Study of polycrystalline bulk CuIn1-xGaxTe2

Polycrystalline CuIn_1−xGa_xTe₂ bulk films were synthesized by reacting, in stoichiometric proportions, high purity Cu, In, Ga and Te in a vacuum sealed quartz ampoule. The phase structure and composition of the bulk films were analysed by X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, respectively. The bulk samples, of p-type conductivity, are found to be near-stoichiometric, polycrystalline, with tetragonal chalcopyrite structure, predominantly oriented along a direction perpendicular to the (1 1 2) plane. Photoluminescence spectra were recorded at 7 K and 700 mW to characterize the defects and the structural quality. The main peak as a function of composition has been studied.     

1,3,4-Oxadiazole, 1,3,4-thiadiazole and 1,2,4-triazole derivatives as potential antibacterial agents

Since the introduction of the first antibiotic (penicillin, 1942) into medical practice, to date, there has been an ongoing “race” between scientists creating new drugs and pathogenic bacteria. Antibiotic-bacteria are becoming progressively common, and to make matters worse, more and more bacteria are becoming resistant to all known antibiotics. The traditional method for this problem is to introduce new antibiotics that kill the resistant mutants. This specific “arms race” resulted into thousands of potentially active chemicals are synthesized in laboratories around the world every day.1,3,4-Oxadiazole; 1,3,4-thiadiazole; 1,2,4-triazole and some of their derivatives are involved in modifications at the following axes: First, attaching a thio-group into heterocyclic rings. Second, introducing different substitutions at position 5 which often are the residuals of the synthetic starting materials such as simple aliphatic, substituted aliphatic chains, aromatic carbocyclic and heterocyclic residues.     

Vorticity-velocity-pressure formulation for Stokes problem

We propose a three-field formulation for efficiently solving a two-dimensional Stokes problem in the case of nonstandard boundary conditions. More specifically, we consider the case where the pressure and either normal or tangential components of the velocity are prescribed at some given parts of the boundary. The proposed computational methodology consists in reformulating the considered boundary value problem via a mixed-type formulation where the pressure and the vorticity are the principal unknowns while the velocity is the Lagrange multiplier. The obtained formulation is then discretized and a convergence analysis is performed. A priori error estimates are established, and some numerical results are presented to highlight the perfomance of the proposed computational methodology.

     

The iron phosphate K3Fe5(PO4)6

The crystal structure of tripotassium pentairon hexaphosphate has been determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. The structure contains one Fe atom on a center of symmetry, one K, two Fe and two P atoms on twofold axes, and one Fe, two P and one K atom in general positions. The K₃Fe₅(PO₄)₆ structure consists of a complex three‐dimensional framework of corner‐sharing between iron polyhedra, and corner‐ and edge‐sharing between PO₄ tetrahedra and iron polyhedra (FeO₅ and FeO₆). This linkage between iron and phosphorus forms intersecting channels containing the K atoms.     

抗坏血酸和尿酸在甘氨酸-壳聚糖修饰玻碳电极上的电化学行为及测定

制备了甘氨酸-壳聚糖复合膜修饰玻碳电极(Gly-CTS/GCE),研究了抗坏血酸(AA)和尿酸(UA)在该修饰电极上的电化学行为。结果表明在pH=5.59的磷酸盐缓冲溶液中,AA、UA在Gly-CTS/GCE上均产生灵敏的不可逆氧化峰,其峰电流与浓度在一定范围内呈良好的线性关系。对AA和UA混合溶液平行测定7次,相对标准偏差分别为4.6%、2.9%,表明该电极重现性和稳定性良好。AA、UA在Gly-CTS/GCE电极上的氧化峰峰电位相差340mV,据此可实现对二者的同时检测,并可应用于实际样品测定。     

Snail Hepatopancreatic Lipase: A New Member of Invertebrates Lipases' Group

Higher animal's lipases are well characterized; however, much less is known about lipases from mollusks. A lipolytic activity was located in the land snail (Eobania vermiculata) digestive glands (hepatopancreas), from which a snail digestive lipase (SnDL) was purified. Pure SnDL has a molecular mass of 60 kDa; it does not present the interfacial activation phenomenon. It was found to be more active on short-chain triacylglycerols than on long-chain triacylglycerols. The NH₂-terminal sequence of the SnDL shows 66% of identity with the 17 NH₂-terminal amino acids of a putative lipase from sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus). No sequence identity was found with known lipases. Interestingly, neither colipase nor bile salts were detected in the snail hepatopancreas. This suggests that colipase evolved in vertebrates simultaneously with the appearance of an exocrine pancreas and a true liver which produces bile salts. Altogether, these results suggest that SnDL is a member of a new group of digestive lipases belonging to invertebrates.     

Existence results for a degenerated nonlinear elliptic partial differential equation

The aim of this paper is to establish the existence of weak solutions to a steady state two-dimensional irrotational compressible flow around a thin profile. This flow is described by the small disturbance equations. If the speed of sound exceeds the fluid one, the governing equations remain elliptic. But when the fluid speed is beyond the sound one, the flow becomes locally hyperbolic and shock waves arise. For a modified elliptic model, using convexity arguments, we prove the existence of a solution which is the solution to the first model when the flow remains subsonic.     

Effect of transverse cracks on the mechanical properties of angle-ply composites laminates

A modified shear lag analysis, taking into account the notion of stress perturbation function, is employed to evaluate the effect of transverse cracks on the stiffness reduction in [±θ_n/90_m]_S angle-ply laminated composites. Effects of number of 90° layers and number of ±θ layers on the laminate stiffness have also been studied. The present results represent well the dependence of the degradation of mechanical properties on the fibre orientation angle of the outer layers, the number of cracked cross-ply layers and the number of uncracked outer ±θ layers in the laminate.     

Highly selective and sensitive paper-based colorimetric sensor using thiosulfate catalytic etching of silver nanoplates for trace determination of copper ions

A novel, highly selective and sensitive paper-based colorimetric sensor for trace determination of copper (Cu²⁺) ions was developed. The measurement is based on the catalytic etching of silver nanoplates (AgNPls) by thiosulfate (S₂O₃²⁻). Upon the addition of Cu²⁺ to the ammonium buffer at pH 11, the absorption peak intensity of AuNPls/S₂O₃²⁻ at 522 nm decreased and the pinkish violet AuNPls became clear in color as visible to the naked eye. This assay provides highly sensitive and selective detection of Cu²⁺ over other metal ions (K⁺, Cr³⁺, Cd²⁺, Zn²⁺, As³⁺, Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, Pb²⁺, Al³⁺, Ni²⁺, Fe³⁺, Mg²⁺, Hg²⁺ and Bi³⁺). A paper-based colorimetric sensor was then developed for the simple and rapid determination of Cu²⁺ using the catalytic etching of AgNPls. Under optimized conditions, the modified AgNPls coated at the test zone of the devices immediately changes in color in the presence of Cu²⁺. The limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 1.0 ng mL⁻¹ by visual detection. For semi-quantitative measurement with image processing, the method detected Cu²⁺ in the range of 0.5–200 ng mL⁻¹(R² = 0.9974) with an LOD of 0.3 ng mL⁻¹. The proposed method was successfully applied to detect Cu²⁺ in the wide range of real samples including water, food, and blood. The results were in good agreement according to a paired t-test with results from inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES).     

Effect of transverse cracks on the effective thermal expansion coefficient of aged angle-ply composites laminates

A modified shear-lag analysis, taking into account the concept of stress perturbation function, is developed and applied to evaluate the effect of transverse cracks on the effective thermal expansion coefficient of aged angle-ply composites laminates. Effects of number of 90° layers and number of θ° layers in the outer angle-ply laminates on the reduction of the effective axial coefficient of thermal expansion have also been studied. The results of this paper represent well the dependence of the reduction of the effective axial coefficient of thermal expansion on the hygrothermal conditions, the fibre orientation angle of the outer layers, the number of cracked cross-ply layers and the number of un-cracked outer θ° layers in laminate.