Spectrofluorimetric Method for the Determination of Aluminum with Alizarin Red PS

 A simple and direct spectrofluorimetric method has been developed for the determination of aluminum using alizarin red PS (1,2,4-trihydroxy 9,10-anthraquinone-3-sulfonic acid). The method is based on the strong fluorescence (480/564 nm) of Al³⁺ and alizarin red. Experimental parameters such as pH, concentration of the ligand, ionic strength of the solution, reaction time and temperature were optimized in order to maximize the analytical signal. Interferences of several ions (anions and cations) were studied and evaluated. The linear range of the method extends from 3 to 100 μg L⁻¹. Limit of detection (3s_b) was 0.9 μg L⁻¹. The method was tested with a silicate certified reference material. Interferences were eliminated by a liquid extraction with cupferron. Author for correspondence. E-mail: aucelior@rdc.puc-rio.br Received September 10, 2002; accepted January 15, 2003 Published online May 5, 2003     

A quantum chemical study on structure of 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphinoyl)ethane and phenol cocrystal

The cocrystal of 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphinoyl)ethane (DPPEO) with phenol (1:1) were studied theoretically with AM1, PM3, MNDO and MINDO/3 semi-empirical methods to elucidate its structure. The bond lengths and angles from theoretical studies of molecule DPPEO/phenol (1:1) were found to be as expected. Theoretical results, concerning with intermolecular van der Waals forces in cocrystal, were compared with the previously obtained experimental data and AM1 results were found to be the best fit for bond lengths and angles of DPPEO/phenol.     

Loading aircraft for military operations

In this paper, we describe an aircraft loading problem submitted by the French military agency (DGA) as part of a more general military airlift planning problem. It can be viewed as a kind of bi-dimensional bin-packing problem, with heterogeneous bins and several additional constraints. We introduce two-phase methods for solving this NP-hard problem. The first phase consists in building good initial solutions, thanks to two fast algorithms: a list-based heuristic and a loading pattern generation method. Both algorithms call a constraint-based subroutine, able to determine quickly if the items already loaded can be reshuffled to accommodate a new object. The second phase improves these preliminary solutions using local search techniques. Results obtained on real data sets are presented.     

New insights on amorphous silicon-nitride microcavities

All amorphous silicon-nitride planar optical microcavities operating in the visible range have been grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The luminescence intensity of the N-rich silicon-nitride layer from a microcavity with 6 period distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) is two order of magnitude higher than that of the luminescent layer without the cavity. Moreover, a strong directionality of the microcavities emission can be observed. Such results can be ascribed to the anisotropic optical density of states induced in the Fabry–Perot structure. The quality factors of the resonators are strictly correlated to the number of periods of the DBRs.     

Initial oxidation kinetics of copper (1 1 0) film investigated by in situ UHV-TEM

Previous studies of the initial stage of oxidation on clean single crystal of Cu(1 0 0) have been extended to the case of the Cu(1 1 0) surface. The dynamic observation of the nucleation and growth of Cu oxide by means of in situ ultra high vacuum transmission electron microscopy (UHV-TEM) shows a highly enhanced oxidation rate on Cu(1 1 0) surface as compared to Cu(1 0 0). The kinetic data on the nucleation and growth of the three-dimensional oxide islands agree well with our heteroepitaxial model of surface diffusion of oxygen.     

Linear Independence of q-Analogues of Certain Classical Constants

Let K be ? or an imaginary quadratic number field, and q ∈ K an integer with ¦q¦ > 1. We give a quantitative version of Σ_n≥1 a_n/(qⁿ ? 1) ? K for non-zero periodic sequences (a_n) in K of period length ≤ 2. As a corollary, we get a quantitative version of the linear independence over K of 1, the q-harmonic series, and a q-analogue of log 2. A similar result on 1, the q-harmonic series, and a q-analogue of ζ(2) is also proved. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 11J72, 11J82     

Magnetic-Zenith Effect

We develop a theory of the magnetic-zenith effect (MZE) observed upon the ionosphere modification by powerful radio waves. The dependences of MZE on main parameters, such as the magnetic-field inclination angle, pump-wave frequency and power, and angular width of HF beam are obtained. The optimal elevation angle of pump-wave beam is predicted. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 48, No. 9, pp. 772–787, September 2005.     

Decay of neutron-rich Ga isotopes near N = 50 at PARRNe

The PARRNe facility has been used to produce neutron-rich isotopes ^83,84Gaby the ISOL method. Their decay has been studied, and β-γ coincidence and γ-γ coincidence data were collected as a function of time. The first two excited levels in ⁸³Ge and the first excited level in ⁸⁴Ge have been measured for the first time.     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of the Hydrogen Polyphosphide Bis(Tetraphenylphosphonium) hydrogenheptaphosphide‐ammonia(1/3) (PPh4)2HP7 · 3NH3

(PPh₄)₂HP₇ · 3NH₃ was prepared by the reaction of K₃P₇ with a proton‐charged ion exchange resin in the presence of (PPh₄)Br in liquid ammonia, and characterized by low temperature X‐ray structure analysis. The thermally very unstable compound contains the hydrogenheptaphosphide anion HPequation/tex2gif-stack-1.gif, the nortricyclane‐like cage of which is slightly distorted by the attachment of the hydrogen atom.