Disproof of a conjecture about independent branchings in k-connected directed graphs

For each k ≥ 3, we construct a finite directed strongly k-connected graph D containing a vertex t with the following property: For any k spanning t-branchings, B₁, …, B_k in D (i. e., each B_i is a spanning tree in D directed toward t), there exists a vertex x ≠ t of D such that the k, x, t-paths in B₁, …, B_k are not pairwise openly disjoint. This disproves a well-known conjecture of Frank. © 1995, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Poly(N-vinylimidazole/ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) for the purification and isolation of phenolic acids

In this study we report the novel polymeric resin poly(N-vinyl imidazole/ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) for the purification and isolation of phenolic acids. The monomer to crosslinker ratio and the porogen composition were optimized for isolating phenolic acids diluted in acetonitrile at normal phase chromatography conditions, first. Acetonitrile serves as polar, aprotic solvent, dissolving phenolic acids but not interrupting interactions with the stationary phase due to the approved Hansen solubility parameters. The optimized resin demonstrated high loading capacities and adsorption abilities particularly for phenolic acids in both, acetonitrile and aqueous solutions. The adsorption behavior of aqueous standards can be attributed to ion exchange effects due to electrostatic interactions between protonated imidazole residues and deprotonated phenolic acids. Furthermore, adsorption experiments and subsequent curve fittings provide information of maximum loading capacities of single standards according to the Langmuir adsorption model. Recovery studies of the optimized polymer in the normal-phase and ion-exchange mode illustrate the powerful isolation properties for phenolic acids and are comparable or even better than typical, commercially available solid phase extraction materials. In order to prove the applicability, a highly complex extract of rosemary leaves was purified by poly(N-vinyl imidazole/ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) and the isolated compounds were identified using UHPLC–qTOF-MS.     

Preparation of polymer based sorbents for solid phase extraction of polyphenolic compounds

This article discusses the preparation of different polymeric sorbents for solid phase extraction. Various monomers like acrylamide, methacrylic acid and 4-vinylpyridine (VP), cross-linkers such as divinylbenzene (DVB) and ethyleneglycoldimethacrylate (EDMA), porogens like tetrahydrofuran (THF) and dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) / acetonitrile (ACN) with different ratios were investigated in order to optimize recoveries. Resulting polymers were characterized through scanning electron microscope (SEM) and compared with Oasis HLB (Waters, MA, USA) and Strata-X (Phenomenex, Torrance, USA) on the basis of extraction performance, recovery efficiency and loading capacity. Sample applied was a mixture of flavonoid standards (rutin, myricetin, luteolin, quercetin, apigenin and kaempferol). HPLC hyphenated with PDA was used for the analysis of samples. Results showed that among the prepared SPE materials, 4-VP-co-EDMA produced best results. Comparison of the produced polymers with of Oasis HLB and Strata-X resulted in comparable efficiencies; especially the polymer 4-VP-co-EDMA gave almost similar results for all analytes to those of commercially available SPE materials. A general trend of decrease in retention efficiency with increase in polarity has been observed in both synthesized and already available SPE materials. The newly synthesized polymeric materials can be employed as SPE sorbents for efficient extraction of polyphenolic compounds especially for flavonoid aglycons.     

Proton instability of73Rb

The study of the stability of an astrophysically interesting nucleus⁷³Rb was performed by searching itsβ ⁺ and proton decay at the ISOLDE facility at CERN. Light rubidium isotopes were produced in a spallation reaction of a niobium target induced by a pulsed 1 GeV proton beam. The previously reported proton-unbound character of⁷³Rb was confirmed and the upper limit for its production cross-section was reduced by more than one order of magnitude.     

Probing fission time scales with neutrons and GDR gamma rays

The time scales for nuclear fission have been explored using both pre-and postfission neutrons and GDR gamma rays. Four systems were investigated: 133-MeV ¹⁶O + ¹⁷⁶Yb and ²⁰⁸Pb and 104-MeV ⁴He + ¹⁸⁸Os and ²⁰⁹Bi. Fission fragments were measured in coincidence with PPACs. The neutrons were detected using eight detectors from the DEMON array, while gamma rays were measured using the US BaF2 array. The pre-and postfission gamma rays were determined using moving source fits parallel and perpendicular to the fission fragment emission directions. The time scales for fission for the neutrons were determined using the neutron clock technique. The gamma-ray data were fitted using a statistical model calculation based on the code CASCADE. The results of the fits from both data types were used to extract nuclear friction coefficients, γ, and fission time scales. The γ values ranged from 7 to 20, while the fission times were (31–105)×10^?21 s.