59,656 research outputs found
New performing GC columns with unmatched separation capabilities
No full textGas chromatography (GC) is widely used for qualitative and quantitative analysis in numerous fields, such as petroleum, chemical industry, agriculture, environmental protection, medicine, and so on, due to its high
versatility, high selectivity, simplicity of use, analysis speed, and low sample consumption. The column is the heart of a GC instrumentation, which allows the analyte separation and their recognition and quantification. Commercial columns do not always allow a complete peak separation when compounds (i.e., isomers) are very
similar in molecular weight, polarity, and vapor pressure. The choice of the correct stationary phase, with high selectivity towards target analytes, is the key to obtaining the required chromatographic separation and the subsequent qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Considering the rapid polymer science development and the growing demand for new columns with
improved resolution capabilities, in this work novel stationary phases for capillary GC have been designed, synthesized, and characterized in terms of polarity range, resolution, column efficiency, thermal stability, filmforming properties, and support-deactivating capacity1-5. The separation features of these novel stationary phases allow high-resolution performances for a wide range of compounds, like aromatic anilines, xylenes, aromatic amines, halogenated benzenes, and aromatic aldehydes, with marked capabilities toward isomer separations.References:
[1] T. Sun, M. Ba, Y. Song, W. Li, Y. Zhang, Z. Cai, S. Hu, X. Liu, D. Nardiello, M. Quinto, Analytica Chimica Acta, 2024, 1291, art. no. 342221.
[2] T. Sun, R. Chen, Q. Huang, M. Ba, Z. Cai, H. Chen, Y. Qi, H. Chen, X. Liu, D. Nardiello, M. Quinto, Analytica
Chimica Acta, 2023, 1251, art. no. 340979.
[3] T. Sun, R. Chen, Q. Huang, M. Ba, Z. Cai, S. Hu, X. Liu, D. Nardiello, M. Quinto, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 2022, 14 50, pp. 56132-56142
[4] R. Chen, Z. Cai, W. Li, Q. Huang, D. Nardiello, M. Quinto, X. Liu, S. Hu, T. Sun, Chemistry and Biodiversity, 2022,
19, art. no. e202200829
[5] Q. Huang, Z. Cai, R. Chen, W. Zhang, D. Nardiello, M. Quinto, X. Liu, S. Hu, T. Sun, Microchemical Journal, 2022,
183, art. no. 10808
Discovering Africa. The Dark Continent in the literary reportages by Ryszard Kapuściński. The sun
No full textThe author makes an attempt to show the concept of the sun as a part of the African reality revealed in the literary reportages. She tries both to answer the question how the sun is perceived and evaluated by the reporter and Africans as well as to reconstruct and introduce the linguistic and stylistic material by means of which the writer creates the image of the sun.Uniwersytet w BiałymstokuKapuściński R., 2013, Heban, Warszawa.Chylak-Wińska E., 2007, Afryka Kapuścińskiego, Poznań.Domosławski A., 2010, Kapuściński non-fiction, Warszawa.Dzięglewski M. 2009, Reportaże Ryszarda Kapuścińskiego: źródło poznania społeczeństw i kultur, Lublin.Glensk U., 2012, Po Kapuścińskim. Szkice o reportażu, Kraków.Horodecka M., 2010, Zbieranie głosów. Sztuka opowiadania Ryszarda Kapuścińskiego, Gdańsk.Lakoff G., Johnsosn M., 1988, Metafory w naszym życiu, Warszawa.Tokarski R., 2004, Semantyka barw we współczesnej polszczyźnie, Lublin.Wysocka A., 2014, Ikoniczność składni wypowiedzi dziennikarskiej. O roli sekwencyjności w relacjach Ryszarda Kapuścińskiego z przebiegu dramatycznych wydarzeń, [w:] Beiträge der Europäischen Slavistischen Linguistic (Polyslav), t. 17, R.E. Gutiérrez, M. Falkowska, E. Kislova, M. Stępień, S. Terekhova, München, s. 219–231.Wysocka A., Horror BIURKA według Ryszarda Kapuścińskiego. Słowo w tekście publicystycznym a skrypty kulturowe, w tym tomie (s. 351–370).27528
Extension of the sun-synchronous Orbit
No full textThrough careful consideration of the orbit perturbation force due to the oblate nature of the primary body a secular variation of the ascending node angle of a near-polar orbit can be induced without expulsion of propellant. Resultantly, the orbit perturbations can be used to maintain the orbit plane in, for example, a near-perpendicular (or at any other angle) alignment to the Sun-line throughout the full year of the primary body; such orbits are normally termed Sun-synchronous orbits [1, 2]. Sun-synchronous orbits about the Earth are typically near-circular Low-Earth Orbits (LEOs), with an altitude of less than 1500 km. It is normal to design a LEO such that the orbit period is synchronised with the rotation of the Earth‟s surface over a given period, such that a repeating ground-track is established. A repeating ground-track, together with the near-constant illumination conditions of the ground-track when observed from a Sun-synchronous orbit, enables repeat observations of a target over an extended period under similar illumination conditions [1, 2]. For this reason, Sun-synchronous orbits are extensively used by Earth Observation (EO) platforms, including currently the Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT), the second European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS-2) and many more. By definition, a given Sun-synchronous orbit is a finite resource similar to a geostationary orbit. A typical characterising parameter of a Sun-synchronous orbit is the Mean Local Solar Time (MLST) at descending node, with a value of 1030 hours typical. Note that ERS-1 and ERS-2 used a MLST at descending node of 1030 hours ± 5 minutes, while ENVISAT uses a 1000 hours ± 5 minutes MLST at descending node [3]. Following selection of the MLST at descending node and for a given desired repeat ground-track, the orbit period and hence the semi-major axis are fixed, thereafter assuming a circular orbit is desired it is found that only a single orbit inclination will enable a Sun-synchronous orbit [2]. As such, only a few spacecraft can populate a given repeat ground-track Sun-synchronous orbit without compromise, for example on the MLST at descending node. Indeed a notable feature of on-going studies by the ENVISAT Post launch Support Office is the desire to ensure sufficient propellant remains at end-of-mission for re-orbiting to a graveyard orbit to ensure the orbital slot is available for future missions [4]. An extension to the Sun-synchronous orbit is considered using an undefined, non-orientation constrained, low-thrust propulsion system. Initially the low-thrust propulsion system will be considered for the free selection of orbit inclination and altitude while maintaining the Sun-synchronous condition. Subsequently the maintenance of a given Sun-synchronous repeat-ground track will be considered, using the low-thrust propulsion system to enable the free selection of orbit altitude. An analytical expression will be developed to describe these extensions prior to then validating the analytical expressions within a numerical simulation of a spacecraft orbit. Finally, an analysis will be presented on transfer and injection trajectories to these orbits
POLAR investigation of the Sun—POLARIS
No full textThe POLAR Investigation of the Sun (POLARIS) mission uses a combination of a gravity assist and solar sail propulsion to place a spacecraft in a 0.48 AU circular orbit around the Sun with an inclination of 75° with respect to solar equator. This challenging orbit is made possible by the challenging development of solar sail propulsion. This first extended view of the high-latitude regions of the Sun will enable crucial observations not possible from the ecliptic viewpoint or from Solar Orbiter. While Solar Orbiter would give the first glimpse of the high latitude magnetic field and flows to probe the solar dynamo, it does not have sufficient viewing of the polar regions to achieve POLARIS’s primary objective: determining the relation between the magnetism and dynamics of the Sun’s polar regions and the solar cycle
-analogues of two supercongruences of Z.-W. Sun
No full textsummary:We give several different -analogues of the following two congruences of \hbox {Z.-W. Sun}: where is an odd prime, is a positive integer, and is the Jacobi symbol. The proofs of them require the use of some curious -series identities, two of which are related to Franklin's involution on partitions into distinct parts. We also confirm a conjecture of the latter author and Zeng in 2012
ISOMER SEPARATIONS BY INNOVATIVE GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY STATIONARY PHASES
No full textThe chromatographic separation of aromatic amines and xylenes isomers represents a big issue in chemical and petroleum industries, owing to their high similarity in terms of molecular sizes, polarity, and boiling points: as a result, commercial columns very often do not allow their complete peak separation. For this reason, several typologies of materials with different structures and properties have been developed and proposed as gas chromatography stationary phases in recent years. Macrocycles and ionic liquid-based chain-typed copolymers have emerged, due to their special chromatographic selectivity and separation mechanisms, resulting from their three-dimensional structures and outstanding thermal stability. Very recently, innovative stationary phases based on functionalized calixarene-polyethylene glycol (C4A-mPEG) [1], and amphiphilic triblock copolymer bonded with benzimidazolium ionic liquid (TCP-Bim) [2] were designed, characterized, and used for GC separations of aromatic isomers. The separation features of the C4A-mPEG stationary phase, resulting from multiple molecular recognition processes with analytes, including π-π, H-bonding, dipole-dipole, and van der Waals interactions, allowed to obtain high-resolution performances for a wide range of compounds and their isomers, especially benzaldehydes, phenols, and anilines. Moreover, compared with 4-tertbutyl calix[4]arene (C4A) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) stationary phases, a higher resolving capability was also observed for the separation of toluidine and xylidine isomers. The separation capabilities of the TCP-Bim columns are attributable to different analyte-stationary phase interaction mechanisms, arising from the particular TCP-Bim structure that combines ionic liquid and copolymer peculiarities, showing stronger retention towards aromatic compounds. The high-resolution capabilities of the TCP-Bim column were also tested with different aliphatic cis-/trans-isomers; the excellent separation performances for analytes with very similar properties demonstrated the good potential of these innovative materials as new classes of stationary phases for high-resolution GC separations.
References:
1. Chen, R., Cai, Z., Li, W., Huang, Q., Nardiello, D., Quinto, M., Liu, X., Hu, S., & Sun, T., Chem. Biodiversity 19 (2022) e202200829.
2. Huang, Q., Cai, Z., Chen, R., Zhang, W., Nardiello, D., Quinto, M., Liu, X., Hu, S., & Sun, T., Microchemical Journal 183 (2022) 108084
INNOVATIVE PILLAR[6]ARENE-BASED STATIONARY PHASES FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION GAS CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSES
No full textIn this work, the synthesis, fabrication, and characterization of new stationary phases based on pillar[6]arene derivative modified by long alkyl chains (P6A-C10) for high-resolution gas chromatographic (GC) analyses are reported. Pillar[n]arenes are a new class of macrocyclic hosts that can accommodate specific guests due to their highly symmetrical and rigid pillar architectures with π-electron rich cavities. Quantum chemistry calculations have been performed, showing a difference in non-covalent interactions with the P6A-C10 pillar framework, which leads to specific selectivity for aromatic compounds. The GC columns prepared with these innovative stationary phases exhibited a medium polarity, and good reproducibility for run-to-run, day-to-day, and column-to-column analyses [1], demonstrating great potential as new stationary phases in separation science. Furthermore, peculiar advantages are achieved if compared with the commercial HP-5, HP-35, DB-17, and PEG-20M columns, showing unmatched resolving capabilities toward chloroaniline, bromoaniline, iodoaniline, toluidine, and xylene isomers [2].
References:
1. Sun, T., Chen, R., Huang, Q., Ba, M., Cai, Z., Hu, S., Liu, X., Nardiello, D., & Quinto, M., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 14 (2022) 56132−56142.
2. Sun, T., Chen, R., Huang, Q., Ba, M., Cai, Z., Chen, H., Qi, Y., Chen, H., Liu, X., Nardiello, D., & Quinto, M., Anal. Chim. Acta 1251 (2023) 340979
SunSmart? Skin cancer knowledge and preventive behaviour in a British population representative sample
No full textThe incidence of skin cancer has risen rapidly in the UK over the last 20 years, prompting public health organizations to try and raise awareness of the dangers of sun exposure and the need to practice sun-safe behaviour. This study aimed to assess baseline levels of sun-safe knowledge and behaviour in a British population-representative sample, prior to the launch of Cancer Research UK's 'SunSmart' campaign. A face-to-face survey was conducted through the Office for National Statistics as part of their Omnibus survey. In total, 1848 men and women aged 18 and over were interviewed. Knowledge of what to do to reduce skin cancer risk was modest. Two-thirds mentioned avoiding the sun by seeking shade, 50% mentioned covering up and only 43% said to use high factor sunscreen. Practice of sun-safe behaviours was also poor, with only one-third saying they sought shade, covered up or used high factor sunscreen to protect themselves from the sun. Men and those from lower socioeconomic groups were least informed and least likely to report using sun-protective behaviours. Increases in both knowledge and use of appropriate sun-protective behaviours are needed if skin cancer incidence rates are to decrease
A grounded theory of female adolescent behaviour in the sun: comfort matters.
No full textThe aim of the research was to generate a grounded theory to explain the behaviour of young women in the sun. The study sought to explore the sun-related experiences of
young women in order to gain new insights into the influences upon them. The study was qualitative by design and utilised grounded theory method as developed by Glaser.
Twenty female participants, aged 14 to 17 years old were included in the study. They formed six groups. Thirteen interviews were carried out with the groups and six one-to one interviews took place with individuals. All interviews were semi-structured and were based upon the participants' experiences of being in the sun. Data was analysed using the
constant comparative method of data analysis, concordant with Glaserian grounded theory method. Five explanatory categories emerged from the data; Fitting In, Being Myself,
Being Physically Comfortable, Slipping Up and a core category of Being Comfortable. One of the issues that emerged was that some young women believed their social
acceptance depended on their appearance and they conformed to this end. The theory, derived from the categories, proposes that when in the sun, young women direct their
activities toward meeting physical and psychosocial comfort needs. Comfort matters to them because it has implications for their wellbeing. This thesis contributes to the literature about the behaviours of young women in the sun.
By increasing understanding of the factors that influence them, it also adds to the body of knowledge related to the primary prevention of skin cancer with teenage girls in the United Kingdom. The outcome of the research and its contribution to knowledge is a grounded theory, which explains the basis of the behaviours of young women in the sun. It appears that no other study has explored the experiences of UK adolescent females specifically, in
a qualitative way and with the intention of producing a theory to explain them
Contribution of breaking wave on the co-polarized backscattering measured by the Chinese Gaofen-3 SAR
No full textIn this study, the non-Bragg (NB) scattering due to breaking waves as measured by the C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is investigated using more than 300 Gaofen-3 (GF-3) SAR images, which were acquired in quad-polarization stripmap (QPS) mode, that is, co-polarization [vertical–vertical (VV) and horizontal–horizontal (HH)] and cross-polarization [vertical–horizontal (VH) and horizontal–vertical (HV)]. First, the quality of SAR-based wind estimation is checked against the Haiyang-2B (HY-2B) scatterometer and European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis (ERA-5), indicating a wind speed accuracy of 1.62 m s−1 root-mean-square error (RMSE) and a 0.89 correlation. Then, the SAR-derived wind and HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) sea surface current are used to simulate Bragg resonant roughness. The non-polarized (NP) wave breaking contribution σ wb on co-polarized SAR-measured normalized radar cross section (NRCS) σ 0 is studied, which is derived using two methods: an approach of the Bragg theory and empirical function. Numerical simulations are contrasted with actual SAR measurements: they show that the theoretical-based approach provides accurate enough simulations of the NP contribution, especially at the HH-polarization channel. To deeply understand the behavior of sea surface scattering under breaking conditions, the third-generation WAVEWATCH-III (WW3) model is used to simulate wake-breaking parameters, i.e. whitecap coverage (WCC), whitecap foam thickness (WCT) and whitecap breaking height (WCH), which are then collocated with SAR images. The difference between simulated co-polarized NRCS and the measured one versus sea surface dynamics parameters (i.e. SAR-derived wind speed, HYCOM sea surface speed, and WW3-simulated significant wave height) shows that NP enhances HH-polarized backscattering, while it damps the VV-polarized backscattering. In addition, the contribution of σ wb could be ignored for WCC and WCT larger than 15 × 10−3 and 40 × 10−3 m, respectively. Moreover, the ratio reduces with the increasing WCH greater than 2.0 m; in particular, the ratio likely remains to be 0.1 as WCH is greater than 2.5 m. Generally, the HH-polarized backscattering is relatively sensitive with the wave-breaking parameters; however, this behavior has to be further studied utilizing buoy-measured wave breaking data
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