Selective Transport of Bismuth Ions through Supported Liquid Membrane

A new supported liquid membrane (SLM) system was prepared for the selective transport of bismuth ions from the aqueous feed into the aqueous permeate phase. The support of the SLM was a thin porous polypropylene or polyvinylidene fluoride membrane impregnated with diisooctyldithiophosphinic acid (Cyanex 301) as mobile carrier in 4‐chloroacetophenon as organic solvent. Cyanex 301 acts as a highly selective carrier for the uphill transport of bismuth ions through the SLM. In the presence of HNO₃ as a metal ion acceptor in the strip solution, the transport of bismuth ions into the strip side reached 70 % of the initial feed concentration after 3.5 hours. The selectivity and efficiency of bismuth transport from aqueous solutions containing different mixtures of cations were investigated. In the presence of P₂O₇^2– ions as suitable masking agent in the feed solution, the interfering effects of other cations were completely eliminated. The selective transport of bismuth through SLM is superior to liquid‐liquid extraction or through bulk liquid membranes. This is due to the high efficiency. The SLM reduces the solvent requirements, combines extraction and stripping operations in a single process and allows the use of highly selective extractants. The system may be applied to samples containing very low bismuth concentrations.     

Software reuse issues and perspectives

Software reuse could be implemented at several levels including the specification level, design level, program/subprogram library level, code level, and object-code level. However, reuse has a distinct definition for each of the above-mentioned levels. Moreover, the techniques applied to organize and manage reuse is different from one level to another. What's more, the complexity of the reuse methods and techniques increases as it moves from the specification level to the code and object-code levels. On the positive side, the time and space efficiency resulting from the application of reuse techniques improves in the same direction. Specification and design levels are at higher levels of abstraction than the other reuse levels, therefore their potential for accommodating reuse is greater and their adaptation to new applications can be simpler. However, the reuse process of the specification and design levels ultimately involves coding (be it system-generated or manual), testing, and debugging. On the other hand, reuse at code and object-code levels essentially eliminates coding and overall testing, hence it is more economical where a large collection of reusable software is organized in a software library     

Organic Additives for the Enhancement of Laminar Flow in a Brain‐Vessels‐Like Microchannel Assembly

Organic polymers were extracted from okra, aloe vera, and hibiscus leaves and used as drag‐reducing additives (DRAs) to enhance the laminar flow in custom‐made microchannels that simulate the human brain vessels. The experiment was conducted using an open‐loop microfluidic system. The flow enhancement performance was evaluated as the function of percentage of flow increment of mucilage additives at different concentrations. Okra mucilage showed greater flow enhancement performance at higher mucilage concentration while both aloe vera and hibiscus mucilage performed better at lower additive concentration. The findings prove the potential of these organic polymers as DRAs to enhance the blood flow.     

Contact dynamic modeling of a liquid droplet between two approaching porous materials

A computational fluid dynamics model based on a finite difference solution to mass and momentum conservation equations (Navier–Stokes equations) for a liquid droplet transport between two porous or nonporous contacting surfaces (CSs) is developed. The CS dynamic (equation of motion) and the spread of the incompressible liquid available on the primary surface for transfer are coupled with the Navier–Stokes equations. The topologies of the spread dynamic between and inside both surfaces (primary and CSs) are compared with experimental data. The amount of mass being transferred into the CS, predicted by the model, is also compared to the experimental measurements. The impact of the initial velocity on the spread topology and mass transfer into the pores is addressed. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 2346–2353, 2014     

A Distributed Geotechnical Information Management and Exchange Architecture

Web services can help facilitate the exchange and utilization of geotechnical information. Such data is of critical interest to a growing number of municipal, state, and federal agencies as well as private enterprises. However, the lack of service infrastructures among heterogeneous data sources operating under different administrative controllers hampers the full use of geotechnical information. This article describes a Web-services-based way to manage geotechnical data via XML.     

Combined costimulation blockade plus rapamycin but not cyclosporine produces permanent engraftment

BACKGROUND: Combined treatment of allograft recipients with anti-CD40 ligand and CTLA-4Ig (costimulation blockade) is a powerful promising albeit not consistently tolerizing therapy. It would be desirable to use an effective conventional immunosuppressive regimen in low doses or for a short course as an adjunct; however, cyclosporine treatment drastically blunts the ability of costimulation blockade to produce long-term engraftment. METHODS: Short courses of cyclosporine or rapamycin were compared as adjuncts to costimulation blockade in the murine BALB/c to C3H/He heterotopic cardiac allograft model. RESULTS: Although cyclosporine therapy blocked the capacity of costimulation blockade to produce permanent engraftment, combined rapamycin and costimulation blockade treatment produced permanent engraftment. CONCLUSION: A theoretical basis for the differing effects of cyclosporine and rapamycin upon the outcome of costimulation blockade is forwarded. Combined use of costimulation blockade and rapamycin may provide a means to bring costimulation blockade into the clinic.     

Schiff base complex of Cu immobilized on MCM-41 as reusable catalyst for efficient oxidative coupling of thiols and oxidation of sulfides using hydrogen peroxide

Schiff base complex of copper-functionalized MCM-41 (Cu-complex@MCM-41) was synthesized and used as an efficient and novel heterogeneous catalyst for the oxidative coupling of thiols into corresponding disulfides and oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides using hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) as the oxidant. An aliphatic and aromatic series of sulfides and thiols including various functional groups were successfully converted into corresponding products. The all products were obtained in good to excellent yields. The mesoporous catalyst is characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, BET, XRD, SEM, EDS and TGA. Recovery of the catalyst is easily achieved by simple filtration and reused for several consecutive runs without significant loss of its catalytic efficiency.     

Dendrigraft with citric acid on acrylonitrile/acrylic acid copolymer electrospun fibres

Acrylonitrile/acrylic acid copolymers were synthesized with different mole fractions (1, 2, 5 and 10 mol%) of acrylic acid (AA) in the feed by aqueous suspension polymerization, and bead‐free fibres (295–375 nm in diameter) were made from the copolymers in dimethylformamide solutions by electrospinning. In a heterogeneous system containing electrospun fibre mats, dendritic molecules were grown by reaction between carboxylic acid of AA and –OH groups of citric acid activated by dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. The products were analysed using ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies, density determination, scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and pH response properties. With decreasing AA content, the isotacticity of the copolymers decreases with a more random distribution of the co‐monomers which leads to higher percentage conversions of dendrigraft due to reduced steric hindrance. On the formation of dendrigraft, the percentage conversion of the reactions decreases with an increase of generation number and AA content. A reduction of density for the first generation and then an increase with increasing generation are observed. During oxidation stabilization of fibres with a decrease of AA content and an increase in generation number, the amount of liberated heat increases. Fibres containing more carboxylic groups show significantly greater amounts of swelling/de‐swelling in basic and acidic media, respectively. To be used as nanocarbon fibre precursors, or as active particles for loading with guest molecules, or as pH actuators, the first generation of dendrigrafted fibres are expected to have the greatest potential among the various samples examined. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry