PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECTS IN DYE-SENSITIZED ARTIFICIAL LIPID MEMBRANES

Using dyes of known redox potentials the specific mechanisms of dark and light potential generation is analyzed in pigmented lipid membranes. The role of the ionic and electronic conductance, as well as the redox potential gradient is specifically related to the observed open circuit voltage developed across the membrane. The results can be most easily explained by the redox electrode model.     

Development of honey hydrogel dressing for enhanced wound healing

Radiation at 25 and 50 kGy showed no effect on the acidic pH of the local honey, Gelam, and its antimicrobial property against Staphylococcus aureus but significantly reduced the viscosity. Honey stored up to 2 years at room temperature retained all the properties studied. Radiation sterilized Gelam honey significantly stimulated the rate of burn wound healing in Sprague-Dawley rats as demonstrated by the increased rate of wound contraction and gross appearance. Gelam honey attenuates wound inflammation; and re-epithelialization was well advanced compared to the treatment using silver sulphadiazine (SSD) cream. To enhance further the use of honey in wound treatment and for easy handling, Gelam honey was incorporated into our hydrogel dressing formulation, which was then cross-linked and sterilized using electron beam at 25 kGy. Hydrogel with 6% of honey was selected based on the physical appearance.     

HYDROGEN GENERATION FROM ARTIFICIAL SEA HATER IN A SEMICONDUCTOR SEPTUM ELECTROCHEMICAL PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL

Visible light of the solar spectrum is directly converted to stored chemical energy of hydrogen from artificial sea water in a novel electrochemical photovoltaic cell. The principal element of the cell, modeled after the photosynthetic thylakoid membrane, is a semiconductor septum made of polycrystalline n-CdSe thin film deposited on nickel foil, which separates two aqueous solutions. Under short-circuit conditions, vigorous hydrogen evolution was seen at the Ni surface and continued as long as the cell was operated. The novel cell, the concept of which was derived from pigmented bilayer lipid membrane studies, is easy to construct, simple to operate, and appears to be a practical approach to the photochemical conversion and storage of solar energy.     

Heterocyclic Synthesis with Enamines: Convenient Syntheses of Polyfunctionally Substituted Pyrazole,Pyridine, Pyrimidine and Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimrdine Derivatives

Facile syntheses of pyrazole, pyridine, pyrimidine and pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives have been achieved by the reaction of β-enamino nitrile 2a with hydrazines, phenyl isothiocyanate, thiourea and active methylene reagents. The β-enamino ketone 2e with the same reagents affords 3,5-dimethyl heterocyclic ring systems.     

Heterocycles from Pyrazoloylhydroximoyl Chloride: Synthesis of Certain Quinoxaline,Benzothiadiazine, Benzoxadiazine,Quinazolinone, Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine,Imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine,Isoxazole, Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyridazine and Pyrrolidino[3,4-d]isoxazolin-4,6-dione Derivatives

3-Ethoxycarbonyl-5-methyl-1-(4-methylphenyl)-4-pyrazoloylhydroximoyl chloride (1) reacted with o-phenylenediamine, o-aminothiophenol, o-aminophenol and methyl anthranilate to afford 3-nitrosoquinoxaline, benzothiadiazine, benzoxadiazine, and 3-hydroxyquinazoline, respectively. Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine, imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine and isoxazole derivatives were obtained via the reaction of 1 with 2-aminopyridine, 2-aminopyrimidine and the appropriate active methylene compounds, respectively. Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyridazines, and pyrrolidino[3,4-d]isoxazolines derivatives were also synthesized. The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were established on the basis of spectral data and alternate synthesis whenever possible.     

Utilization of thiazolylacetonitriles in the synthesis of thiophene,thiazole, pyrazolo[1,5‐a]pyrimidine and pyrazolo [5,1‐c]triazine derivatives

Thiazolylcyanothioacetanilides react with α‐haloketones and haloesters to give the corresponding thiophene or thiazole derivatives according to the reaction conditions. Pyrazolo[1,5‐a]pyrimidines and pyrazolo[5,1‐c]triazines were synthesized by reaction of 3‐amino‐4‐(4′‐arylthiazol‐2′‐yl)‐5‐phenylaminopyrazole with different reagents. Structures of the new compounds were confirmed by elemental analyses, spectral data, and alternative methods of synthesis whenever possible. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 10: 508–516, 1999     

Bounding Envelopes in Multiphase Material Design

In practice, whenever determining macroscopic effective mechanical properties of materials possessing irregular heterogeneous microstructure, one can only test, numerically or experimentally, finite sized samples. Such materials are exemplified by randomly distributed particles suspended in a homogeneous binding matrix. If one were to compute the effective responses of various equal finite sized samples, with the only mutually distinguishing feature being the various random distributions of the particulate matter, fluctuations would occur. While such fluctuations can be small for large samples, their effects become amplified when computing design sensitivities, such as gradients and Hessians, for macroscopic effective property optimization strategies. Concisely stated, these fluctuations can severely impair the performance of such approaches by destroying the quality of the derivatives. A natural way of eliminating the negative effects of such fluctuations is by ensemble averaging the response of multiple samples until the results stabilize, and then to construct the sensitivities with the stabilized results. The focus of this work is to interpret such an ensemble regularization process, in particular when it is incorporated into effective property design procedures. It is shown that, under certain conditions, this type of regularization produces upper and lower bounding envelopes for objective functions representing desired macroscopic effective responses associated with idealized, fluctuation free, material samples of infinite size.     

Runaway Electron Beam Instability in Slide-Away Discharges in the HT-7 Tokamak

Slide-away discharges are achieved by decreasing the plasma density or ramping down the plasma current in runaway discharges in the HT-7 tokamak. In the case of plasma current ramp down, the ratio of the electron plasma frequency to the electron cyclotron frequency is higher than in the stationary pulses when the discharge goes into a slide-away regime. The instability regime is characterized by relaxations in the electron cyclotron emission due to relativistic anomalous Doppler effect which transfers energy from parallel to perpendicular motion. The triggering of relativistic anomalous Doppler effect at higher density by ramping down of plasma current may provide a alternative runaway energy control scenario.     

Fast, high-throughput creation of size-tunable micro/nanoparticle clusters via evaporative self-assembly in picoliter-scale droplets of particle suspension

We report a fast, high-throughput method to create size-tunable micro/nanoparticle clusters via evaporative assembly in picoliter-scale droplets of particle suspension. Mediated by gravity force and surface tension force of a contacting surface, picoliter-scale droplets of the suspension are generated from a nanofabricated printing head. Rapid evaporative self-assembly of the particles on a hydrophobic surface leads to fast clustering of micro/nanoparticles and forms particle clusters of tunable sizes and controlled spacing. The evaporating behavior of the droplet is observed in real-time, and the clustering characteristics of the particles are understood based on the physics of evaporative-assembly. With this method, multiplex printing of various particle clusters with accurate positioning and alignment are demonstrated. Also, size-unifomity of the cluster arrays is thoroughly analyzed by examining the metallic nanoparticle cluster-arrays based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).