Identification of 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-diisobutyl succinonitrile in laser printer emissions

2,3-Dimethyl-2,3-diisobutyl succinonitrile was identified as the main volatile organic compound (>90%) emitted from laser printers during the printing process. Experiments were carried out in a large environmental chamber of 30 m3, where the printers were placed and working simulating 'real office setting' conditions. Air samples were taken on Tenax TA adsorbent cartridges in the vicinity of the printers and further analyzed by thermal desorption gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TDGC/MS). The structure of the compound has been determined and is presented in this study. Additional data obtained by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) support the proposed structure, with no reported CAS number, as 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-diisobutyl succinonitrile. It is a byproduct of the thermal decomposition of 2,2'-azobis(2,4-dimethyl valeronitrile), a commercially available free radical polymerization initiator used in polymerization processes during the manufacture of the toners. By means of head-space GC/MS, 15 toners used in black & white and colour printers have been investigated. Six of them contained 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-diisobutyl succinonitrile, which has also been detected in the respective processed paper.     

A boundedness result for toric log Del Pezzo surfaces

In this paper we give an upper bound for the Picard number of the rational surfaces which resolve minimally the singularities of toric log Del Pezzo surfaces of given index ℓ. This upper bound turns out to be a quadratic polynomial in the variable ℓ. Received: 18 June 2008     

Superior performance of multilayered fluoropolymer films in low voltage electrowetting

The requirement for low operational voltage in electrowetting devices, met using thin dielectrics, is usually connected with serious material failure issues. Dielectric breakdown (visible as electrolysis) is frequently evident slightly beyond the onset of the contact angle saturation. Here, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is used to deposit thin fluorocarbon films prior to the spin-coating of Teflon® amorphous fluoropolymer. The resulting multilayered hydrophobic top coating improves the electrowetting performance of the stack, by showing high resistance to dielectric breakdown at high applied voltages and for continuous long term application of DC and AC voltage. Leakage current measurements during electrowetting experiments with the proposed composite coating showed that current remains fairly constant at consecutive electrowetting tests in contrast to plain Teflon® coating in which material degradation is evident by a progressive increase in the leakage current after multiple electrowetting tests. Since the proposed composite coating demonstrates increased resistance to material failure and to dielectric breakdown even at thin configurations, its integration in electrowetting devices may impact their reliability, robustness, and lifetime.     

Flow Potentiometric Injection Analysis of Uric Acid Using Lipid Stabilized Films with Incorporated Uricase on ZnO Nanowires

A novel potentiometric uric acid biosensor was fabricated by immobilization of uricase into stabilized lipid films using zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires as measuring electrode. Uricase was incorporated into the lipid film prior polymerization on the surface of well aligned ZnO nanowires resulting in a sensitive, selective, stable and reproducible uric acid biosensor. The potentiometric response was twice as large from previously reported values due to the presence of a cationic lipid in the lipid film. The sensor response had no interferences by normal concentrations of ascorbic acid, glucose, urea, proteins and lipids.     

Improved correlation energy extrapolation schemes based on local pair natural orbital methods

It is well-known that the basis set limit is difficult to reach in correlated post Hartree-Fock ab initio calculations. One possible route forward is to employ basis set extrapolation schemes. In order to avoid prohibitively expensive calculations, the highest level calculation (typically based on the "gold standard" coupled cluster theory with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations, CCSD(T)) is only performed with the smallest basis set, and the remaining basis set incompleteness is estimated at a lower level of theory, typically second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2). In this work, we provide a comprehensive investigation of alternative schemes where the MP2 extrapolation is replaced by the coupled-electron pair approximation, version 1 (CEPA/1) or the local pair natural orbital version of this method (LPNO-CEPA/1). It is shown that the MP2 method achieves apparent accuracy only due to error cancellation. Systematically more accurate results at small additional computational cost are obtained if the MP2 step is replaced by LPNO-CEPA/1. The errors of LPNO-CEPA/1 relative to canonical CEPA/1 are negligible. Owing to the highly systematic nature of the deviations between canonical and LPNO methods, basis set extrapolation reduces the LPNO errors in the total energies by 1 order of magnitude (~0.2 kcal/mol) and errors in energy differences to essentially zero. Using the CCSD(T)/LPNO-CEPA/1-based extrapolation scheme, new reference values are proposed for the recently published S66 set of interaction energies. The deviations between the new values and the original interactions energies are mostly very small but reach values up to 0.3 kcal/mol.     

Graphene electroanalysis: inhibitory effects in the stripping voltammetry of cadmium with surfactant free graphene

We explore the use of surfactant free graphene towards the electroanalytical sensing of cadmium(II) ions via anodic stripping voltammetry. In line with literature methodologies, we modify an electrode substrate which exhibits relatively fast electron transfer with commercially available graphene which is free from surfactants. Surprisingly, we find that graphene reduces the analytical performance and hence inhibits the electrochemical detection of cadmium(II) ions, with calibration plots in model aqueous solutions revealing no advantages of employing graphene in this analytical context.     

Cisplatin-tethered gold nanoparticles that exhibit enhanced reproducibility, drug loading, and stability: a step closer to pharmaceutical approval?

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) can be used as delivery vehicles for platinum anticancer drugs, improving their targeting and uptake into cells. Here, we examine the appropriateness of different-sized AuNPs as components of platinum-based drug-delivery systems, investigating their controlled synthesis, reproducibility, consistency of drug loading, and stability. The active component of cisplatin was tethered to 25, 55, and 90 nm AuNPs, with the nanoparticles being almost spherical in nature and demonstrating good batch-to-batch reproducibility (24.37 ± 0.62, 55.2 ± 1.75, and 89.1 ± 2.32 nm). The size distribution of 25 nm AuNPs has been significantly improved, compared with a previous method that produces polydispersed nanoparticles. Attachment of platinum to the AuNP surface through a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) linker exhibits an increase in the drug loading with increasing particle size: 25 nm (815 ± 106 drug molecules per AuNP), 55 nm (14216 ± 880), and 90 nm (54487 ± 15996). The stability of the naked, PEGylated, and platinum-conjugated nanoparticles has been examined over time under various conditions. When stored at 4 °C, there is minimal variation in the diameter for all three AuNP sizes; variation after 28 days for the 25 nm AuNPs was 2.4%; 55 nm, 3.3%; and 90 nm, 3.6%. The 25 nm AuNPs also demonstrate minimal changes in UV-visible absorbance over the same time period.     

Infinitely many Gerretsen-Blundon style quadratic inequalities, all strongest in Blundon’s sense

Blundon has proved that if R, r and s are respectively the circumradius, the inradius and the semiperimeter of a triangle, then the strongest possible inequalities of the form q(R, r) ≤ s ² ≤ Q(R, r) that hold for all triangles becoming equalities for the equilaterals where q, Q real quadratic forms, occur for the Gerretsen forms q _B (R, r) = 16Rr ? 5r ² and Q _B (R, r) = 4R ² + 4Rr + 3r ²; strongest in the sense that if Q is a quadratic form and s ² ≤ Q(R, r) ≤ Q _B (R, r) for all triangles then Q(R, r) = Q _B (R, r), and similarly for q _B (R, r). In this paper we prove that Q _B (resp. q _B ) is just one of infinitely many forms that appear as minimal (resp. maximal) elements in the partial order induced by the comparability relation in a certain set of forms, and we conclude that all these minimal forms are strongest in Blundon’s sense. We actually find all possible such strongest forms. Moreover we find all possible quadratic forms q, Q for which q(R, r) ≤ s ² ≤ Q(R, r) for all triangles and which hold as equalities for the equilaterals.     

On the determination of a measure by the orbits generated by its logarithmic potential

We say that a logarithmic potential generates a curve in the plane if a unit mass traces the curve under the action of the potential. We consider the following problem: A one-parameter family of plane curves is given. We assume that these curves lie in the complement of a compact set . Find all measures supported in whose potentials generate each of the given curves. We solve this problem when is the unit circle in three specific cases: (a) when the given curves are straight lines through the origin, (b) when the curves are straight lines through a point on the unit circle, and (c) when the curves are circles centered at the origin. The solution involves the Poisson integral and its boundary behavior.