Density and viscosity of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate with ethanol, 1-propanol, or 1-butanol at several temperatures

Densities and viscosities of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate [Bmim][NO₃], and its binaries with alcohol (ethanol, 1-propanol, or 1-butanol) were measured at different temperatures. The densities and viscosities of pure ionic liquid were correlated successfully by empirical equations. The Vogel–Fulcher–Tammann equations can fit the experimental data of viscosities for pure IL. Excess molar volume and viscosity deviations were calculated for the binaries. The excess molar volumes have negative deviations from the ideal solution.     

Simultaneous kinetic spectrophotometric determination of Cu(II), Co(II) and Ni(II) using partial least squares (PLS) regression

A partial least squares (PLS-1) calibration model based on kinetic—spectrophotometric measurement, for the simultaneous determination of Cu(II), Ni(II) and Co(II) ions is described. The method was based on the difference in the rate of the reaction between Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) ions with 1-(2-pyridylazo)2-naphthol in a pH 5.8 buffer solution and in micellar media at 25°C. The absorption kinetic profiles of the solutions were monitored by measuring the absorbance at 570 nm at 2 s intervals during the time range of 0–10 min after initiation of the reaction. The experimental calibration matrix for the partial least squares (PLS-1) model was designed with 30 samples. The cross-validation method was used for selecting the number of factors. The results showed that simultaneous determination could be performed in the range 0.1-2 μg mL⁻¹ for each cation. The proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of Cu(II), Ni(II) and Co(II) ions in water and in synthetic alloy samples.      

Photodegradation kinetics of some thiols and thiones in aqueous suspension of zinc oxide

Photodegradation of several thiols and thiones including 2-pyrimidinethiol, thiazolidine-2-thione, imidazolidine-2-thione, 1,2,4- triazole 3-thiol and 2,5-dimercapto- 1,3,4-thiadiazole have been studied in aerated aqueous solution using zinc oxide under irradiation with 400W high pressure mercury lamp. Rate constants span the range from 2.44 x 10(-2) min x (-1) to 1.76 x 10(-1) min x (-1). The slower degradation rate of 2-imidazoline 2-thione could be related to oxidation potential of the corresponding ring. The Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) rate constant k(r) and adsorption constant, (KA) for all five thiols and thiones are reported.     

VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF A BEAM WITH EMBEDDED SHAPE MEMORY ALLOY WIRES

In this study, analytical relations for evaluating the exact solution of natural fre- quency and mode shape of beams with embedded shape memory alloy （SMA） wires are presented. Beams are modeled according to Euler-Bernoulli, Timoshenko and third order beam （Reddy） the- ories. A relation is obtained for determining the effect of axial load generated by the recovery action of pre-strained SMA wires. By defining some dimensionless quantities~ the effect of different me- chanical properties on the frequencies and mode shapes of the system are carefully examined. The effect of axial load generated by SMA wires with buckling load and frequency jump is accurately studied.     

Energy Distribution for a Power Model of the Plane Symmetric Spacetime in f(R) Gravity

The study of the energy localization in f(R) theories of gravity has attracted much interest in recent years. In this paper, the vacuum solutions of the modified field equations for a power model of plane symmetric metric are studied in metric f(R) gravity with the assumption of constant Ricci scalar. Next, we determine the energy-momentum complexes in f(R) theories of gravity for this spacetime for some important models. We also show that these models satisfy the stability and constant curvature conditions.     

Improved double-gate armchair silicene nanoribbon field-effect-transistor at large transport bandgap

The electrical characteristics of a double-gate armchair silicene nanoribbon field-effect-transistor(DG ASi NR FET)are thoroughly investigated by using a ballistic quantum transport model based on non-equilibrium Green's function(NEGF) approach self-consistently coupled with a three-dimensional(3D) Poisson equation. We evaluate the influence of variation in uniaxial tensile strain, ribbon temperature and oxide thickness on the on-off current ratio, subthreshold swing, transconductance and the delay time of a 12-nm-length ultranarrow ASi NR FET. A novel two-parameter strain magnitude and temperature-dependent model is presented for designing an optimized device possessing balanced amelioration of all the electrical parameters. We demonstrate that employing Hf O2 as the gate insulator can be a favorable choice and simultaneous use of it with proper combination of temperature and strain magnitude can achieve better device performance.Furthermore, a general model power(GMP) is derived which explicitly provides the electron effective mass as a function of the bandgap of a hydrogen passivated ASi NR under strain.     

Evolving Horava cosmological horizons

Several sets of radially propagating null congruence generators are exploited in order to form 3-dimensional marginally trapped surfaces, referred to as black hole and cosmological apparent horizons in a Ho?ava universe. Based on this method, we deal with the characteristics of the 2-dimensional space-like spheres of symmetry and the peculiarities of having trapping horizons. Moreover, we apply this method in standard expanding and contracting FLRW cosmological models of a Ho?ava universe to investigate the conditions under which the extra parameters of the theory may lead to trapped/anti-trapped surfaces both in the future and in the past. We also include the cases of negative time, referred to as the finite past, and discuss the formation of anti-trapped surfaces inside the cosmological apparent horizons.     

Preparation of HMWCNT/PLLA nanocomposite scaffolds for application in nerve tissue engineering and evaluation of their physical,mechanical and cellular activity properties

This study was aimed to prepare biodegradable and porous nanocomposite scaffolds with microtubular orientation structure as a model for nerve tissue engineering by thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method using dioxane as the solvent, crystalline poly (L‐lactic acid) (PLLA) and multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). In order to overcome dispersion of MWCNTs in the PLLA matrix, heparinization of MWCNTs was performed. Solvent crystallization, oriented structure, the mean pore diameter and porosity percentage of the scaffolds were controlled by fundamental system parameters including temperature‐gradient of the system, polymer solution concentration and carbon nanotube content. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), ImageJ, software and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) were used to investigate the structural and mechanical properties. TEM observation was carried out for characterization of nanotube dispersion in PLLA. It was found that the scaffolds containing heparinized multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (HMWCNTs) exhibited higher storage modulus, better carbon nanotube (CNT) dispersion and tubular orientation structure than those with non heparinized MWCNTs. In‐vitro studies were also conducted by using murine P₁₉ cell line as a suitable model system to analyze neuronal differentiation over a 2‐week period. Immunofluorescence and DAPI staining were used to confirm the cells' attachment and differentiation on the PLLA/HMWCNT nanocomposite scaffolds. Based on the results, we can conclude that the PLLA/HMWCNT scaffolds enhanced the nerve cell differentiation and proliferation, and therefore, acted as a positive cue to support neurite outgrowth. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Composition and in vitro antibacterial activity of essential oils from four Satureja species growing in Iran

The composition and in?vitro antibacterial activity of essential oils from four Satureja species (S. bachtiarica, S. khuzistanica, S. mutica and S. rechingeri) growing in Iran were determined. According to the results of GC-FID and GC-MS analysis, all oil samples were principally composed of phenolic constituents (carvacrol and/or thymol) with the percentages ranging from 41.2% (S. bachtiarica) to 77.7% (S. rechingeri). Determining antibacterial activities by the disc diffusion method against two Gram-positive and two Gram-negative bacteria revealed the maximum activity against Bacillus cereus with a range of minimum inhibitory concentration values from 0.25 to 1?mg?mL(-1) and minimum bactericidal concentration values from 0.5 to 1?mg?mL(-1). The oils of S. khuzistanica and S. rechingeri appeared to be more active in general than those of other species. In conclusion, the essential oils of studied Satureja species have the potential to be considered as alternatives for synthetic food preservatives.