Selective determination of cobalt using polyurethane foam and 2-(2-benzothiazolylazo)-2-p-cresol as a spectrophotometric reagent

The present work describes a selective, rapid and economical method for the determination of cobalt using the 2-(2-benzothiazolylazo)-p-cresol (BTAC) as a spectrophotometric reagent associated with a solid extraction on polyurethane foam. The BTAC reacts with Co(II) in the presence of Triton-X100 surfactant forming a green complex with maximum absorption at 615 nm. The reaction is used for cobalt determination within a pH range of 6.50-7.50, with an apparent molar absorptivity of 1.62 x 10(4) L mol(-1) cm(-1). Beer's Law is obeyed for a concentration of at least 1.60 microg ml(-1). A selective procedure is proposed for cobalt determination in the presence of Fe(II), Hg(II), Zn(II) and Cu(II) up to milligram levels using masking agents. Polyurethane foam is used for the preconcentration and separation of cobalt from thiocyanate media and this procedure is applied to its determination in nickel salts and steel alloys.     

On the cube problem of Las Vergnas

We prove a conjecture of Las Vergnas in dimensions d7: The matroid of the d-dimensional cube C ^d has a unique reorientation class. This extends a result of Las Vergnas, Roudneff and Salaün in dimension 4. Moreover, we determine the automorphism group G ^d of the matroid of the d-cube C ^d for arbitrary dimension d, and we discuss its relation to the Coxeter group of C ^d . We introduce matroid facets of the matroid of the d-cube in order to evaluate the order of G ^d . These matroid facets turn out to be arbitrary pairs of parallel subfacets of the cube. We show that the Euclidean automorphism group W ^d is a proper subgroup of the group G ^d of all matroid symmetries of the d-cube by describing genuine matroid symmetries for each Euclidean facet. A main theorem asserts that any one of these matroid symmetries together with the Euclidean Coxeter symmetries generate the full automorphism group G ^d . For the proof of Las Vergnas' conjecture we use essentially these symmetry results together with the fact that the reorientation class of an oriented matroid is determined by the labeled lower rank contractions of the oriented matroid. We also describe the Folkman-Lawrence representation of the vertex figure of the d-cube and a contraction of it. Finally, we apply our method of proof to show a result of Las Vergnas, Roudneff, and Salaün that the matroid of the 24-cell has a unique reorientation class, too.     

Quality control of201TlCl solution obtained at IPEN-CNEN/SP

The radiopharmaceutical²⁰¹TlCl(thallium-201 chloride) is used in nuclear medicine for myocardial visualization. The solution of²⁰¹TlCl was prepared using²⁰¹Tl obtained by irradiating a natural mercury target with protons from the CV-28 cyclotron installed at IPEN-CNEN/SP. This solution was subjected to different quality control processes required for its use in medicine. Some of these controls concerned the determination of the radionuclidic impurities:²⁰⁰Tl,²⁰²Tl and²⁰³Hg; the chemical identification of²⁰¹Tl⁺; the hydrazine concentration, mercury contamination and the presence of phosphate. Furthermore. the biological distribution in Wistar rats and tests for sterility, pyrogenicity and toxicity were carried out. It was verified that the solution obtained was in the form of thallous chloride. This radiopharmaceutical gave good heart images in animals but due to the high levels of²⁰⁰Tl and²⁰²Tl its use in humans is not possible unless enriched²⁰²Hg is used as target in the irradiation.