Isotopic Abundance Analysis of Biofield Treated Benzene, Toluene and p-Xylene Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)

Benzene, toluene and p-xylene are derivatives of benzene, generally produced from crude petroleum and have numerous applications in industry.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of biofield treatment on isotopic abundance of these benzene derivatives by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Benzene, toluene and p-xylene samples were divided into two parts: control and treatment. Control part was remained as untreated and treatment part was subjected to Mr. Trivedi’s biofield treatment.

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Arrested Precipitation Technique for Synthesis of Chalcogenide and Oxide Thin Films

Interest in the use of photo electrochemical solar cells for low cost energy conversion has led to an extensive research in the search for novel and suitable thin film semiconductor materials. The techniques presently used for synthesis of mixed metal chalcogenide and oxide thin films are CBD, MOCVD, spin coating, electro deposition, spray pyrolysis, sputtering, crystal growth, and chemical bath deposition.

All these deposition techniques require specific sophisticated instrumentation. In this regard APT is more attractive and relatively inexpensive presently used by us for deposition of mixed metal chalcogenide and oxide thin thin films.

In the present investigation we attempt to prepare mixed metal chalcogenide and oxide thin films by arrested precipitation technique. The purpose of work is to establish and optimize the growth condition to produce these thin films.

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Deoxygenation of Palmitic Acid to Produce Diesel-like Hydrocarbons over Nickel Incorporated Cellular Foam Catalyst

Nickel incorporated mesostructured cellular foam (NiMCF) was studied as a catalyst for palmitic acid deoxygenation to primarily synthesize n-pentadecane and 1-pentadecene. The kinetic behaviour was tested in a temperature range from 280 to 300°C.

The reaction was found to follow a first order kinetic model with respect to the palmitic acid with an activation energy of 111.57 KJ/Mol. In the reusability study, it was found that the average reduction in palmitic acid conversions was about 40.5%, which indicated the occurrence of catalyst deactivation during the deoxygenation. Fresh and spent catalysts were characterized by means of scanning electron microscope.

Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction correlate their characteristics with catalytic activity and to identify the main catalyst deactivation mechanism. The catalyst deactivation was mainly due to phase transformation of metallic nickel (Ni0) to nickel ion (Ni2+) and the deposition of organic molecules on the catalyst during the deoxygenation.

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Increased Enzyme Flexibility Doesnot Necessarily Lead to Substrate Promiscuity

Understanding the molecular basis of substrate promiscuity shown by some enzymes has been quite elusive. Enzymes that catalyze modification of aminoglycoside antibiotics show a wide range of substrate promiscuity.

Comparisons based on amino acid sequence similarity have been more confusing than leading to any explanations.

For example, several aminoglycoside modifying enzymes that catalyze different reactions and have less than 5% sequence identity and less than 12% sequence similarity show high overlap in their substrate profiles while some others despite catalyzing the same reaction and having >50% sequence similarity can have significant differences in their substrate profiles

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Gas Chromatographic Assessment of Residual Solvents Present in Excipient-Benzyl Alcohol

This article describes a simple and rapid gas chromatographic method for identification of residual solvents present in benzyl alcohol. Benzyl alcohol is used in foods and pharmaceutical products.

The organic solvents such as benzene, chlorobenzene and toluene are frequently used in manufacturing of benzyl alcohol. Even after such manufacturing process, some solvents still remain in small quantities.

Method for the quantification of residual solvents present in benzyl alcohol was done by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector and utilizes the Agilent 7700 with FID (DB-624, 30 m × 0.53 mm, 3 μ) capillary column, nitrogen as carrier gas with a flow rate of 2.5 ml mn-1.

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Literature Review of Hydrometallurgical Recycling of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs)

This study provides an up-to-date review of recycling of printed circuit boards (PCBs), specifically in hydrometallurgical treatment.

Waste printed circuit boards, which are rich in base and precious metals, are the essential component of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment. From the economic and environmental perspectives, the efficient recycling of PCBs is of importance.

For the extraction of metals from PCBs, a large amount of work has been done to establish an environmentally friendly and economic way to recover metals from PCBs based on physical, pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes.

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Boron Isotope Fractionation in Bell Pepper

Various plant compartments of a single bell pepper plant were studied to verify the variability of boron isotope composition in plants and to identify possible intra-plant isotope fractionation.

Boron mass fractions varied from 9.8 mg/kg in the fruits to 70.0 mg/kg in the leaves. Boron (B) isotope ratios reported as δ11B ranged from -11.0‰ to +16.0‰ (U ≤ 1.9‰, k=2) and showed a distinct trend to heavier δ11B values the higher the plant compartments were located in the plant.

A fractionation of Δ11Bleaf-roots = 27‰ existed in the studied bell pepper plant, which represents about about 1/3 of the overall natural boron isotope variation (ca. 80‰).

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