Comparison of human blood serum DSC profiles in aqueous and PBS buffer solutions

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The results of studies of physiological fluids by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for the purpose of diagnosis and monitoring of diseases are...     

Application of CE with novel dynamic coatings and field-amplified sample injection to the sensitive determination of isomeric benzoic acids in atmospheric aerosols and vehicular emission

A simple and reliable CE method with direct UV detection has been developed to separate eight isomeric benzoic acids in atmospheric aerosols and vehicular emission without complex sample pretreatment. Optimal electrophoretic conditions, with migration times under 5 min, were obtained by using a 50 mM acetate buffer (pH 4.7) containing a dynamic surface coating EOTrol LN (0.005% w/v). The separations were carried out in a cathode to anode direction (-30 kV) allowing the low cathodal EOF ( approximately 1 x 10(-9) m(2)V(-1)s(-1)) to extend the effective separation by slowing the movement of the studied aromatic acids. Moreover, the sensitivity of the method at 200 nm was enhanced by using a field-amplified sample injection (FASI) with electrokinetic (EK) sample injection (-2 kV, 60 s). Prior to sample injection, a short water plug (3 s at 0.5 psi) was introduced. Under these conditions, the method was capable of detecting the analytes in deionized water with LODs (S/N = 3) as low as 0.1 microg/L for most of the studied acids. In the presence of 10 mg/L of sulphate (added to simulate a sample matrix), LODs ranged from 0.26 to 0.62 microg/L. The validation of the method has proven an excellent separation performance and accuracy for the determination of isomeric benzoic acids in the studied matrices.     

Fluorescence amplification by electrochemically deposited silver nanowires with fractal architecture

Electrochemically deposited silver structures with nanowires 50-100 nm in diameter show high fluorescence amplification and strongly reduced fluorescence lifetimes. Both quantities depend on the structure thickness. With increasing thickness the fluorescence amplification proportionally increases and the fluorescence lifetime decreases. This thickness dependence is caused by fluorophore interaction with a system of plasmon excitations in coupled nanowires extending over micrometer size regions. Thus the amplification is attributed to a combination of extended structure area and strong plasmonic coupling between nanowires which also help to radiatively scatter the fluorescence emission.     

Electrochemical studies of Tl(I) crown-ether complexes in nonaqueous media

Summary Complexation equilibria of the Tl(I) ion with 18-crown-6 and dibenzo-18-crown-6 were studied polarographically in 10 nonaqueous solvents. The stability of the complexes is strongly influenced by the nature of solvents and varies with their Lewis basicities. It has been found that the logK _s value (K _s is the stability constant of the complex) can be well described by empirical relation logK _s=a DN+b, whereDN stands for the Gutmann donor number anda andb mark the regression coefficient. Addition of the second explanatory parameter, the acceptor number, is not statistically significant. This result is in agreement with the predominant role of Tl(I) ion solvation.

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Elektrochemische Untersuchungen von Tl(I)-Kronenetherkomplexen in nichtwäßrigen Medien

Zusammenfassung Es wurden die Komplexierungsgleichgewichte des Tl(I)-Ions mit 18-Krone-6 und Dibenzo-18-krone-6 polarographisch in 10 nichtwäßrigen Lösungsmitteln untersucht. Die Stabilität der Komplexe wird sehr stark vom Solvens beeinflußt, wobei eine starke Abhängigkeit von der Lewis-Basizität beobachtet wird. Es wurde festgestellt, daß die logK _s-Werte (K _s ist die Komplexstabilitätskonstante) gut mit der empirischen Beziehung logK _s=a DN+b beschrieben werden können, wobeiDN die Gutmann'sche Donorzahl unda undb die Regressionskonstanten bedeuten. Hinzunahme der Akzeptorzahl als zweiten Parameter bleibt statistisch insignifikant. Dieses Ergebnis stimmt mit dem dominierenden Einfluß der Tl(I)-Ionensolvatation überein.

     

Deposition of boron nitride on graphite at 1300 K

A method for the deposition of BN onto graphite and other substrates is described. Boron trichloride (BCl₃) and ammonia (NH₃) diluted with Ar were used as reacting gases. The deposition process was carried out at 1300 K as well as lower temperatures in an open system at pressures of 1 atm. The consequences of the introduction of hydrogen to the system were considered. It was demonstrated that the replacement of argon with hydrogen increases the efficiency of the process as well as the theoretical rate of BN deposition. However, the acceleration of the deposition seems to be unprofitable, because the resulting supersaturation leads to the formation of an amorphous phase. The modification of the experimental conditions were proposed.Dedicated to Professor Dr. rer. nat. Dr. h.c. Hubertus Nickel on the occasion of his 65th birthday     

Blood serum DSC analysis of well-trained men response to CrossFit training and green tea extract supplementation

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been used for the detection of post-exercise changes in blood serum resulting from participation in the CrossFit (CF) training combined with green tea extract (GTE) supplementation. Blood samples from 20 well-trained men were collected at rest, immediately post-exercise and after 1 h of recovery in two trials: first before and second after CF training combined with GTE or placebo administration in the supplemented (S) and control (C) groups, respectively. Selected muscle damage biomarkers have been compared in different phases of the experiment. A significant increase in blood lactate content has been observed post-exercise in both trials in both participants’ groups. The opposite trends have been noted for the C and S groups in creatine kinase (CK) activity changes recorded during the first to the second trial: an increase in CK for the control and a decrease for the supplemented group in all phases of the experiment: pre-exercise, post-exercise and after recovery. In the second trial, all CK values for the S group have been found significantly lower than the corresponding values recorded in the C group. These results suggest a mitigate effect of GTE supplementation on post-training muscle damage. DSC results did not reveal clear effects of training nor GTE supplementation on serum denaturation transition. However, interesting dependences of thermodynamic parameters describing this transition have been observed in different phases of the experiment. Statistically significant negative correlations have been found between post-training VO_2max and post-exercise thermodynamic parameters associated with haptoglobin contribution to serum denaturation transition.     

Effect of composition and drying method on glass transition temperature,water sorption characteristics and surface morphology of newly designed β-lactoglobulin/retinyl palmitate/disaccharides systems

Epoxy-based nanocomposites containing different concentrations (0–3%) of surface-modified graphene nanosheets (GNS) with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane were prepared and their thermal and mechanical properties including dynamic mechanical analysis, tensile strength, hardness, and abrasion tests were evaluated in order to have a database for thermo-mechanical properties of epoxy nanocomposites. The main aim of this study was to understand the optimum percentage of GNS which would perform the best reinforcing influence on mechanical and physical performance of an epoxy nanocomposite. The results explain how applying the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method as a useful tool in optimization of GNS concentration in preparation of high-performance epoxy-based nanocomposites.     

New tetrahedral boron heterobicycles: Cyclocondensation of phenylboronic acid with β-keto butanoic acid N-acyl hydrazones

A series of 4-phenyl-2-aryl-8-methyl-6-oxo-7-phenylhydrazo-2H,4H,6H,7H,8H[1,3,4,2]-oxadiazaborolo[2,3-b][1,3,2]oxazaborines were prepared in high yields via the reaction of phenylboronic acid with various N-acylhydrazones of 3-keto-2-(2′-phenylhydrazono) butanoic acid in the presence of 4 Å molecular sieves. These derivatives represent a novel class of zwitterionic, tetrahedral boron heterocycles. Single crystal X-ray analysis of a representative boron containing product is reported.     

Electrochemical study of 18-crown-6-Tl+ complexes in binary solvent mixtures

Summary The formation constants,K _S, of the 18-crown-6 complex with thallium(I) ion were studied by polarographic measurements in binary mixtures of acetonitrile, acetone, tetrahydrofuran, and dimethylsulfoxide with water, as a function of the solvent mole fraction. In all the cases, the variation of the stability constant can be described by the empirical relation logK _S=a[(–1)/(2+1)]+b where stands for relative permittivity of a given mixture anda andb mark the regression coefficients. The values ofa calculated for four series of binary mixtures showed correlation with the Gutmann donor numbers of the neat organic solvents which form the mixture.On leave from the Department of Chemistry, Jingzhou Teacher's College, Jingzhou, Hubei, China