Native and stearic acid modified ceria-zirconia supports in normal and reversed-phase HPLC

Porous ceria-zirconia composite with narrow particle size distribution and large specific surface area was synthesized by a sol-gel process. Chromatographic properties of the native supports was investigated in normal phase mode for the separation of test mixtures of basic, neutral and acidic compounds. The new packing material exhibited polar and basic properties, which are suitable for the separation of basic compounds. Lypophilic packing has been obtained by the modification of the ceria-zirconia with stearic acid, which exhibited strong hydrophobicity relative to the native packing. Therefore, the modified ceria-zirconia behaves as a reversed-phase packing material. Different selectivity towards basic compounds was observed on the new packing compared to the native ceria-zirconia and conventional ODS stationary phase.     

The design of an irradiator for the continuous processing of liquid latex

This paper presents anew design concept for a gamma irradiation plant for the continuous processing of pumpable liquids. Typical applications of such a plant include

• * the irradiation vulcanisation of natural latex rubber

• * disinfection of municipal sewage sludge for agricultural use

• * sterilisation of liquids in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries

• * industrial processing of bulk liquids

The authors describe the design and operation of the latex irradiator now operating on a small production scale in Malaysia and proposed developments.

The design allows irradiation processing to be carried out under an inert or other gaseous environment.

State-of-the-art computer control system ensures the fully automatic processing operation needed by industrial computers.     

First experiments on transmutation studies of129I and237Np using relativistic protons of 3.7 GeV

First experiments on the transmutation of long-lived¹²⁹I and²³⁷Np using relativistic protons of 3.7 GeV are described. Relativistic protons generate in extended Pb-targets substancial neutron fluences. These neutrons get moderated in paraffin and are used for transmutation as follows:¹²⁹I(n,)¹³⁰I and²³⁷Np(n,)²³⁸Np. The isotopes¹³⁰I (T _1/2-12.36 h) and²³⁸Np (T _1/2=2.117 d) were identified radiochemically. One can estimate the transmutation cross-section (n,) in the given neutron field as (¹²⁹I(n,))=(10±2)b and (²³⁷Np(n,))=(140±30)b The experiments were carried out in November 1996 at the Synchrophasotron, LHE, Dubna, Russia. The investigation has been performed at the Laboratory of High Energies, JINR, Dubna.     

Penicillin biosynthesis: Retention of configuration at c-3 of valine during its incorporation into the arnstein tripeptide

[3-³H]-valine was efficiently synthesised from sodium α-ketoisovalerate. With a β-lactam negative mutant of C. acremonium, l-[1-¹⁴C-3-³H]-valine and dl-[1-¹⁴C-3-³H]-valine were independently incorporated into the Arnstein tripeptide dimer, i.e. Bis-δ-(l-α-aminodipyl)-l-cystinyl-bis-d-valine, with full retention of trieium at C-3 of the d-valine residue. This result strongly suggested retention of configuration at C-3 of valine when the tripeptide was biosynthesised, and further limited the number of possible mechanisms for the biosynthesis of penicillins.     

Direct STM investigation of cinchona alkaloid adsorption on Cu(III)

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) combined with cyclic voltammetry has been employed to investigate the adsorption of cinchonine on Cu(111). Similar to cinchonidine, cinchonine forms a long-range ordered adlayer with (4 x 4) symmetry on the substrate. The structural details on molecular adsorption were obtained by high-resolution STM images. On the basis of the previous results and obtained STM images, the quinoline ring is proposed to lie parallel to Cu(111) and serve as an anchoring group. The chiral quinuclidine moiety extends out of the surface to facilitate the interaction with the prochiral reactants.     

一种全光归零码到非归零码变换的新技术方案

报道了一种利用单只半导体光放大器和光滤波器实现全光归零码到非归零码变换的新技术方案.当探测（Probe）光和数据信号光同时输入到SOA时,基于SOA中的交叉增益调制和交叉相位调制现象,探测光光谱的后沿和前沿将分别产生红移和蓝移.通过调节光滤波器和探测光的中心波长之间的失调量,滤出光谱的特定部分,可以得到转换后的NRZ码光信号.这种新型的全光码型变换器具有结构简单、偏振不敏感、控制参量少和稳定性高的特点.分别采用仿真和实验的方式实现了20 Gbit/s光数据信号从RZ码到NRZ码的全光码型变换,并且仿真结果和实验结果相吻合.     

气溶胶前向散射大气能见度测量系统传递系数的标定及校准方法

分析了气溶胶的前向角散射特性,利用标准的大气透射仪标定前向散射大气能见度测量系统的传递系数。当系统结构发生变化时,传递系数也随之改变,为保证系统测量的准确性和简化系统传递系数的标定过程,提出了一种利用标准漫透射板校准系统传递系数的方法。该方法使用了两块具有相同透射系数的漫透射板,使气溶胶粒子团在前向半球上产生漫散射,此时探测器的测量值即为包含了仪器常数的定值。当系统结构改变时,这个测量值相对于原测量值的变化率作为比例系数代入系统传递系数的计算,实现校准。     

Non-covalent reconfigurable microgel colloidosomes with a well-defined bilayer shell

Microgels are extremely interfacially active and are widely used to stabilize emulsions. However, they are commonly used to stabilize oil-in-water emulsions due to their intrinsic hydrophilicity and initially dispersed in water. In addition, there have been no attempts to control microgel structural layers that are formed at the interface and as a result it limits applications of microgel in advanced materials. Here, we show that by introducing octanol into poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-methacrylic acid) (PNIPAM-co-MAA) microgels, octanol-swollen microgels can rapidly diffuse from the initially dispersed oil phase onto the water droplet surface. This facilitates the formation of microgel-laden interfacial layers with strong elastic responses and also generates stable inverse water-in-oil Pickering emulsions. These emulsions can be used as templates to produce microgel colloidosomes, herein termed ‘microgelsomes’, with shells that can be fine-tuned from a particle monolayer to a well-defined bilayer. The microgelsomes can then be used to encapsulate and/or anchor nanoparticles, proteins, vitamin C, bio-based nanocrystals or enzymes. Moreover, the programmed release of these substances can be achieved by using ethanol as a trigger to mediate shell permeability. Thus, these reconfigurable microgelsomes with a microgel-bilayer shell can respond to external stimuli and demonstrate tailored properties, which offers novel insights into microgels and promise wider application of Pickering emulsions stabilized by soft colloids.

Inverse W/O Pickering emulsions and reconfigurable microgelsomes with a well-defined bilayer structure are prepared from octanol-swollen PNIPAM-co-MAA microgels and the combination of binary microgels, which promise wider application of soft colloids.     

Level Statistics Crossover of Chiral Surface States in a Three-Dimensional Quantum Hall System

Recent experiments have demonstrated the realization of the three-dimensional quantum Hall effect in highly anisotropic crystalline materials, such as ZrTe|_5 and BaMnSb_2. Such a system supports chiral surface states in the presence of a strong magnetic field, which exhibit a one-dimensional metal-insulator crossover due to suppression of surface diffusion by disorder potential. We study the nontrivial surface states in a lattice model and find a wide crossover of the level-spacing distribution through a semi-Poisson distribution. We also discover a nonmonotonic evolution of the level statistics due to the disorder-induced mixture of surface and bulk states.