the ground level concentration with respect to the atmospheric stability condition, the stack height, the plume exit momentum flux and the plume exit buoyancy flux has also been investigated with the aid of the model. The influence of the plume exit momentum flux is negligible; however, the influence of the other parameters can be large.