On Water: An Efficient Knoevenagel Condensation using 12‐Tungstophosphoric Acid as a Reusable Green Catalyst

12‐Tungstphosphoric acid is found to be an efficient, environmentally attractive, and reusable catalyst for Knoevenagel condensation of malononitrile and ethylcyanoacetate with various aldehydes.     

Plasmonically enhanced optical transmission through a metalized nanostructured photonic crystal fiber taper

A subwavelength holey plasmonic structure was proposed by adiabatically tapering a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) and subsequently metalizing the cleaved end facet. By coupling a white light into the PCF side, we experimentally observed an enhanced optical transmission in the spectral domain through the plasmonic structure at the tapered end. We further showed numerically that the proposed device renders a focused directional beam, due to its Fresnel-zone-like configuration and the plasmonic lensing effects.     

Unsteady Natural Convection Within a Porous Enclosure of Sinusoidal Corrugated Side Walls

Numerically investigation of free convection within a porous cavity with differential heating has been performed using modified corrugated side walls. Sinusoidal hot left and cold right walls are assumed to receive sudden differentially heating where top and bottom walls are insulated. Air is considered as working fluid and is quiescent, initially. Numerical experiments reveal 3 distinct stages of developing pattern including initial stage, oscillatory intermediate, and finally steady-state condition. Implicit Finite Volume Method with TDMA solver is used to solve the governing equations. This study has been performed for the Rayleigh numbers ranging from 100 to 10,000. Outcomes have been reported in terms of isotherms, streamline, velocity and temperature plots and average Nusselt number for various Ra, corrugation frequency, and corrugation amplitude (CA). The effects of sudden differential heating and its resultant transient behavior on fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics have been shown for the range of governing parameters. The present results show that the transient phenomena are enormously influenced by the variation of the Rayleigh Number with CA and frequency.     

Nonlinear-forced vibrations of piezoelectrically actuated viscoelastic cantilevers

This paper aims to study the nonlinear-forced vibrations of a viscoelastic cantilever with a piecewise piezoelectric actuator layer on its top surface using the method of Multiple Scales. The governing equation of motion is a second-order nonlinear ordinary differential equation with quadratic and cubic nonlinearities which appear in stiffness, inertia, and damping terms. The nonlinear terms are due to the piezoelectricity, viscoelasticity, and geometry of the system. Forced vibrations of the system are investigated in the cases of primary resonance and non-resonance hard excitation including subharmonic and superharmonic resonances. Analytical expressions for frequency responses are derived, and the effects of different parameters including damping coefficient, thickness to width ratio of the beam, length and position of the piezoelectric layer, density of the beam, and the piezoelectric coefficient on the frequency-response curves are discussed for each case. It is shown that in all these cases, the response of the system follows a softening behavior due to the existence of the piezoelectric layer. The piezoelectric layer provides an effective tool for active control of vibration. In addition, the effect of the viscoelasticity of the beam on passive control of amplitude of vibration is illustrated.     

The mononuclear ruthenium(III)-2,3,5,6-tetrakis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine complex [Ru(bpy)(tppz)Cl][PF<Subscript>6</Subscript>]<Subscript>2</Subscript>: synthesis,crystal structure,electrochemical, and spectroelectrochemical studies

The mononuclear Ru(III) complex, [Ru(bpy)(tppz)Cl][PF₆]₂.acetylacetone, where tppz is 2,3,5,6-tetrakis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine and bpy is 2,2′-bipyridine, has been prepared and characterized by physicochemical and spectroscopic methods, cyclic voltammetry, and single crystal X-ray structure analysis. The coordination around the Ru(III) center is distorted octahedral, with bite angles of 80.70–161.83° for the chelating bpy and tppz ligands. The two pyridyl rings of the bpy ligand are nearly coplanar. UV–vis spectroelectrochemical studies of this complex in acetonitrile showed a reversible redox behavior evaluated by the maintenance of isosbestic points in the UV–vis spectrum for both forward reduction and reverse oxidation processes. Magnetic susceptibility data derived from paramagnetic NMR data revealed an effective magnetic moment of 1.79 BM at room temperature.     

Cohomological dimension of certain algebraic varieties

Let be an ideal of a commutative Noetherian ring . For finitely generated -modules and with , it is shown that . Let be a finitely generated module over a local ring such that . Using the above result and the notion of connectedness dimension, it is proved that Here denotes the connectedness dimension of the topological space . Finally, as a consequence of this inequality, two previously known generalizations of Faltings' connectedness theorem are improved.

     

Trace determination of Ag(I) after reduction to Ag nanoparticles and sol–gel entrapment by alginic acid hydrogel

The main goal of this work is development of an effective analytical method for trace determination of Ag(I). The novelty of the Ag(I) preconcentration–determination method is mainly referred to the material and the enrichment–detection process (alginic acid gel phase was employed in a pH-switched sol–gel entrapment/Ag fluorescence detection). Ag(I) was reduced to Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) and then was enriched by the alginic acid hydrogel phase. Then, the formed gel phase (containing AgNPs) was dissolved in alkali solution prior to Ag detection. The enrichment method was highly compatible with spectrofluorimetry, electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) and spectrophotometry. Optimization of the reduction-enrichment procedure was performed employing spectrofluorimetry. The linear working range (LWR) and limit of detection (LOD) for Ag(I) determination were found as 0.1–25 and 0.017 µmol L^??1, respectively. The effects of various anions, cations and organic chemicals on Ag(I) determination were spectrofluorimetrically studied. The applied enrichment-ETAAS Ag(I) determination method showed the LWR and LOD as 0.2–6.9 and 0.05 nmol L^??1, respectively. Also, an enrichment factor equal to 30.3 was obtained for the preconcentration method. The method was successfully applied to determine Ag in different water samples, jewels, antimicrobial suspensions and waste X-ray films. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, field emission-scanning electron microscopy and EDX-mapping were also employed to characterize the entrapped AgNPs in the alginic acid gel phase. The complimentary experiments showed the alginic acid gel was also applicable for quantitative recovery of silver from the waste radiographic films.     

Spectrophotometric determination of formaldehyde by using formaldehyde dehydrogenase

A new method for the determination of formaldehyde by using formaldehyde dehydrogenase is described. The method is based on the quantitative oxidation of formaldehyde with oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺), in the presence of formaldehyde dehydrogenase, to form the reduced dinucleotide (NADH). This enzyme does not require glutathione as a co-factor and the NADH produced, which is directly proportional to the concentration of formaldehyde in the assay solution, is then measured spectrophotometrically at 340 nm. Formaldehyde can be determined in the range 0.3–8.0 μg ml^?1 (1.0×10^?5–2.7× 10^?4 M) with a sensitivity of 0.216 absorbance/ μg ml^?1 (0.0065 absorbance/μM). Optimal conditions and the selectivity of this enzyme toward formaldehyde are described.     

A highly efficient catalyst for Suzuki coupling of aryl halides and bromoarylphosphine oxides

The biphenyl-based phosphine, P(o-C₆H₄C₆H₄Me)Ph₂, is a moderately bulky and electron-rich phosphine, which has been successfully applied to the palladium catalyzed Suzuki coupling of activated and deactivated aryl halides as well as bromoarylphosphines and bromoarylphosphine oxides, with low catalyst loading and good to excellent conversions and turnovers.