The E(4) Πu state in K2 and its perturbations

The E(4) ¹Π_u←X ¹Σ⁺_g band system of the K₂ molecule is investigated by the technique of Doppler-free optical–optical double resonance polarization spectroscopy. The observed vibrational levels v=0 to 9 of the E state are subject to numerous rotational perturbations by the neighboring 4 ³Π_u, 4 ¹Σ⁺_u, and 5 ³Σ⁺_u electronic states. By using deperturbation methods, the potential curves of the 4 ¹Π_u and 4 ³Π_u states are determined as well as some properties of the 4 ¹Σ⁺_u and 5 ³Σ⁺_u state potentials. The results are compared with predictions of ab initio calculations.     

Structure and morphology of the aliphatic polyester poly(δ‐valerolactone) in solution‐grown,chain‐folded lamellar crystals

Poly(δ‐valerolactone) (PVL) crystals in the form of chain‐folded lamellae were prepared by isothermal crystallization from a 2‐methylbutane‐2‐ol solution. Wide‐angle and small‐angle X‐ray diffraction data, obtained from PVL lamellae sedimented to form oriented mats, were supplemented with morphological and structural data from electron microscopy, both imaging and diffraction. The diffraction signals index on an orthorhombic unit cell with the parameters a = 0.747 ± 0.002 nm, b = 0.502 ± 0.002 nm, and c (chain axis) = 0.742 ± 0.002 nm. Similar unit cell parameters were obtained from crystals grown from 1‐octanol and also from drawn melt‐pressed films. The evidence supports a model containing two antiparallel chain segments in the unit cell. The c value of 0.742 nm is appropriate for an all‐trans or onefold helical backbone conformation for the straight stems. Possible slight perturbations at the ester units from the all‐trans backbone conformation are discussed. Computerized modeling was used to optimize the adjacent‐reentry folded structure. The setting angles, with respect to the a axis, are ±58° for the corner and center chains. The lamellae are 7.26 ± 0.05 nm thick, and the chains run orthogonal to the lamellar surface. The chains fold in the diagonal (110) and (11¯0) planes in an alternating fashion. The X‐ray diffraction data suggest that a proportion of adjacent paired antiparallel entities, or hairpin units, are c‐axis‐sheared, and a relationship to the results obtained from drawn films is discussed. A brief comparison is also made with related polymer structures. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 2622–2634, 2001     

Distribution of the strength of acid sites in mildly steamed HZSM-5 studied by IR spectroscopy

Steaming resulted in modification of the distribution of acid strength of OH groups. The contribution of less acidic sites increased and new, very strongly acidic hydroxyls characterized by IR band at 3590 cm^-1 appeared.     

The continuous grey pattern problem

A new location problem is formulated and solved. It is the continuous version of the grey pattern problem which is a special case of the Quadratic Assignment Problem. The problem is a minimization of a convex function subject to non-convex constraints and has infinitely many optimal solutions. We propose several mathematical programming formulations that are suitable for a multi-start heuristic algorithm. In addition to solving these formulations by the Solver in Excel and Mathematica, a special Nelder–Mead algorithm is proposed. This special algorithm provided the best results. One suggested modification may improve the performance of the Nelder–Mead algorithm for other optimization problems as well.     

Interactions of doxorubicin with self-assembled monolayer-modified electrodes: electrochemical, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and gravimetric studies

We present the results on the partitioning of doxorubicin (DOX), a potent anticancer drug, through the model membrane system, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold electrodes. The monolayers were formed from alkanethiols of comparable length with different ω-terminal groups facing the aqueous electrolyte: the hydrophobic -CH(3) groups for the case of dodecanethiol SAMs or hydrophilic -OH groups of mercaptoundecanol SAMs. The electrochemical experiments combined with the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and gravimetric studies show that doxorubicin is likely adsorbed onto the surface of hydrophilic monolayer, while for the case of the hydrophobic one the drug mostly penetrates the monolayer moiety. The adsorption of the drug hinders further penetration of doxorubicin into the monolayer moiety.     

Lyotropic self-assembly of high-aspect-ratio semiconductor nanowires of single-crystal ZnO

Lyotropic nanowire dispersions are attractive precursors for semiconductor device fabrication because they permit the alignment control of active nanomaterials. The reliable production of nanowire-based mesophases, however, is very challenging in practice. We show that appropriately functionalized high-aspect-ratio nanowires of single-crystal ZnO spontaneously form nematic phases in organic and aqueous media. These systems show isotropic, biphasic, and nematic phases on increasing concentration, in reasonable agreement with Onsager's theory for rigid rods interacting via excluded volume. Suspensions were readily processed to produce films with large-area monodomains of aligned nanowires. Imprints of the director field in quiescently dried films display a propensity for bend deformation in the organic mesophase versus splay deformation in the aqueous case, suggesting that system elasticity may be tuned via surface functionalization. These results provide critical insight for the utilization of semiconductor nanowires as novel mesogens and further enable the use of solution-based routes for fabricating optoelectronic devices.     

Dielectric studies of the paracetamol-lenticular tissue interactions

This paper reports on the effect of paracetamol on the dielectric behavior of the rabbit lens. Measurements were performed over the frequency range of 100 Hz-100 kHz in air and at the temperature of 35°C. The frequency dependencies of the relative permittivity and dielectric loss for the control and paracetamol-control lenses are described in terms of a power-low, Debye and Cole-Cole relations. The effect of paracetamol on the dielectric properties of the lens is visible in the lower values of the relative permittivity than those for the control sample at the same frequency. In addition, the relaxations around 18 and 46 kHz for the paracetamol-control lens are shifted to lower frequencies compared with the control lens. The results of this work indicate that the present method is useful in detection of the lens toxicity elicited by overdoses of paracetamol in animal.     

A novel approach to the rapid determination of amoxicillin in human plasma by solid phase microextraction and liquid chromatography

A new approach to the rapid determination of amoxicillin (AMO) in human plasma followed by solid phase microextraction (SPME) fiber coatings based on conducting polymers (polypyrrole and polythiophene) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been described. The porous structures of the electrochemically deposited polymer coatings have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental parameters relating to the extraction efficiency of the SPME fibers such as pH, extraction time and desorption conditions (solvents, time) were studied and selected. The SPME/HPLC-UV method was linear over a working range of 1-50 μg ml(-1). The inter-day accuracy (expressed as coefficients of variations, CVs) was less than 15% and precision (expressed as the relative standard deviations, RSDs) with percentage values was less than 5.9%. Amoxicillin was found to be stable in the human plasma at room temperature (20 °C) within 8 hours. The developed method was successfully applied to the analysis of real human plasma samples. The limit of detection and limit of quantification for amoxicillin in plasma were 1.21 μg ml(-1) and 3.48 μg ml(-1), respectively.