Solutions analytiques globales de problèmes linéaires avec argument absorbant

The aim of this work is the study of the Cauchy problem for a large class of linear operators, non-necessarily kowalevskian, with shrinking argument. We prove the well posedness of this problem in the space of analytic functions with respect to time and Gevrey class with respect to spatial variable. Our tools are based on formal norms of Leray and Waelbroeck [J. Leray, L. Waelbroeck, Norme formelle d'une fonction composée (Préliminaire à l'étude des systèmes non linéaires, hyperboliques non stricts), in: Colloque de Liège, CBRM, 1964, pp. 145-152. [23]], already used in [Cl. Wagschal, Le problème de Goursat non linéaire, J. Math. Pure Appl. 58 (1979) 309-337; D. Gourdin, M. Mechab, Solution globale d'un problème de Cauchy linéaire, J. Funct. Anal. 202 (2003) 123-146].     

Gas‐phase copper and silver complexes with phosphorothioate and phosphorodithioate pesticides investigated using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Efforts to improve agricultural productivity have led to a growing dependency on organophosphorus pesticides. Phosphorothioate and phosphorodithioate pesticides are organophosphorus pesticide subclasses with widespread application for the control of insects feeding on vegetables and fruits. However, even low doses of these pesticides can cause neurological problems in humans; thus, their determination and monitoring in agricultural foodstuffs is important for human health. Phosphorothioate and phosphorodithioate pesticides may be poorly ionized during electrospray, adversely affecting limits of detection. These pesticides can form complexes with Cu²⁺ and Ag⁺, however, potentially improving ionization. In the present work, we used electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry (ESI/MS) to study fenitrothion, parathion, diazinon, and malathion coordination complexes with silver and copper ions. Stable 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 metal/pesticide complexes were detected. Mass spectra acquired from pesticide solutions containing Ag⁺ or Cu²⁺ showed a significant increase in signal‐to‐background ratio over those acquired from solutions containing only the pesticides, with Ag⁺ improving detection more effectively than Cu²⁺. Addition of Ag⁺ to a pesticide solution improved the limit of detection by ten times. The relative affinity of each pesticide for Ag⁺ was related to complex stability, following the order diazinon > malathion > fenitrothion > parathion. The formation of Ag⁺–pesticide complexes can significantly improve the detection of phosphorothioate and phosphorodithioate pesticides using ESI/MS. The technique could potentially be used in reactive desorption electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry to detect phosphorothioate and phosphorodithioate pesticides on fruit and vegetable skins. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On Asymptotic Stability and Sweeping of Collisionless Kinetic Equations

We study a collisionless kinetic equation describing density distribution function of the position and velocity of particles moving in a slab with finite thickness and with a partly diffusive boundary reflection. In particular, we deal with existence of an invariant density and with the convergence to the equilibrium. We also study the long time behavior of densities when the equilibrium does not exists.     

An expeditious,environment-friendly,and microwave-assisted synthesis of 5-isatinylidenerhodanine derivatives

A series of nine 5-arylidenerhodanine derivatives was prepared in good yields and purity without the use of a solvent or catalyst under microwave-assisted condensation with some substituted isatins. All 5-arylidenerhodanines were evaluated as possible inhibitors of the CK1α/β, CDK5/p25, and GSK-3α/β kinases. None of them showed substantive inhibitory activity against these kinases when evaluated at the concentration of 10 μM.     

Theoretical and experimental studies on the carbon-nanotube surface oxidation by nitric acid: interplay between functionalization and vacancy enlargement

The nitric acid oxidation of multiwalled carbon nanotubes leading to surface carboxylic groups has been investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The experimental results show that such a reaction involves the initial rapid formation of carbonyl groups, which are then transformed into phenol or carboxylic groups. At room temperature, this reaction takes place on the most reactive carbon atoms. At higher temperatures a different mechanism would operate, as evidenced by the difference in activation energies. Experimental data can be partially related to first-principles calculations, showing a multistep functionalization mechanism. The theoretical aspects of the present article have led us to propose the most efficient pathway leading to carboxylic acid functional groups on the surface. Starting from mono-vacancies, it ends up with the synergistic formation of dangling -COOH groups and the enlargement of the vacancies.     

Modulating the photophysical properties of azamacrocyclic europium complexes with charge-transfer antenna chromophores

Two europium complexes with bis(bipyridine) azamacrocyclic ligands featuring pendant arms with or without π-conjugated donor groups are synthesized and fully characterized by theoretical calculations and NMR spectroscopy. Their photophysical properties, including two-photon absorption, are investigated in water and in various organic solvents. The nonfunctionalized ligand gives highly water-stable europium complexes featuring bright luminescence properties but poor two-photon absorption cross sections. On the other hand, the europium complex with an extended conjugated antenna ligand presents a two-photon absorption cross section of 45 GM at 720 nm but is poorly luminescent in water. A detailed solvent-dependent photophysical study indicates that this luminescence quenching is not due to the direct coordination of O-H vibrators to the metal center but to the increase of nonradiative processes in a protic solvent induced by an internal isomerization equilibrium.     

Friedel-Craft acylation of ar-himachalene: synthesis of acyl-ar-himachalene and a new acyl-hydroperoxide

Friedel-Craft acylation at 100 °C of 2,5,9,9-tetramethyl-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-benzocycloheptene [ar-himachalene], a sesquiterpenic hydrocarbon obtained by catalytic dehydrogenation of α-, β- and γ-himachalenes, produces a mixture of two compounds: (3,5,5,9-tetramethyl-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-benzocyclohepten-2-yl)-ethanone (2, in 69% yield), with a conserved reactant backbone, and 3, with a different skeleton, in 21% yield. The crystal structure of 3 reveals it to be 1-(8-ethyl-8-hydroperoxy-3,5,5-trimethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydronaphthalen-2-yl)-ethanone. In this compound O-H…O bonds form dimers. These hydrogen-bonds, in conjunction with weaker C-H…O interactions, form a more extended supramolecular arrangement in the crystal.     

Ni(0)-CMC-Na - nickel colloids in sodium carboxymethyl-cellulose: catalytic evaluation in hydrogenation reactions

A recyclable catalyst, Ni(0)-CMC-Na, composed of nickel colloids dispersed in a water soluble bioorganic polymer, sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC-Na), was synthesized by a simple procedure from readily available reagents. The catalyst thus obtained is stable and highly active in alkene hydrogenations.     

Energy harvesting in a nonlinear energy sink absorber using delayed resonators

Nonlinear Dynamics - This paper examines periodic and quasi-periodic (QP) vibration-based energy harvesting (EH) in a nonlinear energy sink (NES) absorber that is coupled to an electric circuit...     

On a conjecture about the Randi? index

A conjecture of Delorme, Favaron and Rautenbach [On the Randi? index, Discrete Math. 257 (2002) 29-38] about the Randi? index of a graph, in relation to its order and minimum degree, is refuted by the AutoGraphiX 2 system. Moreover, a modified conjecture is derived from presumably extremal graphs obtained with that system.