Dielectric Properties of Polymer Composites Filled with Different Metals

Electrically conductive composite systems based on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) filled with metal powders of Al and Cu have been studied. The composite preparation conditions allow the formation of a random distribution of metallic particles in the polymer matrix. Dependence of the dielectric and conductivity properties of the PVC and PMMA/fillers was studied over a broad range of frequency and volume fraction of metal fillers. The experimental results could be explained by means of the conductivity of fillers and the interface polarization between polymers and fillers. Percolation was also seen in this study when the volume fraction of conducting fillers was close to critical value, in which the composites undergo an insulator‐conductor transition. The relation among the dielectric property and the fillers with different conductivity was proposed.     

The Pharmacokinetic Profiles of Pre-Operative Prophylactic Cefepime Application in Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Women Undergoing Surgical Interventions Using a Fully Validated Liquid Chromatographic Method

Pregnancy alters pharmacokinetic profile of many drugs, because of altering body volume and metabolism rate. Therefore, dosage rates and concentrations of drugs must be controlled during pregnancy. Here, we identified the pharmacokinetic profile of pre-operatively given cefepime in caesarean section and gynecological operations using a simple, rapid, cost-effective and valid liquid chromatographic method. The chromatographic separation was performed using 40 mM, pH 3.2 phosphate buffer containing 6 % methanol as mobile phase at 0.30 mL min^?1 flow rate. Gradient elution with methanol was applied to get shorter analysis time without any interference from plasma endogens. During analyses, temperature of column, autosampler and detector were set as 30, 10 and 40 °C, respectively. The detection wavelength was 260 nm and ceftizoxime was used as internal standard. At the optimum conditions, the cefepime analysis from plasma samples was completed in 7 min. Cefepime was extracted from plasma samples using perchloric acid with a very high recovery rate (99.3 %). The method was fully validated according to the Food and Drug Administration guidelines for bioanalytical method validation, and found to be selective, linear, repeatable, reproducible and robust. After validation studies, the method was applied to five caesarean-sectioned and four non-pregnant sectioned women treated with pre-operative, prophylactic single intravenous dose of cefepime (1 g Maxipime^®) in order to determine pharmacokinetic profile of cefepime. Peak serum concentrations of cefepime in caesarean-sectioned women at the arterial port after infusion was 70.11 ± 10.74 μg mL^?1. The mean elimination half-life, volume of distribution and calculated area under the concentration–time curve (AUC)_0–∞ were 1.10 ± 0.23 h, 14.22 ± 2.29 L and 101.55 ± 10.99 μg h mL^?1 for caesarean-sectioned women; and 1.14 ± 0.21 h, 14.76 ± 2.92 L and 104.71 ± 36.34 μg h mL^?1 for non-pregnant sectioned women, respectively. The area under curve, elimination half-life, maximum plasma concentration and the mean distribution volume of cefepime were not changed in case of pregnancy.     

Scale-up synthesis of zinc borate from the reaction of zinc oxide and boric acid in aqueous medium

Synthesis of zinc borate was conducted in a laboratory and a pilot scale batch reactor to see the influence of process variables on the reaction parameters and the final product, 2ZnO·3B₂O₃·3.5H₂O. Effects of stirring speed, presence of baffles, amount of seed, particle size and purity of zinc oxide, and mole ratio of H₃BO₃:ZnO on the zinc borate formation reaction were examined at a constant temperature of 85 °C in a laboratory (4 L) and a pilot scale (85 L) reactor. Products obtained from the reaction in both reactors were characterized by chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, particle size distribution analysis, thermal gravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The kinetic data for the zinc borate production reaction was fit by using the logistic model. The results revealed that the specific reaction rate, a model parameter, decreases with increase in particle size of zinc oxide and the presence of baffles, but increases with increase in stirring speed and purity of zinc oxide; however, it is unaffected with the changes in the amount of seed and reactants ratio. The reaction completion time is unaffected by scaling-up.     

Hydrogen sulfide determination by solid surface luminescence

In the analytical system suggested, atmospheric hydrogen sulfide reacts with the surface of a filter paper treated with aqueous cadmium chloride and yields a luminescent species whose intensity can be correlated with the analyte concentration in ambient air. It was shown that the luminescent species are CdS solid particles which were formed in a well defined size. The paper luminescence was also tried on polymeric surfaces; polyethyleneoxide, polyvinyl alcohol, ethylcellulose and carboxymethylcellulose were found to give a similar luminescence signal. The system can be used on the tip of an optical fiber for an irreversible, cumulative type of analytical device for hydrogen sulfide determination. The 3s detection limit for the paper luminescence detection system was 7.8 ppb H(2)S.     

Leaving group effect in the sulfonyl transfer reactions of aryl benzenesulfonates with Grignard reagents

The C–S coupling reactions of aryl benzenesulfonates with phenylmagnesium bromide in THF:toluene (7:10) at 90 °C have been studied. A Hammett-type kinetic study of the leaving group effect of aryloxy groups provides a conclusive support for a two step addition-elimination mechanism in which C–S bond formation is rate determining step.     

Amalgamation performances of gold-coated quartz wool,alumina, silica,sand and carbon fiber for the determination of inorganic mercury in waters by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry

Different gold-coated sorbents for amalgamation were applied for the determination of inorganic mercury in waters using a home-made cold vapor generation unit coupled to atomic absorption spectrometry. Among the gold-coated materials investigated (quartz wool, alumina, silica, sand and carbon fiber) quartz wool was found to give the most efficient results in terms of sorption and release. Analytical performance of the system without and with amalgamation was investigated and it was found that when amalgamation was applied, the linearity and slope of the calibration plots were independent on the sample volume for 1.0, 5.0 and 10.0 mL. Method validation was realized through the analysis of a sample of spring water spiked with 1.0 μg/L inorganic mercury and the spike recoveries were found to be 95 ± 1, 91 ± 3, and 99 ± 5% for 1.0, 5.0, and 10.0 mL, respectively. The results demonstrated that the methodology can be applied to these types of samples directly or after amalgamation, depending on the mercury concentration.     

Effects of Tonsillectomy on Speech Spectrum

Changes in the speech spectrum of vowels and consonants before and after tonsillectomy were investigated to find out the impact of the operation on speech quality. Speech recordings obtained from patients were analyzed using the Kay Elemetrics, Multi-Dimensional Voice Processing (MDVP Advanced) software. Examination of the time-course changes after the operation revealed that certain speech parameters changed. These changes were mainly F3 (formant center frequency) and B3 (formant bandwidth) for the vowel /o/ and a slight decrease in B1 and B2 for the vowel /a/. The noise-to-harmonic ratio (NHR) also decreased slightly, suggesting less nasalized vowels. It was also observed that the fricative, glottal consonant /h/ has been affected. The larger the tonsil had been, the more changes were seen in the speech spectrum. The changes in the speech characteristics (except F3 and B3 for the vowel /o/) tended to recover, suggesting an involvement of auditory feedback and/or replacement of a new soft tissue with the tonsils. Although the changes were minimal and, therefore, have little effect on the extracted acoustic parameters, they cannot be disregarded for those relying on their voice for professional reasons, that is, singers, professional speakers, and so forth.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the C-S coupling reactions of aryl Grignard reagents with aryl arenesulfonates

The kinetics of the C-S coupling of arylmagnesium bromides with phenyl tosylate has been studied in THF: toluene at 90°C. The reaction is first order in Grignard reagent and first order in phenyl tosylate. Kinetic data, Hammett relationship and activation parameters are consistent with a nucleophilic addition mechanism involving rate determining attack of carbanion to sulfonyl group followed by a fast phenoxide group leaving.      

Use of amberlite XAD-7HP for the separation of Mn(II) and Mn(VII) in waters

A simple method is proposed for the determination and speciation of Mn(II) and Mn(VII) in waters utilizing a macroporous resin, Amberlite XAD-7HP. The batch method was employed and flame atomic absorption spectrometry was used in all determinations. Amberlite XAD-7HP resin was shown to retain Mn(VII) between pH 4 and 12. If the solution contains only one of the species, either Mn(II) or Mn(VII), the resin behaves selectively depending on the pH of the solution. The elution from the sorbent was realized using K₂C₂O₄ in HNO₃. The efficiency of the method was checked via spike recovery experiments. The proposed method was successfully applied to industrial wastewater samples and quantitative recoveries (≥96.0%) confirmed the accuracy of the method.