Sorption of aurocyanide and tetrachloroaurate onto resin with guanidine ligand—an XPS approach

The guanidine ligand attached to vinylbenzyl chloride matrix as well as its sorption ability to tetrachloroaurate and dicyanoaurate ions were investigated upon using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The form of metallic gold, Au(0), was not observed on gold loaded resin surface when solutions of tetrachloroaurate or potassium dicyanoaurate were used. Complete elution of gold was achieved for both regeneration media: thiourea solution and mixture of sodium hydroxide and benzoate. The results demonstrate that XPS can also be a powerful technique for the analysis of the oxidation state of sorbed metal and can be a suitable method for the confirmation of functional groups incorporated in the polymer.     

Dielectric dispersion in [N(C2H5)4]2ZnCl4 single crystal

Temperature dependence of the complex dielectric permittivity of [N(C₂H₅)₄]₂ZnCl₄ crystal was measured in the frequency range 300 Hz / MHz. Jump-wise changes in the real and imaginary components of ε* were observed for the three crystallographic directions at the phase transition temperature. The dielectric dispersion clearly apparent in the high-temperature phase, rapidly disappears at the phase transition. The anomalous changes in the dielectric permittivity are related to vibrations of the tetraethylammonium ion. The activation energy of these vibrations amounts to 40 kJ/mol.     

Relations between cadmium and magnesium and aronia fractional dietary fibre

The aim of this investigation was to analyse the composition of dietary fibre from aronia pomace preparations and to evaluate its influence on cadmium and magnesium binding. The authors wanted also to estimate to what extent additional enzymatic processing could affect the sorption capacity of the aronia fibre.     

Estimation of Musical Sound Separation Algorithm Effectiveness Employing Neural Networks

Blind separation of musical sounds contained in sound mixtures is a challenging and difficult task. It is due to the fact that in Western music, mixed harmonic sources may be correlated with each other, i.e. their harmonic partials might be overlapping in the frequency domain if the signals remain in harmonic relation. Evaluation of the separation results is also problematic, since analysis of the energy-based error between the original signals used for mixing and the separated ones, in some cases, do not correspond with perceptual evaluation results. In this paper, four separation algorithms, engineered by the Authors, are presented. Then, musical instrument sound identification based on artificial neural networks is performed as a means of evaluating the performance of the separation algorithms. Results are discussed and conclusions are derived.     

Electron spin relaxation in solids-an application to spontaneously occurring radical centre in phenol-formaldehyde resins

An outline of electron spin-relaxation is briefly presented with mechanisms and processes of spin-lattice relaxation in ionic and amorphous solids. Electron spin resonance (EPR) and pulsed EPR measurements were performed in the temperature range 4-300 K on a radical occurring in a dried resol phenol-formaldehyde resin. The radical appears in a small concentration of about 1/spl times/10/sup 16/ radicals/g in 30/spl deg/C dried samples and the number of the radicals increases continuously with time up to 2/spl times/10/sup 17/ radicals/g after 100 days. Computer simulations of the EPR spectrum show that breaking of the dimethylene ether linkage probably forms the radical during synthesis reactions. Electron spin-lattice relaxation rate increases relatively slowly on heating and at <80 K is determined by interactions with two-level tunnelling systems in the polymer structure. For higher temperatures the relaxation is governed by interactions with centres having energy levels split by 298 cm/sup -1/. Phase relaxation is described by the phase memory time with rigid lattice limit T/sub M//sup 0/=2 /spl mu/s. This time is shortened above 100 K by thermally activated radical molecule motions with activation energy 85 cm/sup -1/. The electron spin echo envelope modulation (ESEEM) spectrum shows unresolved peaks at /sup 1/H indicating strong molecular dynamics and delocalisation of the unpaired electron.     

miR-205-5p Downregulation and ZEB1 Upregulation Characterize the Disseminated Tumor Cells in Patients with Invasive Ductal Breast Cancer

Background: Dissemination of breast cancer (BC) cells through the hematogenous or lymphogenous vessels leads to metastatic disease in one-third of BC patients. Therefore, we investigated the new prognostic features for invasion and metastasis. Methods: We evaluated the expression of miRNAs and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) genes in relation to CDH1/E-cadherin changes in samples from 31 patients with invasive ductal BC including tumor centrum (TU-C), tumor invasive front (TU-IF), lymph node metastasis (LNM), and CD45-depleted blood (CD45-DB). Expression of miRNA and mRNA was quantified by RT-PCR arrays and associations with clinico-pathological characteristics were statistically evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: We did not verify CDH1 regulating associations previously described in cell lines. However, we did detect extremely high ZEB1 expression in LNMs from patients with distant metastasis, but without regulation by miR-205-5p. Considering the ZEB1 functions, this overexpression indicates enhancement of metastatic potential of lymphogenously disseminated BC cells. In CD45-DB samples, downregulated miR-205-5p was found in those expressing epithelial and/or mesenchymal markers (CTC+) that could contribute to insusceptibility and survival of hematogenously disseminated BC cells mediated by increased expression of several targets including ZEB1. Conclusions: miR-205-5p and potentially ZEB1 gene are promising candidates for markers of metastatic potential in ductal BC.     

Multiple fault analog circuit testing by sensitivity analysis

Analog circuit testing is considered to be a very difficult task. This difficulty is mainly due to the lack of fault models and accessibility to internal nodes. To overcome this problem, an approach is presented for analog circuit modeling and testing. The circuit modeling is based on first-order sensitivity computation. The testability of the circuit is analyzed by the multiple-fault model and by functional testing. Component deviations are deduced by measuring a number of output parameters, and through sensitivity analysis and tolerance computation. Using this approach, adequate tests are identified for testing catastrophic and soft faults. Some experimental results are presented for simple models as well as multiple-fault models.     

Thallium in soils and stream sediments of a Zn-Pb mining and smelting area

Thallium was determined in 120 samples of soil and 30 samples of stream sediments from the southeastern part of the Silesian-Cracowian zinc-lead ore deposits. Soil samples were taken from topsoils (0.0-0.2 m) and bottom soils (0.8 and 1.0 m). Thallium was determined by flow-injection-differential-pulse anodic stripping voltammetry. The samples were decomposed sequentially with 73% hydrofluoric acid and a mixture of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The results showed that zinc-lead ore mining as well as their processing and smelting leads to a significant increase of thallium in the top layer of soil and in stream sediments. The highest recorded concentration was 150 ppm Tl for stream sediment and 35 ppm for a soil sample. Thallium concentration in small rivers from the investigated area was by 2 orders of magnitude higher than in the reference area. The highest recorded concentration being 3.24 microg L(-1).     

Calibration of permeation passive samplers with silicone membranes based on physicochemical properties of the analytes

Passive sampling is a very attractive alternative to active sampling due to its simplicity and low cost. Among the passive samplers used in air analysis, permeation passive samplers are the least affected by ambient conditions, including humidity, air currents, and temperature changes. The biggest drawback of permeation passive samplers is the need to calibrate them experimentally for each individual target analyte. The paper presents the results of research on the calibration of permeation passive samplers based on physicochemical properties of the analytes. Strong correlations were found between the calibration constants of the samplers and the number of carbon atoms among families of compounds (R2 ranging from 0.8507 for alcohols to 0.9995 for aromatic hydrocarbons), the molecular weights of the compounds (R2 = 0.8742), their boiling points (R2 = 0.8911), and linear temperature-programmed retention indexes (R2 = 0.9225). The last correlation makes it possible to estimate the calibration constants for unidentified analytes, which is impossible when the conventional procedure is used. This makes it possible to deploy permeation passive samplers in the same way in which active sampling is deployed.     

Urinary volatile profiles of pine vole,Microtus pinetorum,and their endocrine dependency

The volatile compounds identified by combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry inMicrotus pinetorum urine include alcohols, aldehydes, hydrocarbons, ketones, nitriles, and pyrazines. Several lactone derivatives were found to be characteristic urinary substances of this species. Ovariectomy depressed concentrations of only five out of a great number of profile constituents. Elevating estrogen levels (by exposing females to male-soiled bedding or treating them with estradiol) tends to depress the urinary concentration of a number of selected volatiles. Estrogen implantation provoked a periodic increase in the level of three compounds (nonanal, benzal-dehyde, and an unidentified substance). The volatile profile of castrate male urine was similar to that of intact male urine. Female urine contained -octanoic lactone and two pyrazine derivatives in higher concentrations andp-methyI-propenylbenzene in a lower concentration, when compared to male urine. No qualitative differences between the urinary profiles of males and females were observed.