Synthesis and evaluation of a pseudocyclic tristhiourea-based anion host

A novel methodology for the evaluation of receptor arrangement in structurally flexible anion chemosensors was developed and applied to map the binding site of a new pseudocyclic tristhiourea chemosensor (6). The syntheses of 6 and related macrocyclic chemosensor 10 (a model of the folded monomeric structure of 6) are reported. Both chemosensors were evaluated by titration with a variety of structurally different anions in CH3Cl and DMSO, showing a common preference for F-, CH3CO2-, and H2PO4-. However, within this group of anions, the binding patterns of the chemosensors differed, indicating dissimilarity in the arrangement of the binding sites of 6 and 10.     

Effect of extraction conditions on measured total polyphenol contents and antioxidant and antibacterial activities of black tea

Black tea was extracted for 2, 8 and 18 h with absolute acetone, N,N-dimethyl-formamide (DMF), ethanol and methanol and their 50% aqueous solutions. The extracts were screened for total polyphenol contents, antioxidant and antibacterial activities. The polyphenol content of the extracts was found to be in the range of 0.44-114.01 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry weight tea, depending on the solvent used and the length of the extraction process. In general, aqueous acetone or DMF extracts displayed the highest polyphenol contents and antioxidant activity, while absolute acetone was the least efficient solvent. Antioxidant activities of tea extracts tested using the reducing power and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) radical methods ranged from 0.09 to 1.18 and from 2.60 to 95.42 %, respectively, depending on the extraction conditions and the antioxidant activities correlated well with the polyphenol concentrations. Aqueous solvent black tea extracts also possessed antibacterial activity, depending on the solvent used and bacterial species tested. Staphylococcus aureus was found to be the most sensitive to all tea extracts, except for the methanol extract. Tea extracts were not effective against Y. enterocolitica, L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7.     

Short-time reactor neutron irradiation of YSZ prepared using reactive calcination method

The present work is devoted to study the short-time reactor neutron irradiation of yttria stabilised zirconia (YSZ) at 315 K. The samples were prepared by the reactive calcination method and characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and scanning electronic microscope. The prepared samples were irradiated by reactor neutrons at different exposure times and investigated by XRD analysis. The results obtained show good radiation resistance of YSZ to reactor neutron irradiation.     

Rapid honey characterization and botanical classification by an electronic tongue

In this paper a commercial electronic tongue (αAstree, Alpha M.O.S.) was applied for botanical classification and physicochemical characterization of honey samples. The electronic tongue was comprised of seven potentiometric sensors coupled with an Ag/AgCl reference electrode. Botanical classification was performed by PCA, CCA and ANN modeling on 12 samples of acacia, chestnut and honeydew honey. The physicochemical characterization of honey was obtained by ANN modeling and the parameters included were electrical conductivity, acidity, water content, invert sugar and total sugar. The initial reference values for the physicochemical parameters observed were determined by traditional methods. Botanical classification of honey samples obtained by ANN was 100% accurate while the highest correlation between observed and predicted values was obtained for electrical conductivity (0.999), followed by acidity (0.997), water content (0.994), invert sugar content (0.988) and total sugar content (0.979).All developed ANN models for rapid honey characterization and botanical classification performed excellently showing the potential of the electronic tongue as a tool in rapid honey analysis and characterization. The advantage of using such a technique is a simple sample preparation procedure, there are no chemicals involved and there are no additional costs except the initial measurements required for ANN model development.     

Analysis of the first thermal response test in Algeria

Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) mean attractive heating and cooling systems. Optimum design of a borehole heat exchanger (BHE), as the outer part of a GSHP heating system, requires knowledge of the thermal properties of the soil. Those data, the effective thermal conductivity of the soil λ_eff and the average temperature of the soil T ₀ enable us to determine the necessary number and depth of boreholes. The determination of thermal conductivity of the soil in laboratory experiments does not usually coincidence with the data under in situ conditions. Therefore, an in situ method of experimental determination of these parameters, thermal response testing (TRT) is used primarily for in situ determination of design data for BHEs. In this study, which was the first TRT in Algeria (Tlemcen site), the purpose was to determine the effective ground thermal conductivity. Measured data were evaluated by the line source model. Used method and performed evaluation are presented for a borehole drilled in clay, silt, and sand. The resulting effective ground thermal conductivity was 1.364 W/m K and the borehole thermal resistance was 0.18 K/(W/m).     

Electrorheology and creep-recovery behavior of conducting polythiophene/poly(oxymethylene)-blend suspensions

Electrorheological properties and creep-recovery behavior of polythiophene/polyoxymethylene-blend having PT（50%）/POM（50%） composition were investigated.Particle size,conductivity and dielectric values were measured to be 24.77μm,3.85×10^-5 S·m^-1 and 26.75,respectively.Sedimentation ratio was measured to be 64%at the end of 16 days.The effects of dispersed particle volume fraction,external electric field strength,shear rate,frequency and temperature on ER properties and storage modulus of PT/POM-blend/silicone oil（SO） suspensions were examined.Enhancement were observed in the electric field viscosities of the suspensions and thus they were classified as a smart material.Shear thinning non-Newtonian viscoelastic behavior was determined for PT/POM-blend/SO system.Further,time-dependent deformation was examined by creep-recovery tests and recoverable viscoelastic deformation established.     

Competitive Exclusion for Chemostat Equations with Variable Yields

In this paper, we study the global dynamics of a chemostat model with a single nutrient and several competing species. Growth rates are not required to be proportional to food uptakes. Our approach is based on the construction of Lyapunov functions. The Lyapunov functions extend those used by Hsu (SIAM J. Appl. Math. 34:760–763, 1978) and by Wolkowicz and Lu (SIAM J. Appl. Math. 57:1019–1043, 1997) in the case when growth rates are proportional to food uptakes. Our result generalizes a large variety of previous results obtained by Lyapunov techniques.     

Nonlinear optical rectification and the second and third harmonic generation in Pöschl–Teller quantum well under the intense laser field

In this work, the effect of a non-resonant intense laser field on the optical rectification and second and third harmonic generation in a Pöschl–Teller quantum well is theoretically investigated. In this regard, the coefficients of nonlinear optical rectification and second and third harmonic generation are obtained by using the compact-density matrix approach and an iterative method. Different values of the asymmetry parameters of the Pöschl–Teller potential as well as intense laser field strength have been considered. Numerical results presented for a typical GaAs quantum wells show that higher-order optical effects are considerably sensitive to intense laser field and can be adjusted by a correct choice of asymmetry parameters of the potential.     

A flux-limiter method for dam-break flows over erodible sediment beds

Finite volume methods for dam-break flows over erodible sediment beds require a monotone numerical flux. In the present study we present a new flux-limiter scheme based on the Lax–Wendroff method coupled with a non-homogeneous Riemann solver and a flux limiter function. The non-homogeneous Riemann solver consists of a predictor stage for the discretization of gradient terms and a corrector stage for the treatment of source terms. The proposed method satisfy the conservation property such that the discretization of the flux gradients and the source terms are well-balanced in the numerical solution of suspended sediment models. The flux-limiter method provides accurate results avoiding numerical oscillations and numerical dissipation in the approximated solutions. Several standard test examples are considered to verify the performance and the accuracy of the proposed method.