Real minimal hypersurfaces in complex two-plane Grassmannians

We give a pinching condition for compact minimal hypersurfaces in complex two-plane Grassmannians G ₂(? ^m+2) in terms of sectional curvature and the squared norm of the shape operator.     

Reactions of ionized dibutyl ether

The reactions of ionized di-n-butyl ether are reported and compared with those of ionized n-butyl sec-butyl and di-sec-butyl ether. The main fragmentation of metastable (CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂)₂O^+. is C₂H₅? loss (?85%), but minor amounts (2–4%) of CH₃?, C₄H₇?, C₄H₉?, C₄H₁₀ and C₄H₁₀O are also eliminated. In contrast, C₂H₅? elimination is of much lower abundance (20 and 4%, respectively) from metastable CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂OCH(CH₃)CH₂CH₃^+. and [CH₃CH₂(CH₃)CH]₂O^+., which expel mainly C₂H₆ and CH₃? (35–55%). Studies on collisional activation spectra of the C₆H₁₃O⁺ oxonium ions reveal that C₂H₅? loss from (CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂)₂O^+. gives the same product, (CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂ ⁺O?CHCH₃) as that formed by direct cleavage of CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂OCH(CH₃)CH₂CH₃^+.. Elimination of C₂H₅? from (CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂)₂O^+. is interpreted by means of a mechanism in which a 1,4-H shift to the oxygen atom initiates a unidirectional skeletal rearrangement to CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂OCH(CH₃)CH₂CH₃^+., which then undergoes cleavage to CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂⁺O?CHCH₃ and C₂H₅?. Further support for this mechanism is obtained from considering the collisional activation and neutralization-reionization mass spectra of the (C₄H₉)₂O^+. species and the behaviour of labelled analogues of (CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂)₂O^+.. The rate of ethyl radical loss is suppressed relative to those of alternative dissociations by deuteriation at the γ-position of either or both butyl substituents. Moreover, C₂H₅? loss via skeletal rearrangement and fragmentation of the unlabelled butyl group in CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂OCH₂CH₂CD₂CH₃^+. occurs approximately five times more rapidly than C₂H₄D? expulsion via isomerization and fission of the labelled butyl substituent. These findings indicate that the initial 1,4-hydrogen shift is influenced by a significant isotope effect, as would be expected if this step is rate limiting in ethyl radical loss.     

Antioxidant activity of aqueous methanol extracts of Protaetia brevitarsis Lewis (Coleoptera: Scarabaedia) at different growth stages

In this study, we evaluate the antioxidant properties of the various extracts of Protaetia brevitarsis Lewis (Coleoptera: Scarabaedia) at different growth stages. The antioxidant activities of six different extracts from larvae, pupae and imago were measured by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) and singlet oxygen (1O? ). The larval methanol extracts (LME) and imago methanol extracts (IME) displayed the greatest effect in DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging assay, but the activity of water extracts was weaker in the all tested assays. However, LME and IME could be compared to ascorbic acid in 1O? quenching ability (the effective concentrations of 50% 1O? quenching: EC?? 0.174, 0.149 and 0.177?mg?mL?1, respectively). The antioxidant ability of the extracts to scavenge free radicals could significantly change the contents of gallic acid equivalent, an important factor based on the value of R2. The results suggest that our study may contribute to the development of new bioactive products with potential applications to reduce oxidative stress as well as play a vital role in protecting insect organisms against oxidative damage caused by undesirable conditions.     

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND THE CONTRIBUTION OF BIODIVERSITY TO ECOSYSTEM ADAPTATION

Abstract This paper develops a measure of the contribution of biodiversity in enhancing ecosystem performance that is subject to environmental fluctuation. The analysis draws from an ecological model that relates high phenotypic variance with lower short‐term productivity (due to the presence of suboptimal species) and higher long‐term productivity (due to better ability to respond to environmental fluctuations). This feature, which is a notable extension to existing economic‐ecological models of biodiversity, enables assessment of the interactions between diversity and a range of environmental fluctuations to highlight that biodiversity could be rendered economically disadvantageous when environmental fluctuation is insufficient. The resulting economic‐ecological model generates discounted present value of harvests for an ecosystem with diverse set of species. This value is compared with the harvest value of a similar economic‐ecological model with no diversity and that of an ecosystem where the dynamics of phenotypes in response to environmental fluctuations is disregarded. The results show that diversity positively contributes to the performance of ecosystems subject to sufficiently large environmental fluctuation. In addition, neglecting an ecosystem's increasing ability to adapt to match environmental conditions is also shown to be more costly than having no diversity in an otherwise identical ecosystem.     

Suppression of secondary PL emission by indirect photoexcitation

A blend of a newly synthesized polyfluorene(PDHBF) and polyvinylcarbazole(PVK) exhibits a photoluminescence(PL) emission spectrum of PDHBF without an increase in the PL intensity on photoexcitation at 340 nm, the UV-visible absorption maximum of PVK, despite of a substantial spectrum overlap. However, the indirect photoexcitation of the blend suppresses the secondary emission of the PL with the maximum at 520 nm. The chromophores generating the secondary emission are formed when the chromophores are photoexcited above the critical energy level of an excited state. The chromophores formed by the energy transfer have energy lower than the critical energy and fail to form the excimers. A low temperature PL study of the blend in a cryogenic chamber proves that the energy transfer in the system takes place mainly between the excimers of PVK generated by the partially eclipsed dimeric states of two carbazole units and the fluorophores of PDHBF.     

Generalized Killing Ricci tensor for real hypersurfaces in the complex quadric

First we introduce a new notion of generalized Killing Ricci tensor which is equivalent to the notion of cyclic parallel Ricci tensor for real hypersurfaces in the complex quadric $Q^m=S{O}_{m+2}/S{O}_{m}S{O}_2$. Next, in terms of $\mathfrak{A}$-principal or $\mathfrak{A}$-isotropic unit normal vector fields we give a complete classification of real hypersurfaces in $Q^m=S{O}_{m+2}/S{O}_{m}S{O}_2$ with cyclic parallel Ricci tensor.     

A Useful Poly(ethylene oxide)‐poly(propylene oxide)‐poly(ethylene oxide) Triblock Crosslinker in a Diffusion‐Controlled Polymerization Method

Monodisperse micron‐sized polystyrene particles crosslinked with a novel poly(ethylene oxide)‐poly(propylene oxide)‐poly(ethylene oxide) triblock diol diacrylate (t‐BDDA) were produced via simple dispersion polymerization. It was established that the monomer‐diffusible surface characteristics of primary particles played a decisive role in producing the monodisperse crosslinked polymer particles. We named this concept a diffusion‐controlled polymerization method, DPM. Here in this study, particularly, t‐BDDA is proposed as a very useful crosslinker capable of self‐assembling and crosslinking in the process of particle formation and particle growth.     

Impact of microcellular plastics on industrial practice and academic research

Microcellular plastics (MCP) refer to any plastic with tiny bubbles of less than about 50 microns. It is made by subjecting polymers with a large amount of dissolved gas to a thermodynamic instability so as to nucleate a large number of cells instantaneously. MCP has been extruded and injection molded to make various industrial products. The fundamental theory for design of MCP and the processing methods are reviewed. It also discusses the design of equipment, including the die or mold, for MCP processing. The performance of MCP and the advantages of using MCP are presented. Some of industrial applications are also highlighted.     

Cyclic semiparallel Ricci tensor for harmonic curvature in the complex quadric

We introduce the notion of harmonic curvature for real hypersurfaces in the complex quadric $Q^m=S{O}_{m+2}/S{O}_{m}S{O}_2$. First, we prove that the unit normal vector field N on real hypersurfaces in $Q^m$ with harmonic curvature is singular, that is, $\mathfrak{A}$-principal or $\mathfrak{A}$-isotropic. Next by using a new notion of cyclic semiparallel Ricci tensor, we give a new result on real hypersurfaces with harmonic curvature and constant mean curvature in $Q^m=S{O}_{m+2}/S{O}_{m}S{O}_2$.