Sustainable Green Processing of Grape Pomace Using Micellar Extraction for the Production of Value-Added Hygiene Cosmetics

This study sought to evaluate the possibility of using grape pomace, a waste material from wine production, for the preparation of cosmetic components. Following the existing clear research trend related to improving the safety of cleansing cosmetics, an attempt was made to determine the possibility of preparing model shower gels based on grape pomace extract. A new method for producing cosmetic components named loan chemical extraction (LCE) was developed and is described for the first time in this paper. In the LCE method, an extraction medium consisting only of the components from the final product was used. Thus, there were no additional substances in the cosmetics developed, and the formulation was significantly enriched with compounds isolated from grape pomace. Samples of the model shower gels produced were evaluated in terms of their basic parameters related to functionality (e.g., foaming properties, rheological characteristics, color) and their effect on the skin. The results obtained showed that the extracts based on waste grape pomace contained a number of valuable cosmetic compounds (e.g., organic acids, phenolic compounds, amino acids and sugars), and the model products basis on them provided colorful and safe natural cosmetics.     

Formation and stabilization of persistent free radicals

We demonstrate that stable and relatively unreactive “environmentally persistent free radicals (PFRs)” can be readily formed in the post-flame and cool-zone regions of combustion systems and other thermal processes. These resonance-stabilized radicals, including semiquinones, phenoxyls, and cyclopentadienyls, can be formed by the thermal decomposition of molecular precursors including catechols, hydroquinones and phenols. Association with the surfaces of fine particles imparts additional stabilization to these radicals such that they can persist almost indefinitely in the environment. A mechanism of chemisorption and electron transfer from the molecular adsorbate to a redox-active transition metal or other receptor is shown through experiment, and supported by molecular orbital calculations, to result in PFR formation. Both oxygen-centered and carbon-centered PFRs are possible that can significantly affect their environmental and biological reactivity.     

Electroporation and Electrochemotherapy in Gynecological and Breast Cancer Treatment

Gynecological carcinomas affect an increasing number of women and are associated with poor prognosis. The gold standard treatment plan is mainly based on surgical resection and subsequent chemotherapy with cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, anthracyclines, or taxanes. Unfortunately, this treatment is becoming less effective and is associated with many side effects that negatively affect patients’ physical and mental well-being. Electroporation based on tumor exposure to electric pulses enables reduction in cytotoxic drugs dose while increasing their effectiveness. EP-based treatment methods have received more and more interest in recent years and are the subject of a large number of scientific studies. Some of them show promising therapeutic potential without using any cytotoxic drugs or molecules already present in the human body (e.g., calcium electroporation). This literature review aims to present the fundamental mechanisms responsible for the course of EP-based therapies and the current state of knowledge in the field of their application in the treatment of gynecological neoplasms.     

Synthesis, mesomorphic and optical properties of isothiocyanatotolanes

The synthesis, mesomorphic properties and UV absorption spectra of laterally fluorine substituted, and the corresponding unsubstituted, 4'-alkyl-, 4'-alkoxy-, 4'-alkylcyclohexyl-, 4'-alkylbicyclo [2,2,2]octyl- and 4'-alkylcyclohexylethyl-4-isothiocyanatotolanes are described. Multicomponent broad range nematic mixtures with birefringence values higher than 0.4 and moderate viscosities are developed.     

A new method of preparation of the anionic decacarbonyls M2(CO)102− (M = Cr,Mo, W) and syntheses and properties of Mg(THF)2[M2(CO)10]

The anionic decacarbonyIs M₂(CO)₁₀^2? were synthesized via reduction reactions of CrCl₃, MoCl₅ and WCl₆ with metallic magnesium or sodium amalgam under carbon monoxide. Chemical properties and IR characteristics of the magnesium salt Mg(THF)₂[M₂(CO)₁₀] are desribed.     

Separation of synthetic food colourants in the mixed micellar system. Application to pharmaceutical analysis

The paper presents a rapid method for the determination of commonly used synthetic food dyes by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography. Detection and separation conditions allowing complete resolution of 15 synthetic food colourants were investigated. The effect of different surfactants on the analytes mobility in relation to their structure was tested. After optimization procedure a dual micellar system was selected. All food dyes were separated in less then 20 min using a fused silica capillary in the borate/dodecylsulfate/deoxycholate buffer containing acetonitrile as organic modifier. The detection wavelength was set at 210nm. The method was successfully validated by determination of linearity ranges, detection limits, precision and repeatability for all colourants tested. In order to apply the method for pharmaceutical analysis a sample pretreatment procedures were found. Liquid pharmaceuticals were used as it or just after dilution with water. From tablets or capsules the colourants were isolated by adsorption on acidic aluminium oxide. The method was used for identification and if possible for quantification the synthetic food dyes in pharmaceuticals. The analytes are detectable at a concentration level 0.3-0.8 microg ml(-1).     

Capillary Condensation in Pores with Energetically Heterogeneous Walls: Density Functional versus Monte Carlo Calculations

We investigate adsorption of a Lennard-Jones fluid in slit-like pores with energetically heterogeneous walls by using Grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulations and a density functional approach. The model of a fluid-wall potential is qualitatively similar to that invoked by R?cken et al. (J. Chem. Phys. 108, 8089, (1999); i.e., it consists of a homogeneous part that varies in the direction perpendicular to the wall and a periodic part, varying also in one direction parallel to the wall, but in contrast to the above mentioned work, both parts of the fluid-wall potential are modeled by Lennard-Jones (9, 3) type functions. The structure of the adsorbed film is characterized by local densities. We evaluate the phase diagrams for several systems characterized by different corrugation of the adsorbing potential and discuss the discrepancies between theoretical predictions and computer simulations. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

A double layer study of the (210) and (111) faces of gold in aqueous NaBF4 SOLUTIONS

Au(111) and Au(21O) faces of gold in aqueous NaBF₄ solutions have been investigated using cyclic voltammetry and admittance measurements. On Au(21O) no specific adsorption of $B{F}_4^{?}$ has been found. The results were first analysed accepting the Gouy-Chapman-Stern model for the double layer; like Ag(11O) and Ag(100) the inner layer capacity versus charge density curve has a broad maximum. For Au(111) it was not possible to draw clear conclusions and the variation of the inner layer capacity versus charge density seems to correspond to the accepted model only for the more negative densities of charge investigated.Models for the inner layer were discussed for the (210) face.