Preconcentration of metal ions using microbacteria

This review (160 refs). covers the current state of the art of microbacteria-based sorbents for preconcentration of metal ions at trace levels. We highlight advantages and major challenges of the techniques and discuss future perspectives of both batch and column-based methods. Particular attention is paid to the preconcentration of metal ions using resin-immobilized microbacteria for solid phase extractions. We also discuss detection methods including UV–vis spectrophotometry, FAAS, ICP-OES and ICP-MS. Analytical figures of merit are compared, and examples are given for the application to a variety of samples including food, beverages, alloys, water, soil, and geological samples.

A new donor‐acceptor type polymeric material from a thiophene derivative and its electrochromic properties

A new electrochromic polymer, poly(2,3,5,8‐tetra(thiophen‐2‐yl)quinoxaline) (PTTQ), was synthesized electrochemically and its electrochromic properties were investigated. The polymer was characterized by Cyclic Voltammetry, Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy, UV‐Vis‐NIR Spectroscopy, and colorimetry. Spectroelectrochemistry analysis demonstrated that the polymer can undergo both p‐ and true n‐type doping processes. The polymer, (PTTQ), has three accessible color states: an oxidized transmissive, a neutral light bluish‐green, and a reduced transmissive light gray. Switching ability of the polymer was evaluated by kinetic studies. The polymer revealed an excellent optical contrast of 98% in the NIR region. Outstanding optical contrast in the NIR region, high stability and fast switching times make this polymer an excellent candidate for NIR device applications. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 3723–3731, 2008     

Quantum features of a barely bound molecular dopant: Cs2(3Σu) in bosonic helium droplets of variable size

We present in this work the study of small (4)He(N)-Cs(2)((3)Σ(u)) aggregates (2 ≤ N ≤ 30) through combined variational, diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC), and path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) calculations. The full surface is modeled as an addition of He-Cs(2) interactions and He-He potentials. Given the negligible strength and large range of the He-Cs(2) interaction as compared with the one for He-He, a propensity of the helium atoms to pack themselves together, leaving outside the molecular dopant is to be expected. DMC calculations determine the onset of helium gathering at N = 3. To analyze energetic and structural properties as a function of N, PIMC calculations with no bosonic exchange, i.e., Boltzmann statistics, at low temperatures are carried out. At T = 0.1 K, although acceptable one-particle He-Cs(2) distributions are obtained, two-particle He-He distributions are not well described, indicating that the proper symmetry should be taken into account. PIMC distributions at T = 1 K already compare well with DMC ones and show minor exchange effects, although binding energies are still far from having converged in terms of the number of quantum beads. As N increases, the He-He PIMC pair correlation function shows a clear tendency to coincide with the experimental boson-liquid helium one at that temperature. It supports the picture of a helium droplet which carries the molecular impurity on its surface, as found earlier for other triplet dimers.     

The (salophen)-bridged Fe/Cr (III) capped complexes with triphenylene core: Synthesis and characterization

This article describes synthesis of the difference carboxylic acid derivatives of triphenylene and its complexation properties with Fe/Cr (III)-salophen. For this purpose, the carboxylic acid derivatives of 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexahydroxytriphenylene were synthesized and then reacted with four new Fe(III) and Cr(III) complexes involving tetradenta Schiff bases bis(salicylidene)-o-phenylenediamine-(salophenH₂). The prepared compounds were characterized by means of elemental analysis carrying out infrared spectroscopy (IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TG), nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR), elemental analysis and magnetic susceptibility measurement. The complexes can also be characterized as low-spin distorted octahedral Fe(III) and Cr (III) bridged by carboxylic acids.     

Hierarchical structure of Turkey’s foreign trade

We examine the hierarchical structures of Turkey’s foreign trade by using real prices of their commodity export and import move together over time. We obtain the topological properties among the countries based on Turkey’s foreign trade during the 1996-2010 period by using the concept of hierarchical structure methods (minimal spanning tree, (MST) and hierarchical tree, (HT)). These periods are divided into two subperiods, such as 1996-2002 and 2003-2010, in order to test various time-window and observe the temporal evolution. We perform the bootstrap techniques to investigate a value of the statistical reliability to the links of the MSTs and HTs. We also use a clustering linkage procedure in order to observe the cluster structure much better. From the structural topologies of these trees, we identify different clusters of countries according to their geographical location and economic ties. Our results show that the DE (Germany), UK (United Kingdom), FR (France), IT (Italy) and RU (Russia) are more important within the network, due to a tighter connection with other countries. We have also found that these countries play a significant role for Turkey’s foreign trade and have important implications for the design of portfolio and investment strategies.     

Experimental Ro-Vibrational Line Intensities for the v1 + v2 and v2 + v3 Bands of the D234S Molecule

Russian Physics Journal - The study of the absolute line intensities in the high-resolution spectrum of the D234S molecule in the range of 2300–2900 cm–1 has been carried out for the...     

The relationships between electricity consumption and GDP in Asian countries,using hierarchical structure methods

This study uses hierarchical structure methods (minimal spanning tree (MST) and hierarchical tree (HT)) to examine the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in a sample of 30 Asian countries covering the period 1971–2008. These countries are categorized into four panels based on the World Bank income classification, namely high, upper middle, lower middle, and low income. In particular, we use the data of electricity consumption and real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita to detect the topological properties of the countries. We show a relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth by using the MST and HT. We also use the bootstrap technique to investigate a value of the statistical reliability to the links of the MST. Finally, we use a clustering linkage procedure in order to observe the cluster structure. The results of the structural topologies of these trees are as follows: (i) we identified different clusters of countries according to their geographical location and economic growth, (ii) we found a strong relationship between energy consumption and economic growth for all income groups considered in this study and (iii) the results are in good agreement with the causal relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth.     

Adsorption kinetics of an engineered gold binding Peptide by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy and a quartz crystal microbalance

The adsorption kinetics of an engineered gold binding peptide on gold surface was studied by using both quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy systems. The gold binding peptide was originally selected as a 14-amino acid sequence by cell surface display and then engineered to have a 3-repeat form (3R-GBP1) with improved binding characteristics. Both sets of adsorption data for 3R-GBP1 were fit to Langmuir models to extract kinetics and thermodynamics parameters. In SPR, the adsorption onto the surface shows a biexponential behavior and this is explained as the effect of bimodal surface topology of the polycrystalline gold substrate on 3R-GBP1 binding. Depending on the concentration of the peptide, a preferential adsorption on the surface takes place with different energy levels. The kinetic parameters (e.g., K(eq) approximately 10(7) M(-1)) and the binding energy (approximately -8.0 kcal/mol) are comparable to synthetic-based self-assembled monolayers. The results demonstrate the potential utilization of genetically engineered inorganic surface-specific peptides as molecular substrates due to their binding specificity, stability, and functionality in an aqueous-based environment.     

Sturmian basis matrix solution of vibrational potentials

An efficient basis set for use with the Harris, Engerholm and Gwinn solution of one-dimensional vibrational potentials has been derived from centrosymmetric sturmian Laguerre functions using the l = 0 condition. Six-figure accuracy is achieved for n bound levels of the Morse and Fues potentials using 4n sturmian functions. With simple formulas and sparse arrays, convergence to all bound levels is achieved.     

Coating of $$\hbox {C}_{60}$$ by para-$$\hbox {H}_2$$H2 and ortho-$$\hbox {D}_2$$D2: revisiting the solvation shell—CMMSE

The solvation of Buckminsterfullerene \(\hbox {C}_{60}\) by para-hydrogen and ortho-deuterium clusters has been modeled using a dedicated potential and path-integral molecular dynamics simulations at low temperature (2 K). The solvation shell obtained from the distribution of radial distances is found to be complete near 50 molecules, in agreement with recent mass spectrometry measurements. Deuteration increases the shell size by one, indicating a denser shell owing to less prominent vibrational delocalization for this heavier isotope.