Bio‐based nanocomposites from functionalized plant oils and layered silicate

Some discovery work was done on the synthesis of clay nanocomposites based on renewable plant oils. Functionalized triglycerides, such as acrylated epoxidized soybean oil, maleinized acrylated epoxidized soybean oil, and soybean oil pentaerythritol maleates, combined with styrene were used as the polymer matrix. The miscibility of these monomers and clay organomodifier was assessed by solubility parameters. The formation of nanocomposites was confirmed by both X‐ray data and transmission electron microscopy. The morphology showed a mix of intercalated and partially exfoliated sheets. The flexural modulus increased 30% at only 4 vol % clay content, but there was no significant effect on flexural strength, glass‐transition temperature, and thermal stability. Property enhancement was related to the degree of exfoliation that depends on both the polarity and flexibility of the monomers. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 1441–1450, 2004     

Extractive spectrophotometric determination of Cobalt(II) in synthetic and pharmaceutical samples using Cyanex 923.

Cyanex 923 has been proposed as a sensitive analytical reagent for the direct extractive spectrophotometric determination of cobalt(II). Cobalt(II) forms a blue-colored complex with Cyanex 923 in the organic phase. The maximum absorbance of the complex is measured at 635 nm. Beer's law was obeyed in the range 58.9 - 589.0 microg of cobalt. The molar absorptivitiy and Sandell's sensitivity of the complex was calculated to be 6.79 x 10920 l mol(-1) cm(-1) and 0.088 microg cm(-2), respectively. The nature of the extracted species was found to be Co(SCN)2 x 2S. An excellent linearity with a correlation coefficient value of 0.999 was obtained for the Co(II)-Cyanex 923 complex. Stability and regeneration of the reagent (Cyanex 923) for reuse is the main advantage of the present method. The method was successfully applied to the determination of cobalt in synthetic mixtures and pharmaceutical samples was found to give values close to the actual ones. Standard alloy samples, such as high-speed tool BCS 484 and 485, have been tested for the determination of cobalt for the purpose of validating the present method. The results of the proposed method are comparable with atomic absorption spectrometry and were found to be in good agreement.     

Assessing Investigative Skill Development in Inquiry‐Based and Traditional College Science Laboratory Courses

A laboratory practical examination was used to compare the investigative skills developed in two different types of general‐chemistry laboratory courses. Science and engineering majors (SEM) in the control group used a traditional verification approach (SEM‐Ctrl), whereas those in the treatment group learned from an innovative, inquiry‐based approach (SEM‐Trt). A scoring rubric was developed from their examination sheets to assess six component investigative skills. Results indicated that SEM students in the SEM‐Trt group scored significantly higher than those in SEM‐Ctrl for all six skills. Furthermore, nursing and applied science majors (NonSEM) in the inquiry‐based group (NonSEM‐Trt) wrote significantly better discussions than did SEM students in SEM‐Ctrl group. Overall, competency at the mid‐range level of laboratory skills was attained by most SEM‐Trt students (72.5%) but by only 30.5% of SEM‐Ctrl and 28.6% of NonSEM‐Trt students. Apparently, during the semester students in the SEM‐Trt group were able to use the inquiry‐based method effectively to combine chemical tasks with writing tasks and postlaboratory discussions. One implication of this study for science instructors is that practical examinations can provide useful feedback regarding the quality of the laboratory experience. Another implication is that this study provides evidence for the use of the innovative inquiry‐based laboratory approach to support student learning of high‐level investigative skills. However, students' requisite background knowledge must match the level of these skills.     

On the Integrability Conditions for Some Structures Related to Evolution Differential Equations

Using the result by D. Gessler, we show that any invariant variational bivector (resp., variational 2-form) on an evolution equation with nondegenerate right-hand side is Hamiltonian (resp., symplectic).     

Non-protein amino acids in peptide design

An overview of the use of non-protein amino acids in the design of conformationally well-defined peptides, based on work from the author’s laboratory, is discussed. The crystal structures of several designed oligopeptides illustrate the useα-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) in the construction of helices, D-amino acids in the design of helix termination segments and^DPro-Xxx segments for nucleating ofβ-hairpin structures.β- andγ-amino acid residues have been used to expand the range of designed polypeptide structures. Dedicated to Professor C N R Rao on his 70th birthday     

A Clifford algebra approach to real simple Lie algebras,II: The algebras with root system BCr

Received: 14 September 2001 / in final form: 28 April 2002 // Published online: 20 March 2003     

Three-dimensional structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae inorganic pyrophosphatase complexed with cobalt and phosphate ions

Crystals of Saccharomyces cerevisiae inorganic pyrophosphatase suitable for X-ray diffraction study were grown by cocrystallization of the enzyme with cobalt chloride and imidodiphosphate. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a metal-dependent enzyme which catalyzes hydrolysis of inorganic pyrophosphate to orthophosphate. The three-dimensional structure of this enzyme was solved by the molecular-replacement method and refined at 1.8 Å resolution to an R factor of 19.5%. Cobalt and phosphate ions were revealed in the active centers of both identical subunits (A and B) of the pyrophosphatase molecule. In subunit B, a water molecule was found between two cobalt ions. It is believed that this water molecule acts as an attacking nucleophile in the enzymatic cleavage of the pyrophosphate bond. It was demonstrated that cobalt ions and a phosphate group occupy only part of the potential binding sites (two chemically identical and crystallographically independent subunits have different binding sites). The arrangement of ligands and the structure of the nucleophile-binding site are discussed in relation to the mechanism of action of the enzyme and the nature of the metal activator.     

Ion source with a cold magnetron cathode and magnetic plasma compression

The operating principles, design, and characteristics of an ion source with a cold magnetron cathode and magnetic plasma compression are described. The source is intended for the injector of a linear proton accelerator.     

The action of an electron beam on dust structures in a plasma

The action of an electron beam on ordered dust structures in glow and low-pressure RF discharges was studied experimentally. The electron beam produces destruction and dynamic displacement of the dust structure. In the center of a dust structure, an electron beam with a low electron energy (tens of eV) at currents up to 1 mA caused structural disordering and “melting” in the region of its action but did not excite external crystal regions. Local action of an electron beam with a high electron energy (25 keV) and a beam current above 10 mA caused deformation of the whole dust structure and shifted it in the horizontal direction so that it was carried away from the RF discharge zone. The effect of dust structure displacements can be used to locally remove particles from a plasma.     

Single-electron charging spectra: from natural to artificial atoms

We present a theoretical study of the charging spectra in natural and artificial atoms. We apply a model electrostatic potential created by a homogenously charged sphere. This model potential allows for a continuous passage from the Coulomb potential of the nucleus to parabolic confinement potential of quantum dots. We consider electron systems with N=1,…,10 electrons with the use of the Hartree–Fock method. We discuss the qualitative similarities and differences between the chemical potential spectrum of electron systems bound to nucleus and confined in quantum dots.