A hypothetical new class of superhard materials

Summary By means of topological arguments we predict a new class of 4-coordinated covalent carbon lattices having a hollow structure (hollow diamonds (HDs)). A calculation of their structural and elastic properties based on the Tersoff potential indicates a stability and hardness very close to, albeit smaller than diamond. However, the intercalation of the smallest HDs with either mono- or divalent ions is estimated to give newnanocomposite materials which are harder than diamond. Work first reported at the LXXX National Conference of the Italian Physical Society, Lecce, Italy, Sept. 26–Oct. 1, 1994.     

Self‐association promoted conformational transition of (3R,4S,8R,9R)‐9‐[(3,5‐bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl))‐thiourea](9‐deoxy)‐epi‐cinchonine

The conformational diversity of the (3R,4S,8R,9R)‐9‐[(3,5‐bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl))‐thiourea](9‐deoxy)‐epi‐cinchonine organocatalyst is discussed. Low‐temperature NMR experiments confirmed a self‐association process, which promotes the quinoline rotation between two intramolecularly hydrogen‐bonded monomeric conformers of the catalyst. The balanced population of the coexisting monomeric and dimeric species allowed us to conduct a structural study of a rather complex conformational dynamics of the pure catalyst. The study is extended by a comparison with other members of the bifunctional amine‐thiourea organocatalyst family. Changes in the molecular structure of the catalysts influence the interplay between intra‐ and intermolecular hydrogen bonding, and yield different extent of catalyst self‐association. By assessing the conformation of the individual states, we established the thermodynamic model of a self‐association promoted conformational transition. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ultra-fast high-performance capillary sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis of proteins

An ultra-fast analysis of proteins, based on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-mediated gel electrophoresis was developed, in which protein molecular mass standards ranging from M_r 14 200 to 94 700 were separated within 3 min. A 50 μm diameter uncoated fused-silica capillary column and a high field strength are used. The effects of the SDS concentration in the separation gel buffer and in the sample buffer on the resolution of protein test mixture were studied. The influence of the heat treatment of the sample prior analysis is also discussed.     

"Paralogs", sorbent families for protein separations.

Novel peptide-based (paralog) sorbents are evaluated with respect to performance, reproducibility and reusability in a 96-well test plate screening format, and to utility in protein separations. The results demonstrate that this approach to constructing sorbents provides a new and generally applicable set of tools for separating proteins.     

Revealing the Effect of Heat Treatment on the Spectral Pattern of Unifloral Honeys Using Aquaphotomics

In this study we aimed to investigate the effect of heat treatment on the spectral pattern of honey using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). For the research, sunflower, bastard indigo, and acacia honeys were collected from entrusted beekeepers. The honeys were not subject to any treatment before. Samples were treated at 40 °C, 60 °C, 80 °C, and 100 °C for 60, 120, 180, and 240 min. This resulted in 17 levels, including the untreated control samples. The 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content of the honeys was determined using the Winkler method. NIRS spectra were recorded using a handheld instrument. Data analysis was performed using ANOVA for the HMF content and multivariate analysis for the NIRS data. For the latter, PCA, PCA-LDA, and PLSR models were built (using the 1300–1600 nm spectral range) and the wavelengths presenting the greatest change induced by the perturbations of temperature and time intervals were collected systematically, based on the difference spectra and the weights of the models. The most contributing wavelengths were used to visualize the spectral pattern changes on the aquagrams in the specific water matrix coordinates. Our results showed that the heat treatment highly contributed to the formation of free or less bonded water, however, the changes in the spectral pattern highly depended on the crystallization phase and the honey type.     

Path-based distance functions in n-dimensional generalizations of the face- and body-centered cubic grids

Path-based distance functions are defined on n-dimensional generalizations of the face-centered cubic and body-centered cubic grids. The distance functions use both weights and neighborhood sequences. These distances share many properties with traditional path-based distance functions, such as the city-block distance, but are less rotational dependent. For the three-dimensional case, we introduce four different error functions which are used to find the optimal weights and neighborhood sequences that can be used to define the distance functions with low rotational dependency.     

The power of programmed grammars with graphs from various classes

Programmed grammars, one of the most important and well investigated classes of grammars with context-free rules and a mechanism controlling the application of the rules, can be described by graphs. We investigate whether or not the restriction to special classes of graphs restricts the generative power of programmed grammars with erasing rules and without appearance checking, too. We obtain that Eulerian, Hamiltonian, planar and bipartite graphs and regular graphs of degree at least three are pr-universal in that sense that any language which can be generated by programmed grammars (with erasing rules and without appearance checking) can be obtained by programmed grammars where the underlying graph belongs to the given special class of graphs, whereas complete graphs, regular graphs of degree 2 and backbone graphs lead to proper subfamilies of the family of programmed languages.     

Efficient synthesis of 3,4- and 4,5-dihydroxy-2-amino-cyclohexanecarboxylic acid enantiomers

An efficient method for the synthesis of (1S,2R,4R,5S)- and (1R,2R,4R,5S)-2-amino-4,5-dihydroxycyclohexanecarboxylic acids (?)-6 and (?)-9 and (1R,2R,3S,4R)- and (1S,2R,3S,4R)-2-amino-3,4-dihydroxycyclohexanecarboxylic acids (?)-15 and (?)-18 was developed by using the OsO₄-catalyzed oxidation of Boc-protected (1S,2R)-2-aminocyclohex-4-enecarboxylic acid (+)-2 and (1R,2S)-2-aminocyclohex-3-enecarboxylic acid (+)-11. Good yields were obtained. The stereochemistry of the synthesized compounds was proven by NMR spectroscopy.     

Case hardening of steel by a CO2 laser beam

Case hardening of a carbon steel, Armco Iron, an alloyed steel and a high-speed steel was carried out with a CO₂ laser beam. The indispensibility of an absorptive coating in the laser heat treatment was established. Four coatings capable of absorbing CO₂ laser radiation of a 10.6 μm wave length were examined. The influence of spot size, power and scanning speed on the depth of hardening were studied. Processing at optimal conditions yielded a hardening depth of up to 0.7 mm and a surface hardness of up to 220 H_v.