Controlled Positioning of Activated Ester Moieties on Well‐Defined Linear Polymer Chains

The successful sequence‐controlled installation of an activated ester using a newly designed monomer pentafluorophenyl 4‐maleimidobenzoate is demonstrated. Pentafluorophenyl 4‐maleimidobenzoate is kinetically installed at different stages of a nitroxide‐mediated polymerization, namely, near the α‐chain end and in the middle of a PS chain. In addition, successful installation of apolar and polar functional groups is achieved via post‐polymerization functionalization, which demonstrated the versatility of the synthesis of a universal precursor for locally functionalized polymers.     

New synthesis method for M(II) chromites/silica nanocomposites by thermal decomposition of some precursors formed inside the silica gels

In this article, we present a new method for the obtaining of ZnCr₂O₄ and MgCr₂O₄ embedded in silica matrix. This method consists in the formation of Cr(III), Zn(II) and Cr(III), Mg(II) hydroxycarboxylate/carboxylate compounds, during the redox reaction between the nitrate ion and diol (1,3-propanediol), uniformly dispersed in the pores of hybrid gels. The thermal decomposition of these precursors leads to a mixture of corresponding metal oxides. The gels were synthesized starting from mixtures of Cr(NO₃)₃·9H₂O, Zn(NO₃)₂·6H₂O and Cr(NO₃)₃·9H₂O, Mg(NO₃)₂·6H₂O with tetraethyl orthosilicate and 1,3-propanediol for final compositions 50% ZnCr₂O₄/50% SiO₂ and 50% MgCr₂O₄/50% SiO₂. The obtained gels have been thermally treated at 140?°C, when the redox reaction nitrates-diol took place with formation of the precursors within the xerogels pores. The thermal decomposition of all precursors took place up to 300?°C, with formation of oxides mixtures (Cr₂O_3?+?x and ZnO) and (Cr₂O_3?+?x and MgO), respectively. At 400?°C, Cr₂O_3?+?x turn to Cr₂O₃ which reacts with ZnO forming ZnCr₂O₄/SiO₂. Starting with 400?°C, Cr₂O₃ reacts with MgO to an intermediary phase MgCrO₄, which decomposes with the formation of MgCr₂O₄/SiO₂. The formation of the precursors inside the silica matrix and the evolution of the crystalline phases were studied by thermal analysis, FT-IR spectrometry, XRD, and TEM.     

Ganglioside analysis in body fluids by liquid-phase separation techniques hyphenated to mass spectrometry

The expression of gangliosides in central nervous system is a few times higher than in the extraneural tissue, a characteristic highlighting their major role at this level. Although in very low amounts, gangliosides are ubiquitously distributed in body fluids too, where, depending on many factors, including pathological states, their composition fluctuates, thus having diagnostic value. Ganglioside investigation in biological fluids, which, except for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), may be sampled noninvasively, was for years impeded by the limited sensitivity of the analytical instrumentation available in glycomics. However, because the last decade has witnessed significant developments in biological mass spectrometry (MS) and the hyphenated separation techniques, marked by a major increase in sensitivity, reproducibility, and data reliability, ganglioside research started to be focused on biofluid analysis by separation techniques coupled to MS. In this context, our review presents the achievements in this emerging field of gangliosidomics, with a particular emphasis on modern liquid chromatography (LC), thin-layer chromatography, hydrophilic interaction LC, and ion mobility separation coupled to high-performance MS, as well as the results generated by these systems and allied experimental procedures in profiling and structural analysis of gangliosides in healthy or diseased body fluids, such as CSF, plasma/serum, and milk.     

Azulene‐1‐azo‐2′‐thiazoles. Synthesis and properties

Several derivatives belonging to a new compound class, namely azulene‐1‐azo‐2′‐thiazoles, were prepared by the diazotization of 2‐aminothiazoles in the presence of HNO₃/H₃PO₄ followed by the coupling of diazonium salts with azulenes in buffered medium. The reactions proved to be general for this class, the yields are, however, considerably influenced by the substituents at thiazole moiety. For the first time a N‐oxide provided from an amino substituted five‐member nitrogenous heterocycle was diazotized and coupled. The structure of the obtained compounds was assigned and their physico‐chemical properties were discussed. The new azulene azo derivatives exhibit a strong bathochromic shift in UV‐Vis due to the intense push‐pull effect of aromatic system and to the intrinsic properties of thiazole moiety.     

On the determination of 36Cl and 129I in solid materials from nuclear decommissioning activities

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Determination of the 36Cl and 129I massic activities using pyrolysis combined with radiochemical separation (using a Cl-resin) in concrete and...     

Dirichlet problem for a nonlinear generalized Darcy–Forchheimer–Brinkman system in Lipschitz domains

The purpose of this paper is to show existence of a solution of the Dirichlet problem for a nonlinear generalized Darcy–Forchheimer–Brinkman system in a bounded Lipschitz domain in , with small boundary datum in L²‐based Sobolev spaces. A useful intermediary result is the well‐posedness of the Poisson problem for a generalized Brinkman system in a bounded Lipschitz domain in , with Dirichlet boundary condition and data in L²‐based Sobolev spaces. We obtain this well‐posedness result by showing that the matrix type operator associated with the Poisson problem is an isomorphism. Then, we combine the well‐posedness result from the linear case with a fixed point theorem in order to show the existence of a solution of the Dirichlet problem for the nonlinear generalized Darcy–Forchheimer–Brinkman system. Some applications are also included. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Asymptotically Spirallike Mappings in Reflexive Complex Banach Spaces

In this paper we consider the notion of asymptotic spirallikeness in reflexive complex Banach spaces $X$ , and the connection with univalent subordination chains. Poreda initially introduced the notion of asymptotic starlikeness to characterize biholomorphic mappings on the unit polydisc in $\mathbb{C }^{n}$ which have parametric representation in the sense of Loewner theory. The authors introduced the notions of $A$ -asymptotic spirallikeness and $A$ -parametric representation on the Euclidean unit ball of $\mathbb{C }^{n}$ , where $A\in L(\mathbb{C }^{n})$ with $m(A)>0$ . They showed that these notions are equivalent whenever $k_+(A)<2m(A)$ . In this paper we prove that if $k_+(A)<2m(A)$ and $f\in S(B)$ has $A$ -parametric representation, then $f$ is also $A$ -asymptotically spirallike on the unit ball $B$ of $X$ . For the converse, we need the additional assumption that $f$ is a smooth $A$ -asymptotically spirallike mapping, except in the finite-dimensional case $X=\mathbb{C }^{n}$ with an arbitrary norm. The notion of asymptotic spirallikeness involves differential equations and may be regarded as giving a geometric characterization of certain domains in $X$ . That is one of the motivations for considering this notion in the case of reflexive complex Banach spaces.     

Biodegradation behaviour of poly(lactic acid) and (lactic acid-ethylene glycol-malonic or succinic acid) copolymers under controlled composting conditions in a laboratory test system

(Lactic acid, ethylene glycol, malonic or succinic acid) copolymers [(LA-EG-MA) and (LA-EG-SA) copolymers] were synthesized with different monomer feed ratios by direct polycondensation. The copolymers were characterized in terms of various properties such as acid value and number average molecular weight. The aerobic biodegradation under controlled composting conditions of commercially available and laboratory synthesized poly(l-lactic acid) (PLA) and synthesized copolymers was carried out according to ISO 14855-1:2005. The biodegradability of tested materials was found to be strongly dependent on the lactic acid content, ranging from 94% (method A) and 104% (method B) to 43% (method A) and 46% (method B) over the 110-days of the 50 °C composting.     

Antimony(III) chloride-catalysed Biginelli reaction: a versatile method for the synthesis of dihydropyrimidinones through a different reaction mechanism

Antimony(III) chloride (20 mol %) in refluxing acetonitrile efficiently catalyses the synthesis of dihydropyrimidinones (50-90% yields) by the Biginelli reaction of aromatic aldehydes, acetoacetate esters and urea. This reaction proceeds through 3-ureido-crotonates followed by cyclisation with an aromatic aldehyde to the dihydropyrimidinone.     

Plasma biomarker identification in S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase deficiency

S-Adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (AHCY) deficiency is a rare congenital disorder in methionine metabolism clinically characterized by white matter atrophy, delayed myelination, slowly progressive myopathy, retarded psychomotor development and mildly active chronic hepatitis. In the present study, we utilized a comparative proteomics strategy based on 2-DE/MALDI-MS and LC/ESI-MS to analyze plasma proteins from three AHCY-deficient patients prior to and after receiving dietary treatment designed to alleviate disease symptoms. Obtained results revealed candidate biomarkers for the detection of myopathy specifically associated with AHCY deficiency, such as carbonic anhydrase 3, creatine kinase, and thrombospondin 4. Several proteins mediating T-cell activation and function were identified as well, including attractin and diacylglycerol kinase α. Further validation and functional analysis of identified proteins with clinical value would ensure that these biomarkers make their way into routine diagnosis and management of AHCY deficiency.