Investigation on the stress behavior of cellulose acetate and the development of highly moisture‐resistant optical films for display devices

An optical film with high optical anisotropy was prepared by the stretching of a cellulose acetate film and the consequential orienting of a retardation‐enhancing additive. The change in retardation in response to moisture absorption was explored and it was found that the degree of the retardation variation is strongly related to the stretching temperature. Stress generated by the stretching and its relaxation was systematically investigated to elucidate the effect of stretching temperature on the irreversible change in retardation upon moisture absorption. The results show that the magnitude of releasable stress plays an important role in controlling changes in optical properties. In addition, the difference in the deformation behavior between glassy and rubbery states should be taken into account in the development of a moisture‐resistant optical film. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55, 1470–1478     

Expedient and Diastereodivergent Assembly of Terpenoid Decalin Subunits having Quaternary Stereocenters through Organocatalytic Robinson Annulation of Nazarov Reagent

We report an expedient approach to highly functionalized cis‐ and trans‐decalines that could function as key structural subunits toward the synthesis of various classes of terpenoids. Key to the strategy is an organocatalyzed Robinson annulation reaction of the Nazarov reagent that affords chiral enone building blocks with high enantioselectivities. The quaternary carbon stereogenic center can direct the subsequent reactions and allow the rapid and diastereoconvergent assembly of complex decalines with contiguous stereocenters.     

DOSY NMR as a tool for predicting optimal conditions for hydrogel formation: The case of a hyperbranched polyglycidol cross‐linked with boronic acids

This article demonstrates the utility of DOSY NMR for the determination of the optimal conditions for the efficient covalent, reversible cross‐linking of macromolecules in water for hydrogel formation. The studied model system was hyperbranched polyglycidol (HbPGL) containing numerous diol groups in peripheral regions and two types of boronic acids, that is, B(OH)₄^? and benzene‐1,4‐boronic diacid, as cross‐linking agents. Diffusion coefficient changes of a polymer in solution, under the influence of various concentrations of cross‐linking agent and pH, which influences the equilibrium of the reaction between boronic acids and diols, were recorded. These data are consistent with the rheological properties, namely the G′_max(ω) of hydrogels prepared under analogous conditions, from more concentrated solutions of HbPGL. This approach appears to be promising as it facilitates avoiding the loss of a large amount of polymer that is necessary for the elaboration of appropriate conditions for network formation in aqueous media. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 2171–2178     

Non-isothermal degradation kinetics of PLA-functionalized gum (fG) biocomposite with dicumyl peroxide (DCP)

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In the present investigation, gene expression programming (GEP) is used to predict thermal conductivity of nanofluids consisting of $$\hbox {Al}_2\hbox...     

Comparison of the Microbiological Activities of Different Varieties of Hop (Humulus lupulus) Extracts by Thin-Layer Chromatography—Direct Bioautography

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - Commercially available hop pellets of different origins were extracted by use of ethanol and water, chromatographed on silica...     

Computation and conversion of brain pH values obtained with two algorithms of phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy data analysis

The intracellular brain pH in phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy is calculated using the chemical shift between the inorganic phosphate and phosphocreatine with the Henderson–Hasselbalch equations. Researchers use various mathematical formulas that have different parameters and get various results for the same input data as a consequence. Thus, the aim of this article was to determine the mathematical formulas that allow the conversion of the pH values obtained by the most popular analysis methods to each other. To determine the relationships between pH results and the applied mathematical formula, the pH values were calculated using two algorithms for the theoretical chemical shift values. The pH results were compared with each other using the appropriate t-tests. Mathematical formulas were designed to simplify the conversion of pH values obtained by two data analysis methods to each other. The pH values with were obtained this way did not differ significantly from the pH values calculated directly from the given formula. The computed mathematical formulas will make it possible to simplify pH conversions without knowing the chemical shift between inorganic phosphate and phosphocreatine but only basing on the final pH values obtained by one of the formulas.     

Determination of the energy measurement accuracy for charged particles by their range in nuclear photoemulsion

Ranges of monochromatic muons in nuclear photoemulsion, produced in the ?? ?? ??? _?? decay, are measured by the coordinate method to determine their energy by the range. The variance of the muon energymeasured by this method ?? _?? = (0.11±0.01) MeV, which corresponds to the accuracy of the determination of the charged particle energy by the range in nuclear emulsion ??3.1%. The developed technique will allow electron energy measurements in the 2??-decay (??3 MeV)with an accuracy of (5?C6)%.     

L-argininato copper(II) complexes in solution exert significant selective anticancer and antimicrobial activities

A search for new drugs that overcome the multidrug resistance of microorganisms or are effective against cancer cells prompted us to investigate the binary and ternary Cu(II) complexes containing L-arginine, [CuCl(L-Arg)(phen)]Cl·2H₂O (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) ( 1 ) and [Cu(L-Arg)₂(H₂O)]C₂O₄·6H₂O ( 2 ), for which crystal and molecular structures were characterized previously. In order to discuss the biological function, the complexes have been screened for their antitumor activity against A549 (human lung cancer cells), HepG2 (human liver hepatocellular carcinoma cells) and antimicrobial activity. To identify the complexes forms existing in the solutions of 1 and 2 crystals, the results obtained from EPR, NIR–Vis–UV and MS (mass spectrometry) measurements were correlated with those from analysis of potentiometric titration of Cu(II)―L-Arg and Cu(II)―L-Arg―phen systems. This comprehensive study indicated that the [Cu(L-Arg)(phen)]²⁺ and [Cu(L-Arg)₂]²⁺ species are dominant in the solution. Complexes 1 and 2 were found to present specific ligand-dependent cytotoxic and antiproliferative potential against cancer cells. They also show antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as display antifungal properties.     

Reversible C=C Bond Activation by an Intramolecularly Coordinated Antimony(I) Compound

The reaction of N,C,N-chelated stibinidene ArSb ( 1 ) (Ar=C₆H₃-2,6-(CH=NtBu)₂) with selected N-alkyl/aryl-maleimides RN(C(O)CH)₂ (R=Me, tBu, Ph) gave the addition products with bridged bicyclic [2.2.1] structure containing an antimony atom at the bridgehead position, fused with a 6-membered benzene and a 5-membered N-alkyl/aryl-pyrrolidine ring. These compounds were completely characterized. More importantly, additional studies showed that these reactions are reversible in solution, thereby representing an unprecedented reversible activation of a C=C bond by an antimony(I) compound.