Studies on recoil proton tracks in NTA films with the T(d,n)He reaction

Recoil proton tracks in nuclear emulsion are counted by scanning them using strip, square or circular field of view of optical microscope. In this paper, the overestimate due to the edge effects in counting recoil proton tracks at different neutron energies produced from the T(d,n)⁴He reaction has been determined by measuring the true track density in NTA film. The overestimate has also been calculated using the measured value of the mean projected track length (L) in the film. The percentage of measured overestimates has been compared with those obtained by calculation and the results agree reasonably well. Fading effect in NTA film has been studied and found to be 22% more in the summer than in the winter season. A great reduction in fading rate could be achieved if the films are desiccated and sealed in highly pure dry nitrogen maintained at an over-pressure of 1000 Pa to reduce water vapour ingress. After the edge effect correction, the sensitivity of NTA film has been calculated from (1.72±0.08)×10⁻³ tracksn⁻¹ to (1.97±0.16)×10⁻³ tracksn⁻¹ in the neutron energy ranges from 15.91 to 18.88 MeV. The response was found to be from 0.24±0.02 trackscm⁻² permSv to 0.26±0.01 trackscm⁻² permSv in the same energy range.     

Kinetic Spectrophotometric Determination of Trace Amounts of Nitrite by Catalytic Reaction between Methylthymol Blue and Bromate

A kinetic spectrophotometric method for determination of trace nitrite in two dynamic ranges (2–100 and 100–500 ng/mL) based on its catalytic effect on the reaction between methylthymol blue and potassium bromate in acidic (sulfuric acid) media is described. The reaction was monitored spectrophotometrically by measuring the decreasing color of methylthymol blue at 437 nm by the fixed‐time method of 4.0 min at 30°C. The detection limit is 0.6 ng/mL, and the relative standard deviations for 50.0 and 250.0 ng/mL nitrite are 1.6% and 1.3%, respectively. The method was used for the determination of nitrite in water samples.     

Stability-Indicating HPTLC Assay for Leuprolide Acetate

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - A new stability-indicating HPTLC assay has been established for leuprolide acetate. Silica gel 60F254 was used as stationary phase....     

Modified carrageenan. 5. Preparation,swelling behavior,salt‐ and pH‐sensitivity of partially hydrolyzed crosslinked carrageenan‐graft‐polymethacrylamide superabsorbent hydrogel

The polysaccharide, kappa‐carrageenan (κC) was chemically modified to achieve a novel superabsorbent hydrogel via graft copolymerization of methacrylamide (MAM) onto the substrate followed by alkaline hydrolysis. Ammonium persulfate (APS) and N,N′‐methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) were used as a free‐radical initiator and a crosslinker, respectively. The saponification reaction was carried out using sodium hydroxide aqueous solution. Either κC‐g‐PMAM or hydrolyzed κC‐g‐PMAM (PMAM: polymethacrylamide) was characterized by FT‐IR spectroscopy. The effect of grafting variables (i.e. concentration of MBA, MAM, and APS) and alkaline hydrolysis conditions (i.e. NaOH concentration, hydrolysis time and temperature) were systematically optimized to achieve a hydrogel with swelling capacity as high as possible. The swelling capacity of these hydrogels was also measured in various salt solutions. Results indicated that the swelling ratios decreased with an increase in the ionic strength of the salt solutions. This behavior can be attributed to charge screening effect for monovalent cations, as well as ionic crosslinking for multivalent cations. Absorbency of superabsorbing hydrogels was examined in buffer solutions with pH range 1–13. Also, the pH reversibility and on–off switching behavior, at pH values 3.0 and 8.0, makes the synthesized hydrogels good candidates for controlled delivery of bioactive agents. Finally, swelling kinetics in distilled water and various salt solutions was preliminary investigated. Results showed that the swelling in water was faster than in saline solutions. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

1H NMR Study of Hindered Internal Rotation of Tetramethylthiuram Disulfide in Binary Dimethyl Sulfoxide‐Chloroform Mixtures

Hindered internal rotation about the C‐N single bonds joining the thiuram disulfide was studied by ¹H NMR complete line‐shaped analysis in different dimethyl sulfoxide‐chloroform (DMSO‐CDCl₃) mixtures. From the temperature dependence of methyls proton spectra, activation parameters (E_a, ΔH^≠, ΔS^≠, and ΔG^≠) were obtained. The Arrhenius plots showed a distinct isokinetic temperature at about 35 °C at which the exchange rate is more or less independent of the solvent composition. The resulting ΔH^≠ against TΔS^≠ plot showed a firmly good linear correlation, indicating the existence of an enthalpy‐entropy composition in an exchange process.     

Synthesis and structural characterization of a new heterobimetallic coordination complex of barium and cobalt for use as a precursor for chemical vapor deposition

Ba(dmae)2 (dmaeH=N,N-dimethylaminoethanol, C4H11NO) reacts with Co(acac)2 (acac=2,4-pentanedionate) to produce the trinuclear coordination complex [Ba2Co(acac)4(dmae)3(dmaeH)] in an 85% yield. Spectroscopic and single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiments indicate that the complex possesses a structure in which two barium atoms and a cobalt atom are bridged by acac and dmae groups. The barium centers are eight and nine coordinate with BaO7N and BaO7N2 coordination spheres while the cobalt is a more regular CoO5N octahedron. This 2:1 heterobimetallic molecular complex was investigated as precursor for the deposition of thin film by AACVD. The film was characterized by SEM and XRD. TGA shows that the complex starts thermal decomposition upon heating in nitrogen atmosphere at 105 degrees C to produce barium cobalt oxide material of a Ba2CoO3 composition with an orthorhombic structure. The synthetic approach detailed here represents a unique route to the formation of a heterobimetallic barium cobalt coordination complex.     

Challenges in validating the sterilisation dose for processed human amniotic membranes

Most of the tissue banks in the Asia Pacific region have been using ionising radiation at 25 kGy to sterilise human tissues for save clinical usage. Under tissue banking quality system, any dose employed for sterilisation has to be validated and the validation exercise has to be a part of quality document. Tissue grafts, unlike medical items, are not produced in large number per each processing batch and tissues relatively have a different microbial population. A Code of Practice established by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2004 offers several validation methods using smaller number of samples compared to ISO 11137 (1995), which is meant for medical products. The methods emphasise on bioburden determination, followed by sterility test on samples after they were exposed to verification dose for attaining of sterility assurance level (SAL) of 10⁻¹. This paper describes our experience in using the IAEA Code of Practice in conducting the validation exercise for substantiating 25 kGy as sterilisation dose for both air-dried amnion and those preserved in 99% glycerol.     

A novel direct method for preparation of aromatic polyimides via microwave-assisted polycondensation of aromatic dianhydrides and diisocyanates

Possibility of imide structure formation under microwave irradiation of molecules containing anhydride and isocyanate functional groups was investigated. The microwave-assisted polycondensation of aromatic diisocyanates and dianhydrides for preparation of polyimides was studied. The effect of microwave irradiation time and power, solvent nature, solid content of monomers, effect of catalyst, effect of polymerization reactor material and possibility of pressure development during polymerization, on the inherent viscosity of prepared polyimides were discussed. Experimental results showed that polymers obtained via this method had superior inherent viscosity and yield in comparison to the polymers obtained via conventional solution method.     

Structural Elucidation of {[(CH3)2SnCl2·H2O]2·18-crown-6} n and its Hydrogen Bonding in Solution by HMBC Spectroscopy

Behavior of {[(CH₃)₂SnCl₂·H₂O]₂·18-crown-6}_n in solution have been investigated by HMBC NMR. The results show that coordination of water to tin containing species and its hydrogen bonding to crown ether remains intact in non-coordinating solvent in contrast to coordinating solvent. H-NMR reveals that the chemical shift of water in complex varies by solvent of crystallization.     

On the nilpotent * - Fourier transform

LetG be a nilpotent Lie group. The adapted nilpotent Fourier transform was introduced by D. Arnal and J. C. Cortet,:L(G) C (V,L(^2d )), whereL(G) is the Schwartz space ofG andV × ^2k is aG-invariant Zariski open set ing ^* the dual of the Lie algebra ofG. We prove the surjectivity of this transformation, which allows us to extend it to distribution spaces.