Zein film as a novel natural biopolymer membrane in electrochemical detections

Permselective modifier films are very important in preparing highly sensitive electrochemical sensors. In this work, for the first time, the behavior of gold and glassy carbon electrodes coated with biocompatible zein film as a permselective membrane for the electrochemical detection of various compounds has been investigated. For this purpose, several electroactive cationic (methylene blue, brilliant green, and thionine) and anionic (potassium ferricyanide, alizarin red S, and riboflavin-5’-phosphate) compounds have been used as model. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that zein membranes prepared from casting solution containing 1% zein in ethanol/water have porous structures with high nanometric roughness. The capacitance values of electrical double layers of electrodes modified with zein film were very high for hydrophilic ions in comparison with hydrophobic ions. Point of zero charge pH (pH_pzc) of zein membrane was 4.8. The results of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as well as pH_pzc study indicated that zein permselective membrane acts as ion exchanger film for selected cationic compounds with fast electrochemical kinetics responses in aqueous solution (pH=7). This behavior was confirmed by circulating solutions containing model compounds from homemade continuous cell equipped with polyamide membranes modified with zein film.

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The role of charge distribution on the antimalarial activity of artemisinin analogues

In this work the calculated nuclear quadrupole coupling constants (NQCC; chi) of 17O in artemisinin and some of its derivatives and the effects of charge density due to the nature of ligands on NQCC of 17O were investigated. All calculations were performed at the HF/3-21G level using the Gaussian 98 program. The results show that the O-O linkage has a characteristic role in the antimalarial activity of artemisinin. In addition, various substitutions on C4 change the charge density on these oxygens and consequently change the pharmaceutical effect of artemisinin. Our results suggest that due to a larger charge density on O1, the heme iron approaches the endoperoxide moiety at the O1 position with preference to the O2 position.     

A novel ion selective membrane potentiometric sensor for direct determination of Fe(III) in the presence of Fe(II)

A new PVC membrane potentiometric sensor that is highly selective to Fe(III) ions was prepared by using 2-[(2-hydroxy-1-propenyl-buta-1,3-dienylimino)-methyl]-4-p-tolylazo-phenol [HPDTP] as a suitable carrier. The electrode exhibits a linear response for iron(III) ions over a wide concentration range (3.5 × 10⁻⁶ to 4.0 × 10⁻²) with a super Nernstian slope of 28.5 (±0.5) per decade. The electrode can be used in the pH range from 4.5 to 6.5. The proposed sensor shows fairly a good discriminating ability towards Fe³⁺ ion in comparison to some hard and soft metals such as Fe²⁺, Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺, Al³⁺ and Ca²⁺. It has a response time of <15 s and can be used for at least 2 months without any measurable divergence in response characteristics. The electrode was used in the direct determination of Fe³⁺ in aqueous samples and as an indicator electrode in potentiometric titration of Fe(III) ions.     

Theoretical analysis of the performance of a model supercapacitor consisting of metal oxide nano-particles

The factors influencing the electrochemical behaviour of a supercapacitor have been partly examined in this work. The effects of so-called intrinsic parameters, i.e. exchange current density, unit cell length and double layer (DL) capacitance; as well as the so-called application parameters, i.e. cell current, on the cell potential discharge time have been considered. The contributions of each type of capacitors, DL capacitor and faradaic supercapacitor under various states of operation and material have been analyzed, and the competing (compensating) effects of the two types of capacitors as regards to the discharge and power characteristics manifested by current–potential and energy–power (Ragone plots) are elucidated.     

Ion pairing, H-bonding, and π–π interactions in copper(II) complex-organo-networks derived from a proton-transfer compound of the 1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxylic acid

The one-pot reaction between the novel proton transfer compound (pydaH₂)²⁺(phendc)²⁻, LH₂, and Cu(II) afforded the compounds (pydaH)₂[Cu(phendc)₂]·10H₂O, 1, and (pydaH)₂[Cu(phendc)(phendcH)]₂·5H₂O, 2, where pyda=2,6-diaminopyridine, and phendcH₂=1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxylic acid. The single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of 1 and 2 revealed that these are two novel self-assembled 3D Cu(II) complex-organo-networks, in which (pydaH)⁺ ions and [Cu(phendc)₂]²⁻ or complex units are held together by ion pairing, H-bonding, and π–π interactions. Magnetic measurements over the temperature range 1.8–310 K revealed no significant magnetic coupling between Cu(II) centers in 1 or 2.     

Spectrophotometric Determination of Acidity Constants of 4‐(2‐Pyridylazo) Resorcinol in Various Micellar Media Solutions

Dissociation equilibria of 4‐(2‐pyridylazo) resorcinol (PAR) in aqueous micellar solutions were determined spectrophotometrically at 25 °C and at the constant ionic strength I = 0.1 M KNO₃. For this purpose, the effect of nonionic (Brij‐35, Triton X‐100, Triton X‐114, Triton X‐405), and anionic (SDS) surfactants on the absorption spectra of PAR at different pH values was studied. Results show that the pK_a values and pure spectra of each species of PAR are influenced by percentages of a neutral and an anionic surfactant such as Brij‐35, Triton X‐100, Triton X‐114, Triton X‐405 and SDS, respectively, added to the solution of this reagent.     

Quaternized amino functionalized cross-linked polyacrylamide as a new solid-liquid phase transfer catalyst in reduction of carbonyl compounds with NaBH4

Poly[N-(2-aminoethyl)acrylamido]trimethyl ammonium chloride resin was developed as a new polymeric phase transfer catalyst. This quaternized polyacrylamide catalyzed the chemoselective reduction of aldehydes and ketones by NaBH₄ to give corresponding alcohols in high yields under mild conditions.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">o</Emphasis>-Phenylenediamine as a New Catalyst in the Highly Regioselective Conversion of Epoxides to Halohydrins with Elemental Halogens

Summary. The regioselective ring opening of epoxides using elemental iodine and bromine in the presence of o-phenylenediamine as a new catalyst affords vicinal iodo alcohols and bromo alcohols in high yields. The major advantages of this method are versatility, high regioselectivity, a cheap and commercially available catalyst, mild and neutral reaction conditions, and short reaction times. Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy was used to study the reaction of iodine with o-phenylenediamine. The results indicate that the complex [(Diamine)I]⁺·I₅^– is formed, and we suggest that the major nucleophile is the pentaiodide ion. This bulky nucleophile has a fundamental role in the high regioselectivity observed attacking the less sterically hindered epoxide carbon.     

A robust-adaptive fuzzy coverage control for robotic swarms

In this paper, a decentralized adaptive control scheme for multi-robot coverage is proposed. This control method is designed based on centroidal Voronoi configuration integrated with robust adaptive fuzzy control techniques. We consider simple single integrator mobile robots used for covering dynamical environments, where an adaptive fuzzy logic system is used to approximate the unknown parts of control law. A robust coverage criterion is used to attenuate the adaptive fuzzy approximation error and measurement noises to a prescribed level. Therefore, the robots motion is forced to obey solutions of a coverage optimization problem. The advantages of the proposed controller can be listed as robustness to external disturbances, computation uncertainties, and measurement noises, while applicability on dynamical environments. A Lyapunov-function based proof is given of robust stability, i.e. convergence to the optimal positions with bounded error. Finally, simulation results are demonstrated for a swarm coverage problem simultaneous with tracking mobile intruders.     

Vector and Cell Line Engineering Technologies Toward Recombinant Protein Expression in Mammalian Cell Lines

The rapid growth of global biopharmaceutical market in the recent years has been a good indication of its significance in biotechnology industry. During a long period of time in recombinant protein production from 1980s, optimizations in both upstream and downstream processes were launched. In this regard, one of the most promising strategies is expression vector engineering technology based on incorporation of DNA opening elements found in the chromatin border regions of vectors as well as targeting gene integration. Along with these approaches, cell line engineering has revealed convenient outcomes in isolating high-producing clones. According to the fact that more than 50% of the approved therapeutic proteins is being manufactured in mammalian cell lines, in this review, we focus on several approaches and developments in vector and cell line engineering technologies in mammalian cell culture.