Chemical and Mechanical Characterization of Licorice Root and Palm Leaf Waste Incorporated into Poly(urethane-acrylate) (PUA)

A poly(urethane-acrylate) polymer (PUA) was synthesized, and a sufficiently high molecular weight starting from urethane-acrylate oligomer (UAO) was obtained. PUA was then loaded with two types of powdered ligno-cellulosic waste, namely from licorice root and palm leaf, in amounts of 1, 5 and 10%, and the obtained composites were chemically and mechanically characterized. FTIR analysis of final PUA synthesized used for the composite production confirmed the new bonds formed during the polymerization process. The degradation temperatures of the two types of waste used were in line with what observed in most common natural fibers with an onset at 270 °C for licorice waste, and at 290 °C for palm leaf one. The former was more abundant in cellulose (44% vs. 12% lignin), whilst the latter was richer in lignin (30% vs. 26% cellulose). In the composites, only a limited reduction of degradation temperature was observed for palm leaf waste addition and some dispersion issues are observed for licorice root, leading to fluctuating results. Tensile performance of the composites indicates some reduction with respect to the pure polymer in terms of tensile strength, though stabilizing between data with 5 and 10% filler. In contrast, Shore A hardness of both composites slightly increases with higher filler content, while in stiffness-driven applications licorice-based composites showed potential due to an increase up to 50% compared to neat PUA. In general terms, the fracture surfaces tend to become rougher with filler introduction, which indicates the need for optimizing interfacial adhesion.     

Effect of the structure of mesophyll in a leaf on the form of the spectral curve for the first derivatives of the reflection coefficients of leaves over the range 0.68–0.75 μm

It is shown that replacement of the investigated surface of a leaf by the opposite one, as well as nonuniform content of chlorophyll over a pile of leaves, may lead to a change in the form of spectra for the first derivatives of reflection coefficients of leaves. A simplified model of the reflection of a leaf is used to explain the experimental results obtained. B. I. Stepanov Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 68, F. Skorina Ave., Minsk, 220072, Belarus. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 65, No. 6, pp. 921–925, November–December, 1998.     

种植青海大黄叶中矿物质元素研究

青海地道中药材“西宁大黄”，野生资源濒临枯竭，人工种植规模不断扩大。定期采集了青海西宁及邻近地区两年生种植大黄叶，分析测试了其矿物质元素，为西宁大黄资源的可持续开发和利用提供科学依据。研究表明，种植大黄叶中矿物质营养元素的协同性以及有效蓄积对大黄的生长具有重要意义。钠元素在大黄叶中的有效蓄积以及环境中水分的及时补给对种植大黄的生长具有重要作用。     

叶面喷施硅硼锰肥对四季桂生长的影响

研究了在叶面喷施的条件下，硅硼锰以及硅硼锰配合对盆栽四季桂生长的影响。结果表明，在基肥较足的基础上，硼肥可以增加四季桂新梢长度以及新梢粗度，对于开花也有促进作用；施用硅肥可明显提高叶片功能；单独喷施猛肥效果不明显。混合使用，效果较好。     

用微柱高效液相色谱法测定烟草样品中的植物色素的研究

植物色素是烟草中的重要成分,烟叶调制过程中色素降解完全和得当,会使烟叶香气增加,色泽上等,因此研究烟草调制过程中的色素变化具有重要意义。烟草色素的测定常用分光光度法和液相色谱法,光度法准确性较差,传统的液相色谱法样品前处理较麻烦且分离时间长。和常规高效液相色谱相比,由于微柱高效液相色谱具有流动相消耗小,分析时间短,可不分流直接和质谱连用等特点,近几年来得到了迅速发展。我们研究了用WatersXterraTMRP18微柱为固定相液相色谱法测定烟草中的植物色素,烟草中的主要色素在4.0min内可达到基分离,和常规液相色谱相比大大节约了分析时间,本方法标准回收率为94％～106％,RSD为1.6％～2.8％。将其用于烟草样品中植物色素的分析,取得满意结果。     

Determination of flavonoids in citrus juices by micro-HPLC-ESI/MS

Flavonoids are a large class of naturally occurring aromatic secondary plant metabolites. They constitute one of the most characteristic classes found in nature and more than 4000 flavonoids have been identified and divided into several subclasses. Flavonoids have several effects on human health, mainly related to their antioxidant activity. As a result of the increased interest in the biologically active compounds in food, many research studies have investigated the detection and quantification of antioxidants. Citrus plants are of great interest since they accumulate large amounts of flavonoids and fruit and juices of these species are consumed in large quantities. Despite the extensive research performed on Citrus flavonoids, many compounds still remain unidentified. In this work, flavonoids of five citrus juices: lemon, grapefruit, bergamot, orange, and mandarin were analyzed by microHPLC coupled on-line with an MS detector equipped with an ESI source operating in negative mode. The use of microcolumn HPLC greatly enhanced detection performance. In total, 20 flavonoids of two different subclasses (flavanone and flavone glycosides) were identified with the help of retention data and MS spectral information.