Investigating neutron back scattering technique for the detection of oil water separation levels in horizontal gravity oil separators

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Neutron backscattering technique is investigated as an alternative way for measuring the level of water in the horizontal oil gravity separators....     

Phenanthrenoids from Juncus acutus L., new natural lipopolysaccharide-inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitors

The novel natural product juncutol (1), 1,4,7-trimethyl-8,9-dihydro-4H-cyclopenta[def]phenanthrene-2,6-diol, along with the three related metabolites juncusol (2), dehydrojuncusol (3), and 6-hydroxymethyl-1-methyl-5-vinyl-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene-2-ol (4), were isolated from the rhizomes of Juncus acutus L. (Juncaceae) growing in Egypt. The structural identity of 1 was determined on the basis of spectroscopic analyses, including 2D NMR spectroscopy. The inhibitory effect of these natural products on the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophage cells was determined for the first time. The unprecedented symmetrical compound juncutol (1) was found to be the most potent inhibitor against the induction of the proinflammatory iNOS protein.     

High temperature X-ray diffraction study of the formation of Na2Ti3O7 from a mixture of sodium carbonate and titanium oxide

Na2Ti3O7 has attracted much attention in the field of anode materials for Na-ion batteries thanks to its non-toxicity and very low working potential of 0.3 V vs Na0/Na+.Building a clearer picture of its formation from cheap Na₂CO₃ and TiO₂ starting materials is therefore of obvious interest.Here,we report new insights from an in-situ high temperature X-ray diffraction study conducted from room temperature to 800°C,complemented by ex-situ characterizations.We were thereby able to position the previously reported Na₄Ti₅O₁₂ and Na₂Ti₆O₁₃ intermediate phases in a reaction scheme involving three successive steps and temperature ranges.Shifts and/or broadening of a subset of the Na₂Ti₆O₁₃ reflections suggested a combination of intra-layer disorder with the well-established ordering of successive layers.This in-situ study was carried out on reproducible mixtures of Na₂CO₃ and TiO₂ in 1:3 molar ratio prepared by spraydrying of mixed aqueous suspensions.Single-phase Na₂Ti₃O₇ was obtained after only 8 h at 800°C in air,instead of a minimum of 20 h for a conventional solid-state route using the same precursors.Microstructure analysis revealed~15 mm diameter granules made up from rectangular rods of a fewmm length presenting electrochemical properties in line with expectations.In the absence of grinding or formation of intimate composites with conductive carbon,the specific capacity of 137 m Ah/g at C/5 decreased at higher rates.     

Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of Borago officinalis L. leaf extract growing in Algeria

The aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts of borage (Borago officinalis) leaves from Annaba region (Algeria) were preliminary analyzed for their phenolic profile (total phenolics, total flavonoids, total flavonols, total tannins and total anthocyanins). These extracts were evaluated for their antioxidant properties by different methods such as DPPH radical scavenging, test NBT and total antioxidant activity. The two extracts have exhibited a high antiradical capacity. Indeed, the ethanolic extract showed the lower IC50 values and the highest amount of phenolics (94.09 ± 1.72 mg gallic acid/g dry extract). Using LC-MS/MS analysis, it was possible to identify phenolic acids, flavonoids, sterol and for the first time oleuropein was identified in the aqueous extract of the plant. The obtained results have demonstrated that phenolic compounds are the major contributor to the antioxidant activity of plants.     

Synthesis,Antiviral, and Antimicrobial Activity of N‐ and S‐Alkylated Phthalazine Derivatives

A series of N‐alkylphthalazinone were synthesized by the reaction of phthalazin‐1(2H)‐one derivatives 1a , 1b , 1c with alkylating agents namely, propargyl, allyl bromide, epichlorohydrin, 1,3‐dichloro‐2‐propanol, 4‐bromobutylacetate, and 1‐(bromomethoxy)ethyl acetate to give the corresponding N‐alkylphthalazinone 2a , 2b , 2c , 3a , 3b , 3c , 5a , 5b , 5c , 6a , 6b , 6c , 7a , 7b , 7c , and 9a , 9b , 9c . Alkylation of phthalazin‐1(2H)‐thione to give a series from S‐alkylphthalazine 12 , 13 , 14 and thioglycosides 15 and 17 was performed. Deprotection of compounds 7a , 7b , 7c , 9a , 9b , 9c , 15 , and 17 resulted in the formation of the corresponding products 8a , 8b , 8c , 10a , 10b , 10c , 16 , and 18 . The structure of newly synthesized compounds was assigned by IR, ¹H, ¹³C NMR, and elemental analysis. Some of these compounds were screened for antiviral and antimicrobial activity.     

The spin effect in zinc-blende CdEuS and CdEuSe: GGA and GGA+U studies

We have investigated the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of substitutional europium rare earth impurity in cubic CdS and CdSe by employing the ab-initio method. Calculations were performed by using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave plus local orbitals (FP-L/APW+lo) method within the framework of spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT). The electronic exchange-correlation energy is described by generalized gradient approximation GGA and GGA+U (U is the Hubbard correction). The GGA+U method is applied to the rare-earth 4f states. We have calculated the lattice parameters, bulk modulii, the first pressure derivatives of the bulk modulii and the cohesive energies. The calculated densities of states presented in this study identify the metallic behavior of CdEuS and CdEuSe when we use the GGA scheme, whereas when we use the GGA+U, we see that these compounds are half-metallic.     

Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLC) for Biologically Active Green Tea and Fennel Natural Oils Delivery: Larvicidal and Adulticidal Activities against Culex pipiens

(1) Background: The control of mosquitoes with essential oils is a growing demand. (2) Methods: This study evaluated the novel larvicidal and adulticidal activity of fennel and green tea oils and their nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) against Culex pipiens (C. pipiens) in the laboratory, field conditions and evaluated their effect against non-target organisms. SLN type II nanoformulations were synthesized and characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential and transmission electron microscope. (3) Results: The synthesized NLCs showed spherical shaped, homogenous, narrow, and monomodal particle size distribution. The mortality percent (MO%) post-treatment (PT) with 2000 ppm for 24 h with fennel oil and NLC fennel (NLC-F) reached 85% (LC₅₀ = 643.81 ppm) and 100% (LC₅₀ = 251.71), whereas MO% for green tea oil and NLC green tea (NLC-GT) were 80% (LC₅₀ = 746.52 ppm) and 100% (LC₅₀ = 278.63 ppm), respectively. Field trial data showed that the larval reduction percent of fennel oil and NLC-F reached 89.8% and 97.4%, 24 h PT and the reduction percent of green tea oil and NLC-GT reached 89% and 93%, 24 h PT with persistence reached 8 and 7 days, for NLC-F and NLC-GT, respectively. The adulticidal effects showed that NLC-F and NLC-GT (100% mortality) were more effective than fennel and green tea oils (90.0% and 83.33%), with 24 h PT, respectively. Moreover, their reduction of adult density after spraying with LC₉₅ X2 for 15 min, with fennel oil, NLC-F, and green tea oil, NLC-GT were 83.6%, 100%, 79.1%, and 100%, respectively, with persistence (>50%) lasting for three days. The predation rate of the mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, and the bug, Sphaerodema urinator, was not affected in both oil and its NLC, while the predation rate of the beetle, Cybister tripunctatus increased (66% and 68.3%) by green tea oil and NLC-GT, respectively. (4) Conclusions: NLCs nanoformulation encapsulated essential oils was prepared successfully with unique properties of size, morphology, and stability. In vitro larvicidal and adulticidal effects against C. pipiens supported with field evaluations have been performed using essential oils and their nanoformulations. The biological evaluation of nanoformulations manifested potential results toward both larvicidal and adulticidal compared to the essential oils themselves, especially NLC encapsulated fennel oil which had promising larvicidal and adulticidal activity.     

Statistical Nature of Skyrme-Faddeev Models in 2+1 Dimensions and Normalizable Fermions

Theoretical and Mathematical Physics - The Skyrme-Faddeev model has planar soliton solutions with the target space ?PN. An Abelian Chern-Simons term (the Hopf term) in the Lagrangian of the...     

Spray-drying as a tool to disperse conductive carbon inside Na<Subscript>2</Subscript>FePO<Subscript>4</Subscript>F particles by addition of carbon black or carbon nanotubes to the precursor solution

In this work, Na₂FePO₄F-carbon composite powders were prepared by spray-drying a solution of inorganic precursors with 10 and 20 wt% added carbon black (CB) or carbon nanotubes (CNTs). In order to compare the effect of CB and CNT when added to the precursor solutions, the structural, electrochemical, and morphological properties of the synthesized Na₂FePO₄F-xCB and Na₂FePO₄F-xCNT samples were systematically investigated. In both cases, X-ray diffraction shows that calcination at 600 °C in argon leads to the formation of Na₂FePO₄F as the major inorganic phase. ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy was used as complementary technique to probe the oxidation states, local environment, and identify the composition of the iron-containing phases. The electrochemical performance is markedly better in the case of Na₂FePO₄F-CNT (20 wt%), with specific capacities of about 100 mAh/g (Na₂FePO₄F-CNT) at C/4 rate vs. 50 mAh/g for Na₂FePO₄F-CB (20 wt%). SEM characterization of Na₂FePO₄F-CB particles revealed different particle morphologies for the Na₂FePO₄F-CNT and Na₂FePO₄F-CB powders. The carbon-poor surface observed for Na₂FePO₄F-CB could be due to a slow diffusion of carbon in the droplets during drying. On the contrary, Na₂FePO₄F-CNT shows a better CNT dispersion inside and at the surface of the NFPF particles that improves the electrochemical performance.