A rapid and sensitive extractive spectrophotometric determination of copper(II) in pharmaceutical and environmental samples using benzildithiosemicarbazone.

Benzildithiosemicarbazone (BDTSC) is proposed as a sensitive and selective analytical reagent for the extractive spectrophotometric determination of copper(II). BDTSC reacts with copper(II) in the pH range 1.0-7.0 to form a yellowish complex. Beer's law is obeyed in the concentration range 0.5-0.4 microg cm(-3). The yellowish Cu(II)-BDTSC complex in chloroform shows a maximum absorbance at 380 nm, with molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity values of 1.63 x 10(4) dm3 mol(-1) cm(-1) and 0.00389 microg cm(-2), respectively. A repetition of the method is checked by finding the relative standard deviation (RSD) (n = 10), which is 0.6%. The composition of the Cu(II)-BDTSC complex is established as 1:1 by slope analysis, molar ratio and Asmus' methods. An excellent linearity with a correlation coefficient value of 0.98 is obtained for the Cu(II)-BDTSC complex. The instability constant of the complex calculated from Edmond and Birnbaum's method is 7.70 x 10(-4) and that of Asmus' method is 7.66 x 10(-4), at room temperature. The method is successfully employed for the determination copper(II) in pharmaceutical and environmental samples. The reliability of the method is assured by analyzing the standard alloys (BCS 5g, 10g, 19e, 78, 32a, 207 and 179) and by inter-comparison of experimental values, using an atomic absorption spectrometer.     

Effective thermal conductivity of water-saturated sintered powder-metal plates

An experimental apparatus and related procedures for the determination of the effective thermal conductivity of sintered powder-metal plates saturated with distilled water at temperatures in the range 20–150°C are discussed. The apparatus and procedures are applied to two samples of sintered powder-metal plates, one made of nickel 200 and the other of stainless steel 316, with porosities of 28.10 and 46.45%, respectively, and each of nominal dimensions 127 mm × 127 mm × 6.35 mm. The experimental results are compared with corresponding predictions yielded by several correlations available in the literature. The correlations based on experimental data for packed beds of spherical particles and also porous plates made of cold-pressed (but not sintered) particles of angular shapes do not apply well to sintered powder-metal plates. A new correlation, which is based on extensions of ideas contained in earlier works and provides improved predictions, is proposed.     

Vortex ring generation due to the coalescence of a water drop at a free surface

 Results are presented of an experimental investigation of vortex ring formation by a fluid drop contacting a free surface with negligible velocity. The pool fluid is mixed with fluorescein dye, and a laser sheet is used to illuminate a plane of the flow. A series of representative images is recorded by a CCD camera and speculation is made regarding specific sources of vorticity flux through the free surface. Two scaling analyses previously presented by other investigators are demonstrated to be equivalent under the assumptions of this experiment, and they provide the motivation for a series of test runs in which the duration of the coalescence process, τ_*, is related to variations in drop diameter L and fluid surface tension σ. Experimental results are in agreement with the analyses, showing τ_*∼σ^-1/2 and τ_*∼L ^3/2. Received: 22 December 1995 / Accepted: 15 October 1996     

On the dispersion of a solute in oscillating flow of a non-Newtonian fluid in a channel

The paper presents an exact analysis of the dispersion of an immiscible solute in a non-Newtonian fluid (known as an incompressible second-order fluid which shows viscoelastic behaviour) flowing slowly in a parallel plate channel in the presence of a periodic pressure gradient. Using a generalized dispersion model which is valid for all times after the solute injection, the diffusion coefficients K _i (τ)(i=1,2,3,…) are obtained as functions of time τ in the case when the initial solute distribution is in the form of a slug of finite extent. The analysis leads to the novel result that K ₂(τ) (which is a measure of the longitudinal dispersion coefficient of the solute) has a steady part S in addition to a fluctuating part D ₂(τ) due to the pulsatility of the flow. It is found that S decreases with increase in the viscoelastic parameter M for given values of the amplitude λ and frequency ω of the pressure pulsation. On the other hand, it is found that at a fixed instant τ, the amplitude of D ₂(τ) increases with increase in M for given values of λ and ω. Further it is shown that at a given instant τ, the amplitude of D ₂(τ) decreases with increase in ω for given λ and M and the profile for D ₂(τ) becomes progressively flatter with increase in ω. Finally the axial distribution of the average concentration θ _m of the solute over the channel cross-section is determined at different instants after the solute injection for several values of M, λ and ω. The present study is likely to have important bearing on the problem of dispersion of tracers in blood flow through arteries.     

On the embedding problem with noncommutative kernel of order p4. VI

In the case of number fields the embedding problem of a p-extension with non-Abelian kernel of order p⁴ is studied. The two kernels of order 3⁴ with generators α, γ and relations α⁹ = 1, [α,α]³=1,[α,αγγ]==1,[αγγ]=α³,γ³=1 or γ³=α³ and the kernel of order 2⁴ with generators α, β, γ and relations α⁴=1 β²,[αγ]=1, [α,γ]=1,[βγ]=α² are considered. For kernels of odd order the embedding problem is always solvable. For the kernel of order 16 the solvability conditions are reduced to those for the associated problems at the Archimedean points, and to the compatibility condition. Bibliography: 9 titles. Translated fromZapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 227, 1995, pp. 74–82.     

Structure of thin block copolymer films studied by X-ray reflectivity

Summary X-ray reflectivity may be used to determine the internal structure of thin polymer films. An electron density difference of 10% for polystyrene and polyisoprene is sufficient to distinguish between a random distribution of lamellae, complete orientation parallel to the substrate surface and a surface induced formation of lamellae. The disappearance of the lamellar Bragg-peaks, with heating of the film, shows the transition into the disordered state.     

Plasma B-6 vitamer and plasma and urinary 4-pyridoxic acid concentrations in young women as determined using high performance liquid chromatography.

Plasma B-6 vitamer and plasma and urinary 4-pyridoxic acid concentrations of 21 young white women, 21-27 years, having radiomonitored pyridoxal 5'-phosphate and coenzyme stimulation of erythrocyte alanine aminotransferase activities indicative of adequate vitamin B-6 status were determined in an effort to establish normal ranges for plasma B-6 vitamers. B-6 vitamers and 4-pyridoxic acid were quantitated using reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography with fluorometric and ultraviolet detection. Pyridoxal phosphate values obtained by radioenzymatic and chromatographic, fluorometric and ultraviolet, assays were highly correlated as were pyridoxine phosphate values determined using both detectors. The B-6 vitamer and 4-pyridoxic acid values of these subjects should be of use in the establishment of normal ranges of these congeners in women.     

Certified reference materials for the quality control of analysis in the environment

Summary The Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) has undertaken the production of a wide range of certified reference materials (CRMs) for the improvement of accuracy and measurement harmony in various areas of concern at European Community level. This paper provides an overview of the sectors of the BCR-programme in the field of environment i.e. for water systems (water, sediment, biota), soil analysis (soil, fertiliser, waste), plant analysis (aquatic and terrestrial plants), analysis related to animals (e.g. muscle or liver) or man (e.g. industry and food).