Elution order in gas chromatography

The retention behavior of a heterogeneous group of solutes has been examined on seven different stationary phases under isothermal and temperature-programmed conditions. Both ΔH_v (enthalpy of solute vaporization from the stationary phase) and ΔS_v (entropy of solute vaporization from the stationary phase) values were determined for each solute – stationary phase combination under isothermal conditions. Both program rate and carrier gas velocity were shown to affect solute elution order. Unless these and other experimental factors discussed are controlled, column equivalency studies based on solute elution order have dubious value.     

A comparison of the inclusion behavior of human serum albumin and holo transferrin with fluoxymesterone in the presence of three different cyclodextrins

This article describes the interaction of fluoxymesterone (Flu) with HSA and HTF in the absence and presence of cyclodextrins (CDs) (α, β and γ). According to fluorescence data, the binding of Flu to the proteins caused strong static quenching in the binary and ternary systems. The fluorescence quenching results demonstrated that HSA and HTF had two and one class of apparent binding sites with a distinct binding constant in the presence of the CDs, respectively. The effects of Flu on the structure of HSA and HTF were analyzed using synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy, which showed that the interaction of Flu with both proteins in the binary and ternary systems altered the microenvironment around the Trp and Tyr residues. The distance, r, between Flu and the proteins was obtained according to FRET which pointed at a successful formation of a drug-protein complex. Far-UV CD spectra indicated that the binding of the drug to both proteins induced changes in the secondary structure of HSA and HTF in the binary and ternary systems. Finally, molecular modeling provided possible binding sites of Flu within the proteins for the binary and ternary systems and also confirmed the experimental results. The obtained data can be useful for determining usage drug doses in drug delivery.     

Accurate and approximate integrations of Drucker–Prager plasticity with linear isotropic and kinematic hardening

Up to now, some explicit approximate integration schemes based on exponential maps, for non-hardening material obeying Drucker–Prager’s criterion, have been presented. Two new exponential-based approximate formulations, for associative Drucker–Prager plasticity are developed in this article. Both are consistent and explicit algorithms. The linear isotropic and Prager’s kinematic hardening behavior are assumed. Furthermore, an accurate solution for the constitutive equations is derived. The accuracies of the suggested approximate algorithms are assessed by creating related iso-error maps. In addition, by using piecewise strain load histories, and calculating computation times, the robustness and efficiency of the formulations are demonstrated.     

A novel numerical scheme for the investigation of surface tension effects on growth and collapse stages of cavitation bubbles

In the present study the effects of surface tension on the growth and collapse stages of cavitation bubbles are studied individually for both spherical and nonspherical bubbles. The Gilmore equation is used to simulate the spherical bubble dynamics by considering mass diffusion and heat transfer. For the collapse stage near a rigid boundary, the Navier–Stokes and energy equations are used to simulate the flow domain, and the VOF method is adopted to track the interface between the gas and the liquid phases. Simulations are divided into two cases. In the first case, the collapse stage alone is considered in both spherical and nonspherical situations with different conditions of bubble radius and surface tension. According to the results, surface tension has no significant effects on the flow pattern and collapse rate. In the second case, both the growth and collapse stages of bubbles with different initial radii and surface tensions are considered. In this case surface tension affects the growth stage considerably and, as a result, the jet velocity and collapse time decrease with increasing surface tension coefficient. This effect is more significant for bubbles with smaller radii.     

Entangled Three Qutrit Coherent States and Localizable Entanglement

Choosing I-concurrence as the measure of bipartite entanglement and using yon Neumann projective local measurements, localizable entanglement （LE） in a three-qutrit system is studied. A superposition of the qutrit-coherent- state of this system is considered ant its LE is obtained and analyzed as a function of the relevant parameters. It is observed that one may achieve the maximal entanglement or no entanglement at all, depending on the choice of the parameters involved.     

Effect of ZnO nanoparticles on kinetics of thermal degradation and final properties of ethylene–propylene–diene rubber systems

The morphology, thermal degradation behavior in addition to static and dynamic mechanical properties of various ethylene?Cpropylene?Cdiene (EPDM) rubber compounds containing nano-zinc oxide (NZnO) were investigated compared to those of EPDM with ordinary-sized ZnO (OSZnO). The field-emission scanning electron microscopy studies showed that unlike the conventional system, the formation of large size ZnO agglomerates was discouraged for NZnO filled systems. Thermogravimetric analysis (TG) revealed that the thermal degradation of EPDM system was delayed upon the inclusion of NZnO instead of OSZnO in the compound. The kinetic analysis of TG data based on Friedman and Kissinger methods showed that the nanocomposite samples exhibited higher activation energy (E _a ) and lower order of reaction (n) over the conventional system, suggesting the enhancement of thermal stability upon decreasing ZnO particle size. The results obtained from dynamic mechanical analysis and static mechanical characterizations in terms of hardness, resilience, and abrasion tests interestingly indicated that NZnO not merely could act as a thermal insulator, but also could perform as a nano-filler to improve the final performance of EPDM elastomers.     

Numerical modelling of film cooling with and without mist injection

Two-phase CFD calculations, using a Lagrangian model and commercial code Fluent 6.2.16, were employed to calculate the gas and droplet flows and film cooling effectiveness with and without mist on a flat plate. Two different three dimensional geometries are generated and the effects of the geometrical shape, size of droplets, mist concentration in the coolant flow and temperature of mainstream flow for different blowing ratios are studied. A cylindrical and laterally diffused hole with a streamwise angle of 30° and spanwise angle of 0° are used. The diameter of film cooling (d) hole, and the hole length to diameter ratio (L/d) for both of geometries are 10 mm and 4, respectively. Also the blowing ratio ranges from 1.0 to 2.0, and the mainstream Reynolds number based on the mainstream velocity and hole diameter (Re _d) is 6,219. The results are shown for different droplets diameters (1–10 μm), concentrations (1–5%) and mainstream temperatures (350–500 K). The centreline effectiveness and distribution of effectiveness on the surface of cooling wall are presented.     

Mathematical Simulation of Free Molecular Flow in a Three-Dimensional Turbomolecular Pump with Nonparallel Blades

Turbomolecular pumps are widely used in scientific and industrial applications. The three-dimensional simulation of free molecular flow within a row of blades of a turbomolecular pump is solved using test-particle Monte Carlo method. The solution performed in an inertial reference frame where molecular paths are straight line. The following of molecule paths in both rotor and stator is done in a similar system of coordinates. Good agreement between numerical results and quasi similar previous simulations confirm the validity of the presented algorithm. In this simulation, effects of the flow leakage due to existence of clearance between blade tip wall and casing is considered and the blade thickness is ignored. In addition the flow analysis shows effects of determination of sizes, significant effects of clearance and more importantly the effects of blade's angle on turbo molecular pump's fundamental characteristics. The simulation of turbo molecular pump with the nonparallel blades is done and compared with similar parallel blades.     

A redox-reconfigurable, ambidextrous asymmetric catalyst

A redox-reconfigurable catalyst derived from L-methionine and incorporating catalytic urea groups has been synthesized. This copper complex catalyzes the enantioselective addition of diethyl malonate to trans-β-nitrostyrene. Either enantiomer of the product can be predetermined by selection of the oxidation state of the copper ion. Enantiomeric excesses of up to 72% (S) and 70% (R) were obtained in acetonitrile. The ability of the catalyst to invert enantiomeric preference was reproduced with several different solvents and bases. Facile interconversion between the Cu(2+) and Cu(+) redox states allowed easy access to both active helical forms of the complex and, therefore, dial-in enantioselectivity.