Higher Order Efficiency,Saddle Point Optimality,and Duality for Vector Optimization Problems

In this paper, we intend to characterize the strict local efficient solution of order m for a vector minimization problem in terms of the vector saddle point. A new notion of strict local saddle point of higher order of the vector-valued Lagrangian function is introduced. The relationship between strict local saddle point and strict local efficient solution is derived. Lagrange duality is formulated, and duality results are presented.     

Genotoxicity of Euphorbia hirta: an Allium cepa assay

The potential genotoxic effects of methanolic extracts of Euphorbia hirta which is commonly used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of diseased conditions including asthma, coughs, diarrhea and dysentery was investigated using Allium cepa assay. The extracts of 125, 250, 500 and 1,000 μg/mL were tested on root meristems of A. cepa. Ethylmethanesulfonate was used as positive control and distilled water was used as negative control. The result showed that mitotic index decreased as the concentrations of E. hirta extract increased. A dose-dependent increase of chromosome aberrations was also observed. Abnormalities scored were stickiness, c-mitosis, bridges and vagrant chromosomes. Micronucleated cells were also observed at interphase. Result of this study confirmed that the methanol extracts of E. hirta exerted significant genotoxic and mitodepressive effects at 1,000 μg/mL.     

La2O3 hollow nanospheres for high performance lithium-ion rechargeable batteries

An efficient and simple protocol for synthesis of novel La(2)O(3) hollow nanospheres of size about 30 ± 2 nm using polymeric micelles is reported. The La(2)O(3) hollow nanospheres exhibit high charge capacity and cycling performance in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries (LIBs), which was scrutinized for the first time among the rare-earth oxides.     

The Antimicrobial efficacy of Elaeis guineensis: characterization, in vitro and in vivo studies

The urgent need to treat multi-drug resistant pathogenic microorganisms in chronically infected patients has given rise to the development of new antimicrobials from natural resources. We have tested Elaeis guineensis Jacq (Arecaceae) methanol extract against a variety of bacterial, fungal and yeast strains associated with infections. Our studies have demonstrated that E. guineensis exhibits excellent antimicrobial activity in vitro and in vivo against the bacterial and fungal strains tested. A marked inhibitory effect of the E. guineensis extracts was observed against C. albicans whereby E. guineensis extract at ?, 1, or 2 times the MIC significantly inhibited C. albicans growth with a noticeable drop in optical density (OD) of the bacterial culture. This finding confirmed the anticandidal activity of the extract on C. albicans. Imaging using scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy was done to determine the major alterations in the microstructure of the extract-treated C. albicans. The main abnormalities noted via SEM and TEM studies were the alteration in morphology of the yeast cells. In vivo antimicrobial activity was studies in mice that had been inoculated with C. albicans and exhibited good anticandidal activity. The authors conclude that the extract may be used as a candidate for the development of anticandidal agent.     

Malonate complexes of dysprosium: synthesis, characterization and application for LI-MOCVD of dysprosium containing thin films

A series of malonate complexes of dysprosium were synthesized as potential metalorganic precursors for Dy containing oxide thin films using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) related techniques. The steric bulkiness of the dialkylmalonato ligand employed was systematically varied and its influence on the resulting structural and physico-chemical properties that is relevant for MOCVD was studied. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the five homoleptic tris-malonato Dy complexes (1-5) are dimers with distorted square-face bicapped trigonal-prismatic geometry and a coordination number of eight. In an attempt to decrease the nuclearity and increase the solubility of the complexes in various solvents, the focus was to react these dimeric complexes with Lewis bases such as 2,2'-biypridyl and pyridine (6-9). This resulted in monomeric tris-malonato mono Lewis base adduct complexes with improved thermal properties. Finally considering the ease of synthesis, the monomeric nature and promising thermal characteristics, the silymalonate adduct complex [Dy(dsml)(3)bipy] (8) was selected as single source precursor for growing DySi(x)O(y) thin films by liquid injection metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (LI-MOCVD) process. The as-deposited films were analyzed for their morphology and composition by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, Rutherford backscattering (RBS) analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.     

Designing the synthesis of catalytically active Ti-β by using various new templates in the presence of fluoride anion

Crystallization of large-pore Ti-β by using a variety of diquaternary ammonium derivatives of dibromoalkane and amines such as triethylamine, 1,4-diazabicyclo[2,2,2]octane (DABCO), and quinuclidine as structure-directing agents (SDA) is described. The size of hydrophobic bridging alkyl-chain length of the template [R(3)N(+)-(CH(2))(x)-N(+)R(3)](OH(-))(2) directs the final crystalline product: Ti-β, Ti-ZSM-12, Ti-nonasil or Ti-ZSM-5, as x gradually changes from 6 to 1, in the fluoride medium under hydrothermal conditions. A dense phase such as Ti-nonasil (clathrasil type) is crystallized as the size of hydrophobic bridging alkyl-chain length decreases. The use of F(-) anions as a mineralizer and Ti(4+) as a heteroatom in the synthesis gel also influences the selectivity of final crystalline product. The phase purity and incorporation of Ti(4+) into the lattice of β (BEA) and ZSM-12 frameworks are confirmed using XRD, UV-visible, FT-IR, (29)Si NMR spectroscopes, elemental analysis (ICP), surface area measurements and catalytic test reactions. The morphology of Ti-β samples is dependent on the nature of the structure-directing agent as revealed by the scanning electron microscopic (SEM) observations. The catalytic activity in the epoxidation of 4-vinyl-1-cyclohexene is increased with the amount of tetrahedral Ti(4+) atoms in the framework. The new templates can be effectively used for preparation of catalytically active Ti-β with the minimum number of framework defect sites.     

Novel synthesis of bifunctional catalysts with different microenvironments

Acid-base bifunctional activity governed by -NH(2) group's microenvironment is evident from two different catalysts scrutinized by interchanging the location of -SO(3)H/NH(2) groups on periodic mesoporous ethylenesilica. The hydrophobic local environment plays a significant role in one-pot deacetalization/nitroaldol condensation.     

Novel titania hollow nanospheres of size 28 ± 1 nm using soft-templates and their application for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries

We report a novel protocol to prepare titania hollow nanospheres of size about 28 ± 1 nm with micelles of asymmetric triblock copolymers. The hollow particles exhibit unique electrochemical properties in lithium ion rechargeable batteries such as high capacity, very low irreversible capacity loss, and high cycling performance.