Alloyed (ZnS)x(CuInS2)1−x Semiconductor Nanorods: Synthesis,Bandgap Tuning and Photocatalytic Properties

Rod-like nanocrystals of the semiconductor alloy (ZnS)_x(CuInS₂)_1−x (ZCIS) have been colloidally prepared by using a one-pot non-injection-based synthetic strategy. The ZCIS nanorods crystallize in the hexagonal wurtzite structure and display preferential growth in the direction of the c axis. The bandgap of these quarternary alloyed nanorods can be conveniently tuned by varying the ratio of ZnS to CuInS₂. A non-linear relationship between the bandgap and the alloy composition is observed. The ZCIS nanorods are found to exhibit promising photocatalytic behaviour in visible-light-driven degradation of Rhodamine B.     

Stereoselective Syntheses of Bridgehead Hydroxy Compounds via Reductive Cyclization Reactions Promoted by Samarium Diiodide

Cycloalkanones appended with an α, β-unsaturated carbonyl side chain react with 2.25 equivalents of samarium diiodide to form bicyclic or tricyclic bridgehead hydroxy compounds stereoselectively in moderate yield.     

The Reaction of Ozonides Derived from Cycloalkenes With Stabilized Phosphorus Ylides

Ozonides derived from cycloalkenes reacted with 2.2 equivalents of methyl (triphenylphosphoranylidene)acetate or (triphenylphosphoranylidene)acetophenone to form trans, trans-α,β,χ-unsaturated dioates or diones, respectively. The trapping experiments have ruled out the possibility that the reaction involved the carbonyl oxide intermediate.     

Fabrication of Mesoporous CoS2 Nanotube Arrays as the Counter Electrodes of Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

Mesoporous cobalt sulfide nanotube arrays on FTO‐coated glass were synthesized by combining three simple technologies: the selective etching of ZnO sacrificial templates, mesoporous Co₃O₄ formation from cobalt‐chelated chitosan, and ion‐exchange reaction (IER). The mesoporous Co₃O₄ nanotubes composed of the Co₃O₄ nanoparticles possess a high surface area and are taken advantage for further removal of templates and IER. The morphologies and crystal structures of the CoS₂ nanotube arrays were characterized by SEM, TEM, and XRD analyses. Their electrocatalytic properties were determined by electrochemical analyses including cyclic voltammetry measurements and Tafel polarization. The DSSCs assembled with a CoS₂ counter electrode achieved a power conversion efficiency of 6.13 %, which was comparable to that of the DSSC with the Pt counter electrode (6.04 %). This indicates that the mesoporous CoS₂ nanotube array can be a low‐cost and efficient alternative for the reduction of electrolytes in DSSCs.     

Development of a broad toxicological screening technique for urine using ultra-performance liquid chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Withdrawal of the support for the REMEDi HS drug profiling system has necessitated its replacement within our laboratories with an alternative broad toxicological screening technique. To this end, a novel method, based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) and time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry, was developed for the routine analysis of urine samples. Identification was achieved by comparison of acquired data to libraries containing more than 300 common drugs and metabolites, and was based on a combination of retention time, exact mass and fragmentation patterns. Validation data for the method is presented and comprised an evaluation of the following parameters: precision; transferability of the methodology between the six collaborating laboratories; specificity; extraction recovery and stability of processed samples; matrix effects and sensitivity.This paper presents the benefits of supplementary fragmentation data with particular regard to increasing specificity and confidence of identification and its usefulness with overdosed samples. The utility of the method was assessed by the parallel analysis of 30 authentic urine samples using the REMEDi HS and UPLC-TOF. The latter provided enhanced detection, leading to the identification of twice as many drugs. Furthermore it did not miss any compounds that were identified by REMEDi HS. The UPLC-TOF findings were further verified by a combination of data from three other conventional screening techniques, i.e., GC-MS, HPLC-DAD and UPLC-MS/MS.     

Insertion, reduction, and carbon-carbon coupling induced by monomeric aluminum hydride compounds bearing substituted pyrrolyl ligands

A monomeric aluminum hydride complex bearing substituted pyrrolyl ligands, AlH[C(4)H(3)N(CH(2)NMe(2))-2](2) (1), was synthesized and structurally characterized. To further confirm the presence of Al--H bonds, the compound AlD[C(4)H(3)N(CH(2)NMe(2))-2](2) ([D]1) was synthesized by reacting LiAlD(4) with [C(4)H(4)N(CH(2)NMe(2))-2]. Compound 1 and [D]1 react with phenyl isothiocyanate yielding Al[C(4)H(3)N(CH(2)NMe(2))-2](2)[eta(3)-SCHNPh] (2) and Al[C(4)H(3)N(CH(2)NMe(2))-2](2)[eta(3)-SCDNPh] ([D]2) by insertion. The reactions of 1 with 9-fluorenone and benzophenone generated the unusual aluminum alkoxide complexes 3 and 4, respectively, through intramolecular proton abstraction and C-C coupling. A mechanistic study shows that 9-fluorenone coordinates to [D]1 and releases one equivalent of HD followed by C-C coupling and hydride transfer to yield the final product. Reduction of benzil with 1 affords aluminum enediolate complex 5 in moderate yield. Mechanistic studies also showed that the benzil was inserted into the aluminum hydride bond of [D]1 through hydroalumination followed by proton transfer to generate the final product [D]5. All new complexes have been characterized by (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography.     

Analysis of means approach in advanced designs

Analysis of means (ANOM), similar to Shewhart control chart that exhibits individual mean effects on a graphical display, is an attractive alternative mean testing procedure for the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The procedure is primarily used to analyze experimental data from designs with only fixed effects. Recently introduced, the ANOM procedure based on the q‐distribution (ANOMQ procedure) generalizes the ANOM approach to random effects models. This article reveals that the application of ANOM and ANOMQ procedures in advanced designs such as hierarchically nested and split‐plot designs with fixed, random, and mixed effects enhances the data visualization aspect in graphical testing. Data from two real‐world experiments are used to illustrate the proposed procedure; furthermore, these experiments exhibit the ANOM procedures' visualization ability compared with ANOVA from the point of view of the practitioner.     

J-CAR: An efficient joint channel assignment and routing protocol for IEEE 802.11-based multi-channel multi-interface mobile Ad Hoc networks

The capacity of an IEEE 802.11-based multi-hop wireless network is limited. By effectively utilizing multiple non-overlapping channels and multiple interfaces, collision and co-channel interference can be reduced. This allows more concurrent transmissions and thus enhances the network capacity. In this paper, we introduce an efficient distributed joint channel assignment and routing protocol, called J-CAR¹. Unlike existing schemes, J-CAR allows a data interface to dynamically change its working mode between send and receive on a call-by-call basis, which enhances the utilization of both interface and channel. In J-CAR, channels are negotiated and assigned to active links in conjunction with the on-demand routing process. At each hop, J-CAR conducts a local optimization by selecting the least interfered channel according to the channel interference index. The channel interference index is designed by taking both the protocol and physical interference models into consideration. To find the least interfered path for network load balancing on a global scale, J-CAR employs a length-constrained widest-path routing. The “width” of a path is determined by the interference level of its bottleneck link. With an adjustable threshold on the path length (with respect to the shortest-path), the excessively long path can also be avoided. We show that with a comparable complexity as the existing schemes, J-CAR provides much higher system goodputs and shorter end-to-end packet delays.     

FIR, Allpass, and IIR Variable Fractional Delay Digital Filter Design

This paper presents two-step design methodologies and performance analyses of finite-impulse response (FIR), allpass, and infinite-impulse response (IIR) variable fractional delay (VFD) digital filters. In the first step, a set of fractional delay (FD) filters are designed. In the second step, these FD filter coefficients are approximated by polynomial functions of FD. The FIR FD filter design problem is formulated in the peak-constrained weighted least-squares (PCWLS) sense and solved by the projected least-squares (PLS) algorithm. For the allpass and IIR FD filters, the design problem is nonconvex and a global solution is difficult to obtain. The allpass FD filters are directly designed as a linearly constrained quadratic programming problem and solved using the PLS algorithm. For IIR FD filters, the fixed denominator is obtained by model reduction of a time-domain average FIR filter. The remaining numerators of the IIR FD filters are designed by solving linear equations derived from the orthogonality principle. Analyses on the relative performances indicate that the IIR VFD filter with a low-order fixed denominator offers a combination of the following desirable properties including small number of denominator coefficients, lowest group delay, easily achievable stable design, avoidance of transients due to nonvariable denominator coefficients, and good overall magnitude and group delay performances especially for high passband cutoff frequency ( ges 0.9pi) . Filter examples covering three adjacent ranges of wideband cutoff frequencies [0.95, 0.925, 0.9], [0.875, 0.85, 0.825], and [0.8, 0.775, 0.75] are given to illustrate the design methodologies and the relative performances of the proposed methods.