Investigation of adhesive–dentin interfaces using Raman microspectroscopy and small angle X‐ray scattering

Human dentin specimens were treated with two different etch‐and‐rinse adhesives, Single Bond 2 (SB2) and Prime & Bond NT (PBNT), and two composite resins, TPH and P60. Cross‐sectional samples, approximately 1 mm thick, were analyzed with Raman line mapping and imaging across the dentin–adhesive–composite interface. The integrated intensities of selected bands associated with adhesive, organic material, composite and hydroxyapatite of dentin were calculated to determine the distribution of adhesive infiltration into demineralized dentin. The results were compared with the enamel‐adhesive composite interface. The demineralized zone was smaller in the enamel‐adhesive interface than in the dentin–adhesive interface. The region of collagen‐adhesive crosslinking was wider in the PBNT adhesive than in the SB2 adhesive. However, a gap at the dentin–PBNT composite interface, which was not observed at the dentin–SB2 composite interface, might compromise the dentin–restoration bond. K‐means cluster analysis of the Raman images confirmed the findings. The ultrastructure of the dentin–resin interface was studied using scanning electron microscopy. Small‐angle X‐ray scattering was also applied to reveal and quantify fine‐scale structural features. SB2 adhesive was found to diffuse more into demineralized dentin along with greater nanosized aggregations in the hybrid layer. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation of biosensors by immobilization of polyphenol oxidase in conducting copolymers and their use in determination of phenolic compounds in red wine

Electrochemically produced graft copolymers of thiophene capped polytetrahydofuran (TPTHF1 and TPTHF2) and pyrrole were achieved by constant potential electrolysis using sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) as the supporting electrolyte. Characterizations were based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Electrical conductivities were measured by the four-probe technique. Novel biosensors for phenolic compounds were constructed by immobilizing polyphenol oxidase (PPO) into conducting copolymers prepared by electropolymerization of pyrrole with thiophene capped polytetrahydrofuran. Kinetic parameters, maximum reaction rate (V(max)) and Michaelis-Menten constant (K(m)) and optimum conditions regarding temperature and pH were determined for the immobilized enzyme. Operational stability and shelf-life of the enzyme electrodes were investigated. Enzyme electrodes of polyphenol oxidase were used to determine the amount of phenolic compounds in two brands of Turkish red wines and found very useful owing to their high kinetic parameters and wide pH working range.     

Perfluorinated Dendrimers Based on Calix[4]arenes and Cyclam: Synthesis,Thermal Properties and Biological Activities

Four new dendritic structures carrying perfluorobenzyl bromide on the surface and calix[4]arene and cyclam as a core were synthesized by using the convergent approach. These structures were determined by ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR and elemental analysis. Thermal stabilities of fluorinated dendritic structures were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis. Activation energies and thermal degradation of the structures were calculated with the Ozawa method. Thermogravimetric analysis of the dendritic structures reveals that the thermal stability of the structures increases with an increase in the number of the fluorine atoms. Dendritic structures synthesized were tested for their antimicrobial activity against, Salmonella typhimurium NRRLB, Micrococcus luteus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus fecalis ATCC-29212, Bacillus cereus ATCC-117787, Klepsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus subtilis NRS-744 and Proteus vulgoris, Yersinia enterolitica, Saccharomyces cereviciae. The structures showed comparative activity against different strains of bacteria. Biological activities of the dendritic structures were seen to increase with an increase in fluorination and the number of nitrogen atoms.     

Some new energetic benzaldoximes

5-Nitro-2-hydroxy benzaldoxime (I), 3-nitro-4-hydroxy benzaldoxime (II), 3,5-dinitro-2-hydroxy benzaldoxime (III), and 3,5-dinitro-4-hydroxy benzaldoxime (IV) were prepared from their respective nitrated aldehydes. Prepared oximes were characterized by IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and mass spectrometry. Suitable crystals of compounds II and III were obtained and molecular structures were determined by means of the single crystal XRD method. All benzaldoximes were investigated by TG. At temperatures above 140 °C, it was observed that compounds II and IV lost one H₂O and was converted to the respective benzonitriles. Only thermal analysis peaks of 3,5-dinitro-4-hydroxy benzonitrile (V) were found proper for both experimental and theoretic calculations; whereas, compounds I and III were converted to phenoxazines by Beckmann rearrangement along with dehydration. Beckmann product of compound III is referred as compound VI and its tautomer as compound VII. Similarly only 3,5-dinitro phenoxazine (VIII) was investigated experimentally and theoretically since its thermal analysis peaks were proper for the purpose. DFT-based structure optimizations and frequency analyses were performed at the B3LYP/cc-pVDZ level of theory. The enthalpies of formation for compounds III–VIII were calculated by means of the complete basis set (CBS-4M) method of Petersson and coworkers to obtain accurate energies. The enthalpies of decomposition for compounds III and IV were obtained from calculated enthalpies of formation according to Hess’ law and were compared with the experimental values which were available from DSC analyses and were found to be in good agreement with the theoretic values.     

Combination of ultrasound‐assisted ethyl chloroformate derivatization and switchable solvent liquid‐phase microextraction for the sensitive determination of l‐methionine in human plasma by GC–MS

A green and fast analytical method for the determination of l ‐methionine in human plasma is presented in this study. Preconcentration of the analyte was carried out by switchable solvent liquid phase microextraction after ethyl chloroformate derivatization reaction. Instrumental detection of the analyte was performed by means of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. N,N‐Dimethyl benzylamine was used in the synthesis of switchable solvent. Protonated N,N‐dimethyl benzylamine volume, volume/concentration of sodium hydroxide, and vortex period were meticulously fixed to their optimum values. Besides, ethyl chloroformate, pyridine, and ethanol volumes were optimized in order to get high derivatization yield. After the optimization studies, limit of detection and quantitation values were attained as 3.30 and 11.0 ng/g, respectively, by the developed switchable solvent liquid phase microextraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method that corresponding to 76.7‐folds enhancement in detection power of the gas chromatography–mass spectrometry system. Applicability and accuracy of the switchable solvent liquid phase microextraction–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method were also checked by spiking experiments. Percent recovery results were ranged from 97.8 to 100.5% showing that human plasma samples could be analyzed for its l ‐methionine level by the proposed method.     

Novel BODIPY-bridged cyclotriphosphazenes

Three new 2-component unsubstituted ( 4P ), diiodo- ( 5P ), and dibromo- ( 6P ) distyryl-BODIPY-bridged cyclotriphosphazene dimers were designed and synthesized. The newly synthesized BODIPY-cyclotriphosphazene systems were characterized by ¹ H, ¹³ C, and ³¹ P NMR spectroscopy. The photophysical properties of the distryl-BODIPYs (4–6) and BODIPY-cyclotriphosphazene dyads ( 4P – 6P ) were studied by UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence emission spectroscopy. In these derivatives, the bino-type cyclotriphosphazene derivative bearing unsubstituted BODIPY unit 4P exhibited high fluorescence and no singlet oxygen generation due to the lack of spin converter. The attachment of heavy atoms (iodine and bromine) enabled the production of singlet oxygen. The bino-type BODIPY-cyclotriphosphazenes ( 5P and 6P ) were also used as triplet photosensitizers in the photooxidation of 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran to endoperoxide via generation of the singlet oxygen in dichloromethane. The singlet oxygen production of these compounds was also investigated via a direct method and produced a singlet oxygen phosphorescence peak at 1270 nm.     

Thermal decomposition of potassium hexanitronickelate(II) hydrate

The thermal decomposition of the complex K₄[Ni(NO₂)₆]·H₂O has been investigated over the temperature range 25-600 °C by a combination of infrared spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, FAB-mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. The first stage of reaction is loss of water and isomerisation of one of the coordinated nitro groups to form the complex K₄[Ni(NO₂)₄(ONO)]·NO₂. At temperatures around 200 °C the remaining nitro groups within the complex isomerise to the chelating nitrite form and this process acts as a precursor to the loss of NO₂ gas at temperatures above 270 °C. The product, which is stable up to 600 °C, is the complex K₄[Ni(ONO)₄]·NO₂, where the nickel atom is formally in the +1 oxidation state.     

Liquid chromatographic and spectrophotometric determination of diflucortolone valerate and isoconazole nitrate in creams

A new RP-LC method and two new spectrophotometric methods, principal component regression (PCR) and first derivative spectrophotometry, are proposed for simultaneous determination of diflucortolone valerate (DIF) and isoconazole nitrate (ISO) in cream formulations. An isocratic system consisting of an ACE C18 column and a mobile phase composed of methanol-water (95 + 5, v/v) was used for the optimal chromatographic separation. In PCR, the concentration data matrix was prepared by using synthetic mixtures containing these drugs in methanol-water (3 + 1, v/v). The absorbance data matrix corresponding to the concentration data matrix was obtained by measuring the absorbances at 29 wavelengths in the range of 242-298 nm for DIF and ISO in the zero-order spectra of their combinations. In first derivative spectrophotometry, dA/dlambda values were measured at 247.8 nm for DIF and at 240.2 nm for ISO in first derivative spectra of the solution of DIF and ISO in methanol-water (3 + 1, v/v). The linear ranges were 4.00-48.0 microg/mL for DIF and 50.0-400 microg/mL for ISO in the LC method, and 2.40-40.0 microg/mL for DIF and 60.0-260 microg/mL for ISO in the PCR and first derivative spectrophotometric methods. These methods were validated by analyzing synthetic mixtures. These three methods were successfully applied to two pharmaceutical cream preparations.     

A new hydrogen-bonded pseudo-dimer Mn(III) Schiff base complex. The synthesis, X-ray structure and spectroscopic studies

A new hydrogen-bonded pseudo-dimer, [Mn(III)L1(CH₃CH₂OH)]₂(ClO₄) (1) (L1 = N,N′-bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthalidenato)-1,2-diaminopropane) has been synthesized and characterized by UV–vis, IR, elemental analysis and crystal structure analysis. The single crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that the structure affords an elongated octahedral MnN₂O₄ coordination environment, geometry with the four donor atoms of the tetradentate Schiff base in the equatorial plane and with two ethanol molecule in axial positions with Mn–O = 2.265(2) and 2.266(2) Å.     

A new imputation method for incomplete binary data

In data analysis problems where the data are represented by vectors of real numbers, it is often the case that some of the data-points will have “missing values”, meaning that one or more of the entries of the vector that describes the data-point is not observed. In this paper, we propose a new approach to the imputation of missing binary values. The technique we introduce employs a “similarity measure” introduced by Anthony and Hammer (2006) [1]. We compare experimentally the performance of our technique with ones based on the usual Hamming distance measure and multiple imputation.