(Z)-9-tetradecen-1-OL formate

Concentrations in air of (Z)-9-tetradecen-1-ol formate (Z-9-tdf), a mating disruptant ofHeliothis moths, were measured intermittently over a 22-day period in a corn field. The chemical was emitted from laminated plastic (Hercon^®) dispensers arranged in a square grid with 10-m spacing. Measurements were made at three heights near the center of the treated plot and 1 m downwind from disruptant dispensers. Concurrent measurements were made of wind speed, air temperature, and temperature gradient.Z-9-tdf concentrations ranged from below detectable levels to 195 ng/m³ and were generally highest in the horizontal plane of the dispenser. As wind speed decreased near sunset, concentrations increased sharply, then decreased again near midnight. SinceHeliothis moths mate in the evening and early night, the concentration pattern was favorable for mating disruption. Strong temperature inversions within the crop canopy, which occurred daily before sunset, did not apparently affectZ-9-tdf concentrations. Concentrations decreased steadily on successive sampling days after application, and, by day 27, ranged from 0 to 30% of those on day 6. The data suggest that the corn plants and the soil may act as sinks for the chemical vapor at night.     

Thermodynamics of Fe-Cu alloys as described by a classic potential

The Fe-Cu system is of relevance to the nuclear industry because of the deleterious consequences of Cu precipitates in the mechanical properties of Fe. Several sets of classical potentials are used in molecular dynamics simulations studies of this system, in particular that proposed by Ludwig et al. [M. Ludwig, D. Farkas, D. Pedraza, S. Schmauder, Model. Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng. 6 (1998) 19]. In this work we extract thermodynamic information from this interatomic potential. We obtain equilibrium phase diagram and find a reasonable agreement with the experimental phases in the regions of relevance to radiation damage studies. We compare the results with the predicted phase diagram based on other potential, as calculated in previous work. We discuss the disagreements found between the phase diagram calculated here and experimental results, focusing on the pure components and discuss the applicability of these potentials. Improved potentials, primarily for the pure components, should be developed to account for proper phase stability in the solid phase up to melting. Finally we suggest an approach to improve existing potentials for this system.     

Characterization of Jatropha curcas oils and their derived fatty acid ethyl esters obtained from two different plantations in Cuba

The scope of this work is to evaluate some properties of the oils and derived fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) from two different Jatropha Curcas species planted in Cuba. The properties that were determined include the acid value, peroxide value, p-anisidine value and fatty acid ethyl esters composition. In order to study the influence of the genus species and geographic conditions on the fuel properties, the oils from Jatropha Curcas planted in two regions of Cuba and their derived FAEE were analyzed and compared. The two plantations were in San José (SJ) and Guantanamo (Gt) representing respectively the western and eastern part of the island.The analyses indicated that the FAEE obtained from Guantanamo has a higher acid value and peroxide value compared with the FAEE from San José. The p-anisidine values did not show a clear trend and the results of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry indicated a similar FAEE composition. The results obtained by gas chromatography are in good agreements with previous reports.     

Partial oxidation of methane in hollow‐fiber membrane reactors based on alkaline‐earth metal‐free CO2‐tolerant oxide

The U‐shaped alkaline‐earth metal‐free CO₂‐stable oxide hollow‐fiber membranes based on (Pr_0.9La_0.1)₂(Ni_0.74Cu_0.21Ga_0.05)O_4+δ (PLNCG) are prepared by a phase‐inversion spinning process and applied successfully in the partial oxidation of methane (POM) to syngas. The effects of temperature, CH₄ concentration and flow rate of the feed air on CH₄ conversion, CO selectivity, H₂/CO ratio, and oxygen permeation flux through the PLNCG hollow‐fiber membrane are investigated in detail. The oxygen permeation flux arrives at approximately 10.5 mL/min cm² and the CO selectivity is higher than 99.5% with a CH₄ conversion of 97.0% and a H₂/CO ratio of 1.8 during 140 h steady operation. The spent hollow‐fiber membrane still maintains a dense microstructure and the Ruddlesden‐Popper K₂NiF₄‐type structure, which indicates that the U‐shaped alkaline‐earth metal‐free CO₂‐tolerant PLNCG hollow‐fiber membrane reactor can be steadily operated for POM to syngas with good performance. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 3587–3595, 2014     

News and Traditional Indications from Short Daily Dialysis: Different Schemes to Optimized ESF Response

Dialysis adequacy indexed by Kt/V in hemodialysis (HD) patients is recommended as a single-pool Kt/V of at least 1.2 per session thrice weekly. But many patients cannot achieve this adequacy target. Although dialysis time is the most important as a factor influencing Kt/V, it is difficult to prolong dialysis time in practice because of its economic impact and poor patient compliance.
Objective:  The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of increasing blood flow rate on dialysis adequacy in HD patients with low Kt/V.
Methods:  This study enrolled 36 HD patients with single-pool Kt/V <1.2 per session thrice weekly, which was measured in dialyzer blood flow rate of 230 mL/min. We increased 15% of blood flow rate in patients <65 kg of body weight and 20% in patients >65 kg. And then we compared Kt/V and urea reduction ratio (URR) between before and after increasing blood flow rate.
Results:  The mean age was 48 ± 11 years (23–73 years), and the number of males was 25. Of the total patients, 24 patients had dry weight <65 kg. Mean dialysis duration was 52 ± 50 months (3–216 months). Mean Kt/V before increasing blood flow rate was 1.02 ± 0.09. It increased to 1.14 ± 0.12 after increasing blood flow rate (p < 0.001). Of the total 36 patients, 13 patients (36.1%) achieved adequacy target (Kt/V ≤ 1.2). Mean URR before increasing blood flow rate was 56.9 ± 4.0%. It also increased to 60.8 ± 4.1% (p < 0.001).
Conclusion:  Our data suggest that increasing blood flow rate by 15–20% of previous flow rate is effective in achieving dialysis adequacy in HD patients with low Kt/V.     

(BETS)2[RuX5NO] (X = Cl, Br): An Explanation of Different Conductive Properties Through Structural and Spectroscopic Studies

For the development of new crystal and electronic structures in molecular conductors, dimeric tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) and tetraselenafulvalenes (TSFs)1–3 linked by single or double methyl antimony bridge(s) have been prepared and their neutral crystal structures have been investigated. The donor2 (cis-2) forms a metallic cation radical salt with tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) containing one-dimensional array interactions.     

The d-index: Discovering dependences among scientific collaborators from their bibliographic data records

The evaluation of the work of a researcher and its impact on the research community has been deeply studied in literature through the definition of several measures, first among all the h-index and its variations. Although these measures represent valuable tools for analyzing researchers?? outputs, they usually assume the co-authorship to be a proportional collaboration between the parts, missing out their relationships and the relative scientific influences. In this work, we propose the d-index, a novel measure that estimates the dependence degree between authors on their research environment along their entire scientific publication history. We also present a web application that implements these ideas and provides a number of visualization tools for analyzing and comparing scientific dependences among all the scientists in the DBLP bibliographic database. Finally, relying on this web environment, we present case and user studies that highlight both the validity and the reliability of the proposed evaluation measure.