Mössbauer, X-ray, electrical and magnetic properties of lithium borosilicate glasses containing iron and manganese Part I. Mössbauer measurements

The effect of the replacement of MnO₂ by Fe₂O₃ on the oxidation states of iron in some lithium borosilicate glasses were studied using Mössbauer spectroscopy. DTA and infrared measurements showed the presence of two glassy phases, one of them containing iron and the other manganese. The Mössbauer spectra were measured at room temperature for all the glass samples. The spectra revealed the presence of Fe ions only in ferric state in both tetrahedral and octahedral coordination. Also, it was observed that the ratio between the number of iron ions in both coordination states has not changed with the increase of MnO₂ content.     

Widrow-cellular neural network and optoelectronic implementation

A new type of optoelectronic cellular neural network has been developed by providing the capability of coefficients adjusment of cellular neural network (CNN) using Widrow based perceptron learning algorithm. The new supervised cellular neural network is called Widrow-CNN. Despite the unsupervised CNN, the proposed learning algorithm allows to use the Widrow-CNN for various image processing applications easily. Also, the capability of CNN for image processing and feature extraction has been improved using basic joint transform correlation architecture. This hardware application presents high speed processing capability compared to digital applications. The optoelectronic Widrow-CNN has been tested for classic CNN feature extraction problems. It yields the best results even in case of hard feature extraction problems such as diagonal line detection and vertical line determination.     

Photon interaction studies using 241Am γ-rays

We have carried out some photon interaction measurements using 59.54 keV γ-rays from a ²⁴¹Am source. These include γ attenuation studies as well as photoelectric absorption studies in various samples. The attenuation studies have been made using leaf and wood samples, samples like sand, sugar etc., which contain particles of varying sizes as well as pellets and aqueous solutions of rare earth compounds. In the case of the leaf and wood samples, we have used the γ-ray attenuation technique for the determination of the water content in fresh and dried samples. The variation of the attenuation coefficient with particle size has been investigated for sand and sugar samples. The attenuation studies as well as the photoelectric studies in the case of rare earth elements have been carried out on samples containing such elements whose K-absorption edge energies lie below and close to the γ-energy used. Suitable compounds of the rare earth elements have been chosen as mixture absorbers in these investigations. A narrow beam good geometry set-up was used for the attenuation measurements. A well-shielded scattering geometry was used for the photoelectric measurements. The mixture rule was invoked to extract the values of the mass attenuation coefficients for the elements from those of the corresponding compounds. The results are consistent with theoretical values derived from the XCOM package.     

Synthesis of the possible carcinogenic dihydrodiol and diol epoxide of phthalazine

Inverse-Diels-Alder reaction of dimethyl 1,2,4,5-tetrazine-3,6-dicarboxylate with benzene cis-diol gave dihydrodiol containing the 1,4-dihydropyridazine ring. Attempts at oxidation of the dihydropyridazine ring with PIFA and MnO₂ resulted in the formation of 5- and 5,6-dihydroxy-phthalazine derivatives. The oxidation of the dihydropyridazine ring was achieved by way of photooxygenation. The phthalazine type dihydrodiol is unstable and easily undergoes aromatization. The Diels-Alder reaction of tetrazine with cyclohexadiene acetonide and epoxy-ketal cyclohexene as a dienophile was investigated. These reactions led to the possible carcinogenic phthalazine type of dihydrodiol and diol epoxide where the hydroxyl groups are protected.     

Viscoelasticity,mechanical properties,and in vivo biocompatibility of injectable polyvinyl alcohol/bioactive glass composite hydrogels as potential bone tissue scaffolds

Abstract

An injectable composite hydrogel composed of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and bioactive glass (BG) particles were synthesized by a physical crosslinking approach. The morphology, mechanical properties, and viscoelasticity of the PVA/BG composite hydrogel were characterized. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) showed uniform and homogeneous distribution of BG particles throughout the composite hydrogel. The incorporation of 2.5?wt% of BG particles in the composite hydrogel formulations, enhanced the static compressive strength and static elastic modulus by 325% and 150%, respectively. The storage molds (G′) was greater than the loss modules (G′′) at all the frequency range studied, which revealed a self-standing elastic composite hydrogel with a smooth injectability. The PVA/BG composite hydrogel was also implanted subcutaneously in the dorsal region of adult male rats. After 4?weeks of implantation, no inflammatory cells were seen within and around the implant, which indicated that the composite hydrogel was biocompatible. The properties of the synthesized injectable PVA/BG composite hydrogel demonstrate its capability toward bone regeneration.     

Extraction of Nitric,Perchloric, and Hydrochloric Acid by N,N-dibutyl Diethyl Carbamyl Phosphonate

Extraction of nitric, perchloric, and hydrochloric acid by N,N-dibutyl diethyl carbamyl phosphonate in carbon tetrachloride was investigated. The data obtained are treated in terms of stepwise neutralization of the acid with the formation of species y · HA and y · 2HA in the organic phase, where y stands for the extractant and HA for the acid. The equilibrium constants, K?₁ and K?₂ for nitric acid were found to equal 0.24 ± 0.02 and 0.017 ± 0.005, respectively. In case of HClO₄ and HCl K?₁ were found to equal 0.031 ± 0.003 and 0.0039 ± 0.0005, respectively. A third phase was observed when extraction of HClO₄ was performed using acid concentration higher than 3.5 molar. The preference for partition of different acids was discussed on the light of the competition of the proton between the acid anion, water and the basic extractant as well as the degree of the ionization of different acids.     

Fast Efficient Method for Radiolabeling of Pindolol with Iodine-125 Using Iodogen Coated Glass Frit

Although ¹²⁵I-hydroxypindolol (¹²⁵I-HYP) has been an excellent probe of adenoceptor function in certain tissues, but ¹²⁵I-pindolol (¹²⁵I-PIN) was found more specific for -adrenoceptor labeling. This study describes a fast and efficient method for radiolabeling of pindolol with iodine-125, where both chloramine-T and iodogen were used as oxidizing agents. The use of iodogen coated glass frit has a great advantage in increasing the radiochemical yield of ¹²⁵I-pindolol and this was attributed to the increase of the interphaces boundary between the solid and liquid. This technique reduces the quantity of iodogen required to produce high radiochemical yield by its half. The radiochemical yield was determined by TLC system using chloroform: acetic acid: water (15:4:1) as developing solvent and by HPLC using reversed phase RP-18 column and acetonitrile: 0.1M ammonium bicarbonate pH 7.5 (1:1) as a mobile phase at flow rate (1ml/min). The radiochemical yield was found to be 48.6 and 62.9% respectively.