Study of the base‐catalyzed nitrito–nitro isomerization reaction ([(NH3)5Co‐ONO]2+ → [(NH3)5Co‐NO2]2+) in mixed solvents

The base‐catalyzed linkage isomerization of [Co(NH₃)₅‐ONO]²⁺ to the nitro [(NH₃)₅Co‐NO₂]²⁺ form is studied in various isodielectric water–cosolvent mixtures (methanol, ethanol, tert‐butyl alcohol, and 2‐propanol) at 298 K. In all cases, except for methanol–water mixtures, the rate constants increase with the proportion of cosolvent. Medium effects have been rationalized by using a multiparameter regression of solvent parameters which rationalizes the results obtained, including water–methanol mixtures. The experimental data, k₂, in fact, are well correlated through the following equation: where A, B, and G_exc are the acidity parameter, the basicity parameter, and the excess Gibbs free energy of the mixture, respectively. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 36: 410–415, 2004     

Stable transition layers in a semilinear diffusion equation with spatial inhomogeneities in N-dimensional domains

We prove existence and establish the asymptotic behavior, as ε→0, of stable stationary solutions to the equation u_t=ε∇·[d(x)∇u]+(1−u²)[u−a(x)], for , where , N?2, with Neumann boundary condition. The function a(x)∈C0,ν(Ω) satisfies −1<a(x)<1 and vanishes on some hypersurfaces. The results generalize to N-dimensional domains and to variable diffusivity earlier paper by Angenent et al. (J. Differential Equations 67 (1987) 212).     

Rigidity Theorems for Manifolds with Boundary and Nonnegative Ricci Curvature

In this paper, we obtain some rigidity theorems for compact Riemannian manifolds Ω with boundary M and nonnegative Ricci curvature; for instance, we prove that the existence of certain functions on M together with a lower bound c > 0 on the principal curvtures of M imply that Ω is an euclidean ball of radius $ {1\over c} $ .     

Some existence and nonexistence theorems for compact graphs of constant mean curvature with boundary in parallel planes

Given H≥0 and bounded convex curves α₁, ...,⇌_n, α in the plane z=0 bounding domains D₁, …, D_n, D, respectively, with if i ∈ j and with D_i ⊂ D, we obtain several results proving the existence of a constanth depending only on H and on the geometry of the curves α_i, α such that the Dirichlet problem for the constant mean curvature H equation: where may accept or not a solution.     

Characterization of natural cellulosic fibers from Yucca aloifolia L. leaf as potential reinforcement of polymer composites

Cellulose - In this work lignocellulosic fibers were obtained from Yucca aloifolia L. leaves and their chemical, morphological, thermal and mechanical properties were studied. The fibers were...     

Determination of glyphosate and its metabolites in plant material by reversed‐polarity CE with indirect absorptiometric detection

A simple CE method for simultaneous determination of glyphosate and its metabolites (i.e. aminomethylphosphonic acid, glyoxylate, sarcosine and formaldehyde) in plants is reported here. A BGE of pH 7.5, 10% ACN, 7.5 mM phthalate, containing 0.75 mM hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide as an electro‐osmotic flow modifier, an applied voltage of –20 kV and absorptiometric monitoring at 220 nm were the optimal chemical and instrumental parameters. The method, with development time 20 min, shows linear calibrations within the range 5–500 μg/mL (for all target analytes) with correlation coefficients between 0.999 and 0.998. It has been validated by application to samples of Lolium spp. The electroinjection mode hinders most interferents to enter the capillary, thus providing a clean electropherogram and making unnecessary long sample‐preparation steps.     

Rate limiting steps of the porous La0.6Sr0.4Co0.8Fe0.2O3−δ electrode material

The electrode reaction of porous La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.8Fe_0.2O_3?δ films deposited onto Ce_0.9Gd_0.1O_1.95 (CGO) was investigated by impedance spectroscopy within the temperature and oxygen partial pressure (pO₂) ranges of 500 ≤ T ≤ 700 °C and 10^? 4 < pO₂ < 1 atm, respectively, using Ar and He as gas carriers. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements reveal a high frequency (HF) and a low frequency (LF) regions in the Nyquist plane. The high frequency (HF) region was fitted with a Warburg-type impedance element, and the low frequency (LF) region was reproduced with a resistance in parallel to a constant phase element. Both, the slight dependence of the polarization resistance (R_W) and the small variation of the apex frequency (f_v) of the HF Warburg-type element, on pO₂, suggest that this contribution corresponds to the oxygen diffusion in the bulk of the La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.8Fe_0.2O_3?δ electrode material. The variation of the polarization resistance of the LF region (R_rcpe) with pO₂ indicates that as T increases, the limiting step evolves from dissociative oxygen adsorption to oxygen gas diffusion in the pores of the mixed ionic/electronic conductor (MIEC) electrode.     

Layered stable equilibria of a reaction-diffusion equation with nonlinear Neumann boundary condition

In this work we investigate the existence and asymptotic profile of a family of layered stable stationary solutions to the scalar equation ut=ε²Δu+f(u) in a smooth bounded domain Ω⊂R³ under the boundary condition εν_∂u=δεg(u). It is assumed that Ω has a cross-section which locally minimizes area and limε→0εlnδε=κ, with 0?κ<∞ and δε>1 when κ=0. The functions f and g are of bistable type and do not necessarily have the same zeros what makes the asymptotic geometric profile of the solutions on the boundary to be different from the one in the interior.     

A Monte Carlo study of finite temperature λφ 2, 3 4 ⋆

Zeitschrift für Physik C Particles and Fields - We study the finite temperature behaviour of λφ4 theory in two and three dimensions, using Monte Carlo simulations. We renormalize the...     

Surfactant/oil/water system for the determination of selenium in eggs by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

An oil-in-water formulation has been optimized to determine trace levels of selenium in whole hen eggs by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. This method is simpler and requires fewer reagents when compared with other sample pre-treatment procedures. Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometric (GF AAS) measurement was carried out using standard addition calibration and Pd as a modifier. The precision, expressed as relative standard deviation, was better than 5% and the limit of detection was 1 µg L^− 1. The validation of the method was performed against a standard reference material Whole Egg Powder (RM 8415), and the measured Se corresponded to 95.2% of the certified value. The method was used for the determination of the Se level in eggs from hens treated with Se dietary supplements. Inorganic and organic Se sources were added to hen feed. The Se content of eggs was higher when hens were fed with organic Se compared to the other treatments. The proposed method, including sample emulsification for subsequent Se determination by GF AAS has proved to be sensitive, reproducible, simple and economical.