Point load determination of static elastic moduli using laser speckle interferometry

Electronic speckle interferometry (ESPI) is used to determine the Young's modulus E and Poisson ratio ν of an isotropic material. Micron scale deformations of the surface of the block of polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) are induced by normal application of a known near-point force. These deformations are recorded in speckle interferometric fringe patterns. An iterative minimum error inversion technique is developed to obtain the elastic properties from the positions of fringe peaks and troughs observed in the fringe patterns. Sensitivity tests of the method on calculated fringe patterns using measured experimental uncertainties suggest the technique will provide measures of the elastic moduli to better than 5%. In an experimental test on a bloc of PMMA (acrylic) the technique gave values of E and ν that differed from corresponding measures obtained using more conventional strain-gauge methods by less than 4%.     

Monitoring chemotherapeutic response in RIF-1 tumors by single-quantum and triple-quantum-filtered (23)Na MRI, (1)H diffusion-weighted MRI and PET imaging

The effects of 5-fluorouracil (5FU, 150 mg/kg, ip) on subcutaneously implanted radiation-induced fibrosarcoma (RIF-1) tumors were monitored by in vivo (1)H MRI to evaluate the water apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), by single-quantum (SQ) and triple-quantum-filtered (TQF) (23)Na MRI to evaluate compartmental Na(+) content and by positron emission tomography (PET) to evaluate 2-[(18)F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG) uptake in the tumor. The MRI experiments were performed on untreated control and treated mice once before and then daily for 3 days after treatment. The PET experiments were performed on separate groups of age- and tumor-volume-matched animals once before and then 3 days after treatment. Tumor volumes significantly decreased in treated animals 2 and 3 days posttreatment. At the same time points, in vivo MRI measurements showed an increase in both total tissue SQ (23)Na signal intensity (SI) and water ADC in treated tumors while control tumors showed no change in these parameters. TQF (23)Na SI and FDG uptake were significantly lower in treated tumors compared with control tumors 3 days after 5FU treatment. The correlated increases in total tissue (23)Na SI and water ADC following chemotherapy reflect an increase in extracellular space, while the lower TQF (23)Na SI and FDG uptake in treated tumors compared with control tumors suggest a shift in tumor metabolism from glycolysis to oxidation and/or a decrease in cell density.     

Modification in physical properties of organo clay filled polyurethane nanocomposites

Polyurethane (PU) have been prepared by using polyether polyol (jagropol oil) and 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI) as a cross-linker. The organically modified montmorillonite clay (o-MMT) is well dispersed into urethane matrix by in-situ polymerization method. A series of PU/o-MMT nanocomposites have been prepared by varying amounts viz., 1, 3, 5 and 6 wt % of nanoclay. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength, percentage elongation at break and tensile modulus of the composites were experimentally determined. The swelling behavior of the composites has been studied in different organic solvents. It was noticed that the swelling data of the composites significantly depends on the solubility parameters of the solvents. Microcrystalline parameters such as, lattice strain (g in %), average number of unit cells (〈N〉) in direction perpendicular to Bragg plane, surface weighted crystal size (D _s) and interplanar distance (d _hkl ), were calculated from X-ray patterns. These parameters were computed using Exponential asymmetric column length distribution functions. Morphological features of cryofractured PU/o-MMT composites were also analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).     

Effervescent tablet‐assisted demulsified dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic droplet for determination of methadone in water and biological samples prior to GC‐flame ionization and GC‐MS

A novel effervescent tablet‐assisted demulsified dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction based on the solidification of floating organic droplet was developed to determine methadone prior to gas chromatography with flame ionization detection and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. In this method, a tablet composed of citric acid, sodium carbonate, and 1‐undecanol was utilized. The resulting effervescent tablet generated carbon dioxide in situ to disperse 1‐undecanol in the sample. Thus, the dispersive and extraction processes were performed in one synchronous step. An aliquot of acetonitrile as the demulsifier solvent was used for the separation of two phases instead of centrifugation. Under optimal conditions, the developed method was linear up to 50 000 µg/L with correlation coefficients higher than 0.99. Moreover, limits of detection and limits of the quantification were in the range of 3‐10  and 7‐30 µg/L in water and biological samples, respectively. Intra‐ and interday precisions (n = 6) of the spiked methadone at a concentration level of 50 µg/L were over ranges of 5.1‐6.8% and 5.7‐7.1%, respectively. The preconcentration factors and recovery values were obtained in the range of 140‐145 and 98.1 to 101.6% in real samples, respectively.     

Ultrasensitive Simultaneous Quantification of Nanomolar Level of Cd and Zn by Cathodic Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry in Some Real Samples

A novel, simple and sensitive adsorptive stripping voltammetry method was developed for simultaneous determination of Cd and Zn using N‐Nitrozo‐N‐phenylhydroxylamine (Cupferron) as a selective complexing agent. Cadmium and zinc metals gave peaks that were distinctly separated by 450–1200 mV, allowing their determination over a wide range of concentrations. The influence of pH and the nature of supporting electrolytes, concentration of ligand, preconcentration time and applied potential were investigated. The detection limits were 0.058 ng/mL for Zn and 0.092 ng/mL for Cd, and the RSD at a concentration level of 50 ppb, were 1.8–2.1 % for both zinc and cadmium, respectively. The method was applied to the determination of cadmium and zinc in blood, drug, food and water samples with the satisfactory results.     

Rapid production of monodisperse cross-linked red blood corpuscle-like particles via scalable one-pot dispersion polymerization

Cross-linked polystyrene (PS) particles having red blood corpuscle (RBC)-like shape were synthesized by one-pot dispersion polymerization of styrene with ethanol/water mixture and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the reaction medium and cross-linker, respectively. Monitoring of the reaction showed that RBC-like shape forms due to asymmetric shrinkage of a cross-linked network during the phase separation. In addition, three dimensional phase diagram was generated based on the yielded data that showed that the formation of such unique shape extremely depends on the polarity of the medium and injection time of the cross-linker. In situ synthesis of RBC-like particles, as promising biomaterials in targeted drug delivery and a model for the understanding of the cell behavior, via such fast and high solid content approach makes it to be conducive to subsequent scale up, i.e. potential commercial adoption.     

Probing the natural broadening of hydrogen atom spectrum based on the minimal length uncertainty

The natural broadening of hydrogen atom spectrum based on the minimal length uncertainty is calculated. We will show that the natural broadening of hydrogen atom spectrum receives any correction.     

Indirect Determination of Trace Copper(II) by Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry with Zincon at a Carbon Paste Electrode

Traces of copper(II) can be determined by adsorptive stripping voltammetry using 2‐carboxy‐2′‐hydroxy‐5′‐sulfoformazyl benzene (Zincon) as complex forming reagent. First in phosphate buffer pH 6.4, copper(II)‐Zincon complex was adsorbed on carbon paste electrode (CPE) with an accumulation potential of 0.6 V. Following this, adsorbed complex was oxidized and detected by differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) scan from 0.6 to 1.0 V. The effective parameters in sensor response were examined. The detection limit (DL) of copper(II) was 1.1 μg/L and relative standard deviations (RSDs) for 10 and 200 μg/L Cu(II) were 1.81 and 1.03%, respectively. The calibration curve was linear for 2–220 μg/L copper(II). The resulting CPE does not use mercury and therefore, has a positive environmental benefit. The method, which is reasonably sensitive and selective, has been successfully applied to the determination of trace amount of copper in water and human hair samples.     

Solid-phase extraction based on multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) sorbents combined with bio-coacervation extraction for the determination of atrazine from water samples followed by HPLC analysis

In this study, combined technique of solid-phase extraction based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes with bio-coacervation extraction (SPE-MWCNT-BCAE) has been developed as a new sample preparation method for the determination of atrazine from water samples. The proposed method involves two steps: analyte enrichment on the solid sorbent and subsequently elution of the analyte by an appropriate solvent. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were used as the sorbent. They have high specific surface area, nano-scale structure and high diffusion rate. The second step is based on the use of bioaggregates for analyte re-enrichment, which consists of biosurfactants and ionic liquid. This method follows the principles of green chemistry. Parameters affecting the extraction efficiency were optimized. Under optimum conditions, the enrichment factor was 176. The linear dynamic range (LDR) and limit of detection (LOD) were 2–100 µg L^?1 and 0.66 µg L^?1, respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for six replicate measurements was 3.8%. The method was applied to the determination of ultratrace levels of atrazine in environmental water samples with satisfactory results.     

Oxidative Coupling of Thiols to Disulfides in Solution with Tripropylammonium Halochromates, (C3H7)3NH[CrO3X], (X = F,Cl) Adsorbed on Alumina

A mild and efficient method for the oxidative coupling of thiols by tripropylammonium fluorochromate and tripropylammonium chlorochromate absorbed on alumina in solution is reported. Alumina absorbed tripropylammonium fluorochromate and tripropylammonium chlorochromate are efficient and new reagents, which are easily prepared and oxidize thiols to the corresponding disulfides quickly. The reactions are clean and readily controlled to stop at the disulfide stage without the formation of common over-oxidized side products. Thus the advantages of the easy procedure and work up, short reaction times, and excellent yields make this a viable alternative method.