Synthesis of methacrylate-containing oligosilsesquioxanes via acidic hydrolytic polycondensation in the medium of methacrylate monomers

Methacrylate-containing oligosilsesquioxanes with a molecular mass of 700–4000 are synthesized via the acidic hydrolytic polycondensation of γ-methacryloxy-propyltrimethoxysilane (A-174) in the medium of methyl methacrylate or in a mixture of bis(methacrylates). The structure of the oligomers is studied by ¹Н and ²⁹Si NMR spectroscopy and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.     

Immobilization of Invertase in Copolymer of 2,5-Di(thiophen-2-yl)-1-p-Tolyl-1H-Pyrrole with Pyrrole

Immobilization of invertase in conducting copolymer matrix of 2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)-1-p-tolyl-1H-pyrrole with pyrrole (poly(DDTP-co-Py)) was achieved via electrochemical polymerization. Kinetic parameters, Michaelis-Menten constant, K_m and the maximum reaction rate, V_max were investigated. Operational stability and temperature optimization of the enzyme electrodes were also examined.

Immobilized invertase reveals maximum activity at 50°C and; pH 8 and pH 4 for two copolymer matrices. Although the same two monomers are utilized for the copolymer synthesis, the way the copolymer is produced results in quite different responses in terms of enzyme activity, optimum pH and kinetic parameters. Excellent operational stability of the enzyme electrodes enables their repetitive use in the determination of invert sugar.     

Sol-gel thin films with anti-reflective and self-cleaning properties

Self-cleaning photocatalytic TiO₂ films are beneficial since they reduce the maintenance cost and enhance the efficiency of various optical systems, especially thermal and photovoltaic solar systems. However, the presence of a TiO₂ layer on glass reduces the transmission of incident light, which leads to a decrease in efficiency. This drawback can be overcome by applying a layer of anti-reflective coating beneath the TiO₂ layer. Generally, the anti-reflective layer is porous silica. The presence of the anti-reflective layer compensates for the loss of light transmittance caused by the photocatalytic TiO₂ top layer. This paper reviews some of the previous and the latest fundamental studies in the literature on anti-reflective, self-cleaning and multi-functional films.     

3D sensitivity encoded ellipsoidal MR spectroscopic imaging of gliomas at 3T

Purpose

The goal of this study was to implement time efficient data acquisition and reconstruction methods for 3D magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) of gliomas at a field strength of 3T using parallel imaging techniques.

Methods

The point spread functions, signal to noise ratio (SNR), spatial resolution, metabolite intensity distributions and Cho:NAA ratio of 3D ellipsoidal, 3D sensitivity encoding (SENSE) and 3D combined ellipsoidal and SENSE (e-SENSE) k-space sampling schemes were compared with conventional k-space data acquisition methods.

Results

The 3D SENSE and e-SENSE methods resulted in similar spectral patterns as the conventional MRSI methods. The Cho:NAA ratios were highly correlated (P<.05 for SENSE and P<.001 for e-SENSE) with the ellipsoidal method and all methods exhibited significantly different spectral patterns in tumor regions compared to normal appearing white matter. The geometry factors ranged between 1.2 and 1.3 for both the SENSE and e-SENSE spectra. When corrected for these factors and for differences in data acquisition times, the empirical SNRs were similar to values expected based upon theoretical grounds. The effective spatial resolution of the SENSE spectra was estimated to be same as the corresponding fully sampled k-space data, while the spectra acquired with ellipsoidal and e-SENSE k-space samplings were estimated to have a 2.36–2.47-fold loss in spatial resolution due to the differences in their point spread functions.

Conclusion

The 3D SENSE method retained the same spatial resolution as full k-space sampling but with a 4-fold reduction in scan time and an acquisition time of 9.28 min. The 3D e-SENSE method had a similar spatial resolution as the corresponding ellipsoidal sampling with a scan time of 4:36 min. Both parallel imaging methods provided clinically interpretable spectra with volumetric coverage and adequate SNR for evaluating Cho, Cr and NAA.     

Nonlinear optical properties of asymmetric n-type double <Emphasis Type="Italic">δ</Emphasis>-doped GaAs quantum well under intense laser field

The effect of non-resonant intense laser field on the intersubband-related optical absorption coefficient and refractive index change in the asymmetric n-type double δ-doped GaAs quantum well is theoretically investigated. The confined energy levels and corresponding wave functions of this structure are calculated by solving the Schrödinger equation in the laser-dressed confinement potential within the framework of effective mass approximation. The optical responses are reported as a function of the δ-doped impurities density and the applied non-resonant intense laser field. Additionally, the calculated results also reveal that the non-resonant intense laser field can be used as a way to control the electronic and optical properties of the low dimensional semiconductor nano-structures.     

Observation of the Photoinduced Conductivity in a Regular Domain Structure with Tilted Walls in MgO:LiNbO3 at a Wavelength of 632.8 nm at Bragg Diffraction

A 632.8-nm radiation-induced change in the conductivity of a regular domain structure (RDS) formed in a 5% MgO:LiNbO₃ crystal has been detected for the first time. As a result, the relaxation rate for the Bragg diffraction efficiency on the RDS, which is observed after the application of an external electric field, increases with the intensity of a probe beam. This dependence is linear in the initial stage of relaxation caused by the screening of the external field because of the redistribution of charges over tilted conductive domain walls of the RDS. For the probe beam with an intensity of 49 mW/mm², the induced effective conductivity of the RDS, which is estimated as σ_eff = 3.5×10⁻⁹Ω⁻¹m⁻¹, is more than four orders of magnitude higher than the dark conductivity of the single-domain MgO:LiNbO₃ sample.

     

Metal-Containing Phthalocyanines Substituted with One Branched Bulky Moiety and Six Alkylthio Groups

 Unsymmetrically substituted metal-phthalocyanines composed of three hexylthio groups and one 1-chloro-3,4-dicyano-6-[2-(2-pyridylmethylamino)phenylthio]benzene moiety was prepared by cyclization of the reactants in the presence of the anhydrous metal salts Zn(CH₃COO)₂, NiCl₂, and CoCl₂. The new unsymmetric phthalocyanines are very soluble in common organic solvents. The compounds were characterised by their elemental analyses, IR, ¹H NMR, MS and UV/Vis spectra.     

Electron and donor-impurity-related Raman scattering and Raman gain in triangular quantum dots under an applied electric field

The differential cross-section of electron Raman scattering and the Raman gain arecalculated and analysed in the case of prismatic quantum dots with equilateral trianglebase shape. The study takes into account their dependencies on the size of the triangle,the influence of externally applied electric field as well as the presence of an ionizeddonor center located at the triangle’s orthocenter. The calculations are made within theeffective mass and parabolic band approximations, with a diagonalization scheme beingapplied to obtain the eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of the x-y Hamiltonian. The incidentand secondary (scattered) radiation have been considered linearly-polarized along they-direction, coinciding with the direction of theapplied electric field. For the case with an impurity center, Raman scattering with theintermediate state energy below the initial state one has been found to show maximumdifferential cross-section more than by an order of magnitude bigger than that resultingfrom the scheme with lower intermediate state energy. The Raman gain has maximum magnitudearound 35 nm dot size andelectric field of 40 kV/cm forthe case without impurity and at maximum considered values of the input parameters for thecase with impurity. Values of Raman gain of the order of up to 10⁴cm^-1 are predicted in bothcases.