An Efficient Route to Phenylselenoethers in the Presence of Ag2O

An efficient protocol for the preparation of phenylselenoethers from unsaturated alcohols using phenylselenenyl halides at room temperature was developed. The procedure employs phenylselenenyl chloride and bromide, some Δ ⁴- and Δ ⁵-alkenols and Ag₂O, as an additive, to generate the tetrahydropyrans or tetrahydrofurans. This method permits the preparation of cyclic phenylselenoethers in high yields and under extremely mild conditions.     

Precipitation and recrystallization of uniform CuCl particles formed by aggregation of nanosize precursors

Uniform, spherical CuCl particles were obtained by mixing aqueous solutions of CuCl ₂ and ascorbic acid in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as dispersing agent. The size and the uniformity of the resulting particles depended on the volume ratio of the reactant solutions, their concentrations, the distribution of the stabilizers, and the mixing method. The single jet precipitation yielded large spheres of broad size distributions, while the particles obtained by the double jet technique were rather uniform in size. The final colloidal CuCl particles were formed by the aggregation of nanocrystals, initially generated in the system. Depending on the pH of the reaction mixture, these particles slowly change to large CuCl crystals on aging in the mother liquor.     

Spectrophotometric method for the determination of demeclocycline using sodium molybdate as analytical reagent

By means of spectroscopic methods it has been found that demeclocycline reacts with molybdate ions forming a complex compound [MoO₃HDMTC]^2–. The relative stability constant of this compound has been determined by applying spectrophotometric methods. Under optimum conditions for complex formation a very sensitive spectrophotometric method for the estimation of demeclocycline in the concentration range 5.0–35.1 g/ml is proposed. The detection limit of the method is 2.5 g/ml of demeclocycline. The relative standard deviation (n=10) varies between 0.76% and 1.46%. The method proved to be accurate and sensitive for the analysis of the demeclocycline content in tablets.     

A simple adsorptive chronopotentiometric stripping method for determination of vitamin B 1 in pharmaceutical products

A new electroanalytical method for vitamin B1 determination, based on adsorptive chronopotentiometric stripping analysis and non-specific adsorption onto mercury film electrode, was developed and validated. Stripping chronopotentiograms showed a single well-defined oxidation wave corresponding to vitamin B1 at about − 0.43 V in citrate buffer pH 6.0. The most important experimental factors affecting the monitored electroanalytical response of vitamin B1 were investigated and optimised. Under the optimal experimental conditions, linear response of vitamin B1 was obtained in the concentration range of 5–50 mg dm−3, with the achieved limit of detection of 1.64 mg dm−3, and the limit of quantitation of 4.97 mg dm−3. A mean recovery of 97.1% and relative standard deviations of 3.75% were achieved. The developed electrochemical procedure was successfully applied for the determination of vitamin B1 in pharmaceutical products. The results of the proposed method were in good agreement with those obtained by parallel HPLC analyses, confirming an accuracy of the developed method.     

An expansion formula for fractional derivatives of variable order

In this work we extend our previous results and derive an expansion formula for fractional derivatives of variable order. The formula is used to determine fractional derivatives of variable order of two elementary functions. Also we propose a constitutive equation describing a solidifying material and determine the corresponding stress relaxation function.     

Seasonal variations of cytosolic antioxidant enzyme activities in the liver and white muscle of thinlip gray mullet (Liza ramada Risso) from the Adriatic Sea

The activity of cytosolic antioxidative defence enzymes in the liver and white muscle of thinlip gray mullet (Liza ramada Risso) were compared in winter and spring in the Adriatic Sea. Activity of antioxidative enzymes is functionally organized due to metabolic demands: analyses of variance and correlation analysis revealed tissue- and seasonal- specific organization of antioxidative enzymes. In winter GST activity increased in both tissues compared with spring. At the same time decreased GSH-Px and GR activities were observed and this effect was more pronounced in liver then in white muscle. From correlation analyses it is concluded that the antioxidative components correlate, but the composition of the antioxidative defence system is different in respect to season and tissue. This means that the antioxidative defence system reorganizes its structure due to oxidative demands and to protect the tissues against reactive oxygen species and to establish homeostasis. Discriminant analyses separated groups according to the complete organization of individual components of the system very well and identified individual components (CAT, GST and GR) which contribute most to the differences. Statistical differences were observed between enzyme activities in tissues (liver and muscle) in both winter and spring, and between seasons (winter and spring) for liver tissue only. Since environmental parameters, such as temperature and oxygen concentration in the sea differ with season, we conclude that in this species the tissues examined expressed their antioxidative defence systems in different ways in respect of external/environmental conditions. We propose that tissue- and seasonal- specific levels of antioxidant enzyme activities should be considered in the interpretation of data from future biomonitoring field studies, especially in relation to low temperature.     

A two-phase algorithm for consensus building in AHP-group decision making

Group decision making through the AHP has received significant attention in contemporary research, the primary focus of which has been on the issues of consistency and consensus building. In this paper, we concentrate on the latter and present a two-phase algorithm based on the optimal clustering of decision makers (members of a group) into sub groups followed by consensus building both within sub groups and between sub groups. Two-dimensional Sammon’s mapping is proposed as a tool for generating an approximate visualization of sub groups identified in multidimensional vector space, while the consensus convergence model is suggested for reaching agreement amongst individuals in and between sub groups. As a given, all decision makers evaluate the same decision elements within the AHP framework and produce individual scores of these decision elements. The consensual scores are obtained through the iterative procedure and the final scores are declared as the group decision. The results of two selected numerical examples are compared with two sets of results: the results obtained by the commonly used geometric mean aggregation method and also the results obtained if the consensus convergence model is applied directly without the prior clustering of the decision makers. The comparisons indicated the expected differences among the aggregation schemes and the final group scores. The matrices of respect values in the consensus convergence model, obtained for cases when the decision makers are optimally clustered and when they are not, show that in the latter case the decision makers receive lower weights of respect from other members in the group. Various tests showed that our approach is efficient in cases when no clusters can be visually and undoubtedly identified, especially if the number of group members is high.