Modification of the cation exchange resin properties by impregnation in polyethyleneimine solutions: application to the separation of metallic ions

A commercial cation exchange resin Amberlite 200 has been modified after immersion in solutions of polyethyleneimine (PEI). The kinetic of fixation of the metallic ions have been determined. The modification of the surface of the resin deals with a change in the order of the affinities of the resins towards cations. The retention is the function of the formation and the stability of the complex. The conditions of modification (pH, PEI concentration and time of immersion) have been examined and the modification was confirmed by the determination of the exchange capacities, the distribution coefficient (P) and the selectivity factors (S). The obtained results revealed the effect of PEI on the exchange properties of the resin. The pH range selected (6-8) permitted a good adherence of PEI onto the resin surface. The quantity of the adsorbed PEI was increased by raising the initial concentration and the immersion period. The exchange capacity for copper ion passed from 2.6 mmol g⁻¹, in the case of unmodified resin, to 3.9 mmol g⁻¹ for the modified one.     

Acquisition time reduction in magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging using discrete wavelet encoding

This paper describes a new magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) technique based upon the discrete wavelet transform to reduce acquisition time and cross voxel contamination. Prototype functions called wavelets are used in wavelet encoding to localize defined regions in localized space by dilations and translations. Wavelet encoding in MRSI is achieved by matching the slice selective RF pulse profiles to a set of dilated and translated wavelets. Single and dual band slice selective excitation and refocusing pulses, with profiles resembling Haar wavelets, are used in a spin-echo sequence to acquire 2D-MRSI wavelet encoding data. The 2D space region is spanned up to the desired resolution by a proportional number of dilations (increases in the localization gradients) and translations (frequency shift) of the Haar wavelets (RF pulses). Acquisition time is reduced by acquiring successive MR signals from regions of space with variable size and different locations with no requirement for a TR waiting time between acquisitions. An inverse wavelet transform is performed on the data to produce the correct spatial MR signal distribution.     

Elaboration and characterisation of a plasticized cellulose triacetate membrane containing trioctylphosphine oxyde (TOPO): Application to the transport of uranium and molybdenum ions

A cellulose triacetate (CTA) membrane containing trioctylphosphine oxyde (TOPO) as carrier and 2-nitrophenyloctyl ether (NPOE) as a plasticizer was prepared. The membrane CTA + NPOE + TOPO was characterised using chemical techniques as well as Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The CTA membrane is characterised by well-defined pores; these pores are completely filled with the NPOE and carrier. Surfaces of membranes with TOPO are smooth. The systems constituted by the mixture of CTA + NPOE, CTA + NPOE + TOPO do not give any diffraction. This can be due to the absence of crystallization within the membrane. On the other hand, this result should be attributable to the amorphous state of the structure, which permits us to eliminate the mechanism of transfer of the ions by electron jump. A comparative study of transport across a polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) and a supported liquid membrane (SLM) containing the same carrier in chloroform has shown that uranium or molybdenum transport efficiency was increased using PIM instead of SLM. PIM showed higher stability than SLM, the flux of transport remain constant in the former case after 2 weeks.     

Study of various parameters influencing the fixation of metallic ions Cu2+, Zn2+, and Ni2+ at the catalytic Amberlyst-15 resin in the presence of alcohols

The ionic exchange behavior of Zn²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Cu²⁺ metallic ions on Amberlyst-15 commercial resin was studied as a function of resin solution contact time, initial concentration of metallic ions, nature of the solvent, and the amount of resin. The metallic ions were studied in ternary mixtures using both column and batch experiments. In addition, water, methanol, ethanol, and propan-2-ol were used as solvents for dissolving metallic ions. It was found that the resin behavior depends on the solvent nature and the metallic ion concentration. The analysis of solutions by atomic absorption spectrometry revealed that the affinity of the resin for the studied metallic ions followed the sequence Cu²⁺ > Ni²⁺ > Zn²⁺ in the case of an aqueous medium. Furthermore, uptake increased with increasing amount of resin. A better uptake was observed in the case of the 75:25 % water/methanol compositions when the column technique was used. For the batch technique, we noted a better uptake using 100 % water. The uptake rate decreased with an increase in the number of carbons for the 50 % water–50 % alcohol solvents. The acid–base properties of Amberlyst-15 commercial resin were studied by 2-propanol decomposition test. Propene and acetone are the main expected products and it is believed that they are formed through dehydration or dehydrogenation reaction on acid and base sites, respectively.     

Time-Domain Quantification of Multiple-Quantum-Filtered Na Signal Using Continuous Wavelet Transform Analysis

The application of continuous wavelet transform (CWT) analysis technique is presented to analyze multiple-quantum-filtered (MQF) ²³Na magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data. CWT acts on the free-induction-decay (FID) signal as a time-frequency variable filter. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and frequency resolution of the output filter are locally increased. As a result, MQF equilibrium longitudinal magnetization and the apparent fast and slow transverse relaxation times are accurately estimated. A developed iterative algorithm based on frequency signal detection and components extraction, already proposed, was used to estimate the values of the signal parameters by analyzing simulated time-domain MQF signals and data from an agarose gel. The results obtained were compared to those obtained by measurement of signal height in frequency domain as a function of MQF preparation time and those obtained by a simple time-domain curve fitting. The comparison indicates that the CWT approach provides better results than the other tested methods that are generally used for MQF ²³Na MRS data analysis, especially when the SNR is low. The mean error on the estimated values of the amplitude signal and the apparent fast and slow transverse relaxation times for the simulated data were 2.19, 6.63, and 16.17% for CWT, signal height in frequency domain, and time-domain curve fitting methods, respectively. Another major advantage of the proposed technique is that it allows quantification of MQF ²³Na signal from a single FID and, thus, reduces the experiment time dramatically.     

Testing the validity of the Ehrenfest theorem beyond simple static systems: Caldirola–Kanai oscillator driven by a time-dependent force

The relationship between quantum mechanics and classical mechanics is investigated by taking a Gaussian-type wave packet as a solution of the Schr o¨dinger equation for the Caldirola–Kanai oscillator driven by a sinusoidal force. For this time-dependent system, quantum properties are studied by using the invariant theory of Lewis and Riesenfeld. In particular,we analyze time behaviors of quantum expectation values of position and momentum variables and compare them to those of the counterpart classical ones. Based on this, we check whether the Ehrenfest theorem which was originally developed in static quantum systems can be extended to such time-varying systems without problems.     

Wavelet Encoding Spectroscopic Imaging in Small FOV Regime: Comparison to Chemical Shift Imaging at 3?Tesla

We have recently proposed a new magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) technique called wavelet encoding spectroscopic imaging (WE-SI), and described its implementation on a clinical 1.5?T scanner. This technique is proposed as an alternative to chemical shift imaging (CSI), to decrease acquisition time, and voxel contamination. The proposed method is implemented here on a clinical 3?T scanner. Phantom and in vivo studies are chosen to validate the technique at higher field, as well as to fully explore the usefulness of this technique, and find its niche of application in the chain of existing MRSI techniques. In wavelet encoding, a set of dilated and translated wavelets are used to span a localized space by dividing it into a set of sub-spaces with pre-determined sizes and locations. Due to their simple shapes, Haar wavelets are chosen. They are represented in the modified PRESS sequence by the selective excitation and refocusing radio-frequency (RF) pulses. The wavelets dilation and translation are achieved by changing the strength of the localization gradients and frequency shift of the RF pulses, respectively. Data acquisition time is reduced using the minimum recovery time when successive MR signals from adjacent sub-spaces are collected. The results obtained at 3?T confirm those obtained at 1.5?T, and demonstrate that despite the low signal-to-noise ratio, the proposed WE-SI provides accurate results and reduces both voxel contamination and acquisition time as compared to CSI. This applies especially in the small field-of-view regime where only a small number of voxels is required.     

Polysaccharide films built by simultaneous or alternate spray: a rapid way to engineer biomaterial surfaces

We investigated polysaccharide films obtained by simultaneous and alternate spraying of a chitosan (CHI) solution as polycation and hyaluronic acid (HA), alginate (ALG), and chondroitin sulfate (CS) solutions as polyanions. For simultaneous spraying, the film thickness increases linearly with the cumulative spraying time and passes through a maximum for polyanion/CHI molar charge ratios lying between 0.6 and 1.2. The size of polyanion/CHI complexes formed in solution was compared with the simultaneously sprayed film growth rate as a function of the polyanion/CHI molar charge ratio. A good correlation was found. This suggests the importance of polyanion/polycation complexation in the simultaneous spraying process. Depending on the system, the film topography is either liquid-like or granular. Film biocompatibility was evaluated using human gingival fibroblasts. A small or no difference is observed in cell viability and adhesion between the two deposition processes. The CHI/HA system appears to be the best for cell adhesion inducing the clustering of CD44, a cell surface HA receptor, at the membrane of cells. Simultaneous or alternate spraying of CHI/HA appears thus to be a convenient and fast procedure for biomaterial surface modifications.     

Analysis of the first thermal response test in Algeria

Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) mean attractive heating and cooling systems. Optimum design of a borehole heat exchanger (BHE), as the outer part of a GSHP heating system, requires knowledge of the thermal properties of the soil. Those data, the effective thermal conductivity of the soil λ_eff and the average temperature of the soil T ₀ enable us to determine the necessary number and depth of boreholes. The determination of thermal conductivity of the soil in laboratory experiments does not usually coincidence with the data under in situ conditions. Therefore, an in situ method of experimental determination of these parameters, thermal response testing (TRT) is used primarily for in situ determination of design data for BHEs. In this study, which was the first TRT in Algeria (Tlemcen site), the purpose was to determine the effective ground thermal conductivity. Measured data were evaluated by the line source model. Used method and performed evaluation are presented for a borehole drilled in clay, silt, and sand. The resulting effective ground thermal conductivity was 1.364 W/m K and the borehole thermal resistance was 0.18 K/(W/m).     

Nonlinear optical properties of Cr<Superscript>3+</Superscript>-doped laser crystals

The nonlinear optical properties in six Cr³⁺-doped laser crystals LiCaAlF₆, LiSrGaAlF₆, Gd₃Ga₅O₁₂, Gd₃Sc₂Ga₃O₁₂, LaMgAl₁₁O₁₉ and Alexandrite are investigated with the help of the Z-Scan technique at λ = 532 nm in the CW regime. The data reported here include particularly the excited state absorption cross section and the third-order nonlinear susceptibilities. It is found that the three first systems only exhibit both refractive and absorptive nonlinear effects, whereas the three others have only absorptive effects. Gd₃Ga₅O₁₂ shows the best nonlinear potentialities. The excited state absorption cross section corresponding mainly to the ⁴T₂ →   ⁴T₁ transition is found to be ranging between 8.9 × 10⁻²² cm² in LiSGaF and 3.1 × 10⁻²⁰ cm² in LaMgAl₁₁O₁₉. The calculated ratio of the third order nonlinear susceptibility to the ground state absorption coefficient is found to be largest in GGG with a value of 146 × 10⁻⁶ esu.cm and smallest in Alexandrite (0.6 × 10⁻⁶ esu.cm).