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Chitosan-modified magnetic nanoparticles are a promising basis for the creation of new diagnostic agents and therapeutic drugs. The cells of erythroid, granulocytic, monocytic, lymphocytic, and megakaryocytic lineages of bone marrow of mature rats were investigated for 120 days after single injection of 0.14 g per 1 kg body weight chitosan-modified magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4). Light microscopy was applied to describe the structure of hematopoietic cells and morphometric study was performed on Romanowsky—Giemsa stained smears to measure cells size (µm) and relative number (%). Comparison of the biological effects of nonmodified and modified magnetite nanoparticles on hematopoietic cells of bone marrow revealed the advantages of modification. Chitosan-modified magnetite nanoparticles did not affect the structure of hematopoietic cells in the rat bone marrow, and their injection produced a reversible increase in the relative number of monocytes, stab neutrophils and segmented neutrophils, as well as polychromatic and oxyphilic normoblasts.

The results of long-term experiments (LTEs) performed at the Geographical Network of experimental stations encompassing major soil types in Russia (soddy-podzolic (Retisols, Luvisols, and Podzols); gray forest (Luvic Greyzemic Phaeozems); leached, typical, and southern chernozems (Chernozems); chestnut soils (Kastanozems); meadow brown soils (Albic Stagnic Luvisols); and meadow chernozem-like soils (Luvic Greyzemic Stagnic Phaeozems)) within the entire country (from the north to the south of the European part of Russia, Siberia, and the south of the Far East region (Amur oblast, Khabarovsk, and Primorskii regions)) are summarized. Most of the stationary LTEs were lasting 20–45 years; ten LTEs lasted from 50 to 81 years. It was found that the organomineral fertilizer system (OMFS) exceeded the mineral fertilizer system (MFS) in its effect on the yield by 1–40% in 18 experiments, while the MFS was more efficient than the OMFS by 2–3% in only three LTEs. For the same soil type, the differences in Corg content between unfertilized trials reach 0.56–1.55% for soddy-podzolic soils and 1.58–3.93% for chernozems. Differences in soil Corg content between the unfertilized and OMFS (manure + NPK) trials were less than 10% in four LTEs, 11–20% in six LTEs, and >20% in ten LTEs; the average difference reached 0.27% of Corg. The levels of minimum (Cmin) and optimum (Copt) organic carbon content have been determined with due account for the soil types, soil texture classes, and the applied fertilizer system. They can be used as reference values for the studied soils.

We performed complex electroencephalographic (EEG) and stabilographic study in 19 healthy volunteers (25 ± 0.7 years of age) performing isolated and simultaneous cognitive and motor tasks. Increased EEG coherence in the slow (Δ and θ) bands was observed predominantly in the frontotemporal areas of the left hemisphere during isolated computing-logical tasks. Increased coherence in slow spectral bands was also observed in the right hemisphere during spatial-visual tasks. During motor task performance, increased coherence in the high-frequency bands (α, β, and γ) was observed predominantly in the right hemisphere. The number of connections in the slow bands in simultaneous cognitive and motor tasks was decreased as compared with isolated tasks. Moreover, increased EEG coherence in the α1 band was observed in the frontal, central and parietal areas of both hemispheres during dual tasks. These findings can indicate the distribution of cognitive resources for both components of dual tasks, as well as the use of supplementary brain resources under these conditions.

The synthesized new binary conjugates of tetrahydro-γ-carbolines, which contained ditriazole spacers of different length, exhibited considerable anticholinesterase and antioxidant activity as well as the potential ability to block the acetylcholinesterase-induced aggregation of β-amyloid in contrast to the original prototype Dimebon. This makes the compounds promising candidates for further investigation as drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Special attention should be given to the conjugate containing the hexamethylene intertriazole spacer, which can be considered as a leader in this series of compounds.

We provide an optimal Berry-Esseen type inequality for Zolotarev’s ideal ζ3-metric measuring the difference between expectations of sufficiently smooth functions, like |·|3, of a sum of independent random variables X 1,..., X n with finite third-order moments and a sum of independent symmetric two-point random variables, isoscedastic to the X i . In the homoscedastic case of equal variances, and in particular, in case of identically distributed X 1,..., X n the approximating law is a standardized symmetric binomial one. As a corollary, we improve an already optimal estimate of the accuracy of the normal approximation due to Tyurin (2009).

Solid solutions of the ( $$P{b_{1 - {\alpha _1} - {\alpha _2}}}S{r_{{\alpha _1}}}B{a_{{\alpha _2}}}$$ ) (0.02 ⩽ α1 ⩽ 0.36, 0.0073 ⩽ α2 ⩽ 0.1339) system with the ratio of Sr and Ba chosen so as to exclude the influence of the size factor on the lead titanate structure have been studied. The studies have been performed using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (EXAFS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It has been found that the removal of 2.5 at % Pb2+, which presumably occupy oxygen octahedra, from the solid solution leads to a partial relieving of the crystal lattice stress that is observed as the decrease in the parameter c, c/a, and the unit cell volume, with parameter a being unchanged. It has been shown that PbTiO3 contains up to 5 at % of Pb4+ ions at all the preparation conditions. The Sr and Ba atoms replace the Pb atoms in lead titanate in a narrow concentration range 0 < (α1 + α2) ⩽ 0.0273; at higher Sr and Ba concentrations, solid solutions SrPb x Ti1–x O3 → Sr1–y Ba y Pb x Ti1–x O3 are formed.

We discuss the possibility of finding the birthplaces of open clusters (OC) with ages of several billion years. The proposed method is based on the comparison of the results of the chemical evolution modeling of the Galactic disk with the parameters of the cluster. Five OCs older than 7 Gyr are known: NGC6791, BH176, Collinder 261, Berkeley 17, and Berkeley 39. The oxygen and iron abundances in NGC6791 and the oxygen abundance in BH176 are twice the solar level, the heavy-element abundances in other clusters are close to the corresponding solar values. According to chemical evolution models, at the time of the formation of the objects considered the regions where the oxygen and iron abundances reached the corresponding levels extended out to 5 kpc from the Galactic center.At present time theOCs considered are located several kpc from the Galactic center. Some of these clusters are located extremely high, about 1 kpc above the disk midplane, i.e., they have been subject to some mechanism that has carried them into orbits uncharacteristic of this type of objects. It follows from a comparison with the results of chemical evolution that younger clusters with ages of 4–5 Gyr, e.g., NGC1193,M67, and others, may have formed in a broad range of Galactocentric distances. Their large heights above the disk midplane is sufficient to suggest that these clusters have moved away from their likely birthplaces. Clusters are carried far away from the Galactic disk until the present time: about 40 clusters with ages from 0 to 2 Gyr are observed at heights ranging from 300 to 750 pc.

Serious interest in the radiation-chemical carboxylation of the indole—serine system is caused by the prospects for its use in the production of the essential amino acid tryptophan. In this work, the effect of charge scavengers—biphenyl and hydrogen peroxide—on the kinetics of radiolysis of this system has been studied. It has been found that the solvated electron plays a determining role in the mechanism of tryptophan formation.

Since 1983, Dimebon (Dimebolin) is used clinically in Russia as an antihistamine drug. Recent interest in Dimebolin is associated with its therapeutic effect in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Animal studies have shown that Dimebon activity is realized via multiple mechanisms. Our experiments performed on the fibroblast cell culture L929 and C57Bl mice have been shown that Dimebon may block cytotoxic signals induced by the proinflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα). Dimebon (10 μg/mL) protected mouse fibroblast cells L929 against toxic action of TNFα. Pretreatment of mice with Dimebon prevented development of changes in molecular species of sphingomyelins and galactosylceramides induced by a single dose administration of TNAα. Dimebon itself did not induce changes in sphingolipids of the investigated brain structures.

From the example of Amur Bay (Sea of Japan), it is shown that relative diurnal variations in the nonconserved hydrochemical indices increase by the power law with an exponent of −0.33 ± 0.02 with a decrease in their average contents (102–10−4 mg/kg).

New polycrystalline Bi-containing layered perovskite-like oxides having the Aurivillius phase (AP) structure with the general formula A 0.5Bi4.5 B 0.5Ti3.5O15 (A = Na, Ca, Sr, Pb; B = Cr, Co, Ni, Fe, Mn, Ga) have been synthesized. The unit cell parameters of the synthesized compounds have been determined by X-ray powder diffraction. All studied APs crystallize in the orthorhombic system (space group A21 am (36)). The degree of distortion of AP unit cells has been analyzed based on the obtained structural parameters. The temperature dependences of the permittivity have been measured and the Curie temperatures have been determined for all the samples. The significant difference in the values of the permittivity maxima for APs Sr0.5Bi4.5Co0.5Ti3.5O15 and Sr0.5Bi4.5Ni0.5Ti3.5O15 has been interpreted based on the electron microscopy data and explained by substantial changes in the porosity and crystal grain sizes of these ceramic samples.

A polarization state is formed with an electron beam in ceramic samples of pure lead ferroniobate (PFN) and PFN modified to a superstoichiometric composition at the stage of synthesis by adding 1 wt % lithium carbonate (PFNL) and 1 wt % of magnesia (PFNM). It is shown that in the case of PFNL, polarization by an electron beam is more efficient than the conventional method of “hot” polarization. Reasons for the observed effects, including enhanced electron emission from local irradiated areas on the surface of the ceramics, are discussed.

The regularities of electrochemical deposition and dissolution of gold in the mixed sulfite-thiocarbamide electrolytes in the absence and in the presence of sodium sulfide additive are studied by using the voltammetric measurements on a renewable electrode and quarts microgravimetry. It is shown that, in the cathodic metal deposition, an addition of sodium sulfide promotes the depolarization effect, which is caused by the presence of thiocarbamide in the solution. Under the anodic polarization of gold in the mixed sulfite-thiocarbamide solution with pH 10, the gold dissolution in the sulfite-thiocarbamide electrolyte is observed even in the solution free of Na2S additive. It is evidenced that this is associated with spontaneous accumulation of sulfide-containing species in the solution, probably, as a result of thiocarbamide hydrolysis; the rate of hydrolysis steeply increases with increasing pH value.

The valence state of the Mn ions in ceramic samples of the La1−α BiLaβMnLa1−δ OLa3±γ composition (LBMO) has been studied using the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The presence of Mn3+ and Mn4+ ions in these compounds has been shown. The relative content Mn3+/Mn4+ has been determined by means of fitting the experimental Mn 2p spectra by the superposition of theoretical spectra of Mn3+ and Mn4+ ions. The elemental composition of the samples has been determined by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron probe microanalysis. It has been established that the relative content of Mn4+ ions correlates with parameter δ, which characterizes the deviation of the actual elemental composition of the La1−α BiLaβMnLa1−δ OLa3±γ ceramics from stoichiometry La1 − xBixMnO3.

Data on Amur Bay (the Sea of Japan) are used to show the existence of a dependence between the diurnal variability and the mean daily concentrations of various hydrochemical characteristics, which can be approximated by power function. The formation mechanism of such dependences is considered. Relationships between the parameters of such functions and variability of water salinity are obtained. The possible variation limits of such parameters in a coastal tidal zone of a sea, subject to the effect of coastal runoff. In the frontal mouth zone, one of the parameter (the exponent) linearly increases toward the river, thus reflecting the increase in the contribution of water dynamics to the diurnal variability of characteristics. The notion of variability of characteristics “by salinity” is introduced.

The effect of TlNO3 additive on the gold dissolution in the thiosulfate electrolyte is studied by using chronoammetry on the electrode, which was renewed by cutting-off a thin surface metal layer immediately in the solution. It is shown that the ascending branches of anodic polarization curve shift in the negative direction with increasing time of electrode exposure prior to the onset of potential scan Δt (from 0 to 120 s) to the solution containing thallium(I) ions. It is shown that solution stirring and a twentyfold increase in the concentration of thallium ions have a weak effect on the current transients. It is found that the duration of gold dissolution current transients decreases significantly with a potential shift in the positive direction. Based on this data, a mechanism of the effect of thallium(I) ions on the gold dissolution rate is proposed.

Existing high-accuracy aircraft navigation systems are based on inertial navigation systems integrated with aiding systems. An aiding system can be represented by an RGB color vision-based correlationextremal navigation system (CENS). The article describes the algorithm for consideration of air condition when making the color photos for reference images and the algorithm for synthesizing the reference images of one season using the color photos of the other season to be applied in color vision-based CENS.

The effect of TlNO3 additions in the concentration (c 1) range from 5 × 10−6 to 1 × 10−4 M on the anodic dissolution of gold in sodium thiosulfate solutions with the concentration (c 2) from 0.005 to 0.2 M is studied by voltammetry on the electrode surface renewed by cutting off a thin metal layer immediately in solution and also by the quartz-crystal microbalance method. For c 2 = 0.2 M, as c 1 increases from 5 × 10−6 to 1 × 10−4 M, the gold anodic dissolution rate is observed to increase from 0.02 (in the absence of TlNO3) to 0.75 mA/cm2 for c 1 = 7.5 × 10−5 M according to a nearly linear law. The dissolution accelerates because the effective values of the transfer coefficient and the exchange current density increase from 0.2 and 4 μA/cm2 (in the absence of TlNO3 admixtures) to 0.47 and 35 μA/cm2 (for c 1 = 1 × 10−4), respectively. Experiments with the renewal of the electrode surface in the course of electrolysis suggest that the gold dissolution is catalyzed in the presence of thallium ions by the adsorption mechanism and also as the result of the mixed kinetics of their adsorption on the electrode surface.

The supposition that gold thiocarbamide complexes can be involved in the reduction of electrochemically inactive sulfite complex gold ions as intermediate species is supported by investigating the kinetics of cathodic process in the solution of the following composition: 10−3 M Na3Au(SO3)2, 0.1 M Na2SO3, 0.1M thiocarbamide (TC), and 0.2 M Na2SO4. The study was performed by the potentiodynamic method in the potential scan rate range from 0.05 to 1 V/s using an electrode with mechanically renewed surface. It is found that both Au(SO3)23−, and Au(TC)2+ are labile complexes. This confirms the hypothesis for the mechanism of the catalytic effect of thiocarbamide on the electrode processes involving gold ions in the sulfate solutions, which was proposed earlier.

The magnetodielectric effect (the influence of a magnetic field H on the dielectric constant ɛ) and the magnetoelectric effect (the influence of an electric field E on the magnetoelectric constant α) of the PbFe1/2Nb1/2O3 ceramics have been investigated at temperatures T in the range from 50 to 200°C, including the Curie point TC ≊ 98°C. It has been demonstrated that there is a correlation of these effects with the shift of the ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition temperature in a magnetic field.

One of the causes for the aging of membranes during their operation in electrodialysis (ED) of solutions is irreversible chemical changes in the ion exchange or reinforcement polymer due to interaction of H+ and OH− ions (present in feed solutions or generated in the membrane system under intense current modes) with the matrix or fixed groups in the surface layer of the membranes. The reduction in current efficiency and an increase in energy consumption in the process of electrodialysis are usual consequences of these changes. It has been shown that the degradation of the ion-exchange polymer on the surface of the CMX membrane during its operation in intense current regimes results in the hydrophobization of the membrane surface, which, in turn, causes enhancement of electroconvection. As a result, the limiting current and the mass transfer coefficient of salt ions increase during membrane operation. In the case of desalination of dilute solutions, this growth can reach 50–70% in comparison with the fresh membrane.

We studied the mechanisms of the antioxidant activity of a tryptamine derivative of securinine (TDS) and its influence on the dynamics of seizure activity in various models of experimental epilepsy. We found that the new TDS, which possesses an antioxidant and a chelating effect, has anticonvulsant action in lithium-pilocarpine-induced epilepsy and may be of interest as a potential scaffold for the development of new neuroprotective anticonvulsant drugs.

The cathodic reduction of gold from mixed sulfite-thiocarbamide electrolytes is studied as a function of the electrolyte composition. In the absence of thiocarbamide in the gold-plating sulfite solutions, gold is deposited at the cathode at high overpotentials. The equilibrium composition of the electrolyte is calculated at various ratios between the amounts of sulfite and thiocarbamide; it is shown that an addition of 10−5 to 0.5 M thiocarbamide does not change considerably the solution composition, and gold ions are present, predominantly, in the form of the complex with sulfite ions. However, an addition of thiocarbamide to the solution leads to a decrease in the overpotential of metal deposition by approximately 0.5 V. A possible mechanism of the catalytic effect of thiocarbamide on the cathodic reduction of gold from mixed sulfite-thiocarbamide electrolytes is proposed. It is shown that sulfite ions have a stabilizing effect on the decomposition of thiocarbamide in the alkaline solutions.

The regularities of silver anodic dissolution are studied by using the voltammetry (at the potential scan rates from 5 to 1000 mV/s) on the electrode, which was renewed immediately in the solution by cutting-off a thin surface metal layer, and quartz microgravimetry, for various concentrations of sodium thiosulfate (0.05–0.2 M). It is shown that, in the potential range from 0 to 0.4 V (normal hydrogen electrode), the polarization curves reflect the silver dissolution, whereas the contribution of oxidation of S2O 3 2− ions is insignificant. At low potential scan rates, the process kinetics is of mixed nature. The kinetics and mechanism of anodic process are studied by using the measurements at high potential scan rates (100–200 mV/s) and the calculations of equilibrium composition of near-electrode layer. It is found that the exchange current in the electrolytes studied is 5 × 10−5 A/cm2, the transfer coefficient α is approximately 0.5, and both parameters are virtually independent of the concentration of S2O 3 2− ions. The reaction order of silver dissolution with respect to the ligand $$ \left. {\frac{{\partial logi}} {{\partial logc}}} \right|_E $$ is close to unity and is independent of potential. With regard for the literature data on the adsorption of thiosulfate ions on silver, this result is interpreted as the evidence for the involvement of one S2O 3 2− ion from bulk solution, along with adsorbed ligands, in the elementary act of metal dissolution.

The kinetics of gold dissolution in solutions containing Na2S2O3 with the concentration c from 0.025 to 0.2 M and different supporting electrolytes is studied by the voltammetric method on renewable electrodes and the quartz crystal microbalance. It is shown that in the range from the steady-state potential to E = 0.3 V (from hereon, the potentials are related to the normal hydrogen electrode), the polarization curves are well approximated by straight lines in semilogarithmic coordinates. The exchange currents i0 and the transfer coefficients α are calculated. It is shown that for c = 0.025 M, the values of i0 and α are about 4 × 10−6 A/cm2 and 0.2. With the increase in the Na2S2O3 concentration, the exchange current increases weakly and the transfer coefficient remains virtually unchanged. The reaction order of gold dissolution with respect to ligand is calculated to have the value p = \( \left( {\frac{{\partial logi_a }} {{\partial logc}}} \right)_E \) = 0.25 which is independent of E. With the changeover of supporting electrolyte, the exchange current increases in the following sequence: Li+ < Na+ < K+, but α and p remains unchanged. Data in thiosulfate solutions is compared with analogous data obtained earlier for the gold dissolution processes in cyanide and thiocarbamide electrolytes in which complexes of the similar structure were also formed. In electrolytes under comparison, the kinetics of gold dissolution is shown to exhibit common features.

The effect of solution pH on the electrochemical behavior of thiocarbamide at gold and platinum electrodes is studied by using cyclic voltammetry and quartz microgravimetry. It is shown that with the increasing of pH the half-wave potential of thiocarbamide oxidation shifts toward negative values in both cases. In the cathodic branches of the cyclic voltammograms, up to pH ≃ 4 the potential region of reduction of the thiocarbamide oxidation product remains practically unchanged; this allows concluding that the oxidation product is formamidine disulfide (at platinum) or its mixture with gold complex ions (at gold electrode). Further increasing of pH up to 9.5–10 results in the increase of the contribution of the reduction current of these ions to the cathodic signal. An explanation for this phenomenon is given. At the same time, new signals appear at E < −0.4 V; they may be interpreted as the current of elemental sulfur reduction. Increasing of pH over 10 leads to gold passivation by the elemental sulfur; this manifests itself as the electrode mass increase during the microgravimetry measurements. Introducing of sodium silicate (recommended in the literature as a solution stabilizer) to the solution does not eliminate the passivation of gold.

It is shown that the gold dissolution in thiocarbamide electrolytes containing sulfide ions in the pH range from 1 to 4 proceeds with a current efficiently of almost 100%, and a change in solution acidity has a weak effect on the process. The oxidation of thiocarbamide to formamidine disulfide proceeds at the potentials around 1.1 V and depends on the pH of solution. When the pH value is raised, the thiocarbamide oxidation potential shifts in the negative direction and approaches the potential of gold dissolution. It is found that, in the absence of catalytically active species, the gold dissolution rate in thiocarbamide solutions in the pH range from 6 to 10 is vary low. At these pH values, as well as in the acidic solutions, an addition of less than 10−4 M sulfide ions to thiocarbamide electrolyte accelerates the gold dissolution at the potentials about 0.6 V. It is shown that sulfide ions in the concentration above 10−4 M inhibit the process. At pH 11, the gold dissolution proceeds also with no special addition of sulfide ions. This is associated with the formation of sulfide ions as a result of accelerated decomposition of thiocarbamide and formamidine disulfide with increasing pH value. It is found that in the pH range from 12 to 13, the processes of gold dissolution and thiocarbamide oxidation are inhibited as a result of the formation of passive film on the electrode surface. Probably, the film consists of elemental sulfur.

It is shown that, in the case of gold, the catalytic activity of sulfur adatoms is significantly higher in the anodic dissolution of metal than in its deposition. In both processes, the catalytic activity increases with increasing overvoltage. The catalytic activity of sulfur adatoms is considerably lower for silver than for gold both in the metal deposition and dissolution, and it is virtually independent of overvoltage. In the case of silver, the catalytic activity of sulfur adatoms in the electrodeposition is slightly higher than in the metal dissolution. There results are compared with the action of heavy metal adatoms on the dissolution and deposition of gold and silver in the cyanide solutions. It is shown that the above regularities are qualitatively true for both systems. The main distinction is that the catalytic activity of sulfide ions in the thiourea solutions reaches a plateau with increasing surface coverage with sulfur adatoms, whereas the activity of heavy metals passes through a maximum with increasing surface coverage. The results are explained in view of earlier determined regularities of kinetics of electrode processes in these systems and the effect of electrocatalysis on these regularities.

We have studied the effect of the mechanical activation of the starting oxide mixture on the particle size of the resulting powders and the microstructure of electrostrictive lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate ceramics. The results demonstrate that reducing the grain size of the ceramics reduces their dielectric permittivity in both weak and strong electric fields, reduces their electrostrictive coefficient M11, shifts the processes related to polarization saturation to higher electric fields, and increases the dielectric and electromechanical hystereses.

It is shown that gold does not virtually dissolve in alkaline (pH 12.5) solutions containing either thiocarbamide or sodium sulfite. Gold dissolves in alkaline solutions simultaneously containing thiocarbamide (0.1 M) and sodium sulfite (0.5 M). The gold dissolution rate increases with the increase in the contents of thiocarbamide and sodium sulfite. The methods of microbalance and voltammetry are used in studying the mechanism of gold dissolution in a solution containing 0.5 M sodium sulfite, 0.1 M thiocarbamide, and 0.03 M KOH. The found relationships are explained based on the assumption that the gold dissolution in alkaline sulfite-thiocarbamide electrolytes affords gold sulfite complexes.

Amur Bay (Sea of Japan) is used as an example to show that the range of diurnal variations of hydrochemical characteristics in the coastal zone of a sea subject to the effect of continental runoff features some regularities. Specifically, variations of water salinity in the surface frontal zone of estuaries exponentially increase toward the river and reach the largest magnitude in the zone of high longitudinal gradients, where diurnal salinity distributions are found to deviate from the normal law.

Solid solution ceramics of the NaNbO3-LiNbO3 systems modified by Ag, Cd, Cr, Fe, La, Ti, Si, Mn, V, U, and W ions inserted overstoichiometrically are obtained. The crystal structure and piezoelectric properties of the modified ceramics are studied. The properties of the systems modified stoichiometrically and overstoichiometrically are compared. The regularities in the changes in the properties of the (Na, Li)NbO solid solutions (SSs) under modification are corrected.

Based on regular star-shaped PSs differing in the structure of the branching center (one or two covalently bound fullerene C60 molecules) and in the number of branchings (6 and 12), homogeneous gas-separation membranes have been produced. The transport behavior of the membranes with respect to several gases, such as H2, He2, N2, CO, CO2, and CH4, has been studied by mass spectrometry. It has been found that the membranes prepared from six-arm PSs are characterized by a smaller density of macromolecular packing than the membranes obtained from 12-arm PCs and, consequently, they possess higher gas permeability. The starshaped PSs demonstrate a higher selectivity factor for separation of the O2/N2 gas pair compared to the corresponding characteristics of the linear PSs. The analysis of gas-separation characteristics by means of the Reitlinger-Robeson diagrams demonstrates that the transport behavior of star-shaped PSs qualitatively surpasses similar parameters of the known polymers in the separation of the CO/N2 gas pair.

Introducing sodium sulfide (about 10−5 M) into acidic thiocarbamide solutions reduces the gold reduction overpotential. The reaction rate passes through a maximum at a potential of 0.1 V. The overpotential depends on the sulfide ion concentration and the time of electrode exposure to solution prior to the beginning of scanning. Transients of potential measured on a renewable gold electrode in thiocarbamide electrolytes containing catalytically active species served as the basis for calculations of the coefficient of trapping of sulfide ions by the growing gold deposit. The kinetics of gold electrodeposition at fixed surface coverages with adsorbed sulfide ions θ is studied. It is shown that at θ = const, the dependence of the reaction rate on the overpotential is described by the Tafel equation. It is shown that with an increase in θ, the effective values of exchange current and transfer coefficient increase from i0 ≌ 10−5 A/cm2 and α ≌ 0.25 in pure solutions to α ≌ 0.5 and i0 ≌ 10−4 A/cm2 at θ ≥ 0.3 and then remains virtually unchanged. The reaction order decreases in the absolute magnitude, remaining negative. Thus for θ ≌ 0, pk = ∂logi/∂logc = −1, whereas for θ ≥ 0.3, pk = −0.3. A possible explanation is proposed for the catalytic effect of the sulfide ion adsorption on the mechanism of the gold reduction from acidic thiocarbamide electrolytes.

Nucleophilic replacement of the hydroxy groups in ethyl 4,11-dihydroxy-2-methyl-5,10-dioxo-5,10-dihydroanthra[2,3-b]furan-3-carboxylate by chlorine upon treatment with phosphorus acid chlorides gave the corresponding 4(11)-chloro derivatives which were converted into photochromic ethyl 4(11)-phenoxy-2-methyl-5,10-dioxo-5,10-dihydroanthra[2,3-b]furan-3-carboxylates. Photoinduced decomposition of the latter leads to the formation of phenol and fluorescent hydroxyanthra[2,3-b]furandiones.