Application of sulfur microparticles for solid-phase extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from sea water and wastewater samples

The application of sulfur microparticles as efficient adsorbents for the solid-phase extraction (SPE) and determination of trace amounts of 10 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was investigated in sea water and wastewater samples using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with an ultraviolet detector (HPLC–UV). Parameters influencing the preconcentration of PAHs such as the amount of sulfur, solution flow rate and volume, elution solvent, type and concentration of organic modifier, and salt effect were examined. The results showed that at a flow rate of 10 mL min⁻¹ for the sample solutions (100 mL), the PAHs could be adsorbed on the sulfur microparticles and then eluted by 2.0 mL of acetonitrile. For HPLC–UV analysis of extracted PAHs, the calibration curves were linear in the range of 0.05–80.0 μg L⁻¹; the coefficients of determinations (r²) were between 0.9934 and 0.9995. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for eight replicates at two concentration levels (0.5 and 4.0 μg L⁻¹) of PAHs were lower than 7.3%, under optimized conditions. The limits of detection (LODs, <!-- no-mfc -->S/N<!-- /no-mfc --> = 3) of the proposed method for the studied PAHs were 0.007–0.048 μg L⁻¹. The recoveries of spiked PAHs (0.5 and 4 μg L⁻¹) in the wastewater and sea water samples ranged from 78% to 108%. The simplicity of experimental procedure, high extraction efficiency, short sample analysis, and using of low cost sorbent demonstrate the potential of this approach for routine trace PAH analysis in water and wastewater samples.     

Wetting transitions in two-, three-, and four-phase systems

We discuss wetting of rough surfaces with two-phase (solid-liquid), three-phase (solid-water-air and solid-oil-water), and four-phase (solid-oil-water-air) interfaces mimicking fish scales. We extend the traditional Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter models to these cases. We further present experimental observations of two-, three-, and four-phase systems in the case of metal-matrix composite solid surfaces immersed in water and in contact with oil. Experimental observations show that wetting transitions can occur in underwater oleophobic systems. We also discuss wetting transitions as phase transitions using the phase-field approach and show that a phenomenological gradient coefficient is responsible for wetting transition, energy barriers, and wetting/dewetting asymmetry (hysteresis).     

Design of ionic liquid 3-methyl-1-sulfonic acid imidazolium nitrate as reagent for the nitration of aromatic compounds by in situ generation of NO(2) in acidic media

3-Methyl-1-sulfonic acid imidazolium nitrate ([Msim]NO(3)) as a new Br?nsted acidic ionic liquid and nitrating agent was prepared and used for the efficient nitration of aromatic compounds (even aniline derivatives). The dramatic effect of this reagent by in situ generation of nitrogen dioxide as a radical on aromatic compounds to give nitroarenes has been studied.     

Trityl Chloride (TrCl): Efficient and Homogeneous Organocatalyst for the Solvent‐Free Synthesis of 14‐Aryl‐14H‐dibenzo[a,j]xanthenes by in situ Formation of Carbocationic System

Trityl chloride (triphenylmethyl chloride, TrCl, Ph₃CCl) is utilized as an efficient and homogeneous organocatalyst for the synthesis of 14‐aryl‐14H‐dibenzo[a,j]xanthenes from β‐naphthol and arylaldehydes under solvent‐free conditions. Moreover, a plausible mechanism is suggested based on the literature and on in situ formation of trityl carbocation with inherent instability during the reaction.     

Cloning and Expression of Functional Full-Length Human Tissue Plasminogen Activator in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pichia pastoris</Emphasis>

Human tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) plays a pivotal role in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and deep vein thrombosis. It has the benefit of generating no adverse effects such as fibrinogen depletion, systemic hemorrhage, and immunologic reactions. Human t-PA is a serine-protease enzyme containing 527 amino acid residues in five structural domains. The correct folding of t-PA requires the correct pairing of 17 disulfide bridges in the molecule. A gene encoding full-length human t-PA was cloned into pPICZαA expression vector downstream of alcohol oxidase promoter and α-mating signal sequence from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and flush with the kex2 cleavage site to express the protein with a native N terminus. The methylotrophic yeast, Pichia pastoris GS115 strain, was transformed with this cassette, and methanol utilizing (mut+) transformants were selected for production and secretion of human t-PA into culture media. SDS–PAGE and Western blot analysis showed the expressed bands of t-PA protein. Zymography test indicated suitable folding and proper function of the expressed recombinant human t-PA in conversion of plasminogen to plasmin and gelatin lysis. Amidolytic activity test showed the amidolytic activity of 1,650 IU/ml. The results of this study concluded that P. pastoris methylotrophic yeast can be a suitable alternative for mammalian and prokaryotic expression systems to produce t-PA.     

Analysis of strained double-lightly doped MOSCNT using NEGF

The effects of uniaxial and torsional strains on the double-lightly doped MOSCNT (DLD-MOSCNT) performances are investigated, using the non-equilibrium Green function (NEGF) formalism in mode space approach. The Hamiltonian of the device is obtained by a tight-binding approximation assuming that only p _z orbitals are contributing in carrier transport. In all simulation processes, one mode with the lowest subband is considered. DLD-MOSCNT has a small band-to-band tunneling and almost eliminates the ambipolar behavior of I _DS–V _GS characteristics because of the band engineering. We use a modified model to demonstrate the strain effects on such a low OFF-current device. The results show that the strain effects mainly depend on the chiral vector and diameter of CNT. The strain causes band gap and carrier velocity changes, which result in variation of ON- or OFF-current. In addition, the subthreshold swing of this device under uniaxial strain is calculated, which is about 61 mV/Dec for 2 % tensile strain in (16,0) and for ?2 % compressive strain in (17,0). Under the uniaxial strain, in the case that the energy band gap increases, the variation of DIBL is very small.     

Numerical simulation of a flexible fiber deformation in a viscous flow by the immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method

In this paper, deformation of a mass-less elastic fiber with a fixed end, immersed in a two-dimensional viscous channel flow, is simulated numerically. The lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM) is used to solve the Newtonian flow field and the immersed-boundary method (IBM) is employed to simulate the deformation of the flexible fiber interacting with the flow. The results of this unsteady simulation including fiber deformation, fluid velocity field, and variations of the fiber length are depicted in different time-steps through the simulation time. Similar trends are observed in plots representing length change of fibers with different values of stretching constant. Also, the numerical solution reaches a steady state equivalent to the fluid channel flow over a flat plate.     

Modeling the influence of social networks and environment on energy balance and obesity

The influence of social networks on the development of obesity has been demonstrated, and several models have been proposed. However, these models are limited since they consider obesity as a ‘contagious’ phenomenon that can be caught if most social contacts are deemed obese. Furthermore, social networks were proposed as a means to mitigate the obesity epidemic, but the interaction of social networks with environmental factors could not yet be explored as it was not accounted for in the current models. We propose a new model of obesity to face these limitations. In our model, individuals influence each other with respect to food intake and physical activity, which may lead to changes depending on the environment, and will impact energy balance and weight. We illustrate the potential of our model via two questions: could we focus on social networks and neglect environmental sources of influence, at least from a modelling viewpoint? Are some social structures less prone to be influenced by their environment? We performed a factorial analysis based on both synthetic and real-world social networks, and found that the environment was a key component behind changes in weight but its contribution was mitigated by structural properties of the population. Furthermore, the contribution of the environment was not dictated by macro-level properties (small-world and scale-free), which suggests that particular patterns of social ties at the micro-level are involved in making populations more resilient to change and less influenced by the environment.     

A novel broadband dispersion compensating square-lattice photonic crystal fiber

In this paper we propose a novel square-lattice photonic crystal fiber (SPCF) for dispersion compensation in a wide range of wavelengths. Perfectly matched layer (PML) is considered for the boundary treatment and an efficient compact two dimensional finite-difference frequency-domain (2-D FDFD) method is employed to model square-lattice photonic crystal fibers (SPCF). It has been shown with selecting appropriate parameters for SPCF it is possible to obtain high negative dispersion coefficient, negative dispersion slope over E to L wavelengths, confinement losses less than 10^?5?dB/m and splice losses less than 3.6 dB. The designed SPCF exhibits a relative dispersion slope (RDS) of 3.543 × 10^?3 nm^?1 which is closely matched to the RDS of conventional single mode fibers.     

Sonochemical syntheses and characterization of nano-sized lead(II) coordination polymer with ligand 1H-1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxylate

Nanoparticles of a two-dimensional coordination polymer, {[Pb(L)(μ_1,1-NCS)(H₂O)]}_n (1), (L⁻ = 1H-1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxylate), have been synthesized by a sonochemical process and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, IR spectroscopy and elemental analyses. The thermal stability of compound 1 both its bulk and nano-size has been studied by thermal gravimetric (TG) and differential thermal (DTA) analyses and compared each other. Concentration of initial reagents effects and the role of power ultrasound irradiation on size and morphology of nano-structured compound 1, have been studied. Calcination of the single crystals and nano-sized compound 1 at 400 °C under air atmosphere yields mixture of PbS and Pb₂(SO₄)O nanoparticles. Results show that the size and morphology of the PbS and Pb₂(SO₄)O nanoparticles are dependent upon the particles size of compound 1. A decrease in the particles size of compound 1 leads to a decrease in the particles size of the PbS and Pb₂(SO₄)O.