A new dabco templated metal sulfate, (C6H14N2)[Mn (H2O)6](SO4)2. Chemical preparation, hydrogen-bonded structure and thermal decomposition

The crystal structure of manganese sulfate templated by 1,4-diaza-bicyclo[2.2.2]octane (abbreviated dabco), (C₆H₁₄N₂)[Mn(H₂O)₆](SO₄)₂, was investigated using single crystal X-ray diffraction data. It crystallises in the monoclinic system (space group P2₁/c) with the following unit-cell parameters: a = 12.1392(2) ?, b = 12.3117(2) ?, c = 12.2765(2) ?, β = 104.607(1)°, V = 1775.47(5) ?³ and Z = 4. The structure has been solved using direct methods and refined by least-squares analysis [R ₁ = 0.0381, wR ₂ = 0.1082]. The crystal structure of the title compound is built from isolated [Mn(H₂O)₆]²⁺ octahedral cations, 1,4-diaza-bicyclo[2.2.2]octandiium cations (C₆H₁₄N₂)²⁺ and sulfate anions (SO₄)²⁻ connected by a three-dimensional hydrogen-bond network. The thermal decomposition of the precursor, studied by thermogravimetry and temperature-dependent X-ray powder diffraction, proceeds through four stages giving rise to the mixture of Mn₂O₃and Mn₃O₄. Supplementary Material CCDC 620298 contains the supplementary crystallographic data for this paper. These data can be obtained free of charge from The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre via www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/data_request/cif.     

Discrete Transforms and Matrix Rotation Based Cancelable Face and Fingerprint Recognition for Biometric Security Applications

The security of information is necessary for the success of any system. So, there is a need to have a robust mechanism to ensure the verification of any person before allowing him to access the stored data. So, for purposes of increasing the security level and privacy of users against attacks, cancelable biometrics can be utilized. The principal objective of cancelable biometrics is to generate new distorted biometric templates to be stored in biometric databases instead of the original ones. This paper presents effective methods based on different discrete transforms, such as Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), Fractional Fourier Transform (FrFT), Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), in addition to matrix rotation to generate cancelable biometric templates, in order to meet revocability and prevent the restoration of the original templates from the generated cancelable ones. Rotated versions of the images are generated in either spatial or transform domains and added together to eliminate the ability to recover the original biometric templates. The cancelability performance is evaluated and tested through extensive simulation results for all proposed methods on a different face and fingerprint datasets. Low Equal Error Rate (EER) values with high AROC values reflect the efficiency of the proposed methods, especially those dependent on DCT and DFrFT. Moreover, a comparative study is performed to evaluate the proposed method with all transformations to select the best one from the security perspective. Furthermore, a comparative analysis is carried out to test the performance of the proposed schemes with the existing schemes. The obtained outcomes reveal the efficiency of the proposed cancelable biometric schemes by introducing an average AROC of 0.998, EER of 0.0023, FAR of 0.008, and FRR of 0.003.     

Cyclic Thermodynamic Processes and Entropy Production

We study the time evolution of a periodically driven quantum-mechanical system coupled to several reservoirs of free fermions at different temperatures. This is a paradigm of a cyclic thermodynamic process. We introduce the notion of a Floquet Liouvillean as the generator of the dynamics of the coupled system on an extended Hilbert space. We show that the time-periodic state which the state of the coupled system converges to after very many periods corresponds to a zero-energy resonance of the Floquet Liouvillean. We then show that the entropy production per cycle is (strictly) positive, a property that implies Carnot's formulation of the second law of thermodynamics.     

Synthesis and characterization of hydrophobic silica nanocomposites

Hydrophobically modified silica nanocomposites have been prepared using a low temperature sol-gel process. In this study, an alkyltriethoxysilane derivative, hexdecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMS), was co-condensed with tetraethoxyorthosilicate (TEOS) with and without a cross-linking agent, 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS), to produce the modified composites. The hydrophobic properties were determined using contact angle measurement. FESEM observations revealed a semispherical nanostructure of the composites with grain size of about 50-75 nm in diameter. The chemical modification was studied by FTIR and EDX, whereas the physicothermal properties were analyzed by DSC and TGA. These long-chain alkyl modified silica nanocomposites are promising materials for use in hydrophobic and water-resistant applications.     

N1‐allyl‐3‐substituted‐6,7‐dimethyl‐1,2‐dihydro‐2‐quinoxalinone as key intermediate for new acyclonucleosides and their regioisomer O‐analogues

The key intermediates allyloxyquinoxaline 2a–c and N‐allylquinoxaline 3a–c were used to synthesize a number of acyclonucleosides whose chemical modifications include quinoxaline ring and the acyclic part is either N¹‐propanediol or 3‐hydroxy‐ propyl substituents and their O‐analogues. These compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, MALDI MS, and NMR data. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 17:280–288, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/hc.20203     

Dielectric Properties of Polyimide‐Mica Hybrid Films

Summary: Polyimide‐mica hybrid films were prepared via ultrasonic dispersion and in situ polymerization process from a solution of a polyimide precursor and mica in N,N‐dimethylacetamide, and their structure was characterized by FTIR and XRD techniques. The dependence of dielectric properties, such as dielectric constant and electrical breakdown strength, of the hybrid films on the content of mica was studied at room and cryogenic temperatures. The results show that the dielectric constant of PI‐mica hybrid films decreases with the increase of the mica content at temperatures from −150 to 150 °C and at frequency range from 1 kHz to 1 MHz. It was found that the cryogenic electrical breakdown strength of the PI‐mica hybrid films could meet the requirements of cryogenic insulating materials.

Effect of frequency on the dielectric constant of PI‐mica hybrid films at 140 °C at the frequency from 1 kHz to 1 MHz.     

Mastery of Cultural Conditions and Physico-chemical Properties Improves the Production and the Catalytic Efficiency of bglG

Stachybotrys microspora is a filamentous fungus secreting multiple β-glucosidases. Two of them were characterized. The third one, named bglG, was also characterized and used for various investigations. The current work undertakes the plausible role played by some cultural conditions and physico-chemical properties to improve bglG time course synthesis and also its catalytic efficiency. Indeed, bglG time course synthesis is slightly affected by light, but it is clearly affected by aeration and presence of baffle. On the same case, optimization of substrate and enzyme concentration contributes to the improvement of the catalytic efficiency of bglG. This biocatalyst tolerates a high ionic strength during its activity assay; β-mercaptoethanol increases the enzymatic rate. BglG has the capacity to hydrolyse efficiently oleuropéin, with a recovery of 88 %.     

An equilibrium model of how regulative and normative institutions influence micro-economic and organizational behavior

This paper investigates how pre-existing institutions foster economic development through trade. A non-cooperative game-theoretic model is proposed that combines three strands of social science: economics, political science, and sociology. Idealized market participants follow rational decision theory within a reward structure that embodies two types of institutions. Regulative institutions operate on threat of punishment, and normative institutions on perceptions of what is good and right. This composite model allows a more quantitative analysis of the question, raised by Douglas North, of how societies diverge from the efficient state predicted by classical micro-economics. The main finding is that value can be created by different types of institution even when they are imperfect, and the range of minimum–maximum effectiveness varies with the types of economic transactions that are technologically possible. It is hoped that further refinements of the model will yield greater understanding of how the success of societies and organizations can be predicted by a few simple rules.