Study of alloxydim photodegradation in the presence of natural substances: Elucidation of transformation products

A photodegradation study of alloxydim was performed under simulate solar irradiation (Suntest apparatus) at different irradiation intensities. Moreover, indirect photolysis of the tested herbicide was investigated under the presence of various concentrations of humic acids (HA), nitrate and Fe (III) ions. The photodegradation of alloxydim follows a first-order reaction kinetics in all cases. HA inhibited the photolysis kinetic whereas rate constants measured in the presence of nitrate ions indicated no effect on degradation. On the contrary, Fe (III) ions enhanced the photodegradation rate of alloxydim. Kinetics experiments were monitored by HPLC–DAD and the half-lives ranged from 165.78 to 4.63 min for different intensities in direct photolysis and from 104.81 to 1.14 min for indirect photolysis. The study of transformation products have been investigated by HPLC coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (QTOF-MS) employing the electrospray technique.The most important transformation process was found to be the cleavage of the O–N bond of the oxime moiety. Minor photo-isomerization to Z-isomer was also observed. The appearance of these degradation products is reported in aqueous media for the first time.     

A metallic furnace atomizer in hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry: Determination of bismuth and selenium

A flow injection hydride generation system with a metal furnace atomizer (Inconel 600® alloy) was employed for Bi and Se determination. The presented methods have linear ranges up to 200 and 500 μg L^− 1 for Bi and Se, respectively, with good linearities (r² = 0.9997 and 0.9974, respectively). The limits of quantification obtained according to IUPAC recommendations were 2.3 μg L^− 1 for Bi and 6 μg L^− 1 for Se, and the relative standard deviations (N = 6) based on Bi and Se analytical responses from real samples were 2.7% and 10%, respectively. Accuracy evaluations were based on certified materials such as SRM 361, SRM 363, and SRM 364 (steel alloys) for Bi, Mess-3 (marine sediment), SRM 397 (human hair), and Bio-Rad2 — 69042 (urine) for Se. Good agreements between the results were obtained at the 95% confidence level, according to the t-test.     

Basic Physicochemical Properties of Polyethylene Glycol Coated Gold Nanoparticles that Determine Their Interaction with Cells

A homologous nanoparticle library was synthesized in which gold nanoparticles were coated with polyethylene glycol, whereby the diameter of the gold cores, as well as the thickness of the shell of polyethylene glycol, was varied. Basic physicochemical parameters of this two‐dimensional nanoparticle library, such as size, ζ‐potential, hydrophilicity, elasticity, and catalytic activity ,were determined. Cell uptake of selected nanoparticles with equal size yet varying thickness of the polymer shell and their effect on basic structural and functional cell parameters was determined. Data indicates that thinner, more hydrophilic coatings, combined with the partial functionalization with quaternary ammonium cations, result in a more efficient uptake, which relates to significant effects on structural and functional cell parameters.     

Nonlinear convective flows in multilayer fluid system

The nonlinear thermocapillary and buoyant-thermocapillary flows in a three-layer system, filling a closed cavity and subjected to a temperature gradient directed along the interfaces, are investigated. The nonlinear simulations of convective regimes are performed by the finite-difference method. The process of transition of unicell structures into multicell structures is studied.     

Planning District‐Wide Professional Development: Insights Gained From Teachers and Students Regarding Mathematics Teaching in a Large Urban District

This paper describes the mechanism used to gain insights into the state of the art of mathematics instruction in a large urban district in order to design meaningful professional development for the teachers in the district. Surveys of close to 2,000 elementary, middle school, and high school students were collected in order to assess the instructional practices used in mathematics classes across the district. Students were questioned about the frequency of use of various instructional practices that support the meaningful learning of mathematics. These included practices such as problem solving, use of calculators and computers, group work, homework, discussions, and projects, among others. Responses were analyzed and comparisons were drawn between elementary and middle school students' responses and between middle school and high school responses. Finally, fifth‐grade student responses were compared to those of their teachers. Student responses indicated that they had fewer inquiry‐based experiences, fewer student‐to‐student interactions, and fewer opportunities to defend their answers and justify their thinking as they moved from elementary to middle school to high school. In the elementary grades students reported an overemphasis on the use of memorization of facts and procedures and sparse use of calculators. Results were interpreted and specific directions for professional development, as reported in this paper, were drawn from these data. The paper illustrates how student surveys can inform the design of professional development experiences for the teachers in a district.     

Determination of ethyl formate in magnesium chloride used as Ziegler-Natta catalyst support by Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance spectrometry

FT-IR Spectroscopy with total attenuated reflectance (ATR) was used for the quantitative determination of ethyl formate coordinated in inorganic matrices such as magnesium chloride. The spectra were recorded directly on solutions obtained by dissolving the inorganic Ziegler-Natta supports in water. The method proposed is sensitive and rapid and appears to be very reliable when compared with other methods, such as solvent extraction followed by gaschromatographic or thermogravimetric analysis.     

Carbon supported CdSe nanocrystals

Insights to the mechanism of CdSe nanoparticle attachment to carbon nanotubes following the hot injection method are discussed. It was observed that the presence of water improves the nanotube coverage while Cl containing media are responsible for the shape transformation of the nanoparticles and further attachment to the carbon lattice. The experiments also show that the mechanism taking place involves the right balance of several factors, namely, low passivated nanoparticle surface, particles with well-defined crystallographic facets, and interaction with an organics-free sp2 carbon lattice. Furthermore, this procedure can be extended to cover graphene by quantum dots.