Molecular orbital calculations of binuclear systems of Fe, Co and Ni derivatives of pentalene, s-indacene and as-indacene

Extended Hückel calculations on a whole family of dinuclear complexes of pentalene, s-indacene and as-indacene allow a general rationalization of the structural and physical features of these compounds, mainly based on their electron count.     

Synthesis and activity of the archazolid western hemisphere

A convergent and scalable synthesis of the archazolid western hemisphere has been completed. The V-ATPase inhibitory activity of this compound along with a previously prepared eastern domain was then tested using a convenient Arabidopsis-based V-ATPase assay.     

Inhibition of Acinetobacter baumannii biofilm formation on a methacrylate polymer containing a 2-aminoimidazole subunit

A polymeric composite containing a 2-aminoimidazole derivative was synthesized. It was found that this polymer was resistant to biofilm colonization by Acinetobacter baumannii, no leaching of the 2-aminoimidazole derivative was observed after 2 weeks of treatment with deionized water, and the resulting polymer was not hemolytic.     

Unusual decrease in conductivity upon hydration in acceptor doped, microcrystalline ceria

The impact of hydration on the transport properties of microcrystalline Sm(0.15)Ce(0.85)O(1.925) has been examined. Dense, polycrystalline samples were obtained by conventional ceramic processing and the grain boundary regions were found, by high resolution transmission electron microscopy, to be free of impurity phases. Impedance spectroscopy measurements were performed over the temperature range 250 to 650 °C under dry, H(2)O-saturated, and D(2)O-saturated synthetic air; and over the temperature range 575 to 650 °C under H(2)-H(2)O atmospheres. Under oxidizing conditions humidification by either H(2)O or D(2)O caused a substantial increase in the grain boundary resistivity, while leaving the bulk (or grain interior) properties unchanged. This unusual behavior, which was found to be both reversible and reproducible, is interpreted in terms of the space-charge model, which adequately explains all the features of the measured data. It is found that the space-charge potential increases by 5-7 mV under humidification, in turn, exacerbating oxygen vacancy depletion in the space-charge regions and leading to the observed reduction in grain boundary conductivity. It is proposed that the heightened space-charge potential reflects a change in the relative energetics of vacancy creation in the bulk and at the grain boundary interfaces as a result of water uptake into the grain boundary core. Negligible bulk water uptake is detected under both oxidizing and reducing conditions.     

Conformations of diester triphenylphosphonium ylides with an ylidic ester or keto and ester ylidic groups

The structures of three related keto diester and diester ylides, namely diethyl 3‐oxo‐2‐(triphenylphosphoranylidene)glutarate, C₂₇H₂₇O₅P, (I), diethyl 3‐oxo‐2‐(triphenylphosphoranylidene)glutarate acetic acid monosolvate, C₂₇H₂₇O₅P·C₂H₄O₂, (II), and diethyl 2‐(triphenylphosphoranylidene)succinate, C₂₆H₂₇O₄P, (III), are presented. The syn‐keto anti‐ester conformations in the crystalline keto diesters are governed by electronic delocalization between the P—C and ylidic bonds and an acyl group, and by intra‐ and intermolecular interactions. There are also intramolecular attractive and repulsive interactions of different types (C—H...O and C—H...π) controlling the molecular conformations. The mono‐ylidic diester (III) has an anti‐ester conformation, while those for (I) and (II) are related to pyrolytic formation of acetylene derivatives. The terminal nonylidic ester group in (I) was disordered over two sets of almost equally populated positions.     

Flow Past a Swept Wing with a Compliant Surface: Stabilizing the Attachment-Line Boundary Layer

Many aquatic species such as dolphins and whales have fins, which can be modeled as swept wings. Some of these fins, such as the dorsal fin of a dolphin, are semi-rigid and therefore can be modeled as a rigid swept wing with a compliant surface. An understanding of the hydrodynamics of the flow past swept compliant surfaces is of great interest for understanding potential drag reduction mechanisms, especially since swept wings are widely used in hydrodynamic and aerodynamic design. In this paper, the flow past a swept wing with a compliant surface is modeled by an attachment-line boundary layer flow, which is an exact similarity solution of the Navier–Stokes equations, flowing past a compliant surface modeled as an elastic plate. The hydrodynamic stability of the coupled problem is studied using a new numerical framework based on exterior algebra. The basic instability of the attachment line boundary layer on a rigid surface is a traveling wave instability that propagates along the attachment line, and numerical results show that the compliance results in a substantial reduction in the instability region. Moreover, the results show that, although the flow-field is three-dimensional, the qualitative nature of the instability suppression is very similar to the qualitative reduction of instability of the two-dimensional Tollmien–Schlichting modes in the classical boundary-layer flow past a compliant surface.