Synthesis and Properties of Benzo‐Fused Indeno[2,1‐c]fluorenes

A set of fully‐conjugated indenofluorenes has been synthesized and confirmed by solid‐state structure analysis. The indeno[2,1‐c]fluorenes and their benzo‐fused analogues all contain the antiaromatic as‐indacene core. The molecules possess high electron affinities and show a broad absorption that reaches into the near‐IR region of the electromagnetic spectrum. All of the featured compounds reversibly accept up to two electrons as revealed by cyclic voltammetry. Analysis of molecule tropicity using NICS‐XY scan calculations shows that, while the as‐indacene core is less paratropic than s‐indacene, benz[a]‐annulation further reduces the antiaromaticity of the core. Antiaromatic strength of the as‐indacene core can also be tuned by the position of fusion of additional arenes on the outer rings.     

Control of simultaneous effects of the temperature,indium composition and the impact ionization process on the performance of the InN/InxGa1-xN quantum dot solar cells

The impact ionization in semiconductor materials is a process that produces multiple charge carrier pairs from a single excitation. This mechanism constitutes a possible road to increase the efficiency of the p-n and p-i-n solar cells junctions. Our study considers the structure of InN/InGaN quantum dot solar cell in the calculation. In this work, we study the effect of indium concentration and temperature on the coefficient $\theta$ of the material type parameter of the impact ionization process for a p(InGaN)-n(InGaN) and p(InGaN)-i(QDs-InN)-n(InGaN) solar cell. Next, we investigate the effect of perturbation such as temperature and indium composition on conventional solar cell’s (p(InGaN)-n(InGaN)) and solar cells of the third generation with quantum dot intermediate band IBSC (p(InGaN-i(QD-InN)-n(InGaN)) by analyzing their behaviour in terms of efficiency of energy conversion at the presence of the impact ionization process. Our numerical results show that the efficiency is strongly influenced by all of these parameters. It is also demonstrated that $\theta$ decreased with the increase of indium concentration and temperature which contributes to an overall improvement of the conversion efficiency.     

AN APPLICATION OF MULTI‐CRITERIA DECISION MAKING INCORPORATING STOCHASTIC PRODUCTION FRONTIERS: A CASE STUDY OF ORGANIC COFFEE PRODUCTION IN KONA,HAWAII

Abstract In this paper, we develop a land use allocation model to search for the optimal ratio of organic (nonchemical) and conventional (chemical‐use) farming acreage. The idea is to incorporate stochastic production frontiers (SPFs) to a multi‐criteria decision making (MCDM) model as technological constraints. The objectives of this model are to maximize net returns, minimize chemical inputs, and optimize organic inputs given environmental and ecological concerns. The compromise solutions suggest the desirable ratio of organic and conventional farming acreage and targetable operations for each farming system to improve regional welfare. This method was applied to the Kona coffee belt, Hawaii, and the analysis determined the optimal proportion of organic and conventional Kona coffee farming fields as 0.265 to 0.735 in terms of optimizing community benefits or regional welfare.     

Existence of Renormalized Solutions for Nonlinear Parabolic Equations

We give an existence result of a renormalized solution for a class of nonlin- ear parabolic equations b（x,u）/ t-div （a（x,t,u, u））＋g（x,t,u,u ）＋H（x,t, u）=f,in QT, where the right side belongs to LP＇ （0,T;W-1,p＇（Ω）） and where b（x,u） is unbounded function of u and where - div （ a （ x, t, u, u） ） is a Leray-Lions type operator with growth ｜u ｜p- 1 in V u. The critical growth condition on g is with respect to u and no growth condition with re sp ect to u, while the function H （x, t, u） grows as｜ u ｜p - 1.     

Oxidation of Methyl Propanoate by the OH Radical

Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry A - Atmospheric oxidation of methyl propanoate (MP) by the OH radical has been performed using density functional theory (BMK, BBIK) and ab initio (MP2,...     

Reactivity Trends and Kinetic Inspection of Hydroxide Ion Attack and DNA Interaction on Some Pharmacologically Active Agents of Fe(II) Amino Acid Schiff Base Complexes at Different Temperatures

The reactivity of few novel high‐spin Fe(II) complexes of Schiff base ligands derived from 2‐hydroxynaphthaldehyde and some variety of amino acids with the OH^? ion has been examined in an aqueous mixture at the temperature range from 10 to 40°C. Based on the kinetic investigations, the rate law and a plausible mechanism were proposed and discussed. The general rate equation was suggested as follows: rate = k_obs[complex], where k_obs. = k₁ + k₂[OH^?]. Base‐catalyzed hydrolysis kinetic measurements imply pseudo–first‐order doubly stage rates due the presence of mer‐ and fac‐isomers. The observed rate constants k_obs are correlated with the effect of substituent R in the structure of the ligands. From the effect of temperature on the rate base hydrolysis reaction, various thermodynamic parameters were evaluated. The evaluated rate constants and activation parameters are in a good agreement with the stability constants of the investigated complexes. Moreover, the reactivity of the investigated complexes toward DNA was examined and found to be in a good agreement with the reported binding constants.     

Novel Synthesis of Some Imidazolyl‐, Benzoxazinyl‐, and Quinazolinyl‐2,4‐dioxothiazolidine Derivatives

2‐(2,4‐Dioxothiazolidin‐5‐yl)acetic acid 1 and its chloride derivative 2 were allowed to react with different aromatic amines such as o‐phenylenediamine, o‐aminothiophenol, p‐aminoacetophenone, and anthranilic acid to give the biologically active nuclei such as imidazoles, thiazoles, benzoxazines, and quinazolines incorporated with the thiazolidindione nucleus. The antimicrobial activity of five of the synthesized compounds was examined against one gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus), one gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli), and two fungi (Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans). Four compounds showed moderate antibacterial and antifungal activities.     

Lipoic Acid Combined with Melatonin Mitigates Oxidative Stress and Promotes Root Formation and Growth in Salt-Stressed Canola Seedlings (Brassica napus L.)

Lipoic acid (LA) and melatonin (MT) are pleiotropic molecules participating in plant stress resistance by modulating cellular biochemical changes, ion homeostasis, and antioxidant enzyme activities. However, the combined role of these two molecules in counteracting the detrimental impacts of salinity stress is still unknown. In the present study, we determined the effects of exogenous LA (0.5 µM), MT (1 µM) and their combination (LA + MT) on growth performance and biomass accumulation, photosynthetic pigments, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activities, and ions homeostatic in canola (Brassica napus L.) seedlings under salinity stress (0, 100 mM) for 40 days. The results indicate that exogenous application of LA + MT improved the phenotypic growth (by 25 to 45%), root thickness (by 68%), number of later lateral roots (by 52%), root viability (by 44%), and root length (by 50%) under salinity stress. Moreover, total soluble protein, chlorophyll pigments, the concentration of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase peroxidase (CAT), and ascorbic peroxidase (ASA) increased with the presence of salt concentration into the growth media and then decreased with the addition of LA + MT to saline solution. Leaf protein contents and the degradation of photosynthetic pigments were lower when LA + MT treatments were added into NaCl media. The proline and phenol contents decreased in the exogenous application of LA + MT treatments more than individual LA or MT treatments under the salinity stress. The incorporation of LA or MT or a combination of LA + MT to saline solution decreased salinity-induced malondialdehyde and electrolyte leakage. In conclusion, the alteration of metabolic pathways, redox modulation, and ions homeostasis in plant tissues by the combined LA and MT application are helpful towards the adaptation of Brassica napus L. seedlings in a saline environment. The results of this study provide, for the first time, conclusive evidence about the protective role of exogenous LA + MT in canola seedlings under salinity stress.     

Existence and Global Asymptotic Behavior of Positive Solutions for Sublinear and Superlinear Fractional Boundary Value Problems

In this paper, the authors aim at proving two existence results of fractional differential boundary value problems of the form(P_(a,b)){D~αu(x) + f(x, u(x)) = 0, x ∈(0, 1),u(0) = u(1) = 0, D~(α-3)u(0) = a, u(1) =-b,where 3 α≤ 4, Dαis the standard Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative and a, b are nonnegative constants. First the authors suppose that f(x, t) =-p(x)t~σ, with σ∈(-1, 1)and p being a nonnegative continuous function that may be singular at x = 0 or x = 1and satisfies some conditions related to the Karamata regular variation theory. Combining sharp estimates on some potential functions and the Sch¨auder fixed point theorem, the authors prove the existence of a unique positive continuous solution to problem(P_(0,0)).Global estimates on such a solution are also obtained. To state the second existence result, the authors assume that a, b are nonnegative constants such that a + b 0 and f(x, t) = tφ(x, t), with φ(x, t) being a nonnegative continuous function in(0, 1)×[0, ∞) that is required to satisfy some suitable integrability condition. Using estimates on the Green's function and a perturbation argument, the authors prove the existence and uniqueness of a positive continuous solution u to problem(P_(a,b)), which behaves like the unique solution of the homogeneous problem corresponding to(P_(a,b)). Some examples are given to illustrate the existence results.     

Effect of Ar bombardment on the electrical and optical properties of low-density polyethylene films

The influence of low-energy Ar ion beam irradiation on both electrical and optical properties of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) films is presented. The polymer films were bombarded with 320 keV Ar ions with fuences up to 1×10¹⁵ cm^?2. Electrical properties of LDPE films were measured and the effect of ion bombardment on the DC conductivity, dielectric constant and loss was studied. Optically, the energy gap, the Urbach’s energy and the number of carbon atoms in a cluster were estimated for all polymer samples using the UV–Vis spectrophotometry technique. The obtained results showed slight enhancement in the conductivity and dielectric parameters due to the increase in ion fluence. Meanwhile, the energy gap and the Urbach’s energy values showed significant decrease by increasing the Ar ion fluence. It was found that the ion bombardment induced chain scission in the polymer chain causing some carbonization. An increase in the number of carbon atoms per cluster was also observed.