A Modified Z-Type Flow-through Cell for Optical, Electrochemical, and Optoelectrochemical Flow Injection Analysis Measurements

The design and construction of a modified Z-type flow-through cell that can be used for optical, electrochemical, and optoelectrochemical measurements are reported. In optical analysis, the proposed flow cell is placed in the light path of a spectrophotometer and worked as a commercial Z-type optical flow cell. In electrochemical analysis, the working and auxiliary electrodes are two platinum sheets placed at both ends of the cell cavity; the cell cavity is enclosed by two glass windows. The reference electrode is a saturated calomel electrode placed downstream in an overflow tube. The performance of the proposed electrochemical flow cell was studied by analysis of hexacyanoferrate solution as an electroactive species. In optoelectrochemical analysis, the proposed flow cell is operated optically and electrochemically, simultaneously. The flow cell is placed in the light path of a spectrophotometer, constant potential is applied to the electrodes, and the optical and electrochemical signals are recorded simultaneously by the use of two recorders.     

Competitive inhibition ELISA for quantification of Ara h 1 and Ara h 2, the major allergens of peanuts

Allergies to peanuts are becoming an increasingly important health problem as a result of the persistence and severity of the reaction in allergic individuals. Because no treatment currently is available, avoidance is the only option for peanut-allergic individuals. Avoidance of an abundant and often disguised food such as peanuts, however, is very difficult; therefore, competitive inhibition ELISAs were developed to detect and quantitate each of the major peanut allergens, Ara h 1 and Ara h 2. Under optimal conditions for each assay, the sensitivity of the Ara h 1 and Ara h 2 detection assays were 12 and 0.5 ng/mL, respectively. These assays were primarily devised to effectively compare the levels of Ara h 1 and Ara h 2 in a wide variety of peanuts or peanut products but can also be used to identify cross-reactive antigens. The method is simple and rapid, requiring only one allergen-specific antibody and, therefore, could be adapted specifically to detect the presence of these individual allergens in different foods.     

Single-step calibration, prediction and real samples data acquisition for artificial neural network using a CCD camera

An artificial neural network (ANN) model is developed for simultaneous determination of Al(III) and Fe(III) in alloys by using chrome azurol S (CAS) as the chromogenic reagent and CCD camera as the detection system. All calibration, prediction and real samples data were obtained by taking a single image. Experimental conditions were established to reduce interferences and increase sensitivity and selectivity in the analysis of Al(III) and Fe(III). In this way, an artificial neural network consisting of three layers of nodes was trained by applying a back-propagation learning rule. Sigmoid transfer functions were used in the hidden and output layers to facilitate nonlinear calibration. Both Al(III) and Fe(III) can be determined in the concentration range of 0.25-4 μg ml⁻¹ with satisfactory accuracy and precision. The proposed method was also applied satisfactorily to the determination of considered metal ions in two synthetic alloys.     

Preparation and characterization of a silica‐based magnetic nanocomposite and its application as a recoverable catalyst for the one‐pot multicomponent synthesis of quinazolinone derivatives

An environmentally benign magnetic silica‐based nanocomposite (Fe₃O₄/SBA‐15) as a heterogeneous nanocatalyst was prepared and characterized using Fourier transform infrared and ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopies, scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometry and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller multilayer nitrogen adsorption. Its catalytic activity was investigated for the one‐pot multicomponent synthesis of 2,3‐dihydroquinazolin‐4(1H)‐ones starting from isatoic anhydride, ammonium acetate and various aldehydes under mild reaction conditions and easy work‐up procedure in refluxing ethanol with good yields. The nanocatalyst can be recovered easily and reused several times without significant loss of catalytic activity. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact energy analysis by genetic algorithm and response surface methods to study the plastic composite,compatibilizer, and recycled poly effects

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - This study attempts to develop a high-performance wood plastic composite (WPC) in terms of impact strength, tensile strength, and tensile modulus. For...     

Cellulose-based fiber spinning processes using ionic liquids

Cellulose - Cellulose, a natural, renewable, and environment friendly biopolymer, has been considered as a sustainable feedstock in the near future. However, only 0.3% of cellulose is today...     

The Golod property for powers of ideals and Koszul ideals

Let S be a regular local ring or a polynomial ring over a field and I be an ideal of S. Motivated by a recent result of Herzog and Huneke, we study the natural question of whether $I^m$ is a Golod ideal for all $m\ge 2$. We observe that the Golod property of an ideal can be detected through the vanishing of certain maps induced in homology. This observation leads us to generalize some known results from the graded case to local rings and obtain new classes of Golod ideals.     

Electrical switching properties of nanostructured multilayer superlattice Ge–Si…Cu…Si–Ge prepared by electron beam evaporation on glass

In this study, the fabrication of nanostructured multilayer superlattice Ge–Si…Cu…Si–Ge using electron beam evaporation on glass substrates at a temperature of 200 °C has been reported. The structural, optical and electrical characteristics of such films were then studied by means of DC polarization, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), Rutherford backscattering (RBS) and UV–visible spectroscopic techniques. The XRD pattern obtained showed an amorphous state along with some reflected XRD signals from the Ge planes while there were no reflected signals from the Si and Cu layers. The average estimated grain size diameter (_Dav.)$\left(D_{av.}\right)$ is 30.13 nm as found from the XRD experiment using the Debye–Scherrer equation. The grain size as estimated from the AFM images was found to be within 28–31 nm, which is in good agreement with the XRD average value. RBS analysis confirmed the multilayer structure of the superlattice. The optical allowed indirect band gap of the superlattice obtained from the Tauc plot was found to be 1.19 eV, which is greater than that of bulk Ge semiconductor (0.66 eV). This fact indicates that the incorporation of a Cu layer instead of the Ge layer enables us to change the indirect to direct transitions in Ge/Si devices. Current density–voltage (J$J$–V$V$) characteristics of the nanodevice showed an electrical switching effect (VCNR) with the largest ON/OFF current ratio of the order of 10 ⁶ at 15 V.     

One-Pot Three-Component Synthesis of 3-Aminoimidazo[1,2-<Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis>]pyridines and -pyrazines in the Presence of Silica Sulfuric Acid

Summary. The synthesis of 3-aminoimidazo[1,2-a]pyridines and 3-aminoimidazo[1,2-a]pyrazines through a condensation reaction of 2-aminopyridine or 2-aminopyrazine, aldehyde, and alkyl or aryl isocyanide in high yields at room temperature in the presence of silica sulfuric acid is described.     

A theoretical study on the chirality detection of serine amino acid based on carbon nanotubes with and without Stone-Wales defects

In the present study, the interaction of serine (SER) amino acid (AA) with the pristine and defected carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been investigated by employing the molecular dynamics (MD) and the density functional theory (DFT) approaches. Furthermore, the potential application of CNTs with and without the Stone-Wales (SW) defects in sensing of SER chirality has been studied. Our results confirm that introducing the chiral l and d SERs (LSER and DSER) exerts a significant effect on the electronic and optical properties of the CNTs with and without the SW defect. According to the MD results, it is observed that for all the structures, the obtained minimum distance is among the SER aliphatic segments and the tube atoms. The calculated structural and electronic properties of pristine and defected CNT are in good agreement with the reported research studies. The results indicate that pyramidalization angles (θ_p) at C atoms are altered in the presence of the SW defects. The overall increment of θ_p suggests that the reactivity has increased at the defective regions. In the case of CNT with one SW defect (CNTSW1), the central C–C bond of the SW defect is the most chemically reactive site. Our results establish that pristine CNT is a semiconductor when the LSER and DSER are adsorbed (with the band gap of 0.30 eV and 0.32 eV, respectively). The LSER-adsorbing CNT with two SW defects (CNTSW2) is a semiconductor with a reduced band gap (0.41 eV), while the DSER-adsorbing CNTSW2 is an n-type semiconductor (with a band gap of 0.70 eV). The optical properties are inferred from the dielectric functions of the CNTs. The most remarkable result belongs to the CNTSW2; the imaginary part of the CNTSW2 dielectric function can sensitively distinguish the chirality of the SER amino acid.