$\alpha -{\mathrm{RuCl}}_3$ has been hinted to be a spin-orbital-assisted Mott insulator in proximity to a Kitaev spin liquid state. Here we present angle-resolved photoemission measurements on single-crystal $\alpha -{\mathrm{RuCl}}_3$ in both the pristine and electron-doped states, and combine them with Local Density Approximation (LDA)+Spin Orbital Coupling (SOC)+U calculations performed for several low-energy competing magnetically ordered states as well as the paramagnetic state. A large Mott gap is found in the measured band structure of the pristine compound that persists to more than 30 times beyond the magnetic ordering temperature, though the paramagnetic calculation shows almost no gap. Upon electron doping, spectral weight is transferred into the gap but the new states still maintain a sizable gap from the Fermi edge. These findings are most consistent with a Mott insulator with a somewhat exotic evolution out of the Mott state with both temperature and doping, likely related to unusually strong spin fluctuations.

Two natural products Polypodium leucotomos extract (PL) and kojic acid (KA) were tested for their ability to scavenge reactive oxygen species (·OH, ·O2-, H2O2, ¹O2) in phosphate buffer. Hydroxyl radicals were generated by the Fenton reaction, and the rate constants of scavenging were 1.6 x 10(9) M-1 s-1 for KA and 1.0 x 10(9) M-1 s-1 for PL, similar to that of ethanol (1.4 x 10(9) M-1 s-1). With superoxide anions generated by the xanthine/hypoxanthine system, KA and PL (0.2-1.0 mg/ml) inhibited ·O2-dependent reduction of nitroblue tetrazolium by up to 30 and 31%, respectively. In the detection of ¹O2 by rose bengal irradiation, PL at 1.0 mg/ml quenched singlet oxygen by 43% relative to azide and KA by 36%. The present study demonstrates that PL showed an antioxidant effect, scavenging three of four reactive oxygen species tested here. Unlike KA, PL did not significantly scavenge hydrogen peroxide.

This paper presents the approach followed by WaterNetGen – an EPANET extension – to simulate water distribution systems considering both normal pressure and pressure-deficient scenarios. WaterNetGen models pressure-deficient scenarios by incorporating a pressure-demand relationship, which computes the available demand as a function of the current pressure, and considering leakage at pipe level (background and bursts). This new capability is fully integrated into the original EPANET interface, so the same network model can be used to perform demand-driven and pressure-driven analysis, leading to a faster a more accurate modelling of water distribution systems

This paper focuses on the generation of synthetic models of water distribution networks (WDN). Models are widely used in many fields related with WDN planning and operation. Therefore, the main contribution of this work is to provide an automatic procedure to build models with the well-known EPANET tool in a manner that, with a small amount of input data and a few clicks, the user can build a network topology and assign suitable pipe diameters. For that purpose, a new application, called WaterNetGen, was designed and implemented as an extension to the EPANET software. WaterNetGen can be used to generate synthetic models of WDN, with several hundred nodes and pipes, within a few minutes. The sizing capability allows the selection of commercial diameters, such that the final network design satisfies certain user-defined design constraints, like minimum diameter, maximum velocity and minimum pressure. The total water demand is allocated to the pipes taking into account their length and a demand coefficient. The water demand of each pipe is then assigned to its start and end nodes and follows a specific demand pattern.