Passive method for the determination of the equilibrium factor between 222Rn gas and its short period progeny

This work describes a method which was developed to determine the concentration of ²²²Rn gas and the equilibrium factor F between the concentration of the gas and its progeny by means of a single device that uses two Makrofol passive track detectors. The device is completely passive and time integrated. Conditions make it very appropriate to be used in any atmospheres in which human activity takes place, such as houses, schools, works and underground mines. A series of measurements of ²²²Rn gas concentration and equilibrium factor F were made in different cities of the Argentine Republic and the corresponding levels of doses were estimated.     

Thermal behaviour of thallium(I) fatty acid salts,II

The electrical conductivity (EC) changes of thallium(I) salts of fatty acids, which possess liquid crystalline phases, were investigated as a function of temperature. It was found that sharp EC jumps are associated with the phase transitions. The EC of the liquid crystalline phases depended not only on the temperature, the molecular weight and the geometry of the measuring cell, but also very sensitively on the heat treatment conditions which affect the relative magnitude of the EC in the mesophases.Study of these dependences revealed a memory effect. An explanation is given for this phenomenon.

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Zusammenfassung Die Änderungen der elektrischen Leitfähigkeit (EC) von Fettsäure-Thalium(I)-Salzen mit flüssig-kristallinen Phasen wurden als Funktion der Temperatur untersucht. Es wurde festgestellt, daß den Phasenübergängen scharfe EC-Sprünge entsprechen. Die EC der flüssig-kristallinen Phase hängt nicht nur von der Temperatur, dem Molekulargewicht und der Geometrie der Meßzelle ab, sondern auch — in sehr empfindlicher Weise — Phasen bestimmen.Die Untersuchung dieser Zusammenhänge führte zur Beobachtung eines »Memorieeffektes« Eine Erklärung dieser Erscheinung wird gegeben.

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Résumé On a étudié les variations de la conductibilité électrique (EC) des sels de thallium(I) des acides gras possédant des phases cristallines liquides, en fonction de la température. On a établi que les variations brusques d'EC correspondent aux transitions de phases. L'EC des phases cristallines liquides dépend non seulement de la température, de la masse molaire et de la géométrie de la cellule de mesure, mais aussi, et d'une manière très sensible, des conditions du traitement thermique qui affectent l'amplitude relative de l'EC dans les mésophases.Un «effet de mémoire» a été observé lors de l'étude de ces phénomènes, dont on donne une explication.

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(I) , , . , . - , , , . « ». .

     

Thermal behaviour or thallium(I) fatty acid salts,I

We have studied the thermal behaviours of the fatty acid (C₁-C₉, C₁₂, C₁₄, C₁₆ and C₁₈) thallium(I) salts.Investigating the dependence of the thermal decomposition reactions on the experimental conditions, we established that they decompose differently depending on the atmosphere, and on the shape and material of the sample holders.We also determined the heat-stable temperature ranges of the compounds in which they can be investigated without any thermal decomposition.The temperatures and enthalpy changes of the polymorphic and phase changes were measured and the corresponding entropy changes were calculated.

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Zusammenfassung Das thermische Verhalten der Thallium(I)-Salze der Fettsäuren mit C₁ bis C₉, C₁₂, C₁₄ und C₁₈ wurden untersucht. Die Temperaturen und Enthalpien der einzelnen polymorphen und Phasenänderungen, sowie die thermische Stabilität der Verbindungen wurden bestimmt. Es wurde festgestellt, daß die zu Ketonen und Gemischt-Ketonen führende thermische Zersetzung in der Schmelzphase von Destillationsprozessen begleitet wird, welche von der Molekülstruktur und von zahlreichen Versuchsbedingungen abhängig sind.

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Résumé Etude du comportement thermique des sels de thallium(I) d'acides gras (de C₁ à C₉, C₁₂, C₁₄ et C₁₈). L'étude de la décomposition thermique en fonction des conditions expérimentales a permis d'établir que les sels étudiés se décomposent différemment suivant l'atmosphère utilisée, ainsi que suivant la forme et la nature des supports échantillons. Détermination des domaines de température où ces composés restent thermiquement stables. Mesure des températures et des variations d'enthalpie des transitions de phase et des transitions polymorphiques et calcul des variations d'entropie correspondantes.

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(I) C₁-C₉, C₁₂, C₁₄, C₁₆, C₁₈. , . , , , .

     

Kinetic analysis of thermogravimetric data

Four many curves methods, viz. calculation techniques based on Eqs (30), (31), (34) and (36), respectively, for deriving kinetic parameters from several TG curves recorded with different heating rates are tested on two sets of theoretical TG curves. The maximum reaction rate temperature and conversion, as well as the approximate formulae used for their calculation are discussed. Some aspects of the kinetic compensation effect are analysed. The final conclusion is that the use of the many curves methods is not reasonable.     

Terbium-sensitized luminescence determination of levofloxacin in tablets and human urine and serum

A selective and sensitive luminescence method for the determination of levofloxacin is described. The method is based in the luminescence signal from a terbium(III)-levofloxacin complex, in a micellar solution of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), using a chemical deoxygenation agent (Na2SO3). The method allows the determination of 8-600 ng mL-1 of levofloxacin in 10 mM SDS solution containing 0.04 M acetic acid-sodium acetate buffer (pH 6) and 7.5 mM Na2SO3 with lambda exc = 292 nm and lambda em = 546 nm. The luminescence method was applied to the determination of the levofloxacin in a Spanish commercialized pharmaceutical formulation Tavanic (Hoechst Marion Roussel). Good concordance was found between the nominal and experimental values (500 and 488 mg, respectively), with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.6%. The proposed method was shown to be 100-fold more sensitive than the spectrophotometric method, and nearly 2-fold more sensitive than the fluorescence method. The method was also applied to levofloxacin determination in human serum (by external calibration method) and urine (by standard additions method), spiked at levels found after drug administration at normal clinical doses. Average recoveries found were 90.1 (RSD 1%) and 102 (RSD 1.9%), respectively.     

Comparative testing of the flammability of upholstery textiles

Flash ignition temperatures of upholstery textiles were measured with a modified derivatograph, and the TG, DTG, DTA and T curves were also recorded. The results obtained with the newly-developed system were compared with those of the ASTM D 1929 test procedure and with the simultaneously recorded thermal analysis curves.

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Zusammenfassung Der Flammpunkt von Upholstery-Textilien wurde mittels eines modifizierten Derivatographen gemessen. TG-, DTG-, DTA- und T-Kurven wurden registriert. Die mit diesem neuentwickelten System erhaltenen Ergebnisse wurden mit den nach dem ASTM D 1929 Testverfahren erhaltenen und mit den simultan registrierten thermoanalytischen Kurven verglichen.

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, -, -, - -. , ASTM 1929 .

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Paper presented at the World Conference on Thermal Analysis, Madeira (Portugal), 1986.     

Testing the photocatalytic activity of cyanogen-and thiocyanogen-based inorganic polymers

The photocatalytic properties of some cyanogen-and thiocyanogen-based inorganic polymers, such as paracyanogens containing different metals (Hg, Ag, Cu), polythiocyanogens of different iodine contents, polycyanogen and poly (cyanogenthiocyanate), have been tested in two systems. Cu-containing paracyanogen and the iodine-poor polythiocyanogens catalyze the photoreduction of methylviologen under visible light, furthermore the Cu-containing paracyanogen catalyzes the photoreduction of water to hydrogen under UV irradiation.

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, , , , (Hg, Ag, Cu), , (), . , , , , , , -.

     

Preparation and sedimentation behavior in magnetic fields of magnetite-covered clay particles

This work is devoted to the preparation of magnetite-covered clay particles in aqueous medium. For this purpose, magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized by a coprecipitation method. These magnetic particles are adhered to sodium montmorillonite (NaMt) particles in aqueous suspensions of both materials, by appropriate control of the electrolyte concentrations. The best condition to produce such heteroaggregation corresponds to acid pH and approximately 1 mol/L ionic strength, when the electrokinetic potentials (zeta-potential) of both NaMt and Fe3O4 particles have high enough and opposite sign, as demonstrated from electrophoresis measurements. When a layer of magnetite re-covers the clay particles, the application of an external magnetic field induces a magnetic moment in clay-magnetite particles parallel to the external magnetic flux density. The sedimentation behavior of such magnetic particles is studied in the absence or presence of an external magnetic field in a vertical direction. The whole sedimentation behavior is also strongly affected by the formation of big flocculi in the suspensions under the action of internal colloidal interactions. van der Waals and dipole-dipole magnetic attractions between magnetite-covered clay particles dominate the flocculation processes. The different relative orientation of the clay-magnetite particles (edge-to-edge, face-to-edge, and face-to-face) are discussed in order to predict the most favored flocculi configuration.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of glycogen in sea urchin gonads with refractive index detection

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method using refractive index detection for the determination of glycogen in sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) gonads is developed. After alkaline digestion with sodium carbonate, samples are adjusted to pH 4.6 with citric acid and incubated with amyloglucosidase to hydrolyze the glycogen. The resulting glucose is determined using a Spherisorb NH2 column as the stationary phase and an acetonitrile-water mixture (80:20, v/v) as the mobile phase. The relative standard deviation (%) was 3.57, the limit of detection was 40.1 microg/mL, and the recovery percentage was 97.2%.     

On the extraction with long-chain amines

The extraction of tracer mercury(II) from aqueous HCl-solutions by TLA (trilaurylamine) dissolved in benzene can simply be described by the reaction (1) $$TLAHCl \cdot H_2 O(org) + HgCl_2 (aq) \rightleftharpoons TLAHCl \cdot HgCl_2 (org) + H_2 O(aq)$$ Using the chloride ion activity coefficient function recently introduced by HÖGFELDT (2) $$\lg y_{Cl^ - } = - 0.5115 \sqrt I /(1 + 1.176 \sqrt I ) - \lg C_{corr} $$ together with the model for excess acid extraction developed by AGUILAR and HÖGFELDT, the only unknown quantity is the equilibrium constant for the reaction above since the stability constants for the formation of the Hg(II)-CT-complexes are also well known. Using distribution data for HgCl₂ (tracer) between HCl-solutions and benzene Eq. (2) gets further support as being a useful expression for the activity coefficient of Cl^? in solutions more concentrated than ≈0.6M. Some scouting experiments about the extraction of HgCl₂ from NaCl brines containing 270 g NaCl/l showed that in the pH-range 1–13 the best extraction was obtained at about pH 1–2 irrespective if the diluent was benzene, o-xylene or a mixture of kerosene and benzene.