Oxoperoxo tungsten(VI) complex immobilized on Schiff base-modified Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles as a heterogeneous catalyst for oxidation of alcohols with hydrogen peroxide

Oxoperoxo tungsten(VI) complex immobilized on Schiff base-modified Fe₃O₄ super paramagnetic nanoparticles were synthesized and appropriately characterized using FT-IR, XRD, SEM, TEM, EDX, BET, and VSM analysis. The synthesized nanoparticles efficiently catalyzed oxidation of benzylic alcohols with H₂O₂ as oxidant in high yields, with high to excellent selectivity. The catalyst can be recovered using an external magnetic field and recycled for subsequent oxidation reactions without any appreciable loss of efficiency. The simple preparation, high activity, excellent selectivity, and simple recoverability of the catalyst are advantageous.     

NaHSO4·H2O as a Heterogeneous Acidic Reagent for Mild and Convenient Synthesis of 3,4-Dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones and Their Sulfur Derivatives

One-pot cyclocondensation reaction of aromatic aldehydes, 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds and urea/thiourea in the presence of NaHSO₄·H₂O produced 4-aryl substituted 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones and their sulfur analogs in high to excellent yields. The reactions were carried out in refluxing n-hexane and were completed within 2.5–11 h.     

Slitting Measurement of Residual Hoop Stresses Through the Wall-Thickness of a Filament Wound Composite Ring

The slitting method was used to determine residual hoop stress profile along the thickness of a filament wound carbon/epoxy ring. The method involves measuring strains at the inner surface of the ring, while a narrow axial slit is cut progressively from the outer surface. In order to calculate the residual hoop stress profile over the entire ring thickness, pulse method was used, which assumes that stress in each depth increment is uniform. Besides, Tikhonov regularization was employed to stabilize the stress results and reduce its sensitivity to strain measurement errors. Regarding the fact that Tikhonov regularization is not appropriate for computing solutions with discontinuities, pulse method coupled with Tikhonov regularization was used separately for each layer of the composite ring.     

Rank,term rank and chromatic number of a graph

Let G be a graph with a nonempty edge set, we denote the rank of the adjacency matrix of G and the term rank of G, by $\mathrm{rk}(G)$ and $\mathrm{Rk}(G)$, respectively. It was conjectured [C. van Nuffelen, Amer. Math. Monthly 83 (1976) 265–266], for any graph G, $\chi (G)?\mathrm{rk}(G)$. The first counterexample to this conjecture was obtained by Alon and Seymour [J. Graph Theor. 13 (1989) 523–525]. Recently, Fishkind and Kotlov [Discrete Math. 250 (2002) 253–257] have proved that for any graph G, $\chi (G)?\mathrm{Rk}(G)$. In this Note we improve Fishkind–Kotlov upper bound and show that $\chi (G)?\frac{\mathrm{rk}(G)+\mathrm{Rk}(G)}{2}$. To cite this article: S. Akbari, H.-R. Fanaï, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 340 (2005).     

Electromagnetically Induced Transparency of Two Intense Circularly-Polarized Lasers in Cold Plasma: Beat-Wave Second Harmonic Effect

In the present paper the problem of nonlinear interaction of two mildly-relativistic circularly polarized lasers in a cold plasma is studied in order to investigate electromagneticaily induced transparency （EIT）. Based on a relativistic kinetic model, by expansion of relativistic Lorentz factor in terms of lasers amplitude, we obtain the coupled nonlinear dispersion relations. It is observed that due to resonance in the second harmonic of plasma beat-wave, the new EIT pass-band is created in the high intensities of lasers. The effect of amplitude and frequency variation on the dispersion is numerically investigated.     

Bubble formation induced by nanosecond laser ablation in water and its diagnosis by optical transmission technique

In this paper, bubble formation and ablation rate in laser ablation of a thin-film aluminum target are studied. The target was an aluminum thin-film coated on a quartz substrate and interacted by a nanosecond Nd:YAG laser beam in ambient air and distilled water. Measuring optical transmission of a He–Ne beam through the ablation region shows that the ablation rate in water is higher than that in ambient air. The results also show that an initial peak appears in the transmission signal which is an evidence for bubble formation in water. Analyzing the data is useful for monitoring the bubble formation in water and relatively estimating the ablation rate.     

Stability study of the gastric floating dosage form of capecitabine

Since administration of capecitabine tablets leading to dose limiting makes the unfavorable toxicity, preparation of sustained-release tablets will overcome most of these side effects. The aim of this study was to prepare and study the stability of capecitabine sustained-release tablets. Sustained-release tablets of capecitabine were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and infrared and ultraviolet spectroscopy techniques to determine the stability of the tablets. All tests carried out for tablets upon preparation as well as 6 and 12 months after preparation. The gradual decomposition of capecitabine sustained-release tablets stored at accelerated conditions (40 °C in 75 % of relative humidity) was indicated by decreasing values of peak purity and melting temperature, calculated from the Van’t Hoff equation. Except for the occurrence of one sharp peak for long-term stability and some sharp peaks in the accelerated condition, all peaks showed a crystallized nature. But the FTIR and UV results showed that there were no changes between the initial sustained-release tablets and stored tablets. Although the XRD results showed more peaks in the accelerated condition tablets, the crystalline form of capecitabine was maintained. These findings demonstrate that the capecitabine sustained-release tablet has excellent stability in normal and long-term storage conditions, with slight changes in the accelerated condition.     

Inhibitory effects of Ruta graveolens L. extract on guinea pig liver aldehyde oxidase

Ruta graveolens L. is a flavonoid-containing medicinal plant with various biological properties. In the present study, the effects of R. graveolens extract on aldehyde oxidase, a molybdenum hydroxylase, are investigated. Aldehyde oxidase was partially purified from liver homogenates of mature male guinea pigs by heat treatment and ammonium sulphate precipitation. The total extract was obtained by macerating the aerial parts of R. graveolens in MeOH 70% and the effect of this extract on the enzyme activity was assayed using phenanthridine, vanillin and benzaldehyde as substrates. Quercetin and its glycoside form, rutin were isolated, purified and identified from the extract and their inhibitory effects on the enzyme were investigated. R. graveolens extract exhibited a high inhibition on aldehyde oxidase activity (89-96%) at 100 microg/ml which was comparable with 10 microM of menadione, a specific potent inhibitor of aldehyde oxidase. The IC50 values for the inhibitory effect of extract against the oxidation of benzaldehyde, vanillin and phenanthridine were 10.4, 10.1, 43.2 microg/ml, respectively. Both quercetin and rutin at 10 microM caused 70-96% and 27-52% inhibition on the enzyme activity, respectively. Quercetin was more potent inhibitor than rutin, but both flavonols exerted their inhibitory effects mostly in a linear mixed-type.     

A Revised Pascoletti–Serafini Scalarization Method for Multiobjective Optimization Problems

The presented study deals with the scalarization techniques for solving multiobjective optimization problems. The Pascoletti–Serafini scalarization technique is considered, and it is attempted to sidestep two weaknesses of this method, namely the inflexibility of the constraints and the difficulties of checking proper efficiency. To this end, two modifications for the Pascoletti–Serafini scalarization technique are proposed. First, by including surplus variables in the constraints and penalizing the violations in the objective function, the inflexibility of the constraints is resolved. Moreover, by including slack variables in the constraints, easy-to-check statements on proper efficiency are obtained. Thereafter, the two proposed modifications are combined to obtain the revised Pascoletti–Serafini scalarization method. Theorems are provided on the relation of (weakly, properly) efficient solutions of the multiobjective optimization problem and optimal solutions of the proposed scalarized problems. All the provided results are established with no convexity assumption. Moreover, the capability of the proposed approaches is demonstrated through numerical examples.     

Zero-Sum Flows in Regular Graphs

For an undirected graph G, a zero-sum flow is an assignment of non-zero real numbers to the edges, such that the sum of the values of all edges incident with each vertex is zero. It has been conjectured that if a graph G has a zero-sum flow, then it has a zero-sum 6-flow. We prove this conjecture and Bouchet’s Conjecture for bidirected graphs are equivalent. Among other results it is shown that if G is an r-regular graph (r ≥ 3), then G has a zero-sum 7-flow. Furthermore, if r is divisible by 3, then G has a zero-sum 5-flow. We also show a graph of order n with a zero-sum flow has a zero-sum (n + 3)²-flow. Finally, the existence of k-flows for small graphs is investigated.