Radiochemical analysis of toxic elements in biological materials

A radiochemical method for simultaneous determination of toxic elements (Hg, Cd and Sb) in biological materials has been developed. The procedure involves the irradiation of samples with thermal neutrons and quantitative one-step separation in 0.1M 4-(5-nonyl)pyridine/benzene from 2.0M hydrochloric acid followed by gamma-ray spectrometry. The procedure is applied for the analysis and to the studies of distribution of these elements in IAEA-RMs, human serum and hair samples. Results obtained are found to be in good agreement with those reported in the literature.     

Synthesis of fused ring heterocycles from aromatic amines with hydroximoyl chlorides

Substituted 2-arylbenzimidazoles, 2-arylbenzoxazoles and 2-arylbenzothiazoles were obtained in good yield by the reaction of hydroximoyl chlorides with ortho-substituted aromatic amines. The benzo moiety of the benzimidazoles was shown by nmr to be symmetrical, indicating that the N-H group proton of the imidazole ring is exchanging with the water protons in the DMSO-d₆ solvent.     

Activity concentrations of 210Po in the soft parts of cockle (Anadara granosa)at Kuala Selangor, Malaysia

Polonium-210 has been measured in the soft parts of Anadara granosa purchased at Kuala Selangor, West Coast of Malaysia in August 2001, April 2002 and September 2002. It is shown that ²¹⁰Po is non-uniformly distributed within cockles of various sizes (i.e., 2.5, 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 cm of shell length) and the concentration of ²¹⁰Po in the soft parts of cockle was significantly different (p<0.05) due to sampling date. The highest value was observed in the smallest cockle with a shell length of 2.5 cm (411.6±26.16 Bq/g dry wt.). It is clear that there is an allometric relationship between ²¹⁰Po activity concentration and individual cockle weight. This may reflect on the differences of metabolic rate and growth age of cockles. The mean activity concentration of ²¹⁰Po measured in Kuala Selangor filtered water were 1.75±0.17, 0.79±0.08 and 1.13±0.20 Bq/kg for August 2001, April 2002 and September 2002, respectively. The yield concentration factors for ²¹⁰Po in the soft parts of cockles varies from 27.3^. 10³ to 106.9^. 10³. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Synthesis of 5-Substituted 1,3-Dimethylpyrazolo[4,3-<Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis>][1,2,4]triazines

Summary.  A novel method for the synthesis of a new series of 5-substituted 1,3-dimethyl pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazines is described. The new synthetic strategy is based on the classical Bischler 1,2,4-benzotriazine synthesis. This approach involves the preparation of 5-hydrazinopyrazole from 5-chloro-1,3-dimethyl-4-nitropyrazole followed by acylation and nitro group reduction to form the corresponding 4-amino-3-(acylhydrazino)pyrazoles. Intramolecular oxidative cyclization of the latter derivatives, using polyphosphoric acid, produced the respective target pyrazolotriazines.     

Synthesis of 5-Substituted 1,3-Dimethylpyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazines

A novel method for the synthesis of a new series of 5-substituted 1,3-dimethyl pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazines is described. The new synthetic strategy is based on the classical Bischler 1,2,4-benzotriazine synthesis. This approach involves the preparation of 5-hydrazinopyrazole from 5-chloro-1,3-dimethyl-4-nitropyrazole followed by acylation and nitro group reduction to form the corresponding 4-amino-3-(acylhydrazino)pyrazoles. Intramolecular oxidative cyclization of the latter derivatives, using polyphosphoric acid, produced the respective target pyrazolotriazines.     

Isotope shift studies in the spectra of Gadolinium in UV region and term shifts of high even levels of Gd I

Isotope shift Δσ(¹⁵⁶Gd?¹⁶⁰Gd) is reported in 70 spectral lines of neutral gadolinium atom (Gd I) in the 3290- 3920 Å region providing isotope shift data in UV lines of Gd I spectrum for the first time. The measurements were carried out on a photoelectric recording Fabry-Perot Spectrometer using highly enriched isotopic samples of gadolinium. Term isotope shifts ΔT(¹⁵⁶Gd?¹⁶⁰Gd) have been evaluated for 48 high lying even parity energy levels of Gd I using this data; new ΔT values have been obtained for 24 levels. Electronic configurations 4f⁷5d6s6p, 4ff⁷5df²6p and 4f⁸5d6s assigned earlier to these even levels have been either confirmed or configuration mixing pointed out in some of these levels. Probable assignment of 4f⁸5d6s configuration to 8 even levels between 32 930 and 35 500 cm^-1 have been confirmed.     

Ground state correlation energy of the Be-sequence forZ=4–20 in MCDF approximation

The ground state (J=0) electronic correlation energy of the 4-electron Be-sequence is calculated in the Multi-Configuration Dirac-Fock approximation forZ=4–20. The 4 electrons were distributed over the configurations arising from the 1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p and 3d orbitals. Theoretical values obtained here are in good agreement with experimental correlation energies.     

Detection and assessment of citrus tristeza virus antigens by computer-aided scanning densitometry

Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) extracted from Etrog citron (C.medica L.) was immunoprecipitated. The immunoprecipitate was fractionated by SDS-PAGE and western blotted onto nitrocellulose. The CTV antigens were determined by immunoblot analysis using rabbit anti-CTV IgG, and the protein-band pattern exhibited on the nitrocellulose was assessed by soft-laser scanning densitometry. The densitometric tracing revealed the presence of bands that were not visible to the naked eye. Using the superimposition mode of the instrument, it was also revealed that the protein-band patterns of different CTV samples were not identical. Computer-aided soft-laser scanning densitometry proved to be a powerful approach in the detection and assessment of protein bands revealed on nitrocellulose immunoblots, which we were previously unable to do employing conventional methods.     

Characteristic absolute efficiency response curves of a high purity germanium detector in the energy range 50–1500 keV

The characteristic absolute efficiency response curves of a high purity germanium detector (HPGe) for different counting geometries have been established in the energy range 50–1500 keV by measuring the absolute efficiencies using both mono-energetic and multi-gamma emitting radionuclide point calibrated sources supplied by IAEA. Several fitting functions proposed in the literature were assessed for interpolation within the intermediate energy range of interest. The values of the function parameters have been determined by using the linear least square methods. The problems associated with the measurements of experimental efficiency data at small source–detector distances and the importance of the correlation matrix in the estimation of precise uncertainties have been shown. It was found that the inclusion of correlation matrices in the propagation of error formulae plays a significant role up to 450 keV gamma-ray energy and results in a drastic reduction of errors associated with the predicted efficiencies. The discrepancy at closer counting geometries in the absence of true gamma-gamma coincidence corrections is found to reach to about 30%.     

Novel aromatic polyimides derived from benzofuro[2,3-b]benzofuran-2,3,8,9-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BBTDA)

Benzofuro[2,3-b]benzofuran-2,3,8,9-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BBTDA) is introduced as a monomer for the synthesis of a series of novel polyimides with enhanced high thermal stability. Polyimides derived from BBTDA and aromatic diamines showed high glass transition (T_g>296 °C) and degradation (T₅>455 °C) temperatures, and were soluble in organic solvents (i.e. N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP), N,N^′-dimethylformamide (DMF), N,N^′-dimethylacetamide (DMAc)). The polymerization yielded high-molecular-weight polyimides with inherent viscosities ranging from 1.75 to 2.14 dl/g. The polymers were characterized by IR and elemental analysis.