Diabatic investigation for the NaRb molecule

An extensive diabatic investigation of the NaRb species has been carried out for all excited states up to the ionic limit Na^‐Rb⁺. An ab initio calculation founded on the pseudopotential, core polarization potential operators and full configuration interaction has been used with an efficient diabatization method involving a combination of variational effective hamiltonian theory and an effective overlap matrix. Diabatic potential energy curves and electric dipole moments (permanent and transition) for all the symmetries Σ⁺, Π, and Δ have been studied for the first time. Thanks to a unitary rotation matrix, the examination of the diabatic permanent dipole moment (PDM) has shown the ionic feature clearly seen in the diabatic ¹Σ⁺ potential curves and confirming the high imprint of the Na^‐Rb⁺ ionic state in the adiabatic representation. Diabatic transition dipole moments have also been computed. Real crossings have been shown for the diabatic PDM, locating the avoided crossings between the corresponding adiabatic energy curves.     

A simple and rapid dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction method followed by GC-FID for determination of N-methylpyrrolidine in cefepime

A simple, rapid and efficient sample preparation technique, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction, coupled with gas chromatography-flame ionization detection has been developed to determine N-methylpyrrolidine in cefepime. The effect of various experimental factors on the preparation procedure, such as the nature and volume of extraction and disperser solvents, extraction time, the nature of buffer and its pH, and salt effect, was investigated, optimized and the following results were obtained: extraction solvent, chloroform; dispersive solvent and solvent for dissolving cefepime, a mixture of methanol/water (88:12, v/v); salting out agent, NaCl; and buffer, carbonate/bicarbonate (C=0.5?M, pH=12). The optimized conditions were applied to the real sample (cefepime) for the extraction and determination of N-methylpyrrolidine. The calibration graph is linear from 0.02 to 850?mg/L with the square of correlation coefficient 0.999. LOD and LOQ are 6.4 and 21.2?μg/L in solution, respectively, and 0.2 (2×10(-5) ) and 0.6 (6×10(-5) ) μg/g (%, w/w) in cefepime powder, respectively, using sample size 50?mg. Repeatability of the method is good and RSD% for six repeated experiments (C=170?mg/L) is 6.35%.     

Protic ionic liquid [TMG][Ac] as an efficient,homogeneous and recyclable catalyst for Boc protection of amines

An efficient and practical protocol for the chemoselective N-Boc protection of various structurally different aryl, aliphatic and heterocyclic amines was carried out with (Boc)₂O using protic 1, 1, 3, 3-tetra-methylguanidinium acetate (10 mol%) as recyclable catalyst under solvent free condition at ambient temperature. No competitive side reactions (isocyanate, urea and N, N-di-Boc) were observed. α-Amino alcohols afforded the N-Boc-derivative without oxazolidinone formation.     

Nanotechnology in the public eye: the case of Iran,as a developing country

Using survey data, public awareness of and attitudes toward nanotechnology are examined in Iran (N = 759). Iran is a developing country with a national nanotechnology action plan for a ten year period starting from 2003 and has been active in the field of research and development of nanotechnology meanwhile. First, the results show that majority of people are still not familiar with nanotechnology and perceived risks posed by this technology are not considered to be a lot and most people feel its benefits outweigh the risks. The emotions toward this technology are of a hopeful and positive nature and this technology is looked upon favorably in Iran. In particular, our results reveals that although the level of trust is high specially in scientists to communicate the risks with the public, there are a great number who just have some trust not quite a lot of it. Knowing that it is a hard and time-consuming effort to manage a nation’s view on nanotechnology, extensive research as well as collaboration with other countries is needed to effectively communicate the risks in time.     

Thermodynamic Study of the Extraction of Inorganic Mercury Compounds in Fish Species of the International Anzali Wetland,Iran

Inorganic mercury concentration was measured in the muscle tissues of four types of fish in the aquatic international Anzali Wetland ecosystem in Guilan. In the same ecosystem, the northern pike is able to concentrate inorganic mercury in its body more than other fish. In each species, a fish with the highest amount of inorganic mercury was selected for determination of thermodynamic parameters of inorganic mercury extraction using calculation of the equilibrium constant and fitting of ln K_c versus inverse temperature at the atmospheric pressure. The origins of thermodynamic parameters were discussed. The extraction processes were done in the range of temperatures from 331.15 to 365.15 K and at atmospheric pressure. Results show that the extraction of mercury compounds from SH groups of sulfhydryl proteins in fish muscle tissue is an endothermic process with a positive value for entropy and Gibbs free energy changes at room temperature.     

Combination of Dispersive Liquid‐Liquid Microextraction with Flame Atomic Absorption for Determination of Trace Ni and Co in Water Samples and Vitamin B12

A dispersive liquid‐liquid microextraction method based on the dispersion of 1,2‐dichlorobenzene as an extraction solvent into an aqueous phase in the presence of ethanol as a dispersive solvent for the preconcentration of Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ ions is discussed. 1‐Nitroso 2‐naphtol was used as a chelating agent prior to the extraction and the preconcentrated analyte was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The effect of various experimental parameters including the extraction and dispersive solvent type and volume, pH, amount of the chelating agent, etc. on the microextraction and complex formation was investigated for finding the optimum conditions. The enhancement factors were about 61.9 and 51.8, the calibration graphs were linear in the range of 10‐150 μgL^?1 and 10‐250 μgL^?1 with detection limits of 2.42 μgL^?1 and 1.59 μgL^?1, and RSD (n = 5) of 3.08% and 2.17% for cobalt and nickel, respectively. The method was successfully applied to the determination of Co and Ni in water and vitamin B₁₂.     

Microwave‐Assisted Catalyst Free Three Component Synthesis of Mono and Bis Spiro Pyrazolopyridines in Solvent Free Reaction

Multicomponent synthesis of mono and bis‐spiro pyrazolopyridines from isatin derivatives, indanedione, and 3‐methyl‐5‐aminopyrazole under microwave irradiation in the absence of any catalyst or solvent with high yield and short reaction time is reported.     

Genetic diversity and haplotype structure of 21 Y‐STRs,including nine noncore loci,in South Tunisian Population: Forensic relevance

Y chromosome STRs (Y‐STRs) are being used frequently in forensic laboratories. Previous studies of Y‐STR polymorphisms in different groups of the Tunisian population identified low levels of diversity and discrimination capacity (DC) using various commercial marker sets. This definitely limits the use of such systems for Y‐STRs genotyping in Tunisia. In our investigation on South Tunisia, 200 unrelated males were typed for the 12 conventional Y‐STRs included in the PowerPlex® Y System. Additional set of nine noncore Y‐STRs including DYS446, DYS456, DYS458, DYS388, DYS444, DYS445, DYS449, DYS710, and DYS464 markers were genotyped and evaluated for their potential in improving DC. Allele frequency, gene diversity, haplotype diversity (HD), and DC calculation revealed that DYS464 was the most diverse marker followed by DYS710 and DYS449 markers. The standard panel of 12 Y‐STRs (DC = 80.5%) and the nine markers were combined to obtain DC of 99%. Among the 198 different haplotypes observed, 196 haplotypes were unique (HD = 99.999). Out of the nine noncore set, six Y‐STRs (DYS458, DYS456, DYS449, DYS710, DYS444, and DYS464) had the greatest impact on enhancing DC. Our data provided putative Y‐STRs combination to be used for genetic and forensic applications.