Beam-foil mean lifetimes in Kr II obtained from ANDC analysis

Detailed measurements on the 5p ⁴ S ₃ ^2/0 and 5p～' ² D ₅ ^2/0 levels in Kr II are reported. Cascade effects were taken into account with the aid of the arbitrarily normalized decay curve (ANDC) technique. Experimental values are compared to values obtained by other investigators as well as to theoretical values.     

Influence of the heating conditions on the thermal and chemical behaviour of solid particles undergoing a fast endothermic decomposition

This paper deals with models describing the thermal and chemical behaviour of solid particles undergoing fast endothermic reactions under the influence of an external heat flux. The heat source temperature is supposed to be constant, to increase with time, or to deliver a simple thermal flash. It is shown that the pyrolysis conditions (reaction temperature, conversion, etc.) depend on the chemical characteristics of the reaction and also to a large extent on the external heating conditions. Relationships are proposed to take into account these parameters. The results are applied to the thermal decomposition of NaHCO₃. The pyrolysis of cellulose is finally chosen in order to show how these operating parameters can also affect the selectivity of a more complex reaction.     

Chip electrochromatography

Electrochromatography (EC) in microfluidic chips is emerging as an attractive alternative to capillary electrophoresis (CE) for on-chip separations. This review summarizes recent developments in the rapidly growing area of chip electrochromatography with a focus on "column" technologies. Relevant achievements are summarized according to the types of stationary phase used for the separations including open channels, microfabricated structures, and channels packed with beads or containing a porous monolith. The advantages and disadvantages of each, as well as practical aspects of their application, are discussed. The analytical performance of these devices is demonstrated with separations involving various families of compounds mostly in the reversed-phase chromatographic mode.     

Étude de la cinétique de la dégradation thermique du polypropylene et du polystyrène par analyse thermogravimétrique

Kinetic studies on the thermal degradation of polypropylene and polystyrene have been carried out using the thermogravimetric technique. Experimental thermograms have been interpreted by means of a simulation model which takes into account several simultaneous or consecutive reactions. In nitrogen, polypropylene degradation involves two reactions. The activation energy calculated for the second reaction, which corresponds to the main part of the weight loss curve, agrees with values obtained by means of calculation methods based on only one overall reaction. In air, a third reaction is added. Its activation energy is also in agreement with published values. However, for the two studied materials, orders of reaction are different.     

Binuclear Cu2+ complex mediated discrimination between L-glutamate and L-aspartate in water

L-glutamate and L-aspartate selectivity is achieved by the action of two Cu2+ metal ions rightly disposed in a cyclophane-type macrocyclic framework; electrochemical sensing of glutamate has been achieved by adsorption of the copper complexes on graphite electrodes.     

Anomalous addition of trifluoroacetic acid to 2,3-difluorobicyclohepta[2.2.1]diene-2,5

Trifluoroacetic acid adds to 2,3-difluorobicyclohepta[2.2.1]diene-2,5 at the FC=CF bond to give mainly the cis-exo adduct.A. N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Organometallic Compounds, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117813 Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 450–452, February, 1992.     

Template synthesiS: Geometrical and electronic structures of the Fe nitrosyl complex formed by bis(S-methylisothiosemicarbazone)-2,4-pentandione

Sodium acetylacetonate reacts with S-metliylisothiosemicarbazidium nitrate and Fe(NO₃)₃ · 9H₂O in ethanol to make [Fe(HL)NO]NO₃, in which H₃L is bis(S-methyl-isothiosemicarbazone)-2,4-puntandione. The [Fe(HL)NO]⁺ cation has a square pyramidal structure with the HL^2- arranged around the central ion in the basal plane and the nitrogen atom of the NO group in the apical position, with the iron atom diverging from the plane of the base of the pyramid by 0.477 Å. The FeN0 moiety has a linear structure (FeNO = l72.7°). XRD, IR, and Mössbauer spectroscopy have been combined with calculations on the electronic structure to demonstrate that the Fe-NO bond is covalent.Chemical Institute, Academy of Sciences of Moldavian SSR. Applied Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Moldavian SSR. Kishinev. Institute of Crystallography, Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Kurnakov Institute for General and Inorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 27, No, 3, pp. 376–381, May–June, 1991. Original article submitted February 18, 1991.     

Extraction and quantitation of furanic compounds dissolved in oils

There is often a need to calculate isotopic uranium activities from total uranium mass or gamma spectrometry measurement data. This calculation is based on a model of the relationship of the²³⁴U activity to that of²³⁵U since both are enriched together in the normal gaseous diffusion enrichment process. This paper presents equations for calculating these activities that have been developed from several sources of data. These equations have been used for several characterization studies and have produced very good results when compared to results from actual isotopic uranium analyses. However, because the variability in the model causes significant uncertainty in the calculated results, alpha-spectrometry is recommended for critical applications.     

New designs for inhibitors of the NF-κB: DNA binding

We present a series of new inhibitors of the association between nuclear factor kappa B (NF-B) and the corresponding B site in DNA. They were designed using the lead compound 15-deoxy-^12,14 -prostaglandin J₂ (PGJ2), which is a natural product with demonstrated inhibitory efficiency for this system. First, the binding mode of PGJ2 to NF-B was unraveled by GOLD docking calculation. Subsequently, substitutions were made to PGJ2 to optimize its association with NF-B. Care was taken not to strongly increase the reactivity of the new compounds, and to keep the overall shape, size and hydrophilicity of the lead compound, which should render them a similar bioavailability. Molecular mechanics calculations were performed to decide on the suitability of the substitutions, and to evaluate the energies of association with NF-B. Density functional theory calculations were performed also to study the overall reactivity of the substituted drugs towards NF-B. Important general conclusions were obtained, concerning the improvement of these natural inhibitors; namely, a set of rational methodologies were deduced to improve the association between the PGJ2 derivatives and NF-B, and their efficiency demonstrated by generating a set of substituted complexes, some of them with a very much increased affinity for NF-B, opening new doors to enlarge the therapeutic capabilities of this class of drugs.