Detection of urban heat island in Istanbul, Turkey

Summary The aim of this study is to detect the urban-heat-island effects in Istanbul which is the largest and most important megapolis of Turkey. The mean monthly minimum, normal and maximum temperatures are derived from daily ones. The method of linear regression and Mann-Kendall test are used in the analysis of trend. Despite Istanbul is surrounded by the Black Sea and Marmara Sea, the urban-heat-island intensity stands out quite clearly.     

Micellization and morphological characterization of Ag-micelles prepared by poly(vinyl acetate)–silver nitrate in solvent/nonsolvent system

The inducing method for preparing Ag-micelle solution with the use of mixed solvent/nonsolvent, and the morphological characterization of the generated metal–micelles were investigated and reported in this paper. In this method, an Ag containing metal chelate polymer (MCP) raw solution was preprepared by dissolving poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc)–silver nitrate (AgNO₃) MCP in conc. formic acid, and a mixed solvent of HCOOH/H₂O with specific water composition was then added to induce the micellization of the MCP chain. The critical water concentration (CWC) that was needed for inducing the formation of the Ag-micelles, and the water concentration at which the flocculation of the Ag-micelles occurred in micellar solution, were studied by measuring the transmittance of the dilute MCP solution; the results showed that a long-lasting MCP solution with stable micelles might be prepared by using a H₂O/HCOOH solvent of specific weight ratio 1:1.2. The effect of the AgNO₃ concentration on the morphology of the Ag-micelles was also investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). At AgNO₃ concentration below 0.5 wt%, the Ag-micelles displayed a variety of core-shell structure; but as the AgNO₃ concentration was increased to 1.0–2.0 wt%, micelles that had Ag-solid embedded in the micellar core were observed.     

Cerium (IV) ammonium nitrate (CAN)-mediated regioselective synthesis and anticancer activity of 6-substituted 5,8-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone

6-Substituted 5,8-O-dimethyl-1,4-naphthoquinones (6-DMNQ), the promising anticancer scaffolds, were selectively generated by oxidative demethylation of 2-substituted 1,4,5,8-tetramethoxynaphthalenes with CAN in EtOAc/H₂O in comparatively high yields. An interesting finding was that apart from the reported electron-withdrawing effects of substituents on position 2 of naphthalene ring, regioselective synthesis of 6-DMNQ was largely dependent on the steric effects in CAN-mediated oxidation. The selective cytotoxicities of 6-DMNQ from the in vitro cell-based assays were exhibited between the cancer cells and normal cells. Moreover, most of sulfur-containing 6-DMNQ derivatives displayed better anticancer activities than the corresponding oxygen-containing ones, which could provide an available strategy for the design of 6-DMNQ derivatives as potential anticancer agents.     

Incompatible reaction evaluation and accident investigation of various acids in chemical industries

This article covers the incompatible properties of nitric acid (HNO₃) with formic acid (CH₂O₂), and more generally with various acids such as sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄), hydrochloric acid (HCl), and acetic acid (C₂H₄O₂). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was employed to determine the thermal hazard such as heat of decomposition (ΔH _d), exothermic onset temperature (T ₀), etc., in various acids. T ₀ of HNO₃ and CH₂O₂ were determined as 50 °C using DSC. Thus it has been observed that HNO₃ mixed with CH₂O₂ should be prohibited during transportation, storage, and use. And more generally, process safety engineers and operator must take care to handle tanker and storage tank of typical acids in the transportation, storage, and manufacturing process. It is clear that there exists a need to follow and enforce in the chemical industries safety data sheets, globally harmonized system of classification and labeling of chemicals of United Nations (UN), education of safety and health, emergency response system, and process safety management. It is the aim of the present study concerning HNO₃ with various acids.     

Determination of Cr(VI) by portable tungsten coil electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometer after surfactant-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction

As a new developed instrument, a portable tungsten coil electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometer (W-coil ET-AAS) was first coupled with surfactant assisted dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (SA-DLLME) to improve its analytical performance and expand its applications in this work. SA-DLLME was very simple, rapid and the extraction efficiency was considerably improved by the effect of surfactant, which was suitable to be coupled with the portable instrument in field analysis. After SA-DLLME, concentrated chromium in organic phase was directly determined on W-coil atomiser. The influence factors relevant to SA-DLLME and instrumental conditions were studied systematically. Under the optimal conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) for Cr(VI) was 0.016 µg L^?1, with sensitivity enhancement factor (EF) of 107. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for seven replicate measurements of 0.5 µg L^?1 of Cr(VI) was 4.6%. The recoveries for the spiked samples were in the acceptable range of 96.8–104%. The rapid, simple and high effective method greatly improved the sensitivity of this portable spectrometer for the determination of Cr(VI) and was applied to the analysis of ultra-trace Cr(VI) in real and certified water samples with satisfactory results.     

Two novel abietane dimers from transformed root cultures of Salvia broussonetii

Broussonetone A (1) and broussonetone B (2), two novel dimeric abietane diterpenes, have been isolated from Salvia broussonetii root cultures transformed by Agrobacterium rhizogenes. The structure of broussonetone A was determined from spectroscopic data and confirmed by X-ray analysis. This dimer can be formed by a [4+2]-cycloaddition of two molecules of 13β-hydroxyabieta-8(14),9(11)-dien-12-one. NMR data of broussonetone B indicated that the C-20 methyl in part B of the broussonetone A molecule had been substituted by an aldehyde group. Thus, broussonetone B could be formed by an analogous Diels Alder reaction between 13β-hydroxyabieta-8(14),9(11)-dien-12-one as the dienophile and its 20-oxo derivative as the electrophile.     

Application of capillary electrophoresis for the early diagnosis of cancer

Early diagnosis is the key to the effective treatment of cancer. The detection of cancer biomarkers plays a critical role not only in cancer early diagnosis, but also in classification and staging tumor progression, or assessment prognosis and treatment response. Currently, various molecular diagnostic techniques have been developed for cancer biomarker studies, with many of the more effective approaches requiring a separation step before detection. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) can perform rapid and efficient separation with small samples, which is well-suited for analysis of both small- and macro- molecule biomarkers in complex samples. CE has different separation modes and can couple to different detectors into a variety of platforms, such as conducting studies on DNA/ RNA point mutation, protein misexpression, and metabolite abnormality. Similarly, microchip capillary electrophoresis (MCE) appears as a very important biomarker screening platform with the merits of high throughput, integration, and miniaturization, which makes it a promising clinical tool. By hyphenated different detectors, or integrated with immunoassay, PCR/LDR and related technologies, MCE can be constructed into diverse platforms used in genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics study for biomarkers discovery. The multiplex biomarker screening approach via CE- or MCE-based platforms is becoming a trend. This paper focuses on studies of cancer biomarkers via CE/MCE platforms, based on the studies published over the past 3 years. Some recent CE applications in the field of cancer study, such as cancer theranostics, are introduced.     

Robust adaptive sliding mode control for synchronization of space-clamped FitzHugh–Nagumo neurons

Unlike taking the same external electrical stimulation to discuss chaotic synchronization in the literature, the synchronization between two uncouple FitzHugh?CNagumo (FHN) neurons with different ionic currents and external electrical stimulations is considered. The main contribution of this study is the application of a robust adaptive sliding-mode controller instead of the active elimination. The proposed sliding mode controller associated with time varying feedback gains cannot only tackle the system uncertainties and external disturbances, but also compensate for the mismatch nonlinear dynamics of synchronized error system without direct cancellation. Meanwhile, these feedback gains are not determined in advance but updated by the adaptive laws. Sufficient conditions to guarantee the stable synchronization are given in the sense of the Lyapunov stability theorem. In addition, numerical simulations are also performed to verify the effectiveness of presented scheme.     

Evaluation of runaway thermal reactions of di-<Emphasis Type="Italic">tert</Emphasis>-butyl peroxide employing calorimetric approaches

Di-tert-butyl peroxide (DTBP) is an organic peroxide (OP) which has widespread use in the various chemical industries. In the past, thermal runaway reactions of OPs have been caused by their general thermal instability or by reactive incompatibility in storage or operation, which can create potential for thermal decomposition reaction. In this study, differential scanning calorimetry was applied to measure the heat of decomposition reactions, which can contribute to understand the reaction characteristics of DTBP. Vent sizing package 2 was also employed to evaluate rates of increase for temperature and pressure in decomposition reactions, and then the thermokinetic parameters of DTBP were estimated. Finally, hazard characteristics of the gassy system containing DTBP, specifically with respect to thermal criticality, were clearly identified.     

微量钛掺杂的纳米二氧化锆相变过程中的光学性质

微量钛掺杂的纳米氧化锆由于纳米“小尺寸效应”的影响,在材料中产生了过量的氧空位缺陷,这些氧空位缺陷使得氧化锆在室温下呈现出高温的四方相。这种晶相的变化对氧化锆的光学性质产生了很大的影响。在氧化锆从四方相向单斜相的转变过程中,位于470 nm位置的Ti发光中心的宽带发光以及相同位置的余辉发光得到了增强。