A rapid and sensitive extractive spectrophotometric determination of copper(II) in pharmaceutical and environmental samples using benzildithiosemicarbazone.

Benzildithiosemicarbazone (BDTSC) is proposed as a sensitive and selective analytical reagent for the extractive spectrophotometric determination of copper(II). BDTSC reacts with copper(II) in the pH range 1.0-7.0 to form a yellowish complex. Beer's law is obeyed in the concentration range 0.5-0.4 microg cm(-3). The yellowish Cu(II)-BDTSC complex in chloroform shows a maximum absorbance at 380 nm, with molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity values of 1.63 x 10(4) dm3 mol(-1) cm(-1) and 0.00389 microg cm(-2), respectively. A repetition of the method is checked by finding the relative standard deviation (RSD) (n = 10), which is 0.6%. The composition of the Cu(II)-BDTSC complex is established as 1:1 by slope analysis, molar ratio and Asmus' methods. An excellent linearity with a correlation coefficient value of 0.98 is obtained for the Cu(II)-BDTSC complex. The instability constant of the complex calculated from Edmond and Birnbaum's method is 7.70 x 10(-4) and that of Asmus' method is 7.66 x 10(-4), at room temperature. The method is successfully employed for the determination copper(II) in pharmaceutical and environmental samples. The reliability of the method is assured by analyzing the standard alloys (BCS 5g, 10g, 19e, 78, 32a, 207 and 179) and by inter-comparison of experimental values, using an atomic absorption spectrometer.     

Synthesis of Palladium and Nickel Complexes with Octaphenyltetraazaporphyrins

Palladium(II) and nickel(II) complexes with octaphenyltetraazaporphyrin, octakis(4-bromophenyl)tetraazaporphyrin, and octakis(4-nitrophenyl)tetraazaporphyrin were obtained by reactions of octaphenyltetraazaporphyrin, Mg octaphenyltetraazaporphyrin, octakis(4-bromophenyl)tetraazaporphyrin, and octakis(4-nitrophenyl)tetraazaporphyrin with palladium(II) and nickel(II) chlorides in DMF.     

Reaction of Chloroacetone with Cytisine and d-Pseudoephedrine Alkaloids

Alkylation of cytisine and d-pseudoephedrine alkaloids with chloroacetone was performed. The target product of the reaction with cytisine is aminoacetone and of the reaction with d-pseudoephedrine, a morpholine derivative.     

Pattern Search Method for Discrete <Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis><Subscript>1</Subscript>–Approximation

We propose a pattern search method to solve a classical nonsmooth optimization problem. In a deep analogy with pattern search methods for linear constrained optimization, the set of search directions at each iteration is defined in such a way that it conforms to the local geometry of the set of points of nondifferentiability near the current iterate. This is crucial to ensure convergence. The approach presented here can be extended to wider classes of nonsmooth optimization problems. Numerical experiments seem to be encouraging. This work was supported by M.U.R.S.T., Rome, Italy.     

Complex projections of completely positive quaternionic maps

We show that the complex projection of a completely positive quaternionic map of quaternionic density matrices is a positive map in the space of complex density matrices, and we briefly outline some of its properties. To illustrate this result, we study the complex projection of a one-parameter quaternionic unitary dynamics of a spin-1/2 quantum system. __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 151, No. 3, pp. 360–370, June, 2007.     

Certain constructions of asymptotic analysis related to the Stone-Čcech compactification

The paper considers the representations of attraction sets in topological spaces and their relations with the relaxation of accessibility problems under the conditions of sequentially relaxed constraints. The author studies the structure of approximate (in essence, asymptotic) solutions and generalized elements and establishes the possibility of their real identification for a certain version (related to the Stone-Čech compactification and the Wallman relaxation) of relaxation of the initial problem. __________ Translated from Sovremennaya Matematika i Ee Prilozheniya (Contemporary Mathematics and Its Applications), Vol. 26, Nonlinear Dynamics, 2005.     

Influence of ionizing radiation on the magnetically sensitive properties of planar triacs

Changes in the magnetically sensitive properties of multilayer semiconductors devices, such as planar diffusion triacs, that are related to atomic-displacement-induced defects and ionization by irradiation are considered. It is shown that irradiation may significantly raise the magnetic sensitivity of the triacs. Processes and underlying mechanisms responsible for the improvement of the magnetic sensitivity under the action of a number of galvanomagnetic effects are studied.     

Ab-initio simulation of elastic constants for some ceramic materials

Athermal elasticity for some ceramic materials (α-Al₂O₃, SiC (α and β phases), TiO₂ (rutile and anatase), hexagonal AlN and TiB₂, cubic BN and CaF₂, and monoclinic ZrO₂) have been investigated via density functional theory. Energy-volume equation-of-state computations to obtain the zero pressure equilibrium volume and bulk modulus as well as computations of the full elastic constant tensor of these ceramics at the experimental zero pressure volume have been performed. The present results for the single crystal elasticity are in good agreement with experiments both for the aggregate properties (bulk and shear modulus) and the elastic anisotropy. In contrast, a considerable discrepancy for the zero pressure bulk modulus of some ceramics evaluated from the energy-volume fit to the computational zero pressure volume has been observed.     

Quantitative measurements of micro- and macromixing in a stirred vessel using Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence

The Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) technique enables measurement of the local degree of deviation in an arbitrary plane inside the mixing vessel. This is achieved by injecting a mixture of an inert dye and a reacting fluorescent into the vessel. The inert dye serves as a tracer for the macromixing. The fluorescent characteristics of the reacting dye change while undergoing a fast chemical reaction with the vessel content and it therefore shows the micromixing indirectly. The concentration fields of the dyes are measured simultaneously. For that a laser beam is expanded into a thin light sheet which illuminates an arbitrary plane in the mixing vessel, exciting the fluorescent dye in this area. The emitted light is detected by a CCD-camera which is positioned vertical to the measurement plane. The fluorescent light passes through two optical filters which are suitable for separating the fluorescent light of the two dyes. The light is then projected on half of the camera chip each so that the same display window is detected twice, and thus the local concentration of the two dyes can be measured simultaneously. Low Reynolds number measurements are performed in a mixing vessel equipped with a Rushton turbine. The lamellar structure is clearly resolved. Areas of micromixing are detected by calculating the local degree of deviation from the concentration fields. These areas are mainly found in the boundary layer of the lamellas.