Copper(II) and oxovanadium(IV) complexes of α-hydroxymethylserine

Summary Potentiometric and spectroscopic measurements were used to characterize the binding ability of -hydroxy-methylserine (Hms) with copper(II) and oxovanadium(IV) ions. The ligand was found to be generally a more efficient chelating agent than serine. Both of the deprotonated hydroxyl groups of Hms can be involved in coordination to vanadyl ions, whereas copper(II) binds in the same way as with serine.     

PM3 study of the proton affinities of 2-, 3-, and 4-monosubstituted pyridines in the gas phase

Heats of formation (ΔH_f) and proton affinities (PA) of 2-, 3-, and 4-monosubstituted pyridines in the gas phase are calculated using the AM1 and PM3 semiempirical methods. The following substitutents are considered: NO₂, CN, CF₃, CHO, F, Cl, COCH₃, H, CH₃, OCH₃, SCH₃, NH₂, and N(CH₃)₂. The results are compared with the experimental data. Both methods reproduce the ΔH_f with comparble accuracy; the rms deviations are 4.1 (AM1) and 4.5 kcal/mol (PM3) for the free bases and 9.5 (AM1) and 9.7 kcal/mol (PM3) for their conjugated acids. The PA are systematically underestimated by both methods, but AM1 appears to be clearly better than PM3 for reproducing the experimental values. The rms deviations for AM1 and PM3 are 5.1 and 9.6 kcal/mol, respectively. This is due to a cancellation of systematic errors in the calculated ΔH_f in the AM1 case and to a summation of the errors in the PM3 case. Both methods correctly reproduce conformations of the molecules under consideration.     

Anion radical formation in the reaction of chloranilic acid with n-methylpiperidine in acetonitrile

Reaction of chloranilic acid with N-methylpiperidine in acetonitrile has been studied. The product of the reaction is an unusually stable anion radical of quinone. The presence of radicals has been confirmed by EPR measurements. Stability constant, extinction coefficients and thermodynamic reaction parameters are reported. Mechanism of the reaction is proposed. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Determination of mercury in industrial materials by atomic absorption spectrometry after thermal volatilisation

The pyrolysis of samples containing copper, lead, iron, sulphur compounds and organic carbon is applied to separate mercury prior to its determination by a.a.s. Amalgamation on gold collectors followed by thermal desorption, or trapping in an absorption solution followed by reduction/aeration were used depending on the mercury content in the materials. Appropriate additives to the samples and filters are used to ensure complete release of mercury and removal of interfering pyrolysis products.     

A general framework for modeling tumor-immune system competition at the mesoscopic level

We propose a class of nonlinear integro-differential equations that at the mesoscopic level models the competition between a tumor and the immune system. The model describes the evolution of a distribution function of the microscopic parameter referred to as activity of cells. The idea is somehow similar to the Enskog theory in kinetic theory. By averaging with respect to the parameter, the mesoscopic class of models reduces to the general class of macroscopic models introduced by A. d’Onofrio that may assess the effect of delays in stimulation of the immune system by tumor cells. The existence and uniqueness theory is developed.     

Self-exciting vibrations and Hopf's bifurcation in non-linear stability analysis of rail vehicles in a curved track

The main objective of this article is to present the authors' view of and results on non-linear lateral stability of rail vehicles in a curved track. Three elements are exploited in order to secure this objective. Firstly, physical genesis of the problem is discussed, and its similarity to straight track analysis is emphasised. Results of the theories of self-exciting vibrations and bifurcation are the key elements here. Secondly, the method suitable for analysis in a curved track is presented. New necessary elements, extending the better established methods for straight track are clearly mentioned and described. The methodology of building original stability maps, being the basis for the analysis and valid for whole range of curve radii and straight track is represented. Thirdly, a sample of the analysis is shown in order to give the idea how the method can be utilised. The case study refers to the influence of wheel/rail profiles on the stability in circularly curved track and straight track as well. Two different pairs of wheel/rail profiles are used and the corresponding results compared. The main contributions of the article are: a discussion of the physical nature of phenomena related to the stability in a curved tracks, and the method (procedure) established for the reasons of the analysis. Another and more general contribution is our say in the hot polemics on the advisability of stability analysis in curves and the advantages of the non-linear critical speed over the linear one.     

A New Crystal Phase Molybdate Yb2Mo4O15: The Synthesis and Upconversion Properties

A new upconversion nanocrystal phase Yb₂Mo₄O₁₅:Er is developed by using a facile aqueous‐precipitation procedure combined with thermal annealing. Nanocrystals of Yb₂Mo₄O₁₅ are exclusively synthesized, with particle sizes ranging from 1 to 20 nm. The optical properties are characterized and a high upconversion quantum yield is determined to be ≈1.3% at room temperature, under excitation of ≈500 mW cm^?2 IR (975 nm). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work concerning the synthesis of nanocrystalline Yb₂Mo₄O₁₅ and the characterization of its upconversion properties, which possesses the potential to be utilized in bio‐probing and thin‐film optoelectronic device applications.     

Electric-field-induced steering in soliton direction of propagation in chiral nematic liquid crystals

In this work we demonstrate the properties of spatial solitary waves in chiral nematic liquid crystals with an external electric field. Such self-trapped beams, called nematicons, were created due to the optical reorientation nonlinearity for a light power of a few tens of milliwatts. We show that the direction of propagation of such nematicons can be changed by applying an external electric field. Additionally, this effect can be modified by changing the input polarization of the light beam. The experimental results were obtained in four independent guiding layers created by a chiral nematic structure.     

Semigroups for Generalized Birth-and-Death Equations in lp Spaces

We prove the existence of C₀ semigroups related to some birth-and-death type infinite systems of ODEs with possibly unbounded coefficients, in the scale of spaces l^p, For some particular cases we also provide a characterization of the spectra of their generators. For the proof of the generation theorem in the case p > 1 we extend the Chernoff perturbation result ([9]) on relatively bounded perturbations of generators. The results presented here have been used in [5] and they play important role for analysing chaoticity of dynamical systems considered there. As a by-product of our approach we obtain a result related to the classical Shubin theorem [20]. We show that this theorem, saying that for a class of bounded infinite matrices the spectrum of the corresponding maximal operator in l^p is independent on cannot be extended to unbounded matrices.     

Beiträge zur Chemie der Alkylverbindungen von Übergangsmetallen. XIII. Über die Reaktion von Vanadinsäure-triisopropylester mit Zinkdimethyl—Zur Kenntnis des Methylvanadinoxiddiisopropoxids

Contributions to the Chemistry of Transition Metal Alkyl Compounds. XIII. the Reaction of Vanadium Isopropyl Ester with Dimethyl Zinc. — On the Formation of CH₃VO(i-OC₃H₇)₂ Dimethyl zinc reacts with ortho vanadium acid triisopropyl ester forming methyl zinc isopropoxide (CH₃Zn-i-OC₃H₇)_n and methyl vanadium oxide diisopropoxide CH₃VO(i-OC₃H₇)₂. The new σ-organovanadium compound was isolated and thoroughly characterized.