Cetyldimethylethylammonium-Selective PVC Electrode Basedon its Ion-Associate with Phosphotungstic Acid

 A PVC membrane electrode selective for cetyldimethylethylammonium (CDEA) ion was prepared. The active element is a plasticized poly vinyl chloride membrane containing a dissolved ion associate complex of CDEA with phosphotungstic acid (PTA). The electrode showed a near-Nernstian response within the CDEA⁺ concentration range 2.34 × 10⁻⁶ to 1.96 × 10⁻⁴ M at 25 ± 1^{^}C, good selectivity, and is usable within the pH range 3.5–9.0. The isothermal temperature coefficient of the electrode amounted to −0.00012 V/°C. The electrode has been used for the direct determination of cetyldimethylethylammonium bromide either by the standard addition method or by potentiometric titration against PTA. Received January 1, 1998. Revision June 13, 2000.     

Characterization of polyethylene crystallization from an oriented melt by molecular dynamics simulation

Molecular dynamics is used to characterize the process of crystallization for a united atom model of polyethylene. An oriented melt is produced by uniaxial deformation under constant load, followed by quenching below the melting temperature at zero load. The development of crystallinity is monitored simultaneously using molecular-based order parameters for density, energy, and orientation. For crystallization temperatures ranging from 325 to 375 K, these simulations clearly show the hallmarks of crystal nucleation and growth. We can identify multiple nucleation events, lamellar growth up to the limit imposed by periodic boundaries of the simulation cell, and lamellar thickening. We observe a competition between the rate of nucleation, which results in multiple crystallites, the rate of chain extension, which results in thicker lamellae, and the rate of chain conformational relaxation, which is manifested in lower degrees of residual order in the noncrystalline portion of the simulation. The temperature dependence of lamellar thickness is in accord with experimental data. At the higher temperatures, tilted chain lamellae are observed to form with lamellar interfaces corresponding approximately to the [201] facet, indicative of the influence of interfacial energy.     

Correlation of plasma electron temperature with neutron emission ina low-energy plasma focus

Correlation of neutron emission with plasma electron temperature in a low-energy (2.3 kJ) plasma focus is investigated. To determine the plasma temperature by continuum X-ray analysis, cobalt is selected as the filter, which discriminates the line radiation from the background impurities like carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, or the copper of which plasma focus electrodes are made. For a pressure range of high neutron emission (1-4 mbar), the neutron yield is found to correlate with the plasma temperature. The highest temperature recorded is 5 keV at 2.5 mbar, the filling pressure for the highest neutron emission in this device     

Surprising Effects on the Conformational Entropy due to Nonrandom Distributions of Local Conformations Along Unperturbed Chains

Summary: Nonrandomness in the distribution of rotational isomeric states along a flexible unperturbed chain reduces its conformational entropy. Pairwise interdependence of the bonds is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for a significant reduction. The reduction in conformational entropy from this source can be as severe as a factor of three. It is generally more severe for isotactic chains than for the syndiotactic chains constructed from the same monomer. Surprising effects are sometimes seen, such as the nearly identical reductions in conformational entropy for polydimethylsiloxane, a very flexible chain, and for poly(methyl methacrylate), a much stiffer chain.

Fractional difference in conformational entropy due to nonrandomness versus probability of helix in helix‐coil transition.     

Innovative reconsolidation of carbon steel machining swarf by laser metal deposition

The concept of widespread recycling of metals in order to save cost, energy and ecological damage is gaining importance and this necessitates not simply disposing of machining waste. In this work a new way of reconstituting chips/swarf into a usable solid structure is explored by using them in place of metal powder in laser direct metal deposition. Samples of carbon steel machining swarf in three size ranges are reconstituted and the final structural characteristics like clad dimension, microstructure and physical properties are analysed. The results show that it is possible to reproduce a material that has full density, fine microstructure and no significant contamination from an unprecedented size and shape of particles. As general trends, individual deposition tracks become lower, wider and less hard as particle size increases. This work shows that the laser deposition process can be used with a larger range of particle geometries than previously considered and this could be the point leading to a new ‘local’ recycling method.     

Influence of thyroid volume reduction on absorbed dose in ~(131)I therapy studied by using Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation

A simulation study has been performed to quantify the effect of volume reduction on the thyroid absorbed dose per decay and to investigate the variation of energy deposition per decay due to β- and γ-activity of ~(131)I with volume/mass of thyroid,for water,ICRP- and ICRU-soft tissue taken as thyroid material.A Monte Carlo model of the thyroid,in the Geant4 radiation transport simulation toolkit was constructed to compute the β- and γ-absorbed dose in the simulated thyroid phantom for various values of its volume.The effect of the size and shape of the thyroid on energy deposition per decay has also been studied by using spherical,ellipsoidal and cylindrical models for the thyroid and varying its volume in 1-25 cm~3 range.The relative differences of Geant4 results for different models with each other and MCNP results he well below 1.870%.The maximum relative difference among the Geant4estimated results for water with ICRP and ICRU soft tissues is not more than 0.225%.S-values for ellipsoidal,spherical and cylindrical thyroid models were estimated and the relative difference with published results lies within3.095%.The absorbed fraction values for beta particles show a good agreement with published values within 2.105%deviation.The Geant4 based simulation results of absorbed fractions for gammas again show a good agreement with the corresponding MCNP and EGS4 results(±6.667%) but have 29.032%higher values than that of MIRD calculated values.Consistent with previous studies,the reduction of the thyroid volume is found to have a substantial effect on the absorbed dose.Geant4 simulations confirm dose dependence on the volume/mass of thyroid in agreement with MCNP and EGS4 computed values but are substantially diiferent from MIRD8 data.Therefore,inclusion of size/mass dependence is indicated for ~(131)I radiotherapy of the thyroid.     

Fluorescent Dye Conjugates of Rabbit Arylsulfatase A as a Biological Tracer for Protein Endocytosis

Fluorescent dye conjugates of arylsulfatase A (ASA) from rabbit liver were prepared at pH 9.0 in 0.1 M sodium bicarbonate buffer. The modification of amino or sulphadryl groups by dichlorotriazinylamino-fluorescein or Lucifer yellow fluorescent dyes did not alter the characteristic features of the enzyme molecule such as enzyme activity, dimerization of the protein molecule at pH 4.5 and anomalous kinetics of the native enzyme. The fluorescence intensity of the Lucifer yellow enzyme conjugates were quenched when the pH of the protein solution was changed from pH 7.5 to 4.5. Therefore, the Lucifer yellow enzyme conjugate can be used to study the kinetics of pH-dependent association and dissociation of the ASA. Availability of such fluorescent dyes conjugates of ASA or other lysosomal enzyme may be used as a biological tracer to study the receptor dependent endocytosis of enzyme molecules.     

Luminol-Based Chemiluminescent Signals: Clinical and Non-clinical Application and Future Uses

Chemiluminescence (CL) is an important method for quantification and analysis of various macromolecules. A wide range of CL agents such as luminol, hydrogen peroxide, fluorescein, dioxetanes and derivatives of oxalate, and acridinium dyes are used according to their biological specificity and utility. This review describes the application of luminol chemiluminescence (LCL) in forensic, biomedical, and clinical sciences. LCL is a very useful detection method due to its selectivity, simplicity, low cost, and high sensitivity. LCL has a dynamic range of applications, including quantification and detection of macro and micromolecules such as proteins, carbohydrates, DNA, and RNA. Luminol-based methods are used in environmental monitoring as biosensors, in the pharmaceutical industry for cellular localization and as biological tracers, and in reporter gene-based assays and several other immunoassays. Here, we also provide information about different compounds that may enhance or inhibit the LCL along with the effect of pH and concentration on LCL. This review covers most of the significant information related to the applications of luminol in different fields.     

Neutron activation analysis of IAEA proposed certified reference material IAEA-407 (North Sea Fish Homogenate)

The proposed reference material from the International Atomic Energy Agency, namely IAEA-407 (Fish Homogenate) was analyzed using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). 15 elements, Al, As, Cl, Co, Cr, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mn, K, Na, Sb, Se, V and Zn, were determined using two irradiations (5 minutes and 5 hours) and four countings. IAEA-MA-A-1/TM (Copepoda Homogenate), NIST-SRM-1566 (Oyster Tissue), NIST-SRM-1572 (Citrus Leaves) and NIST-SRM-1577a (Bovine Liver) were utilized as standards in the quantification step.