Effervescent tablet‐assisted demulsified dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic droplet for determination of methadone in water and biological samples prior to GC‐flame ionization and GC‐MS

A novel effervescent tablet‐assisted demulsified dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction based on the solidification of floating organic droplet was developed to determine methadone prior to gas chromatography with flame ionization detection and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. In this method, a tablet composed of citric acid, sodium carbonate, and 1‐undecanol was utilized. The resulting effervescent tablet generated carbon dioxide in situ to disperse 1‐undecanol in the sample. Thus, the dispersive and extraction processes were performed in one synchronous step. An aliquot of acetonitrile as the demulsifier solvent was used for the separation of two phases instead of centrifugation. Under optimal conditions, the developed method was linear up to 50 000 µg/L with correlation coefficients higher than 0.99. Moreover, limits of detection and limits of the quantification were in the range of 3‐10  and 7‐30 µg/L in water and biological samples, respectively. Intra‐ and interday precisions (n = 6) of the spiked methadone at a concentration level of 50 µg/L were over ranges of 5.1‐6.8% and 5.7‐7.1%, respectively. The preconcentration factors and recovery values were obtained in the range of 140‐145 and 98.1 to 101.6% in real samples, respectively.     

Changes in Physicochemical,Free Radical Activity,Total Phenolic and Sensory Properties of Orange (Citrus sinensis L.) Juice Fortified with Different Oleaster (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.) Extracts

In Iran and other parts of Western Asia, the oleaster (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.) fruit is processed in the dried powdery form, and in recent times, increasingly applied/sprinkled in fruit juices such as those made from oranges (Citrus sinensis L.). To our best knowledge, the effectiveness of oleaster fruit extract in fortifying the orange juice has not yet been reported and the knowledge of this will greatly benefit the consumers, particularly those around the Western Asia region. This current work, therefore, investigated the changes in physicochemical, free radical activity, total phenolic compounds, and sensory properties of orange juice fortified with different oleaster fruit extracts. The orange juice mix formulation comprised different concentrations (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25%) of oleaster (alcoholic, aqueous, and hydro-alcoholic) extracts. The control comprised orange concentrate (4% w/v), sugar (8.5% w/v), and citric acid (0.1% w/v) brought to the desirable volume with water. As the free radical activity depicted the antioxidant properties, the physicochemical aspects of this work involved the determinations of Brix, density, ash, pH, total acidity, sucrose, and total sugar, whereas the sensory aspects involved the determinations of color and taste. Whilst the aqueous oleaster 20 and 25% extracts produced notable physicochemical differences in the orange juice mix, both free radical activity, and phenolic compounds significantly increased (p < 0.05) after 30 days despite resembling (p > 0.05) those of control at day 1. More so, the increases in aqueous, alcoholic, and hydro-alcoholic oleaster extracts would decrease (p < 0.05) the sensory color and taste of the orange juice mix in this study.     

Cross-Correlated Motions in Azidolysozyme

The changes in the local and global dynamics of azide-labelled lysozyme compared with that of the wild type protein are quantitatively assessed for all alanine residues along the polypeptide chain. Although attaching -N3 to alanine residues has been considered to be a minimally invasive change in the protein it is found that depending on the location of the alanine residue, the local and global changes in the dynamics differ. For Ala92, the change in the cross-correlated motions are minimal, whereas attaching -N3 to Ala90 leads to pronounced differences in the local and global correlations as quantified by the cross-correlation coefficients of the Cα atoms. We also demonstrate that the spectral region of the asymmetric azide stretch distinguishes between alanine attachment sites, whereas changes in the low frequency, far-infrared region are less characteristic.     

Ni(II), Co(II), and Cu(II) complexes incorporating 2-pyrazinecarboxylic acid：Synthesis,characterization, electrochemical evaluation,and catalytic activity for the synthesis of 2H-indazolo[2,1-b]phthalazine-triones

Three complexes containing 2-pyrazinecarboxylate (pzca–), including [Ni(pzca)2(H2O)2], [Co(pzca)2(H2O)2], and [Cu(pzca)2(H2O)2], have been synthesized and characterized using physico-chemical and spectroscopic methods. Furthermore, the structure of each complex was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. All three complexes have an octahedral geometry, where the metal ion chelated by two carboxylate oxygens, two nitrogen atoms belonging to pyrazinic acid molecules, and two oxygen atoms of two water molecules. The catalytic activities of these complex-es were also investigated in the green synthesis of 2H-indazolo[2,1-b]phthalazine-triones by the reaction of hydrazine hydrate with an arylaldehyde, phthalic anhydride, and dimedone in acetic acid.     

Highly efficient, one-pot, solvent-free synthesis of 2,4,6-triarylpyridines using a Br?nsted-acidic ionic liquid as reusable catalyst

Abstract  

A simple, efficient, and green method for synthesis of 2,4,6-triarylpyridines by one-pot three-component reaction of acetophenones, aryl aldehydes, and ammonium acetate using 3-methyl-1-(4-sulfonylbutyl)imidazolium hydrogen sulfate [HO₃S(CH₂)₄MIM][HSO₄], a Br?nsted-acidic ionic liquid, as an effective and reusable catalyst under solvent-free conditions is described. This method has several advantages, for example simple procedure with an easy work-up, shorter reaction times, and high yields.     

Strongly Even‐Cycle Decomposable Graphs

A graph is strongly even‐cycle decomposable if the edge set of every subdivision with an even number of edges can be partitioned into cycles of even length. We prove that several fundamental composition operations that preserve the property of being Eulerian also yield strongly even‐cycle decomposable graphs. As an easy application of our theorems, we give an exact characterization of the set of strongly even‐cycle decomposable cographs.     

Determination of H2S,COS, CS2 and SO2 by an aluminium nitride nanocluster: DFT studies

ABSTRACT

Density functional theory calculations were used to investigate the potential application of an AlN nanocluster in the detection of H₂S, COS, CS₂ and SO₂ gases. In overall, the order of strength of interaction of these gases with the nanocluster is as follows: SO₂ (E_ad?=??17.6?kcal/mol)?>?H₂S (E_ad?=??14.0?kcal/mol)?>?COS (E_ad?=??8.4?kcal/mol)?>?CS₂ (E_ad?=??4.5?kcal/mol). This indicates that by increasing the electric dipole moment, the adsorption energy becomes more negative. We found that the Al₁₂N₁₂ nanocluster may be a promising work function-type sensor for SO₂ gas among the studied gases. Also, it is an electronic sensor for both SO₂ and CS₂ gases but selectively acts between them because of their different effects on the electrical conductivity. It is neither work function-type nor electronic sensor for H₂S and COS gases. The AlN nanocluster benefits from a short recovery time about 7.7?s and 18.0?ms for desorption of SO₂ and CS₂ gases from its surface at room temperature, respectively. It is also concluded that this cluster can work at a humid environment.     

Asymmetric and axisymmetric vibrations of finite transversely isotropic circular cylinders

This paper presents an approach for obtaining the exact frequency equations of axisymmetric and asymmetric free vibrations of transversely isotropic circular cylinders. The solution method is based on the three dimensional theory of linear elasticity and uses potential functions. Using this approach, the frequency spectra and vibration mode shapes are plotted for a number of transversely isotropic cylinders. The proposed approach introduces a number of merits compared to earlier approximate and exact solution methods. First, unlike numerically complicated series methods that provide approximate solutions, the proposed approach is exact. Second, combination of scalar functions employed for representing the displacement field is consistent with the physics of the problem. One scalar potential function has been considered for each component of the wave field inside the elastic cylinder. As a result, the solution is systematically divided into coupled and decoupled equations. In addition, by using this approach, there is no need to guess the final of the solution a priori. These merits make the proposed approach suitable for other vibration problems of anisotropic materials.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of gas adsorption on defected graphene

Gas sensing is one of the most promising applications for graphene. Using molecular dynamics simulation method, adsorption isotherm of xenon (Xe) gas on defected and perfect graphene is studied in order to investigate sensing properties of graphene for Xe gas. In this method, first generation of Brenner many-body potential is used to simulate the interaction of carbon–carbon (C) atoms in graphene, and Lennard–Jones two-body potential is used to simulate interaction of Xe–Xe and Xe–C atoms. In the simulated systems, adsorption coverage, radial distribution function, heat of adsorption, binding energy and specific heat capacity at constant volume are calculated for several temperatures between 90 K and 130 K, and various pressures. It was found that both of the defected and perfect graphene could be introduced as very good candidates for adsorption of Xe gas.