Different spectrophotometric methods for antioxidant activity assay of four Romanian herbs

The present study investigates the antioxidant activities of some Romanian plants, using different spectrophotometric methods (FRAP I, FRAP II, and CUPRAC). The plants investigated are hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha), bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), rosehip (Rosa canina), and chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa). Hawthorn is used to treat a wide variety of inflammatory conditions, but the primary use is generally restricted for treating hypertension, ischemic heart disease, congestive heart failure, and arrhythmia. Investigations have proved the safe and reliable use of plant and plant extracts for treatment of cardiovascular disorders.     

Aspect-ratio dependent oscillatory thermocapillary convection in the floating half zone

The dependency of the critical Marangoni number on the geometrical aspect ratio of the floating half zone is essential to predict the onset of oscillatory thermocapillary convection.The experimental studies in the microgravity conditions on floating half zones of several centimeters in diameter have predicted that the critical Marangoni number increases with the increasing aspect ratio,and the terrestrial experimental studies have predicted the contradictory conclusion for floating half zones of several mil...     

Non-Gravitational Effects with Density-Matching in Evaluating the Influence of Sedimentation on Colloidal Coagulation

The method of density matching between the solid and liquid phases is often adopted to effectively eliminate the effect of sedimentation of suspensions in studies on dynamic behaviour of a colloidal system. However, the associated changes in the solvent composition may bring side effects to the properties investigated and therefore might lead to a faulty conclusion if the relevant correction is not made. To illustrate the importance of this side effect, we present an example of the sedimentation influence on the coagulation rate of suspensions of 2μm （diameter） polystyrene. The liquid mixtures, in the proper proportions of water （H2O）, deuterium oxide （D2O） and methanol （MeOH） as the liquid phase, density-matched and unmatched experiments are performed. Besides the influence of viscosity, the presence of methanol in solvent media, used to enhance the sedimentation effect, causes significant changes （reduction） in rapid coagulation rates compared to that in pure water. Without the relevant corrections for those non-gravitational factors it seems that gravitational sedimentation would retard the coagulation. The magnitude of the contribution from the non-gravitational factor is quantitatively determined, making the relevant correction possible. After necessary the influence of the sedimentation on coagulation rates at corrections for all factors, our experiments show that the initial stage of the coagulation is not observable.     

Separation of nitrophenols. Equilibriums in bi- and tri-phasic systems

The paper presents experimental data obtained in the study of liquid–liquid partition equilibriums in biphasic system in order to optimize the process of transport through bulk liquid membranes (triphasic partition systems). The partition equilibriums of some nitrophenols using chloroform as extraction solvent and membranary solvent, respectively, were studied. The influence of the pH on the partition equilibriums was investigated. The repartition constants and the pK_a values of the studied nitrophenols were calculated. Nitrophenols were transferred in triphasic system from a feed phase with pH 2, through a chloroform liquid membrane, into a receiving phase with pH 12, with efficiencies over 90%.     

Spin squeezing and quantum correlations

We discuss the notion of spin squeezing considering two mutually exclusive classes of spin-s states, namely, oriented and non-oriented states. Our analysis shows that the oriented states are not squeezed while non-oriented states exhibit squeezing. We also present a new scheme for construction of spin-s states using 2s spinors oriented along different axes. Taking the case of s=1, we show that the ‘non-oriented’ nature and hence squeezing arise from the intrinsic quantum correlations that exist among the spinors in the coupled state.     

Organic analysis with a new Ag(+)-selective membrane electrode

A new Ag(+)-selective membrane electrode obtained by impregnating a graphite rod (attached to the end of a Teflon tube) with the silver(I) chelate of 1-(2',3',5'-tri-O-benzoyl-beta-D-ribofuranosyl)-4-thioxo-5-methylthio-6-azauracil dissolved in chloroform gives a stable and reproducible response to silver in the 10(-1)-10(-5)M range with a slope of 60 mV/decade. A new method for determination of some beta-chlorovinyl ketones is based on use of the electrode in potentiometric titration of the chloride displaced by tertiary amines from beta-chlorovinyl ketones in forming the corresponding quaternary ammonium salts.