Application of azide-containing molecules as modifiers of HTPB

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) has been widely modified and copolymerized with azide substances to be applicable as an elastomer binder in a...     

One-pot multicomponent synthesis of 1,2,3,4-tetrasubstituted pyrroles catalyzed by [NMPH]CH3SO3

A general method for the synthesis of 1,2,3,4-tetrasubstituted pyrroles by [NMPH]CH₃SO₃ is reported. A full factorial design was performed in order to obtain a more robust and statistically correct optimum condition. The products were obtained in moderate to excellent yields. The developed methodology is very simple, cost-effective, and applicable for tri- and tetra-component reactions.     

Zirconium phosphate organically intercalated/exfoliated with long chain amine

The applicability of thermogravimetry (TG) coupled to single photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TG-SPI-TOFMS) for evolved gas analysis (EGA) of coffee is demonstrated in this study. Coffee is a chemically well-known complex food product of large scientific and commercial interest. The roasting process of single green coffee beans (Arabica, Robusta) was simulated in the TG-SPI-TOFMS device, and the chemical composition of the evolved roasting gases was monitored on-line. Additionally, roasted and ground coffee powders of different types and brands as well as instant coffee were successfully investigated. For example, the diterpenes cafestol and kahweol can be detected among many other roasting products. These compounds can be of particular interest for quality control of coffee. It is shown that kahweol can be used as a tracer compound to discriminate arabica coffee species from robusta species.     

Comparison between ordinary least squares regression and weighted least squares regression in the calibration of metals present in human milk determined by ICP-OES

In this study we compared the use of ordinary least squares and weighted least squares in the calibration of the method for analyzing essential and toxic metals present in human milk by ICP-OES, in order to avoid systematic errors in the measurements used. Human milk samples were provided by maternity clinic Odete Valadares and digested by means of a high-performance microwave (MW) oven. Evaluation of plasma short and long-term stability was made using a solution of digested milk (1:50) with 2.0 mg L⁻¹ Mg in HNO₃ 2% (v/v). The detection power resulted to be at or below the μg L⁻¹ level, whilst the precision expressed as relative standard deviation R.S.D. was almost always equal to or better than 3.3%. Certified reference material Infant Formula (NIST SRM 1846) was used to assess the accuracy of the proposed method, which proved to be accurate and precise. Recovery rates were in the range of 83-117%. Aqueous calibration was carried out for each element under study.     

A footnote to a theorem of Kawamata

Kawamata has shown that the quasi-Albanese map of a quasi-projective variety with log-irregularity equal to the dimension and log-Kodaira dimension 0 is birational. In this note, we show that under these hypotheses the quasi-Albanese map is proper in codimension 1 as conjectured by Iitaka.     

Biochemical characterization of the maltokinase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mycobacterium bovis</Emphasis> BCG

Background  

Maltose-1-phosphate was detected in Mycobacterium bovis BCG extracts in the 1960's but a maltose-1-phosphate synthetase (maltokinase, Mak) was only much later purified from Actinoplanes missouriensis, allowing the identification of the mak gene. Recently, this metabolite was proposed to be the intermediate in a pathway linking trehalose with the synthesis of glycogen in M. smegmatis. Although the M. tuberculosis H37Rv mak gene (Rv0127) was considered essential for growth, no mycobacterial Mak has, to date, been characterized.     

Raman spectroscopy study of Na2MoO4·2H2O and Na2MoO4 under hydrostatic pressure

Raman spectroscopy measurements of polycrystalline Na₂MoO₄·2H₂O (NMHO) and Na₂MoO₄ (NM) under hydrostatic pressure (from 0 to 10 GPa) were performed. This study allowed us to monitor the stretching and bending vibrations of MoO₄ ions as well as the translational modes as a function of pressure. The pressure dependence of the wavenumbers of the modes indicates that the Na₂MoO₄·2H₂O undergoes two phase transitions at about ∼3 and ∼4 GPa. When releasing pressure, we have observed that the original spectrum is recovered, thereby pointing to a reversible process. The Na₂MoO₄ (NM) starting phase was found to be stable up to 10 GPa. The pressure‐dependent Raman data for NM did not reveal any structural modification. The influence of the pressure‐transmitting medium on the phase transitions is also discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.