Using a Natural Surfactant for Synthesize of NiO and CuO Nanostructures via Simple and Fast Microwave Approach

NiO and CuO nanostructures were synthesized successfully via simple and fast microwave approach. Olive oil was chose as surfactant for stabilizing nanostructures. Different parameters such as microwave time and power and olive oil concentration were investigated on product size and morphology. The products were characterized with X-ray diffraction pattern, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometry analysis.     

Dehydroalkylation of toluene with ethane in a packed-bed membrane reactor with a bifunctional catalyst and a hydrogen-selective membrane

The dehydroalkylation of toluene with ethane to form isomeric ethyltoluenes has been carried out in a packed-bed membrane reactor under mild conditions of 350 degrees C, where it is shown that ethyltoluene yields significantly increase with increasing sweep gas flow rate and pressure.     

Testing the conformational hypothesis of passive membrane permeability using synthetic cyclic peptide diastereomers

Little is known about the effect of conformation on passive membrane diffusion rates in small molecules. Evidence suggests that intramolecular hydrogen bonding may play a role by reducing the energetic cost of desolvating hydrogen bond donors, especially amide N-H groups. We set out to test this hypothesis by investigating the passive membrane diffusion characteristics of a series of cyclic peptide diastereomers based on the sequence cyclo[Leu-Leu-Leu-Leu-Pro-Tyr]. We identified two cyclic hexapeptide diastereomers based on this sequence, whose membrane diffusion rates differed by nearly two log units. Results of solution NMR studies and hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange experiments showed that membrane diffusion rates correlated with the degree of intramolecular hydrogen bonding and H/D exchange rates. The most permeable diastereomer, cyclo[d-Leu-d-Leu-Leu-d-Leu-Pro-Tyr] (1), exhibited a passive membrane diffusion rate comparable to that of the orally available drug cyclosporine A.     

Protection of Alcohols and Phenols with Dihydropyran and Detetrahydropyranylation by ZrCl4

Alcohols and Phenols are protected efficiently with dihydropyran(DHP) in the presence of catalytic amounts of zirconium tetrachloride in dichloromethane. Deprotection of THP-ethers is also afforded in a methanolic solution at room temperature.     

New GC quartz-lined aluminum capillary columns coated with graphitized carbon black modified by liquid phases

Summary Fused silica is by far the best material for most kinds of GC capillary columns but in some particular conditions, when a drastic or alkaline treatment is required, this material and especially the polyimide protector layer do not possess high chemical resistance and could easily break down. In order to overcome this disadvantage, in this paper, we present a new type of column — a quartz-lined aluminum capillary coated with graphitized carbon black modified by liquid phases by using a new coating procedure. With the above material a capillary column for amine analysis, and another for the analysis of VOCs and oil products are obtained. Some characteristic applications of both columns are reported.     

Ranking efficient DMUs using the Tchebycheff norm

One problem that has been discussed frequently in data envelopment analysis (DEA) literature has been lack of discrimination in DEA applications, in particular when there are insufficient DMUs or the number of inputs and outputs is too high relative to the number of units. This is an additional reason for the growing interest in complete ranking techniques. In this paper a method for ranking extreme efficient decision making units (DMUs) is proposed. The method uses L_∞(or Tchebycheff) Norm, and it seems to have some superiority over other existing methods, because this method is able to remove the existing difficulties in some methods, such as Andersen and Petersen [2] (AP) that it is sometimes infeasible. The suggested model is always feasible.     

Silver nanowire-embedded PDMS with high electrical conductivity: nanowires synthesis,composite processing and electrical analysis

A simple, fast, and ecofriendly polyol method for the synthesis of silver nanowires (AgNWs) with high aspect ratios is presented. Besides, the effects of reaction parameters on the synthesis process, namely reaction temperature, PVP molecular weight, sodium chloride content, as well as solution mixing rate on the morphology and dimensions of silver nanowires, are thoroughly investigated. AgNWs were fully characterized using FE-SEM, TEM, XRD, FT-IR, and UV–Vis analysis and showed an average diameter of 50 nm. Polymer nanocomposites were fabricated through mixing and curing of the AgNWs, PDMS, and curing agents. The prepared nanocomposites were analyzed microscopically, and their electrical conductivity was measured. PDMS containing 25 wt% AgNWs was considered as an optimal composite, mainly because it possessed a combination of flexibility and transparency, accompanied by the high electrical conductivity of 5840.4 S/cm. This composite can be deemed as a potential candidate in lab-on-a-chip and biosensing applications.     

Mechanism and equilibrium modeling of Re and Mo adsorption on a gel type strong base anion resin

A static-batch technique was used to demonstrate the adsorption behavior of Re (VII) and Mo ions onto Dowex 21K at equilibrium in single and binary component systems. The single equilibrium adsorption data were modeled through a linear form of four widely used equilibrium isotherm equations. The results indicated that Freundlich and D-R models for Re, and Temkin and D–R isotherms for Mo fitted the obtained data satisfactorily. Binary adsorptions of Re and Mo ions onto Dowex 21K were also analyzed using Extended Langmuir, Modified Langmuir, Extended Freundlich and Langmuir–Freundlich models. The competitive Extended Freundlich model fitted the binary adsorption equilibrium data adequately. Studies on mutual interference effects of Mo ions on Re adsorption capacity indicated that the adsorption of perrhenate ions is always suppressed. In this perspective, the results from EDX studies confirmed the rhenium atom decrease in the simulated Re–Mo adsorption. However, under the studied conditions the affinity of the Dowex 21K for rhenium ions is marginally greater than that of molybdenum ions.     

Electrical sorting of Caenorhabditis elegans

The nematode (worm) C. elegans is one of the widely studied animal model organisms in biology. It develops through 4 larval stages (L1-L4) in 2 to 3 days before becoming a young adult. Biological assays involving C. elegans frequently require a large number of animals that are appropriately staged and exhibit a similar behaviour. We have developed a new method to synchronize animals that relies on the electrotactic response (electric field-induced motion) of C. elegans to sort them in parallel based on their age, size and phenotype. By using local electric field traps in a microfluidic device, we can efficiently sort worms from a mixed culture in a semi-continuous flow manner (with a minimum throughput of 78 worms per minute per load-run) and obtain synchronized populations of animals. In addition to sorting larvae, our device can also distinguish between young and old adults efficiently. Unlike fluorescent based sorting systems that use active imaging based feedback, this method is passive and automatic and uses the innate behaviour of the worm. Considering that the entire procedure takes only a few minutes to run and is cost-effective, it promises to simplify and accelerate experiments requiring homogeneous cultures of worms as well as to facilitate isolation of mutants that have abnormal electrotaxis. More importantly, our method of isolating and separating worms using locomotion as a defining characteristic promises development of advanced microfluidics-based systems to study the neuronal basis of movement-related defects in worms and facilitate high-throughput chemical screening and drug discovery.     

Design of Novel Coplanar Counter Circuit in Quantum Dot Cellular Automata Technology

One of the emerging technology that can be used for replacing CMOS technology is Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) technology. Counter circuits are widely used circuits in the design of digital circuits. This paper presents and evaluates circuits for 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-bit coplanar counter in the QCA technology. The designed QCA coplanar counter circuits are based on the modified D-Flip-Flop (D-FF) circuit that is designed in this paper. The designed QCA circuits are implemented and verified by using QCADesigner tool version 2.0.3. The results show that the designed circuits for 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-bit coplanar counter contain 44 (0.03 μm²), 93 (0.07 μm²), 160 (0.13 μm²), and 245 (0.2 μm²) quantum cells (area). The comparison results indicate that the designed circuits have advantages compared to other QCA circuits in terms of cost, area, and cell count.