Catalytic Chemosensing Assay for Selective Detection of Methyl Parathion Organophosphate Pesticide

Herein, a catalytic chemosensing assay (CCA), based on a bimetallic complex, [Ru^II(bpy)₂(CN)₂]₂(Cu^II)₂ (bpy=2,2′-bipyridine), is described. This complex integrates a task-specific catalyst (Cu^I-catalyst) and a signaling unit ([Ru^II(bpy)₂(CN)₂]) to specifically hydrolyze methyl parathion, a highly toxic organophosphate (OP) pesticide. The bimetallic complex catalyzed the hydrolysis of the phosphate ester to generate o,o-dimethyl thiophosphate (DTP) anion and 4-nitrophenolate. Intrinsically, 4-nitrophenolate absorbed UV/Vis light at λ_max=400 nm, creating the first level of the chemosensing signal. DTP interacted with the original complex to displace the chromophore, [Ru^II(bpy)₂(CN)₂], which was monitored by spectrofluorometry; this was classified as the second level of chemosensing signal. By integrating both spectroscopic and spectrofluorometric signals with a simple AND logic gate, only methyl parathion was able to provide a positive response. Other aromatic and aliphatic OP pesticides (diazinon, fenthion, meviphos, terbufos, and phosalone) and 4-nitrophenyl acetate provided negative responses. Furthermore, owing to the metal-catalyzed hydrolysis of methyl parathion, the CCA system led to the detoxification of the pesticide. The CCA system also demonstrated its catalytic chemosensing properties in the detection of methyl parathion in real samples, including tap water, river water, and underground water.     

Comparative analysis of the main active components and hypoglycemic effects after the compatibility of Scutellariae Radix and Coptidis Rhizoma

In this study, a rapid and highly sensitive ultra high performance liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method with the mobile phase of acetonitrile and 0.1% aqueous formic acid was established and successfully applied to comparatively analyze main active components after their compatibility. Besides, the effects of Scutellariae Radix, Coptidis Rhizoma and combined extracts on type 2 diabetic rats induced by high‐fat diet along with low dose of streptozocin were investigated. Under the optimized chromatographic conditions, good separation of seven target components was achieved within 12 min. All calibration curves exhibited good linearity (R² ≥ 0.999). The relative standard deviation of precision, repeatability and stability varied from 0.69 to 2.23, 0.98 to 2.56, and 0.92 to 2.57%, respectively. The recovery ranged from 91.11 to 105.35%. The contents of seven active components were notably reduced after compatibility; however, the hypoglycemic effect of combined extracts was stronger than single drug by decreasing the activities of fructose‐1,6‐bisphosphatase, glucose 6‐phosphatase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and increasing the activities of glucokinase, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase. Accordingly, the established analytical method was accurate and sensitive enough for quantitative evaluation of seven investigated compounds. Moreover, the combined extract had definite effects on type 2 diabetes through multiple components against multiple targets.     

On partitions classified by smallest missing part

The Ramanujan Journal - In this paper, we study partitions classified by its smallest missing part. Our main theorem is an inequality related to the parity of the smallest missing part of...     

Novel local smoothness indicators for improving the third‐order WENO scheme

The local smoothness indicators play an important role in the performance of a weighted essentially nonoscillatory (WENO) scheme. Due to having only 2 points available on each substencil, the local smoothness indicators calculated by conventional methods make the third‐order WENO scheme too dissipative. In this paper, we propose a different method to calculate the indicators by using all the 3 points on the global stencil of the third‐order WENO scheme. The numerical results demonstrate that the WENO scheme with the new indicators has less dissipation and better resolution than the conventional third‐order WENO scheme of Jiang and Shu for both smooth and discontinuous solutions.     

Opposed type double stage cell for Mbar pressure experiment with large sample volume

ABSTRACT

A new opposed type double-stage large volume cell has been developed to compress large volume samples to more than 100?GPa (Mbar) pressure. A pair of second-stage diamond anvils is introduced into the first-stage Paris–Edinburgh press. The double-stage large volume cell allows the generation of ultrahigh pressures using a large culet diameter of the second-stage diamond anvils (diameters of 0.5–1.2?mm). Pressure generation up to 131?GPa has been achieved by using the culet diameter of 0.5?mm. Sample volume of the double-stage large volume cell can be more than ～100 times larger than that of conventional Mbar experiment using a diamond anvil cell. The double-stage large volume cell has a large opening in the horizontal plane for X-ray measurements, which is particularly suited for the multi-angle energy dispersive X-ray diffraction measurement, thus opening a new way of in situ structural determinations of amorphous materials at Mbar pressures.     

Multicaloric and coupled-caloric effects

The multicaloric effect refers to the thermal response of a solid material driven by simultaneous or sequential application of more than one type of external field.For practical applications,the multicaloric effect is a potentially interesting strategy to improve the efficiency of refrigeration devices.Here,the state of the art in multi-field driven multicaloric effect is reviewed.The phenomenology and fundamental thermodynamics of the multicaloric effect are well established.A number of theoretical and experimental research approaches are covered.At present,the theoretical understanding of the multicaloric effect is thorough.However,due to the limitation of the current experimental technology,the experimental approach is still in progress.All these researches indicated that the thermal response and effective reversibility of multiferroic materials can be improved through multicaloric cycles to overcome the inherent limitations of the physical mechanisms behind single-field-induced caloric effects.Finally,the viewpoint of further developments is presented.     

Alignment and efficiency-monitoring method of high-power fiber-to-fiber coupling

High-power fiber-to-fiber coupling is extensively used in fiber laser applications,and its performance is determined by coupling efficiency.We demonstrate a novel method for alignment and monitoring efficiency by detecting backscattering power at the fiber end cap.The relationship between alignment error and backscattering power is determined by simulations and experiments.Through this method,a state-of-the-art kW-level fiberto-fiber optic switch is developed(transmission efficiency>97%).It performs well for longer than 60 min.To the best of our knowledge,it is the first time to establish the mathematical model based on this method.Our results can provide guidance in high-power fiber-to-fiber coupling.