Distribution of some elements in a solid - aqueous system: Mineral phosphate in contact with groundwater

The distribution of U, Th, Am, Eu, Cs, Sr and Ra in a solid-aqueous system, natural phosphate in contact with groundwater was investigated using g- and a-spectroscopy. The effect of contact time, pH, particle size of the solid phase, and the concentration of a concurrent element Ca, were studied. The results show that more than 98% of the actinide elements and europium are adsorbed by the solid phase under all conditions. The fission products Cs and Sr have different behaviors, depending on the experiment conditions. The behavior of Ra is closer to the actinides than to the fission products. There are small differences between the behaviors of the actinide elements, which can be interpreted by migration mechanism from the aqueous to the solid phase, i.e., adsorption or precipitation.     

A Simple Synthesis of Stable Phosphorus Ylides Derived from 2-Benzoxazolinone and 2-Mercaptobenzoxazole

The reaction of triphenylphosphine with dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates in the presence of a strong SH-acid or NH-acid, such as 2-mercaptobenzoxazole and 2-benzoxazolinone, has been studied. In some cases, stable phosphorus ylides are obtained in excellent yields. The ylide moiety of these compounds is strongly conjugated with the adjacent carbonyl group, and the rotation about the partial double bond in (E) and (Z) geometrical isomers is slow on the NMR time scale at an ambient temperature. Thus, these exist as a mixture of geometrical isomers.     

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.     

Simultaneous multiresidue determination of 48 pesticides in Yeongsan and Sumjin River water using GC-NPD and confirmation via GC-MS

In a continuation of our earlier work, a multiresidual analytical method using 48 frequently used neutral pesticides in a water matrix was developed and validated in this study. The samples were extracted with dichloromethane and the pesticides were analyzed via GC-NPD followed by confirmation with GC-MS. Good linearity was detected over a concentration range of 0.01-1.0 microg/mL with correlation coefficients (r(2) ) in excess of 0.982. The recoveries were measured between 70.7 and 111.4% for the majority of the targeted pesticides with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of less than 20%. The LODs and LOQs were in ranges of 0.1-2 and 0.33-6.6 microg/L, respectively. A total of 66 water samples were collected from different locations in Yeongsan and the Sumjin River, Republic of Korea, and were analyzed in accordance with the developed method. None of the water samples were determined to contain any of the targeted pesticides. The method has been shown to be simpler, faster, and more cost-effective than the method established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).     

Determination of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in Capsicum fruit samples using high performance liquid chromatography

The aim of the present study was to determine the content of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in Capsicum samples collected from city markets in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), calculate their pungency in Scoville heat units (SHU) and evaluate the average daily intake of capsaicin for the population of Riyadh. The investigated samples consisted of hot chillies, red chillies, green chillies, green peppers, red peppers and yellow peppers. Extraction of capsaicinoids was done using ethanol as solvent, while high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for separation, identification and quantitation of the components. The limit of detection (LOD) of the method was 0.09 and 0.10 μg/g for capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, respectively, while the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.30 and 0.36 μg/g for capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, respectively. Hot chillies showed the highest concentration of capsaicin (4249.0 ± 190.3 μg/g) and the highest pungency level (67984.60 SHU), whereas green peppers had the lowest detected concentration (1.0 ± 0.9 μg/g); green peppers, red peppers and yellow peppers were non pungent. The mean consumption of peppers for Riyadh city population was determined to be 15.5 g/person/day while the daily capsaicin intake was 7.584 mg/person/day.