Optical behavior of antibiofouling additives in environment‐friendly coverglass materials for bio‐sensors and solar panels

Solar panels and bio‐optical sensors play a significant and growing role in a number of applications that are of importance to many organizations. Many of these instruments require a high transmission of radiation into the device for it to work properly. A major issue faced is that harsh marine environments often aid in the growth or development of fouling on the coverglass used to protect the instruments. Over a period of time in an ocean environment, some plant or animal may attach itself to the coverglass, ultimately obscuring the glass and rendering the instrument useless. As such, an antifouling mechanism is needed for these instruments that is inexpensive, long‐lasting, and environment friendly. The approach discussed herein involves the use of known antifouling chemicals which have been incorporated into the polymer matrix. Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), bisphenol A polycarbonate (Bis A PC), and a co‐polyterephthalate (CPTE) were examined. The plaques are optically transparent and previous work has shown that, for most samples, the materials display a minimal decrease in mechanical behavior upon the addition of the algaecides. This paper will discuss the effects on the materials' optical properties when exposed to both harsh marine conditions as well as high intensity UV light. Specifically, the decrease in transmission of visible light was examined over a 6 month period of time. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mechanistic studies of the phosphine-catalyzed homodimerization of ketoketenes

The mechanism of PBu₃-catalyzed homodimerization of ketoketenes has been explored and compared with that of the previously reported trialkylphosphite-mediated reactions. NMR studies of the PBu₃-catalyzed reaction implicated the involvement of tetravalent phosphonium intermediates. Phosphonium intermediates in the catalytic cycle were trapped through reaction with trimethylsilyl chloride and 4-chlorobenzaldehyde, and the resulting products were characterized. A method for the stoichiometric generation of phosphonium enolates was developed as a result of these studies. No evidence was obtained for the involvement of pentacovalent phosphorane intermediates in trialkylphosphine-catalyzed ketoketene homodimerization reactions, in contrast with the mechanism of the trialkylphosphite-mediated homodimerization of dimethylketene. An X-ray crystal structure analysis of methylphenylketene dimer showed that it possesses Z-geometry about the exocyclic olefin.     

Structural and Spectroscopic Characterization of Mer-[RhBr3(Me2pzH)3] (Me2pzH?=?3, 5-Dimethylpyrazole); Interpreting the Results with Density Functional Theory Calculations

Abstract  

Mer-RhBr₃(Me₂pzH)₃ (Me₂pzH = 3,5-dimethylpyrazole) (monoclinic, P2₁/n, a = 8.3300 (5) Å, b = 16.2889 (9) Å, c = 15.9299 (11) Å, α = 90°, β = 100.217 (5)°, γ = 90°; V = 2,127.2 (2) ų; Z = 4) has been characterized by X-ray diffraction, ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and electronic absorption spectroscopy, and modeled by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). Mer-RhBr₃(Me₂pzH)₃ is an octahedral complex with a HOMO → LUMO transition at 486 nm. The DFT and TDDFT calculations predicted mer-RhBr₃(Me₂pzH)₃ to be an octahedral complex with a HOMO → LUMO transition at 540 nm.     

Backward-wave propagation and discrete solitons in a left-handed electrical lattice

We study experimentally, analytically and numerically the backward-wave propagation, and formation of discrete bright and dark solitons in a nonlinear electrical lattice. We observe experimentally that a focusing (defocusing) effect occurs above (below) a certain carrier frequency threshold, and backward-propagating bright (dark) discrete solitons are formed. We develop a discrete model emulating the relevant circuit and benchmark its linear properties against the experimental dispersion relation. Using a perturbation method, we derive a nonlinear Schrödinger equation, that predicts accurately the carrier frequency threshold. Finally, we use numerical simulations to corroborate our findings and monitor the space-time evolution of the discrete solitons.     

Upper and lower bounds for the shear stress in the Saint-Venant theory of flexure

Upper and lower bounds are derived for the shear stress as it is determined by Saint-Venant's theory of flexure, and used to establish the asymptotic character of the classical Strength of Materials formula in the limit of vanishing thickness.

---

Résumé On dérive des limites supérieures et inférieures des contraintes tangentielles suivant la théorie de la flexion de Saint-Venant, que l'on utilise aux fins d'établir le caractère asymptotique de la formule de la Résistance des Matériaux dans le cas limite d'une épaisseur extrêmement petite.

     

Modeling of in-situ biorestoration of organic compounds in groundwater

A convergent numerical method for modeling in situ biorestoration of contaminated groundwater is outlined. This method treats systems of transport-biodegradation equations by operator splitting in time. Transport is approximated by a finite element modified method of characteristics. The biodegradation terms are split from the transport terms and treated as a system of ordinary differential equations. Numerical results for vertical cross-sectional flow are presented. The effects of variable hydraulic conductivity and variable linear adsorption are studied.     

A three-dimensional inverse problem for inhomogeneities in elastic solids

The Newtonian potential is used to solve an inverse problem in which we seek the shape of an inhomogeneity in an infinite elastic matrix under uniform applied stresses at infinity such that certain stress components are uniform on the boundary of the inhomogeneity. It is shown that ellipsoids furnish the solution of this inverse problem. Exact and general expressions for the stress and displacement are given explicitly for points in the elastic matrix outside the inhomogeneity. The solution of the corresponding plane deformation problem is found as a limiting case. Several applications are presented, and results from the literature are confirmed as special cases.     

Lifespan Theorem for simple constrained surface diffusion flows

We consider closed immersed hypersurfaces in R³ and R⁴ evolving by a special class of constrained surface diffusion flows. This class of constrained flows includes the classical surface diffusion flow. In this paper we present a Lifespan Theorem for these flows, which gives a positive lower bound on the time for which a smooth solution exists, and a small upper bound on the total curvature during this time. The hypothesis of the theorem is that the surface is not already singular in terms of concentration of curvature. This turns out to be a deep property of the initial manifold, as the lower bound on maximal time obtained depends precisely upon the concentration of curvature of the initial manifold in L² for M² immersed in R³ and additionally on the concentration in L³ for M³ immersed in R⁴. This is stronger than a previous result on a different class of constrained surface diffusion flows, as here we obtain an improved lower bound on maximal time, a better estimate during this period, and eliminate any assumption on the area of the evolving hypersurface.     

Under-three minute PCR: probing the limits of fast amplification

Nucleic acid amplification is enormously useful to the biotechnology and clinical diagnostic communities; however, to date point-of-use PCR has been hindered by thermal cycling architectures and protocols that do not allow for near-instantaneous results. In this work we demonstrate PCR amplification of synthetic SARS respiratory pathogenic targets and bacterial genomic DNA in less than three minutes in a hardware configuration utilizing convenient sample loading and disposal. Instead of sample miniaturization techniques, near-instantaneous heating and cooling of 5 μL reaction volumes is enabled by convective heat transfer of a thermal fluid through porous media combined with an integrated electrical heater. This method of rapid heat transfer has enabled 30 cycles of PCR amplification to be completed in as little as two minutes and eighteen seconds. Surprisingly, multiple enzymes have been shown to work at these breakthrough speeds on our system. A tool for measuring enzyme kinetics now exists and can allow polymerase optimization through directed evolution studies. Pairing this instrument technology with modified polymerases should result in a new paradigm for high-throughput, ultra-fast PCR and will hopefully improve our ability to quickly respond to the next viral pandemic.