Radioactivity of plutonium isotopes, <Superscript>137</Superscript>Cs and their ratio in sediment,seawater and biota from the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia

This study with sampling expeditions of marine sediment, seawater and biota were performed at 30 stations within Malaysian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). A total of >400 samples were collected to determine the activity concentration of anthropogenic radionuclides (^239+240Pu, ¹³⁷Cs) and their activity ratio (^239+240Pu/¹³⁷Cs) in sediments, seawater and biota. The purpose of this study was to determine the concentration levels for these radionuclides and to evaluate any occurrence of radioactive contamination. Sediment cores were obtained using multicorer device, while water samples via co-precipitation techniques and biota was purchased from local fishermen. The activity concentrations of ^239+240Pu in sediment, seawater and biota were ranged 0.21–0.45 Bq/kg dry wt., 2.33–7.95 mBq/m³ and <0.008 Bq/kg fresh wt., respectively. Meanwhile, the values of ¹³⁷Cs were ranged <1.00–2.71 Bq/kg dry wt. in sediment, 3.40–5.89 Bq/m³ in seawater and <0.05–0.41 Bq/kg fresh wt. in biota, respectively. Activity ratios of ^239+240Pu to ¹³⁷Cs obtained seem to confirm that these artificial radioactivities were mainly due to global nuclear fallout.     

Intercomparison of techniques for estimation of sedimentation rate in the Sabah and Sarawak coastal waters

A total of eight sediment cores with 50 cm length were taken in the Sabah and Sarawak coastal waters using a gravity corer in 2004 to estimate sedimentation rates using four mathematical models of CIC, Shukla-CIC, CRS and ADE. The average of sedimentation rate ranged from 0.24 to 0.48 cm year^?1, which is calculated based on the vertical profile of ²¹⁰Pb_ex in sediment core. The finding also showed that the sedimentation rates derived from four models were generally shown in good agreement with similar or comparable value at some stations. However, based on statistical analysis of paired sample t-test indicated that CIC model was the most accurate, reliable and suitable technique to determine the sedimentation rate in the coastal area.     

Mechanism of Gold(I)‐Catalyzed Conia‐ene Reaction of β‐Ketoesters with Alkynes: A DFT Study

Density functional calculations have been performed to comparatively investigate two possible pathways of Au(I)‐catalyzed Conia‐ene reaction of β‐ketoesters with alkynes. Our studies find that, under the assistance of trifluoromethanesulfonate (TfO), the β‐ketoester is the most likely to undergo Model II to isomerize into its enol form, in which TfO plays a proton transfer role through a 6‐membered ring transition state. The coordination of the Au(I) catalyst to the alkynes triple bond can enhance the eletrophilic capability and reaction activity of the alkynes moiety, which triggers the nucleophilic addition of the enol moiety on the alkynes moiety to give a vinyl‐Au intermediate. This cycloisomerizaion step is exothermal by 21.3 kJ/mol with an energy barrier of 56.0 kJ/mol. In the whole catalytic process, the protonation of vinyl‐Au is almost spontaneous, and the formation of enol is a rate‐limiting step. The generation of enol and the activation of Au(I) catalyst on the alkynes are the key reasons why the Conia‐ene reaction can occur in mild condition. These calculations support that Au(I)‐catalyzed Conia‐ene reactions of β‐ketoesters with alkynes go through the pathway 2 proposed by Toste.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Antimony(III) Complexes of Thioamides,and Crystal Structure of {[Sb(Imt)2Cl2]2((2‐Imt)}Cl2(Imt=Imidazolidine‐2‐thione)

Antimony(III) complexes of thioamides [thioamides=thiourea (Tu), N,N′‐dimethylthiourea (Dmtu), tetramethylthiourea (Tmtu), imidazolidine‐2‐thione (Imt) and diazinane‐2‐thione (Diaz)] with the general formulae, Sb(thione)_nCl₃ (n=1, 2, 2.5, 3) were prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, IR and NMR (¹H, ¹³C) spectroscopic methods. The spectral data of the complexes are consistent with the coordination of the thiones to antimony(III). The crystal structure of one of them, {[Sb(Imt)₂Cl₂]₂(μ₂‐Imt)}Cl₂ ( 1 ), was determined by X‐ray crystallography, which shows that the complex is dinuclear consisting of two [Sb(Imt)₂Cl₂] units bridged by an Imt molecule. In 1 , the antimony atom is bonded to two chlorine atoms, two sulfur atoms of coordinated Imt molecules and one sulfur atom of a bridging Imt molecule. The antimony environment can be considered to be distorted octahedral with one Cl^? ion weakly bound to antimony.     

A decision support system for order acceptance/rejection in hybrid MTS/MTO production systems

In this paper, we present a novel decision support system for order acceptance/rejection in a hybrid Make-to-Stock/Make-to-Order production environment. The proposed decision support system is comprised of five steps. At the first step, the customers are prioritized based on a fuzzy TOPSIS method. Rough-cut capacity and rough-cut inventory are calculated in the second step and in case of unavailability in capacity and materials, some undesirable orders are rejected. Also, proper decisions are made about non-rejected orders. At the next step, prices and delivery dates of the non-rejected orders are determined by running a mixed-integer mathematical programming model. At the fourth step, a set of guidelines are proposed to help the organization negotiate over price and due date with the customers. In the next step, if the customer accepts the offered price and delivery date, the order is accepted and later considered in the production schedule of the shop floor, otherwise the order is rejected. Finally, numerical experiments are conducted to show the tractability of the applied mathematical programming model.     

From simple to complex: topological evolution and luminescence variation in a copper(I) pyridylpyrazolate system tuned via second ligating spacers

By systematically varying the geometric length and electronic properties of the second ligating ligands of halogen (Cl(-), Br(-), and I(-)) and pseudohalogen (CN(-), SCN(-), and N(3)(-)) anions, we synthesized 11 isomeric/isostructural copper(I) complexes: [Cu(2)(L3-3)I](n) (1), [Cu(2)(L4-4)Br](n) (2-Br), [Cu(2)(L4-4)Cl](n) (2-Cl), [Cu(2)(L3-4)(CN)](n) (3), [Cu(2)(L3-3)(CN)](n) (4), [Cu(3)(L4-4)(CN)(2)](n) (5), {[Cu(2)(L4-4)Br](2)·CuBr}(n) (6-Br), {[Cu(2)(L4-4)Cl](2)·CuCl}(n) (6-Cl), [Cu(2)(L4-4)(SCN)](n) (7α-SCN), [Cu(2)(L4-4)(SCN)](n) (7β-SCN), and [Cu(2)(L4-4)(N(3))](n) (7α-N(3)). These structures are based on a series of isomeric pyridylpyrazole ligands, namely, 3,5-bis(3-pyridyl)-1H-pyrazole (HL3-3), 3-(3-pyridyl)-5-(4-pyridyl)-1H-pyrazole (HL3-4), and 3,5-bis(4-pyridyl)-1H-pyrazole (HL4-4), and their structural features range from 1-D (1), 2-D (2), and 3-D noninterpenetration (3), to 3-D 2-fold interpenetration (4 and 5), to 3-D self-catenation (6 and 7), exhibiting a trend from simple to complex with dimension expansion and an interpenetrating degree increase. The five most complex structures (6 and 7) with self-catenated networks are based on 2-fold interpenetrated networks linked via appropriate second ligating spacers (Cl(-), Br(-), SCN(-), and N(3)(-)), representing a strategy to construct self-catenated coordination polymers through cross-linking interpenetrated frameworks. Moreover, these complexes exhibit strong photoluminescence, which is mainly ascribed to Cu(I)-related charge transfers (MLCT, MC, and MMLCT) regulated by the electronic properties of halogen or pseudohalogen. The topological evolution and luminescence variation presented in this work open an avenue to understanding the luminescence origin and the structure-property relationship of luminescent coordination polymers.     

Catalyst-free one-pot synthesis of 1,4,5-trisubstituted pyrazoles in 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol

A simple, efficient and three component one-pot synthesis of 1,4,5-trisubstituted pyrazoles by condensation of β-dicarbonyls, N,N-dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal (DMFDMA) and hydrazine derivatives in 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol without using any catalyst and activation, is described.     

弹性固体红外辐射特征的微观机理初探

从原子晶格模型出发, 研究了原子振动频率及辐射随原子间距的变化规律; 探讨了 固体材料弹性阶段的红外辐射特征、影响因素和所属形变范围, 并与弹性固体材料红外辐射 场进行了对比分析. 发现本文模型揭示的红外辐射升温区和降温区与实验结果较为一致, 从 而初步揭示了固体材料载荷初期红外辐射特征的微观机理.     

Novel method for laser focal point positioning on the cover slip for TPP-based microfabrication and detection of the cured structure under optical microscope

Detection of a single cured structure in two-photon photopolymerization (TPP) based microstructure fabrication requires the laser focal spot to be exactly positioned on the cover slip. This is due to the fact that if the laser focal position is not exactly on the cover slip, the structure may not stick to the cover slip and flow away with the liquid during the washing and developing stages. In this paper, we report a scheme of laser spot positioning for the implementation of TPP process and the detection of a single cured microstructure under an optical microscope. For this, a novel yet very simple approach is devised and an uncomplicated procedure is developed. Experimental results are also included to prove the worthiness of the devised method.