Laboratory Growth of <i>Anopheles gambiae</i>(Diptera: Culicidae) and Morphological Determinism of Moulting

Growth in arthropods in general and in insects in particular, is supposed to be discontinuous and occurs during moulting. In Culicidae in general and Anopheles in particular, the number of moults is five with the fourth which gives the pupae. It is known that moulting in insects is a genetic and physiological phenomenon. Most physiological reactions are triggered by chemical or physical stimuli. The pressure exerted by the growth of the larval body on the exocuticle is one of the triggers of moulting. The objective of this work was therefore to determine the exact timing of the first three moults that determine the growth of An. gambiae larvae from egg hatch to pupation to highlight the role of increased larval size in the stimulation of moulting. We therefore, undertook to rear larvae of this anopheline species in the laboratory under conditions close to their natural environment from hatching to pupation. The length and width of the head, thorax and abdomen were recorded daily. Data analysis showed that the size of the head and thorax remained constant for the first three days (D0 to D2) of development and abdomen’s length for the first two days and then increased daily until day seven (D7) when it stopped. These observations led us to say that the M1 moult occurs at end of the third day of development and the M3 moult at end of the eighth day;the M2 moult could not be determined. All these observations led to the conclusion that the larval growth of An. gambiae has a continuous regimen and the growth of the head and thorax of the larva plays a crucial role in the onset of moulting.

膏盐岩含量对成熟阶段页岩生烃影响的模拟实验

中国海相和陆相盆地烃源岩层系中均发育厚度不等的膏盐岩层,为探究膏盐岩含量变化对烃源岩生烃过程及产物特征的影响规律,以美国二叠盆地Eagle Ford组页岩为烃源岩,通过添加不同质量分数的天然膏盐岩开展生烃模拟实验,分析滞留于固态反应物中液态产物的特征。结果表明:随着膏盐岩质量分数的增加,海相烃源岩滞留烃产率呈现“先降低再升高”的U型曲线特征,且膏盐岩含量与饱和烃的相对含量呈线性关系,膏盐岩可显著改善原油品质;膏盐岩含量与Pr/Ph、U/R等生物标志化合物参数值正相关,参数应用时需充分考虑膏盐岩含量的影响。研究成果对精确评价页岩油储量潜力、明确页岩油品质变化主控因素具有重要参考作用。

Synthesis of bis(indolyl) methanes using aluminiumoxide(acidic) in dry media

Heterogeneous catalyst aluminium oxide(acidic) is found to be an effective catalyst for the solvent-free condensation reaction of indole with aldehydes in microwave irradiation with shorter reaction time and higher yields.

Greener approach towards the facile synthesis of 1,4-dihydropyrano[2,3-c]pyrazol-5-y1 cyanide derivatives at room temperature

This report describes triethylammonium acetate （TEAA） ionic liquid catalyzed one pot synthesis of 6-amino-4-aryl-5-cyano-3- methyl-1-phenyl-1,4-dihydropyrano [2,3-c]pyrazoles by the reaction of aromatic aldehyde, malononitrile and 3-methyl-1-phenyl-2- pyrazolin-5-one at room temperature. TEAA plays dual role as reaction media and catalyst. It can also be easily recovered and reused in several runs. TEAA provides greener reaction protocol to present methodology which obviates the need of organic solvents, expensive and toxic catalyst.

Ultrasound-assisted one-pot synthesis of 2,4,5-triarylimidazole derivatives catalyzed by ceric (Ⅳ) ammonium nitrate in aqueous media

2,4,5-Triarylimidazoles could be obtained in excellent yields by the one-pot three-component condensation of benzil/benzoin, aldehydes and ammonium acetate in the presence of catalytic amount of the inexpensive, readily available and non-toxic ceric （IV） ammonium nitrate （CAN） in aqueous media under ultrasound at room temperature. In this reaction the products were obtained in short reaction time and easy operation under mild conditions.

New carbazole based dyes as effective co-sensitizers for DSSCs sensitized with ruthenium(Ⅱ) complex(NCSU-10)

Herein, we report the design and synthesis of three new D-A type metal-free carbazole based dyes（S1-3）as effective co-sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cell（DSSC） sensitized with Ru（Ⅱ） complex（NCSU-10）.In this new design, the electron rich carbazole unit was attached to three different electron withdrawing/anchoring species, viz. 4-amino benzoic acid, sulfanilic acid and barbituric acid. The dyes were characterized by spectral, photophysical and electrochemical analysis. Their optical and electrochemical parameters along with molecular geometries, optimized from DFT have been employed to apprehend the effect of the structures of these co-sensitizers on the photovoltaic performances. Further, S1-3 dyes were co-sensitized along with a well-known NCSU-10 dye in order to broaden the spectral response of the co-sensitized devices and hence improve the efficiency. The photovoltaic performance studies indicated that, the device fabricated using S1 dye as co-sensitizer with 0.2 mM of NCSU-10 exhibited improved PCE of 9.55% with JSC of 22.85 mA cm-2, VOC of 0.672 V and FF of 62.2%, whereas the DSSC fabricated with dye NCSU-10（0.2 mM） alone displayed PCE of 8.25% with JSC of 20.41 mA cm-2, VOC of 0.667 V and FF of 60.6%. Furthermore, electronic excitations simulated using time-dependent DFT, were in good agreement with the experimentally obtained results of the co-sensitizers, indicating that the exchange-correlation function and basis set utilized for predicting the spectra of the co-sensitizers are quite appropriate for the calculations. In conclusion, the results showed the potential of simple organic co-sensitizers in the development of efficient DSSCs.

Boric acid as an efficient catalyst for the synthesis of 1,1-diacetate under solvent-free condition

Boric acid （BO3H3） is an inexpensive, efficient and mild catalyst for the synthesis of 1,1-diacetate （acylal） from the various aromatic and heteroaryl aldehydes with acetic anhydride at room temperature under solvent-free condition. The present method does not involve any hazardous organic solvents or catalysts. This method gives notable advantages such as excellent chemoselectivity, mild reaction condition, short reaction times and excellent yield.

RECTIFYING EFFECT OF POLYANILINE(PANI)/N-TYPE POROUS SILICONE HETEROJUNCTION

Heterojunctions between polyaniline (PANI) and n-type porous silicon (PS), Al/PS-PANI/Au cell, were fabricated, and the rectifying parameters of this heterojunction diode were measured as a function of the preparation conditions of PANI and PS, the electronic structure of PANI as well as cell structure. The rectifying parameters of Al/PS-PANI/Au cell were determined to be gamma = 1.8x10(1) similar to 1.0x10(5) for the rectifying ratio at 3V, n = 3 similar to 12 for the ideal factor, j(0) = 8.0x10(-5) similar to 5.6x10(-2) mA/cm(2) for the reversed saturated current density, and phi(0) = 0.67 similar to 0.83 V for the barrier height, respectively. The best rectifying heterojunction diode made between PANI and n-type PS with higher rectifying factor (gamma = 1.0x10(5) at 3V), output current (>1500 mA/cm(2) at 3V) and lower ideal factor (n = 3.3) was obtained by preventing the oxidation of PS before evaporating Al electrode.

Zeolites for separation:Fundamental and application

Material based emerging separation techniques are attracting more and more attention as alternatives to the traditional ones such as distillation and extraction,aiming to reduce energy consumption and pollutant emissions.Due to their structure characteristics,zeolites can act as versatile sieves and adsorbents for molecules and have been successfully applied in some very important separation processes.Herein,two major catalogues of zeolite separations,namely membrane separation and adsorptive separation,are discussed and their underlying mechanisms are focused.In the part of membrane separation,the synthesis strategies toward zeolite membranes are introduced and the uniformly-oriented zeolite membranes are emphasized.In the part of the adsorptive separation,the industrial and popular adsorptive separations with the corresponding zeolite adsorbents are summarized.Generally,membrane separation relies on the molecular diffusion behavior within zeolites while adsorptive separation relies on the guest–host interaction in principle.The key challenges and misconceptions in zeolite separations are highlighted throughout the article.

FERROFLUID CONTAINING SOLUBLE CONDUCTIVE POLYANILINE AND ITS FREESTANDING FILMS

Ferrofluid containing highly conductive polyaniline (PANI) was prepared, in which soluble PANI solutions dopedwith 10-camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) and dodecyl benzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) were used as the basic solution and Fe_3O_4nanoparticles (d = 10 nm) as the magnetic material. Moreover, the freestanding films of the resulting ferrofluid can beobtained by an evaporation method. The electrical and magnetic properties of the ferrofluid or its films can be adjustedthrough changing the content of PANI and Fe_3O_4. High saturated magnetization (≈ 30 emu/g) and high conductivity(≈ 250 S/cm) of the composite films can be achieved when the composite film contains 26.6 wt% of Fe_3O_4. In particular, itwas found that the composite films exhibit a super-paramagnetic behavior (Hc = 0) attributed to the size of Fe_3O_4 particles on the nanometer scale.

Influence of coke structure on coke quality using image analysis method

The quality of coke affects the performance of the blast furnace, factors affecting coke quality include coal properties, coal charge granulometry and carbonization conditions. The coke properties in elude the size analysis, cold strength (Micum Indices-M4(). MI0) and hot strength (Coke Reactivity Index-CRI, Coke Strength after Reaction-CSR) properties and structural properties such as coke structure and texture. Structural properties comprise the porosity, pore-cell wall thickness and pore sizes, while textures consist of the carbon forms in the coke. In present work, advanced method such as image analysis method was used to interpret coke microstructure. Conventional methods such as determination of coke porosity by measurement of real and apparent density and mercury porosimetry have a number of limitations. Coke size, magnification, number of image frames captured, process of pellet preparations and coke properties such as M4(), M|0, CRI and CSR (low, medium and high values) were taken as variables for experimental purposes. The coke structure parameters such as porosity, length, perimeter, breadth, roundness, pore-wall thickness and pore size distribution of the pores were determined by image analysis method. This method provided average porosity in addition to pore-wall thickness and pore-size distribution. The pore wall thickness measuremenl by image analysis method provided significant correlations with M40, CRI and CSR values. This explained the usability of image analysis for coke structure measurement.

Constructing an ion‐oriented channel on a zinc electrode through surface engineering

The inherent shortcomings of a zinc anode in aqueous zinc‐ion batteries(ZIBs)such as zinc dendrites and side reactions severely limit their practical application.Herein,to address these issues,an ion‐oriented transport channel constructed by graphdiyne(GDY)nanowalls is designed and grown in situ on the surface of a zinc electrode.The vertically stacked GDY nanowalls with a unique hierarchical porous structure and mechanical properties form a nanomesh‐like interface on the zinc electrode,acting as an ion‐oriented channel,which can efficiently confine the segmented growth of zinc metal in microscopic regions of hundreds of nanometers.In those microscopic regions,the uniform domain current density is effortlessly maintained compared with a large surface area,thereby inhibiting zinc dendrites effectively.Besides,due to the presence of the ion‐oriented channel,the modified zinc anode demonstrates long‐term stable zinc plating/stripping performance for more than 600 h at 1 mAh cm^(−2)in an aqueous electrolyte.In addition,full‐cells coupled with MnO2 show high specific capacity and power density,as well as excellent cycling stability with a capacity retention of 82%after 5000 cycles at 1 A g^(−1).This work provides a feasible and accessible surface engineering approach to modify the electrode interface for confined and dendrite‐free zinc deposition in aqueous ZIBs.

Multiresidue Method for Determination of 67 Pesticides in Water Samples Using Solid-Phase Extraction with Centrifugation and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

A new multi-residue method based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) with centrifugation was developed for determination and quantitation of 67 pesticides in water samples. Two SPE cartridges were tested: Chromabond C18 and Oasis HLB. Parameters that influence the extraction efficiency such as the eluent volume, the sample loading volume, the addition of organic solvent to water sample, sorbent drying and elute concentration were optimized. The innovation of this work was the examination of the use of a centrifugation technique in both the drying and elution steps. When combined with centrifugation, the volume of the elution solvent was reduced to 2 mL and the time for sorbent drying decreased also to 10 min under vacuum. Under the optimized conditions, this method showed good recoveries higher than 65% - 68% for the 67 analyzed pesticides using the C18 and HLB cartridges with relative standard deviations lower than 9.7% - 12.3%. Limits of quantification were between 2 and 20 ng.L–1. The simplicity of the described method, use of less of organic solvent, short procedure time, and good recoveries demonstrate the advantages of this environmentally friendly approach for routine analysis of numerous samples.

MEH-PPV/Alq_3-based bulk heterojunction photodetector

In this paper, we present the effect of varied illumination levels on the electrical properties of the organic blend bulk heterojuction （BHJ） photodiode. To prepare the BHJ blend, poly（2-methoxy-5（2P-ethylhexyloxy） phenyleneviny- lene （MEH-PPV） and aluminum-tris-（8-hydroxyquinoline） （Alq3） are used as donor and acceptor materials, respectively. In order to fabricate the photodiode, a 40-nm thick film of poly（3, 4-ethylendioxytbiophene）：poly（styrensulfonate） （PE- DOT：PSS） is primarily deposited on a cleaned ITO coated glass substrate by spin coating technique. The organic photo- sensitive blend is later spun coated on the PEDOT：PSS layer, followed by the lithium fluoride （LiF） and aluminium （A1） thin films deposition by thermal evaporation. The optical properties of the MEH-PPV：Alq3 blend thin films are investigated using photoluminescence （PL） and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The photodiode shows good photo-current response as a function of variable illumination levels. The responsivity value - 8 mA/W at 3 V is found and the ratio of photo-current to dark current （lph/IDark） is found to be 1.24.

Application of Lignin and Its Derivatives as Slow/Controlled Release Materials in Agricultural Fields

Lignin is the main by-product of pulp and papermaking and is not effectively utilized. Conversion of industrial lignins into value-added materials is beneficial for the effective utilization of resources as well as for environmental protection. Because of their adsorptivity, slow-release property,biocompatibility, and biodegradability, lignin and its derivatives find potential applications as eco-friendly slow/controlled release materials in agricultural fields. This report reviews the recent research advances in lignin-based slow/controlled release fertilizers and pesticides.

Effects of Dracaena arborea(Dracaenaceae) on sexual dysfunction in 4 weeks hyperglycemic male rats

Objective:To investigate the effects of Dracaena arborea(D.arborea) on the sexual behavior parameters in experienced type-1 diabetic rats.Methods:Aqueous and ethanol(100 and 500mg/kg respectively)extracts of dried root barks of D.arborea.sildenafil citrate(1.44 mg/kg),trimethylamine-N-oxide(TMAO,20 mg/kg)and distilled water(110 mL/kg.were orally administered to 4 weeks streptozolocin-induced diabetic rats.Mount latency and frequency(ML.MF),intromission latency and frequency(IL,IF) and post-ejaculatory interval(PEI) were measured by ejaculating series during 90 min once a week for 4 weeks.Glycemia was determined at the beginning and at the end of the treatment Results:D.arborea did not show any major antihvperglycemic effects.Compared to the control group,a significant(P<0.05-0.001)increase in MF and IF was noticed in rats treated with sildenafil citrate(89.71% and 90.07% respectively),aqueous(500 mg/kg.88.08%and 88.749;respectively) and ethanol(100 mg/kg;89.53%and 89.17respectively) extracts of D.arborea after two weeks(series 1) of treatment.ML,IL and PEI were significantly(P<0.05-0.001) decreased after 4 weeks of daily treatment[sildenafil citrate(96.31.96.31%and 34.98%),and D.arborea aqueous 500 mg/kg(94.33.94.33% and 66.609;i and ethanol extracts 100 mg/kg(96.98.97.089;and 64.26%)].Conclusions:These aphrodisiac potentials of D.arborea in experienced diabetic rats could be due to the antioxidant and androgenic properties of phenols,flavonoids.saponins and sterols revealed in the plant extracts.

Fluorescence Spectra of Model Compounds for Light-emitting Alternating Copolymers in Heterogeneous Environments

In this paper, the fluorescence spectra of model compounds of light-emitting alternating copolymers. M (TPA-PPV) and M (TPA-PAV) (Scheme 1) were studied and the effect of KNO3 on the interaction between model compounds and ionic micelle-watts interface was also investigated. It is found that (I) The fluorescence changes of M (TPA-PPV) are related to the state of CTAB and SDS solution. (II)Aggregated state can be formed in M (TPA-PAV) solution at low concentration of CTAB. (III) Higher concentration of KNO3 may affect the interaction between model compounds and ionic micelle-water interface.

New flavonoids from bioactive extract of Algerian medicinal plant Launeae arborescens

Objective:To investigate the butanol fraction of the water/acetone extract and isolate of the new flavonoids from Launeae arboescens.Methods:The compounds were isolated by liquid chromatographic methods and their structures were identified by using spectroscopic analysis.Results:The isolated compounds were identified as:7-0-[α-rhamnopyranosyl 4',5,6-Trihydroxy flavone 1,4',5'-Di-Methoxy 7-(5"-Me Hexan)1-oyl flavanone 2,3"-isopropyl pyrano[1":7,4":6]3',4',5',5-Tetrahydroxy flavanone 3,5,4',5'-Tri-Hydroxy 7-(3"-Me butan)-yl flavanone 4.5,7-Dihydroxy-2',4',5'-trimethoxy-isoflavanone 5,5,6,7,4'-tetrahydroxy flavonol 6,7-O-[α-rhamnopyranosyl-(1->6)-β-glucopyranosyl]-4',5,7-tri-hydroxy-flavanone 7,7-O-[α-rhamnopyranosyl-(1->6)-β-glucopyranosyl]3',5-Dihydroxy 4'-Methoxy flavanone 8.Conclusions:The presence of different types of bioactive flavonoids in Launeae arhoescens extract can explain the large ethnopharmacological uses and the potential activity of this medicinal plant.

HETEROJUNCTION DIODES OF POROUS SILICON WITH SOLUBLE POLYANILINE

Two kinds of heterojunction diodes of porous silicon (PS) with soluble polyaniline (PANI) were fabricated. One is a heterojunction diode of PS with water-soluble copolymer of polyaniline (PAOABSA), Al/PS-PAOABSA/Au cell as rectifying diode. Another is a heterojunction diode of PS with soluble polyaniline doped with DBSA, Al/PS-PANI (DBSA)/Au cell as light emitting diode (LED). The rectifying characteristics of the rectifying diodes were measured as a function of the degree of sulfonation and thickness of the copolymers, as well as oxidation of PS. The rectifying ratio of the heterojunction can reach 5.0x10(4) at +/-3 V bias. For the LED, the photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) spectra were measured and discussed.

Geochemical signatures of potassium metasomatism in anthracite from the Himalayan fold‑thrust belts of Sikkim,India

The present study focuses on the inorganic geochemical features of the bituminous coal samples from the Raniganj and the Jharia Basins,as well as the anthracite samples from the Himalayan fold-thrust belts of Sikkim,India.The SiO_(2)content(48.05 wt%to 65.09 wt%and 35.92 wt%to 50.11 wt%in the bituminous and anthracite samples,respectively)and the ratio of Al_(2)O_(3)/TiO_(2)(6.97 to 17.03 in the bituminous coal samples and 10.34 to 20.07 in the anthracite samples)reveal the intermediate igneous source rock composition of the minerals.The ratio of the K_(2)O/Al_(2)O_(3)in the ash yield of the bituminous coal samples(0.03 to 0.09)may suggest the presence of kaolinite mixed with montmorillonite,while its range in the ash yield of the anthracite samples(0.16 to 0.27)may imply the presence of illite mixed with kaolinite.The chemical index of alteration values may suggest the moderate to strong chemical weathering of the source rock under sub-humid to humid climatic conditions.The plot of the bituminous coal samples in the A–CN–K diagram depicts the traditional weathering trend of parent rocks,but the anthracite samples plot near the illite feld and are a bit ofset from the weathering trend.This may imply the plausible infuences of the potassium-metasomatism at post coalifcation stages,which is further supported by high K_(2)O/Na_(2)O ratio(29.88–80.13).The Fourier transform infrared spectra further reveal the hydroxyl stretching intensity of illite in the anthracite samples substantiating the efect of the epigenetic potassium-metasomatism.The decrease in total kaolinite intensity/compound intensity of quartz and feldspar may provide additional evidence towards this epigenetic event.