Cytotoxicity and physico-chemical evaluation of acetylated and pegylated cellulose nanocrystals

The high hydrophilicity of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) may result in poor dispersion in some matrices and solvents. So in this work, two different methodologies were used to reduce the hydrophilicity of CNC. In the first methodology, CNC were acetylated (CNC-Ac) in a mixture of acetic and hydrochloric acid, and in the second methodology, polyethylene glycol (PEG) was adsorbed onto CNC surface (CNC-PEG) under stirring in aqueous solution. CNC obtained by both methods were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Images of TEM showed that the intrinsic morphology of cellulose was preserved after both treatments. FTIR confirmed acetylation reaction by the presence of a new band at 1732 cm^?1 (acetate groups) and the consumption of OH groups. XRD showed a reduction in the crystallinity index for both applied methodologies. DLS showed reduced stability in water for CNC-Ac and CNC-PEG. Values of zeta potential changed after acetylation, from ??45 mV (CNC) to ??1 mV (CNC-Ac), and after adsorption of PEG, to ??26.7 mV (CNC-PEG). TGA showed a reduction in the thermal stability after both treatments and a change in the main degradation behavior for CNC-PEG. MTT assays showed that both proposed functionalizations induce cell proliferation, being even more evident for acetylation because, in addition to viability increase with time, it increased with the sample concentration.     

An electrochemical evidence of free radicals formation from flutamide and its reactivity with endo/xenobiotics of pharmacological relevance

This paper reports the feasibility of free radicals formation from flutamide by using cyclic voltammetry. The electrochemical characteristics and the reactivity of the one-electron reduction product from flutamide in mixed media with thiol compounds and the nuclei acid bases are characterized. Results from this paper show the thermodynamic feasibility of free radical formation expressed for both the cathodic peak potential and the second-order rate constant values. The reactivity of the radical towards thiol compounds (glutathione, cysteamine, N-acetylcysteine) and the nuclei acid base, adenine, thymine and uracil were quantitatively assessed through the calculation of the respective interaction rate constants. Based on these results, the following tentative order of reactivity towards the xeno/endobiotics is as follows: cysteamine > uracil > glutathione > adenine > N-acetylcysteine > thymine. The stability of the nitro radical anion electrochemically generated from flutamide showed a linear dependence with pH.     

Enzymatically synthesized polyaniline film deposition studied by simultaneous open circuit potential and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance measurements

The chemical and enzymatic deposition of polyaniline (PANI) films by in situ polymerization was studied and the resulting films were characterized. The film formation and polymerization processes were simultaneously monitored by the evolution of the open circuit potential and quartz-crystal microbalance measurements. Different substrates, such as Indium-Tin oxide electrodes and gold-coated quartz-crystal electrodes were used as substrates for PANI deposition. Electroactive PANI films were successfully deposited by in situ enzymatic polymerization at low oxidation potential. The electrogravimetric response of the enzymatically deposited PANI film was studied by cyclic voltammetry in monomer-free acidic medium. The morphology of the films was observed by scanning electron microscopy, revealing a granular structure in enzymatically deposited PANI. The PANI films were also characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy. The simultaneous use of quartz crystal microbalance and open circuit potential is presented as a very useful technique to monitor enzymatic reactions involving oxidoreductases.     

A special ordered set approach for optimizing a discontinuous separable piecewise linear function

We give a special ordered set (SOS) approach that optimizes a discontinuous separable piecewise linear function, even when a mixed-integer programming (MIP) model is not available for it. When a MIP model is available, our SOS model gives a linear programming relaxation bound that is as good as the MIPs.     

Adsorptive stripping voltammetric behaviour of uranium chelates of some azo compounds

Summary The adsorptive stripping voltammetric behaviour of Arsenazo III, Eriochrome Black T, 4-(2-pyridylazo) resorcinol, Mordante Blue 9 and their uranyl complexes has been investigated in detail. All compounds and complexes adsorb on the static mercury drop electrode. Results are presented and the limitations of the methods are discussed.     

Voltammetric determination of copper and lead in gasoline using sample preparation as microemulsions.

A voltammetric method for the determination of Cu(II) and Pb(II) in gasoline using sample preparation as three-component solutions (gasoline:propan-1-ol:water, 25:60:15 v/v/v) is proposed. HNO(3) was employed as a supporting electrolyte and to allow the use of aqueous inorganic standards for calibration, even if the analyte species originally in gasoline is present as a metallo-organic form. A square-wave anodic sequential determination was used by measuring the stripping current of Cu(II) (at +104 mV) using a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and, in a second run, measuring the Pb(II) stripping current (at -470 mV) using a bismuth-film deposited on the surface of the GCE. The method allowed the quantification of 1.7 x 10(-9) mol L(-1) of Cu and 1.4 x 10(-10) mol L(-1) of Pb employing a 1500-s accumulation time. Recovery tests using analyte spiked three-component solutions prepared with commercial gasoline samples enabled recoveries of Cu and Pb from 97 +/- 8 to 102 +/- 5%.     

Micro imaging analysis for osteoporosis assessment

Characterization of trabeculae structures is one of the most important applications of imaging techniques in the biomedical area. The aim of this study was to investigate structure modifications in trabecular and cortical bones using non destructive techniques such as X-ray microtomography, X-ray microfluorescence by synchrotron radiation and scanning electron microscopy. The results obtained reveal the potential of this computational technique to verify the capability of characterization of internal bone structures.     

Electromagnetic Radiation of Accelerated Charged Particle in the Framework of a Semiclassical Approach

The problem of the electromagnetic radiation produced by charge distributions in the framework of a semiclassical approach proposed in the work by Bagrov, Gitman, Shishmarev, and Farias Jr. [J. Synchrotron Rad. 27 , 902–911 (2020)] is addressed here. In this approach, currents, generating the radiation are considered classically, while the quantum nature of the radiation is kept exactly. Quantum states of the electromagnetic field are solutions of Schrödinger's equation, and relevant quantities to the problem are evaluated with the aid of transition probabilities. This construction allows us to introduce the quantum transition time in physical quantities and assess its role in radiation problems by classical currents. Radiated electromagnetic energies are studied in detail and a definition for the rate at which radiation is emitted from sources is presented. In calculating the total energy and rate radiated by a pointlike charged particle accelerated by a constant and uniform electric field, it is discovered that these results are compatible with results obtained by other authors in the framework of the classical radiation theory under an appropriate limit. Numerical and asymptotic analyses of the results are also performed.     

Digital image-based titrations

The exploitation of digital images obtained from a CCD camera (WebCam) as a novel instrumental detection technique for titration is proposed for the first time. Named of digital image-based (DIB) titration, it also requires, as a traditional titration (for example, spectrophotometric, potentiometric, conductimetric), a discontinuity in titration curves where there is an end point, which is associated to the chemical equivalence condition. The monitored signal in the DIB titration is a RGB-based value that is calculated, for each digital image, by using a proposed procedure based on the red, green, and blue colour system. The DIB titration was applied to determine HCl and H₃PO₄ in aqueous solutions and total alkalinity in mineral and tap waters. Its results were compared to the spectrophotometric (SPEC) titration and, by applying the paired t-test, no statistic difference between the results of both methods was verified at the 95% confidence level. Identical standard deviations were obtained by both titrations in the determinations of HCl and H₃PO₄, with a slightly better precision for DIB titration in the determinations of total alkalinity. The DIB titration shows to be an efficient and promising tool for quantitative chemical analysis and, as it employs an inexpensive device (WebCam) as analytical detector, it offers an economically viable alternative to titrations that need instrumental detection.