Interaction Between DNA and Some Salicylic Acid Derivatives and Characterization of Their DNA Targets

A nanofiber polypyrrole (PPy) film was electrochemically deposited on a Pt electrode and used for immobilization of single‐stranded DNA (ssDNA) and investigation of hybridization events. Then, the interaction of DNA with four salicylic acid (SA) derivatives was studied with electrochemical methods. The oxidation peak of guanine was decreased by increasing the concentrations of salicylic acid derivatives. The binding constants of these compounds with four different sequences of DNA including different percentages of guanine‐cytosine and adenine‐thymine bases were calculated and it was clarified that sequences with higher percentage of adenine‐thymine bases have a higher binding constant in their interaction with SA derivatives.     

Uranium recovery from UCF liquid waste by nanoporous MCM-41: breakthrough capacity and elution behavior studies

Adsorption and recovery of uranium by nanoporous MCM-41 from aqueous solutions (synthetic solution and uranium conversion facility liquid waste) were investigated by use of a fixed-bed column (1.2 cm diameter and 3.0 cm height). Adsorption was carried out at flow rates 0.2 and 0.5 mL min^?1, which correspond to retention times of 10 and 6 min. The maximum breakthrough capacity for uranium ions was achieved by use of nanoporous MCM-41 at the optimum pH of 3.6 and flow rate 0.2 mL min^?1 (61.95 μg g^?1). The Thomas and Yan models were applied to the experimental data, by use of linear regression, to determine the characteristics of the column for process design. The breakthrough curves calculated from the models were in good agreement with the experimental data. The elution behavior of uranium on nanoporous MCM-41 was studied with different eluents; the results showed that 0.1 M HCl is good eluent for uranium recovery. The regenerated column could be used in a multitude of adsorption–desorption cycles.     

Stability and Rheological Properties of Suspended Pulp Particles Containing Orange Juice Stabilized by Gellan Gum

Gellan was used to suspend pulp particles in orange juice. Three groups of samples were prepared with 0%, 20%, and 40% orange juice concentrate and supplemented with gellan at different concentrations. A concentration-dependent increase in the size of gellan aggregates and gellan-protein assemblies was observed. Incorporation of gellan into the beverage with 0% juice concentrate changed the rheological behavior of sample to non-Newtonian shear-thinning fluid and increased its surface tension. When juice concentrate proportion was increased from 0% to 20%, the beverage viscosity increased. The highest gellan concentration resulted in a higher yield stress (σ₀) value and inhibited the pulp sedimentation completely.      

Effect of Process Variable on the Gelation Time of Sulfonated Polyacrylamide Nanocomposite Hydrogel

Among the methods available to reduce water production during oil recovery, injecting a gelling system composed of a polymer and a crosslinker has been widely used. In this study, a Plackett-Burman design was used for screening a large number of factors such as concentrations of polymer, crosslinker, pH, temperature, and presence or absence of NaCl, CaCl₂, MgCl₂, KCl, thiourea, sodium lactate, and nanoclay on the gelation time of sulfonated polyacrylamide nanocomposite hydrogels by rheological tests. Among these factors, temperature, pH, and CaCl₂ concentration were found to have the greatest effect on the gelation time. The effects of these three factors and their interactions on the gelation time were then determined by using central composite design of response surface method. As a result, the interactions of CaCl₂ concentration with temperature and pH were considerably more than the interactions of pH and temperature on the gelation time. At low pH (3 < pH < 7), the gelation time decreased by decrease of pH while at CaCl₂ concentration of 3750–11250 ppm and at 7 < pH < 11, the gelation time increased with the increase of pH. It was found that temperature was the most effective parameter to control the gelation time.     

Analytical quality solid-state composite reference electrode manufactured by injection moulding

An injection moulding method was used for fabricating solid-state reference electrodes (Ag/AgCl type) based on a polymer/inorganic salt composite. In this method, a silver/silver chloride wire was placed inside a mould into which the mixture of polymer and inorganic salt was injected. The obtained solid-state composite reference electrodes were extensively tested to study the influence of different parameters such as solution composition, the concentrations and mobility of ions and pH on the potential stability of the electrodes. These experiments revealed that the composite reference electrodes are insensitive to the matrix effect, have excellent potential readings stability and considerably reduced leakage of inorganic salt. The composite reference electrodes were compared favourably to high-quality commercial reference electrodes. It was concluded that the composite reference electrodes obtained by injection moulding are of analytical quality allowing for continuous, prolonged and intensive usage.     

Green,rapid, and highly efficient syntheses of α,α′-bis[(aryl or allyl)idene]cycloalkanones and 2-[(aryl or allyl)idene]-1-indanones as potentially biologic compounds via solvent-free microwave-assisted Claisen–Schmidt condensation catalyzed by MoCl5

A new, green, and highly efficient protocol for the expeditious preparation of some α,α′-bis[(aryl or allyl)idene]cycloalkanones and 2-[(aryl or allyl)idene]-1-indanones via a simple microwave-assisted Claisen–Schmidt condensation reaction catalyzed by MoCl₅ was successfully developed. Outstanding features of the current methodology include the use of solvent-free conditions, simple operation, use of a very inexpensive and available catalyst, low catalyst loading, short reaction times, high yields of the pure products, no harmful by-products, easy workup, and also the applicability of microwave irradiation as a clean source of energy. Furthermore, a gram-scale reaction was successfully conducted, proving the scalability of this current Claisen–Schmidt condensation reaction.     

Green synthesis of pyrrolo isoquinolines using in situ synthesis of 4-hydroxycumarines: Study of antioxidant activity

In this research, synthesis of pyrrolo isoquinoline derivatives in excellent yields was performed using the multicomponent reaction of isoquinoline, alkyl bromides, 2-hydroxyacetophenone, or its derivatives, dimethyl carbonate as a green reagent and KF/clinoptinolite nanoparticles as a catalyst in the aqueous media at 80°C. The Punica granatum peel water extract was used as the green media for the synthesis of PG-KF/clinoptilolite nanoparticles in high yield. The PG-KF/clinoptilolite nanoparticles show a significant basic catalytic role in these reactions in preparing the product in high yield and used for several times. In addition, for studying the antioxidant ability of some of the synthesized compounds, diphenyl-picrylhydrazine (DPPH) radical trapping and power of ferric reduction tests are employed. The short time of the reaction, high yields of the product, easy separation of the catalyst and products are some of the advantages of this procedure.     

Viscoelastic characterization of compacted pharmaceutical excipient materials by analysis of frequency-dependent mechanical relaxation processes

A newly developed method for determining the frequency-dependent complex Young's modulus was employed to analyze the mechanical response of compacted microcrystalline cellulose, sorbitol, ethyl cellulose and starch for frequencies up to 20 kHz. A Debye-like relaxation was observed in all the studied pharmaceutical excipient materials and a comparison with corresponding dielectric spectroscopy data was made. The location in frequency of the relaxation peak was shown to correlate to the measured tensile strength of the tablets, and the relaxation was interpreted as the vibrational response of the interparticle hydrogen and van der Waals bindings in the tablets. Further, the measured relaxation strength, holding information about the energy loss involved in the relaxation processes, showed that the weakest material in terms of tensile strength, starch, is the material among the four tested ones that is able to absorb the most energy within its structure when exposed to external perturbations inducing vibrations in the studied frequency range. The results indicate that mechanical relaxation analysis performed over relatively broad frequency ranges should be useful for predicting material properties of importance for the functionality of a material in applications such as, e.g., drug delivery, drug storage and handling, and also for clarifying the origin of hitherto unexplained molecular processes.     

A PVC-based 1,8-diaminonaphthalen electrode for selective determination of vanadyl ion

A PVC membrane vanadyl (VO²⁺) ion-selective electrode was constructed using 1,8-diaminonaphthalen (DAN) as a neutral carrier. The electrode shows good Nernstian response for VO²⁺ ions over a wide concentration range (1.0×10⁻¹-1.0×10⁻⁵ M). The optimum composition of the membrane was 55 wt.% poly(vinylchloride), 35 wt.% 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether (NPOE), 5 wt.% ionophore, and 5 wt.% potassium tetrakis(p-chlorophenyl)borate (KTpClPB). It has relatively fast response time and can be used at least for 5 weeks without any considerable divergence in potentials. The proposed electrode revealed relatively good selectivity for VO²⁺ over wide variety of other metal ions. The electrode was used for the potentiometric titration of VO²⁺ ions with EDTA.