Bézier variant of the Jakimovski–Leviatan–Păltănea operators based on Appell polynomials

In this paper, we introduce the Bézier variant of the Jakimovski–Leviatan–P?lt?nea operators based on Appell polynomials. We establish some local results, a direct approximation theorem by means of the Ditzian–Totik modulus of smoothness and also study the rate of convergence for the functions having a derivative of bounded variation for these operators.     

Study of sodium diuranate concentrate refining using H2O2

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - An alternate route for refining Sodium diuranate concentrate to nuclear grade product following uranium peroxide precipitation using Hydrogen...     

Spatiotemporal solitons in inhomogeneous nonlinear media

We investigate the possibility of forming spatiotemporal solitons (optical bullets) in inhomogeneous, dispersive nonlinear media using a graded-index Kerr medium as an example. We use a variational approach to solve the multidimensional, inhomogeneous, nonlinear Schrödinger equation and show that spatiotemporal solitons can be stabilized under certain conditions. We verify their existence by means of a full numerical analysis and show that such solitons should be observable experimentally.     

Models and numerical schemes for generalized van der Pol equations

This paper presents three generalizations of the van der Pol equation (VDPE) using newly proposed three new generalized K-, A- and B-operators. These operators allow kernel to be arbitrary. As a result, these operators provide a greater generalization of the VDPE than the fractional integral and differential operators do. Like the original VDPE, the generalized van der Pol equations (GVDPEs) are also nonlinear equations, and in most cases, they can not be solved analytically. Numerical algorithms are presented and used to solve the GVDPEs. Results for several examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the numerical algorithms, and to examine the behavior of the GVDPEs and the limit cycles associated with them. Although the numerical algorithms have been used to solve the GVDPEs only, they can also be used to solve many other generalized oscillators and generalized differential equations. This will be considered in the future.     

Optical similaritons in nonlinear waveguides

We discover analytically an extensive family of optical similaritons, propagating inside graded-index nonlinear waveguide amplifiers. We show that there exists a one-to-one correspondence between these novel similaritons and standard solitons of the homogeneous nonlinear Schr?dinger equation. We demonstrate that for certain inhomogeneity and gain profiles, the newly discovered similaritons turn into solitons over sufficiently long propagation distances.     

Drop-to-drop solvent microextraction coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for rapid determination of trimeprazine in urine and blood of rats: application to pharmacokinetic studies

A simple and rapid method based on drop-to-drop solvent microextraction (DDSME) coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) has been successfully applied for the pharmacokinetic studies of trimeprazine in 8 microL of urine and blood samples of rats. Several factors that influenced the extraction efficiency of DDSME, such as selection of organic solvent, extraction time, exposure volume of organic phase, addition of salt and pH, were optimized. Linearity was obtained over the concentration ranges of 0.2-10, 0.25-7.0 and 0.5-6.0 microg/mL with correlation coefficients of 0.998, 0.996 and 0.993 in deionized water, urine and blood samples of rats, respectively. The limits of detection (LODs) of trimeprazine were 0.05, 0.06 and 0.1 microg/mL in deionized water, urine and blood samples. The concentrations of trimeprazine obtained in urine and blood samples of rats were 0.21-1.25 and 2.72-0.22 microg/mL, respectively, after a single intravenous administration of this drug. The enrichment factors and LOD values obtained by DDSME coupled to GC/MS were compared with those of hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) combined with GC/MS. We believe that this novel approach can be very useful in clinical application since only one microdrop of biological samples was required to perform the pharmacokinetic studies from rats, so the sample pretreatments for animal experiments can be very easy too.     

Micro- to nanoscale structure of biocompatible PLA-PEO-PLA hydrogels

We observe large-scale structures in hydrogels of poly(l-lactide)-poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(l-lactide) (PLLA-PEO-PLLA) ranging in size from a few hundred nanometers to several micrometers. These structures are apparent through both ultra-small angle scattering (USAS) techniques and confocal microscopy. The hydrogels showed power law scattering in the USAS regime, which is indicative of scattering from fractal structures. The fractal dimension of the scattering from hydrogels revealed that the gels have large size aggregates with a mass fractal structure over the nanometer-to-micrometer length scales. The aggregates also seem to become more "dense" with an increase in the molecular weight of crystalline PLLA domains. Visualization through confocal microscopy confirms that the gels have a microstructure of interspersed micrometer-sized polymer inhomogeneities with water channels running between them. The presence of micrometer-sized water channels in the hydrogels has very important implications for biomedical applications.     

Total syntheses of (+)-7-epi-goniofufurone, (+)-goniopypyrone and (+)-goniofufurone from a common precursor

Total syntheses of (+)-7-epi-goniofufurone, (+)-goniopypyrone and (+)-goniofufurone have been achieved from an advanced common precursor formed from D-(+)-mannitol by changing the carbinol protection profile.     

Antidepressant activity of Ceratonia siliqua L. fruit extract, a source of polyphenols

A previous study from our laboratory has shown the facilitatory effect of Ceratonia siliqua L. (Fabaceae) on the dopaminergic function. This study investigates the involvement of monoamines in the antidepressant activity of the total polyphenol content of Ceratonia siliqua extract (CS) in mice using a tail suspension test (TST) and forced swim test (FST). The immobility time in the TST and FST were significantly reduced by CS (25 and 50 mg kg(-1), i.p.). The extract considerably attenuated the duration of immobility induced by prazosin (62.5 μg kg(-1), i.p., an α-adrenoceptor antagonist) and eticlopride (0.1 μg kg(-1), i.p., a classical D2-like dopamine receptor antagonist) in both TST and FST, whereas the extract could not modify the immobility in mice treated with p-chlorophenylalanine (100 mg kg(-1), i.p., ×3 days; an inhibitor of serotonin synthesis) and baclofen (10 mg kg(-1), i.p., GABAB agonist). This suggests that the antidepressant effect of CS is mediated by dopamine and noradrenaline.