Stress monitoring in a Guinness 10-day scuba dive

Nowadays, there is high demand for sensitive gas sensors both for human and environmental monitoring. This paper deals with a high-resolution (0.2 ppb) laser-based photoacoustic spectroscopic system realized at ENEA Frascati, Italy, applied for monitoring stress in scuba divers during sustained immersion by analyzing breath samples. Blood tests and psychometric tests for scuba divers were performed at Catholic University in Rome. Results will be reported and discussed.     

Should Epstein strip arrangement be changed?

The paper describes effect of texture on the anisotropy of magnetic properties and shows that an Epstein strip arrangement including strips cut in a direction 45° to the rolling direction gives property values that are closer to the average values than the traditional RD+TD arrangement.     

Phase-space invariants for aggregates of particles: hyperangular momenta and partitions of the classical kinetic energy

Rigorous definitions are presented for the kinematic angular momentum K of a system of classical particles (a concept dual to the conventional angular momentum J), the angular momentum L(xi) associated with the moments of inertia, and the contributions to the total kinetic energy of the system from various modes of the motion of the particles. Some key properties of these quantities are described-in particular, their invariance under any orthogonal coordinate transformation and the inequalities they are subject to. The main mathematical tool exploited is the singular value decomposition of rectangular matrices and its differentiation with respect to a parameter. The quantities introduced employ as ingredients particle coordinates and momenta, commonly available in classical trajectory studies of chemical reactions and in molecular dynamics simulations, and thus are of prospective use as sensitive and immediately calculated indicators of phase transitions, isomerizations, onsets of chaotic behavior, and other dynamical critical phenomena in classical microaggregates, such as nanoscale clusters.     

A new multi analytical approach for the identification of synthetic and natural dyes mixtures. The case of orcein-mauveine mixture in a historical dress of a Sicilian noblewoman of nineteenth century

Abstract

In this paper, the application of a multi-analytical approach for the characterisation of synthetic and natural dyes in a historical textile is presented. The work is focused on a historical dress of a Sicilian noblewoman, dating from about 1865–1870. Firstly, SERS on fibre was performed, in order to individuate the classes of dyes employed. The SERS spectra suggested the presence of two main dyes: mauveine and orcein. In order to confirm these preliminary results, two different extraction protocols were applied. The extracts obtained were analysed by ESI-MS, MALDI-ToF and UHPCL-MS analyses, confirming the SERS results. In particular, the application of the ammonia mild extraction technique allowed to selectively extract the phenoxazonic dyes, separating them already in the extraction step from the synthetic ones. Thanks to this multi-analytical approach, this dress could be considered as one of the first examples of employment of synthetic dyes in association with natural ones.     

A simple and general chiral silicon Lewis acid for asymmetric synthesis: highly enantioselective [3+2] acylhydrazone-enol ether cycloadditions

A highly diastereo- and enantioselective [3 + 2] acylhydrazone-enol ether cycloaddition mediated by a simple chiral silane Lewis acid is described. The reactions are highly practical, as demonstrated by a larger scale (5 g of the hydrazone) reaction in which the product was obtained after recrystallization in 93% yield and 99% ee. Evidence for a stepwise mechanism and a model for the asymmetric induction are presented, as well.     

Optimization of force constants with an Urey-Bradley force field avoiding normal mode crossings

We present a method that simplifies the refinement of force constants in normal mode calculations and makes the results more reliable. The method avoids normal mode crossings by constraining the force constants during refinement. It was tested with pyrrole, imidazole, benzene, pyridine, pyrimidine, aniline and adenine using a Urey-Bradley force field. The global error of the frequency fit for these molecules was 0.61%. The method reproduced with fewer parameters the accuracy of similar calculations of the single ring aromatic compounds. It improved the accuracy and isotopic shifts of previous empirical calculations of adenine by 40%. The C-C and C-N stretchings differed by less than 7% from the values of force constant-bond length empirical relations.     

Expedient parallel synthesis of 2-amino-4-heteroarylpyrimidines

[reaction: see text] An expedient synthesis of diverse 2-amino-4-heteroarylpyrimidines via a 2-chloropyrimidine intermediate is described. A series of potentially biologically active analogues have been synthesized in two parallel steps to afford focused arrays.     

Trichoderma Enzymes for Degradation of Aflatoxin B1 and Ochratoxin A

The contamination of agricultural products with mycotoxins causes risks to animal and human health and severe economic losses. Mycotoxicoses can be reduced by preventing fungal infection using chemical and biological approaches. The chemical strategies can release toxic molecules; therefore, strategies for biological control are being evaluated, such as using nontoxic fungi and their metabolites. This work evaluated the effect of exoenzymes produced by the beneficial fungus Trichoderma afroharzianum strain T22 in degrading Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and Ochratoxin A (OTA). The ability of Trichoderma to produce hydrolases was stimulated by using different inducing substrates. The highest AFB1 and OTA degradation activity was obtained using a medium containing lyophilized mushrooms and crude fiber. The T. afroharzianum T22’s ability to reduce mycotoxins may be attributed to peroxidase enzymes. This study showed that T. afroharzianum strain T22 or its peroxidase supplementation could represent a sustainable strategy for the degradation of AFB1 and OTA in feed and food products.     

Kinetic study of template removal of Al-MCM-41 synthesized at room temperature

The Al-MCM-41 molecular sieve with Si/Al = 20 molar ratio was synthesized at room temperature and characterized by X-ray diffractometry, surface area, thermogravimetry, and infrared spectroscopy. The kinetic study was conducted by Vyazovkin and Ozawa method, in order to verify the activation energy during the Hofmann degradation between 130 and 370 °C, in which most of surfactant removal occurs. The results suggest that the activation energy for template removal is close to 80 kJ mol^?1 lower in Al-MCM-41 synthesized at room temperature, when compared to results obtained for mesopores Al-MCM-41 and MCM-41 synthesized by hydrothermal method. This lower activation energy may be understood as consequence of textural properties, such as higher pore size.