EDS X-Ray Investigation of Interdiffusion in Au–Ni Micro- and Nanolayers

The interdiffusion process in thin and thick (500nm–60µm) Au–Ni layers deposited on different substrates is studied using the EDS technique. In-depth X-ray analysis based on the Pouchou and Pichoir method is applied for obtaining the concentration profiles in nanometre scale multi-layers. A theoretical analysis using the Darken method is employed for modelling interdiffusion in the Au–Ni system. Computer simulations, where intrinsic diffusivities of the Au and Ni are functions of composition, are presented and compared with experimental results.     

Electrochemical study of 18-crown-6-Tl+ complexes in binary solvent mixtures

Summary The formation constants,K _S, of the 18-crown-6 complex with thallium(I) ion were studied by polarographic measurements in binary mixtures of acetonitrile, acetone, tetrahydrofuran, and dimethylsulfoxide with water, as a function of the solvent mole fraction. In all the cases, the variation of the stability constant can be described by the empirical relation logK _S=a[(–1)/(2+1)]+b where stands for relative permittivity of a given mixture anda andb mark the regression coefficients. The values ofa calculated for four series of binary mixtures showed correlation with the Gutmann donor numbers of the neat organic solvents which form the mixture.On leave from the Department of Chemistry, Jingzhou Teacher's College, Jingzhou, Hubei, China     

Ultrathin-layer sodium dodecyl sulfate disc electrophoresis of proteins in the range from 10 to 220 kDa in homogeneous,low-concentrated polyacrylamide gels

This study describes an ultrathin-layer sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) disc electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels of a thickness of only 150 microm. By use of 2-amino-2-methyl-1,3-propanediol/glycine instead of traditional Tris/HCl buffer in the resolving phase of the gel, proteins with a wide range of molecular sizes (10 kDa to over 220 kDa) are separated in unusually low-concentrated gels (4%T, 3.3%C). 2-Amino-2-methyl-1,3-propanediol in the resolving part of the gel contributes to stabilization of the pH value at 8.8, while glycine improves destacking as well as separation of small proteins from the bulk of stacked SDS. This method combines both the advantages of conventional slab-gel electrophoresis and capillary gel electrophoresis. It is easy to apply and well suited for all further miniaturization attempts.     

On-line coupling of capillary isotachophoresis and zone electrophoresis for the assay of phenolic compounds in plant extracts

The combination of capillary isotachophoresis (ITP) and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) in the column coupling configuration was optimized in a mode where the electrolyte for the CZE step is different from the leading and terminating ITP electrolytes. Two colored markers, picric acid and 1-nitroso-2-naphthol, were used for exact timing of the transfer of isotachophoretically stacked analyte zones into the CZE column and for the control of the residual amount of the leading and terminating ITP electrolytes entering the CZE capillary together with the analytes, thus controlling the duration of transient ITP migration in the CZE capillary and ensuring good separation of the analytes and reproducibility of the migration times (relative standard deviations 1%). ITP-CZE was applied to the simultaneous assay of several cinnamic acid derivatives and flavonoids in methanolic extracts of Sambucus flowers and Crataegus leaves and flowers. The preconcentrating and cleansing effect of the ITP step allowed injection of relatively large sample volumes (30 microL). The limits of detection were approximately 20-50 ng x mL(-1) and 100 ng x mL(-1) for the acids and flavonoids, respectively ( thick similar 200-times lower compared to conventional CE) with spectrophotometric detection at 254 nm. The ITP-CZE exhibited satisfactory linearity and precision when using CZE buffer of pseudo "pH" 9.0; 1-nitroso-2-naphthol was employed as the internal standard. The separation took approximately 35 min. The ITP-CZE results for rutin, hyperoside, and vitexin-2-O"-rhamnoside were in good accordance with those obtained previously by high-performance liquid chromatography.     

Total synthesis of 3-deoxy and 3,6-dideoxy-dl-hexoses

Synthesis of stereoisomeric 3-deoxy-hexoses 24–27 and 3,6-dideoxy-hexoses 28–31 is reported. Butyl (E)-2,6-dihydroxy-hex-4-enoate (2) was used as the starting material for the synthesis of 3-deoxy-hexoses. For the synthesis of 3,6-dideoxy-hexoses, butyl (E)-2-acetoxy-hex-4-enoate (7) was employed. The synthesis involved the following successive steps: cis or trans hydroxylation of the double bond in 2 or 7, lactonisation of the resulting aldonic acid esters followed by acetylation and chromatographical separation of γ-lactones, reduction of lactones 16–23 to lactols with disiamylborane, and acetylation of lactols to free sugars. All compounds were obtained as pure diastereomers in racemic form.     

Determination of organophosphate pesticides at a carbon nanotube/organophosphorus hydrolase electrochemical biosensor

An amperometric biosensor for oganophosphorus (OP) pesticides based on a carbon nanotube (CNT)-modified transducer and an organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH) biocatalyst is described. A bilayer approach with the OPH layer atop of the CNT film was used for preparing the CNT/OPH biosensor. The CNT layer leads to a greatly improved anodic detection of the enzymatically generated p-nitrophenol product, including higher sensitivity and stability. The sensor performance was optimized with respect to the surface modification and operating conditions. Under the optimal conditions the biosensor was used to measure as low as 0.15 μM paraoxon and 0.8 μM methyl parathion with sensitivities of 25 and 6 nA/μM, respectively.     

Stochastic Navier-Stokes equations

We construct a solution to stochastic Navier-Stokes equations in dimension n4 with the feedback in both the external forces and a general infinite-dimensional noise. The solution is unique and adapted to the Brownian filtration in the 2-dimensional case with periodic boundary conditions or, when there is no feedback in the noise, for the Dirichlet boundary condition. The paper uses the methods of nonstandard analysis.The research of this author was supported by an SERC Grant.     

Dynamics of theD-dimensional FRW-cosmological models within the superstring-generated gravity model

We study the dynamics of the generalizedD-dimensional (D = 1+3+d) Friedman-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmological models in the framework of an extended gravity theory obtained by adding the Gauss-Bonnet term to the standard Einstein-Hilbert action. In our discussion we extensively use methods of dynamical systems. We consider models filled in with a perfect fluid obeying the equation of statep=(–1) and vacuum but non-flat models. We present a detailed analysis of the ten dimensional model and in particular we study the vacuum case. Several phase portraits show how the evolution of this model depends on the parameter.     

Mobility and non-separability

A mobility phenomenon is typical for a large class of non-linear evolutions. It is shown that the mobility can be responsible for a malignant form of quantum mechanical non separability of two correlated systems. An explicit example based on Weinberg's non linear quantum mechanics is considered. We show that in such a theory a transfer of information without a transfer of energy is possible and discuss physical roots of this phenomenon. In Polchinski's approach this effect is not present.1 Permanent address: Laboratory of Dielectrics and Organic Semiconductors, Technical University of Gdask, Gdask, Poland.     

Formation of the surface charge on silica in mixed solvents

At sufficiently high concentrations of methanol and of alkali salts in aqueous silica dispersions, the negative -potentials of the particles are decreased. This effect is more pronounced with lithium than with other alkali cations, and it is independent on the anion. The NMR spectra indicate lithium adsorption on silica from mixed solvents, but not in the absence of alcohol.Supported by a contract with the XMX Corporation, Burlington, Massachusetts, USA