A new method for ranking non-extreme efficient units in data envelopment analysis

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) evaluates the performance of decision making units (DMUs). When DEA models are used to calculate efficiency of DMUs, a number of them may have the equal efficiency 1. In order to choose a winner among DEA efficient candidates, some methods have been proposed. But most of these methods are not able to rank non-extreme efficient DMUs. Since, the researches performed about ranking of non-extreme efficient units are very limited, incomplete and with some difficulties, we are going to develop a new method to rank these DMUs in this paper. Therefore, we suppose that DMU _o is a non-extreme efficient under evaluating DMU. In continue, by using “Representation Theorem”, DMU _o can be represented as a convex combination of extreme efficient DMUs. So, we expect the performance of DMU _o be similar to the performance of convex combination of these extreme efficient DMUs. Consequently, the ranking score of DMU _o is calculated as a convex combination of ranking scores of these extreme efficient DMUs. So, the rank of this unit will be determined.     

Electrochemical synthesis and characterization of a new conducting polymer: Polyrhodanine

An antimicrobial drug, rhodanine (Rh), was electrochemically polymerized on a Pt electrode using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The high quality and homogeneous polyrhodanine (pRh) films with a dark-purple color were obtained. The chemical structure characterization was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV-vis spectroscopy techniques. Further, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) techniques used to investigate thermal properties of the film. It is found that thermal stability of pRh films is relatively high. It is also observed that tetrahydrofurane (THF) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) are good solvents for the polymer.     

Thermal rearrangement of some 3-alkyl-2-aryltetrahydro-1,3-oxazine N-oxides. Synthesis of 2-alkyl-7-aryltetrahydro-1,6,2-dioxazepines

Several 2-alkyl-7-aryltetrahydro-1,6,2-dioxazepines 5a-i have been synthesized by a Meisenheimer-type rearrangement of 3-alkyl-2-aryltetrahydro-1,3-oxazine N-oxides 4a-i . These dioxazepines have not been previously described and for the first time compounds with the tetrahydro-1,6,2-dioxazepine ring-system have been made available. The structure assigned to members of this novel heterocycle is based on elemental analysis, infrared, and ¹H nmr spectral evidence. Further definitive evidence for the structure of these heterocycles is provided by an X-ray crystallographic analysis of 5c .     

Synthesis and photocatalytic activity of V-doped mesoporous TiO2 photosensitized with porphyrin supported by SBA-15

Research on Chemical Intermediates - A highly efficient photocatalyst was produced by immobilizing V-doped mesoporous TiO2/tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (V-TiO2/TCPP) onto SBA-15 walls, and...     

SnTCPP-modified ZnO nanorods prepared via a simple co-precipitation method: application as a new photocatalyst for photodegradation and photoreduction processes

Research on Chemical Intermediates - In this paper, ZnO nanorods were synthesized after optimizing the parameters of pH and the concentration of raw materials, reflux temperature, reflux time and...     

Boronate-Containing Copolymer Grafted on Eupergit C as Matrix for Affinity Chromatography: Isotherms and Kinetics Study

A stability-indicating HPLC method has been developed and subsequently validated for the simultaneous determination of domperidone and pantoprazole in commercial tablets. The proposed HPLC method utilizes Phenomenex^® Gemini C₁₈ column (150 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm) and mobile phase consisting of methanol-acetonitrile-20 mM dipotassium hydrogen phosphate and phosphoric acid buffer pH 7.0 (20:33:47, v/v/v) at a flow rate of 1.19 mL min^?1. Quantitation was achieved with UV detection at 285 nm based on peak area with linear calibration curves at concentration ranges 0.5–5.0 μg mL^?1 for domperidone and 1.0–10 μg mL^?1 for pantoprazole (R ² > 0.999 for both drugs). The method was validated in terms of accuracy, precision, linearity, limits of detection, limits of quantitation and robustness. This method has been successively applied to pharmaceutical formulation and no interference from the tablet excipients was found. Domperidone, pantoprazole and their combination drug product were exposed to acid, base and neutral hydrolysis, oxidation, dry heat and photolytic stress conditions and the stressed samples were analyzed by the proposed method. As the proposed method could effectively separate the drug from its degradation products, it can be employed as stability-indicating method for the determination of instability of these drugs in bulk and commercial products.     

A Biomimetic Potentiometric Sensor Using Molecularly Imprinted Polymer for the Cetirizine Assay in Tablets and Biological Fluids

Despite the increasing number of applications of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) in analytical chemistry, the construction of a biomimetic potentiometric sensor remains still challenging. In this work, a biomimetic potentiometric sensor, based on a non‐covalent imprinted polymer was fabricated for the recognition and determination of cetirizine. The MIP was synthesized by precipitation polymerization, using cetirizine dihydrochloride as a template molecule, methacrylic acid (MAA) as a functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as a cross linking agent. The sensor showed high selectivity and a sensitive response to the template in aqueous system. The MIP‐modified electrode exhibited Nernstian response (28.0±0.9 mV/decade) in a wide concentration range of 1.0×10^?6 to 1.0×10^?2 M with a lower detection limit of 7.0×10^?7 M. The electrode has response time of ca. 20 s, high performance, high sensitivity, and good long term stability (more than 5 months). The method was satisfactory and used to the cetirizine assay in tablets and biological fluids.     

Impact of double cryogelation process on a macroporous dye-affinity hydrogel

Cryogels with interconnected channels allow high flow-through properties and mass transfer when dealing with complex mixtures such as non-clarified crude extracts. However, their mechanical strength can be challenged due to a large void volume inside the polymeric network. We have addressed this problem by forming a double-layer cryogel applied as a dye-affinity chromatography gel. In this study, poly(acrylamide-co-allyl glycidyl ether) cryogel was prepared at sub-zero temperature. The second layer was then prepared inside the primary cryogel under the same conditions to form a double-layer network. Cibacron Blue F3GA, a dye molecule, was immobilized on the surface of the cryogels. Bovine serum albumin was used as a model molecule to study the adsorption/elution procedure in batch and continuous modes. The maximum batch binding capacity and the dynamic binding capacity for the single-layer cryogel were 18 and 0.11, and for the double-layer cryogel were 7.5 and 0.9 mg/g of gel, respectively. However, the mechanical stability of the double-layer cryogel increased 7-fold (144 kPa). It was found that the kinetic and adsorption isotherms follow pseudo-second-order and Freundlich models, respectively. The regeneration of the columns after adsorption/elution cycles was evaluated, and no significant loss of capacity was observed after 10 cycles.     

A novel method for the simultaneous determination of Pb (II), Cd (II) and Zn (II) in environmental water samples

A novel UV-VIS spectrophotometric method was developed in this study by using solid phase extraction procedure for the simultaneous preconcentration, separation and determination of trace levels of Pb (II), Cd (II) and Zn (II) ions in various water samples by using Amberlite N,N-bis(salicylidene)cyclohexanediamine (SCHD) resin. This study presents the results of experimental procedures carried out like the adsorption of analytes to the resin, influences of some analytical parameters that effect the recovery such as pH, sample volume, sample flow rate, eluent type and concentration, eluent volume, eluent flow rate and the effects of alkaline metals, earth alkaline metals and some other transition metals. The analytes in the samples with the adjusted pH range of 4–7 were adsorbed on XAD-4-SCHD resin and eluted by using 1.0 mol L^?1 nitric acid. The amounts of ions were determined by using UV-VIS spectrometer. The limits of detection were 0.03, 0.07 and 0.05 µg mL^?1 for Pb (II), Cd (II) and Zn (II), respectively. The accuracy of the method was assured by the analysis of the certified standard water sample NW-TMDA-70.2 and the observed recoveries were above 93%. Different environmental water samples that contain trace amounts of Pb (II), Cd (II) and Zn (II) were analysed by using the method developed in this study. Same samples were also analysed by ICP-MS for comparison and almost the similar results were observed. The method developed in this study was successfully applied to the various environmental water samples to determine the trace levels of Pb (II), Cd (II) and Zn (II) ions.