Assessing the antimicrobial activity of zinc oxide thin films using disk diffusion and biofilm reactor

The electronic and chemical properties of semiconductor materials may be useful in preventing growth of microorganisms. In this article, in vitro methods for assessing microbial growth on semiconductor materials will be presented. The structural and biological properties of silicon wafers coated with zinc oxide thin films were evaluated using atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and MTT viability assay. The antimicrobial properties of zinc oxide thin films were established using disk diffusion and CDC Biofilm Reactor studies. Our results suggest that zinc oxide and other semiconductor materials may play a leading role in providing antimicrobial functionality to the next-generation medical devices.     

Some characterization theorems for circuit spaces associated with graphs

A circuit space is an independence space (or matroid) in which each basis is contained in a circuit. In this paper we consider various independence spaces associated with a graph and seek to discover for which graphs these spaces are circuit spaces and, in particular, truncated spaces. Some definitive results are obtained and some interesting questions are left open.     

Application of dispersion theory to time domain reflectometry in soils

With time domain reflectometry (TDR) two dispersive parameters, the dielectric constant, , and the electrical conductivity, can be measured. Both parameters are nonlinear functions of the volume fractions in soil. Because the volume function of water ( _w) can change widely in the same soil, empirical equations have been derived to describe these relations. In this paper, a theoretical model is proposed based upon the theory of dispersive behaviour. This is compared with the empirical equations. The agreement between the empirical and theoretical aproaches was highly significant: the ( _w) relation of Topp et al. had a coefficient of determination r ² = 0.996 and the (_u) relation of Smith and Tice, for the unfrozen water content, _u, at temperatures below 0°C, had an r ² = 0.997. To obtain ( _w) relations, calibration measurements were performed on two soils: Caledon sand and Guelph silt loam. For both soils, an r ² = 0.983 was obtained between the theoretical model and the measured values. The correct relations are especially important at low water contents, where the interaction between water molecules and soil particles is strong.