Electrically induced lipid migration in non-lamellar phase

Inverted hexagonal blocks of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) lipid adsorbed on a polyethyleneimine (PEI)-coated surface in deionized water transformed its shape upon the application of an electric field, forming lipid objects in a variety of shapes (e.g. lines with a width of 10-50μm). The phenomenon was driven by the electrophoresis, because the zwitterionic lipid, DOPE turned out to be highly negatively charged in deionized water. The interaction between DOPE and the PEI surface stabilized the system, assuring a lifetime over several weeks for the formed structures after the electric field was switched off. The free-drawing of microscopic objects (lines, crosses, and jelly fish) was also achieved by controlling the direction of the lipid movement with the field direction.     

Remarks on hierarchic control for the wave equation in moving domains

We study a Stackelberg strategy subject to the evolutionary linearized Kirchhoff equation for small vibrations of a stretched elastic string when the ends are variables. We assume that we can act in the dynamic of the system by a hierarchy of controls. According to the formulation given by H. von Stackelberg (see [3]), there are local controls, called followers, and global controls, called leaders. In fact, one considers situations where there are two cost (objective) functions. One possible way is to cut the control into two parts, one being thought of as “the leader” and the other one as “the follower”. This situation is studied in the paper, with one of the cost functions being of the controllability type. Existence and uniqueness is proven. The optimality system is given in the paper.     

Convergence theorems for common fixed points of asymptotically quasi-nonexpansive mappings in convex metric spaces

In this paper, we consider an implicit iteration process to approximate the common fixed points of two finite families of asymptotically quasi-nonexpansive mappings in convex metric spaces. As a consequence of our result, we obtain some related convergence theorems. Our results generalize some recent results of Khan and Ahmed [4], Khan et al. [6], Sun [12], Wittmann [14] and Xu and Ori [15].     

Effect of introducing thioether linkages on the molecular organization of chiral twin liquid crystals

Novel symmetric and non-symmetric chiral twin compounds possessing one or two thioether groups in a central spacer were prepared, and the effect of substituting oxygen for sulphur on the liquid crystalline properties investigated. Chiral twin compounds possessing an alkylsulphanyl spacer showed an antiferroelectric phase exclusively. However, replacing the alkyloxy chain of the analogous monomer by the alkylsulphanyl chain has no significant effect on the phase transition behaviour, i.e. both of the monomers showed the ferro- and ferri-electric phases as well as the antiferroelectric phase. Thus, different effects of introducing the thioether linkage were for the first time observed between twin and monomeric systems. The introduction of oxygen or sulphur atoms into the central alkyl spacer of the chiral twin was also investigated, and these modifications were found to stabilize the SmA phase. Furthermore, the twin compound possessing a thiaalkyl spacer showed two different molecular assemblies in the smectic A phase.     

Kinetics and Equilibria of Synthesized Anionic Surfactant onto Berea Sandstone

We present static adsorption studies of anionic surfactants on crushed Berea sandstone. The maximum adsorption density was 0.9604 mg/g. The kinetics of adsorption process was modeled using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order rate equations at 25°C and 70°C. The equilibrium adsorption process was validated using Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models. In addition, the effects of different parameters that govern the effectiveness of these surfactants such as pH and temperature were also investigated. The kinetic study results show that the surfactant adsorption is a time dependent process. The apparent rate constant of adsorption process determined by the first-order kinetic model at 25°C and 70°C were 0.11768 and ?0.04513, respectively. The rate constant for pseudo-second-order kinetic model was 0.0086 at 25°C and 0.0101 at 70°C. The adsorption of anionic surfactant followed pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The Freundlich and Langmuir model constant were 1.6509 × 10^?4 and ?9.775 × 10^?5, respectively. The equilibrium results showed that the adsorption of anionic surfactant onto Berea sandstone was well described by Langmuir adsorption model. It was concluded that anionic surfactants performed better at higher pH and temperature.      

Synthesis and Characterization of Nitrobenzoylthiourea Derivatives as Potential Conductive Biodegradable Thin Films

Abstract

The application of thiourea derivatives as conjugated molecular wire candidates in the field of material sciences has attracted great attention recently. To date, conjugated thiourea systems as molecular wires are surprisingly unexplored although the well-known rigid π-systems promise a wide range of electronic properties. Due to this matter, five novel thiourea derivatives A-ArC(O)NHC(S)NHAr-D with polar head and tail groups, namely NO₂ (acceptor A) and alkoxy with varying chain lengths (donor D = OC_nH_2n+1, n = 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), were successfully synthesized and characterized. All compounds were characterized by IR, UV-vis, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, and CHNS elemental microanalysis. The investigation of their potential as dopant systems in polymer conducting films has been accomplished by incorporating of chitosan via the solution casting technique. The conductivity values were obtained using impedance spectroscopy. They show that the ionic conductivities of the N-(4-alkoxyphenyl)-N’-(4-nitrobenzoyl)thioureas increase with increasing chain length of the alkoxy chain. The compounds exhibit great potential for the exploration of future applications as doping systems in conductive materials.     

Ferrielectric and antiferroelectric chiral twin liquid crystals showing a stable chiral nematic phase

A homologous series of chiral twin liquid crystals possessing identical chiral moieties at both peripheral ends, i.e. optically active α,ω -bis{4-[(4′-(1-methylheptyloxycarbonyl)-4-biphenylyl)oxycarbony]phenoxy}alkanes, has been prepared and their liquid crystalline properties investigated. The homologues preferred to show the ferrielectric and/or antiferroelectric phase rather than the ferroelectric phase. With ascending central spacer length, the temperature range of the ferrielectric phase became narrow and eventually disappeared for the dodecyl homologue, suggesting that the coupling in motion and/or direction between two mesogenic parts of each twin molecule has an important effect on the stabilization of the ferrielectric phase. The octyl and dodecyl homologues showed a wide temperature range chiral nematic phase (ca. 10°C or more), so that these compounds were found to be the first examples showing antiferroelectric and/or ferrielectric phases with a broad temperature range of the chiral nematic phase. X-ray diffraction studies showed that the homologues tend to form a mono-layered structure. The formation of a relatively well defined layered structure was also indicated, which is considered to be important for generating anticlinic ordering in the antiferroelectric and ferrielectric phases. An isotropic-isotropic transition characterized by the emergence of a broad diffuse DSC peak was observed for the even-membered homologues.     

Spectroscopic determination of acid dissociation constants of N-substituted-6-acylbenzothiazolone derivatives

The acid dissociation constants of twelve novel drug precursor N-substituted-6-acylbenzothiazolone derivatives were determined by using the UV-vis spectroscopic technique. The protonation and deprotonation behaviors of the investigated molecules were researched from the super basic to super acid regions (i.e., 8 mol·L(-1) KOH to 98% H(2)SO(4)) including the pH region. It is observed that all of the molecules are protonated in the super acidic region. The calculated relative stability values of possible tautomer structures indicate that the keto form of investigated molecules is favored over the enol form. It was predicted that protonation occurs at the amide (oxo) group found in the keto form.