A disposable biosensor for the determination of alpha-amylase in human saliva

A disposable tri-enzymatic biosensor is presented for the determination of α-amylase in human saliva. It is based on the quantity of maltose generated by hydrolysis of maltopentose in the presence of salivary α-amylase. The biosensor is fabricated by co-immobilization of the enzymes α-glucosidase, glucose oxidase, and mutarotase on screen-printed electrodes modified with Prussian Blue. The assay can be performed with a “drop” of sample, this allowing for ease and simplicity. A linear relationship is found for the range from 5 to 250 units per mL, with an LOD of 5 units per mL. The biosensor is stable for at least one month and over this time retains 80% of its original activity. The system was then evaluated for matrix effects of human saliva and compared to a spectrometric method using a commercially available kit.     

A Refined Schwarz Lemma for the Spectral Nevanlinna-Pick Problem

The spectral Nevanlinna–Pick problem asks for necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a holomorphic map from the unit disc to the set of $n\times n$ complex matrices with spectral radius less than 1, that interpolates given data. Some versions of the Schwarz lemma, obtained by Ransford and Nokrane, and by Bharali, provide necessary conditions. We prove a refined version of their results, which makes it possible to treat problems with more than two interpolation points.     

Intramolecular Path Determination of Active Electrons on Push-Pull Oligocarbazole Dyes-Sensitized Solar Cells

Several push-pull oligocarbazole dye-sensitizers have been studied using theoretical methods in order to better understand the relationship between structural electronic or optical properties and intramolecular path of active electrons during the ionization and injection processes. DFT/TD-DFT calculations were performed on a series of five dye sensitizers. They differ by the presence of electron donating group (EDG) by inductive effect (noted+I) or electron releasing group (ERG) by mesomeric effect (noted+M) or electron withdrawing group by inductive effect (noted-I) on the pushed part of the dyes studied. Our work focused on the internal distribution of electrons in the different parts of dye that are the push/pull moieties and the π -bridge. The study concerned the ground state, the electronic transition process and the excited state. In each situation, the fragment acting in the ionization or transition phenomena were identified. In the ground state, the electrons of the push part appear to be the least bound because they have the highest probabilities of ionization. In the excited state, the ionized atoms are essentially positioned in the pushing part and some neighboring atoms of the bridge. In the electronic transition, the active atoms are located in the π -conjugated part but only on the side adjacent to the acceptor group. To arrive to this conclusion, we optimized the structures of the five dyes in their ground and excited states. We calculated the atomic charges, the wavelengths and intensities of electronic transitions in the visible domain, the reorganization energies as well as the oxidation potential. It appears that +M donor ligands improve the performance of a dye because the great distribution of atoms to be ionized in the push parts.     

Elasticity of ion stuffing in chemically strengthened glass

The chemical strengthening of glass involves the stuffing of large ions into network sites previously occupied by smaller ions. Typically this involves an exchange of Li⁺ or Na⁺ ions in the glass for larger K⁺ ions from a molten salt bath. This swapping of ions creates compressive stress in the surface of the glass, significantly increasing the strength of the final glass product. The magnitude of this compressive stress is governed by the linear network dilation coefficient (LNDC), which defines the amount of linear strain per unit of ion substitution. However, the amount of strain attainable through ion exchange is much smaller compared to what is expected from as-melted versions of the same final glass composition. This effect, which we have termed the “network dilation anomaly,” is a result of the different local environment around the invading ion species in as-melted versus ion-exchanged glasses. A remaining question concerns the nature of the network strain due to ion stuffing. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we show that the strain induced by ion stuffing is entirely elastic. In other words, when a reverse ion exchange is performed to swap the original ions back into the glass, the initial volume of the as-melted glasses is entirely recovered. Moreover, we show that the local structural environment around the alkali ions is restored to the as-melted conditions. The elastic nature of ion stuffing demonstrates that the network dilation anomaly is not a result of plasticity, but rather a failure to achieve the full amount of expected elastic strain during ion exchange. The elasticity itself consists of both instantaneous and delayed contributions.     

Bioactive glycosides from the African medicinal plant Boerhavia erecta L.

Phytochemical studies of the previously unexplored stem of Boerhavia erecta from Burkina Faso, resulted in the isolation of an unreported glycoside 4, 2,3-dihydroxypropylbenzoate-3-O-β-[4″-methoxy] glucuronide as well as seven known glycosides (1–3, 5–8). The major isolate 5 and 8 indicated a significant inhibition against HIV integrase (IC₅₀ 10 and 22 μg/mL, respectively). The extracts and isolates were also tested for anti-malarial activity, but insignificant activity was observed.     

Topology on the Spaces Of Orderings of Groups

A natural topology on the space of left orderings of an arbitrarysemi-group is introduced here. This space is proved to be compact,and for free abelian groups it is shown to be homeomorphic tothe Cantor set. An application of this result is a new proofof the existence of universal Gröbner bases. 2000 MathematicsSubject Classification 06F15, 13P10 (primary), 06F05, 20F60(secondary).     

Using Microfluidic Set-Up to Determine the Adsorption Rate of Sporosarcina pasteurii Bacteria on Sandstone

Transport in Porous Media - Microbial-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) in porous media is a two-step procedure: First, the suspension of bacteria is injected and some of the bacteria get...     

Synthesis of α-Functionalized Allenes

It is known, since the work of Landor et al, that α-allenic alcohols can be specifically obtained by treating the monotetrahydropyranyl ether of a butyn-1,4-diol with lithium aluminium hydride (1). In this reaction, which can be also realized with another leaving group (halogen, ammonium) (2), the allenic linkage is formed by an S_N ^2′ process where the nucleophilic hydride is transferred from the initially formed alcoholate (scheme 1).