Set point identification of a tribocharging process for mixed granular solids

Identification of the optimal operating conditions is a critical issue for the industrial application of tribocharging techniques. The aim of this paper is to formulate a set of recommendations regarding the choice of tray length, vibration amplitude and material feed-rate values for a vibratory-type tribocharger. The study was carried out on a laboratory vibratory feeder with granular plastics originating from waste electrical and electronic equipment. Several one-factor-at-a-time experiments followed by a composite factorial experiment were performed based on a two-step strategy: 1) identifying the domain of variation of the controlled variables; 2) finding the best choice of the set point.     

A toric Positivstellensatz with applications to delay systems

The structure of positive polynomials on a torus is derived from recent results of real algebraic geometry. As an application, we propose some simple conditions for testing the hyperbolicity/stability of a generic class of linear systems of retarded type.     

A Simple Proof of the Jensen-Type Inequality of Fink and Jodeit

We discuss the extension of Jensen’s inequality to the framework of quasiconvex functions. Moreover, it is proved that our results work for a class of signed measures larger than the class of probability measures.     

Carbon Xerogel Nanostructures with Integrated Bi and Fe Components for Hydrogen Peroxide and Heavy Metal Detection

Multifunctional Bi- and Fe-modified carbon xerogel composites (CXBiFe), with different Fe concentrations, were obtained by a resorcinol–formaldehyde sol–gel method, followed by drying in ambient conditions and pyrolysis treatment. The morphological and structural characterization performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, N₂ adsorption/desorption porosimetry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and scanning/transmission electron microscopy (STEM) analyses, indicates the formation of carbon-based nanocomposites with integrated Bi and Fe oxide nanoparticles. At higher Fe concentrations, Bi-Fe-O interactions lead to the formation of hybrid nanostructures and off-stoichiometric Bi₂Fe₄O₉ mullite-like structures together with an excess of iron oxide nanoparticles. To examine the effect of the Fe content on the electrochemical performance of the CXBiFe composites, the obtained powders were initially dispersed in a chitosan solution and applied on the surface of glassy carbon electrodes. Then, the multifunctional character of the CXBiFe systems is assessed by involving the obtained modified electrodes for the detection of different analytes, such as biomarkers (hydrogen peroxide) and heavy metal ions (i.e., Pb²⁺). The achieved results indicate a drop in the detection limit for H₂O₂ as Fe content increases. Even though the current results suggest that the surface modifications of the Bi phase with Fe and O impurities lower Pb²⁺ detection efficiencies, Pb²⁺ sensing well below the admitted concentrations for drinkable water is also noticed.     

Synthesis of Polyvinylacetate‐Sodium Montmorillonite Hybrids by Emulsion Polymerization in the Presence of Anionic Surfactants

The emulsion polymerisation of vinyl acetate (VAc) in presence of sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS) and sodium montmorillonite (NaMMT) is used in order to achieve polymer‐clay hybrids. The influence of the polyvinylacetate (PVAc), SDS, and PVAc‐SDS complex on the NaMMT structure also was investigated. The VAc emulsion polymerization rate exhibits a maximum as the NaMMT concentration increases. The XRD patterns correspond to hybrids with intercalated structure. If a water soluble comonomer, ammonium sulphato ethylmethacrylate (ASEMA) is used for copolymerization with VAc, a exfoliated hybrid structure (from XRD spectra) is obtained. The solid materials were analysed by TGA, FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TEM.     

Mechanisms of Ceftazidime and Ciprofloxacin Transport through Porins in Multidrug-Resistance Developed by Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase <Emphasis Type="Italic">E.coli</Emphasis> Strains

Resistance towards antibiotics stands out today as a major issue in the clinical act of treatment of bacterial-generated infections. This process was characterized in proteoliposomes reconstituted from an E.coli strain isolated from invasive infections (blood culture) occurred in patients with a cardio-vascular device admitted for surgery. Fluorescence spectroscopy and patch-clamp technique have been used. Two types of antibiotics have been targeted: ceftazidime and ciprofloxacin. Antibiotics addition in proteoliposomes suspension undergoes a quenching in tryptophan residues from outer membrane porins structure, probably due to the formation of a transient non-fluorescent porin-antibiotic complex. Patch-clamp recordings revealed strong ion current blockages for both antibiotics, reflecting antibiotic–channel interactions but with varying strength of interaction. The present study puts forward the mechanism of multidrug-resistance in extended-spectrum beta-lactamase E.coli strains, as being caused by alterations of the antibiotics transport across the porins of the outer bacterial membrane.     

Predicting the size and properties of dendrimersomes from the lamellar structure of their amphiphilic Janus dendrimers

Dendrimersomes are stable, monodisperse unilamellar vesicles self-assembled in water from amphiphilic Janus dendrimers. Their size, stability, and membrane structure are determined by the chemical structure of Janus dendrimer and the method of self-assembly. Comparative analysis of the periodic arrays in bulk and dendrimersomes assembled by ethanol injection in water of 11 libraries containing 108 Janus dendrimers is reported. Analysis in bulk and in water was performed by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, dynamic light scattering, and cryo-TEM. An inverse proportionality between size, stability, mechanical properties of dendrimersomes, and thickness of their membrane was discovered. This dependence was explained by the tendency of alkyl chains forming the hydrophobic part of the dendrimersome to produce the same local packing density regardless of the branching pattern from the hydrophobic part of the dendrimer. For the same hydrophobic alkyl chain length, the largest, toughest, and most stable dendrimersomes are those with the thinnest membrane that results from the interdigitation of the alkyl groups of the Janus dendrimer. A simplified spherical-shell model of the dendrimersome was used to demonstrate the direct correlation between the concentration of Janus dendrimer in water, c, and the size of self-assembled dendrimersome. This concentration-size dependence demonstrates that the mass of the vesicle membrane is proportional with c. A methodology to predict the size of the dendrimersome based on this correlation was developed. This methodology explains the inverse proportionality between the size of dendrimersome and its membrane thickness, and provides a good agreement between the experimental and predicted size of dendrimersome.     

Unprecedented robust antiferromagnetism in fluorinated hexagonal perovskites

The diversification of antiferromagnetic (AFM) oxides with high Néel temperature is of fundamental as well as technical interest if one considers the need for robust AFM in the field of spin-tronics (exchange bias, multiferroics, etc.). Within the broad series of so-called hexagonal perovskites (HP), the existence of face-sharing octahedral units drastically lowers the strength of magnetic exchanges as compared to corner-sharing octahedral edifices. Here, we show that the partial introduction of F(-) in several Fe-based HP types leads to a drastic increase of the AFM ordering close to the highest values reported in iron oxides (T(N) ≈ 700 K). Our experimental results are supported by ab initio calculations. The T(N) increase is explained by the structural effect of the aliovalent F(-) for O(2-) substitution occurring in preferred anionic positions: it leads to local changes of the Fe-O-Fe connectivity and to chemical reduction into predominant Fe(3+), both responsible for drastic magnetic changes.