ZnO nanoparticles as chain elasticity reducer and structural elasticity enhancer: Correlating the degradating role and localization of ZnO with the morphological and mechanical properties of PLA/PP/ZnO nanocomposite

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles on the morphological, mechanical, thermal, and rheological properties of PLA/PP blend. In this regard, nanocomposites containing 1, 3, and 5 wt% of ZnO nanoparticles were prepared by melt mixing. In addition, three different mixing procedures were adopted to study their effects on the microstructure of nanocomposites. The rheological behaviors demonstrated a higher elasticity and less compatibility for two phases in the case of nanocomposites containing nanoparticles in harmony with the morphological observations. Accordingly, it was correlated to the elasticity originating from the interphase, anticipated coalescence of dispersed particles as a result of degradation of PLA chains triggered by ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO‐NPs) and also agglomeration of ZnO‐NPs depending on the content of nanoparticles and chosen mixing procedure. It was also found that mixing method puts a remarkable influence on the microstructure and rheological behavior of nanocomposites. Results of mechanical characterizations and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) also confirmed the degradation induced by ZnO nanoparticles.     

Experimental Study of High-Velocity Projectile Impact Welding

Experimental Techniques - The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of various parameters on the welding process with high-velocity projectiles. For carrying out Impact Spot Welding...     

Improvement in thermal conductivity of paraffin by adding high aspect-ratio carbon-based nano-fillers

Molecular dynamics simulations have been utilized to study thermal conductivity of liquid and solid mixtures of paraffin and carbon-based high aspect-ratio nano-additives, i.e. carbon nanotubes and graphene. In agreement with existing experimental data, we observe high enhancement in thermal conductivity through adding these graphitic nano-additives into paraffin, particularly in the solid phase. We demonstrate that this significant improvement is mainly achieved by the enhancement in thermal conductivity of the matrix itself. This is caused by carbon nanotubes and graphene promoting ordering of the matrix molecules which consequently leads to improvement of its thermal conductivity.     

Quantification of sofosbuvir in human serum by liquid chromatography with negative ionization mass spectrometry using the parent peak and its source‐induced fragment: Application to a bioequivalence study

In the mass spectrometry of sofosbuvir, a new orally administered antihepatitis C drug, a weak peak is detected at the m/z value of the parent ion (m/z 530) as a result of in‐source dissociation and current methods to its quantification, is based on monitoring of the parent peak using ultra high‐performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. With these methods serum concentration of the drug is quantifiable only up to 4–5 h postdose. However, the fragmentation of the molecule generates a more stable ion at m/z 287 (base peak) with a signal intensity of about tenfold compared to the parent ion. Our study was aimed to improve sensitivity of analysis by acquisition of the m/z value of the daughter ion from which it originated instead of the parent molecule. This novelty allows us to measure serum concentrations of the drug for a longer time postdose and provides more opportunity for pharmacokinetic studies of sofosbuvir. Our method was linear over the concentration range of 2–2560 ng/mL of sofosbuvir in human serum with a limit of quantification of 2 ng/mL compared to 10 ng/mL reported previously. The coefficient variation values of both inter and intraday analysis were less than 13.8%, and the percentage error was less than 6.3.     

Electrosorption of Os(III)-complex at single-wall carbon nanotubes immobilized on a glassy carbon electrode: application to nanomolar detection of bromate, periodate and iodate

A simple procedure was developed to prepare a glassy carbon electrode modified with single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and Os(III)-complex. The glassy carbon (GC) electrode modified with CNTs was immersed into Os(III)-complex solution (direct deposition) for a short period of time (60 s). 1,4,8,12-Tetraazacyclotetradecane osmium(III) chloride, (Os(III)LCl₂)·ClO₄, irreversibly and strongly adsorbed on SWCNTs immobilized on the surface of GC electrode. Cyclic voltammograms of the Os(III)-complex-incorporated-SWCNTs indicate a pair of well defined and nearly reversible redox couple with surface confined characteristic at wide pH range (1-8). The surface coverage (Γ) and charge transfer rate constant (k_s) of the immobilized Os-complex on SWCNTs were 3.07 × 10⁻⁹ mol cm⁻², 5.5 (±0.2) s⁻¹, 2.94 × 10⁻⁹ mol cm⁻², 7.3 (±0.3) s⁻¹ at buffer solution with pH 2 and 7, respectively, indicate high loading ability of SWCNTs for Os(III) complex and great facilitation of the electron transfer between electroactive redox center and carbon nanotubes immobilized on the electrode surface. Modified electrodes showed higher electrocatalytic activity toward reduction of BrO₃⁻, IO₃⁻ and IO₄⁻ in acidic solutions. The catalytic rate constants for catalytic reduction bromate, periodate and iodate were 3.79 (±0.2) × 10³, 7.32 (±0.2) × 10³ and 1.75 (±0.2) × 10³ M⁻¹ s ⁻¹, respectively. The hydrodynamic amperometry of rotating modified electrode at constant potential (0.3 V) was used for nanomolar detection of selected analytes. Excellent electrochemical reversibility of the redox couple, good reproducibility, high stability, low detection limit, long life time, fast amperometric response time, wide linear concentration range, technical simplicity and possibility of rapid preparation are great advantage of this sensor.     

Novel and facile methods for the synthesis of DTPA-mono-amide: a new completely revised strategy in radiopharmaceutical chemistry

DTPA is a very strong metal chelator widely utilized in radiopharmaceutical chemistry for conjugation of chemicals which do not have enough potency for direct metalo-labeling and also to manage toxic radioactive materials such as plutonium, americium, and curium. It is difficult to conjugate DTPA to an amine group in a singular direction and such reactions usually also coincidently produce a mixture of DTPA-bis-amides and DTPA-mono-amide resulting in considerable insufficiencies/difficulties in synthesis and especially yield/separation procedures. In this paper, novel methods for the exclusive synthesis of DTPA-mono-amide have been established which extensively reduce the difficulties otherwise encountered and increase the reaction’s yield considering the green chemistry approaches. This is expected to be of interest to radiopharmaceutical researchers interested in the DTPA (Radio)-metallic-conjugate. Overall, this paper provides a framework to achieve a higher degree of propriety from DTPA as a chelator to conjugate to the chemical compounds.     

A New Sensor for Simultaneous Determination of Tyrosine and Dopamine Using Iron(III) Doped Zeolite Modified Carbon Paste Electrode

A new chemically modified electrode is constructed based on iron(III) doped zeolite modified carbon paste electrode (Fe³⁺Y/ZMCPE). The new sensor could be used for the simultaneous determination of the biologically important compounds dopamine (DA) and tyrosine (Tyr). The measurements are carried out using differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) method. The prepared modified electrode shows voltammetric responses of high sensitivity, selectivity and stability for DA and Tyr under optimal conditions, which makes it a suitable sensor for simultaneous trace detection of DA and Tyr in solution. Application of the DPV method demonstrates that in the Briton Robinson buffer solutions (pH=5) containing 50 µmol/L Tyr, there is a linear relationship between the oxidation peaks and the concentrations of DA over the range of 0.1–200 µmol/L, with a detection limit of 0.05 µmol/L (S/N=3). For Tyr a linear correlation between oxidation peak current and concentration of Tyr over the range of 0.5–200 µmol/L (containing 50 µmol/L DA), with a detection limit of 0.08 µmol/L is obtained. The analytical performances of this sensor are evaluated for the detection of DA and Tyr in human serum and a medicine.     

Gorenstein Injective Envelopes of Artinian Modules

Let R be a commutative Noetherian ring and A an Artinian R-module. We prove that if A has finite Gorenstein injective dimension, then A possesses a Gorenstein injective envelope which is special and Artinian. This, in particular, yields that over a Gorenstein ring any Artinian module possesses a Gorenstein injective envelope which is special and Artinian.     

The Sinc‐Galerkin method for solving an inverse parabolic problem with unknown source term

The inverse problem of determining an unknown source term depending on space variable in a parabolic equation is considered. A numerical algorithm is presented for recovering the unknown function and obtaining a solution of the problem. As this inverse problem is ill‐posed, Tikhonov regularization is used for finding a stable solution. For solving the direct problem, a Galerkin method with the Sinc basis functions in both the space and time domains is presented. This approximate solution displays an exponential convergence rate and is valid on the infinite time interval. Finally, some examples are presented to illustrate the ability and efficiency of this numerical method. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2013