Thermogenesis: Identification by means of modulating functions

This paper describes how to obtain an analytic approximation to the transfer function of a conduction calorimeter, namely a procedure to identify the calorimetric system. In this case modulating functions are used directly on the thermogram. The method is used twice: to obtain the time constants and the amplitudes. Its feasibility is tested on two models which span the frequency range usually attained by actual calorimeters. The influence of random noise and baseline drift have also been analyzed. The results show that three or four time constants are correctly obtained.     

The measurement of radioactivity in Italian drinking waters

Drinking waters generally contain variable amounts of radioactivity. Many radionuclides, like ⁴⁰K and those belonging to the natural decay series of ²³⁸U, ²³⁵U and ²³²Th, are transferred to the water from the aquifer rocks by erosion and dissolution mechanisms.In recent years, a great interest arose towards the natural radioactivity in drinking water. The European Council Directive 98/83/EC, subsequently enforced in Italian law, pushed public authorities to organize tap water surveys. Parameter values for radioactivity levels in water are given, according to World Health Organization recommendations. Maximum concentration values for radon are separately proposed in a European Commission Recommendation.For this reason, during the latest years, the Regional Environment Protection Agency (ARPA) has been performing an extensive monitoring of tap waters in the Lombardia district of Italy. Natural radioactivity content was measured to check the compliance with recent European and Italian rules.Analyses were performed by an ultra-low level scintillation counter equipped with an alpha-beta discrimination device. Specifically arranged procedures, requiring quick and easy pre-treatments, allowed to measure gross alpha and beta activity, ²²²Rn, ²²⁶Ra, and uranium isotopes concentrations in a relatively short time. Subsequently, more complex procedures, involving radiochemical separation of radionuclides, are currently being studied for ²¹⁰Pb, ²¹⁰Po and ²²⁸Ra. Method performances were carefully tested by both internal validation procedures and international intercomparison exercises.These procedures have been employed for a wide range screening in the Lombardia district in Italy. Obtained results showed that in most cases gross alpha activity was lower than the parameter value given by the cited regulations. When these values were exceeded, a more detailed survey was planned: at present three of them, in the western and south-western part of Lombardia and in the city of Milan have been carried out.     

Adsorption of Hydrocarbons from Gas-Air Mixture on Polypropylene Stereoisomers

Kinetics of absorption of a mixture of aliphatic, aromatic, and unsaturated hydrocarbons from the gas phase onto polypropylene containing 5, 18, and 40% atactic polymer in its molecular lattice was studied. The kinetic parameters, equilibrium constant, and Gibbs energy of adsorption-desorption of the hydrocarbons were determined by zero-, first-, and second-order optimization of the solution of the multiparameter equation. These parameters were correlated with the adsorbent composition and the number of sorption-desorption cycles.     

Reaction of 3-Benzoyl-2,3-dibromopropionic Acid with Substituted ortho-Phenylenediamines

3-Benzoyl-2,3-dibromopropionic acid reacts with 4-substituted o-phenylenediamines to give 3-aryl-2-carboxymethylene-1,2-dihydroquinoxalines.     

Sorption of Lower Alcohols with Activated Charcoals

The features of sorption of ethanol, isopropanol, butanol, isobutanol, and tert-butanol with activated charcoals under static conditions were studied.     

Nuclear Techniques in the Elucidation of Chemical Structure

The paper offers three applications of nuclear methods in the research of chemical structure. First, progress in positron annihilation spectroscopy is illustrated by a positron beamline study, which obtained results that are not available through conventional experiments. The positron beam was used for the study of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films containing 4-58 layers of arachidic acid and its salts. These measurements have shown that this emerging technique is capable of characterizing even such elusive systems. Second, the potential of Mössbauer spectroscopy to answer current challenges of solid state chemistry are shown in a study on perovskites of recent interest. ¹⁵¹Eu Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to study the effect of Pr substitution in EuBa₂Cu₃O_7-. It was shown that the introduction of Pr into the rare earth site as well as into the Ba site results in the appearance of extra electrons both in the copper oxide planes and at the 4f shell of Eu cations. The observed effects were explained by the hole filling effect of Pr. Finally, a survey is presented on the recently developed techniques for nuclear resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation, an exciting and very rapidly developing extension to conventional Mössbauer spectroscopy. An interesting new result is that nuclear inelastic scattering experiments performed on solutions of ⁵⁷Fe complexes show contribution from vibrations rather than from diffusion to the inelastic spectra.