Kinetic catalytic determination of trace levels of iodide based on the oxidation of basic dyes with hydrogen peroxide monitored potentiometrically using simple PVC electrodes

Four sensitive catalytic potentiometric methods have been developed for trace levels determination of iodide based on its catalytic effects on the oxidation of four dyes: viz. variamine blue (VB), rhodamine B (RB), methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG), with H₂O₂ in H₃PO₄ medium at 25 ± 0.5 °C. The catalyzed reaction rates were estimated potentiometrically by monitoring the potential of the corresponding dye-PVC ion selective electrodes. To select the optimized reaction conditions offering the highest sensitivity of the method, parallel studies were carried out on each dye catalyzed reaction including: the effect of reactant concentration, reaction medium and temperature. The working calibration curves were linear over the concentration range from 0.32 to 2.54 mg L⁻¹ iodide for VB method and from 3.2 to 12.7 mg L⁻¹ for other ones. The tolerance limits of more than 20 interfering species were listed indicating the high selectivity of the method. Trace iodide in edible salt and pharmaceutical samples was determined without the need for separation or preconcentration procedures.     

Docking-based comparative intermolecular contacts analysis as new 3-D QSAR concept for validating docking studies and in silico screening: NMT and GP inhibitors as case studies

The significant role played by docking algorithms in drug discovery combined with their serious pitfalls prompted us to envisage a novel concept for validating docking solutions, namely, docking-based comparative intermolecular contacts analysis (dbCICA). This novel approach is based on the number and quality of contacts between docked ligands and amino acid residues within the binding pocket. It assesses a particular docking configuration on the basis of its ability to align a set of ligands within a corresponding binding pocket in such a way that potent ligands come into contact with binding site spots distinct from those approached by low-affinity ligands and vice versa. In other words, dbCICA evaluates the consistency of docking by assessing the correlation between ligands' affinities and their contacts with binding site spots. Optimal dbCICA models can be translated into valid pharmacophore models that can be used as 3-D search queries to mine structural databases for new bioactive compounds. dbCICA was implemented to search for new inhibitors of candida N-myristoyl transferase as potential antifungal agents and glycogen phosphorylase (GP) inhibitors as potential antidiabetic agents. The process culminated in five selective micromolar antifungal leads and nine GP inhibitory leads.     

On a cone covering problem

Given a set of polyhedral cones C₁,…,Ck⊂Rd, and a convex set D, does the union of these cones cover the set D? In this paper we consider the computational complexity of this problem for various cases such as whether the cones are defined by extreme rays or facets, and whether D is the entire Rd or a given linear subspace Rt. As a consequence, we show that it is coNP-complete to decide if the union of a given set of convex polytopes is convex, thus answering a question of Bemporad, Fukuda and Torrisi.     

Floating and sustained-release characteristics of effervescent tablets prepared with a mixed matrix of Eudragit L-100-55 and Eudragit E PO

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of Na-bicarbonate as an effervescent agent on the floating and sustained-release characteristics in 0.1 M HCl of tablets made of Eudragit E PO (EE) and/or Eudragit L-100-55 (EL) as matrix formers at different EE:EL weight ratios: 0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25, and 100:0. The tablets were made by direct compression utilizing metronidazole as a model drug. Effervescent tablets with 50EE/50EL (w/w) showed the best floating and sustained drug release properties in the dissolution medium. The corresponding noneffervescent tablets were nonfloating and showed significantly faster drug release. Effervescent tablets with single polymers showed an immediate drug release pattern. These results were explained by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis, which showed strong evidence of interpolyelectrolyte complexation between EE and EL when they were exposed to 0.1 M HCl as an effervescent hybrid matrix, but not as a noneffervescent hybrid matrix. The role of Na-bicarbonate in allowing EE-EL complexation during dissolution was explained as due to raising the pH around EL particles for sufficient polymer ionization and ionic-interaction with the ionized EE.     

Corrosion inhibition of iron in hydrochloric acid using pyrazole

The corrosion and corrosion inhibition of iron in HCl solutions in the absence and presence of pyrazole (PA) were investigated by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Changes in impedance parameters (R_ct and C_dl) were indicative of the adsorption of PA on the iron surface. The adsorption of PA is found to obey Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The study suggests that this compound is an anodic inhibitor.     

Bioactive isocoumarins from a terrestrial Streptomyces sp. ANK302

Four isocoumarins have been isolated from the terrestrial Streptomyces sp. ANK302, namely 6,8-dimethoxy-3-methylisocoumarin (1), 6,8-dihydroxy-3-methylisocoumarin (2), 6,8-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-3-methylisocoumarin (3), and 6,7,8-trimethoxy-3-methylisocoumarin (4). Compound 1 is a new naturally-occurring isocoumarin, and 2 was isolated as a new bacterial product. The structures 1-4 were deduced from high resolution mass, 1D and 2D NMR spectra and by comparison with related compounds from the literature. Compound 2 showed a strong zoosporicidal activity at a concentration of 5 microg/mL against a phytopathogenic oomycete, Plasmopara viticola, and 1 was active against     

Convergence of Galerkin approximations for the Kuramoto‐Tsuzuki equation

Standard Galerkin approximations, using smooth splines to solutions of the Kuramoto‐Tsuzuki equation are analyzed. The existence, uniqueness, and convergence of the fully discrete Crank‐Nicolson scheme are discussed. Furthermore, a second‐order convergent linearized Galerkin approximation are derived. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 21, 2005     

Produits1 de Kontsevich sur le fibré cotangent d'un groupe de Lie et formules intégralesKontsevich star products on the cotangent bundle of a Lie group and integral formulae

We describe a large class of natural star products on the cotangent bundle $\text{T}{}^1\text{G}$ of a Lie group G and we characterize these star products by integral formulae. To cite this article: K. Tounsi, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 334 (2002) 783–786.     

Equations des variétés de Kummer

Sans résumé

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Electroluminescence from a current-emitting nanostructured silicon device

A three-dimensional silicon based nanodevice mainly consisting of two conductive silicon cantilevers was fabricated out of silicon-on-insulator material by electron beam lithography, reactive ion etching, and fluoride based wet chemical etching. One of the cantilevers is bent and sticks to the silicon substrate while the other one is freely suspended. We observed electroluminescence in the visible range when a voltage of any polarity is dropped across both levers. The measured spectra covered the range 400–950 nm peaking at about 650 nm. The current applied to the device could tune the intensity of the electroluminescence spectrum. Light powers ranging from 160 fW to some pW were measured at frequencies up to 17 kHz. The origin of the electroluminescence is discussed in comparison to porous silicon and spark-processed silicon.