Thin layer gas electrode and its application to measurement of dissolved oxygen

A novel thin layer cell equipped with thin layer gas electrode (TLGE) was studied as electrochemical gas sensor for the measurement of dissolved oxygen in water or aqueous solutions. The working electrode (TLGE) is a hydrophobic gas diffusing electrode placed between the cell electrolyte and the solution to be tested. The hydrophobic pores in TLGE serve as a gas chamber. After the sampling period, in which the partial pressure of dissolved oxygen in test solution becomes in equilibrium with that in the gas chamber, the TLGE is polarized with square wave or linear potential signal. Then the Faradaic charge (Q) consumed in depletion of the oxygen contained in pores of TLGE is measured. The main merits of this system are good linearity between the partial pressure of dissolved oxygen in test solution and Q, low zero-reading, negligible liquid-gas difference, convenient calibration and very low temperature coefficient (ca. 0.5%/°C). This technique can also be applied to the measurement of oxygen partial pressure in gas phases.     

A zinc(II) benzenetricarboxylate metal organic framework with unusual adsorption properties,and its application to the preconcentration of pesticides

The authors describe a zinc(II) benzenetricarboxylate (Zn-BTC) based metal-organic framework (MOF) with chrysanthemum-like structure, and its application to the adsorption of pesticides from real water samples. The Zn-BTC MOF was characterized by XRD, TGA, SEM, nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis and FT-IR spectroscopy. The MOF was used in dispersive solid-phase extraction of six aromatic pesticides from various wastewater samples prior to their quantification by HPLC. Extraction times, extraction temperature, amount of adsorbent, and oscillation rate were optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the method has relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 6.1–10.1%, and good linearity (correlation coefficients higher than 0.9974). The LODs and LOQs for seven pesticides are found to be 0.20–1.60 μg·L^?1 and 0.66–5.28 μg·L^?1, respectively. The RSDs of within batch extraction are 1.6–9.5% and 3.9–12%.

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Graphical abstract Schematic of a zinc-benzenetricarboxylate (Zn-BTC) based metal-organic framework (MOF) for use as an adsorbent of dispersive solid phase extraction (DSPE) of pesticides prior to their determination by HPLC.

     

Pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE)

Pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE) has become a popular green extraction method for different classes of compounds present in numerous kinds of matrices such as environmental, food and botanical samples. PHWE is also used in sample preparation to extract organic contaminants from foodstuff for food safety analysis and soils/sediments for environmental monitoring purposes. The main parameters which influence its extraction efficiency are namely the temperature, extraction time, flow rates and addition of modifiers/additives. Among these different parameters studied, temperature is described as the most important one. It is reported that the extraction of certain compounds is rather dependent on pressurized water with different applied temperature. Thus, the stability and reduced solubilities of certain compounds at elevated temperatures are highlighted in this review. With some modifications, a scaled-up PHWE could extract a higher amount of desirable compounds from solid and powdered samples such as plant and food materials. The PHWE extracts from plants are rich in chemical compounds or metabolites which can be a potential lead for drug discovery or development of disease-resistant food crops.     

Synthesis, crystal structures and magnetic properties of Cu(II) compounds bridged by the terephthalate ligand and hydrogen bonds

A 3D network [Cu(tmen)(tp)(H₂O)₂]_n (1) (tmen = N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine; tp = terephthalate) and a 2D sheet [Cu(pyrazole)₂(tp)]_n (2), featuring 1D chains interwoven by hydrogen bonds, have been prepared and characterized by means of X-ray analyses and magnetic measurements. For 1, coordinative zigzag chains contain Cu(II) centers capped by the chelate ligand tmen, in which the tetragonal structure is elongated due to Jahn–Teller distortion. Coordinated water molecules are hydrogen-bonded to two free carboxylate oxygens of tp bridges, leading to the observed 3D structure. The use of the non-chelating capping ligand pyrazole produced the covalent-bonded 1D linear compound 2 with hydrogen bonds. A severe octahedral distortion of the Cu(II) center arises from a small bite angle (52.3(1)°) of two carboxylate oxygen atoms of tp, which are in turn hydrogen-bonded to the N–H groups of pyrazole ligands coordinated to Cu(II) atoms in neighboring chains. Magnetic data were fitted with the high-temperature series expansion for the Heisenberg chain spin Hamiltonian H = −J∑_iS_i · S_i + 1 together with consideration of the molecular field approximation (zJ′). Both compounds interestingly exhibit ferromagnetic interactions with g = 2.17, J = 4.08 cm⁻¹, zJ′ = −0.28 cm⁻¹ for 1 and g = 2.09, J = 1.47 cm⁻¹, zJ′ = −0.04 cm⁻¹ for 2. By taking into account structural parameters of distances between Cu atoms, it is reasonably assigned that the ferromagnetic couplings (J > 0) in these systems originate from the hydrogen bonds. The spin density of the d_x²-y² orbital on a Cu(II) atom in a chain is propagated and induced over the d_z² orbital of another Cu(II) atom in an adjacent chain. This orbital orthogonality gives rise to such interactions. The negative zJ′ term suggests that the tp bridges communicate only tiny antiferromagnetic interactions.     

Measuring the subprime crisis contagion: Evidence of change point analysis of copula functions

In this paper, we first determine the existence of structural changes in the dependence between time series of equity index returns of two markets using the change point testing method. The method is based on Archimedean copula functions, which are able to comprehensively describe dependence characteristics of random variables. The degree of financial contagion between markets is subsequently estimated using the tail dependence coefficient of copula functions before and after the change point. We empirically test our method by investigating financial contagion during the subprime crisis between the US S&P 500 index and five Asian markets, namely China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Our results show that a statistically significant change point exists in the dependence between the US market and all Asian stock markets except Taiwan. The upper tail dependence is larger after the time of change, implying the existence of contagion during the banking crisis between the US and the Asian economies. The degree of financial contagion is also estimated and found to be consistent with market events and media reports during that period.     

Simple determination of pirfenidone in rat plasma via high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple, rapid and reliable high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for the determination of pirfenidone and its major metabolites in rat plasma. Plasma proteins were precipitated with perchloric acid (10%, v/v) and the supernatant after centrifugation was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography. The analysis was carried out on a Lichrospher C(18) column (250 x 4.6 mm i.d., 5 microm). The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water containing 0.2% acetic acid (23:77, v/v) at a flow-rate of 1 mL/min. The eluant was detected at 310 nm. The calibration curves were linear over a concentration range from 0.15 to 76.67 microg/mL. The accuracy (relative error) of the assay ranged from -2.6 to 7.9% and the precision (coefficient of variation) was less than 4.5%. The established method has been successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of pirfenidone following a single oral dose to rats.     

Stability of T. Chan＇s Preconditioner from Numerical Range

A matrix is said to be stable if the real parts of all the eigenvalues are negative. In this paper, for any matrix An, we discuss the stability properties of T. Chan＇s preconditioner cU（An） from the viewpoint of the numerical range. An application in numerical ODEs is also given.     

Fixed Point Theorems on a Non-convex Set

ＦｉｘｅｄＰｏｉｎｔＴｈｅｏｒｅｍｓｏｎａＮｏｎ－ｃｏｎｖｅｘＳｅｔ￥ＺｈａｏＸｉａｏｑｕａｎ（赵晓全）ａｎｄＳｕｎＸｕｅｓｉ（孙学思）（ＤｅｐａｒｔｍｅｎｔｏｆＭａｔｈｅｍａｔｉｃａ，ＨａｒｂｉｎＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＥｌｅｃｔｒｉｃａｌＴｅｃｈｎ...