On the Reactivity of (−)‐(R)‐Carvone and (−)‐4aα,7α,7aβ‐Nepetalactone: Synthesis of New Heterocycles

The 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition of 4‐chlorobenzonitrile oxide to the unsaturated system of (?)‐(R)‐carvone occurred exclusively at C(8) to give a new isoxazoline derivative. This derivative reacts with NH₂OH to yield a new heterocycle, observed for the first time. On the other hand, the addition of 4‐chlorobenzonitrile oxide to the unsaturated lactone (?)‐4aα,7α,7aβ‐nepetalactone gave, in a good yield, also a new heterocycle, again obtained for the first time. The terpenoid (?)‐(R)‐carvone and iridoid (?)‐4aα,7α,7aβ‐nepetalactone were isolated from Moroccan species Mentha viridis (L.) and Nepeta tuberosa (L.), respectively. The new heterocycles obtained were identified by combination of chromatographic and spectroscopic methods.     

Stability analysis of jointed rock slope

The stability analysis of a jointed rock slope with two sets of unfilled joints, under its own weight, is carried out directly by considering failure surfaces along some particular joints and also going through the intact rock. Simple failure mechanisms using uniform rigid rock-block motions are incorporated in the yield design kinematic approach. They yield an improvement of known results as long as the characteristics strength of the joints are weak enough.     

Study of correlation effects on stability of many-body complexes in III–V nitride quantum dots

The aim of this work is to analyze theoretically the correlation energies, for neutral, positive and negative excitons and bi-excitons in the III–V nitride In_xGa_1−xN/GaN quantum dot; where x=17.5% denotes the indium concentration. So, we propose a model consistent with experimental observations that is small In_xGa_1−xN truncated pyramids with circular base lying on wetting layer, both buried into GaN matrix. The correlation energies of many-body complexes X, X⁻, X⁺ and XX are investigated as a function of the quantum dot radius r_c and the intrinsic electric field.     

Rudimentary Languages and Second-Order Logic

The aim of this paper is to point out the equivalence between three notions respectively issued from recursion theory, computational complexity and finite model theory. One the one hand, the rudimentary languages are known to be characterized by the linear hierarchy. On the other hand, this complexity class can be proved to correspond to monadic second-order logic with addition. Our viewpoint sheds some new light on the close connection between these domains: We bring together the two extremal notions by providing a direct logical characterization of rudimentary languages and a representation result of second-order logic into these languages. We use natural arithmetical tools, and our proofs contain no ingredient from computational complexity.     

New Heptafluorozirconates and ‐hafnates AIBIIZr(Hf)F7 (AI = Rb,Tl; BII = Ca,Cd) – Synthesis,Structures, and Structural Relationships

Four new ABZrF₇ heptafluorozirconates (A = Rb, Tl; B = Ca, Cd) and their homologous heptafluorohafnates, all colorless, orthorhombic Cmcm (n^o63), Z = 4, have been synthesized by heating stoichiometric mixtures of RbF or TlF, CaF₂ or CdF₂ and ZrF₄ (HfF₄) in sealed platinum tubes at temperature ranging from 550 °C (Tl) to 600 °C (Rb). The crystal structures of both RbCdZrF₇ and TlCdZrF₇ have been solved from single‐crystal X‐rays diffraction data. Rietveld refinements were performed from X‐rays powder patterns for RbCaZrF₇ and TlCaZrF₇. In this series of heptafluorides, both B²⁺ and Zr⁴⁺ cations exhibit a pentagonal bipyramidal 7‐coordination. Their structural relationships with other heptafluorozirconates A^IB^IIZrF₇ as well as β‐KYb₂F₇ are discussed. RbCaZrF₇: a = 6.863(1) Å, b = 11.130(1) Å, c = 8.485(1) Å; TlCaZrF₇: a = 6.868(1) Å, b = 11.165(1) Å, c = 8.486(1) Å; RbCdZrF₇: a = 6.780(1) Å, b = 11.054(4) Å, c = 8.420(4) Å; TlCdZrF₇: a = 6.784(3) Å, b = 11.099(2) Å, c = 8.424(9) Å.     

Numerical investigation of finite-source multiserver systems with different vacation policies

Systems with vacations are usually modeled and analyzed by queueing theory, and almost all works assume that the customer source is infinite and the arrival process is Poisson. This paper aims to present an approach for modeling and analyzing finite-source multiserver systems with single and multiple vacations of servers or all stations, using the Generalized Stochastic Petri nets model. We show how this high level formalism, allows a simple construction of detailed and compact models for such systems and to obtain easily the underlying Markov chains. However, for real vacation systems, the models may have a huge state space. To overcome this problem, we give the algorithms for automatically computing the infinitesimal generator, for the different vacation policies. In addition, we develop the formulas of the main exact stationary performance indices. Through numerical examples, we discuss the effect of server number, vacation rate and vacation policy on the system’s performances.     

Treatment of anionic dye aqueous solution using Ti,HDTMA and Al/Fe pillared bentonite. Essay to regenerate the adsorbent

In this study, the adsorption removal of an anionic dye (Congo red) by a local bentonite before and after modification was studied. The modification of the bentonite was made by organophilisation using surfactant (HDTMA) and by pillaring process to obtain a bentonite with Ti pillars and with mixed pillars of Fe/Al. The various synthesized materials are characterized by different techniques such as DRX, MET, N₂ adsorption-desorption, Zeta potential measurement. Results show the development of the texture and the structure of the bentonite after modification. The various adsorbents synthesized show an increase in the adsorption capacity of Congo Red compared to the initial bentonite. Adsorption isotherms are described by the Langmuir model in all cases except that for Ti pillared bentonite, the Freundlich model is more suitable. Pseudo-second order is better for describing the adsorption process. Also, regeneration of the adsorbent is approached in this study by photochemical way and the results show a total regeneration of the adsorbent.     

Anharmonic effects in ammonium nitrate and hydroxylammonium nitrate clusters

The covalent and ionic clusters of ammonium nitrate and hydroxyl ammonium nitrate are characterized using density functional theory and second-order vibrational perturbation theory. The most stable structures are covalent acid-base pairs for the monomers and ionic acid-base pairs for the dimers. The hydrogen-bonding distances are greater in the ionic dimers than in the covalent monomers, and the stretching frequencies are significantly different in the covalent and ionic clusters. The anharmonicity of the potential energy surfaces is found to influence the geometries, frequencies, and nuclear magnetic shielding constants for these systems. The inclusion of anharmonic effects significantly decreases many of the calculated vibrational frequencies in these clusters and improves the agreement of the calculated frequencies with the experimental data available for the isolated neutral species. The calculations of nuclear magnetic shielding constants for all nuclei in these clusters illustrate that quantitatively accurate predictions of nuclear magnetic shieldings for comparison to experimental data require the inclusion of anharmonic effects. These calculations of geometries, frequencies, and shielding constants provide insight into the significance of anharmonic effects in ionic materials and provide data that will be useful for the parametrization of molecular mechanical force fields for ionic liquids. Anharmonic effects will be particularly important for the study of proton transfer reactions in ionic materials.     

Nanostructure dependence of field-effect mobility in regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin film field effect transistors

Low polydispersity regioregular polythiophenes with number average molecular weights ranging from 2 to 13 kDa were cast under the same conditions from solution to form a series of field effect transistors (FETs). Tapping mode AFM and grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering revealed that in all cases the polymers formed regular nanofibrillar morphologies with the width of nanofibrils proportional to the weight average contour length of polymer chains, indicating that conjugated backbones were oriented perpendicular to the nanofibril axes. FET charge carrier mobilities exhibited exponential dependence on nanofibril width, pointing to the decisive role of extended conjugated pathways in charge transport.     

The ultra‐weak Ash conjecture and some particular cases

Ash's functions N _{σ ,k} count the number of k ‐equivalence classes of σ ‐structures of size n . Some conditions on their asymptotic behavior imply the long standing spectrum conjecture. We present a new condition which is equivalent to this conjecture and we discriminate some easy and difficult particular cases. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)