On the ionic conductivity and phase transitions in the Li2SO4---Li2WO4 system and their relation to ion transport mechanism

Secco et al. have performed several measurements of ionic conductivity, which they have considered as “convincing evidence” that the “paddle-wheel” mechanism does not contribute significantly to ion conductivity in Li₂SO₄-based compositions. However, a comparison of their results in the high-conductivity range with those of other investigators suggests that their data are artifacts. The cause of this is that the resistance of their sulfate-rich samples is about 0.1 ohm at high temperatures. Thus, their results are reliable only for “normal,” i.e., low, conductivities. It is briefly summarized why the “paddle-wheel” mechanism for ion transport is superior to a percolation-type mechanism for a few high-conducting phases.     

Consumer attitudes to radiation and irradiated potatoes at “radiation fair” in Osaka, Japan

“Radiation Fair” has been held in summer vacation season in August for more than 10 years in Osaka, the largest city of western Japan, for the purpose of public education and information transfer of radiation and radiation-related technology. We distributed questionnaires to the visitors for recent 3 years to inquire their status toward radiation and irradiated products including irradiated potatoes as well as impression toward the displays. According to the survey results, more than 60% of the kids visitors were satisfied with this exhibition as informative, more than half of the older visitors (16 years old and upward) indicated that they recognized the word of “radiation” when they were at elementary school and the most significant sources of this information were school lessons and the mass media. Consumer's image toward radiation seems to shift to more “positive” when correct knowledge about radiation is given. More than half of consumers did not know “irradiated potatoes” but the percentage indicating that irradiated potatoes was definitely hazardous was less than 10%.     

Zur nomenklatur der phane—II

The new term “Phanes” has been clearly defined and a nomenclature system tentatively developed. This system is comprehensible and of general application and at the same time relatively simple. The notations “nucleus”, “bridge”, “number of bridge members” and “number of ring members” are defined. In order to get a definite characterisation of the phanes which contain a carbocyclic nucleus, a carbocyclic and heterocyclic bridge the following terms: “carbophanes”, “carba-phanes” and “hetera-phanes” have been newly introduced. The prefix “hetera-” has been proposed as a general expression and as a representative term for the syllables “aza-”, “oxa-”, “thia-” and so on. The so called “a-nomenclature” is clearly called “hetera-nomenclature”. The new expressions “heteralogous” and “substitulogous” are explained. As the various examples will show, the “Phane-Nomenclature” can also be applied to the naming of complicated metallocenophanes.     

Nanotechnologies for drug delivery: Application to cancer and autoimmune diseases

Polymer-based nanotechnologies are now proposed as an alternative to classical formulations for drug administration, delivery and targeting. Therapeutic applications of the first generation of nanotechnologies include the treatment of cancer liver diseases. Avoiding the recognition by the liver is also possible by developing long circulating polymeric colloidal carriers (“stealth” systems) able to avoid the opsonization process and the recognition by the macrophages. The design of such carriers of second generation is based on the physico-chemical concept of the “steric repulsion”: by grafting polyethyleneglycol chains at the surface of nanoparticles, the adsorption of seric proteins may be dramatically reduced due to steric hindrance. Such an approach allows maintaining the drug carrier for a longer time into the circulation and the resulting extravasation towards non reticuloendothelial-located cancers may become possible. Now, new applications and exciting perspectives are proposed for the delivery of drugs to previously non accessible diseased sanctuaries, like the brain (treatment of glioma and autoimmune diseases of the brain) or the ocular tissues (treatment of the autoimmune uveitis). Finally, the use of nanotechnologies for the delivery of nucleic acids (oligonucleotides) is also discussed in this review.     

The Inject-Mix-React-Separate-and-Quantitate (IMReSQ) approach to studying reactions in capillaries

A capillary or a narrow channel is an attractive medium for studying reactions. A capillary can serve as (i) a microreactor for carrying out a reaction in a nanoliter volume and (ii) a separation column to separate the reaction products prior to their quantitation. The term “Inject-Mix-React-Separate-and-Quantitate” (IMReSQ) includes all analyses of reactions in capillaries that involve these five steps. We analyze these steps in detail and formulate the requirements for them to be generic and quantitative.     

Reply to “Comments on the paper entitled ‘The formulation and modelling of the anodic dissolution of zinc through adsorbed intermediates’ ” by C. Cachet et al.

The points raised in the paper entitled “Comments on the paper entitled ‘The formulation and modelling of the anodic dissolution of zinc through adsorbed intermediates”’ have been discussed. It has been shown that, in contrast to the statements in the “Comments”, most of the papers concerning the reaction schemes suggested for the interpretation of the dissolution or deposition of metals, which were considered as a support for the opinion of the Authors of the “Comments”, support the views expressed in our original paper [J. Electroanal. Chem. 583 (2005) 148]. On the other hand, it has been stressed again that the criticism expressed in the original paper refers to dubious conclusions drawn on the basis of transient measurements.     

Simple, new technique for measurement of fluorescence quantum yields: Application to benzene vapor

A new technique is presented for measuring fluorescence quantum yields without recourse to comparison with “standards”. The first experiments involved a study of benzene in the vapor phase. The measured fluorescence quantum yield at 2537 Å, Φ_F = 0.19 ± 0.02.     

Studies on the biomimetic preparation of the sarpagan ring system. Attempts to apply the spontaneous “biogenetic-type cyclization” of van Tamelen to bond formation between C-5 and C-16 in the corynantheine series

Attempts were made to apply the spontaneous “biogenetic-type cyclization” of van Tamelen to the preparation of the sarpagan ring system by utilizing indolo [2,3-a]quinolizidines 10, 11, 12, and 14. The fact that the spontaneous “biogenetic-type cyclization” did not take place casts some doubt on the correctness of the earlier results.     

How to analyze the entropy and energy of interacting particles by simulating their stochastic disordering

The master equation describing single particle transitions is solved approximately, in terms of the population of “local states” for interacting particles. Without prior knowledge of forces this permits one to analyze the entropy, the partition function and hence the energy, of partially ordered particles, through a computer simulation of their disordering.     

Evaluation of the temporal effect to the peak tailing in flow injection analysis

The deformation of a flow injection analysis peak from a Gaussian shape has two components: spatial and temporal. The former is mainly attributed to the Poisseulie effect in the tubular flow, whereas the latter is related to the observing position (of a fixed detector) at which signal is measured. The combination of the two makes a skewed peak track on the recorder chart. Therefore, an observed peak may imply a substantial fraction of a “false” tail due to the effect of non-simultaneous detection. An expanding-Gaussian model is proposed to simulate the purely temporal effect, and the asymmetric factors were compared with that of the experimental peak shapes. In most cases the peak deformation occurring in flow injection analysis should be regarded as “temporal”. The contribution of the spatial effects (Poisseulie profile and others) might not be as significant as it was thought previously.     

Long range transport of biomass aerosol to Greenland: Multi-spectroscopic investigation of particles deposited in the snow

Summary Results are given from the NIST component of a pilot (“winter-over”) study of seasonal patterns of natural and anthropogenic species in air and snow transported to Summit, Greenland. Central to this research is the quantitative apportionment of fossil and biomass particulate carbon, based on advanced (micromolar) ¹⁴C accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) applied to remote snow samples containing as little as 9 µg C/kg. The measurements were made practicable through stringent attention to the nature and sources of the isotopic-chemical blank, resulting in a blank reduction from »5 µg C to <0.5 µg C. An important result of this work is the first evidence of a seasonal pattern in biomass-C particles in Greenland snow. Although ¹⁴C AMS data serve to resolve fossil and biomass carbon quantitatively, a deeper understanding of the aerosol sources and character demands a multidisciplinary approach. This is illustrated with “multi-spectrometric” macro- and micro-analytical data for two cases involving substantial incursions of biomass aerosol to the Summit, Greenland snow.     

Optical potential theory of diatom-diatom scattering. II. Indistinguishable molecules

The theory of vibro-rotational energy exchange in “indistinguishable” diatom-diatom scattering is formulated in terms of effective potentials. Due the necessity of considering both “symmetric” and “antisymmetric” molecular two-particle states, the formalism has a characteristic (two-by-two matrix structure. A mathematical generalization of Schwinger's theory of sources allows a compact derivation of exact and approximate expressions for t “optical” and “transition” potentials of elastic and inelastic processes, respectively. Finally, considerations based on a partial wave analysi of the working equations, suggest that the present theory should be more readily amenable to numerical implementations than the close coupling approach     

“Hole-burning spectra”. A new method for obtaining fine structure in absorption spectra of organic molecules

A new method is proposed for obtaining fine structure in broad-band absorption spectra of organic molecules in solid solutions at low temperature. This method is based on the laser burning of a series of narrow gaps in inhomogeneously broadened absorption spectra. A special spectral set-up has been developed for the measurement of the differential spectrum (a “hole-burning spectrum”) of “burnt” and “unburnt” samples. As an example the hole-burning spectrum of Zn-tetraphenylporphine in ethanol has been considered.     

Application of receptor models to airborne particulate matter

The human activities in their various aspects cause a change in the natural air quality. This change results more marked in very populated and in high industrialized areas. Some pollutants emitted are typical of a particular activity. Each source of pollution is identified by its profile in the composition of the emissions in the environment. Multivariate receptor models can be used in order to apportion pollutants to the different sources assessing the contribution of each source to the total pollution.This paper deals with the application of Absolute Principal Component Scores (APCS) receptor model to data obtained from the automatic network of air quality monitoring in the city of Bari (South Italy). The parameters monitored by automatic networks, as bihourly values, are PM₁₀, NO_x, CO, Benzene, Toluene, Xilene. The data shown in this paper concerning 1 month almost of sampling in different monitoring stations of Bari Municipality during the period of time from January 2005 to April 2006. Moreover preliminary results obtained applying the APCS model to daily PM_2.5 samples collected during SITECOS PRIN project are shown. The results concerning data collected in corso Cavour (Bari) during the month of October 2005.The results obtained by APCS receptor model seem to suggest a poor contribution of the “vehicular traffic source” and a relevant contribution of the “secondary particulate source” to particulate matter concentrations.     

Kosmotrope character of maltose in water mixtures

It is well known that water plays a fundamental role for living beings, because the nature of water transformations provides for the ability to preserve biostructures. Solute can be classified as “kosmotropes” or “chaotropes” depending on the interaction strength with water. In the case of solutes destroying the natural hydrogen bonded network of water, called “kosmotropes” or “structure-makers”, the denaturation processes can be inhibited.

The aim of this work is to investigate the vibrational behaviour of maltose/H₂O mixtures in order to characterise the changes induced by the sugar on the H₂O hydrogen-bonded network. The obtained findings point out that maltose has a destructuring effect on the water tetrahedral network and emphasise its kosmotrope character.     

Evaluation of the surface tension measurement of axisymmetric drop shape analysis (ADSA) using a shape parameter

A quantitative criterion called “shape parameter” to evaluate the quality of surface tension measurement of Axisymmetric Drop Shape Analysis (ADSA) is presented. ADSA is a powerful technique for the measurement of interfacial tensions and contact angles of pendant drops, sessile drops, and bubbles. Despite the general success of ADSA, deficient results may be obtained for drops close to spherical shape. Therefore, the “shape parameter” was used to determine the range of drop shapes in which ADSA succeeds or fails. The “shape parameter” is a dimensionless parameter that expresses quantitatively the difference in shape between a given experimental profile and an inscribed circle. The surface tension measurements of ADSA were evaluated for both pendant drop and constrained sessile drop configurations using the shape parameter. Different shapes of the pendant drop were studied using different sizes and materials of holders. For each drop configuration, a “critical shape parameter” was defined based on the minimum value of the shape parameter that guarantees an error of less than ±0.1 mJ/m². Furthermore, the effects of the type of liquid and constellation on the “critical shape parameter” were studied.     

Preparation of alpha-elastin nanoparticles by gamma irradiation

Nanoparticles were prepared by utilizing the thermosensitive aggregation of alpha-elastin and gamma ray crosslinking. Three different heating process, “Slow heating”, “Fast heating”, and “Heat shock”, were applied for the aggregation of the alpha-elastin and examined to yield nanoparticles by gamma rays crosslinking. As a result, only “Slow heating” process yielded nanoparticles with diameters of about ca. 300 nm above cloud point (CP) and about ca. 100 nm below CP, and a narrow size distribution above 1.0 mg/ml concentration (exclude 1.0 mg/ml).     

Bioinspired Total Synthesis of Complex Nucleoside Antibiotics A201A,A201D and A201E

Herein, bioinspired total syntheses of A201A, A201D, and A201E based on a previously reported biosynthetic pathway are presented. The challenging 1,2-cis-furanoside, a core structure of the A201 family, was obtained by remote 2-quinolinecarbonyl-assisted glycosylation. We accomplished the total synthesis of A201A and A201E based on the critical 1,2-cis-furanoside moiety through late-stage glycosylation without any interference from basic dimethyl adenosine. We also confirmed the absolute configuration of A201E by total synthesis. This modular synthesis strategy enables efficient preparation of A201 family antibiotics, allowing the study of their structure–activity relationships and mode of action. This study satisfies the increasing demand for developing novel antibiotics inspired by the A201 family.     

Application of irradiation in bait production to the control of crawling insects in urban areas

The efficiency and palatability of two baits were studied to the control of crawling insects in urban areas: “Cockroach Kill Gel” for control of cockroaches and Faratox B for control of ants. Ionizing energy was used in producing the baits. It was concluded, that after irradiation the palatability of Faratox B improved and palatability of Cockroach Kill Gel did not change.     

Which double-octet ABC molecules are bent? CI calculations on CaF2, and a softness criterion to predict bending

Hartree—Fock and configuration interaction calculations for CaF₂ yield a bond angle of 155° only after d-type polarization functions are included, suggesting that “anomalous” bent geometries can be rationalized by polarizability. A criterion using the chemical softness as a measure for both polarizability and low-lying valence states, completely separates the bent from the linear double-octet ABC molecules. Sixty yet unreported bent structures are predicted, and new experiments suggested.