Seasonal variability of soil CO2 flux and its carbon isotope composition in Krakow urban area,Southern Poland

As urban atmosphere is depleted of ¹³CO₂, its imprint should be detectable in the local vegetation and therefore in its CO₂ respiratory emissions. This work was aimed at characterising strength and isotope signature of CO₂ fluxes from soil in urban areas with varying distances from anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. The soil CO₂ flux and its δ¹³C isotope signature were measured using a chamber method on a monthly basis from July 2009 to May 2012 within the metropolitan area of Krakow, Southern Poland, at two locations representing different levels of anthropogenic influence: a lawn adjacent to a busy street (A) and an urban meadow (B). The small-scale spatial variability of the soil CO₂ flux was also investigated at site B. Site B revealed significantly higher summer CO₂ fluxes (by approximately 46 %) than site A, but no significant differences were found between their δ¹³CO₂ signatures.     

Simultaneous excitation of Ce and Eu ions in Tb3Al5O12

Y₃Al₅O₁₂:Ce³⁺ (YAG:Ce) and Tb₃Al₅O₁₂:Ce³⁺ (TAG:Ce) both show the typical Ce³⁺ ion luminescence of the allowed Ce³⁺ d–f transition. Eu³⁺ codoping, however, reveals different results for both matrices: in YAG:Ce,Eu, only the luminescence of the Ce³⁺ ion occurs by excitation within the Ce³⁺ absorption bands. Here, the Eu³⁺ luminescence cannot be sensitized by the Ce³⁺ ion. But in TAG:Ce,Eu, both Ce³⁺ and Eu³⁺ luminescence are measured at several excitation wavelengths: an excitation within the Tb-sublattice results in both Ce³⁺ and Eu³⁺ luminescence, which is not surprising as an energy transfer from Tb³⁺ to Ce³⁺ and Eu³⁺ is well known in literature. In addition, an excitation in the lowest 5d level of Ce³⁺ delivers Eu³⁺ luminescence at room temperature. This means that the Ce³⁺ ion can be used as a sensitizer in the TAG lattice that transfers its energy via the Tb sublattice to the activator Eu³⁺.     

Electrochemically Tunable Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer in Pd-Catalyzed Benzaldehyde Hydrogenation

Acid functionalization of a carbon support allows to enhance the electrocatalytic activity of Pd to hydrogenate benzaldehyde to benzyl alcohol proportional to the concentration of Brønsted-acid sites. In contrast, the hydrogenation rate is not affected when H₂ is used as a reduction equivalent. The different responses to the catalyst properties are shown to be caused by differences in the hydrogenation mechanism between the electrochemical and the H₂-induced hydrogenation pathways. The enhancement of electrocatalytic reduction is realized by the participation of support-generated hydronium ions in the proximity of the metal particles.     

Die Darstellung und die Reaktionen des Benzoylnitrats

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Plasticized polylactide/clay nanocomposites. II. The effect of aging on structure and properties in relation to the filler content and the nature of its organo‐modification

Plasticized polylactide (PLA) – layered silicate nanocomposites were obtained by melt blending PLA with polyethylene glycol as plasticizer (20 wt %) and with different montmorillonite fillers: Cloisite® 20A, Cloisite® 25A, and Cloisite® 30B (from 1 to 10 wt %). Comparative samples of melt‐blended polylactide (without filler) and plasticized PLA with 20 wt % PEG were considered as well. Samples have been aged for 1 and 4 years and their chemical and physical characteristics were compared with not aged reference ones. It was found that molecular weight of the PLA decreased upon melt‐processing and aging, particularly when the Cloisite content increased, without a clear relation to the nature of the organo‐modifier. On the contrary, the PEG plasticizer was practically undegraded upon melt processing and aging. Structural studies revealed that plasticized PLA and plasticized PLA‐based nanocomposites are unstable in time of aging and undergo deplasticization. They showed, after aging, the presence of a thin PEG crystalline layer at the surface of the samples and improved the order in the PLA matrix to a higher extent in plasticized polylactide than in plasticized nanocomposite (due to clay stabilization effect). The amount of PEG diffusing toward sample surface was correlated with aging time, molecular weight of PLA matrix, and Cloisite® type, in clear relation to the extent of intercalation with PLA and PEG. Some modifications of the viscoelastic properties of PLA matrix, induced by the presence of both the nanoparticlate filler and the plasticizer, as well as a deterioration of the mechanical properties upon aging were observed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 312–325, 2006     

Nonlinear directional couplers with asymmetrical distribution of nonlinearity

An analytical solution is given for the nonlinear directional coupler with asymmetrically placed nonlinearity. It is shown that the distribution of nonlinearity influences the critical power value and changes the transmission characteristics.     

Spectroscopic properties and photodynamic effects of new lipophilic porphyrin derivatives: efficacy, localisation and cell death pathways

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic diagnostics (PDD) of cancer are based on the use of non-toxic dyes (photosensitisers) in combination with harmless visible light. This paper reports physicochemical properties, cell uptake, localisation as well as photodynamic efficiency of two novel lipophilic porphyrin derivatives, suitable for use as PDT sensitisers. Both compounds are characterised by high quantum yield of singlet oxygen generation which was measured by time-resolved phosphorescence. Photodynamic in vitro studies were conducted on three cancer cell lines. Results of cell survival tests showed negligible dark cytotoxicity but high phototoxicity. The results also indicate that cell death is dependent on energy dose and time following light exposure. Using confocal laser scanning microscopy both compounds were found to localise in the cytoplasm around the nucleus of the tumour cells. The mode of cell death was evaluated based on the morphological changes after differential staining. In summary, good photostability, high quantum yield of singlet oxygen and biological effectiveness indicate that the examined lipophilic porphyrin derivatives offer quite interesting prospects of photodynamic therapy application.     

Crystal structure, spectroscopy and thermodynamic properties of MVWO6(M – Li, Na)

In the present work lithium (sodium) vanadium tungsten oxides with brannerite structure is refined by the Rietveld method (space group C2/m, Z=2). IR and Raman spectroscopy was used to assign vibrational bands and determine structural particularities. The diffuse reflectance spectra allow to calculate bandgap for M^IVWO₆(M^I – Li, Na). The temperature dependences of heat capacity have been measured first in the range from 7 to 350 K for these compounds and then between 330 and 640 K, respectively, by precision adiabatic vacuum and dynamic calorimetry. The experimental data were used to calculate standard thermodynamic functions, namely the heat capacity C_p^o(T), enthalpy H^o(T)−H^o(0), entropy S^o(T)−S^o(0) and Gibbs function G^o(T)−H^o(0), for the range from T→0 to 640 K. The differential scanning calorimetry was applied to measure decomposition temperature of compounds under study.