Electrocatalytic detection of thiols using an edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrode

The first example of using an edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrode in electroanalysis is reported as the determination of homocysteine, N-acetylcysteine, cysteine and glutathione is studied. The response of the electrode in the direct oxidation of thiol moieties is explored and found to be electrocatalytic producing a reduction in the overpotential while having enhanced signal-to-noise characteristics compared to glassy carbon and basal plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes. The effectiveness of the methodology is examined in the determination of cysteine species in a growth tissue media that contains a high number of common biological interferences. The advantageous properties of this electrode for thiol determination lie in its excellent catalytic activity, sensitivity and simplicity.     

Manganese dioxide graphite composite electrodes: application to the electroanalysis of hydrogen peroxide, ascorbic acid and nitrite.

The modification of carbon powder with manganese dioxide using a wet impregnation procedure with electrochemical characterisation of the modified powder is described. The process involves saturation of the carbon powder with manganese(II) nitrate followed by thermal treatment at ca. 773 K leading to formation of manganese(IV) oxide on the surface of the carbon powder. The construction of composite electrodes based on manganese dioxide modified carbon powder and epoxy resin is also described, including optimisation of the percentage of the modified carbon powder. Composite electrodes showed attractive performances for electroanalytical applications, proving to be suitable for the electrochemical detection of hydrogen peroxide, ascorbic acid and nitrite ions with limits of detection comparable to the detection limits achieved by other analytical techniques. The results obtained for detection of these analytes, together with composite electrodes flexible design and low cost offers potential application of composite electrodes in biosensors.     

High-intensity third-harmonic generation in beta barium borate through second-order and third-order susceptibilities

The azimuthal dependence of third-order and cascaded second-order nonlinear coupling was used to measure the relative contributions of each to direct third-harmonic generation in beta-barium borate. This permitted the measurement of the values of tensor elements chi(3)(10) , chi(3)(11) , and chi(3)(16) relative to the known chi(2)(ij) . Finally, conversion efficiencies to 3 omega of up to 6% were achieved with a femtosecond chirped-pulse amplification laser with 200 GW/cm(2) in collimated beams.     

On the Number of Sparse RSA Exponents

An RSA modulus is a product M=pl of two primes p and l. We show that for almost all RSA moduli M, the number of sparse exponents e (which allow for fast RSA encryption) with the property that gcd(e,?(M))=1 (hence RSA decryption can also be performed) is very close to the expected value.     

Perfluoroallyl fluorosulphonate

Perfluoroallyl fluorosulphonate, procured $\text{via}$ treatment of perfluoropropene with stabilized sulphur trioxide (‘Sulfan’), reacts with potassium iodide, potassium bromide, sodium methoxide, and phenylmagnesium bromide to yield the corresponding perfluoroallyl derivatives CF₂CFCF₂X, where X = I, Br, OMe, and Ph respectively.     

An anomalous reaction of 7-chloro-2-hydrazono-5-phenyl-1,2-dihydro-3H-1,4-benzodiazepine with sodium acetate and 1,1′-carbonyldiimidazole

The addition of 7-chloro-2-hydrazono-5-phenyl-1,2-dihydro-3H-1,4-benzodiazepine 3 to a mixture of sodium acetate and 1,1′-carbonyldiimidazole 1 at room temperature gave, in moderate yields, carbonyl-1,1′-bis[7-chloro-5-phenyl-1,2-dihydro-3H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ylidene hydrazone] 7 instead of the expected 2-acetylhydrazono-7-chloro-5-phenyl-1,2-dihydro-3H-1,4-benzodiazepine 4 .     

Electroanalytical detection of zinc in whole blood

Three different electroanalytical techniques for the determination of zinc in blood are investigated. The direct determination in diluted blood via anodic stripping voltammetry at glassy carbon and the use of Nafion-coated glassy carbon mercury electrodes are shown to lack the necessary sensitivity whereas an acoustically assisted double extraction followed by sono-ASV using a glassy carbon electrode is found to be rapid, reliable and sensitive.     

Determination of indium and thallium in indium-thallium alloys

The thallium-indium alloys were dissolved in sulphuric acid (1 + 1). In this medium thallium remained in the univalent state and could be determined directly, without a separation, by an oxidation-reduction titration with potassium bromate. The indium was determined directly with an EDTA titration. Ascorbic acid was added to maintain the thallium in the univalent state, which did not interfere. Ascorbic acid also masked any interfering tervalent thallium by effectively reducing it to the univalent state. Sharp end-points were obtained for both titrations, which were carried out in the temperature range of 50-95 degrees . The method offers excellent precision and accuracy.     

Laser-induced forward transfer of focussed ion beam pre-machined donors

In this paper we report femtosecond laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) of pre-machined donor films. 1 μm thick zinc oxide (ZnO) films were first machined using the focussed ion beam (FIB) technique up to a depth of 0.8 μm. Debris-free micro-pellets of ZnO with extremely smooth edges and surface uniformity were subsequently printed from these pre-machined donors using LIFT. Printing results of non-machined ZnO donor films and films deposited on top of a polymer dynamic release layer (DRL) are also presented for comparison, indicating the superior quality of transfer achievable and utility of this pre-machining technique.     

Dependence of magnetic ordering temperature of doped and undoped EuFe2As2 on hydrostatic pressure to 0.8 GPa

The ac susceptibility of single crystalline tetragonal EuFe₂As₂, EuFe₂As_1.4P_0.6, and EuFe_1.715Co_0.285As₂ has been measured over the temperature and hydrostatic (He-gas) pressure ranges 10–60 K and 0–0.8 GPa, respectively. For all three samples the magnetic ordering temperature (17–19 K) from the Eu sublattice increases linearly with pressure, presumably due to the enhanced exchange coupling between Eu-layers. No evidence for a superconducting transition was observed in the susceptibility for any sample over the measured temperature/pressure range.