High-performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light-scattering detection for the determination of phospholipid classes in human milk,infant formulas and phospholipid sources of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids

We developed and validated a new high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the separation of phospholipid classes in human milk, infant formulas and phospholipidic sources of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) used in paediatric nutrition. Phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine and sphingomyelin were separated in less than 25 min using an Extrasil silica column (150 x 4.0 mm I.D., 3-microm particle size) by isocratic elution with a mixture of isopropanol-hexane-water. Phospholipids were determined by an evaporative light-scattering detector. Several chromatographic conditions were assayed to optimise the method, whose suitability is shown by the detection limits, linearity ranges and precision rates obtained. The main advantages of the proposed method are its speed and the direct determination of the main phospholipids present in human milk, infant formulas and the phospholipid sources of LC-PUFAs used in paediatric nutrition.     

Magnetocaloric effect and magnetic properties in NdMnO3 perovskite: A Monte Carlo approach

The magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect in $\text{NdMn}{\text{O}}_3$ have been investigated, as well as the effect of magnetic anisotropy in the magnetocaloric properties of the perovskite-type compound. A classical Heisenberg Hamiltonian with nearest and next-nearest neighbors interactions was implemented. Hamiltonian parameters were fitted in order to reproduce experimental results. Magnetic field dependence on the magnetization, for isothermal processes, was performed. In this way, the magnetic entropy change $\left(\mathrm{\Delta }{S}_m\right)$ was computed as well as the relative cooling power (RCP). Results show that as the magnetic anisotropy constant increases, there was not only a sharpening, but also an increase in peak height of $?\mathrm{\Delta }{S}_m$. Finally, the magnetic field and anisotropy dependences on the RCP were obtained, showing that the highest values of the RCP were found for low anisotropy values.     

Mössbauer effect phase determination in iron oxide–polyaniline nanocomposites

Mössbauer effect spectroscopy and thermal analysis techniques were applied to characterize polyaniline composites successfully synthesized by embedding Fe oxide nanoparticles (about 10–13 nm) in a polymeric matrix in the presence of dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid and HCl (dopant). Thermal techniques provided quantitative information on iron oxide content and on polyaniline stability and transformations. Mössbauer results indicated that for the whole studied composition range, 3.4 to 100 iron oxide wt.%, composites hold maghemite particles. A preliminary study of the conductivity of the nanocomposites was performed. The largest conductivity was observed for a 8 wt.% maghemite composite where all particles are magnetically unblocked at room temperature within the Mössbauer time window.     

Using an ANP performance management framework to manage the development of transversal competences in University degrees

Organisations are concerned about measuring the performance of the product/service they deliver to their customers. In all types of organisations, if a proper performance assessment is to be developed, it should be measured in different dimensions. At University, the new study programs include the development and assessment of transversal competences due to their importance in enhancing the abilities and improving the employability of students. The achievement of transversal competences can be assessed in different levels/stages; for example, the 1st and 2nd years of a Bachelor’s degree; the 3rd and 4th years of a Bachelor’s degree and at Master’s level. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the research into performance management in organisations to develop an approach consisting of four components (a methodology, a solid and integrated performance management framework, graphical diagrams and quantitative techniques) to assess and manage the achievement of transversal competences through the different levels of study using a consolidated approach. The proposal uses the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to model dependences and feedback among the elements of the competences.

     

Weak continuity of Riemann integrable functions in Lebesgue-Bochner spaces

In general, Banach space-valued Riemann integrable functions defined on [0, 1] （equipped with the Lebesgue measure） need not be weakly continuous almost everywhere. A Banach space is said to have the weak Lebesgue property if every Riemann integrable function taking values in it is weakly continuous almost everywhere. In this paper we discuss this property for the Banach space LX^1 of all Bochner integrable functions from [0, 1] to the Banach space X. We show that LX^1 has the weak Lebesgue property whenever X has the Radon-Nikodym property and X＊ is separable. This generalizes the result by Chonghu Wang and Kang Wan [Rocky Mountain J. Math., 31（2）, 697-703 （2001）] that L^1[0, 1] has the weak Lebesgue property.     

Hyperfine Field and Isomer Shift Evolution in Hydrogenated Nd–Fe–B Alloy

RE₂Fe₁₄B (RE=rare earth) materials are capable of absorbing hydrogen to form a stable solid solution at room temperature. Hydrogenation produces a number of significant changes in the hyperfine interactions. In this work, ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer effect spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements were performed on Nd_14.01Hf_0.08Fe_78.91B_7.00 alloys submitted to thermal treatment in hydrogen atmosphere. A non-linear increase of the hyperfine fields and isomer shifts with hydrogen concentration was observed. The hyperfine parameters of the 8j₁ site exhibit a rather different evolution than those experienced by the other major sites (8j₂, 16k₁, 16k₂). The origin of the hyperfine field enhancement is analyzed in terms of volume expansion and H nearest neighbors to the Fe sites. A linear expression on these two effects to give account of isomer shift evolution for 8j₁ site is given.     

Neutron diffraction study of the magnetic ordering in the series R 2 BaNiO 5 (R = Rare Earth)

A neutron diffraction study, as a function of temperature, of the title compounds is presented. The whole family (space group Immm, a ≈ 3.8?, b ≈ 5.8?, c ≈ 11.3?) is structurally characterised by the presence of flattened NiO₆ octahedra that form chains along the a-axis, giving rise to a strong Ni-O-Ni antiferromagnetic interaction. Whereas for Y-compound only strong 1D correlations exist above 1.5 K, presenting the Haldane gap characteristic of 1D AF chain with integer spin, 3D AF ordering is established simultaneously for both R and Ni sublattices at temperatures depending on the rare earth size and magnetic moment. The magnetic structures of R₂BaNiO₅ ( R = Nd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er and Tm) have been determined and refined as a function of temperature. The whole family orders with a magnetic structure characterised by the temperature-independent propagation vector = (1/2, 0, 1/2). At 1.5 K the directions of the magnetic moments differ because of the different anisotropy of the rare earth ions. Except for Tm and Yb (which does not order above 1.5 K), the magnetic moment of the R³⁺ cations are close to the free-ion value. The magnetic moment of Ni²⁺ is around 1.4 , the strong reduction with respect to the free-ion value is probably due to a combination of low-dimensional quantum effects and covalency. The thermal evolution of the magnetic structures from T _N down to 1.5 K is studied in detail. A smooth re-orientation, governed by the magnetic anisotropy of R³⁺, seems to occur below and very close to T _N in some of these compounds: the Ni moment rotates from nearly parallel to the a-axis toward the c-axis following the R moments. We demonstrate that for setting up the 3D magnetic ordering the R-R exchange interactions cannot be neglected. Received 19 July 2001     

Reversible Activation of Water by an Air- and Moisture-Stable Frustrated Rhodium Nitrogen Lewis Pair

[Cp*Rh(κ³N,N′,P- L )][SbF₆] (Cp*=C₅Me₅), bearing a guanidine-derived phosphano ligand L , behaves as a “dormant” frustrated Lewis pair and activates H₂ and H₂O in a reversible manner. When D₂O is employed, a facile H/D exchange at the Cp* ring takes place through sequential C(sp³)−H bond activation.     

Molecular QTAIM Topology Is Sensitive to Relativistic Corrections

The topology of the molecular electron density of benzene dithiol gold cluster complex Au₄−S−C₆H₄−S′−Au′₄ changed when relativistic corrections were made and the structure was close to a minimum of the Born–Oppenheimer energy surface. Specifically, new bond paths between hydrogen atoms on the benzene ring and gold atoms appeared, indicating that there is a favorable interaction between these atoms at the relativistic level. This is consistent with the observation that gold becomes a better electron acceptor when relativistic corrections are applied. In addition to relativistic effects, here, we establish the sensitivity of molecular topology to basis sets and convergence thresholds for geometry optimization.     

Temperature-Controlled Stereodivergent Synthesis of 2,2′-Biflavanones Promoted by Samarium Diiodide

In this work, the first example of a radical stereodivergent reaction directed towards the stereoselective synthesis of both (R*,R*)- and (R*,S*)-2,2′-biflavanones promoted by samarium diiodide is reported. Control experiments showed that the selectivity of this reaction was exclusively controlled by the temperature. It was possible to generate a variety of 2,2′-biflavanones bearing different substitution patterns at the aromatic ring in good-to-quantitative yields, being both stereoisomers of the desired compounds obtained with total or high control of selectivity. A mechanism that explains both the generation of the corresponding 2,2′-biflavanones and the selectivity is also discussed. The structure and stereochemistry determination of each isomer was unequivocally elucidated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiments.