Radium,uranium and thorium concentrations in low specific activity scales and in waters of some oil and gas production plants

Low specific activity scales consisting of alkaline earth metal carbonates and sulfates are often present in some gaseous and liquid hydrocarbon plants; these scales contain a certain concentration of radium, uranium and thorium, which can cause a risk of -irradiation and of internal radiocontamination when they must be mechanically removed. That being stated,²³⁸U,²³²Th and²²⁶Ra were determined in scales, sludges and waters coming from different plants.²³⁸U and²³²Th concentrations were found very low; the isotopes²³⁸U and²³⁴U resulted in radioactive equilibrium, whilst²³²Th and²²⁸Th were not always in equilibrium.²²⁶Ra concentration was higher in scales and sludges than in waters.     

Chemical and radiochemical characterization of depleted uranium (DU) in Kosovo soils

As is well known ammunitions containing depleted uranium (DU) were used by NATO during the Balkan war. The paper deals with the determination of uranium alpha emitting radiosotopes in Kosovo soils by chemical separation and alpha spectrometry. The samples were collected by CISAM (Centro Interforze Studi ed Applicazioni Militari, S. Piero a Grado, Livorno) in the period November 1999-April 2000. The DU distribution in soil appeared very disomogeneous; the isotope weight percentages for U-238, U-235 and U-234 resulted 99.76, 0.24 and 7.24.10(-4) respectively; consequently the activity distribution was 86.42%, 1.31%, 11.63% and the isotope ratios were 1.52.10(-2) and 0.134 for U-235/U-238 and U-234/U-238 showing clearly the presence of DU. A small peak at 4.49 MeV (U-236) in the alpha spectrum indicated that the used DU was the by-product of exhausted uranium reprocessing. In order to determine the chemical and physiological solubility of uranium a fractionation study was carried out by using the Tessier method: 55% of uranium showed a fair solubility, but 45% was solubilized only by 8 M HNO3.     

Frequency-domain method for discrete frequency noise prediction of rotors in arbitrary steady motion

A novel frequency-domain formulation for the prediction of the tonal noise emitted by rotors in arbitrary steady motion is presented. It is derived from Farassat's ‘Formulation 1A’, that is a time-domain boundary integral representation for the solution of the Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings equation, and represents noise as harmonic response to body kinematics and aerodynamic loads via frequency-response-function matrices. The proposed frequency-domain solver is applicable to rotor configurations for which sound pressure levels of discrete tones are much higher than those of broadband noise. The numerical investigation concerns the analysis of noise produced by an advancing helicopter rotor in blade–vortex interaction conditions, as well as the examination of pressure disturbances radiated by the interaction of a marine propeller with a non-uniform inflow.     

Intrinsic d-wave effects in YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) grain boundary Josephson junctions

We have measured the angular dependence of the Josephson critical current density (J(C)) in c-axis tilt biepitaxial grain boundary YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) junctions. We observe for the first time intrinsic d-wave pairing symmetry effects manifested as an oscillatory dependence of J(C) on angle. This intrinsic effect is evident even though spontaneous currents, possibly induced by faceting or barrier impurities, are observed in the grain boundaries.     

Electron-exchange processes on simple columns of kel-f supporting tetrachlorohydroquinone

The preparation of simple electron-exchange columns is reported. An organic porous material (Kel-F powder) is used to support a water-insoluble redox reagent. Of the organic compounds tested, tetrachlorohydroquinone was best. Very stable columns were obtained with a sufficiently high redox capacity (1.59 $\text{meq}\text{g}$ dry material) and a satisfactory reaction rate.The following oxidation reactions were carried out: Fe²⁺→Fe³⁺, Cu⁺→Cu²⁺, Sn²⁺→Sn⁴⁺, I^-→I,ascorbic acid → dehydroascorbic acid, as well as the following reduction reactions: Fe³⁺→Fe²⁺, I→I^-, Ce⁴⁺→Ce³⁺, V⁵⁺→V⁴⁺, Cr⁶⁺→Cr³⁺. The effect of hydrogen ion concentration on the redox reactions was also studied.The Kel-F-tetrachlorohydroquinone columns can be used for indirect titration of redox systems and for selective oxidations or reductions, e.g. Fe³⁺ in presence of Fe²⁺ and vice versa, Cr⁶⁺ in presence of Fe³⁺, Ce⁴⁺ in presence of Ce³⁺, ascorbic acid in the presence of glucose, and Sn²⁺ in presence of Sn⁴⁺ or Fe²⁺.     

The application of column redox-extraction chromatography to the separation of some actinide elements

The application of a new technique to the separation of some actinide elements by means of a single reducing and extracting column is described. Tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) was used as the extractant. The following reducing agents were supported on microporous polyethylene together with TOPO: tetrachlorohydroquinone, 2,3-dichloro-1,4-naphthahydroquinone, 2,5-di-tert-butylhydroquinone and 2,5-di-tert-pentylhydroquinone. The last compound was chosen for the separation experiments; it allowed quantitative reduction of plutonium to Pu(III) and of neptunium to Np(IV). The separations Pu(III)-Np(IV), Pu(III)-U(VI) and Am(III)-Np(IV) in 6 M hydrochloric acid were obtained.     

Quantitative Structure-Affinity Relationships of Dopamine D2 Receptor Antagonists: A Comparison between Orthopramides and 6-Methoxysalicylamides

A large series of orthopramides (= 2-methoxybenzamides), 6-methoxysalicylamides, and 2,6-dimethoxy-benzamides were examined for their affinity to the dopamine D₂ receptor. The binding data were correlated with physicochemical parameters and ¹³C-NMR chemical shifts using the cross-validated partial least-squares method and multiple linear regression analysis. The results quantitate the influence of electronic factors and lipophilicity to D₂ receptor binding. They also show that the N-[(1-ethylpyrroIidin-2-yl)methyl] and N-(1-benzylpiperidin-4-yl) side-chains affect the mode of binding of these compounds.     

NMR Conformational Study of Aminoalkylbenzamides,Aminoalkyl-o-anisamides,and Metoclopramide,a Dopamine Receptor Antagonist

The conformational behaviour of metoclopramide, a neuroleptic benzamide, and model compounds was investigated byt ¹ H-NMR spectroscopy. An intramolecular amide-methoxy H-bond is shown to exist in CDCl₃-solution, but not in D₂O-solution, independently of the length and protonation state of the basic side-chain. This H-bond creates a virtual cycle which may be a key feature for the binding of neuroleptic benzamides to the dopamine receptor. The conformational behaviour of the aminoethyl side-chain is shown to be markedly condition-dependent. For metoclopramide and its analogues in their protonated form, the gauche- and trans- rotamers have identical energies in D₂O-as well as in CDCl₃-solutins. For the non-protonated molecules, the trans-rotamer is favoured in D₂O-solutin, while the gauche-rotamer is favoured in CDCl₃-solution (ΔG°?|0.5|kcal/mol in both cases). The side-chain conformation of neuroleptic benzamides is discussed in terms of receptor affinity.     

Intrinsic and Intramolecular Lipophilicity Effects in O-Glucuronides

In this study, we compared the lipophilicity of O-glucuronides and their aglycones. Distribution coefficients (log D) and P values of neutral species (log P) were determined by centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) in octanol/buffer systems. Two-phase potentiometry was also used to measure the log P value of some lipophilic solutes. The experimentally determined global influence of glucuronidation on lipophilicity, obtained as the difference (decrement) log P_{(glucuronide)} ? log P_(aglycone), was found to be ?1.30 ± 0.16 (n = 4) for glucuronides of alcohols (methyl, menthyl, neomenthyl, and chloramphenicol O-glucuronide). The mean decrement was ?2.06 ± 0.31 (n = 9) for glucuronides of phenols (phenyl, p-nitrophenyl, 1-naphthyl, 6-bromo-2-naphthyl, 4-methylumbelliferyl, 3-coumarinyl, phenolphthalein, 4′-benzophenonyl O-glucuronide, and diflunisal phenolic glucuronide). For the acylglucuronide of diflunisal and its rearrangement isomers, the mean decrement was ?1.80 ± 0.08 (n = 4; range ?1.7 to ?1.9). Differences in through-bond proximity effects as parametrized in the CLOGP algorithm seem to account for much of this difference. Conformational factors may also play a role, although it appears modest and unassessable for the glucuronides investigated here. The results imply that in vivo glucuronidation should have a stronger influence on the excretion of phenols than on that of alcohols.