Suzuki Cross-Coupling Reaction Catalyzed by the Palladium Complex Pd[N-MorphC(S)NP(O)(OiPr)2-O,S]2

Suzuki cross-coupling reaction between phenyl bromide and phenylboronic acid, catalyzed by the palladium complex Pd[N-MorphC(S)NP(O)(OiPr)₂-1,5-O,S)]₂ in acetonitrile, toluene, THF or DMF has been investigated. Bases employed for the reaction were Na₂CO₃, K₂CO₃ or Cs₂CO₃. Varying largely the experimental conditions we found that excellent yields of the product were obtained using toluene and K₂CO₃ at 100 °C at the catalyst amount of 0.02 mmol.     

Combined optical tweezers/ion beam technique to tune colloidal masks for nanolithography

A method is presented to control the in-plane ordering, size, and interparticle distance of nanoparticles fabricated by evaporation through a mask of colloidal particles. The use of optical tweezers combined with critical point drying gives single-particle position control over the colloidal particles in the mask. This extends the geometry of the colloidal masks from (self-organized) hexagonal to any desired symmetry and spacing. Control over the mask's hole size is achieved by MeV ion irradiation, which causes the colloids to expand in the in-plane direction, thus shrinking the size of the holes. After modification of the mask, evaporation at different angles with respect to the mask gives additional control over structure and interparticle distance, allowing nanoparticles of different materials to be deposited next to each other. We demonstrate large arrays of metal nanoparticles with dimensions in the 15-30 nm range, with control over the interparticle distance and in-plane ordering.     

Kinetics of struvite to newberyite transformation in the precipitation system MgCl2-NH4H2PO4NaOH-H2O

The influence of the initial reactant concentrations on the composition of the solid phases formed in the precipitation system MgCl(2)-NH(4)H(2)PO(4)-NaOH-H(2)O was investigated. The precipitation diagram constructed shows the approximate concentration regions within which struvite, newberyite, and their mixtures exist at 25 degrees C and an aging time of 60 min. It was found that immediately after mixing the reactant solutions, struvite (MgNH(4)PO(4).6H(2)O) precipitated in nearly the whole concentration area, while newberyite (MgHPO(4).3H(2)O) appeared mostly within the region of the excess of magnesium concentration. It was also found that after aging time of 60 min the precipitation domain of struvite alone is much broader than that of newberyite or the domain of their coexistence, and shows that struvite is more abundant in the systems in which the initial concentration of ammonium phosphate is higher than that of magnesium. The kinetics of struvite to newberyite transformation (conversion) was systematically studied under the conditions of different initial reactant concentrations and different initial pH in the systems in which a mixture of both phases precipitated spontaneously. The struvite to newberyite conversion period was found to be strongly related to the ratio of initial supersaturations, S(N)/S(S), rather than to the any particular physical quantity that can describe and predict the behavior of the precipitation system. Experimental data suggest a solution-mediated process as a most possible transformation mechanism. Along with a continuous monitoring of the changes in the liquid phase, the content of struvite in the solid phase was estimated by means of a Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) method, developed for this particular precipitation system.     

Soy sauce odour induces and enhances saltiness perception

Developing products with reduced sodium content is one alternative for consumers interested in reducing their daily sodium intake. In this research, we determined whether soy sauce odour could induce and enhance salty taste perception in salt solution models. The sensory threshold technique (ASTM E679‐04, the ascending forced choice method of limits) was used to determine thresholds at 25 °C. Group best estimate threshold geometric means of soy sauce odour were expressed as parts‐per‐billion (ppb, v/v). At 28.45 ppb (recognition threshold), soy sauce odour could induce salty taste in 0.03 mm NaCl solution (in which salty taste was undetectable without soy sauce odour) and at 122.71 ppb (difference threshold), it enhanced salty taste (i.e. saltier) perception in 20 mm NaCl solution. Through the odour–taste interaction concept, this study demonstrated that the soy sauce odour could induce and enhance salty taste perception, which could be applied in the development of reduced‐sodium foods.     

Wire antenna versus modified transmission line approach to the transient analysis of grounding grid

The paper deals with transient analysis of grounding grids using two different approaches, wire antenna theory and modified transmission line model. The Pocklington integro-differential equations, in frequency domain, arising from the wire antenna theory are numerically handled via the Galerkin–Bubnov variant of indirect Boundary Element Method (GB-IBEM), while the transient response was obtained using inverse Fourier transform. The modified transmission line equations are treated using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. Some illustrative numerical results are presented and discussed in the paper.     

Solvent-Induced Formation of Novel Ni(II) Complexes Derived from Bis-Thiosemicarbazone Ligand: An Insight from Experimental and Theoretical Investigations

In this work, we report solvent-induced complexation properties of a new N₂S₂ tetradentate bis-thiosemicarbazone ligand (H₂L^I), prepared by the condensation of 4-phenylthiosemicarbazide with bis-aldehyde, namely 2,2’-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(oxy)dibenzaldehyde, towards nickel(II). Using ethanol as a reaction medium allowed the isolation of a discrete mononuclear homoleptic complex [NiL^I] (1), for which its crystal structure contains three independent molecules, namely 1-I, 1-II, and 1-III, in the asymmetric unit. The doubly deprotonated ligand L^I in the structure of 1 is coordinated in a cis-manner through the azomethine nitrogen atoms and the thiocarbonyl sulfur atoms. The coordination geometry around metal centers in all the three crystallographically independent molecules of 1 is best described as the seesaw structure. Interestingly, using methanol as a reaction medium in the same synthesis allowed for the isolation of a discrete mononuclear homoleptic complex [Ni(L^II)₂] (2), where L^II is a monodeprotonated ligand 2-(2-(2-(2-(dimethoxymethyl)phenoxy)ethoxy)benzylidene)-N-phenylhydrazine-1-carbothioamide (HL^II). The ligand L^II was formed in situ from the reaction of L^I with methanol upon coordination to the metal center under synthetic conditions. In the structure of 2, two ligands L^II are coordinated in a trans-manner through the azomethine nitrogen atom and the thiocarbonyl sulfur atom, also yielding a seesaw coordination geometry around the metal center. The charge and energy decomposition scheme ETS-NOCV allows for the conclusion that both structures are stabilized by a bunch of London dispersion-driven intermolecular interactions, including predominantly N–H∙∙∙S and N–H∙∙∙O hydrogen bonds in 1 and 2, respectively; they are further augmented by less typical C–H∙∙∙X (where X = S, N, O, π), CH∙∙∙HC, π∙∙∙π stacking and the most striking, attractive long-range intermolecular C–H∙∙∙Ni preagostic interactions. The latter are found to be determined by both stabilizing Coulomb forces and an exchange-correlation contribution as revealed by the IQA energy decomposition scheme. Interestingly, the analogous long-range C–H∙∙∙S interactions are characterized by a repulsive Coulomb contribution and the prevailing attractive exchange-correlation constituent. The electron density of the delocalized bonds (EDDB) method shows that the nickel(II) atom shares only ~0.8|e| due to the σ-conjugation with the adjacent in-plane atoms, demonstrating a very weak σ-metalloaromatic character.     

Wound measurement by RGB-D camera

The robot and computer vision community has seen a lot of novelties developed in the past few years as a result of the appearance of cheap RGB-D sensors spearheaded by the Kinect sensor. In this paper, the feasibility of using an RGB-D camera in detecting, segmenting, reconstructing and measuring chronic wounds in 3D is explored. The wound is detected by implementing nearest-neighbor approach on color histograms generated from the image. The proposed wound segmentation procedure extracts the wound contour using visual and geometrical information of the surface. A procedure comparable to KinectFusion is used for the 3D reconstruction of the wound. In order to achieve real-time performance, the whole system is realized in CUDA. The resulting system provides an accurate colored 3D model of the segmented wound and enables the user to determine the volume, area and perimeter of the wound, thereby aiding in the selection of a suitable therapy. The developed system is experimentally evaluated using the Saymour II wound care model by VATA Inc.     

Tuning of BiFeO3 multiferroic properties by light doping with Nb

Bulk ceramic samples of BiFeO₃ were light doped (up to 1%) with Nb⁵⁺ in the place of Fe³⁺ (B-site doping) and their multiferroic properties were investigated using XRD, SEM, polarization (PMTS) and magnetization (SQUID) techniques. It is shown that even the small percentages of doping can notably change electric and magnetic behavior. Electric conductivity differs by two orders of magnitude between samples doped with 0.2% and 1% Nb. The ferroelectric behavior strongly depended on conduction mechanism, and transition from space-charge-limited current (SCLC) conduction to trap-filled limited (TFL) conduction regime reflected on a change in hysteresis patterns, particularly for the samples with 0.2% and 0.5% Nb. Separation of ZFC-FC magnetization curves occurred for all Nb concentrations and increased with Nb doping. Weak ferromagnetic behavior and the increase of remnant magnetization with Nb concentration was observed from the hysteresis measurements. Coercive field changed drastically compared to the pure BiFeO₃, namely, the sample with 1% Nb exhibited very high coercive magnetic field of ~ 10?kOe.     

A novel synthesis of nano-sized mullite from aluminosilicate precursors

A novel method was proposed for the preparation of aluminosilicate-based ceramic materials by temperature induced transformation of amorphous aluminosilicates (zeolite precursors) as an alternative to conventional methods based on the thermal treatment of kaolin, feldspar and other silicate, aluminosilicate and/or oxide mixtures, or by sol-gel method.Amorphous aluminosilicate gels that are usually used as precursors for the crystallization of zeolites after exchanging their host's cations (sodium) with ammonium cations from solution were thermally treated (at 1263 K for 3 h) and yielded a mixture of mullite and amorphous silica. Further chemical treatment of the mixture with sodium hydroxide solution yielded a pure mullite phase having particle size below 100 nm.