The separation of selenium from tellurium in hydrochloric acid media by solvent extraction with tri-butyl phosphate

The separation of selenium from tellurium in hydrochloric acid media by solvent extraction with tri-butyl phosphate has been studied. Extensive laboratory experiments have been carried out at bench scale and pilot scale with different extraction apparatus. Results indicate that under the experimental conditions a high degree of separation between selenium and tellurium can be achieved by using 30 vol% TBP diluted with kerosene as the organic extractant. A process for the separation of selenium from tellurium by selective extraction has been proposed.     

Swarm intelligence‐based anycast routing protocol in ubiquitous networks

As digital devices with communication capability become more pervasive, we are entering the era of ubiquitous computing, as predicted by Mark Weiser. In ubiquitous environments, distributed context management servers are deployed everywhere to provide information and computing resources for users anytime and anywhere. Smart handheld computing devices with context‐aware applications may retrieve context information from the nearest server. This study investigates the problem of routing packets to the nearest server in a ubiquitous environment. An anycast routing protocol based on swarm intelligence, referred to as ARPSI, is proposed to route packets dynamically to a nearby server in a mobile, ad hoc, wireless network. Based on swarm intelligence, ARPSI is able to find a short path to a neighboring server efficiently and quickly. Simulations are conducted to evaluate the performance of ARPSI and our simulation results show that ARPSI achieves a higher packet delivery ratio, shorter routing path to anycast servers, and lower control packet overhead than the AODV‐based anycast protocol (A‐AODV) protocol. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High‐Yield Electrochemical Production of Large‐Sized and Thinly Layered NiPS3 Flakes for Overall Water Splitting

Achieving large‐sized and thinly layered 2D metal phosphorus trichalcogenides with high quality and yield has been an urgent quest due to extraordinary physical/chemical characteristics for multiple applications. Nevertheless, current preparation methodologies suffer from uncontrolled thicknesses, uneven morphologies and area distributions, long processing times, and inferior quality. Here, a sonication‐free and fast (in minutes) electrochemical cathodic exfoliation approach is reported that can prepare large‐sized (typically ≈150 µm²) and thinly layered (≈70% monolayer) NiPS₃ flakes with high crystallinity and pure phase structure with a yield ≈80%. During the electrochemical exfoliation process, the tetra‐n‐butylammonium salt with a large ionic diameter is decomposed into gaseous species after the intercalation and efficiently expands the tightly stratified bulk NiPS₃ crystals, as revealed by in situ and ex situ characterizations. Atomically thin NiPS₃ flakes can be obtained by slight manual shaking rather than sonication, which largely preserves in‐plane structural integrity with large size and minimum damage. The obtained high quality NiPS₃ offers a new and ideal model for overall water splitting due to its inherent fully exposed S and P atoms that are often the active sites for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Consequently, the bifunctional NiPS₃ exhibits outstanding performance for overall water splitting.     

Sources of toxaphene and other organochlorine pesticides in North America as determined by air measurements and potential source contribution function analyses

A previous study from our laboratory suggested that the Gulf of Mexico might be a potential source of toxaphene to the United States. To investigate this hypothesis, we measured gas-phase toxaphene concentrations at sampling sites ranging from northern Michigan to southern Louisiana; the samples were collected every 12 days during 2002-2003. We also measured other organochlorine pesticides in these samples. We identified major source regions of each pesticide group using the potential source contribution function model with the Clausius-Clapeyron equation defining the criterion levels. These results indicate that southern cotton farms are major sources of both toxaphene and p,p'-DDE to the northern United States. In fact, there is a very strong correlation of toxaphene and DDE atmospheric concentrations at all sites, further indicating a common source. On the other hand, the Gulf of Mexico is not a major source of toxaphene or DDE. DDE's source region is similar to that of toxaphene but somewhat broader, reflecting DDT's historically more diversified use. The level of endosulfan in the atmosphere at all of the sites was similar, and PSCF modeling indicated that its sources were all toward the east of the sampling sites.     

Extraocular fast myosin heavy chain expression in the levator palpebrae and retractor bulbi muscles

PURPOSE: To determine whether the levator palpebrae superioris (LPS) and the retractor bulbi (RB) muscles, which share contractile characteristics with extraocular muscles (EOMs), express fast EOM-specific myosin heavy chain (MyHC) in the rabbit and other mammalian species. METHODS: Cryostat sections of rabbit eye and limb muscles were stained by indirect peroxidase immunohistochemical procedures using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), including one (4A6) against EOM-specific fast MyHC. Myosin heavy chain isoforms from these muscles were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and the 4A6-reactive component was identified by immunoblotting. RESULTS: MAb 4A6 stained muscle fibers in rabbit LPS and RB. SDS-PAGE resolved a rabbit EOM-specific MyHC isoform (band 1) from two other components (bands 2 and 3) that comigrated with limb fast MyHCs. MAb 4A6 reacted only with band 1. Rabbit LPS and RB also displayed corresponding MyHC components with the same mobilities and immunoreactivities as bands 1 to 3 in the EOM. MAb 4A6 also stained muscle fibers in monkey and cat LPS, but it failed to stain muscle fibers in cat RB and rat LPS and RB. CONCLUSIONS: The expression of EOM-specific fast MyHC in EOM, LPS, and RB reflect their common developmental origin and similar contractile characteristics. These properties set them apart from other skeletal muscle groups. Eye muscles may constitute a distinct muscle group or allotype characterized by unique properties, including their propensity or resistance to disease.     

The extraction of platinum from Pt(II) chloride solution by a quaternary ammonium compound

The fundamental aspects of the extraction and stripping of platinum (II) from its chloride solution by Aliquat 336 diluted with toluene have been studied. The extraction and stripping was at 99.5 and 97.6% equilibrium within 30 s and 20 min respectively. The percentage extraction increased slightly with decreasing hydrochloric acid concentration. In 0.1 mol dm^?3 hydrochloric acid, 1.0 volume percent Aliquat 336 in toluene could load 9.8 mmol dm^?3 of platinum (II). The percentage stripping of platinum (II) from Pt(II)-load organic solvent increased with increasing sodium bisulphite concentration. The enthalpy changes of extraction and of stripping were 12.8 and 114.9 kJ mol^?1 respectively. Both of the reactions were endothermic.     

RT loop flexibility enhances the specificity of Src family SH3 domains for HIV-1 Nef

Understanding the issue of specificity imposed in the interactions of SH3 domains has largely been addressed in studies investigating the interaction of proline-rich amino acid sequences derived from potential ligands for these domains. Although the interaction with this motif forms an essential platform in the binding of SH3 domains, in many cases little specificity is observed and the difference in affinity for so-called specific and nonspecific proline-rich sequences is not great. Furthermore, the binding interface between an SH3 domain and a protein ligand appears to encompass more interactions than are represented by that involving the proline-rich motif. Here we investigate the issue of specificity from the opposite point of view; namely, how does a ligand recognize different SH3 domains? We present the crystal structure of the unbound SH3 domain from hemopoietic cell kinase (Hck) which is a member of the Src family of tyrosine kinases. This structure reveals that, unlike the structures of other Src kinase SH3 domains, the RT loop region is highly mobile and lacks a network of hydrogen bonds that is elsewhere apparent. The RT loop has been shown to form a major part of the binding interface between SH3 domains and HIV-1 Nef. Thermodynamic data, derived from isothermal titration calorimetry, for the binding of Hck SH3 to HIV-1 Nef show that the binding of Hck (KD = 1.5 microM) is approximately an order of magnitude tighter than those of other Src family kinases that were investigated (Fyn, Lck, and Src). This increase in affinity is attributed to, among other effects, the inherent flexibility in the RT loop which does not require breaking the network of hydrogen bonds to adopt the conformation required for binding.     

The kinetics of reduction of selenious(IV) ions in hydrochloric acid with sulphur dioxide

The reduction of selenious ions to its elemental state has been found to be a function of selenious ion concentration, solution acidity, gas flow rate and temperature. The rate equation can be written as: where α = ?1/2, β = 1, γ = 0.9, E = ?53 411 kJ kg^?1mol^?1, R = 8314 kJ kg^?1 mol^?1 K^?1 and k₀ = 194. The reaction temperature starts to decrease when the conversion rate reaches a maximum. This observation can be used to determine the end of the reaction.     

Characterization of atmospheric particles in Seoul, Korea using SEM-EDX

Atmospheric particles in Seoul, Korea were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Particles were identified and characterized by their morphology and elemental compositions. The morphology of particles was closely coupled with elemental compositions, which provided information on sources and transport processes of aerosols. There were various types of combustion-derived particles identified such as fly ashes, soot, organic matters, tar balls, chars, and sulfur-containing particles. These anthropogenic particles mainly have spherical shape with nano- to micro-meter size. Char was, however, distinguished by irregular shape with varying size up to several micrometers. The sulfur-containing aggregates show a wide range of size, shape, and elemental composition. In addition, bioaerosol and mineral dust were the most abundant particles from natural sources.