Activated persulfate by chelating agent Fe·/complex for in situ degradation of phenol: intermediate identification and optimization study

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Due to its high toxicity, phenol is classified as a priority. In this paper, the removal of phenol from aqueous solutions was investigated using EDTA and...     

Imprinted polymer particles for selenium uptake: synthesis, characterization and analytical applications

This work reports the preparation of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) particles for selective extraction and determination of selenium ions from aqueous media. Polymerization was achieved in a glass tube containing SeO₂, o-phenylenediamine, 2-vinylpyridine (VP), ethyleneglycoldimethacrylate (EDMA), 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN). The polymer block obtained was ground and sieved (55-75 μm) and the Se-o-phenylenediamine complex was removed from polymer particles by leaching with 2 M of HCl, which leaves a cavity in the polymer particles. The polymer particles both prior to and after leaching have been characterized by IR and thermogravimetric (TG) studies. The effect of different parameters, such as pH, extraction time, type and least amount of eluent for elution of complex from polymer were evaluated. Extraction efficiencies >99% were obtained by elution of the polymers with 15 mL of methanol-acetonitrile mixture (1:2, v/v). The limit of detection of the proposed method followed by hydride generation atomic absorption spectroscopy (HG-AAS) was found to be 3.3 μg L⁻¹ and a dynamic linear range (DLR) of 10-200 μg L⁻¹ was obtained. The relative standard deviations (R.S.D.s) at 30.0 μg L⁻¹ of Se were below than 8.1%. The influence of various cationic interferences on percent recovery of complex was studied. The method was applied to the recovery and determination of selenium in different real samples.     

Synthesis and characterization of new nitrate-bridged polymeric complexes of mercury(II) with phosphorus ylides

Reaction of phosphorus ylides of the type X-C₆H₄-COCHPAr₃ (X = Cl and NO₂; Ar = phenyl and p-tolyl) with Hg(NO₃)₂ · H₂O in equimolar ratios using methanol as solvent are reported. X-ray crystal structure analysis of [Hg(ClC₆H₄C(O)CHPPh₃)(NO₃)(μ-NO₃)]_n · (DMSO)_n shows that the 1:1 complex adopts the noncentrosymmetric polymeric structure in the solid state with NO^-₃ anion bridges. Variation of temperature or concentration in a ³¹P NMR study indicates that the disappearance of satellites, due to coupling to ¹⁹⁹Hg, occurs at increasing temperature or decreasing concentration.     

Note on “Inverse minimum cost flow problems under the weighted Hamming distance”

Jiang et al. proposed an algorithm to solve the inverse minimum cost flow problems under the bottleneck-type weighted Hamming distance [Y. Jiang, L. Liu, B. Wuc, E. Yao, Inverse minimum cost flow problems under the weighted Hamming distance, European Journal of Operational Research 207 (2010) 50–54]. In this note, it is shown that their proposed algorithm does not solve correctly the inverse problem in the general case due to some incorrect results in that article. Then, a new algorithm is proposed to solve the inverse problem in strongly polynomial time. The algorithm uses the linear search technique and solves a shortest path problem in each iteration.     

Cosmological Constraints on Polytropic Gas Model

We study the polytropic gas scenario as the unification of dark matter and dark energy. We fit the model parameters by using the latest observational data including type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillation, cosmic microwave background, and Hubble parameter data. At 68.3 % and 95.4 % confidence levels, we find the best fit values of the model parameters as $\tilde{K}=0.742_{-0.024}^{+0.024}(1\sigma)_{-0.049}^{+0.048}(2\sigma)$ and $n=-1.05_{-0.08}^{+0.08}(1\sigma)_{-0.16}^{+0.15}(2\sigma)$ . Using the best fit values of the model, we obtain the evolutionary behaviors of the equation of state parameters of the polytropic gas model and dark energy, the deceleration parameter of the universe, the dimensionless density parameters of dark matter and dark energy as well as the growth factor of structure formation. Then, we investigate different energy conditions in the polytropic gas model and obtain that only the strong energy condition is violated for the special ranges of the redshift. We also conclude that in the this model, the universe starts from the matter dominated epoch and approaches a de Sitter phase at late times, as expected. Further, the universe begins to accelerate at redshift z _t=0.74. Furthermore, in contrary to the ΛCDM model, the cosmic coincidence problem is solved naturally in the polytropic gas scenario. Moreover, this model fits the data of the growth factor well as the ΛCDM model.     

Quantum stochastic differential equation for squeezed light

In this paper, the quantum stochastic differential equation (QSDE) is derived which is based on explanatory for interaction of open quantum system with squeezed quantum noise. This equation describes the stochastic evolution of unitary operator and is used to compute the evolution of quantum observable and output field. Our QSDE has complete form with respect to previous QSDE for squeezed light, because it bears three fundamental quantum noises for its evolution and the scattering between quantum channels is included. Meanwhile, when squeezed noise reduces to vacuum noise, our QSDE reveals the famous Hudson-Parthasarathy QSDE. Our equations may have application for quantum network analysis of squeezed noise interferometer for gravitational wave detection.     

Imaging of Coulomb-driven quantum Hall edge states

The edges of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the quantum Hall effect (QHE) regime are divided into alternating metallic and insulating strips, with their widths determined by the energy gaps of the QHE states and the electrostatic Coulomb interaction. Local probing of these submicrometer features, however, is challenging due to the buried 2DEG structures. Using a newly developed microwave impedance microscope, we demonstrate the real-space conductivity mapping of the edge and bulk states. The sizes, positions, and field dependence of the edge strips around the sample perimeter agree quantitatively with the self-consistent electrostatic picture. The evolution of microwave images as a function of magnetic fields provides rich microscopic information around the ν=2 QHE state.     

Application of He's variational iteration method and Adomian's decomposition method to Sawada–Kotera–Ito seventh‐order equation

In this article, the Sawada–Kotera–Ito seventh‐order equation is studied. He's variational iteration method and Adomian's decomposition method (ADM) are applied to obtain solution of this equation. We compare these methods together. The study highlights the significant features of the employed methods and its capability of handling completely integrable equations. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 27: 887–897, 2011     

Maximizing non-monotone submodular set functions subject to different constraints: Combined algorithms

We study the problem of maximizing constrained non-monotone submodular functions and provide approximation algorithms that improve existing algorithms in terms of either the approximation factor or simplicity. Different constraints that we study are exact cardinality and multiple knapsack constraints for which we achieve (0.25−?)-factor algorithms.We also show, as our main contribution, how to use the continuous greedy process for non-monotone functions and, as a result, obtain a 0.13-factor approximation algorithm for maximization over any solvable down-monotone polytope.     

Development of diffusive solid phase microextraction method for sampling of epichlorohydrin in air

Epichlorohydrin is used frequently in many industrial processes. Exposure to this pollutant could induce harmful effects. The present work developed a novel solid phase microextraction (SPME) method for time weighted average determination of epichlorohydrin in the air by GC/MS. CAR/PDMS in 0.5?cm retracted mode was selected and the effect of environmental parameters on sampling properties of SPME was examined. Experimental sampling rate for epichlorohydrin (8.89?×?10^?3?cm³/min) was slightly less than theoretical value (9.059?×?10^?3?cm³/min). There was no significant difference among sampling rates at different temperature and velocities but relative humidity had a significant effect on the sampling rate. Limit of detection for SPME method was 0.8?ng per sample, which is good enough in comparison with the NIOSH 1010 method. Comparison of the results between the developed SPME and the NIOSH 1010 method on standard test atmosphere and field showed satisfactory agreement (y?=?1.162x?+?1.8 r ²?=?0.992 and y?=?1.009x+0.76 r ²?=?0.98 respectively).