Relationships among Preparative Technique,Phase Composition and Bending Strength of Bauxite Porcelain

1 INTRODUCTION Bauxite porcelain is a novel “K2O–Al2O3–SiO2” system ceramic by using sintered bauxite, clay and potash feldspar and albite as the main raw materials with the Al2O3’s content of 50%～60(massfraction). Compared to the traditional“K2O–Al2O3–SiO2” feldspar porcelain by using quartz, bolus alb and potash feldspar and albite as the main raw materials, the bauxite porcelain possesses such advantages as high mechanical strength, excellent electrical insula- tion prop…     

Dynamic Activation of Ga Sites by Pt Dopant in Low-Temperature Liquid-Metal Catalysts

Liquid GaPt catalysts with Pt concentrations as low as 1×10⁻⁴ atomic % have recently been identified as highly active for the oxidation of methanol and pyrogallol under mild reaction conditions. However, almost nothing is known about how liquid state catalysts support these significant improvements in activity. Here, ab initio molecular dynamics simulations are employed to examine GaPt catalysts in isolation and interacting with adsorbates. We find that persistent geometric features can exist in the liquid state, given the correct environment. We postulate that the Pt dopant may not be limited to direct involvement in catalysis of reactions, but rather that its presence can also enable Ga atoms to become catalytically active.     

Ultrashort Phase-Matching Wavelength and Strong Second-Harmonic Generation in Deep-UV-Transparent Oxyfluorides by Covalency Reduction

The development of urgently-needed ultraviolet (UV)/deep-UV nonlinear optical (NLO) materials has been hindered by contradictory requirements of the microstructure, in particular the need for a strong second-harmonic generation (SHG) response as well as a short phase-matching (PM) wavelength. We herein employ a “de-covalency” band gap engineering strategy to adjust the optical linearity and nonlinearity. This has been achieved by assembling two types of transition-metal (TM) polyhedra ([TaO₂F₄] and [TaF₇]), affording the first tantalum-based deep-UV-transparent NLO materials, A₅Ta₃OF₁₈ (A = K (KTOF), Rb (RTOF)). Experimental and theoretical studies reveal that the highly ionic bonds and strong electropositivity of tantalum in the two oxyfluorides induce record short PM wavelengths (238 (KTOF) and 240 (RTOF) nm) for d⁰-TM-centered oxides, in addition to strong SHG responses (2.8 × KH₂PO₄ (KTOF) and 2.6 × KH₂PO₄ (RTOF)), and sufficient birefringences (0.092 (KTOF) and 0.085 (RTOF) at 546 nm). These results not only broaden the available strategies for achieving deep-UV NLO materials by exploiting the currently neglected d⁰-TMs, but also push the shortest PM wavelength into the short-wavelength UV region.     

Significance of hydrophobic interactions in water–organic binary solvents

A LFE (Linear Free Energy) analysis of kinetic data for different organic reactions in various organic aqueous solutions was carried out. The rate constants of these reactions were compared with those for the solvolysis of tert-butyl chloride in the same solvents in terms of the LFE Relationships, and linear plots were observed in a wide range of the co-solvent content. This similarity points to a common nature of the solvent effect in these reactions in variety of water–organic mixtures, regardless of largely different reaction mechanisms. We explain these results by the prevalence of hydrophobic stabilization of the initial state of these reactions in water-rich solvent mixtures. Recently the same conclusion was also made on the basis of investigations into sonication effects in kinetics of organic reactions. A considerable contribution of hydrophobic effects to the Y scale by Grunwald and Winstein was deduced.     

Decision tree SAR models for developmental toxicity based on an FDA/TERIS database

Humans are exposed to thousands of environmental chemicals for which no developmental toxicity information is available. Structure-activity relationships (SARs) are models that could be used to efficiently predict the biological activity of potential developmental toxicants. However, at this time, no adequate SAR models of developmental toxicity are available for risk assessment. In the present study, a new developmental database was compiled by combining toxicity information from the Teratogen Information System (TERIS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines. We implemented a decision tree modeling procedure, using Classification and Regression Tree software and a model ensemble approach termed bagging. We then assessed the empirical distributions of the prediction accuracy measures of the single and ensemble-based models, achieved by repeating our modeling experiment many times by repeated random partitioning of the working database. The decision tree developmental SAR models exhibited modest prediction accuracy. Bagging tended to enhance the accuracy of prediction. Also, the model ensemble approach reduced the variability of prediction measures compared to the single model approach. Further research with data derived from animal species- and endpoint-specific components of an extended and refined FDA/TERIS database has the potential to derive SAR models that would be useful in the developmental risk assessment of the thousands of untested chemicals.     

Structure-property correlations of a series of antimalarial chloroquine derivatives

Summary As part of the development of our in-house molecular modelling package, COSMIC, the structure-property relationships of a series of 13 antimalarial chloroquine derivatives have been investigated using physicochemical properties calculated from molecular models. This has involved the use of various statistical techniques. The compounds were analysed using three different modelling approximations concerning assumptions about the invariant amino alkyl side chain. The first two sets of data were obtained from models with and without the side shain using a formal charge of 0.0. Analysis of these data using principal components resulted in plots of principal component scores in which activity categories were separated. In the third data set, the side chain was modelled with a charge of +1 and an examination of the molecular properties showed poorer clustering of activity categories. We have also investigated relationships between biological activity and physicochemical properties using multiple linear regression. Although significant equations were developed, the correlation coefficients were low and it was not felt that they would be useful for quantitative prediction. The identification of important variables, however, may give some clues to the mechanism of action of these compounds.

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Beziehungen zwischen Strukturen und Eigenschaften einer Reihe von Chloroquinderivaten mit Antimalariawirkung

Zusammenfassung Die physikalisch-chemischen Eigenschaften von 13 Chloroquinderivaten mit Antimalariawirkung wurden mittels Molekülmodellrechnungen bestimmt und unter Anwendung verschiedener statistischer Analysenmethoden ausgewertet. Die Untersuchungen sind Teil der firmeneigenen Entwicklung eines Software-Paketes für Molecular Modelling mit Namen COSMIC. Die konstante Aminoalkylseitenkette der Verbindungen wurde in den Modellierungen mit drei verschiedenen Näherungsannahmen berücksichtigt. Für die beiden ersten Datensätze wurde mit ungeladener Seitenkette und ohne Seitenkette gerechnet. Hauptkomponentenzerlegung der Daten ergab in beiden Fällen klare Trennungen hinsichtlich der Aktivitätskategorien. Bei der Berechnung des dritten Datensatzes wurde die Seitenkette mit einer Ladung von +1 modelliert. Die Clusterung der molekularen Daten in Aktivitätskategorien war in diesem Fall wesentlich schwächer ausgeprägt als in den beiden anderen Fällen. Außerdem wurde die Beziehung zwischen der biologischen Aktivität und den physikalisch-chemischen Eigenschaften durch multiple lineare Regressionsanalyse untersucht. Ungeachtet der Möglichkeit einer Herleitung von signifikanten Gleichungen waren die Korrelationskoeffizienten so gering, daß man die Beziehungen als ungeeignet für eine quantitative Vorhersage ansehen muß. Die ldentifikation der wichtigen Variablen kann aber dessenungeachtet nützliche Hinweise auf die Wirkmechanismen dieser Substanzklasse geben.

     

Variable selection for QSAR by artificial ant colony systems

Derivation of quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) usually involves computational models that relate a set of input variables describing the structural properties of the molecules for which the activity has been measured to the output variable representing activity. Many of the input variables may be correlated, and it is therefore often desirable to select an optimal subset of the input variables that results in the most predictive model. In this paper we describe an optimization technique for variable selection based on artificial ant colony systems. The algorithm is inspired by the behavior of real ants, which are able to find the shortest path between a food source and their nest using deposits of pheromone as a communication agent. The underlying basic self-organizing principle is exploited for the construction of parsimonious QSAR models based on neural networks for several classical QSAR data sets.     

Developing Insoluble Polyoxometalate Clusters to Bridge Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Water Oxidation Photocatalysis

Cluster catalysts are attractive for their atomically precise structures, defined compositions, tunable coordination environments, uniform active sites, and their ability to transfer multiple electrons, but they suffer from poor stability and recyclability. Here, we report a general approach to the direct insolubilization of a water soluble polyoxometalate (POM) [{(B-α-PW₉O₃₄)Co₃(OH)(H₂O)₂(O₃PC(O)-(C₃H₆NH₃)PO₃)}₂Co]¹⁴⁻ ( Co₇ ) and formation of a series of POM-based solid catalysts with the counter-cations Ag⁺, Cs⁺, Sr²⁺, Ba²⁺, Pb²⁺, Y³⁺, and Ce³⁺. They exhibit improved catalytic activities for visible-light-driven water oxidation following the trend CsCo₇ > SrCo₇ > AgCo₇ > Ce^IIICo₇ > BaCo₇ > YCo₇ > PbCo₇ . While CsCo₇ exhibits mainly homogeneous catalysis, the others are predominantly heterogeneous catalysts. An optimal oxygen yield of 41.3 % and a high apparent quantum yield (AQY) of 30.6 % for SrCo₇ is obtained, which is comparable to that of the parent homogeneous POM. Band gap structures, UV/Vis spectra, and real-time laser flash photolysis experiments collectively suggest that easier electron transfer from the solid POM catalyst to the photosensitizer promotes photocatalytic water oxidation performance. These solid POM catalysts exhibit good stability, which is directly confirmed by a combination of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction patterns, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, five cycles of tests, and poisoning experiments.