Hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-flame ionization detection for the profiling of fatty acids in vegetable oils

The development of a two phase hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction technique, followed by gas-chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) for the profiling of the fatty acids (FAs) (lauric, myristic, palmitic, stearic, palmitoleic, oleic, linoleic, linolenic and arachidic) in vegetable oils is described. Heptadecanoic acid methyl ester was used as the internal standard. The FAs were transesterified to their corresponding methyl esters prior to the extraction. Extraction parameters such as type of extracting solvent, temperature, extraction time, stirring speed and salt addition were studied and optimized. Recommended conditions were extraction solvent, n-tridecane; extraction time, 35 min; extraction temperature, ambient; without addition of salt. Enrichment factors varying from 37 to 115 were achieved. Calibration curves for the nine FAs were well correlated (r(2)>0.994) within the range of 10-5000 μg L(-1). The limit of detection (signal:noise, 3) was 4.73-13.21 ng L(-1). The method was successfully applied to the profiling of the FAs in palm oils (crude, olein, kernel, and carotino cooking oil) and other vegetable oils (soybean, olive, coconut, rice bran and pumpkin). The encouraging enrichments achieved offer an interesting option for the profiling of the minor and major FAs in palm and other vegetable oils.     

Stokes flow past an assemblage of slip eccentric spherical particle‐in‐cell models

The quasisteady axisymmetrical flow of an incompressible viscous fluid past an assemblage of slip eccentric spherical particle‐in‐cell models with Happel and Kuwabara boundary conditions is investigated. A linear slip, Basset type, boundary condition on the surface of the spherical particle is used. Under the Stokesian approximation, a general solution is constructed from the superposition of the basic solutions in the two spherical coordinate systems based on the particle and fictitious spherical envelope. The boundary conditions on the particle's surface and fictitious spherical envelope are satisfied by a collocation technique. Numerical results for the normalized drag force acting on the particle are obtained with good convergence for various values of the volume fraction, the relative distance between the centers of the particle and fictitious envelope and the slip coefficient of the particle. In the limits of the motions of the spherical particle in the concentric position with cell surface and near the cell surface with a small curvature, the numerical values of the normalized drag force are in good agreement with the available values in the literature. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Activated bentonite (Maghnite-H+) as green catalyst for ring-opening polymerization of 1,3,5,7-tetravinyltetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane

Research on Chemical Intermediates - A new green technique to synthesize polysiloxane-type polymers is suggested based on use of chemically modified clay (Maghnite-H+) as heterogeneous,...     

Perturbation theory in a framework of iteration methods

In a previous paper [J. Phys. A 36 (2003) 11807], we introduced the ‘asymptotic iteration method’ for solving second-order homogeneous linear differential equations. In this Letter, we study perturbed problems in quantum mechanics and we use the method to find the coefficients in the perturbation series for the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions directly, without first solving the unperturbed problem.     

Numerical simulation of the miscible displacement of radionuclides in a heterogeneous porous medium

The aim of this paper is to model and simulate the displacement of radioactive elements in a saturated heterogeneous porous medium. New schemes are proposed to solve accurately the convection–diffusion–reaction equations including nonlinear terms in the time derivative. Numerical tests show the stability and robustness of these schemes through strong heterogeneities of the medium. Finally the COUPLEX 1 benchmark concerning the far field simulation of a polluted flow by a leak of a nuclear waste disposal is performed and compared with the results available in the literature. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hierarchical Production-planning Systems: Extensions and Modifications

This paper extends earlier hierarchical production-planning approaches initiated by Hax and Meal. The proposed model incorporates both functional and hierarchical interfaces simultaneously as encountered in practice, and assures feasibility and consistency among the decisions made at the different hierarchical levels of the firm. The problem of infeasibility which arises in disaggregating the aggregate production plan into detailed schedules is solved using goal programming at the product-family disaggregation level, and using branch and bound at the item-disaggregation level. The proposed approach minimizes backlogging regardless of the underlying cost structure of the problem at hand.     

A potentiometric rhodamine-B based membrane sensor for the selective determination of chromium ions in wastewater.

The construction and performance characteristics of a novel chromate ion-selective membrane sensor are described and used for determining chromium(III) and chromium(VI) ions. The sensor is based on the use of a rhodamine-B chromate ion-associate complex as an electroactive material in a poly(vinyl chloride) membrane plasticized with o-nitrophenyloctyl ether as a solvent mediator. In a phosphate buffer solution of pH 6 - 7, the sensor displays a stable, reproducible and linear potential response over the concentration range of 1 x 10(-1) - 5 x 10(-6) mol l(-1) with an anionic Nernstian slope of 30.8 +/- 0.5 mV decade(-1) and a detection limit of 1 x 10(-6) mol l(-1) Cr(VI). High selectivity for Cr(VI) is offered over many common anions (e.g., I-, Br-, Cl-, IO4-, CN-, acetate, oxalate, citrate, sulfate, phosphate, thiosulfate, selenite, nitrate) and cations (e.g., Ag+, Ca2+, Sr2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Mn2+, Fe2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Al3+, Cr3+). The sensor is used for determining Cr(VI) and/or Cr(III) ions in separate or mixed solutions after the oxidation of Cr(III) into Cr(VI) with H2O2. As low as 0.2 microg ml(-1) of chromium is determined with a precision of +/-1.2%. The chromium contents of some wastewater samples were accurately assessed, and the results agreed fairly well with data obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry.     

Magnetic field effect on free and bound excitons in chalcopyrite CuInS<Subscript>2</Subscript>

The effect of a strong magnetic field (induction up to 10 T) on free and bound excitons in CuInS₂ single crystals is studied. A diamagnetic shift to higher energies is observed in the luminescence and reflectance spectra for free-exciton lines A_LPB ≈ 1.5348 eV, A_UPB ≈ 1.5361 eV, and BC ≈ 1.557 eV. The diamagnetic shifts of free-exciton lines A_LPB, A_UPB, and BC provide a basis for estimating the exciton reduced masses = 0.131m₀, = 0.13 4m₀, and μ_BC = 0.111m₀, respectively. Bound-exciton lines in luminescence spectra are split under the influence of the magnetic field. The magnitude of the Zeeman effect (g-factor of the magnetic splitting) is estimated. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii Vol. 74, No. 3, pp. 373–377, May–June, 2007.     

Synthesis of Nanoporous Ni‐Co Mixed Oxides by Thermal Decomposition of Metal‐Cyanide Coordination Polymers

A straightforward strategy to prepare nanoporous metal oxides with well‐defined shapes is highly desirable. Through thermal treatment and a proper selection of metal‐cyanide coordination polymers, nanoporous nickel‐cobalt mixed oxides with different shapes (i.e., flakes and cubes) can be easily prepared. Our nanoporous materials demonstrate high electrocatalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction.