Homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction of uranium(VI) using tri-n-octylphosphine oxide.

A simple and efficient method for the selective separation and preconcentration of uranium(VI) using homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction was developed. Tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) and tri-n-butylphosphate (TBP) were investigated as complexing ligands, and perfluorooctanoate ion (PFOA-) was applied as a phase separator agent under strongly acidic conditions. Under the optimal conditions ([PFOA-] = 1.7 x 10(-3) M, [TOPO] = 5.4 x 10(-4) M, [HNO3] = 0.3 M, [acetone] = 3.2% v/v) 10 microg of uranium in 40 ml aqueous phase could be extracted quantitatively into 8 microl of the sedimented phase. The maximum concentration factor was 5000-fold. However, an effort for the quantitative extraction using TBP was inefficient and the percent recovery was at most 56.7. The influence of the type and concentration of acid solution, optimum amount of the ligand, type and volume of the organic solvent, concentration of PFOA, volume of the aqueous sample and effect of different diverse ions on the extraction and determination of uranium(VI) were investigated. The proposed method was applied to the extraction and determination of uranium(VI) in natural water samples.     

Kinetic determination of silver ion by its perturbation on Belousov-Zhabotinskii oscillating chemical reaction using potentiometric method.

Silver ion can perturb the Belousov-Zhabotinskii (B-Z) oscillating chemical reaction. Therefore, the B-Z oscillating system was applied in the determination of silver ion by using a platinum wire as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric method. The amplitude of the potentiometric oscillation increased linearly in proportion to [Ag+] in the range of 9.42 x 10(-6) M to 2.54 x 10(-4) M, with a correlation coefficient of 0.999 under the optimum conditions. The obtained LOD (2sigma) was 8.85 x 10(-6) M and the relative standard deviation (RSD) for five measurements of 1 x 10(-4) M silver ion was 5%. The influence of some potentially interference was also investigated.     

Simultaneous kinetic-spectrophotometric determination of hydrazine and acetylhydrazine in micellar media using the H-point standard addition method.

The H-point standard addition method (HPSAM), based on a spectrophotometric measurement for the simultaneous determination of hydrazine and acetylhydrazine, is described. This method is based on the difference between the rates of their reactions with N,N-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (DAB) in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in acidic media. The results showed that hydrazine and acetylhydrazine could be determined simultaneously in the range of 0.020 - 0.70 and 0.20 - 5.0 mg L(-1), respectively. Under the working conditions, the proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of hydrazine and acetylhydrazine in several synthetic mixtures and plasma and water samples.     

Optical properties of Fe-doped silica films on Si

Optical properties of Fe-doped silica films on Si were investigated by ellipsometric technique in the region 1-5 eV. Samples were produced by sol-gel method. Precursors were prepared by mixing tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) solution in ethanol and water with aqueous solution of Fe-chloride or Fe-acetate. The coating solution was deposited on Si substrates by spin on technique. The size of Fe-containing nanometric-sized particles depended on technology and varied from 20 to 100 nm. Optical response of complex hybrid samples SiO₂:Fe/Si was interpreted in a multi-layer model. In the inverse problem, the Maxwell equations were solved by transfer matrix technique. Dielectric function of Fe-doped silica layers was calculated in the model of effective media. Analysis of optical data has shown that various Fe-oxides formed. Experimental data for films obtained from precursors with Fe-acetate and annealed in hydrogen were well described by the model calculations taking into account a small contribution 1-5% of metal Fe imbedded in silica. The Fe/Fe-O contribution to optical response increased for samples grown from FeCl₃-precursor. Ellipsometric data for Fe-doped silica films on Si were interpreted taking into account the structural AFM studies as well as the results of magnetic measurements.     

Zero Tension Kardar-Parisi-Zhang Equation in (d + 1)–Dimensions

The joint probability distribution function (PDF) of the height and its gradients is derived for a zero tension d + 1-dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation. It is proved that the height's PDF of zero tension KPZ equation shows lack of positivity after a finite time t _c . The properties of zero tension KPZ equation and its differences with the case that it possess an infinitesimal surface tension is discussed. Also potential relation between the time scale t _c and the singularity time scale t _c.v→0 of the KPZ equation with an infinitesimal surface tension is investigated.     

Highly selective PVC-membrane electrodes based on Co(II)-Salen for determination of nitrite ion.

A cobalt(II) derivative was used as a suitable ionophore for the preparation of a polymeric membrane nitrite-selective electrode. The electrode reveals a Nemstian behavior over a very wide NO2- ion concentration range (1.0 x 10(-6)-1.0 x 10(-1) M) and a very low detection limit (5.0 x 10(-7) M). The potentiometric response is independent of the pH of solution in the pH range 4.0-9.5. The electrode shows advantages such as low resistance, fast response and, most importantly, good selectivity relative to a wide variety of inorganic and organic anions. In fact, the selectivity behavior of the proposed NO2- ion-selective electrode shows great improvements compared to the previously reported electrodes for nitrite ion. The proposed electrodes could be used for at least 2 months without any significant changes in potentials. The electrode was successfully applied to the determination of nitrate ion concentrations in sausage and milk samples.     

The sinuous antenna-A dual polarized feed for reflector-based searching systems

The sinuous antennas have a numerous applications in military and civil systems such as direction finding systems and reflector feeds due to their superior broadband characteristics and simultaneous polarization capability. In this paper, design, construction and measurements of planar sinuous antennas are investigated for 1–5 GHz frequency range. Feeding sections of this antenna are realized by using microstrip tapered baluns. We have determined the microstrip tapered balun dimensions using Ansoft HFSS-simulation program. The performances of the manufactured antenna are measured using HP vector network analyzer. Polarization patterns and return loss characteristics of the designed antenna that have been measured in anechoic chamber, are presented.     

Cramer-Rao lower bound on locations of sudden changes in a steplikesignal

Estimation of locations of sudden changes in a steplike signal has many signal processing applications; e.g., well-log signal segmentation, ionic-channel signal classification, edge detection, and segmentation of images. In this work, the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) on locations of steps in one-dimensional (1-D) steplike signals is calculated. The calculation is based on the use of a sigmoidal function to model a sudden-change (step) in the signal. The introduced model has an adjustable parameter that can be used to fit the CRLB calculation to a particular class of steplike signals     

A heterocyclic peptide nanotube

An open-ended hollow tubular structure is designed based on hydrogen-bond-directed self-assembly of a chimeric cyclic peptide subunit comprised of alternating alpha- and epsilon-amino acids. The design features a novel 1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazole epsilon-amino acid and its utility as a peptide backbone substitute. The N-Fmoc-protected epsilon-amino acid was synthesized in high yield and optical purity in three steps from readily available starting materials and was employed in solid-phase peptide synthesis to afford the desired cyclic peptide structure. The cyclic peptide self-assembly has been studied in solution by (1)H NMR and mass spectrometry and the resulting tubular ensemble characterized in the solid state by X-ray crystallography.     

SURFACE-ENHANCED RESONANCE RAMAN SCATTERING SPECTROSCOPY AS A SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY PROBE IN PLANT PHOTOSYNTHETIC MEMBRANES

Strong resonance Raman (RR) and surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) signals from carotenoids were detected from thylakoid (stromal-side out) vesicles and inside-out (lumenal-side out) vesicles isolated from spinach chloroplasts. The intensity of the signals from both types of membranes was comparable, indicating that plant carotenoids are exposed on or close to both surfaces or sides of the thylakoid membrane. This is in contrast to previous studies with bacterial photosynthetic membranes (Picorel et al., 1988, J. Biol. Chem. 263 , 4374–4380; and 1990, Biochemistry 29 , 707–712) that show carotenoids selectively located on the cytoplasmic side. In addition_; strong RR and SERRS signals were detected from stacked and unstacked photosystem-II-enriched membrane fragments, demonstrating that carotenoids are also exposed on both surfaces of the appressed region of the thylakoid membrane. Antibodies against the photosystem (PS) II extrinsic proteins blocked SERRS signals from stacked PS II membrane fragments, but only partially affected the SERRS signals from unstacked membranes. The results indicate that these antibodies, which preferentially cover the surface of the original lumenalside of the appressed region, act as spacers between the membrane and SERRS electrode surfaces. The original stromal-side of the appressed region is unaffected. These findings verify the distance sensitivity of the SERRS technique and underscore the above conclusion about the location of carotenoids in the appressed regions. Finally, SERRS signals are sensitive to membrane aging and storage temperature; caution is suggested to those applying SERRS spectroscopy to intact membrane systems.