Self-assembled growth of nanostructural Ge islands on bromine-passivated Si(111) surfaces at room temperature

We have deposited relatively thick (∼60 nm) Ge layers on Br-passivated Si(111) substrates by thermal evaporation under high vacuum conditions at room temperature. Ge has grown in a layer-plus-island mode although it is different from the Stranski-Krastanov growth mode observed in epitaxial growth. Both the islands and the layer are nanocrystalline. This appears to be a consequence of reduction of surface free energy of the Si(111) substrate by Br-passivation. The size distribution of the Ge nanoislands has been determined. The Br-Si(111) substrates were prepared by a liquid treatment, which may not produce exactly reproducible surfaces. Nevertheless, some basic features of the nanostructural island growth are reasonably reproducible, while there are variations in the details of the island size distribution.     

New adjuvant design using layered double hydroxide for production of polyclonal antibodies in radioimmunoassay techniques

Various adjuvants have been used to enhance the immune response against specific antigens. So the objective of this work describes the immune stimulating activity of layered double hydroxide (LDH) particles incorporate with mineral oil as a new formulation of adjuvant as compared to known Freund’s adjuvant for production of alpha-fetoprotein polyclonal antibody (anti-AFP) for estimation of alpha fetoprotein (AFP) in human serum by radioimmunoassay technique. In this concern, the study comprised two groups of white New Zealand rabbits, 2?2.5 kg body weight and each group comprised three rabbits. The first group vaccinated with AFP antigen emulsified with Freund’s adjuvant and the second group vaccinated with AFP antigen emulsified with LDH formulation. The obtained data show that the highest displacement using LDH adjuvant reached (74.2, 61.7 and 66.5 %) while the corresponding values with Freund’s adjuvant recorded (64.8, 60.3 and 54.6 %) which indicates that the use of LDH adjuvant as a cellular vehicle is a more suitable choice. Also, the preparation of AFP tracer using lactoperoxidase oxidation method and its purification using gel chromatography on PD-10 column were carried out. Different factors affecting the optimization of the assay process were studied. Validation testes of the assay were carried out. The reproducibility as measured by the intra- and inter- assay variations is satisfactory. The recovery and dilution testes indicated accurate calibration and appropriate matrix. The present technique agreed well with the currently used commercial kit (Siemens, IRMA kit). In conclusion, the liquid phase double antibody RIA technique proved to be sensitive, specific, precis and accurate for routine laboratory use.     

A MODEL FOR ESTIMATING PREMIUMS TO REDUCE IRRIGATION ON FARMS

Abstract This paper aims to determine the minimum agri‐environmental premium per hectare that farmers should receive to reduce crop irrigation. To this end, the authors develop a mixed‐integer quadratic model using a new methodology based on traditional positive mathematical programming, which allows the inclusion in the model of crop variants that are not present in the baseline situation of the farms. What is shown is that the results obtained with this new methodology, using the cost average approach of calibration, are the same as those obtained with an empirical method, when there is no change of crop distribution after the changeover from irrigated to nonirrigated farms. The theoretical results are compared with those obtained using the calibration with exogenous elasticities and are illustrated numerically for a representative farm of an area around Spain's Tablas de Daimiel in which the use of groundwater for crop irrigation has led to the ongoing deterioration of wetlands that depend on the same source of water, endangering the region's environmental sustainability.     

Gas-phase reactivity of lactones: structure and stability of their Cu+ complexes

The structure and relative stability of different lactone-Cu⁺ complexes, including cycles changing from four to six-membered rings, have been investigated through the use of density functional theory methods. The geometries and vibrational frequencies were calculated at the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level. Final energies were obtained in single point calculations carried out at the B3LYP/6-311+G(2df,2p) level of theory. Upon interaction with Cu⁺ in the gas phase, lactones behave in a rather similar way as they do in protonation processes. Systematically the global minimum of the potential energy surface corresponds to the attachment of the metal cation to the carbonyl oxygen cis with respect to the ether-like oxygen. Also, similarly to proton affinities, the calculated Cu⁺ binding energies increase with the size of the system. The unsaturated compounds are found to be only slightly more basic than the saturated counterparts. Cu⁺ attachment leads to significant bond activation and bond reinforcement effects, reflected in redshiftings and blueshiftings of the stretching frequencies, respectively. Cu⁺ is able to form agostic bonds with some of the CH² groups of the lactone moiety. These agostic complexes can be good precursors for the unimolecular loss of H², which very likely should be observed in the mass spectra.     

Laser Performance of Some Oxazole Laser Dyes in Restricted Matrices

This article reports the optical properties such as absorption profile, molar absorptivity, fluorescence profile and photo-physical parameters such as dipole moment, oscillator strength, fluorescence quantum yields, fluorescence lifetimes, laser performance and finally photostability of 2,5-Bis(5-tert-butyl-benzoxazol-2-yl)thiophene (BBOT),1,4-Bis(5-phenyl-2-oxazolyl)benzene (POPOB), 5-diphenyel-oxazole (PPO) laser dyes in different restricted hosts. (BBOT), (POPOB) and (PPO) are embedded in transparent silica-based nanoporous sol-gel glass and copolymer matrix of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). The absorption and fluorescence properties of these laser dyes in sol-gel glass matrices are compared with their respective properties in copolymer host. In case of sol-gel matrix, all dyes had higher quantum yields as well as lasing wavelength maxima. The laser performances as well as the photostability of these laser dyes in sol-gel glass displayed senior behavior compared with (MMA/ HEMA) copolymer samples upon using nitrogen laser (337.1 nm) as pumping energy.     

The reactions of Cl+ (3P) and Cl+ (1D) with hydrogen sulphide. A G2 molecular orbital study

G2 ab initio molecular orbital calculations have been performed to study the potential energy surfaces (PESs) associated with the reactions of Cl⁺ in its ³P ground state and in its ¹D first excited state with hydrogen sulphide. [H₂, Cl, S]⁺ singlet and triplet state cations present very different bonding characteristics. The latter are systematically ion-dipole or hydrogen-bonded weakly bound species, while the former are covalent molecular ions. As a consequence, although the Cl⁺(³P) is 34.5 kcal mol^?1 more stable than Cl⁺(¹D), the global minimum of the singlet PES lies 37.3 kcal mol^?1 below the global minimum of the triplet PES. Both singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces show significant differences with respect to those associated with Cl⁺ + H₂O reactions as well as with SH₂ reactions with F⁺. In both cases, the major product should be SH⁺ ₂; SH⁺ and HCl⁺ being the minor products, in agreement with the experimental evidence. The estimated heat of formation for the most stable H₂SCl⁺ singlet state species is 198 ± 1 kcal mol^?1.     

On binary signed digit representations of integers

Applications of signed digit representations of an integer include computer arithmetic, cryptography, and digital signal processing. An integer of length n bits can have several binary signed digit (BSD) representations and their number depends on its value and varies with its length. In this paper, we present an algorithm that calculates the exact number of BSDR of an integer of a certain length. We formulate the integer that has the maximum number of BSDR among all integers of the same length. We also present an algorithm to generate a random BSD representation for an integer starting from the most significant end and its modified version which generates all possible BSDR. We show how the number of BSD representations of k increases as we prepend 0s to its binary representation.     

Kinetics of catalyzed hydrolysis of 4-methylumbelliferyl caprylate (MUCAP) salmonella reagent

The kinetics of chemical hydrolysis including neutral, acid- and base-catalyzed hydrolysis of 4-methylumbelliferyl caprylate (MUCAP) salmonella reagent were studied at different temperatures. The rate constants and activation parameters were determined by following the build-up of fluorescence peak of the hydrolysis product 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU). The time scale of esterase enzyme hydrolysis caused by salmonella was compared with chemical hydrolysis as a background process.