Molecular depth-profiling of polycarbonate with low-energy Cs+ ions

In this work, we explored the possibility of performing molecular depth-profiling by using very low-energy (about 200 eV) monoatomic Cs(+) ions. We show, for the first time, that this simple approach is successful on polymer layers of polycarbonate (PC). Under 200 eV Cs(+) irradiation of PC, a fast decrease of all characteristic negatively charged molecular ion signals is first observed but, rather surprisingly, these signals reach a minimum before rising again. A steady state is reached at which time most specific PC fragments are detected, some with even higher signal intensity (e.g. C(6)H(5)O(-)) than before irradiation. It is believed that the implanted Cs plays a major role in enhancing the negative ionisation of molecular fragments, leading to their easy detection for all the profile, although some material degradation obviously occurs. In the positive ion mode, all molecular fragments of the polymer disappear very rapidly, but clusters combining two Cs atoms and one molecular fragment (e.g. Cs(2)C(6)H(5)O(+)) are detected during the profile, proving that some molecular identification remains possible. In conclusion, this work presents a simple approach to molecular depth-profiling, complementary to cluster ion beam sputtering.     

Revised model core potentials of s-block elements

We developed new model core potentials (MCPs) for s-block elements from Na to Ra, in which the outer core (n-1)s and (n-1)p electrons are treated explicitly together with the ns electrons. By adding suitable correlating functions, we demonstrated that the present MCP basis sets show excellent performance in describing the electronic structures of atoms and molecules, bringing about accurate ionization potentials of atoms and very good spectroscopic constants of ionic and covalent molecules. The results obtained with the new MCPs are very close to the ones obtained using the all-electron correlation consistent basis sets of Dunning.     

Synthesis of carrageenan coated silver nanoparticles by an easy green method and their characterization and antimicrobial activities

The aim of the present work was to synthesize carrageenan coated silver nanoparticles (CA–AgNPs) using carrageenan as reducing and stabilizing agent. For this purpose, 10 mL of 0.35% (w/v) carrageenan solution was mixed with 10 mL AgNO₃ solution at different concentrations (1, 5 and 10 mM), and the resulting mixture was stirred at 100 °C at high speed for 2 h. The formation of CA–AgNPs was proven with the surface plasmon peaks observed at approximately 420 nm. The sizes and zeta potentials of CA–AgNPs were determined by Zeta-Sizer. Negative zeta potentials of CA–AgNPs indicated that the obtained AgNPs were stable. With scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope analysis, it was seen that CA–AgNPs have spherical structure. According to the energy dispersion spectrometer analysis based on SEM images, it was observed that the samples were elementally composed of carbon, oxygen, sulfur, potassium and silver. The chemical structures of CA–AgNPs were determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and it was proved that the carbonyl and OH groups of carrageenan were involved in formation and stabilizing of AgNPs, respectively. According to thermal gravimetric analysis, it has been observed that CA–AgNPs were thermally more stable than pure carrageenan. Antibacterial activity of CA–AgNPs against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria was investigated with agar well diffusion and liquid test. It has been observed that CA–AgNPs synthesized with 1 mM AgNO₃ did not have an antibacterial activity on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Inhibition zones of varying diameters were observed in the 5 mM and 10 mM S-AgNPs groups. The synthesized CA–AgNPs (5 and 10 mM) have the capacity to be used in wound dressing materials or topical agents applied to burns and wounds due to their antibacterial effects and stability.

     

On strong unimodality of multivariate discrete distributions

A discrete function f defined on Zⁿ is said to be logconcave if for , , . A more restrictive notion is strong unimodality. Following Barndorff-Nielsen [O. Barndorff-Nielsen, Unimodality and exponential families, Commun. Statist. 1 (1973) 189-216] a discrete function is called strongly unimodal if there exists a convex function such that  if . In this paper sufficient conditions that ensure the strong unimodality of a multivariate discrete distribution, are given. Examples of strongly unimodal multivariate discrete distributions are presented.     

Classifying homeomorphism groups of infinite graphs

In this paper, we classify topologically the homeomorphism groups H(Γ) of infinite graphs Γ with respect to the compact-open and the Whitney topologies.     

On the Modeling of CO2 EUA and CER Prices of EU‐ETS for the 2008–2012 Period

Increased consumption of fossil fuels in industrial production has led to a significant elevation in the emission of greenhouse gases and to global warming. The most effective international action against global warming is the Kyoto Protocol, which aims to reduce carbon emissions to desired levels in a certain time span. Carbon trading is one of the mechanisms used to achieve the desired reductions. One of the most important implications of carbon trading for industrial systems is the risk of uncertainty about the prices of carbon allowance permits traded in the carbon markets. In this paper, we consider stochastic and time series modeling of carbon market prices and provide estimates of the model parameters involved, based on the European Union emissions trading scheme carbon allowances data obtained for 2008–2012 period. In particular, we consider fractional Brownian motion and autoregressive moving average–generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic modeling of the European Union emissions trading scheme data and provide comparisons with benchmark models. Our analysis reveals evidence for structural changes in the underlying models in the span of the years 2008–2012. Data‐driven methods for identifying possible change‐points in the underlying models are employed, and a detailed analysis is provided. Our analysis indicated change‐points in the European Union Allowance (EUA) prices in the first half of 2009 and in the second half of 2011, whereas in the Certified Emissions Reduction (CER) prices three change‐points have appeared, in the first half of 2009, the middle of 2011, and in the second half of 2012. These change‐points seem to parallel the global economic indicators as well. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An in-service primary teacher’s implementation of mathematical tasks: the case of length measurement and perimeter instruction

The purpose of this paper is to examine the cognitive demand levels of tasks used by an in-service primary teacher during length measurement and perimeter instruction and to examine a possible link between these tasks and the teacher’s mathematical knowledge in teaching. For this purpose, a case study approach was used and the data was drawn from classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and field notes. Specific tasks from length measurement and perimeter instruction were presented and analyzed according to the Mathematical Tasks Framework. Then, how these tasks gave information about the teacher’s mathematical knowledge in teaching in the length measurement and perimeter topics was examined according to the Knowledge Quartet model. According to the findings of the study, the tasks used during length measurement and perimeter instruction were mostly categorized as low-level tasks. In addition, teacher’s mathematical knowledge in teaching affected the implementation of the tasks.     

Notes on the Problem of the Allocation of Resources to Activities in Discrete Quantities

The simple resource allocation problem (also called the distribution of effort problem) is generalized by allowing more than one resource constraint. It is shown that the generalized problem can be reduced to the simple one if the coefficients in the objective function are all unity. In general, however, the problem seems to become much more difficult; the difficulty is evidenced by the failure of the incremental method which is valid for the simple problem, and the NP-hardness of the generalized problem.     

Molecular depth profiling of polymers with very low energy ions

The need for a molecular depth profiling technique to study organic layers has become a strong incentive in the SIMS community in the last few years, especially with the recent successes obtained with cluster ion beam depth profiling. In this work, we have investigated a thoroughly different approach by using very low energy (down to 200 eV) monoatomic or diatomic ions to sputter organic matter. Quite surprisingly, we were able to retain specific molecular information on various polymers even at very high fluence.Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films were depth-profiled with 200 eV Cs⁺ and 500 eV O₂⁺ ions. With 200 eV Cs ions, the best profiles were obtained in the negative mode, due to a strong negative ionisation yield enhancement related to Cs retention in the polymer. A relatively high and stable signal from the most characteristic ions was measured all over the layer.With 500 eV O₂⁺, real molecular depth-profiles were also obtained in both the positive and the negative modes. Once again, the main characteristic fragments of PET or PMMA remain detectable with stable yields all over the profile.