A new method for obtaining adsorption isotherms on colloidal suspensions via electrokinetic sonic amplitude measurement

The standard methods for obtaining adsorption isotherms on colloidal suspensions are usually very time consuming and involve a large number of steps and assumptions that increase the experimental errors. In this work, an alternative method is proposed to evaluate the adsorption behavior of electrosteric-stabilized systems based on electrokinetic sonic amplitude signal measurements. The new method, entitled "zeta-sorption", is noticeably less time-consuming when compared to conventional procedures but showed great precision and reliability confirmed by comparison with data obtained from conventional routes on alumina-polyacrylate and alumina-citric acid aqueous suspensions. The experimental conditions that restrict the applicability of the new method were identified and justified by discussing the possible ion exchanges.     

Free radical-scavenging activity of indolic compounds in aqueous and ethanolic media

Indolic compounds are a broad family of substances present in microorganisms, plants and animals. They are mainly related with tryptophan metabolism, and present particularities that depend on their respective chemical structures. The most important members of the family are the plant hormone, indole-3-acetic acid, and the animal hormone, melatonin. An important characteristic of some indolic compounds is that they may be useful as chemical preventive agents against diseases such as cancer, oxidative stress, etc. For this reason, the possible antioxidant activities (free radical-scavenging activity) of several indoles were studied. The2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid /H(2)O(2)/HRP decoloration method was applied to determine both hydrophilic (in buffered media) and lipophilic (in organic media) antioxidant properties of the indolic compounds. Also, a study of the hydrophilic antioxidant activities of indoles at different pH values (between 4.5 and 8.5) was made. Finally, their possible role as diet plant antioxidants is discussed.     

Multicommutation as an environmentally friendly analytical tool in the hydride generation atomic fluorescence determination of tellurium in milk

The aim of this study is to show the advantages of the emerging multicommutation methodology based on the use of solenoid valves for Te determination in milk by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS). The delivery of a series of alternating sequential insertions of small volumes of samples and reagents gives rise to new hydrodynamic processes and exciting analytical potentials by controlling the time of flow through the on/off-switched solenoid valves. This drastically reduces the reagent consumption by a factor of 4 and the generation of effluents (590 mL h^–1 instead of 750 mL h^–1 generated by the continuous-mode measurement) and also provides an improvement in the laboratory productivity by an increase of the sample throughput (85 h^–1 compared to 20 h^–1 found in the continuous mode). So, multicommutation is an environmentally and economically sustainable alternative to the methodology based on continuous measurements. The multicommutation-based method developed was applied to tellurium determination in commercially available milk samples; a calibration range of 0.0–0.5 ng mL^–1 and a detection limit of 0.20 ng L^–1 with average relative standard deviation of 2.1% were found. Comparable results were obtained for a series of samples using both continuous and multicommutation HG-AFS modes.     

Phenol O–H bond dissociation energy in water clusters

We are reporting ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) calculations for the phenol O–H bond dissociation energy in the gas phase and in phenol–water clusters. We have tested a series of recently proposed functionals and verified that DFT systematically underestimates the O–H bond dissociation energy of phenol. However, O–H bond dissociation energies in water clusters are in reasonable agreement with experimental data for phenol in solution. We have evaluated electronic difference densities in phenol–water, phenoxy–water, and water, and we are suggesting that the representation of this quantity gives an interesting picture of the electronic density rearrangement induced by hydrogen bond interactions in phenol–water clusters. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001     

Experimental and DFT study of the aza-Diels-Alder reaction between cyclopentadiene and protonated benzylimine derivated from glyoxylates

The Diels-Alder reaction of protonated N-benzyl imine of methyl glyoxylate with cyclopentadiene in different solvents gave mixtures of exo/endo adducts. The exo/endo selectivity of the reaction was elucidated by NMR experiments. Theoretical calculations by means of density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level have also been performed to elucidate the molecular mechanism of this reaction. The DFT results suggest a highly asynchronous concerted mechanism, which in turn can explain the preferred exo stereoselectivity of the reaction. Inclusion of solvent effects enhances the exo selectivity, and this effect increases with the polarity of the solvent, in good agreement with the experimental findings.     

Non-coherent visible and infrared radiation increase survival to UV (254 nm) in Escherichia coli K12

Interactions between visible or infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV, 254 nm) radiation have been studied in E. coli. Pre-illumination with non-coherent monochromatic 446, 466, 570 and 685 nm radiation, as well as with polychromatic red and IR radiation at room temperature, leads to increased cell survival after a subsequent irradiation with UV light. In the thermic range of the spectrum (red and IR), IR but not red light pre-treatment is able to increase cell survival to a subsequent lethal heat (51 degrees C) challenge, suggesting that increased UV survival may be due to IR-induced heat-shock response. On the other hand, visible-light-induced resistance may be due to a different mechanism, possibly involved with unknown bacterial light receptors.     

Preliminary characterization of anhydrous ethanol used in Brazil as automotive fuel

This work reports preliminary studies on the characterisation of anhydrous ethanol (AEA) used as an automotive fuel mixed with gasoline in Porto Alegre (South Brazil). Pre-concentration of the impurities contained in 1000 ml of AEA was carried on through solid-phase extraction using XAD4 resin. The main compounds in the extract were identified by means of spectral data from the library of the equipment. The concentrate was then fractionated using a preparative liquid chromatographic column filled with activated silica gel and the elution procedure was carried out with, n-hexane, n-hexane-benzene (1:1, v/v) and dichloromethane. Prior to analysis by GC-MS, each fraction was reduced to 1 ml with a gentle stream of nitrogen. Saturated linear hydrocarbons and aromatic hydrocarbons eluted in the first fraction and oxygenated compounds such as aldehydes. ketones and alcohols, eluted in the second one. were the main compounds detected in the sample.     

On the support of the Ashtekar-Lewandowski measure

We show that the Ashtekar-Isham extension of the configuration space of Yang-Mills theories is (topologically and measure-theoretically) the projective limit of a family of finite dimensional spaces associated with arbitrary finite lattices.These results are then used to prove that is contained in a zero measure subset of with respect to the diffeomorphism invariant Ashtekar-Lewandowski measure on . Much as in scalar field theory, this implies that states in the quantum theory associated with this measure can be realized as functions on the extended configuration space .     

Phase uniqueness and correlation length in diluted-field Ising models

The diluted-field Ising model, a random nonnegative field ferromagnetic model, is shown to have a unique Gibbs measure with probability I when the field mean is positive. Our methods involve comparisons with ordinary uniform field Ising models. They yield as a corollary a way of obtaining spontaneous magnetization through the application of a vanishing random magnetic field. The correlation lengths of this model defined as (lim _n-(1/n) log ₀; _n)^-1, wheren is the site on the first coordinate axis at distancen from the origin and ₀; _n is the origin ton two-point truncated correlation function, is non-random. We derive an upper bound for it in terms of the correlation length of an ordinary nonrandom model with uniform field related to the field distribution of the diluted model.