Contact angle of surfactant solutions on precipitated surfactant surfaces

In this study, the contact angle of a saturated aqueous surfactant solution onto the surface of a precipitate of that surfactant is investigated. Those precipitates include fatty acids (C₁₀, C₁₂, C₁₄, C₁₆, and C₁₈), sodium salts of fatty acids (C₁₄, C₁₆, and C₁₈), calcium salts of fatty acids (C₈, C₁₀, C₁₂, C₁₄, C₁₆, and C₁₈). On virgin surfaces, free fatty acids and calcium salts of fatty acids have advancing contact angles (θ_A) between 77 and 92°, with little dependence on alkyl chain length for C₁₂ and higher alkyl chains. The sodium salt of a fatty acid has a lower θ_A than the free fatty or the calcium salt of the soap. The calcium salt of dodecyl sulfate has a lower θ_A than the calcium salt of dodecanoic acid (θ_A = 46 vs. 82°), but the calcium salt of the 18-carbon hydrophobes showed nearly the same contact angle for the soap and the alkyl sulfate. Greasiness, or slipperyness, or a scummy feel of a precipitated surfactant does not necessarily correspond to a hydrophobic surface.     

Mechanical Properties of Silicon Oxycarbide Ceramic Foams

The mechanical properties of ceramic foams obtained through a novel process that uses the direct foaming and pyrolysis of preceramic polymer/polyurethane solutions were investigated. The elastic modulus, flexural strength, and compressive strengths were obtained for foams in the as-pyrolyzed condition; values up to 7.1 GPa, 13 MPa, and 11 MPa, respectively, were obtained. The strength of the foam was virtually unchanged at temperatures up to 1200°C in air; however, long-term exposure at 1200°C led to a moderate degradation in strength, which was attributed to the evolution of intrastrut porosity during the oxidation of residual free carbon, as well as devitrification of the foams struts.     

DIOS-MSEED: A chip-based method for measurement of enantiomeric excess by kinetic resolution/mass spectrometry

The determination of enantiomeric excess by kinetic resolution mass spectrometry has been implemented with the Desorption/Ionization On Silicon (DIOS) MS technique. Measurements can thereby be made much more rapidly than was previously possible, bringing this general methodology for screening asymmetric catalysts closer to true high-throughput status.     

Methanogenesis of black liquor in a two‐stage biphasic reactor system using an immobilized cell system

The methanogenesis of black liquor from pulp and paper mill was achieved using immobilized cell technology in a laboratory‐scale two‐stage reactor system run continuously for 340 days. The optimum organic loading rate for the anaerobic treatment of black liquor was 8.0 kgm^?3d^?1 at which the % COD removal, biogas production and methane content were 55%, 11 dm³d^?1 and 71%, respectively. Organic loading rates above 8.0 kgm^?3d^?1 were observed to be toxic to the methanogenic bacteria and resulted in decreased methane content, biogas and COD removal. The applicability of the system to the large‐scale processing and treatment of paper mill liquid waste is discussed. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry     

Synthesis,conductivity, and electromagnetic wave absorption properties of chiral poly Schiff bases and their silver complexes

Four chiral poly Schiff bases were synthesized via polycondensation between l‐ lysine and p‐benzoquinone, 1,4‐naphthoquinone, dibenzoyl, and 2,3‐butanedione, respectively. Subsequently, the silver coordination polymers of the chiral poly Schiff base were prepared upon silver ions coordinating with the chiral poly Schiff bases. The structures of the polymers were characterized with IR, UV‐vis, GPC, elemental analysis, and optical activity analysis. The properties of polymers were studied through conductivity testing and electromagnetic parameter testing. The results show that they own good electrical conductvities, and the electrical conductivity of chiral poly‐(l‐ lysine(2,3‐butanedione)) Schiff base silver complex can reach 3.7 × 10² S/cm. The electromagnetic wave absorption properties of four silver complexes were calculated using transmission line theory, the maximum reflection loss of chiral poly‐(l‐ lysine(p‐benzoquinone)) Schiff base silver complex can reach ?45.9 dB at a thickness of 5 mm, while that of achiral poly‐(dl ‐lysine(p‐benzoquinone)) Schiff base silver complex is ?20.1 dB at a thickness of 5 mm. The enhanced microwave absorbing properties were attributed to the chiral feature. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42498.     

Decoding the Chemical Language of Motile Bacteria by Using High‐Throughput Microfluidic Assays

Motile bacteria navigate chemical environments by using chemoreceptors. The output of these protein sensors is linked to motility machinery and enables bacteria to follow chemical gradients. Understanding the chemical specificity of different families of chemoreceptors is essential for predicting and controlling bacterial behavior in ecological niches, including symbiotic and pathogenic interactions with plants and mammals. The identification of chemical(s) recognized by specific families of receptors is limited by the low throughput and complexity of chemotaxis assays. To address this challenge, we developed a microfluidic‐based chemotaxis assay that is quantitative, simple, and enables high‐throughput measurements of bacterial response to different chemicals. Using the model bacterium Escherichia coli, we demonstrated a strategy for identifying molecules that activate chemoreceptors from a diverse compound library and for determining how global behavioral strategies are tuned to chemical environments.     

Comparison of 10,11‐Dehydrocurvularin Polyketide Synthases from Alternaria cinerariae and Aspergillus terreus Highlights Key Structural Motifs

Iterative type I polyketide synthases (PKSs) from fungi are multifunctional enzymes that use their active sites repeatedly in a highly ordered sequence to assemble complex natural products. A phytotoxic macrolide with anticancer properties, 10,11‐dehydrocurvularin (DHC), is produced by cooperation of a highly reducing (HR) iterative PKS and a non‐reducing (NR) iterative PKS. We have identified the DHC gene cluster in Alternaria cinerariae, heterologously expressed the active HR PKS (Dhc3) and NR PKS (Dhc5) in yeast, and compared them to corresponding proteins that make DHC in Aspergillus terreus. Phylogenetic analysis and homology modeling of these enzymes identified variable surfaces and conserved motifs that are implicated in product formation.     

Revisiting analysis of phthalate plasticizers concentration in poly(vinyl chloride)

The method of the efficient analysis of di(2‐diethylhexyl) phthalate, tri(2‐ethylhexyl) trimellitate, di(2‐ethylhexyl) terephthalate, and other phthalate plasticizers concentrations in plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) was developed. The method is based on quantitative dissolution of the PVC sample in methyl ethyl ketone with the consequent precipitation of PVC with hexane and concentration of phthalate in an organic layer. A capillary column‐based gas chromatographic technique for phthalates separation and quantification was developed and used in conjunction with the PVC and phthalates dissolution technique. The developed method of phthalate plasticizers analysis proved to be relatively fast, reproducible, and straightforward. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 21:197–204, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

High-Fat Diet Alters Serum Fatty Acid Profiles in Obesity Prone Rats: Implications for In Vitro Studies

High‐fat diets (HFD) are commonly used in rodents to induce obesity, increase serum fatty acids and induce lipotoxicity in various organs. Invitro studies commonly utilize individual free fatty acids (FFA) to study lipid exposure in an effort to model what is occurring in vivo; however, these approaches are not physiological as tissues are exposed to multiple fatty acids in vivo. Here we characterize circulating lipids in obesity‐prone rats fed an HFD in both fasted and fed states with the goal of developing physiologically relevant fatty acid mixtures for subsequent in vitro studies. Rats were fed an HFD (60 % kcal fat) or a control diet (10 % kcal fat) for 3 weeks; liver tissue and both portal and systemic blood were collected. Fatty acid profiles and absolute concentrations of triglycerides (TAG) and FFA in the serum and TAG, diacylglycerol (DAG) and phospholipids in the liver were measured. Surprisingly, both systemic and portal serum TAG were ~40 % lower in HFD‐fed compared to controls. Overall, compared to the control diet, HFD feeding consistently induced an increase in the proportion of circulating polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) with a concomitant decline in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and saturated fatty acids (SFA) in both serum TAG and FFA. The elevations of PUFA were mostly attributed to increases in n‐6 PUFA, linoleic acid and arachidonic acid. In conclusion, fatty acid mixtures enriched with linoleic and arachidonic acid in addition to SFA and MUFA should be utilized for in vitro studies attempting to model lipid exposures that occur during in vivo HFD conditions.