Litter on the beaches of the Red Sea of Yemen

Distribution of litter: ropes, netting, lamb bulbs, foot wear, plastic bags, bottles, aluminum cans, cardboard, wood loges, rubber, polystyrene blocks and plastic sheets accumulating on Red Sea beaches of Yemen were examined. The results of the study reflected these wastes to be varied from a region to region but they were similar in almost all-coastal areas. Most of the litter were plastics including food bags, oil and water bottles, bait bags, and also vehicles tires. Most of pollution occurred from the sea, due to the heavy traffic and to the fishing vessels, which fish in the area.     

Diffusive-Dispersive Traveling Waves and Kinetic Relations: Part I: Nonconvex Hyperbolic Conservation Laws

Motivated by the theory of phase transition dynamics, we consider one-dimensional, nonlinear hyperbolic conservation laws with nonconvex flux-function containing vanishing nonlinear diffusive-dispersive terms. Searching for traveling wave solutions, we establish general results of existence, uniqueness, monotonicity, and asymptotic behavior. In particular, we investigate the properties of the traveling waves in the limits of dominant diffusion, dominant dispersion, and asymptotically small or large shock strength. As the diffusion and dispersion parameters tend to 0, the traveling waves converge to shock wave solutions of the conservation law, which either satisfy the classical Oleinik entropy criterion or are nonclassical undercompressive shocks violating it.     

Existence of Perfect 4-Deletion-Correcting Codes with Length Six

By a T ^*(2, k, v)-code we mean a perfect4-deletion-correcting code of length 6 over an alphabet of size v, which is capable of correcting anycombination of up to 4 deletions and/or insertions of letters that occur in transmission of codewords. Thethird author (DCC Vol. 23, No. 1) presented a combinatorial construction for such codes and prove thata T ^*(2, 6, v)-code exists for all positive integers v 3 (mod 5), with 12 possible exceptions of v. In this paper, the notion of a directedgroup divisible quasidesign is introduced and used to show that a T ^*(2, 6,v)-code exists for all positive integers v 3 (mod 5), except possiblyfor v {173, 178, 203, 208}. The 12 missing cases for T ^*(2,6, v)-codes with v 3 (mod 5) are also provided, thereby the existenceproblem for T ^*(2, 6, v)-codes is almost complete.     

Acousto-optic diffraction at liquid-solid interface with light incident at critical angle

A new acousto-optic diffraction configuration is described. At a liquid-solid interface, a light beam is incident from the solid side of higher refractive index. The maximum acousto-optic diffraction of the Raman-Nath type occurs in the liquid with light incident at the critical angle. The angular dependence of the diffraction efficiency indicates accurate optical alignment requirement. Application to acoustic imaging is briefly discussed.     

Laser inhibited diffusion in rhodamine-ethanol solutions

The diffusion of rhodamine-6G dye in ethanol is observed to be inhibited by optical pumping by a cadmium laser. The diffusion process is observed as a function of the solution temperature. The relative difference in diffusion coefficients with and without optical pumping is calculated. The effect is interpreted as being due to a stronger solvent-dye interaction in the first excited singlet state of rhodamine-6G.     

Properties of a two-dimensional asphaltene network at the water-cyclohexane interface deduced from dynamic tensiometry

Static and dynamic tensiometries show that a newly prepared water/asphaltenated cyclohexane interface behaves as expected: the mean area occupied per asphaltene molecule is 2 nm2, and variations of interfacial tension and dilatational elastic modulus with time indicate that equilibrium is reached more slowly than that for usual surfactants. The use of the time/temperature superposition principle allows a detailed rheological study of a 2 day old interface of the same type which has reached equilibrium. It is found that the two-dimensional asphaltene network exhibits a glass transition zone, behaves as a gel near its gelation point, and is built by a universal process of aggregation.     

Hierarchical Nanoporous Structures by Self‐Assembled Hybrid Materials Based on Block Copolymers

Hierarchical nanoporous structures are fabricated by adsorption of micelles of diblock copolymer‐templated Au‐nanoparticles onto a hydrophilic solid substrate. Gold nanoparticles are prepared using micelles (19 nm) of polystyrene‐block‐poly(4‐vinylpyridine) (PS‐b‐P4VP) as nanoreactors. Deposition of thin films of the micellar solution, modified with a non‐selective solvent (THF), on hydrophilic surfaces leads to the formation of hierarchical nanoporous morphologies. The thin films exhibit two different pore diameters and a total pore density of 15 × 10⁸ holes per cm². The structure was analyzed in terms of topography and chemical composition using AFM, TEM and XPS measurements. The PS‐b‐P4VP template was subsequently removed by oxygen plasma etching, to leave behind metallic nanopores that mimic the original thin film morphology.

     

An efficient and facile multicomponent synthesis of 4,6-diarylpyridine derivatives under solvent-free conditions

We present an efficient and facile synthesis of 4,6-diaryl-2-oxo-1,2-dihydropyridine-3-carbonitriles (5a–j) via a four-component system of aromatic aldehydes (1), acetophenones (2), ethyl cyanoacetate (3), and ammonium acetate (4). The short reaction time coupled with the simplicity of the reaction procedure and clean reaction make this method one of the most efficient methods for synthesis of this class of compounds.     

Solid‐based disperser liquid–liquid microextraction for the preconcentration of phthalate esters and di‐(2‐ethylhexyl) adipate followed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection or mass spectrometry

A new approach for the development of a dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction followed by GC with flame ionization detection was proposed for the determination of phthalate esters and di‐(2‐ethylhexyl) adipate in aqueous samples. In the proposed method, solid and liquid phases were used as the disperser and extractant, respectively, providing a simple and fast mode for the extraction of the analytes into a small volume of an organic solvent. In this method, microliter levels of an extraction solvent was added onto a sugar cube and it was transferred into the aqueous phase containing the analytes. By manual shaking, the sugar was dissolved and the extractant was released into the aqueous phase as very tiny droplets to provide a cloudy solution. Under optimized conditions, the proposed method showed good precision (RSD less than 5.2%), high enrichment factors (266–556), and low LODs (0.09–0.25 μg/L). The method was successfully applied for the determination of the target analytes in different samples, and good recoveries (71–103%) were achieved for the spiked samples. No need for a disperser solvent and higher enrichment factors compared with conventional dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and low cost and short sample preparation time are other advantages of the method.     

A new strategy for the synthesis of pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-c]pyrimidines and pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidines

A series of pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-c]pyrimidines were prepared via oxidative cyclization of aldehyde N-(1,3-diphenylpyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-yl)hydrazones. Dimroth rearrangement of such a series yielded pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidines.