L‐lysine and EDTA polymer mimics as resins for the quantitative and reversible removal of heavy metal ion water pollutants

Traditional precipitation methods for inorganic micropollutant removal from waters are increasingly being replaced by sorption methods based on both natural and synthetic materials. In this context, two novel effective heavy metal ions absorbers are presented. These resins, LYMA and LMT85, were crosslinked poly(amidoamine)s carrying amine and carboxyl groups in their repeating units. In particular, the LYMA‐repeating unit contains one carboxyl and two amine groups and is a mimic of L ‐lysine, whereas LMT85 contains two amine and five carboxyl groups and is a mimic of EDTA. Both resins were prepared at moderate cost by simple eco‐friendly procedures. The heavy metal ion set adopted as benchmark was Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Co²⁺. LYMA proved selective for Cu²⁺ and Ni²⁺, the other ions tested being negligibly absorbed, whereas LMT85 proved capable of rapidly and quantitatively absorbing all the ions tested either singly or in mixed solution. The absorption process was reversible, and the resins were easily regenerated by acidification. The absorption of several metal ions imparted intense coloring to the resins, a feature possibly exploitable for analytical purposes. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Raman scattering studies of the high-pressure stability of pentaerythritol tetranitrate, C(CH2ONO2)4

High-pressure Raman scattering studies have been performed on a crystalline energetic material, pentaerythritol tetranitrate C(CH2ONO2)4 (PETN), an important secondary explosive. In situ, ambient-temperature investigations employed diamond anvil cell techniques and nitrogen as a quasi-hydrostatic-pressure-transmitting medium. The pressure-induced alterations in the profiles of the Raman lines, including positions, bandwidths, and intensities, were studied in a compression sequence up to about 31.3 GPa and in a subsequent decompression to ambient conditions. The observed changes of the Raman spectra implied that PETN gradually densified and compressed smoothly up to the highest investigated pressures. Compression below 12 GPa gradually shifted all Raman peaks to higher frequencies without significantly changing their relative intensities or bandwidths. At higher pressures, the peak intensities of the Raman spectra decreased considerably and the bands broadened significantly. The Raman spectrum of the material quenched from 31.3 GPa to ambient conditions indicated that no pressure-driven permanent reconstructive modification or decomposition of the PETN structure occurred. That is, the spectral changes were completely reversible upon compression and subsequent decompression to ambient conditions.     

Martensitic fcc-to-hcp transformation observed in xenon at high pressure

Angle-resolved x-ray diffraction patterns of Xe to 127 GPa indicate that the fcc-to-hcp transition occurs martensitically between 3 and 70 GPa in diamond-anvil cells without an intermediate phase. These data also reveal that the transition occurs by the introduction of stacking disorder in the fcc lattice at low pressure, which grows into hcp domains with increasing pressure. The small energy difference between the hcp and the fcc structures may allow the two phases to coexist over a wide pressure range. Evidence of similar stacking disorder and incipient growth of an hcp phase are also observed in solid Kr.     

Changes in the structure of composite colloid-polymer xerogels after cold isostatic pressing

Monolithic gels, prepared from different mixtures of colloidal silica in a sol solution containing tetraethoxysilane under powerful ultrasonic agitation (sonosols), were compacted at an isostatic pressure of 390 MPa. Then N₂ adsorption-desorption data were used to construct structural models of the gels using Monte-Carlo calculations on the basis of random close-packing (RCP) premises. Structural information on these composites obtained before compaction indicates that the characteristic uniform structure of silica colloid gel undergoes profound modification when it is mixed with silica sonogel. From a structural point of view, the behaviour under compaction of the sonogel phase, which exhibits a significant degree of microporosity, depends on the relative concentration of the colloidal phase. Two hierarchic levels of micropores were discerned. After compression, the size of the elementary particles—and their aggregates—of the sonogel phase increases from 1.6 to 2.1 nm radius when the colloidal phase content is increased from 30 to 82% by weight. For an intermediate content, 50% of the volume reduction is caused by compression of the sonogel phase at the micropore level.     

Sulla rappresentazione delle funzioni di variabile bicomplessa totalmente derivabili

Sunto Si studiano le superficie e le trasformazioni caratteristiche dell'S ₄ complesso, immagini dei legami e delle trasformazioni su due variabili bicomplesse, ottenute con funzioni totalmente derivabili.     

Monte Carlo simulation of salt effect on water structure through 3D mechanistic potentials

Highly concentrated electrolyte solutions were studied through a Monte Carlo-based simulator, developed to consider the water molecules not a homogeneous dielectric as usual, but as dipoles that can move and rotate within a 3D lattice. This approach allowed fast calculations of detailed interactions between the particles, which were described from mechanistic potentials including dipole–dipole, ion–dipole, ion–ion, and hydrogen bonding (HB) interactions. A good agreement was found between experimental data and simulated results. The study also provides new insights about the balance of the different interactions in systems with or without electrolytes, and the effects of the electrolytes addition on the original water structure. The proposed model was also compared with previous explicit models.     

Single crystal EPR study of the dinuclear Cu(II) complex [Cu(tda)(phen)](2)·H(2)tda (tda = thiodiacetate, phen = phenanthroline): influence of weak interdimeric magnetic interactions

We report powder and single crystal EPR measurements of [Cu(tda)(phen)](2)·H(2)tda (tda = thiodiacetate, phen = phenanthroline) at 9.7 GHz. This compound consists of centrosymmetric copper(II) ion dimers, weakly ferromagnetically exchange-coupled (J = +3.2 cm(-1)), in which the dimeric units are linked by hydrophobic chemical paths involving the phen molecules. EPR revealed that the triplet spectra are collapsed by interdimeric exchange interactions mediated by that chemical path. Analysis and simulation of the single crystal EPR spectra were performed using Anderson's exchange narrowing model, together with statistical arguments. This approach allowed us to interpret the spectra modulated by the interdimeric interactions in situations of weak, intermediate, and strong exchange. We evaluated an interdimeric exchange constant J' = 0.0070(3) cm(-1), indicating that hydrophobic paths can transmit weak exchange interactions between centers at relatively long distances of the order of ～10 ?.     

Learning alters theta amplitude, theta-gamma coupling and neuronal synchronization in inferotemporal cortex

Background

How oscillatory brain rhythms alone, or in combination, influence cortical information processing to support learning has yet to be fully established. Local field potential and multi-unit neuronal activity recordings were made from 64-electrode arrays in the inferotemporal cortex of conscious sheep during and after visual discrimination learning of face or object pairs. A neural network model has been developed to simulate and aid functional interpretation of learning-evoked changes.

Results

Following learning the amplitude of theta (4-8 Hz), but not gamma (30-70 Hz) oscillations was increased, as was the ratio of theta to gamma. Over 75% of electrodes showed significant coupling between theta phase and gamma amplitude (theta-nested gamma). The strength of this coupling was also increased following learning and this was not simply a consequence of increased theta amplitude. Actual discrimination performance was significantly correlated with theta and theta-gamma coupling changes. Neuronal activity was phase-locked with theta but learning had no effect on firing rates or the magnitude or latencies of visual evoked potentials during stimuli. The neural network model developed showed that a combination of fast and slow inhibitory interneurons could generate theta-nested gamma. By increasing N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor sensitivity in the model similar changes were produced as in inferotemporal cortex after learning. The model showed that these changes could potentiate the firing of downstream neurons by a temporal desynchronization of excitatory neuron output without increasing the firing frequencies of the latter. This desynchronization effect was confirmed in IT neuronal activity following learning and its magnitude was correlated with discrimination performance.

Conclusions

Face discrimination learning produces significant increases in both theta amplitude and the strength of theta-gamma coupling in the inferotemporal cortex which are correlated with behavioral performance. A network model which can reproduce these changes suggests that a key function of such learning-evoked alterations in theta and theta-nested gamma activity may be increased temporal desynchronization in neuronal firing leading to optimal timing of inputs to downstream neural networks potentiating their responses. In this way learning can produce potentiation in neural networks simply through altering the temporal pattern of their inputs.