A temperature-controlled graphite tube furnace for the determination of trace metals in solid biological tissue

A temperature-controlled graphite furnace for atomic-absorption analysis has been built and tested. The temperature of the graphite tube was monitored with an infrared-sensitive detector. Samples were introduced directly or via a separately heated graphite cup. Micro-samples of solid biological tissue were analysed directly for Zn, Mn and Co and the sensitivities for 1% absorption were 0.05,2 and 10 pg respectively. The salt content of the tissue limits the sample sizes, owing to non-specific absorption. The ashing conditions were investigated and found to be especially critical for Zn.     

Selective enzyme amplification of NAD/NADH using coimmobilized glycerol dehydrogenase and diaphorase with amperometric detection

A flow system for substrate recycling of NAD⁺/NADH was set up with an enzyme reactor containing coimmobilized glycerol dehydrogenase (GDH) and diaphorase. The product from the diaphorase catalysis, hexacyanoferrate(II), aws detected amperometrically at a glassy carbon electrode. The amplification factor was 150 for a reactor volume of 100 μ l at a flow-rate of 0.5 ml/min. With a stopped flow of four minutes, the signal increased another 88 times, resulting in a signal amplification of 13 300 times. Equations are derived for the amplification factor and used for a discussion of the optimization of amplification systems. The K_m for GDH with glycerol as a substrate was found to be 5 × 10⁻³ M at pH 8.0. GDH from Cellulomonas sp. was purified on a gel filtration column and the purified enzyme showed a specificity toward NAD⁺, compared to NADP⁺, that was higher than 99.9%. Due to the NAD⁺ specificity of the purified GDH, the enzyme amplification system reported here could be used in detection systems for enzyme immunoassays when using alkaline phosphatase as a label and NADP⁺ as a substrate. The stability of immobilized GDH and diaphorase is several orders of magnitude better than that of alcohol dehydrogenase, which is the enzyme commonly used for NAD⁺-specific detection in these applications.     

pH sensitivity of Si--C linked organic monolayers on crystalline silicon surfaces.

The electrochemical behavior of Si--C linked organic monolayers is studied in electrolyte-insulator-Si devices, under conditions normally encountered in potentiometric biosensors, to gain fundamental knowledge on the behavior of such Si electrodes under practical conditions. This is done via titration experiments, Mott-Schottky data analysis, and data fitting using a site-binding model. The results are compared with those of native SiO(2) layers and native SiO(2) layers modified with hexamethyldisilazane. All samples display pH sensitivity. The number of Si--OH groups on the alkylated samples is calculated to be less than 0.7 % of that of a pure SiO(2) insulator, which still causes a pH sensitivity of approximately 25 mV per pH unit in the pH range: 4-7. The alkylated samples hardly suffer from response changes during up- and down-going titrations, which indicates that very little oxide is additionally formed during the measurements. The pK(a) values of all samples with monolayers (4.0-4.4) are lower than that of native SiO(2) (6.0). The long-term drift (of approximately 1 mV h(-1)) is moderate. The results indicate that biosensors composed of alkylated Si substrates are feasible if a cross-sensitivity towards pH in the sensor signal is taken into account.     

Novel Lewis-base ionic liquids replacing typical anions

We have synthesized two kinds of new Lewis-base ionic liquids (ILs); one is based on the relatively strong Lewis basic acetate anion, and the other is a salt composed of a mono-alkylated diamine such that the Lewis base site is incorporated in the cation. 1-Octyl-4-aza-1-azonia-bicyclo[2.2.2]octane bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide, [C₈dabco]TFSA, and N-butyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium acetate, [p_1,4]OAc, melted into fluid liquids at 26 and 81 °C, respectively. The thermal decomposition of [p_1,4]OAc started at around 150 °C, whereas the thermal stability of [C₈dabco]TFSA was almost equal to that of typical TFSA-based ILs in spite of the Lewis base site. This suggests that if the Lewis base site is incorporated into the cation the IL can maintain higher thermal stability. In addition, as a further result of the presence of the basic nitrogen, [C₈dabco]TFSA can dissolve hydrated Cu(NO₃)₂ whereas the other TFSA-based ILs cannot.     

Path integrals on finite sets

We construct an analogue of the Feynman path integral for the case of % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaeyOeI0YaaS% aaaeaacaaIXaaabaGaamyAaaaadaWcaaqaaiabgkGi2cqaaiabgkGi% 2kaadshaaaqeduuDJXwAKbYu51MyVXgaiuaacqWFvpGAcaWG0bGaey% ypa0JaamisamaaBaaaleaacaGGOaaabeaakmaaBaaaleaacaGGPaaa% beaakiab-v9aQjaadshaaaa!4A8D!\[ - \frac{1}{i}\frac{\partial }{{\partial t}}\varphi t = H_( _) \varphi t\] in which H ₍₎ is a self-adjoint operator in the space L ²(M)= % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaeSOaHmkaaa!3744!\[\mathbb{C}\], where _M is a finite set, the paths being functions of % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaeSyhHekaaa!375D!\[\mathbb{R}\] with values in M. The path integral is a family of measures F _t,t with values in the operators on L ²(M), or equivalently, a family of complex measures corresponding to matrix coefficients.It is shown that these measures on path space are in some sense dominated by the measure of a Markov process. This implies that F _t,t is concentrated on the set of step functions S[t,t].This allows one to make sense of, and prove, the analogue of Feynman's formula for the propagator of the Hamiltonian H=H ₀+V, where V is a potential, namely the formula: % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaaeyzamaaCa% aaleqabaGaeyOeI0IaamyAaiaacIcacaWG0bGaai4jaiabgkHiTiaa% dshacaGGPaGaamisaaaakiabg2da9maapebabaGaaeyzamaaCaaale% qabaGaeyOeI0IaamyAamaapedabaGaamOvaiaacIcatCvAUfKttLea% ryqr1ngBPrgaiuGacqWF4baEcaGGOaGaam4CaiaacMcacaGGPaGaae% izaiaabohaaWqaaiaadshaaeaacaWG0bGaai4jaaGdcqGHRiI8aaaa% kiaadAeadaWgaaWcbaGaamiDaiaacEcacaGGSaGaamiDaaqabaGcca% GGOaGaaeizaiab-Hha4jaacMcaaSqaaiaadofacaGGBbGaamiDaiaa% cYcacaWG0bGaai4jaiaac2faaeqaniabgUIiYdaaaa!6410!\[{\text{e}}^{ - i(t' - t)H} = \int_{S[t,t']} {{\text{e}}^{ - i\int_t^{t'} {V(x(s)){\text{ds}}} } F_{t',t} ({\text{d}}x)} \]and the corresponding formulas for the matrix coefficients, in which the integral extends over the paths beginning and ending in the appropriate points. We show that the measures F _t,t are completely determined by these equations and by a certain multiplicative property.The path integral corresponding to a two-particle system without interaction is the direct product of the corresponding path integrals. The propagator for a two-particle system with interaction can be obtained by repeated integration.Finally, we show that the above integral formula can be generalized to the case where the potential is time dependent.