Thermal particle base methods in fluid flow and heat transfer

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry -     

Comparison of flow and batch polymerization processes for production of vinyl ether terpolymers for use in the delivery of siRNA

Synthetic polymers represent a modifiable class of materials that can serve as adjuvants to address challenges in numerous biomedical and medicinal chemistry applications including the delivery of siRNA. Polymer‐based therapeutics offer unique challenges in both synthesis and characterization as compared to small molecule therapeutics. The ability to control the structure of the polymer is critical in creating a therapeutic. Reported herein, are batch and flow polymerization processes to produce amphiphilic terpolymers through a Lewis acid BF₃OEt₂‐catalyzed polymerization. These processes focus on controlling reaction variables, which affect polymer structure in this rapid, exothermic, nonliving cationic polymerization. In addition to analytical characterization of the polymers, the in vivo activity of the polymer‐siRNA conjugates is also highlighted—demonstrating that the method of synthesis does affect the in vivo activity of the resulting polymer conjugate. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 1119–1129     

Application of a novel nano-immobilization of ionic liquid on an MCM-41 system for trimethylsilylation of alcohols and phenols with hexamethyldisilazane

Research on Chemical Intermediates - 3-[(3-(Trisilyloxy)propyl)chloride]-1-methylimidazolium tribromide ionic liquid supported on MCM-41 [nano-MCM-41@(CH2)3-1-methylimidazole]Br3 as a novel...     

Minimum cost homomorphisms to semicomplete multipartite digraphs

For digraphs D and H, a mapping f:V(D)→V(H) is a homomorphism ofDtoH if uv∈A(D) implies f(u)f(v)∈A(H). For a fixed directed or undirected graph H and an input graph D, the problem of verifying whether there exists a homomorphism of D to H has been studied in a large number of papers. We study an optimization version of this decision problem. Our optimization problem is motivated by a real-world problem in defence logistics and was introduced recently by the authors and M. Tso.Suppose we are given a pair of digraphs D,H and a cost c_i(u) for each u∈V(D) and i∈V(H). The cost of a homomorphism f of D to H is ∑_u∈V(D)c_f(u)(u). Let H be a fixed digraph. The minimum cost homomorphism problem for H, MinHOMP(H), is stated as follows: For input digraph D and costs c_i(u) for each u∈V(D) and i∈V(H), verify whether there is a homomorphism of D to H and, if it does exist, find such a homomorphism of minimum cost. In our previous paper we obtained a dichotomy classification of the time complexity of when H is a semicomplete digraph. In this paper we extend the classification to semicomplete k-partite digraphs, k≥3, and obtain such a classification for bipartite tournaments.     

Selective and efficient oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides using ammonium cerium (IV) nitrate in the presence of a catalytic amount of KBr or NaBr

A wide range of aliphatic or aromatic sulfides are selectively oxidized to the corresponding sulfoxides using ammonium cerium (IV) nitrate (CAN) and a catalytic amount of KBr or NaBr in the presence of wet SiO₂ in CH₂Cl₂ under heterogeneous conditions in moderate to high yields.     

Selective and efficient oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides using ammonium cerium (IV) nitrate in the presence of a catalytic amount of KBr or NaBr

A wide range of aliphatic or aromatic sulfides are selectively oxidized to the corresponding sulfoxides using ammonium cerium (IV) nitrate (CAN) and a catalytic amount of KBr or NaBr in the presence of wet SiO₂ in CH₂Cl₂ under heterogeneous conditions in moderate to high yields. Correspondence: Mohammad Ali Zolfigol, Faculty of Chemistry, Bu-Ali Sina University, P.O. Box 6517838683, Hamadan, Iran; Kamal Amani, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Kurdistan, P.O. Box 6617715175, Sanandaj, Iran.     

Cr(VI) ion removal from artificial waste water using supported liquid membrane

In this study, a novel flat-type synergic-supported liquid membrane was evaluated with a mixture of N-methyl-N,N,N-trioctylammonium chloride (Aliquat 336) and tributyl phosphate (TBP) as the carrier and kerosene as the diluent to remove Cr(VI) from synthetic waste water. The main parameters involved in the process were identified and optimised. The parameters were divided into two groups, those that were independent and those having an interaction. The parameters of the carrier/kerosene volumetric proportion and stirring rate were optimised individually due to their nature. The optimal values of these parameters were 0.5 and 500 min^?1, respectively, for a constant carrier/kerosene ratio and stirring rate in the designed experiments using the response surface method (RSM). The four parameters of TBP/Aliquat 336, chromium concentration in the feed phase, feed and product pH were optimised using RSM; it was observed that the TBP/Aliquat 336 ratio, feed pH, pH of the stripping phase and interaction of this parameter with feed concentration have the most important effects on the removal of Cr(VI). The optimal levels of these parameters were 0.61, 71.75 mg L^?1, 3.5 and 12.66 for the ratio of TBP/Aliquat 336, feed chromium concentration, pH of the feed and pH of the product, respectively. An experimental removal rate of 94.63 % at the optimized levels was obtained.     

Near infrared spectroscopic imaging assessment of cartilage composition: Validation with mid infrared imaging spectroscopy

Disease or injury to articular cartilage results in loss of extracellular matrix components which can lead to the development of osteoarthritis (OA). To better understand the process of disease development, there is a need for evaluation of changes in cartilage composition without the requirement of extensive sample preparation. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a chemical investigative technique based on molecular vibrations that is increasingly used as an assessment tool for studying cartilage composition. However, the assignment of specific molecular vibrations to absorbance bands in the NIR spectrum of cartilage, which arise from overtones and combinations of primary absorbances in the mid infrared (MIR) spectral region, has been challenging. In contrast, MIR spectroscopic assessment of cartilage is well-established, with many studies validating the assignment of specific bands present in MIR spectra to specific molecular vibrations. In the current study, NIR imaging spectroscopic data were obtained for compositional analysis of tissues that served as an in vitro model of OA. MIR spectroscopic data obtained from the identical tissue regions were used as the gold-standard for collagen and proteoglycan (PG) content. MIR spectroscopy in transmittance mode typically requires a much shorter pathlength through the sample (≤10 microns thick) compared to NIR spectroscopy (millimeters). Thus, this study first addressed the linearity of small absorbance bands in the MIR region with increasing tissue thickness, suitable for obtaining a signal in both the MIR and NIR regions. It was found that the linearity of specific, small MIR absorbance bands attributable to the collagen and PG components of cartilage (at 1336 and 856 cm⁻¹, respectively) are maintained through a thickness of 60 μm, which was also suitable for NIR data collection. MIR and NIR spectral data were then collected from 60 μm thick samples of cartilage degraded with chondroitinase ABC as a model of OA. Partial least squares (PLS) regression using NIR spectra as input predicted the MIR-determined compositional parameters of PG/collagen within 6% of actual values. These results indicate that NIR spectral data can be used to assess molecular changes that occur with cartilage degradation, and further, the data provide a foundation for future clinical studies where NIR fiber optic probes can be used to assess the progression of cartilage degradation.