Photometric titration of total iodine at trace levels in concetrated chloride solutions

The method is based on reduction of total iodine (10^?7?10^?5 M), to iodide with sulphite in acidic solution. The excess of sulphur dioxide is removed by bubbling with nitrogen, and the resulting solution is titrated spectrophotometrically with a standard solution of iodate, the absorbance being measured at 230 nm. Some Italian table salts, iodized or common, were analyzed for their iodide and total iodine content.     

Seasonal fluctuation of DNA photodamage in marine plankton assemblages at Palmer Station, Antarctica

Ultraviolet radiation-induced DNA damage frequencies were measured in DNA dosimeters and natural plankton communities during the austral spring at Palmer Station, Antarctica, during the 1999-2000 field season. We found that the fluence of solar ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) at the earth's surface correlated with stratospheric ozone concentrations, with significant ozone depletion observed because of "ozone hole" conditions. To verify the interdependence of ozone depletion and DNA damage in natural microbial communities, seawater was collected daily or weekly from Arthur Harbor at Palmer Station, Antarctica, throughout "ozone season," exposed to ambient sunlight between 0600 and 1800 h and fractionated using membrane filtration to separate phytoplankton and bacterioplankton populations. DNA from these fractions was isolated and DNA damage measured using radioimmunoassay. Under low-ozone conditions cyclobutane dimer concentrations in bacterioplankton and phytoplankton communities were maximal. DNA damage measured in dosimeters correlated closely with ozone concentrations and UV-B fluence. Our studies offer further support to the theory that stratospheric deozonation is detrimental to marine planktonic organisms in the Southern Ocean.     

Enantioselective reduction and deracemisation using the non-conventional yeast Pichia glucozyma in water/organic solvent biphasic systems: preparation of (S)-1,2-diaryl-2-hydroxyethanones (benzoins)

Water/organic solvent two-liquid-phase systems have been successfully applied in the synthesis of enantiomerically pure (S)-benzoin through two different methodologies catalysed by whole cells from the non-conventional yeast Pichia glucozyma: the stereoselective monoreduction of benzil and the deracemisation of benzoin. The presence of the organic solvent influences the redox systems implied in the reactions, avoiding the formation of the corresponding diols, increasing the enantioselectivity and allowing the easy isolation of the products in high yields and excellent enantiomeric excesses. The use of both strategies has been extended to the preparation of different chiral benzoin derivatives.     

Purely quadratic dispersion of surface plasmon in Ag/Ni(111): the influence of electron confinement

Surface plasmon dispersion in nanoscale thin Ag films deposited onto the Ni(111) surface was investigated by angle‐resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy. We found that the dispersion curve contains only the quadratic term. The vanishing of the linear term was ascribed to the presence in the film of Ag 5sp‐related quantum well states. Screening effects enhanced by electron confinement in Ag quantum well states push the position of the centroid of the induced charge of the surface plasmon less inside the interface compared to other Ag systems, rendering null the linear coefficient of the dispersion curve. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Optimum extraction process of polyphenols from Bridelia grandis stem bark using experimental design

Euphorbiaceae barks are known to contain an appreciable amount of polyphenolic compounds responsible for several biological activities. Preliminary extraction from Bridelia grandis stem bark afforded high content of polyphenols, determined by spectrophotometric methods such as Folin–Ciocalteu (for total phenols, TP) and n‐butanol‐HCl (for condensed tannins, CT). A preliminary Plackett–Burman screening design was used to identify the key factors that influence the TP and CT extraction. Between all the variables known to influence the extraction from vegetable matrixes, six were selected; maceration was chosen as traditional extraction methodology. To investigate the effect of solvents and extraction method, methanol, acetone 70% (v/v in water), centrifugation and ultrasound were chosen. A full factorial design 2³ was applied to optimize the extraction procedure. The responses were obtained analyzing the extracts for their TP and CT contents determined by the above‐mentioned spectrophotometric methods. The results confirm that, within the explored domain, the optimum solvent is methanol and the optimum method is one‐cycle centrifugation. Finally, it was also compared with the effect of maceration on the considered responses. It has never given results better than centrifugation, whereas in the case of CT it represents an advantage to employ a three‐cycle centrifugation instead of one.     

Damping of the surface plasmon in clean and K-modified Ag thin films

The damping processes of electronic collective excitations of Ag/Ni(1 1 1) were studied by high-resolution electron energy spectroscopy. The FMHM of the Ag surface plasmon was reported as a function of Ag thickness, primary electron beam energy, Ag surface plasmon energy, and parallel momentum transfer. The broadening of the Ag surface plasmon was found to be related to 5sp–5sp transitions, for which a critical wave vector of 0.2 Å⁻¹ exists. Moreover, we provide a direct evidence of the occurrence of chemical interface damping in thin films, upon doping the Ag/Ni(1 1 1) system with K adatoms. The enhanced plasmon broadening in K/Ag/Ni(1 1 1) was ascribed to the existence of additional electron–hole decay channels at the K/Ag interface.     

Solid phase extraction of copper(II) by fixed bed procedure on cation exchange complexing resins

The efficiency of the metal ion recovery by solid phase extraction (SPE) in complexing resins columns is predicted by a simple model based on two parameters reflecting the sorption equilibria and kinetics of the metal ion on the considered resin. The parameter related to the adsorption equilibria was evaluated by the Gibbs–Donnan model, and that related to the kinetics by assuming that the ion exchange is the adsorption rate determining step. The predicted parameters make it possible to evaluate the breakthrough volume of the considered metal ion, Cu(II), from different kinds of complexing resins, and at different conditions, such as acidity and ionic composition.     

Usage of Empore™ membrane in alcoholic media for copper(II) distribution studies

The sorption of copper(II) on a solid, iminodiacetic based, chelating material, the Empore™ membrane, in alcoholic solutions is considered. Determination of the acid-base properties, kinetic of metal sorption and complexing properties, in solutions with different percentages of ethanol, ranging from 0 to 40% is undertaken. The results are compared with those obtained using the classical iminodiacetic resin Chelex 100 in beads. No significant differences are found in the thermodynamic properties, but the kinetics of the metal sorption on the membrane is slower and a dependence of the process rate with the alcoholic content is observed. In the present investigation, the detection of copper(II) species both in alcoholic Italian distillate “grappa” and in its intermediate product (“flemma”), is carried out by the Resin Titration (RT) method using, as competitive reagent, the Empore™ membrane. To validate the procedure, synthetic solutions containing different percentages of ethanol are analysed.     

X-ray reflectivity study on gold films during sputter deposition

We performed in-situ X-ray reflectivity measurements of gold films during sputter deposition on polished silicon substrates. The measurements were performed at several substrate temperatures and under two argon pressures. The gold surfaces were also examined by scanning tunneling microscopy after deposition to obtain their real-space topographic images. These images were used to complement the X-ray reflectivity measurements in determining the effect of argon pressure on the gold surface and its height-height difference functions. An approximation for height-height difference functions was employed to analyze the X-ray reflectivity data. The measured interface width during growth followed a simple power law, consistent with recent theoretical results of dynamic scaling behavior. The scaling exponents, however, do not agree well with predictions based on some models in 2 + 1 dimensions.