Effects of gamma rays on a restored painting from the XVIIth century

The subject of this study is a Peruvian painting from the 17th century, which has been recently restored and then contaminated by mould. It received different unsuccessful treatments. Therefore, radiation process was suggested as an alternative once it is an effective technology for decontamination and conservation purposes. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of irradiation process on the original painting and on the products used in the restoration process. These products were irradiated with ⁶⁰Co gamma rays applying doses in the range of 6–25 kGy. The polymeric materials were characterized by thermal analysis techniques before and after irradiation. The colour of the pigments irradiated and non-irradiated were compared by spectrophotometric analysis. Small samples removed of the original painting were also irradiated and investigated. The results obtained until now allowed concluding that the irradiation with the appropriated dose of 6.0 kGy, according to the literature, will not damage the restored painting.     

Classical Reactive Molecular Dynamics Implementations: State of the Art

Reactive molecular dynamics (RMD) implementations equipped with force field approaches to simulate both the time evolution as well as chemical reactions of a broad class of materials are reviewed herein. We subdivide the RMD approaches developed during the last decade as well as older ones already reviewed in 1995 by Srivastava and Garrison and in 2000 by Brenner into two classes. The methods in the first RMD class rely on the use of a reaction cutoff distance and employ a sudden transition from the educts to the products. Due to their simplicity these methods are well suited to generate equilibrated atomistic or material‐specific coarse‐grained polymer structures. In connection with generic models they offer useful qualitative insight into polymerization reactions. The methods in the second RMD class are based on empirical reactive force fields and implement a smooth and continuous transition from the educts to the products. In this RMD class, the reactive potentials are based on many‐body or bond‐order force fields as well as on empirical standard force fields, such as CHARMM, AMBER or MM3 that are modified to become reactive. The aim with the more sophisticated implementations of the second RMD class is the investigation of the reaction kinetics and mechanisms as well as the evaluation of transition state geometries. Pure or hybrid ab initio, density functional, semi‐empirical, molecular mechanics, and Monte Carlo methods for which no time evolution of the chemical systems is achieved are excluded from the present review. So are molecular dynamics techniques coupled with quantum chemical methods for the treatment of the reactive regions, such as Car–Parinello molecular dynamics.     

Tumor targeting by surface-modified protein microspheres

Protein microspheres have been used in the fields of biomedical imaging and drug delivery, but surface modification for cell targeting has been problematic. We have for the first time used an electrostatic adhesion approach to adhere arginine-glutamic acid-aspartic acid (RGD) containing peptides to the surface of protein microspheres for the purpose of targeting these vesicles to tumor cells. RGD sequences are recognized by integrin membrane receptors, which are overexpressed in various tumors. We have succeeded in modifying the surface of serum albumin core-shell microspheres, which have a fluorescent nonaqueous core by using several polylysine peptides containing the RGD sequence. Fluorescence microscopy reveals that these modified microspheres are selectively bound and taken up by HT29 human colon cancer cells in vitro.     

Synthesis of imidazole and imidazolium porphyrins

A new porphyrin compound, where an imidazole group was attached through the 1‐position nitrogen to a phenyl ring located on the porphyrin periphery has been synthesized and characterized. The second nitrogen on the imidazole is available for further chemistry as demonstrated by the attachment of bromopentane forming the imidazolium porphyrin complex. This is the first example of an imidazolium group covalently attached to the porphyrin periphery in which the porphyrin is attached through the nitrogen on the imidazole ring rather than a carbon atom.     

Transient shear and elongational behavior of blends of PET with a LCP

Blends of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with a liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) and a compatibilizer were produced by twin screw extrusion and injection molding. Transesterification and compatibilization studies were made in a torque rheometer. The morphology of the injection-molded plaques was studied by scanning electron microscopy. The blends shear growth function was measured in a cone and plate rheometer. The elongational growth function was measured in a modified rotational rheometer. Transesterification was observed in the PET/LCP/compatibilizer 95/5/0 blend. The injection-molded plaques displayed the usual “skin-core” morphology. All the blends were highly shear-thinning, even at low shear rates; thus, a zero-shear viscosity could not be calculated. The compatibilized blend had the highest shear viscosity of all the blends, confirming the strong PET/LCP interphase and the effectiveness of the compatibilizing agent. On the other hand, the 90/10/0 blend had the lowest shear viscosity. All the blends showed strain softening behavior, similar to the PET. The 90/10/0 blend had the highest elongational growth function, while the 95/5/0 had the lowest. The compatibilized blend had an intermediate behavior between both blends.     

Approximate Homomorphisms II: Group Homomorphisms

Received October 13, 1998     

Reductions between meager ideals

We construct a nonmeager ideal that is not a P-ideal yet Fin × ⊘ is not reducible to it. __________ Translated from Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Matematika, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 213–219, 2005.     

Electrochemical determination of zearalenone using a label-free competitive aptasensor

An in situ preparation of metal-organic framework (HKUST-1) on the surface of an organic polymer is reported. The hybrid material was evaluated as sorbent for solid-phase extraction (SPE) of oxygenated and nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The growth of HKUST-1 on MAA-based polymer was accomplished using a layer-by-layer assembly strategy. The HKUST-1-polymer was characterized using powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy to demonstrate the incorporation of MOF crystals onto the polymer surface. The MOF (nano)crystals were characterized using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and high-angle annular-dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy. The water-stable MOF-polymer was evaluated as SPE sorbent, and several variables that can influence the extraction recoveries of PAH derivatives were investigated. Under the selected conditions, the detection limits varied between 4 and 21 ng·L−1, and the precision (relative standard deviation) was below 12%. The recovery values for spiked solutions ranged from 95 to 104%, and the enrichment factor achieved was close to 1000-fold using a high sample volume (100 mL) and very low desorption volume (100 μL). The SPE enrichment combined with HPLC and DAD detector was successfully applied to the extraction and determination of polycyclic hydrocarbons in environmental water samples.     

Antimicrobial nanocomposite films made of poly(lactic acid)–cellulose nanocrystals (PLA–CNC) in food applications—part B: effect of oregano essential oil release on the inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes in mixed vegetables

Antimicrobial nanocomposite films containing oregano essential oil (EO) were prepared by solvent casting. Film matrix was composed of supramolecular poly(lactic acid)–cellulose nanocrystals (PLA–CNC) nanocomposite. Bioactive PLA–CNC–oregano films were prepared by incorporating oregano EO as an antimicrobial agent. Resulting films were then converted into packaging applied on mixed vegetables as a food model and stored for 14 days at 4 °C to determine their antimicrobial capacity against Listeria monocytogenes, their physico-chemical/structural properties and their total phenols (TP) release during storage, in order to evaluate the effect of oregano EO. It was observed the addition of oregano EO did not affect the water vapor permeability (WVP) of films, but increased their elongation at break (Eb) and reduced their tensile strength (TS) and tensile modulus (TM) at day 0. However, TS, TM, Eb and WVP values of control and bioactive films were increased slightly after 14 days of storage. FTIR analysis allowed characterizing the molecular interactions of oregano EO with PLA–CNC matrix via the identification and interpretation of their respective vibration bands. Microbiological analysis of mixed vegetables inoculated with L. monocytogenes (3 log CFU g^?1) indicated that PLA–CNC–oregano films induced a quasi-total inhibition of bacteria in vegetables at day 14 and therefore demonstrated a strong antimicrobial capacity in situ. The percentage of TP release from bioactive films was determined by Folin–Ciocalteu’s method and results showed that TP release increased continuously from day 0 to day 14, up to 16.6 % at day 14. These results allowed demonstrating the strong antimicrobial capacity of PLA–CNC–oregano films for food packaging applications in vegetable produce.