Non-enzymatic electrochemical detection of glycerol on boron-doped diamond electrode

A non-enzymatic direct electrochemical glycerol detection method at a commercial boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode in 0.1 M NaOH supporting electrolyte was developed. All the used electrochemical techniques proved useful features for the oxidation and direct amperometric determination of glycerol at a BDD electrode in 0.1 M NaOH aqueous solution. It was found that the direct electrooxidation of glycerol on the BDD electrode requires both adsorbed glycerol and hydroxyls at the electrode surface. Also, the sp(2) carbon did not allow enhancement of the glycerol oxidation process. The electronalytical sensitivity for the determination of glycerol at the BDD electrode ranged from 0.040 to 0.226 μA mM(-1) as a function of the technique used. The highest electroanalytical sensitivity for the determination of glycerol at the BDD electrode was reached in batch system amperometric quantification under stirring conditions. Performed recovery studies indicated that it is possible to determine glycerol in real samples, and the proposed batch system analysis-based methodology can be a valuable tool for practical glycerol analysis.     

Thermoxidative degradation of poly(vinyl alcohol) under dynamic thermogravimetric conditions. II. Influence of the hydrolysis degree

The influence of the degree of hydrolysis on thermoxidative degradation of the poly(vinyl alcohol) was studied. The thermoxidative degradation was carried out under dynamic thermal conditions. Taking into account the dependence of the activation energy values on the heating rate, molecular weight, degree of conversion, and degree of hydrolysis, some conclusions were drawn about the decomposition mechanism and the variation of the thermal stability.     

Antibacterial Polysiloxane Polymers and Coatings for Cochlear Implants

Within this study, new materials were synthesized and characterized based on polysiloxane modified with different ratios of N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) and crosslinked via UV-assisted thiol-ene addition, in order to obtain efficient membranes able to resist bacterial adherence and biofilm formation. These membranes were subjected to in vitro testing for microbial adherence against S. pneumoniae using standardized tests. WISTAR rats were implanted for 4 weeks with crosslinked siloxane samples without and with NAC. A set of physical characterization methods was employed to assess the chemical structure and morphological aspects of the new synthetized materials before and after contact with the microbiological medium.     

General Uniqueness Results and Variation Speed for Blow-Up Solutions of Elliptic Equations

Let be a smooth bounded domain in R^N. We prove general uniquenessresults for equations of the form – u = au – b(x)f(u) in , subject to u = on . Our uniqueness theorem is establishedin a setting involving Karamata's theory on regularly varyingfunctions, which is used to relate the blow-up behavior of u(x)with f(u) and b(x), where b 0 on and a certain ratio involvingb is bounded near . A key step in our proof of uniqueness usesa modification of an iteration technique due to Safonov. 2000Mathematics Subject Classification 35J25 (primary), 35B40, 35J60(secondary).