Optimal strong Mal’cev conditions for congruence meet-semidistributivity in locally finite varieties

Locally finite, congruence meet-semidistributive varieties have been characterized by numerous Mal’cev conditions and, recently, by two strong Mal’cev conditions. We provide three new strong Mal’cev characterizations and a new Mal’cev characterization each of which improves the known ones in some way.     

Pt/C nanocatalysts for methanol electrooxidation prepared by water-in-oil microemulsion method

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Pt nanoparticles supported on Vulcan XC-72R were synthesized by water-in-oil microemulsion method. By incorporating different amounts of HCl as a capping...     

Reproduction and interpretation of the UV–vis spectra of some flavonoids

The UV–vis spectra of 15 naturally occurring flavonoids, including flavones, flavonols, and isoflavones, were simulated and compared to literature experimental results. For this purpose, the TDDFT method in conjunction with the B3LYP-D3 and B3LYP functionals was applied. In spite of some discrepancy between the structural predictions, the differences between the TDDFT/B3LYP and TDDFT/B3LYP-D3 results are negligible. The performance of both functionals in reproducing the UV–vis spectra of the selected flavonoids is satisfactory. The NLMO clusters, i.e. molecular moieties characterised with distinguished electron density, were created. The combined results from the TDDFT and NLMO approaches were employed to perform deep analysis of the spectra. It was found that the transitions from the bonding NLMO clusters to the LUMO cluster are favoured at longer wavelengths, whereas the transitions from the HOMO and HOMO?1 clusters to the antibonding NLMO clusters are favoured at shorter wavelengths. All flavonoids show the HOMO → LUMO and HOMO?1 → LUMO transitions at long wavelengths, and majority of them show the HOMO → LUMO+1 transition at moderate wavelengths. This investigation confirms our earlier finding that the TDDFT and NBO approaches are complementary, implying that the results from the two theories can be combined to better understand the redistribution of electron density upon excitation.     

Using RngStreams for parallel random number generation in C++ and R

The RngStreams software package provides one viable solution to the problem of creating independent random number streams for simulations in parallel processing environments. Techniques are presented for effectively using RngStreams with C++ programs that are parallelized via OpenMP or MPI. Ways to access the backbone generator from RngStreams in R through the parallel and rstream packages are also described. The ideas in the paper are illustrated with both a simple running example and a Monte Carlo integration application.     

ICP-AES analysis of metal content in shell of mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis from Croatian coastal waters

Metal content in samples of shell of mussel Mytilus galoprovincialis was determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The efficiency of conversion of crude samples into solution by acid digestion in an open plate and in a microwave oven was examined by use of certified reference material of marine sediment and laboratory made standards of calcite and aragonite. Influence of high Ca content matrix on emission intensities of Al, Ba, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Sr and Zn was observed as depression of emission signal for most of the measuring elements, ranging from 0.8% to 8%. Greater values were noted at Ba and Ni emission lines. Enhancement of signals was observed for Na and Mg lines. The determination of As, Sb, Se and Sn was performed by HG/ICP-AES. The greater abundance of Sn was found in samples collected near the Al-processing industry centre. No detectable concentrations of As, Sb, and Se were found in shell samples. Results of ICP-AES metal analysis showed that samples collected near harbours, city waste or sewage outlets, and chemical industry centres indicate the certain level of contamination. It is shown that shell analysis provides useful data in determination of marine environment status.     

DFT study of free radical scavenging activity of erodiol

Antioxidant activity of erodiol was examined at the M05-2X/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory in the gas and aqueous phases. The structure and energy of radicals and anions of the most stable erodiol rotamer were analyzed. To estimate antioxidant potential of erodiol, different molecular properties were examined: bond dissociation enthalpy, proton affinity together with electron transfer energy, and ionization potential followed by proton dissociation enthalpy. It was found that hydrogen atom transfer is the prevailing mechanism of erodiol behavior in gas; whereas single electron transfer followed by proton transfer and sequential proton loss electron transfer mechanisms represent the thermodynamically preferred reaction paths in water.