Nanoscience and nanotechnology in Venezuela

Nanoscale research in Venezuela is briefly reviewed, with emphasis on research groups, research lines, and institutions involved. A summary exploration is made of international collaboration through scientific co-authorship, as well of the efforts to build nano capacities, available infrastructure, relationships to the productive sector and a weak presence in Venezuelan public policies, although there is some expectation that the situation may soon begin to change.     

Surface morphologic and structural analysis of IR irradiated silver

The microstructural morphological changes in laser irradiated targets are investigated. Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm, ∼12 ns nominal, 1.1 MW) is used to irradiate 4 N pure (99.99%) fine polished and annealed silver samples in ambient air and under vacuum ∼10⁻⁶ Torr. The laser spot size and power density at tight focus are 12 μm and 3×10¹¹ W/cm², respectively. SEM micrographs and X-ray diffractograms of the exposed and unexposed targets reveal the surface texture and structural changes, respectively. Amongst the ablation mechanisms involved, exfoliation and hydrodynamic sputtering are found to be dominant. Surface modifications appear in the form of craters and ripples formation. Heat is conducted non-uniformly through narrow channels at the surface. Thermal stresses induced by the laser do not disturb inter planar distance of the target. On the other hand irradiation causes significant variations in grain size and diffracted X-rays intensities.     

Markovnikov addition of vinyl acetate with azoles catalyzed by potassium tert-butoxide

A simple and efficient methodology for Markovnikov addition of azoles with vinyl acetate catalyzed by potassium tert-butoxide is described.N-heterocyclic compounds are synthesized from simple and commercially available starting materials under mild conditions in high yields.     

Decision feedback sequence estimation for unwhitened ISI channelswith applications to multiuser detection

Decision feedback sequence estimation (DFSE), which is a reduced-complexity alternative to maximum likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE), can be used effectively for equalization of intersymbol interference (ISI) as well as for multiuser detection. The algorithm performs very well for whitened (minimum-phase) channels. For nonminimum-phase channels, however, the algorithm is not very effective. Moreover, DFSE requires a noise-whitening filter, which may not be feasible to compute for time-varying channels such as a multiuser direct-sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) channel. Noise-whitening is also cumbersome for applications that involve bidirectional equalization such as the global system for mobile communication (GSM) system. In such conditions, it is desirable to use the Ungerboeck (1974) formulation for sequence estimation, which operates directly on the discrete-time unwhitened statistic obtained from conventional matched filtering. Unfortunately, DFSE based on matched filter statistics is severely limited by untreated interference components. We identify the anticausal interference components, using an error probability analysis. This leads us to a modified unwhitened decision feedback sequence estimator (MUDFSE) in which the components are canceled, using tentative decisions. We obtain approximate error probability bounds for the proposed algorithm. Performance results indicate that the modified algorithm, used on unwhitened channels with relatively small channel correlations, provides similar performance/complexity tradeoffs as the DFSE used on the corresponding whitened minimum-phase channels. The algorithm is especially attractive for multiuser detection for asynchronous DS-CDMA channels with long spreading codes, where it can achieve near-MLSE performance with exponentially lower complexity     

呼图壁种牛场草原生态站鼠类群落初步研究

本文根据１９９５年７￣８月的调查资料并采用聚类分析方法对呼图壁种牛场草原生态站鼠类群落及其演替进行了分析研究。结果表明：该地区的鼠类可划分为２种群落，灰仓鼠＋小家鼠为主的农田居民点鼠类群落，五趾跳鼠＋根田鼠为主的荒漠草原鼠类群落，种的多样性和生态环境的差异有关，随着人类经济活动的增加，经营时间的不同，鼠类群落受到的影响程度也不一样，在荒漠向人工环境转化过程中存在于其中的鼠类也呈现有规律的演替现象。     

Natural convection flow from an isothermal horizontal circular cylinder with temperature dependent viscosity

Free convection flow from an isothermal horizontal circular cylinder immersed in a fluid with viscosity proportional to an inverse linear function of temperature is studied. The governing boundary layer equations are transformed into a non-dimensional form and the resulting nonlinear system of partial differential equations is reduced to local non-similarity equations which are solved numerically by a very efficient implicit finite difference method together with Keller box scheme. Numerical results are presented by velocity and viscosity profiles of the fluid as well as heat transfer characteristics, namely the local heat transfer rate and the local skin-friction coefficients for a wide range of viscosity parameter (= 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0,4.0) and the Prandtl number Pr (= 1.0, 7.0, 10.0, 15.0, 20.0, 30.0).     

Structure activity relationship of bergenin,p-hydroxybenzoyl bergenin, 11-O-galloylbergenin as potent antioxidant and urease inhibitor isolated from Bergenia ligulata

Ethanol extract of the aerial parts of Bergenia ligulata was subjected to solvent–solvent separation followed by various chromatographic techniques that lead to isolation of bergenine (1), p-hydroxybenzoyl bergenin (2), 11-O-galloylbergenin (3) and methyl gallate (4) as major constituents. Ethyl acetate fraction showed a dose-dependent urease inhibitory pattern with IC₅₀ value of 54μg/mL. Structures of compounds 1 and 3 were established by XRD and 2, 4 by NMR. All these compounds were subjected to DPPH scavenging activity, reducing power assay and urease inhibitory activity. The EC₅₀ 7.45 ± 0.2 μg/mL and 5.39 ± 0.28 μg/mL values in terms of antioxidant and reducing power, respectively, were less for 3. Compounds 1–3 showed moderate to significant urease inhibitory potential with IC₅₀ 57.1 ± 0.7, IC₅₀ 48.4 ± 0.3 and 38.6 ± 1.5. Antioxidant activities and urease inhibitory potential were investigated and compound 3 was found to be the most active.     

Electrolyte-cathode interactions in 5-V lithium-ion cells

The electrolyte/electrode interactions on the anode side of a lithium-ion cell and the formation of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) have been investigated intensively in the past and are fairly well understood. Present knowledge about the reactions on the cathode side and the resulting cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) is less detailed. In this study, the electrolyte/electrode interactions on the surface of the high-voltage cathode material LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ (LNMO), both bare and FePO₄-coated, were investigated. The gases evolving upon first time charging of the system were investigated using a GC/MS combination. The degradation products included THF, dimethyl peroxide, phosphor trifluoride, 1,3-dioxolane and dimethyl difluor silane, formed in the GC’s column as its coating reacts with HF from the experiments. Although these substances and their formation are in themselves interesting, the absence of many degradation products which have been mentioned in the existing literature is of equal interest. Our results clearly indicate that coating a cathode material can have a major influence on the amount and composition of the gaseous decomposition products in the formation phase.     

Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) Reaction Derived Nitroallylic Alcohols,Acetates and Amines as Synthons in Organocatalysis and Heterocycle Synthesis

The Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) reaction is one of the most useful and efficient protocols for constructing new carbon–carbon bonds between an activated olefin and electrophiles in the presence of a tertiary amine/phosphine. Herein, we present the use of MBH alcohols, which are obtained from the reaction of nitrostyrenes with aldehydes, as well as acetates and amines derived thereof in several organocatalytic transformations. Densely functionalised MBH adducts can also be used to synthesise substituted heteroaromatic compounds, such as furan, pyrrole, pyrazole and imidazole derivatives.     

Diversity through a branched reaction pathway: generation of multicyclic scaffolds and identification of antimigratory agents

A library of 91 heterocyclic compounds composed of 16 distinct scaffolds has been synthesized through a sequence of phosphine-catalyzed ring-forming reactions, Tebbe reactions, Diels-Alder reactions, and, in some cases, hydrolysis. This effort in diversity-oriented synthesis produced a collection of compounds that exhibited high levels of structural variation both in terms of stereochemistry and the range of scaffolds represented. A simple but powerful sequence of reactions thus led to a high-diversity library of relatively modest size with which to explore biologically relevant regions of chemical space. From this library, several molecules were identified that inhibit the migration and invasion of breast cancer cells and may serve as leads for the development of antimetastatic agents.