Diazatetraester 1H-pyrazole crowns as fluorescent chemosensors for AMPH, METH, MDMA (ecstasy), and dopamine

The synthesis and steady-state fluorescence studies on the interaction with AMPH, METH, MDMA, and DA of two diazatetraester pyrazole crowns containing appended N-(9H-fluoren-9-yl) and N-(naphth-2-ylmethyl) functions, in a water/ethanol 70:30 mixture at physiological pH, are described.     

Determination of phenolic compounds derived from hydrolysable tannins in biological matrices by RP-HPLC

An RP-HPLC method for the determination of four phenolic compounds: gallic acid (GA), pyrogallol (PY), resorcinol (RE) and ellagic acid (EA), derived from hydrolysable tannins is reported. Separation was achieved on a SunFire C18 (250 x 4.6 mm id, 5 microm) column at 40 degrees C with gradient elution. UV detection at 280 nm was applied. The developed method was validated in terms of linearity, accuracy and precision. Satisfactory repeatability and between day precision were noticed with RSD values lower than 3%. Recoveries from different biological samples ranged from 91.50 to 105.25%. The LODs were estimated as 1.70 mg/L for PY, 1.68 mg/L for GA, 1.52 mg/L for RE and 0.98 mg/L for EA with a 20 microL injection volume. The method was applied for the determination of these compounds in oak leaves and in ruminal fluid and urine samples taken from beef cattle fed with oak leaves. The proposed method could be used in ruminant nutrition studies to verify the effect that a diet rich in tannins have on ruminal fermentation and to determine the toxicity of these compounds.     

Trends and recent applications of matrix solid-phase dispersion

Matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) is a sample-preparation technique with increasing acceptance in trace analysis of organic compounds using chromatographic and electro-driven separation techniques. It has been applied to the extraction and fractionation of a large number of substances from solid, semi-solid, and liquid matrices. Low sample and solvents consumption, straightforward application, and reduced cost, and its ability to simultaneously perform extraction and clean-up in a single step, are some of its major advantages. This review attempts to provide an updated, concise and critical overview on the latest trends and applications of MSPD, placing emphasis on comparison of its performance with that of other techniques, besides focusing on practical features to take into account depending on the nature of the sample and the properties of the analytes. Achievements, advantages, and limitations are discussed. The paper also highlights future challenges to be faced.     

Isotope pattern deconvolution as a tool to study iron metabolism in plants

Isotope pattern deconvolution is a mathematical technique for isolating distinct isotope signatures from mixtures of natural abundance and enriched tracers. In iron metabolism studies measurement of all four isotopes of the element by high-resolution multicollector or collision cell ICP–MS allows the determination of the tracer/tracee ratio with simultaneous internal mass bias correction and lower uncertainties. This technique was applied here for the first time to study iron uptake by cucumber plants using ⁵⁷Fe-enriched iron chelates of the o,o and o,p isomers of ethylenediaminedi(o-hydroxyphenylacetic) acid (EDDHA) and ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA). Samples of root, stem, leaves, and xylem sap, after exposure of the cucumber plants to the mentioned ⁵⁷Fe chelates, were collected, dried, and digested using nitric acid. The isotopic composition of iron in the samples was measured by ICP–MS using a high-resolution multicollector instrument. Mass bias correction was computed using both a natural abundance iron standard and by internal correction using isotope pattern deconvolution. It was observed that, for plants with low ⁵⁷Fe enrichment, isotope pattern deconvolution provided lower tracer/tracee ratio uncertainties than the traditional method applying external mass bias correction. The total amount of the element in the plants was determined by isotope dilution analysis, using a collision cell quadrupole ICP–MS instrument, after addition of ⁵⁷Fe or natural abundance Fe in a known amount which depended on the isotopic composition of the sample.     

A Comparison of Modeling Approaches for Dispersion Homopolymerization of MMA and Styrene in Supercritical CO2

A comparison of kinetic models for dispersion polymerization of MMA and styrene in supercritical CO₂ is presented. The limiting case of solution polymerization, as a simplified case, was also addressed. Calculation of the partition of components between the continuous and dispersed phases was emphasized. Experimental data for the solution and dispersion polymerizations of styrene and MMA, using different types of stabilizers, were used to guide the study. Although all the models analyzed can be considered as “adequate” in representing the behavior of the system, some of their strengths and drawbacks have been highlighted.

     

Hexamethylenediammonium bis(chloroacetate): a three‐dimensional hydrogen‐bonded framework structure

In the title compound, C₆H₁₈N₂²⁺·2C₂H₂ClO₂⁻, the cation lies across an inversion centre in the P space group. The ions are linked by two two‐centre N—H...O hydrogen bonds and by one three‐centre N—H...(O)₂ hydrogen bond to form a three‐dimensional framework structure. The significance of this study lies in the analysis of the complex hydrogen‐bonded structure and in the comparison of this structure with those of other simple hexamethylenediammonium salts.     

Bohr’s strip for vector valued Dirichlet series

Bohr showed that the width of the strip (in the complex plane) on which a given Dirichlet series , converges uniformly but not absolutely, is at most 1/2, and Bohnenblust-Hille that this bound in general is optimal. We prove that for a given infinite dimensional Banach space Y the width of Bohr’s strip for a Dirichlet series with coefficients a _n in Y is bounded by 1 - 1/Cot (Y), where Cot (Y) denotes the optimal cotype of Y. This estimate even turns out to be optimal, and hence leads to a new characterization of cotype in terms of vector valued Dirichlet series. The first, second and third authors were supported by MEC and FEDER Project MTM2005-08210.     

A new look at some classical theorems on continuous functions on normal spaces

A sufficient condition for the strict insertion of a continuous function between two comparable upper and lower semicontinuous functions on a normal space is given. Among immediate corollaries are the classical insertion theorems of Michael and Dowker. Our insertion lemma also provides purely topological proofs of some standard results on closed subsets of normal spaces which normally depend upon uniform convergence of series of continuous functions. We also establish a Tietze-type extension theorem characterizing closed G _δ -sets in a normal space. This research was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain and FEDER under grant MTM2006-14925-C02-02. The first named author also acknowledges financial support from the University of the Basque Country under grant UPV05/101.     

Nonnegative solutions to an elliptic problem with nonlinear absorption and a nonlinear incoming flux on the boundary

In this paper we perform an extensive study of the existence, uniqueness (or multiplicity) and stability of nonnegative solutions to the semilinear elliptic equation − Δu = λ u − u ^p in Ω, with the nonlinear boundary condition ∂u/∂ν = u ^r on ∂Ω. Here Ω is a smooth bounded domain of with outward unit normal ν, λ is a real parameter and p, r > 0. We also give the precise behavior of solutions for large |λ| in the cases where they exist. The proofs are mainly based on bifurcation techniques, sub-supersolutions and variational methods.      

Alkynyl Fischer carbene complex as a traceless directing group for the regioselective cycloaddition of dithiolethiones to arylacetylene: synthesis of E-dithiafulvene thione and dithioesters

A phenylethynyl Fischer carbene complex was used as a traceless directing group for the regioselective cycloaddition of dithiolethiones to arylacetylene, which constitutes the first synthesis of E-dithiafulvene thione or dithioesters.