Determination of total selenium and selenium distribution in the milk phases in commercial cow’s milk by HG-AAS

A procedure has been developed for determining the selenium in cows milk using hydride generation–atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS) following microwave-assisted acid digestion. The selenium distributions in milk whey, fat and micellar casein phases were studied after separating the different phases by ultracentrifugation and determining the selenium in all of them. The detection limits obtained by HG-AAS for the whole milk, milk whey and micellar casein were 0.074, 0.065 and 0.075 g l^–1, respectively. The accuracy for the whole milk was checked by using a Certified Reference Material CRM 8435 whole milk powder from NIST, and the analytical recoveries for the milk whey and casein micelles were 100.9 and 96.9%, respectively. A mass balance study of the determination of selenium in the different milk phases was carried out, obtaining values of 95.5–100.8%. The total content of selenium was determined in 37 milk samples from 15 different manufacturers, 19 whole milk samples and 18 skimmed milk samples. The selenium levels found were within the 8.5–21 g l^–1 range. The selenium distributions in the different milk phases were studied in 14 whole milk samples, and the highest selenium levels were found in milk whey (47.2–73.6%), while the lowest level was found for the fat phase (4.8–16.2%). A strong correlation was found between the selenium levels in whole milk and the selenium levels in the milk components.     

Quantification of cow’s milk percentage in dairy products – a myth?

The substitution of ewe's and goat's milk for cheaper cow's milk is still a fraudulent practice in the dairy industry. Moreover, soy-based products (e.g., soy milk, yoghurt) have to be checked for cow's milk as they are an alternative for people suffering from an allergy against bovine milk proteins. This work reports the evaluation of different protein-based electrophoretic methods and DNA-based techniques for the qualitative detection as well as the quantitative determination of cow's milk percentage in dairy and soy milk products. Isoelectric focusing (IEF) of γ-caseins using an optimized pH gradient was appropriate not only for the detection of cow's milk, but also for an estimation of cow's milk percentage in mixed-milk cheese varieties. Urea-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) proved the method of choice to detect cow's milk in soy milk products, whereas IEF and SDS-PAGE of proteins were not applicable due to false-positive results. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis was used to confirm the results of protein-based electrophoretic methods. Problems inherent in quantitative analysis of cow's milk percentage using protein-based techniques and even more using DNA-based methods were emphasized. Applicability of quantitative real-time PCR for the determination of cow's milk percentage in mixed-milk cheese was shown to be hampered by several factors (e.g., somatic cell count of milk; technological parameters influencing the final DNA concentration in ripened commercial cheese samples). The implementation of certified reference standards (of major relevant cheese groups) containing 50% cow's milk was urgently recommended to enable at least a yes/no decision in commercial mixed-milk cheese samples.     

Study of the aggregation behavior of a π-conjugated dendrimer with a twisted core

A dendrimer having phenylene vinylene and phenylene ethynylene moieties, a twisted core, and eighteen chiral centers on the periphery has been prepared in high yield by using Sonogashira and Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons reactions. UV–visible and fluorescence spectra and circular dichroism measurements have been envisaged to study the aggregation behavior.     

Study of the Fermi doublet ν1 — 2ν2 in the Raman spectra of CO2 in different phases

The relation between the intensity ratio R and the frequency separation Δ of the Fermi doublet components ν₊ and ν₋ in the Raman spectra of CO₂ in dense gas, liquid, solid and aqueous solutions is used to establish the correct assignment of the levels to ν₁ and 2ν₂. The unperturbed fundamental ν⁰₁ is at higher frequency than 2ν⁰₂ in all the phases studied. The values of ν⁰₁ increase and of 2ν⁰₂ decrease with pressure. The values of W and K₁₂₂ are nearly constant for the dense gas, liquid and solid in the pressure range of 6–44 kbars, but decrease in the solid for pressures up to 100 kbars and also in aqueous solutions.     

Study of the inhibitory effect of ferulic acid on short-chain fatty acids in milk samples by dispersive liquid–liquid micro-extraction in combination with fluorescence derivatization

A sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed to study the influence of ferulic acid on the formation of volatile fatty acids and lactic acid in milk and soybean milk samples. Volatile fatty acids were extracted by liquid–liquid micro-extraction using chloroform and acetonitrile as the extraction and disperser solvents, respectively. The analytes were derivatized with 2-(5-benzoacridine)ethyl-p-toluenesulfonate that showed excellent fluorescence property and made the sensitive HPLC analysis of short-chain fatty acids become possible. The optimized HPLC sensitivity was in the range of 1.1–1.9?µg?L^?1. Ferulic acid was added in milk and soybean milk samples to study its preservative effect. The results indicated that ferulic acid with concentration of 0.2% (m/v) could effectively reduce the formation of short-chain fatty acids.     

Theoretical Study on the Reaction Mechanism of SiCl_4 with H in the Gas Phase

1 INTRODUCTION Semiconductor silicon materials are vital for mi- croelectronic and information industry. Silicon has many advantages, for example, rich resource, out- standing quality and sophisticated processing tech- nology. So it has been widely used in semiconduc- tor industry. One of the key techniques of mo- dern microelectronic industry is epitaxial growth of single crystal thin film on single crystal silicon and its ba- cking materials. In the chemical vapour deposition of Si, g…     

Study of a new ‘chiral proton’ organocatalyst with hydrolase activity: application in azlactone racemic dynamic resolution

For the first time, a 1,3-ketoenol system is described as an acid catalyst with hydrolytic activity. The combination of an enol and a pyridine/benzimidazole supported on a benzofuran skeleton allowed the creation of a novel bifunctional organocatalyst, which has been applied in azlactone racemic dynamic resolution. In spite of the moderate enantioselectivities obtained, the catalyst constitutes a novel concept in the field of chiral Brønsted acid catalysis.     

Mechanistic Study of Catalysis in the Mizoroki–Heck Reaction with Anhydrides of Aromatic Acids

A kinetic study of reaction of alkene arylation by anhydrides of aromatic acids (modified Mizoroki–Heck reaction) was carried out using differential selectivity as the main measured parameter. The results obtained under conditions of competition between a pair of alkenes or a pair of aromatic anhydrides point to the occurrence of the reaction via a homogeneous mechanism of catalysis analogously to a conventional variant of reaction with aryl halides as arylating reagents. The hypothesis that the active catalyst is homogeneous agrees with the results of kinetic studies of processes of catalyst formation and deactivation.     

Study of the factors affecting the formation of copper–chromium/aluminum oxide compounds with a spinel structure

The effect of the Cr³⁺/Al³⁺ ratio on the crystallization temperature of mixed oxide compounds with a spinel structure and their structural features and morphological characteristics have been studied using a combination of physicochemical methods: thermal analysis, IR spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and electron microscopy. The role of temperature of synthesis and drying of Cu–Cr/Al hydroxy precursors in the formation of copper-containing spinels CuCr _x Al_2–x O₄, where x = 0–2, has been elucidated. The results are of interest for selection of the optimal composition and conditions of synthesis and formation of copper-containing spinels for their practical use.     

“Matrix effects” in the activation of compounds with a system of conjugation in the inhibition of oxidative processes

Russian Chemical Bulletin -     

Study of the Molecular Mobility in Polymers with the Thermally Stimulated Recovery Technique—A Review

Thermally stimulated recovery (TSR) is a non‐conventional mechanical spectroscopy technique that allows to analyse in detail the relaxation processes of polymeric systems in the low frequency region. This work reviews the main aspects and potentialities of this technique. The different kinds of TSR experiments that can be performed, global and thermal sampling (TS) experiments, are described and illustrated with several examples. Also, the different methods for the determination of the thermokinetic parameters (activation energy and pre‐exponential factor) of the thermal sampling (TS) procedure are explained and compared. In this context, the compensation phenomenon, which always appears in TSR results when the studies are performed in the glass transition region of a given system, is discussed. Examples of the application of this technique to different polymeric systems during the last 20 years are provided. An emphasis will be made on the analysis of the effect of crystallinity degree and crosslink density on the TSR response. A comparison between the results (characteristic times and activation energies) obtained by different techniques, namely TSR, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), is made.     

Spectroscopic Study on Interaction of Lomefloxacin with Human Serum Albumin in the Presence of Copper Ion

The interaction of lomefloxacin （LMF） with human serum albumin （HSA） in the presence of copper ions in a physiological medium and its thermodynamic characteristics were investigated by multi-spectroscopy. The experimental results showed that both LMF and LMF-Cu^2＋ could quench the fluorescence of HSA with a static quenching mechanism, indicating that LMF or LMF-Cu^2＋ could react with HSA. The apparent binding constants/numbers of binding sites were estimated as 4.924± 105 Lomol 1/1.473 for LMF-HSA, 8.990± 104 L·mol^-1/1.785 for LMF- Cu^2＋-HSA, 1.10± 105 L·mol^-1/1.21 for LMF-Cu^2＋ and 7.30± 102 L·mol^-1/0.82 for HSA-Cu^2＋, respectively. AH and AS for LMF-HSA system were calculated to be --2.189 kJ·mol^-1 and 61.25 J·mol^-1·K^-1, while those for LMF-Cu^2＋-HSA system were -7.401 kJ·mol^-1 and 47.63 J·mol^-1·K^-1 Although the values of AH and AS in these two systems were different, the treads were similar, which indicated that electrostatic interactions in these two systems played a major role. According to Forster theory, the distances were given as 5.006 nm for HSA-LMF and 4.709 nm for HSA-LMF-Cu^2＋. Synchronous fluorescence and circular dichroism spectra confirmed further that the conformations of human serum albumin before and after interacting with LMF or LMF-Cu^2＋ were different. All the results revealed that copper ions promoted the interaction of lomefloxacin with human serum albumin.     

Study on the Extraction of L-Phenylalanine with Organo-phosphoric Acid in Two and Three-phase System

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Study on the Application of Polysiloxane with N－decanyltartrimide Moieties in Capillary Electrophoresis

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Study of a chemostat model with Beddington–DeAngelis functional response and pulsed input and washout at different times

In the paper, we considered a food chain chemostat model with a Beddington–DeAngelis functional response of predator, with periodical input and washout occurring at different fixed times. We obtained exact periodic solutions for the model with substrate and prey only. The stability analysis for this periodic solutions yields an invasion threshold for period of pulses of the predator. When the impulsive period is greater than the threshold, there are periodic oscillations in substrate, prey, and predator. If the impulsive period is increased further, the system undergoes the complex dynamic process. By analyzing bifurcation diagrams, we can see that the impulsive system shows two kinds of bifurcations; period-doubling and period-halving.     

Study of the vibrational characteristics of the homonuclear diatomic nuclear schrödinger equation with a numerov method using a number of empirical potential functions

Many empirical potential energy functions have been modeled to represent the potential energy function of a diatomic molecule along whole range of internuclear distance coordinate, whereby one can determine certain molecular constants. Here we employ various potential functions such as Morse, Rydberg, Varshni(II), Varshni(III), Varshni(VI), Pöschl-Teller, Hulburt-Hirschfelder, Lippincott, Frost-Musulin, Linnet, and Rosen-Morse, and the Numerov method to solve the nuclear Schrödinger equation for F2, as an example of a homonuclear diatomic molecule. Herewith, the vibrational and vibration-rotation energy levels are obtained and excellent accuracy is achieved. The potential of employing the Numerov method in engineering physics computations is emphasized.     

Study on the electric double layer of a cylindrical reverse micelle with functional theoretical approach

Some surfactants, such as AOT (bis-(2-ethylhexyl sodium sulfosuccinate), have such a special structure with a smaller hydrophilic head group but a bigger hydrophobic tail. Some mixtures of surfactants (or surfactant/co-surfactant) also take the same special structure[1―3]. If their concentrations are much higher than their critical micelle concentrations (cmc) in oil/water system, these surfactants or mixtures usually assemble as W/O cylindrical (or wormlike) micelles with their lengths bei…     

Study of liquid–solid catalytic reaction of epichlorohydrin with sodium butyrate in the presence of tetrabutylammonium bromide

The liquid–solid catalytic reaction of epichlorohydrin and sodium butyrate with tetrabutylammonium bromide as a phase transfer catalyst was studied in this paper. The shrinking core model was applied. The analysis of the reaction based on the kinetic model showed a reaction-controlled regime at temperatures varying from 90 to 100°C. The exterior diffusivity was removed between 300 and 400 rpm. The internal diffusivity was removed when the particle size was 2 × 10^–4 m. Reaction rate constants were calculated at different temperatures. The correlation was obtained when the proposed kinetic model was applied to all the experimental data for predictive evaluations and the activation energy was 37.01 kJ mol^–1.     

Is vanadium a more versatile target in the activity of primordial life forms than hitherto anticipated?

The two predominant forms of vanadium occurring in the geo-, aqua- and biosphere, soluble vanadate(V) and insoluble oxovanadium(IV) (vanadyl), are subject to bacterial activity and transformation. Bacteria belonging to genera such as Shewanella, Pseudomonas and Geobacter can use vanadate as a primary electron acceptor in dissimilation or respiration, an important issue in the context of biomineralisation and soil detoxification. Azotobacter, which can employ vanadium as an essential element in nitrogen fixation, secretes a vanadophore which enables the uptake of vanadium(V). Siderophores secreted by other bacteria competitively (to ferric iron) take up vanadyl and thus interfere with iron supply, resulting in bacteriostasis. The halo-alkaliphilic Thioalkalivibrio nitratireducens possibly uses vanadium as a constituent of an alternative, molybdopterin-free nitrate reductase. Marine macro-algae can generate a variety of halogenated organic compounds by use of vanadate-dependent haloperoxidases, and a molecular vanadium compound, amavadin, from Amanita mushrooms has turned out to be an efficient catalyst in oxidation reactions. The present account is a focused and critical review of the current knowledge of the interplay of bacteria and other primitive forms of life (cyanobacteria, algae, fungi and lichens) with vanadium, with the aim to provide perspectives for applications and further investigations.