A novel nanostructured composite formed by interaction of copper octa(3-aminopropyl)octasilsesquioxane with azide ligands: Preparation, characterization and a voltammetric application

This study presents the preparation, characterization and application of copper octa(3-aminopropyl)octasilsesquioxane following its subsequent reaction with azide ions (ASCA). The precursor (AC) and the novel compound (ASCA) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric analyses and voltammetric technique. The cyclic voltammogram of the modified graphite paste electrode with ASCA (GPE-ASCA), showed one redox couple with formal potential (E(1/2)(ox)) = 0.30 V and an irreversible process at 1.1 V (vs. Ag/AgCl; NaCl 1.0 M; v = 20 mV s(-1)). The material is very sensitive to nitrite concentrations. The modified graphite paste electrode (GPE-ASCA) gives a linear range from 1.0 x 10(-4) to 4.0 x 10(-3) mol L(-1) for the determination of nitrite, with a detection limit of 2.1 x 10(-4) mol L(-1) and the amperometric sensitivity of 8.04 mA/mol L(-1). (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fast Acquisition of (13)C NMR Spectra using the Steady-state Free Precession Sequence

In this paper, we show that the steady-state free precession sequence can be used to acquire (13)C high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectra and applied to qualitative analysis. The analysis of brucine sample using this sequence with 60 degrees flip angle and time interval between pulses equal to 300 ms (acquisition time, 299.7 ms; recycle delay, 300 ms) resulted in spectrum with twofold enhancement in signal-to-noise ratio, when compared to standard (13)C sequence. This gain was better when a much shorter time interval between pulses (100 ms) was applied. The result obtained was more than fivefold enhancement in signal-to-noise ratio, equivalent to more than 20-fold reduction in total data recording time. However, this short time interval between pulses produces a spectrum with severe phase and truncation anomalies. We demonstrated that these anomalies can be minimized by applying an appropriate apodization function and plotting the spectrum in the magnitude mode.

Outdoor performance of forest seedlings pre-cultivated under artificial lights : effects of the light spectra used for pre-cultivation on the future establishment and development

Forest nurseries are essential for producing good quality seedlings, thus being a key element in the reforestation process. With increasing climate change awareness, nursery managers are looking for new tools that can help reduce the effects of their operations on the environment. The ZEPHYR project, funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), has the objective of finding new alternatives for nurseries by developing innovative zero-impact technologies for forest plant production. Due to their direct relationship to the energy consumption of the nurseries, one of the main elements addressed are the grow lights used for the pre-cultivation. New LED luminaires with a light spectrum tailored to the seedlings’ needs are being studied and compared against the traditional fluorescent lamps. Seedlings of Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris were grown under five different light spectra (one fluorescent and 4 LED) during 5 weeks with a photoperiod of 16 hours at 100 μmol∙m-2∙s-1 and 60% humidity. In order to evaluate if these seedlings were able cope with real field stress conditions, a forest field trial was also designed. The terrain chosen was a typical planting site in mid-Sweden after clear-cutting. Two vegetation periods after the outplanting, the seedlings that were pre-cultivated under the LED lamps have performed at least as well as those that were grown under fluorescent lights. These results show that there is a good  potential for lightning substitution in forestry nurseries.

Electronic contracting in aircraft aftercare: A case study

Distributed systems comprised of autonomous self-interested entities require some sort of control mechanism to ensure the predictability of the interactions that drive them. This is certainly true in the aerospace domain, where manufacturers, suppliers and operators must coordinate their activities to maximise safety and profit, for example. To address this need, the notion of norms has been proposed which, when incorporated into formal electronic documents, allow for the specification and deployment of contract-driven systems. In this context, we describe the CONTRACT framework and architecture for exactly this purpose, and describe a concrete instantiation of this architecture as a prototype system applied to an aerospace aftercare scenario.

Handling Mitigating Circumstances for Electronic Contracts

Electronic contracts are a means of representing agreed responsibilities and expected behaviour of autonomous agents acting on behalf of businesses. They can be used to regulate behaviour by providing negative consequences, penalties, where the responsibilities and expectations are not met, i.e. the contract is violated. However, long-term business relationships require some flexibility in the face of circumstances that do not conform to the assumptions of the contract, that is, mitigating circumstances. In this paper, we describe how contract parties can represent and enact policies on mitigating circumstances. As part of this, we require records of what has occurred within the system leading up to a violation: the provenance of the violation. We therefore bring together contract-based and provenance systems to solve the issue of mitigating circumstances.

Towards a Formalisation of Electronic Contracting Environments

The IST-CONTRACT project is in the process of creating an electronic contracting language. One of the goals of this language is that it has formal underpinnings, and formalizations at a number of levels have been created. One of the lowest levels, upon which the other levels are built is the normative level. At this level, we identify how contract clauses (modeled as norms) may evolve over time. In this paper, we describe this formalization, and show how we may associate various states with a norm throughout its lifecycle. We also show how more complex evaluations may be carried out over a norm, and conclude with an example showing the application of the framework over a contract and its associated norms.