Determination of aristolochic acid by capillary zone electrophoresis

A simple and rapid capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method for the determination of aristolochic acid (AA) in dietary supplements and selected herbs is described. A clear separation of AA from other sample constituents was achieved within 5 minutes without any sample clean up. A mixture of 20 mM-morpholinethanesulphonic acid+10 mM-BisTrisPropane+0.2% hydroxyethylcelullose in 10% methanol serves as a background electrolyte. The linearity, accuracy, intra-assay and detection limit of the developed method are 200–6000 ng/mL, 95–103%, 3.5%, and 50 ng/ml, respectively. Ease of use, sufficient sensitivity and low running cost are the most important attributes of the CZE method. The proposed CZE method was compared with HPLC.     

Cyclical games with prohibitions

We consider a certain combinatorial game on a digraph for two cases of the price function. For one case the game in question extends the cyclical game studied in Ehrenfeucht and Mycielski (1979) and Gurvitch, Karzanov and Khachiyan (1988) which, in its turn, is a generalization of the well-known problem of finding a minimum mean cycle in an edge-weighted digraph. We prove the existence of optimal uniform stationary strategies for both cases and give algorithms to find such strategies.This work was partially supported by Chaire municipale, Mairie de Grenoble.     

Thermal analysis and kinetics of the copper-lead matte roasting process

In this paper, the results of copper-lead matte investigations are presented. Investigated copper-lead matte is intermediate product of the lead production in TREPCA-Zvečan. In the first part of the paper characterization of starting material is presented, consisting of: chemical composition analysis (XRQ), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and diffractometry (XRD). Thermal properties of investigated matte were determined using differential thermal analysis (DTA) at characteristic temperatures. Using results of induced analysis, mechanism of matte oxidation process was determined. In the second part of the paper kinetic parameters describing oxidative roasting of copper-lead matte are presented. For activation energy calculations, non-isothermal methods defined by Kissinger and Ozawa were used [1, 2]. Kinetic equation describing oxidation process was determined using Sharps method of reduced half time of reaction [3].     

Lie algebra type noncommutative phase spaces are Hopf algebroids

For a noncommutative configuration space whose coordinate algebra is the universal enveloping algebra of a finite-dimensional Lie algebra, it is known how to introduce an extension playing the role of the corresponding noncommutative phase space, namely by adding the commuting deformed derivatives in a consistent and nontrivial way; therefore, obtaining certain deformed Heisenberg algebra. This algebra has been studied in physical contexts, mainly in the case of the kappa-Minkowski space-time. Here, we equip the entire phase space algebra with a coproduct, so that it becomes an instance of a completed variant of a Hopf algebroid over a noncommutative base, where the base is the enveloping algebra.     

The Effect of Olive Fruit Fly Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) Infestation on Certain Chemical Parameters of Produced Olive Oils

Olives affected by active and damaging infestation (olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae (Rossi)) were assayed for their chemical composition. Biophenols were determined by HPLC, sterols, triterpenic dialcohols, and fatty acids by gas chromatography analysis. The acquired data were statistically analyzed. Oils produced from “Istrska belica” fruit affected by active infestation compared to the oils made from fruit affected by damaging infestation showed higher amounts of total oleuropein biofenols (377.3 versus (vs.) 106.6 mg/kg), total biophenols (755 vs. 377 mg/kg), lignans (85.3 vs. 32.9 mg/kg), the dialdehydic form of decarboxymethyl oleuropein aglycone (DMO-Agl-dA) (148.3 vs. 49.0 mg/kg), its oxidized form (DMO-Agl-dA)ox (35.2 vs. 8.5 mg/kg), the dialdehydic form of oleuropein aglycone (O-Agl-dA) (61.1 vs. 8.0 mg/kg), the dialdehydic form of ligstroside aglycone (L-Agl-dA) (63.5 vs. 28.0 mg/kg), the aldehydic form of oleuropein aglycone (O-Agl-A) (40.6 vs. 8.4 mg/kg), and lower amounts of tyrosol (Tyr) (6.0 vs. 13. 9 mg/kg) and the aldehydic form of ligstroside aglycone (L-Agl-A) (13.8 vs. 40.3 mg/kg). Higher values of stigmasterol (2.99%) and lower values of campesterol (2.25%) were determined in oils affected by damaging infestation; an increase in triterpenic dialcohols was also observed (3.04% for damaging and 1.62% for active infestation). Oils affected by damaging infestation, compared to active infestation, showed lower amounts of oleic acid (73.89 vs. 75.15%) and higher amounts of myristic (0.013 vs. 0.011%), linoleic (7.27 vs. 6.48%), and linolenic (0.74 vs. 0.61%) acids.     

Mappings of Ruled Surfaces in Simply Isotropic Space <Emphasis Type="Italic">I</Emphasis><Subscript>3</Subscript><Superscript>1</Superscript> that Preserve the Generators

In this paper we study some mappings of skew ruled surfaces in simply isotropic space which preserve the generators. We study isometries, conformal mappings and mappings which preserve the area. Furthermore, we study mappings of surfaces in I ₃ ¹ which preserve the asymptotic lines.Received December 18, 2001; in revised form July 12, 2002 Published online April 4, 2003     

Preparation and characterization of titania based nanowires

A new method for preparation of titania nanowires with diameter around 10 nm and length up to 2–3 μm is described. The precursor was prepared from sodium titanate by adding ethylene glycole (EG) and heating at temperature of 198°C for 6 h under reflux. The sodium titanate glycolate formed by this way aggregated into 1D nanostructures and was subsequently transformed into titania glycolate during a chemical treatment with 98% sulfuric acid. Titania nanowires with variable amount of anatase and rutile were prepared by heating to temperatures in the range 350–1000°C. The precursor as well as titania based samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Infrared spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy, High resolution transmission microscopy, Thermogravimetry, Differential thermal analysis, Evolved gas analysis and Emanation thermal analysis. The nitrogen adsorption/desorption was used for surface area and porosity determination. The photoactivity of the prepared titania samples was assessed by the photocatalytic decomposition of 4-chlorophenol in an aqueous slurry under UV irradiation of 365 nm wavelength.     

DSC study of stabilizing effect of antioxidant mixtures in styrene-butadiene rubber

The type of cooperation between antioxidants in the binary mixtures of four substituted diphenylamines and phenotiazine in the stabilization of styrene-butadiene rubber has been tested. Thermooxidation of the samples has been studied by differential scanning calorimetry under non-isothermal conditions. The protection factors of the individual stabilizers and their mixtures were determined. The synergy factors were applied to asses the type of cooperation of antioxidants in the mixtures. From their values it can be concluded that the type of cooperation depends on temperature. The highest synergistic effect has been observed for the mixture of phenotiazine and [4-(1-methyl-1-phenyl-ethyl)-phenyl]-phenylamine.     

Nowhere-zero 3-flows in Cayley graphs and Sylow 2-subgroups

Tutte’s 3-Flow Conjecture suggests that every bridgeless graph with no 3-edge-cut can have its edges directed and labelled by the numbers 1 or 2 in such a way that at each vertex the sum of incoming values equals the sum of outgoing values. In this paper we show that Tutte’s 3-Flow Conjecture is true for Cayley graphs of groups whose Sylow 2-subgroup is a direct factor of the group; in particular, it is true for Cayley graphs of nilpotent groups. This improves a recent result of Potočnik et al. (Discrete Math. 297:119–127, 2005) concerning nowhere-zero 3-flows in abelian Cayley graphs.