Differential and total cross sections for proton impact excitation of He

An extended form of the Vainshtein-Presnyakov-Sobelman approximation is used to calculate differential and total cross sections for proton impact excitation of the n = 2 level in He. Agreement with experiment is very good.     

Graphene‐coated cotton fibers as a sorbent for the extraction of multiclass pesticide residues from water and their determination by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry

A straightforward functionalization procedure is proposed for synthesizing a cotton‐supported graphene as an extraction material, which is effectively employed for the extraction of multiclass pesticides from environmental waters prior to their determination by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. Different experimental parameters that affect the extraction efficiency, including pH of the extraction, stirring rate, extraction time, ionic strength, presence of humic acid, sample volume, amount of sorbent, and elution conditions, were investigated and properly established. The advantages of the present extraction method are the simplicity of implementation, rapidity, and low consumption of sorbent per extraction. Moreover, the pesticides on the adsorbent are stable, under certain storage conditions, rendering the cotton‐supported graphene suitable for environmental field studies. The applicability of the cotton–graphene‐based procedure for routine analysis was demonstrated by the determination of pesticides in a lake water sample. The recoveries ranged from 83 to 107%, the limits of quantitation were in the range of 0.02–0.09 μg/L, and the calculated relative standard deviations varied from 3 to 8% (data obtained with the same batch of sorbent). Because of the acceptable analytical characteristics, the developed method shows great prospects in determining certain classes of pesticides in water.     

Octyl‐modified magnetic graphene as a sorbent for the extraction and simultaneous determination of fragrance allergens,musks, and phthalates in aqueous samples by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry

An effective, simple, and low‐cost sample preparation method based on dispersive SPE followed by GC with MS is developed for the multianalyte determination of fragrance allergens, musks, and phthalates, at sub‐ppb levels. The extraction procedure is based on a novel magnetic graphene sorbent, which is functionalized with octylamine, taking advantage of the functionalization's hydrophobic properties and π–π interactions with the analytes. Two alkyl amines, the octylamine and octadecylamine are studied to introduce alkyl chains in the basal plane of graphene. Magnetic graphene‐ octadecylamine is proved to be highly hydrophobic to such a degree that is hard to disperse in the bulk aqueous matrixes. Because of this behavior, its extraction efficiency for the target analytes is low. The synthesis and applicability of the magnetic graphene‐octylamine as more favored sorbent are optimized in terms of the most determining experimental conditions. The detection and quantification limits, which are calculated based on S/N ratio of 3 and 10, respectively, ranged from 0.29 to 3.2 ng L^?1 and from 0.89 to 9.6, respectively. The dispersive SPE is successfully applied to routine analysis for the determination of the target analytes in samples from municipal treatment plant of Ioannina (Greece), from Pamvotis Lake and baby bathwater. The reproducibility of the spiked biological treatment plant water sample is evaluated and the relative standard deviation values range between 2.1 and 9.4%.     

Comparison of topological, shape, and docking methods in virtual screening

Virtual screening benchmarking studies were carried out on 11 targets to evaluate the performance of three commonly used approaches: 2D ligand similarity (Daylight, TOPOSIM), 3D ligand similarity (SQW, ROCS), and protein structure-based docking (FLOG, FRED, Glide). Active and decoy compound sets were assembled from both the MDDR and the Merck compound databases. Averaged over multiple targets, ligand-based methods outperformed docking algorithms. This was true for 3D ligand-based methods only when chemical typing was included. Using mean enrichment factor as a performance metric, Glide appears to be the best docking method among the three with FRED a close second. Results for all virtual screening methods are database dependent and can vary greatly for particular targets.     

Co-electrospinning of core-shell fibers using a single-nozzle technique

Co-electrospinning is ideally suited for fabricating continuous fibers encasing materials within a polymer sleeve, but requires relatively complex coannular nozzles. A single-nozzle co-electrospinning technique is demonstrated using blends of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solutions in dimethylformamide (DMF). The as-spun fibers have outer diameters in the range of 0.5-5 microm and possess a core-shell structure similar to that attained via coannular nozzles. The technique relies on the precipitation of PMMA solution droplets, which become trapped at the base of the Taylor cone issuing the PAN solution jet from its tip. A theoretical analysis shows that the outer shell flow is sufficiently strong to stretch the inner droplet into the Taylor cone, thus forming a core-shell jet. The method seems attractive for technological applications involving macroscopically long and radially inhomogeneous or hollow nano/micro fibers.     

Elongational and shear rheology of carbon nanotube suspensions

Rheological behavior of concentrated suspensions of chemical vapor deposition carbon nanotubes in uniaxial elongation and simple shear is studied experimentally and theoretically. Nanotubes are suspended in viscous host liquids—castor oil or its blends with n-decane. The elongational measurements are performed by analyzing self-thinning (due to surface tension effect) liquid threads of nanotube suspensions. A quasi-one-dimensional model is used to describe the self-thinning process, whereas corrections accounting for thread nonuniformity and necking are introduced a posteriori. The effects of nanotube concentration and aspect ratio, viscosity of the suspending liquid, and initial diameter of the self-thinning thread in uniaxial elongation are elucidated. The results for uniaxial elongation are compared with those for simple shear. The correspondence in the results of the shear and elongational measurements is addressed and interpreted. The results conform to the Herschel–Bulkley rheological constitutive equation (i.e., power law fluids with yield stress). However, the yield stress in elongation is about 40% higher than in simple shear flow, which suggests that the original Herschel–Bulkley model need modification with the yield stress being a function of the second invariant of the deviatoric stress tensor. The present effort is the first to study capillary self-thinning of Herschel–Bulkley liquids, which are exemplified here by suspensions of carbon nanotubes.     

The onset of coulomb explosions in polyatomic molecules

With the development of high intensity femtosecond lasers, the ionisation and dissociation dynamics of molecules has become an area of considerable interest. Using the technique of femtosecond laser mass spectrometry (FLMS), the molecules carbon disulphide, pyrimidine, toluene, cyclohexanone and benzaldehyde are studied with pulse widths of 50 fs in the near infrared (IR) wavelength region (790 nm). Results are presented and contrasted for laser beam intensities around 10(15) and 10(16) W cm(-2). For the lower intensities, the mass spectra yield dominant singly charged parent ions. Additionally, the appearance of doubly charged parent ions is evident for carbon disulphide, toluene and benzaldehyde with envelopes of doubly charged satellite species existing in these local regions. Carbon disulphide also reveals a small triply charged component. Such atomic-like features are thought to be a strong fingerprint of FLMS at these intensities. However, upon increasing the laser intensity to approximately 10(16) W cm(-2), parent ion dominance decreases and the appearance of multiply charged atomic species occurs, particularly carbon. This phenomenon has been attributed to Coulomb explosions in which the fast absorption of many photons may produce transient highly ionised parent species which can subsequently blow apart. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wave scattering in hyperbolic balance laws and the zero relaxation limit

Ricerche di Matematica - In the context of a simple hyperbolic system of balance laws that relaxes to a scalar conservation law, the paper investigates the process by which the synergy of waves...     

Interaction of the early 3d transition metals Sc, Ti, V, and Cr with N2: an ab initio study

The interaction of the early 3d transition elements M=Sc, Ti, V, and Cr with N2(X 1Sigmag+) has been studied by coupled-cluster and multiconfigurational techniques in conjunction with quantitative basis sets. We investigated both triatomic (MN2) and tetratomic (M2N2) species but focused mainly on high-spin linear and T-shaped triatomics. The lowest bound states of ScN2(4B1),TiN2(5Delta), and VN2(6Sigma+) correlate to the first excited state of the M atom, with M-N2 binding energies (De) of 24, 14, and 8 kcal/mol, respectively. In CrN2, the first bound state (7) product operator correlates to the sixth excited state of the Cr atom (7P) with De = 27 kcal/mol. The M-N2-M bond strength of high-spin linear tetratomics is twice as large the binding energy of the corresponding M-N2 linear triatomics, M = Sc, Ti, V, and Cr.