Temperature and humidity aging of poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) fibers: Chemical and physical characterization

In recent years, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) (PBO) fibers have become prominent in high strength applications such as body armor, ropes and cables, and recreational equipment. The objectives of this study were to expose woven PBO body armor panels to elevated temperature and moisture, and to analyze the chemical, morphological and mechanical changes in PBO yarns extracted from the panels. A 30% decrease in yarn tensile strength, which was correlated to changes in the infrared peak absorbance of key functional groups in the PBO structure, was observed during the 26 week elevated temperature/elevated moisture aging period. Substantial changes in chemical structure were observed via infrared spectroscopy, as well as changes in polymer morphology using microscopy and neutron scattering. When the panels were removed to an ultra-dry environment for storage for 47 weeks, no further decreases in tensile strength degradation were observed. In a follow-on study, fibers were sealed in argon-filled glass tubes and exposed to elevated temperature; less than a 4% decrease in tensile strength was observed after 30 weeks, demonstrating that moisture is a key factor in the degradation of these fibers.     

Ring currents as probes of the aromaticity of inorganic monocycles : P5-, As5-, S2N2, S3N3-, S4N3+, S4N42+, S5N5+, S42+ and Se42+

Current-density maps were calculated by the ipsocentric CTOCD-DZ/6-311G** (CTOCD-DZ=continuous transformation of origin of current density-diamagnetic zero) approach for three sets of inorganic monocycles: S(4) (2+), Se(4) (2+), S(2)N(2), P(5) (-) and As(5) (-) with 6 pi electrons; S(3)N(3) (-), S(4)N(3) (+) and S(4)N(4) (2+) with 10 pi electrons; and S(5)N(5) (+) with 14 pi electrons. Ipsocentric orbital analysis was used to partition the currents into contributions from small groups of active electrons and to interpret the contributions in terms of symmetry- and energy-based selection rules. All nine systems were found to support diatropic pi currents, reinforced by sigma circulations in P(5) (-), As(5) (-), S(3)N(3) (-), S(4)N(3) (+), S(4)N(4) (2+) and S(5)N(5) (+), but opposed by them in S(4) (2+), Se(4) (2+) and S(2)N(2). The opposition of pi and sigma effects in the four-membered rings is compatible with height profiles of calculated NICS (nucleus-independent chemical shifts).     

Solid-state pH nanoelectrode based on polyaniline thin film electrodeposited onto ion-beam etched carbon fiber

An ultramicro pH sensor has been constructed based on a thin polyaniline film that was electrochemically deposited onto a carbon fiber nanometer-size electrode. The substrate nanoelectrodes were fabricated using ion-beam conically etched carbon fibers with tip diameters ranging ca. from 100 to 500 nm. The polyaniline film was deposited from HCl solution containing the aniline monomer by cycling the potential between −0.2 and +1.0 V. The electromotive force (emf) signal between the pH sensitive polyaniline-coated nanoelectrode and an Ag/AgCl reference electrode was linear over the pH range of 2.0-12.5 with a slightly super-Nernstian slope of ca. −60 mV/pH unit. Response times ranged from several sec at pHs around 7 up to 2 min at pH 12.5. The proposed pH nanoelectrode displayed high ion selectivity with respect to K⁺, Na⁺, Ca²⁺, and Li⁺, with log K_H,M values around −12 and has a working lifetime of about 20 days. Key parameters important for the pH nanoelectrode performance, including polyaniline film preparation, selectivity, response time, temperature dependence, relative coating thickness, stability, and reproducibility, have been characterized and optimized. The performance of the pH nanoelectrode was examined by measuring the pH of several real samples including body fluids (serum, urine) and low ionic strength water samples (rain, deionized and tap water). The results agreed very well with those obtained by using commercial glass pH electrodes. The proposed pH nanoelectrode demonstrated attractive properties and seems particularly promising for use under physiological conditions.     

Assessment of DFT functionals with fluorine–fluorine coupling constants†

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spin–spin coupling constants (SSCCs) provide an important contribution for understanding experimentally observed values. It is known that calculated SSCCs using DFT methods correlate well with those experimentally measured. Unlike most of SSCCs, in fluorine compounds, fluorine–fluorine SSCC J_FF shows that the Fermi contact (FC) term is not dominant, particularly for J_FF in polyfluorinated organic molecules. In order to devise a DFT approach that would correctly reproduce the variation of SSCCs within a series of fluorine compounds, we test several DFT-based approaches, using different exchange and correlation functionals. Isotropic contributions to NMR fluorine–fluorine coupling constants (FC, spin-dipolar, SD, paramagnetic spin-orbit, PSO, and diamagnetic spin-orbit, DSO) have been calculated. Results show that DFT methods give appropriate values for ⁿJ_FF (n = 4 to 7), while for geminal and vicinal J_FF present large deviations from experimental values. For the latter SSCCs (²J_FF and ³J_FF), the four contributions (FC, SD, PSO and DSO) are analysed as a function of the local and nonlocal exchange in 1,1- and 1,2-difluoroethylene. Although FC term is not dominant for these SSCCs, the variation of this contribution with exchange is remarkable. On the other hand, SD and PSO contributions can be suitably computed without and with exact exchange, respectively.     

Electrovectorial Effects of Electrically Polarized Hydroxyapatite on Biological Phenomena

Electrically polarized hydroxyapatite ceramics have chemical, physical, and biological effects upon their surrounding constituents in vivo as well as in vitro as electrets, independent solids irradiating electrostatic force. Using the polarized hydroxyapatite, we have observed that crystal growth from a simulated body fluid can be accelerated or decelerated, and microorganisms can be manipulated on the surfaces of hydroxyapatite, depending upon the electric signs.     

Practical Synthesis of (+)-Alloisoleucine

Subsequent treatment of N-crotoyl-(1S,2R)-bornane-10,2-sultam with EtMgCl, recrystallization of the product and saponification, afforded R-(-)-3-methylpenthanoic acid which was used for acylation of (1R,2S)-bornane-10,2-sultam. The product was converted into N-[(2S,3R)-2-amino-3-methylpentanoyl]-(1R,2S)-bornane-10,2-sultam by hydroxyamination with 1-chloro-1-nitrosocyclohexane, followed by reduction of the hydroxylamine grouping. Saponification of the sultam imide provided (+)-alloisoleucine.     

Hypertension in Prenatally Undernourished Young-Adult Rats Is Maintained by Tonic Reciprocal Paraventricular–Coerulear Excitatory Interactions

Prenatally malnourished rats develop hypertension in adulthood, in part through increased α₁-adrenoceptor-mediated outflow from the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) to the sympathetic system. We studied whether both α₁-adrenoceptor-mediated noradrenergic excitatory pathways from the locus coeruleus (LC) to the PVN and their reciprocal excitatory CRFergic connections contribute to prenatal undernutrition-induced hypertension. For that purpose, we microinjected either α₁-adrenoceptor or CRH receptor agonists and/or antagonists in the PVN or the LC, respectively. We also determined the α₁-adrenoceptor density in whole hypothalamus and the expression levels of α_1A-adrenoceptor mRNA in the PVN. The results showed that: (i) agonists microinjection increased systolic blood pressure and heart rate in normotensive eutrophic rats, but not in prenatally malnourished subjects; (ii) antagonists microinjection reduced hypertension and tachycardia in undernourished rats, but not in eutrophic controls; (iii) in undernourished animals, antagonist administration to one nuclei allowed the agonists recover full efficacy in the complementary nucleus, inducing hypertension and tachycardia; (iv) early undernutrition did not modify the number of α₁-adrenoceptor binding sites in hypothalamus, but reduced the number of cells expressing α_1A-adrenoceptor mRNA in the PVN. These results support the hypothesis that systolic pressure and heart rate are increased by tonic reciprocal paraventricular–coerulear excitatory interactions in prenatally undernourished young-adult rats.     

A method of identifying the blood contributor in mixture stains through detecting blood-specific mRNA polymorphism

In the past decades, messenger RNA (mRNA) biomarkers have been employed to identify the origin of body fluids in forensic medicine. We hypothesized that the polymorphism of mRNA could be applied to identify individuals in mixture samples composed of two body fluids. In this study, we selected five blood-specific mRNA biomarkers of venous blood (SPTB, CD3G, AMICA1, ANK1, and GYPA) that encompass 16 SNPs to identify the mixture contributor(s). Five specific gene markers for menstrual blood, semen, skin, saliva, and vaginal secretions were amplified and typed as body-fluid positive controls. We established the system of multiplex PCR and single base extension (SBE) reaction followed by CE. The amplicon size was between 90bp and 294bp. The peripheral blood specificity was examined against other human body fluids, including saliva, semen, skin, menstrual blood, and vaginal secretion. The 16 SNPs were peripheral blood specific and could be successfully typed in homemade mixtures which are composed of different body fluids with 1 ng peripheral blood mRNA added. This system showed a supersensitivity (1:100) in detecting the trace amount of peripheral blood mixed in other body fluids and a combined discrimination power (CDP) of 0.99929 in Chinese population. It was the first time to establish a method for identifying the blood donors and deconvoluting mixtures through detecting mRNA polymorphism with SNaPshot assay. This peripheral blood specific SNP typing system showed high sensitivity to the typing of blood source specific markers regardless of other body fluids in the mixture.     

毛细管电泳测定甲芬那酸制剂及体液中的甲芬那酸

建立了制剂和体液中甲芬那酸毛细管电泳高频电导分析法,并用于甲芬那酸胶囊及血清、尿液中甲芬那酸含量的测定。对电泳介质的种类、浓度以及操作电压和进样量等影响因素进行了优化。实验采用3.0 mmol/L环己胺 3.0 mmol/LH3BO3 5.0mmol/Lβ-CD 0.17 mol/L乙醇作为电泳介质,20.0 kV为分离电压,可在7 min内实现对甲芬那酸的分离检测。在优化实验条件下,测定甲芬那酸的线性范围为0.8~550μg/mL,检出限为0.1μg/mL,回收率范围为98.3%~101.0%。