Experimental analysis and modelling of in vitro HUVECs proliferation in the presence of various types of drugs.

Objectives: This study focuses on experimental analysis and corresponding mathematical simulation of in vitro HUVECs (human umbilical vein endothelial cells) proliferation in the presence of various types of drugs.

Materials And Methods: HUVECs, once seeded in Petri dishes, were expanded to confluence. Temporal profiles of total count obtained by classic haemocytometry and cell size distribution measured using an electronic Coulter counter, are quantitatively simulated by a suitable model based on the population balance approach.

Insight into the hard-soft acid-base properties of differently substituted phenylhydrazines in reactions with dimethyl carbonate.

Following the preliminary studies on the reactivity of the ambident nucleophile phenylhydrazine with dimethyl carbonate, investigations involving para-substituted phenylhydrazines were carried out in order to probe differences in the reactivity within this class of nucleophile. Phenylhydrazines substituted by electron withdrawing or donating substituents showed an increase in reactivity of the phenylhydrazine toward dimethyl carbonate. Under the basic conditions used, all phenylhydrazines displayed hard nucleophilicity, signifying that para-substitution on the phenyl ring has little effect on the hard-soft behavior of this class of nucleophile.

Reaction of the ambident electrophile dimethyl carbonate with the ambident nucleophile phenylhydrazine.

To explore the ambident electrophilic reactivity of dimethyl carbonate (DMC), reactions with the ambident nucleophile phenylhydrazine were investigated. When a Brönsted base was used, selective carboxymethylation occurred at N-1, after that several other compounds were produced selectively utilizing various conditions. Formation of these compounds was explained by using the Hard-Soft Acid-Base (HSAB) theory.

Multiphasic heterogeneous catalysis mediated by catalyst-philic liquid phases.

This critical review addresses heterogeneous catalysis in systems where multiple liquid phases coexist and where one of the phases is catalyst-philic. This technique provides built-in catalyst separation, and product recovery for organic reactions. Focus is placed on the components of the multiphasic systems with emphasis on the constituents of the catalyst-philic phases (PEGs, onium salts, ionic liquids) that incorporate the catalysts, as well as on the effects on catalytic efficiency.

Remediation of heavy metals contaminated soils by ball milling.

In the present work, the use of ball milling reactors for the remediation of lead contaminated soils was investigated. Lead immobilization was achieved without the use of additional reactants but only through the exploitation of weak transformations induced on the treated soil by mechanical loads taking place during collisions among milling media. The degree of metal immobilization was evaluated by analyzing the leachable fraction of Pb(II) obtained through the "synthetic precipitation leaching procedure".

Mechanochemical degradation of aromatic sulfonic acids.

Sulfonic acids and sulfonates are widely used as surfactants in various industrial processes. Although partial biodegradation occurs, their release in the environment has determined a widespread pollution problem due to their remarkable tendency towards accumulation. For this reason, various methodologies to effectively degrade sulfonic acids and sulfonates in real matrices are currently under investigation.

Metal-contaminated soil remediation by means of paper mill sludges addition: chemical and ecotoxicological evaluation.

Metal pollution of soils is a great environmental problem. The major risks due to metal pollution of soil consist of leaching to groundwater and potential toxicity to plants and/or animals. The objective of this study is to evaluate by means of chemical and ecotoxicological approach the effects of paper mill sludge addition on the mobile metal fraction of polluted metal soils.

Heck reaction catalyzed by Pd/C, in a triphasic-organic/Aliquat 336/aqueous-solvent system.

The rate of the Pd/C catalyzed Heck coupling of Ar-I with CH(2)=CH-R is accelerated tenfold by the presence of Aliquat 336 (A336), a well known phase transfer catalyst, and an ionic liquid. Both when conducted in A336 as solvent, and in an isooctane/A336/aqueous triphasic mixture, the Heck reaction of aryl iodides with electron deficient olefins, catalyzed by Pd/C, proceeds with high yields and selectivity. When KOH is used instead of Et(3)N, selective formation of the biphenyl rather than the Heck product, is observed.

Degradation of para-hydroxybenzoic acid by means of mixed microbial cultures.

Olive mill wastewater contains some phenolic compounds that cause antibacterial activity of a kind that prevents biological treatment without previous dilution. Among these phenolic compounds, p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHB) is considered to be one of the most representative. This work examines the biodegradation of PHB by aerobic microbial mixed cultures previously acclimatized to glucose, which was used as an easily biodegradable model compound.