Alkynyl ruthenium colorimetric sensors: optimizing the selectivity toward fluoride anion

We report on the synthesis of alkynyl ruthenium colorimetric sensors whose receptors are constituted by thiazolidinedione, rhodanine, or barbituric heads as recognition centers for anions. As modifications in the charge density at these recognition centers affect the whole molecule, through the alkynyl ligand acting as a communicating wire, the effects of hydrogen-bonding interactions with the anions were observed with the naked eye and monitored by UV-vis absorption spectrometry. The selectivity of the sensors was improved through electronic modifications of the alkynyl ruthenium subunit: the higher the electron density at the receptor head, the higher the selectivity is. TD-DFT calculations rationalize the long-range electronic communication as a main characteristic of the alkynyl ruthenium species and as a key to improve the selectivity of alkynyl ruthenium-based sensors toward anions.     

Time-Domain Quantification of Multiple-Quantum-Filtered Na Signal Using Continuous Wavelet Transform Analysis

The application of continuous wavelet transform (CWT) analysis technique is presented to analyze multiple-quantum-filtered (MQF) ²³Na magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data. CWT acts on the free-induction-decay (FID) signal as a time-frequency variable filter. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and frequency resolution of the output filter are locally increased. As a result, MQF equilibrium longitudinal magnetization and the apparent fast and slow transverse relaxation times are accurately estimated. A developed iterative algorithm based on frequency signal detection and components extraction, already proposed, was used to estimate the values of the signal parameters by analyzing simulated time-domain MQF signals and data from an agarose gel. The results obtained were compared to those obtained by measurement of signal height in frequency domain as a function of MQF preparation time and those obtained by a simple time-domain curve fitting. The comparison indicates that the CWT approach provides better results than the other tested methods that are generally used for MQF ²³Na MRS data analysis, especially when the SNR is low. The mean error on the estimated values of the amplitude signal and the apparent fast and slow transverse relaxation times for the simulated data were 2.19, 6.63, and 16.17% for CWT, signal height in frequency domain, and time-domain curve fitting methods, respectively. Another major advantage of the proposed technique is that it allows quantification of MQF ²³Na signal from a single FID and, thus, reduces the experiment time dramatically.     

Optimal Shape Design for Metal Forming Problems by the Finite Element Method

In this work, a method for calculation of the optimal shapes of axisymmetrical converging dies by the finite element method is presented. The shape optimization problem considered in this paper is to find the best shape of the die such that the flow rate will be uniform at the die exit.The optimization problem is to minimize an objective function by varying a part of boundary (ie: the shape of die) subject to constraints imposed by the metal forming problem. In this method, the B-spline functions allow us to determine the shape of the die, using its control points as design variables. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Effect of Host Medium on the Fluorescence Emission Intensity of Rhodamine B in Liquid and Solid Phase

In this work, we study the effect of concentration, host medium, PH and phase states on the fluorescence emission from the laser dye Rhodamine B pumped by UV laser as exited source. The polymethylmethacrylate PMMA is used as a host medium in case of solid phase samples while, ethanol and Tetrahydrofuran (THF) are used in case of a liquid one. Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) technique was used to study the fluorescence properties of both cases of liquid and thin film solid-state samples. In addition, the Dual Thermal Lens (DTL) technique was used to study the quantum yield of these samples. The concentrations of Rhodamine B in ethanol as solvent between 2 × 10⁻² M and 5 × 10⁻⁶ M were studied. The maximum fluorescence emission is observed at concentration of Rhodamine B C = 3 × 10⁻⁴ M. Comparison studies were investigated for different host medium such as ethanol, THF, PMMA in liquid phase state and PMMA in solid phase state. The measurements revealed that, the behavior of both phases state was analogous. Rhodamine B/PMMA thin film sample by ratio of 4:1 and thickness 0.12 mm was found to have the best photostability sample with a quantum yield about ≈0.82.     

Raman study of LiTaO3-related non-stoichiometric solid solutions isolated inside the ternary systems Li2O–Ta2O5–(M′O)2 with M′=Mn,Co

We have characterized by Raman spectroscopy the disorder and the local modifications of cation environment in the lithium tantalate structure resulting from the incorporation of bivalent cations Co²⁺ and Mn²⁺ as potential substitutes for Li and/or Ta ions. Frequency and damping of the E(TO1), E(TO6) and E(TO8) phonon modes of ceramic powders are studied along seven lines in the ternary phase diagrams Li₂O–Ta₂O₅–(M′O)₂ with M′=Mn and Co, and compared to those of the pure stoichiometric LiTaO₃. Raman spectroscopy is found to be very sensitive to the substitution ions and defects generated in the lattice vibration. Dopants occupy primarily the Li site in the region of lithium oxide excess. The site of Ta becomes progressively implicated in the substitution process when the concentration of dopant increases. In the Li-poor region of the ternary-phase diagram, corresponding to under-stoichiometric compositions, we retain the charge compensation mechanism involving both Li and Ta site according to: 3Li⁺+Ta⁵⁺→4M′²⁺ with M′²⁺=Mn²⁺ or Co²⁺.     

Vibro-acoustic behaviour of laminated double glazing enclosing a viscothermal fluid cavity

This paper presents a new numerical model to investigate the vibro-acoustic behaviour of two laminated glass plates enclosing a thin viscothermal fluid cavity. The aim of this work is to develop an original five layer (two skins plies, two adhesive films and a core ply) laminated plate finite element by mixing Kirchhoff and Mindlin plate’s theory. The formulation is based on the theory that accounts for the transverse shear in the adhesive films and in the core. The acousto-elastic model is established in dimensionless appropriate form including the effects of viscosity and thermal conductivity of fluid and by taking into account the fluid-structure interaction. The discretization of the energy functional by finite element method gives after minimisation a symmetrical coupled matrix system in which the acoustic matrices are frequency dependent. Therefore, an iterative procedure is derived to determine the eigenmodes of the coupled system. The modal approach is adopted to determine the vibro-acoustic system’s response. Then, the validation of the new laminate finite element model is achieved by comparing the sandwich plate results against data obtained from literature. Subsequently, predicted responses, such as the vibration transmissibility and the transmission loss of the coupled system, for a given laminated double glazing under an imposed homogeneous pressure are presented and discussed. Numerical results show the importance of both lamination and viscothermal fluid effects on double glazing vibro-acoustic behaviour.     

Solving a full fuzzy linear programming using lexicography method and fuzzy approximate solution

This paper discusses full fuzzy linear programming (FFLP) problems of which all parameters and variable are triangular fuzzy numbers. We use the concept of the symmetric triangular fuzzy number and introduce an approach to defuzzify a general fuzzy quantity. For such a problem, first, the fuzzy triangular number is approximated to its nearest symmetric triangular number, with the assumption that all decision variables are symmetric triangular. An optimal solution to the above-mentioned problem is a symmetric fuzzy solution. Every FLP models turned into two crisp complex linear problems; first a problem is designed in which the center objective value will be calculated and since the center of a fuzzy number is preferred to (its) margin. With a special ranking on fuzzy numbers, the FFLP transform to multi objective linear programming (MOLP) where all variables and parameters are crisp.     

Production of natural fruity aroma by Geotrichum candidum

Based on its aromatic potential, Geotrichum candidum isolated from olive vegetation water was tested for the production of volatile compounds. When G. candidum was cultivated on media with glucose as the carbon source, flavor volatile compounds were produced and accumulated in the broth. Fruity flavoring compounds (pineapple-like) such as esters and alcohols were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, including ethyl esters of acetic acid and butyric acid, methyl-3-butan-1-ol, and methyl-2-propan-1-ol. Their synthesis corresponded to the stationary growth phase of the strain. Production of the volatile compounds reached 9.5 g/L of 2-hexanoic acid ethyl ester and 1.6 g/L of benzaldehyde as the main concentrated molecules. Ethyl alcohol seems to be an intermediate metabolite in this pathway.     

Asymmetric Cycloaddition: An Efficient Synthesis of Enantiopure Isoxazolines Substituted with Carbohydrate Analogues

A simple and convenient method for the synthesis of heterocycles substituted with carbohydrate analogs is described. The chiral optically pure five‐membered glycoconjugates containing the isoxazoline unit were obtained by an aromatic nitrile oxides cycloaddition with 1‐phenyl‐1,2‐dihydro‐pyridazine‐3,6‐dionyl N‐glycoside derivatives.     

Fabrication and Characterization of 150-mm Silicon-on-Polycrystalline Silicon Carbide Substrates

Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates can reduce radiofrequency (RF) substrate losses due to their buried oxide (BOX). On the other hand, the BOX causes problems since it acts as a thermal barrier. Oxide has low thermal conductivity and traps heat generated by devices on the SOI. This paper presents a hybrid substrate which uses a thin layer of polycrystalline silicon and polycrystalline silicon carbide (Si-on-poly-SiC) to replace the thermally unfavorable BOX and the silicon substrate. Substrates of 150 mm were fabricated by wafer bonding and shown to be stress and strain free. Various electronic devices and test structures were processed on the hybrid substrate as well as on a low-resistivity SOI reference wafer. The substrates were characterized electrically and thermally and compared with each other. Results showed that the Si-on-poly-SiC wafer had 2.5 times lower thermal resistance and exhibited equal or better electrical performance compared with the SOI reference wafer.