Static fatigue fracture of polyethylene: A morphological analysis

The fracture properties of a number of high-density polyethylenes were evaluated and related to their morphology. The resistance to initiation of fracture is related to the resistance to voiding of the materials and the rate of coalescence of voids. The propensity of the materials to void has been shown to be related to the size of the amorphous region. The resistance to propagation of the fracture is also related to the above factors as well as the ease of stretching and rupture of fibrils. The ease of fibril formation has been shown to be related to the degree of perfection of the crystallites.     

How mobile NMR can help with the conservation of paintings

The conservation of paintings is fundamental to ensure that future generations will have access to the ideas of the grand masters who created these art pieces. Many factors, such as humidity, temperature, light, and pollutants, pose a risk to the conservation of paintings. To help with painting conservation, it is essential to be able to noninvasively study how these factors affect paintings and to develop methods to investigate their effects on painting degradation. Hence, the use of mobile nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) as a method of investigation of paintings is gaining increased attention in the world of Heritage Science. In this mini-review, we discuss how this method was used to better understand the stratigraphy of paintings and the effect different factors have on the painting integrity, to analyze the different cleaning techniques suitable for painting conservation, and to show how mobile NMR can be used to identify forgeries. It is also important to keep in mind its limitations and build upon this information to optimize it to extend its applicability to the study of paintings and other precious objects of cultural heritage.     

Size-Exclusion Chromatography: A Twenty-First Century Perspective

Now in its sixth decade, size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) remains the premier method by which to determine the molar mass averages and distributions of natural and synthetic macromolecules. Aided by its coupling to a variety and multiplicity of detectors, it has also shown its ability to characterize a host of other physicochemical properties, such as branching, chemical, and sequence length heterogeneity size distribution; chain rigidity; fractal dimension and its change as a function of molar mass; etc. SEC is also an integral part of most macromolecular two-dimensional separations, providing a second-dimension size-based technique for determining the molar mass of the components separated in the first dimension according to chemical composition, thus yielding the combined chemical composition and molar mass distributions of a sample. While the potential of SEC remains strong, our awareness of the pitfalls and challenges inherent to it and to its practice must also be ever-present. This Perspective aims to highlight some of the advantages and applications of SEC, to bring to the fore these caveats with regard to its practice, and to provide an outlook as to potential areas for expansion and growth.

     

杨石先对农药化学学科的重要贡献及其学术思想

杨石先先生一生献身于我国的教育事业与化学学科的发展,在62年中为我国培养了无数高质量的科教人才。他除了长期担任南开大学校长之外, 还创建了我国大学第一个专职研究所,即元素有机化学研究所。他率先开展了我国元素有机化学与农药化学的科学研究,领导了元素有机化学国家重点实验室的建立,是我国元素有机化学和农药化学的奠基人和开拓者。他倡导用有机化学的专业知识,科学和系统地开展农药化学研究,组建队伍获得20项科研成果,发表上百篇科学与论述性论文,为我国开展自主创新农药研究事业作出重要贡献。在农药化学学科的学术思想中,他强调要弄清该学科的交叉性、系统性和内在规律性,倡导要学习国际先进经验,要结合国情自主创新,要为国家经济服务,要对世界农药科技做出贡献。他毕生对人才培养给予了特别的重视,为我国科技事业持续发展作出了重大贡献。     

Hygienic aspects related to burial

Burial grounds are generally provided by local authorities in cemeteries (subject to planning consent and to compliance with any considerations for environmental health). Their design has been submitted to studies of hydrogeological characteristics of soil with regard to its ability to purify wastewater coming from corpse decomposition, its ability to avoid the infiltration of pollutants in groundwater, and its ability to skeletonize buried corpses within the given times foreseen by the law in force. Greater environmental awareness has necessitated that new and existing burial grounds are assessed to determine the environmental load which they could release to soil or any downstream component. This problem arises in countries where there is a high density of built-up areas, a custom of disposing of the dead by burial, a lack of available spaces and suitable soils to designate as burial grounds. This paper reports some results from a study carried out on ground lands of Italy in order to revise articles 82 and 83 of the Decree No 285 of 1990 in force in relation to burial grounds. Soil permeability to water and air is a parameter of critical importance in relation to purification and/or diffusion of leachates from inhumed corpses in the soil, and in relation to its influence on the time necessary to completely skeletonize a human corpse.     

Addition of some α-halo ethers to unsaturated compounds

Summary The addition was carried out of 2-acetoxyethyl chloromethyl ether and of 2-chloroethyl chloromethyl ether to isobutene, to allyl chloride, to styrene, and to allyl acetate and also of 2-acetoxyethyl chloromethyl ether to butadiene and to ethyl cinnamate.     

Advancing the Drug Discovery and Development Process

The current state of affairs in the drug discovery and development process is briefly summarized and then ways to take advantage of the ever‐increasing fundamental knowledge and technical knowhow in chemistry and biology and related disciplines are discussed. The primary motivation of this Essay is to celebrate the great achievements of chemistry, biology, and medicine and to inform and inspire students and academics to enter the field of drug discovery and development while, at the same time, continue to advance the fundamentals of their disciplines. It is also meant to encourage and catalyze multidisciplinary partnerships between academia and industry as scientists attempt to merge their often complementary interests and expertise to achieve new improvements and breakthroughs in their respective fields, and the common goal of applying them to the discovery and invention of new and better medicines, especially in areas of unmet needs.     

Functional molecules in electronic circuits

Molecular electronics is a fascinating field of research contributing to both fundamental science and future technological achievements. A promising starting point for molecular devices is to mimic existing electronic functions to investigate the potential of molecules to enrich and complement existing electronic strategies. Molecules designed and synthesized to be integrated into electronic circuits and to perform an electronic function are presented in this article. The focus is set in particular on rectification and switching based on molecular devices, since the control over these two parameters enables the assembly of memory units, likely the most interesting and economic application of molecular based electronics. Both historical and contemporary solutions to molecular rectification are discussed, although not exhaustively. Several examples of integrated molecular switches that respond to light are presented. Molecular switches responding to an electrochemical signal are also discussed. Finally, supramolecular and molecular systems with intuitive application potential as memory units due to their hysteretic switching are highlighted. Although a particularly attractive feature of molecular electronics is its close cooperation with neighbouring disciplines, this article is written from the point of view of a chemist. Although the focus here is largely on molecular considerations, innovative contributions from physics, electro engineering, nanotechnology and other scientific disciplines are equally important. However, the ability of the chemist to correlate function with structure, to design and to provide tailor-made functional molecules is central to molecular electronics.     

成都经济生态区大气降尘中镉赋存形态的研究

采用Tessier连续提取法对成都经济生态区不同区域的24个大气降尘样中镉的赋存形态进行了研究。研究结果表明,大气降尘中的镉主要以残留态形态存在;各形态镉在总镉中所占百分比含量由大到小排列顺序依次是:残留态,碳酸盐结合态,交换态,铁锰结合态,有机结合态;交换态镉、碳酸盐结合态镉这两种具有较高生物有效性的形态镉在总镉中所占的平均百分比含量分别是6.420%和8.917%;铁锰氧化物结合态、有机结合态、残留态镉这三种形态镉生物有效性很低,分别在总镉中所占的平均百分比含量分别是3.419%、2.365%和78.907%。通过分析可得出,汽油和煤的燃烧以及工厂排放镉能加大城市大气降尘的镉污染。     

Free-energy component analysis of 40 protein-DNA complexes: a consensus view on the thermodynamics of binding at the molecular level

Noncovalent association of proteins to specific target sites on DNA--a process central to gene expression and regulation--has thus far proven to be idiosyncratic and elusive to generalizations on the nature of the driving forces. The spate of structural information on protein--DNA complexes sets the stage for theoretical investigations on the molecular thermodynamics of binding aimed at identifying forces responsible for specific macromolecular recognition. Computation of absolute binding free energies for systems of this complexity transiting from structural information is a stupendous task. Adopting some recent progresses in treating atomic level interactions in proteins and nucleic acids including solvent and salt effects, we have put together an energy component methodology cast in a phenomenological mode and amenable to systematic improvements and developed a computational first atlas of the free energy contributors to binding in approximately 40 protein-DNA complexes representing a variety of structural motifs and functions. Illustrating vividly the compensatory nature of the free energy components contributing to the energetics of recognition for attaining optimal binding, our results highlight unambiguously the roles played by packing, electrostatics including hydrogen bonds, ion and water release (cavitation) in protein-DNA binding. Cavitation and van der Waals contributions without exception favor complexation. The electrostatics is marginally unfavorable in a consensus view. Basic residues on the protein contribute favorably to binding despite the desolvation expense. The electrostatics arising from the acidic and neutral residues proves unfavorable to binding. An enveloping mode of binding to short stretches of DNA makes for a strong unfavorable net electrostatics but a highly favorable van der Waals and cavitation contribution. Thus, noncovalent protein-DNA association is a system-specific fine balancing act of these diverse competing forces. With the advances in computational methods as applied to macromolecular recognition, the challenge now seems to be to correlate the differential (initial vs. final) energetics to substituent effects in drug design and to move from affinity to specificity.     

Measurement of ultraviolet exposure in epidemiological studies of skin and skin cancers

As our understanding of the role of UV in causing skin cancer continues to expand, researchers and clinicians must continue to remain up to date on the various means by which UV exposure can be quantified. The purpose of this article was to review the current methods used to measure lifetime exposure to UV and to summarize the strengths and weaknesses of each of these approaches. Thus we include here a review of research articles that deal with questionnaire reliability and physical examination. We also review more technologically advanced techniques used to measure chronic UV exposure; these include microtopography, histology, gene studies and spectroscopy. Both the utility of using a specific measurement technique and the accuracy of particular techniques are explored. Finally, we touch upon the results of articles that link UV exposure to skin cancer and what this means for the future of UV-induced skin cancer research.     

Application of radioisotope XRF for the determination of noble metals in aqueous solutions

Radiometric methods of determination of platium and palladium (0.1 to 5% of Pt and 0.1 to 2% of Pd), gold and indium (0.01 to 1% of Au and 1 to 4 g In/l) and of platinum and rhodium (0.1 to 9% of Pt and 0.05 to 1% of Rh) in aqueous solution has been worked out. A suitable measuring device has been designed and constructed. The methods are based on the measurement of characteristic radiation of the L_α line for gold and platinum and of the K-series for indium, palladium and rhodium, as well as on the measurement of scattered radiation from a²³⁸Pu source. The r.m.s. error of the determination varies from 0.01 to 0.10% of Pt, 0.002 to 0.01% of Au and 0.01 to 0.15% of Pd depending on the concentration. In the case of Rh and In the errors are 0.008% and 0.04 g In/l, respectively.     

Molecular polarizability of organic compounds and their complexes: LVI. Molar volume and structure in a solution of the compounds with several axes of intramolecular rotation

Molar volumes in solutions of compounds like orthoformic esters, trialkyl phosphates, trialkylphosphites, substituted aziridines, cyclopropanes, cyclohexanes, boroxines, N-aryl-4-pyridones, decalines, and cyclooctane were determined and discussed. Conformations of alkyl substituents in the esters were found to be similar to the conformations of the corresponding alkanes. Molar volumes of aziridines and cyclopropanes were found to be additive with respect to the molar volumes of bond and group increments. The nature of solvation of the molecules of these compounds was found to be similar to that in the model systems which served for the calculations of the increments. Molar volumes of cyclohexane, decaline, and cyclooctane also were found to be additive with respect to the contributions of the molar volumes of increments of the corresponding bonds and groups. The solvation and the steric structure of substituted boroxines were found to be similar to those of the structurally analogous substituted benzenes. Conformations of N-aryl-4-pyridone and its substituted derivatives in solutions were found to be similar to the conformations of biphenyl and its derivatives. A possibility of simplification of the methods for determining the dipole moments and Kerr constants of compounds from their additive molar volumes was demonstrated.     

Fundamental relationships in the theory of electric multipole moments and multipole polarizabilities in static fields

New derivations are given of equations relating molecular electric multipole moments and polarizabilities of general order to the electrostatic energy. The unabridged moment convention is shown to yield relatively simple relations between derivatives of the energy with respect to field gradients and the multipole moments and polarizabilities. Care is taken to distinguish various forms of these derivatives, and one form leads to a proof of a general symmetry of polarizability tensors with respect to permutations of rank indices. The condition of internal equilibrium is shown to be fundamental to the existence of this symmetry. The transformation of multipole moment and polarizability tensors under translation of the coordinate origin is expressed in relatively simple general form. The traceless multipole and polarizability tensors of Buckingham and McLean and Yoshimine are obtained as linear combinations of the unabridged tensors and their traces.     

Water's polyamorphic transitions and amorphization of ice under pressure

Transformations of water's high density amorph (HDA) to low density amorph (LDA) and of LDA's to cubic ice (Ic) have been studied by in situ thermal conductivity kappa measurements at high pressures. The HDA to LDA transformation is unobservable at p of 0.07 GPa, indicating that, for a fixed heating rate, an increase in pressure increases the temperature of HDA to LDA transformation and decreases that of LDA to ice Ic, causing thereby the two transformations to merge, and HDA appears to convert directly to ice Ic. Thus either LDA forms but converts extremely rapidly to ice Ic, or LDA does not form. At a fixed p and T, in the range of pressure amorphization of hexagonal ice, kappa continues to decrease with time. Therefore, the amorphization of ice Ih is kinetically controlled. When HDA at 1 GPa was heated from 130 to 157 K and densified to very HDA, its kappa increased by 3%. Our findings and a scrutiny of earlier reports show that a reversible transition between HDA and LDA does not occur at approximately 135 K and approximately 0.2 GPa. Since there is no unique HDA, it is difficult to justify the conjecture for a second critical point for water.     

Atmospheric oxidation mechanism of p-xylene: a density functional theory study

We report an investigation of the mechanistic features of OH-initiated oxidation reactions of p-xylene using density function theory (DFT). Reaction energies for the formation of the aromatic intermediate radicals have been obtained to determine their relative stability and reversibility, and their activation barriers have been analyzed to assess the energetically favorable pathways to propagate the p-xylene oxidation. OH addition is predicted to occur dominantly at the ortho position, with branching ratios of 0.8 and 0.2 for ortho and ipso additions, respectively, and the calculated overall rate constant is in agreement with available experimental studies. Under atmospheric conditions, the p-xylene peroxy radicals arising from initial OH and subsequent O(2) additions to the ring are shown to cyclize to form bicyclic radicals, rather than to react with NO to lead to ozone formation. With relatively low barriers, isomerization of the p-xylene bicyclic radicals to more stable epoxide radicals likely occurs, competing with O(2) addition to form bicyclic peroxy radicals. The study provides thermochemical and kinetic data for assessment of the photochemical production potential of ozone and formation of toxic products and secondary organic aerosol from p-xylene oxidation.     

有机脱模剂中多环芳烃的高效液相色谱测定

建立了有机硅类和金属皂类脱模剂中多环芳烃的高效液相色谱测定方法。方法所用色谱柱为多聚C18(LC-PAH)柱,流动相为乙腈/水,采用梯度淋洗方式,开始时为体积分数40%乙腈,28min后变为82%乙腈,48min后变成100%乙腈,保持8min。方法的线性范围为0.10~200mg/L,线性相关系数为0.9993~1.0000,平均回收率分别为68.55%~101.2%(有机硅类)和75.29%~99.89%(金属皂类),精密度RSD分别为1.6%~8.1%(有机硅类)和1.8%~6.8%(金属皂类),检出限(S/N=3)分别为0.05~0.10mg/L(有机硅类)和0.05~0.20mg/L(金属皂类)。该方法可以满足有机硅类和金属皂类脱模剂中多环芳烃的检测要求。     

The Photochemistry of Diazomethane the Reactions of Methylene with Methanol and Ethanol

In the photolysis of diazomethane-methanol. mixture, the reaction of methylene with methanol gives dimethyl ether and ethanol as products. The ratio of dimethyl ether to ethanol is found to be independent to pressure and to. the composition of diazomethane-methanol mixture. Methylene insertion into O—H bond is about 11 times faster than that into C—H bonds of methanol. The ratio decreases with increase of temperature. In the diazomethane-ethanol system, ethylmethyl ether, propanol-1 and propanol-2 are found as the products of insertion reaction of methylene into ethanol. The ratios of ethylmethyl ether to propanol-1 and to propanol-2 are both found to be almost constant and independent to pressure and to the composition of diazomethane-ethanol mixture. A small temperature effect on the ratios are observed. The rate of insertion of methylene into O—H bond is about 7.3 and 14.2 times faster than those into primary and secondary C—H bonds of ethanol, respectively.     

Investigation of isothiocyanate addition to alkylidene derivatives of malononitrile and cyanoacetic acid esters

Addition of arylisothiocyanates to active methylene compounds leads to a variety of compounds depending on the structure of the starting material and conditions used to conduct the addition. Addition of arylisothiocyanate to 1c leads to a pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine resulting from addition of a second mole of cyanate to the initial adduct. Addition of arylisothiocyanate to 1b led to a mixture of pyridine and thiopyran adducts, while addition to 1a led to open chain structures.