Kinetics of ethylene glycol electrooxidation on the noble metal-based nano-catalysts

A comparative electrooxidation of Eg in the alkaline solution was investigated over Pt, Pd and Au nanoparticle-modified carbon-ceramic electrode. The kinetic parameters of Eg oxidation, i.e., Tafel slope and activation energy (E _a), were determined on the modified electrodes. The lowest E _a value of 8.9 kJ mol^?1 was calculated on Pt|CCE. In continuation, the reaction orders with respect to the Eg and NaOH concentrations on Pd|CCE were found to be 0.4–0.2 and 0.6, respectively. An adsorption equilibrium constant (b) of 22.36 M^?1 and the adsorption Gibbs energy change (ΔG°) of ?7.7 kJ mol^?1 were obtained on Pd|CCE. The chronopotentiometry (CP) and chronoamperometry (CA) results showed that Pd|CCE and then Au|CCE have better performance stability than Pt|CCE for Eg electrooxidation. Additionally, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) suggested faster electron-transfer kinetics on Pt than that on the Pd and Au electrocatalysts.     

Exact two steps SOCP/SDP formulation for a modified conic trust region subproblem

In this paper, we study a modified version of the conic trust region subproblem which arises within a class of nonlinear programming algorithms. First using a variant of S-Lemma, we give an SOCP/SDP formulation which gives its optimal objective value. Then using the parametrization approach of Dinkelbach and the known exact SOCP/SDP relaxation of the extended trust region subproblem, we find its optimal solution. Finally, some preliminary numerical results are given.     

Efficient one-pot synthesis of novel 6′,9′-dihydro-2H,7′H-spiro[pyrimidine-5,8′-[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-f]quinoline]-2,4,6(1H,3H)-trione derivatives under mild and “green” reaction conditions

In this paper, an efficient method is introduced for the synthesis of 7′,9′-disubstituted 6′,9′-dihydro-2H,7′H-spiro[pyrimidine-5,8′-[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-f]quinoline]-2,4,6(1H,3H)-trione derivatives under mild and “green” reaction conditions. The method is based on one-pot multicomponent reaction of an aldehyde, barbituric acid, and benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-amine in ethanol as a green and environmentally friendly solvent. The reaction has given the products in the highest isolated yield in the presence of acetic acid as catalyst under reflux conditions. Various aldehydes, bearing electron-donating or -withdrawing functionalities have been used under the optimized conditions and successfully gave the desired products (13 examples) in high isolated yields.     

Regularization tools and robust optimization for ill-conditioned least squares problem: A computational comparison

Least squares problems arise frequently in many disciplines such as image restorations. In these areas, for the given least squares problem, usually the coefficient matrix is ill-conditioned. Thus if the problem data are available with certain error, then after solving least squares problem with classical approaches we might end up with a meaningless solution. Tikhonov regularization, is one of the most widely used approaches to deal with such situations. In this paper, first we briefly describe these approaches, then the robust optimization framework which includes the errors in problem data is presented. Finally, our computational experiments on several ill-conditioned standard test problems using the regularization tools, a Matlab package for least squares problem, and the robust optimization framework, show that the latter approach may be the right choice.     

Evaluation of diffusion models of fiber tracts using diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging

Modeling of water diffusion in white matter is useful for revealing microstructure of the brain tissue and hence diagnosis and evaluation of white matter diseases. Researchers have modeled diffusion in white matter using mathematical and mechanical analysis at the cellular level. However, less work has been devoted to evaluate these models using macroscopic real data such as diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTMRI) data. DTMRI is a noninvasive tool for evaluating white matter microstructure by measuring random motion of water molecules referred to as diffusion. It reflects directional information of microscopic structures such as fibers. Thus, it is applicable for evaluation and modification of mathematical models of white matter. Nevertheless, a realistic relation between a fiber model and imaging data does not exist. This work opens a promising avenue for relating DTMRI data to microstructural parameters of white matter. First, we propose a strategy for relating DTMRI and fiber model parameters to evaluate mathematical models in light of real data. The proposed strategy is then applied to evaluate and extend an existing model of white matter based on clinically available DTMRI data. Next, the proposed strategy is used to estimate microstructural characteristics of fiber tracts. We illustrate this approach through its application to approximation of myelin sheath thickness and fraction of volume occupied by fibers. Using sufficiently small imaging voxels, the proposed approach is capable of estimating model parameters with desirable precision.     

Effect of post‐deposition annealing on surface morphology and gas sensing properties of palladium phthalocyanine thin films

The effect of post‐deposition annealing on surface morphology and gas sensing properties of palladium phthalocyanine (PdPc) nanostructured thin films has been studied. PdPc thin films were deposited on polyborosilicate substrate by thermal evaporation technique at room temperature. The surface morphology of thin films was investigated by SEM, X‐ray diffraction, and optical absorption. X‐ray diffraction patterns showed a phase transition from α to β based on post‐deposition annealing at temperatures above 200 °C. The SEM and optical absorption confirmed that annealing strongly influenced the surface morphology of nanostructured thin films. Sandwich devices (Au|PdPc|Al) were fabricated and exposed to different concentrations of NO₂ and NH₃ as oxidizing and reducing gases at different temperatures, and the sensitivity of devices were obtained versus gases. Obtained results showed α‐PdPc thin film devices had higher sensitivity in comparison with devices in β‐phase. In particular, it was found that the sensitivity of devices is temperature dependent and the best operating temperature range of devices was measured at about 90–100 °C. Devices showed good reversibility, response, and recovery time at room temperature. Finally, the stability of sensors was investigated for a period of about 1 year; results showed that the sensors were stable for 2 months and lost about 30% of their sensitivity after 1 year. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sounds of Instability from Generalized QCD Ghost Dark Energy

We investigate about the stability of generalized QCD ghost dark energy model against perturbations in the FRW background. For this purpose, we use the squared sound speed $v_{s}^{2}$ whose sign determines the stability of the model. We explore the stability of this model in the presence/absence of interaction between dark energy and dark matter in both flat and non-flat geometry. In all cases we find almost a same result. Based on the square sound speed analysis, due to the existence of a free parameter in this model, the model is theoretically capable to lead a dark energy dominated stable universe. However, observational constraints rule out such a chance. In conclusion, we find evidences that the generalized ghost dark energy might can not lead to a stable universe favored by observations at the present time.     

On generalized m-th root finsler metrics

In this paper, we characterize locally dually flat generalized m-th root Finsler metrics. Then we find a condition under which a generalized m-th root metric is projectively related to a m-th root metric. Finally, we prove that if a generalized m-th root metric is conformal to a m-th root metric, then both of them reduce to Riemannian metrics.     

Study on the effect of laser parameters on wakefield excitation in femtosecond pulsed laser–plasma interaction using PIC method

Propagation of an intense short laser pulse through under-dense plasma can produce huge amplitude plasma wake field. A 3D particle in cell (PIC) method was used to simulate the wakefield generation for different laser parameters such as intensity, pulse duration, spot size and temporal pulse shape. Our study shows that the amplitude of wakefield is increased with laser intensity, but it is decreased with spot size. The results for pulse shape and pulse duration depend on their optimum values.