Topical propolis improves wound healing in patients with diabetic foot ulcer: a randomized controlled trial

In this randomized controlled trial, diabetic patients with foot ulcers (Wagner grades 1 and 2) were randomly assigned to conventional therapies for diabetic foot ulcer plus topical propolis ointment (5%; twice daily) or conventional therapies alone. The process of ulcer healing was observed during 4 weeks and compared between the two groups regarding the size, erythema, exudates, white blood cell (WBC) count and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). The process of ulcer size reduction during the four-week period of study was significantly different between the groups. However, this difference was not significant between the third and fourth weeks. There was no significant difference between two groups regarding erythema and exudate reduction as well as WBC count and ESR. Administration of topical propolis ointment in addition to the conventional treatments of diabetic foot ulcer could reduce the size of ulcers with Wagner grades 1 and 2.     

SYNTHESIS OF TRIBLOCK COPOLYMERS OF STYRENE AND ISOPRENE BY A NITROXIDE-MEDIATED LIVING FREE RADICAL POLYMERIZATION

The controlled free radical polymerization of styrene and isoprene initiated with benzoyl peroxide (BPO) in the presence of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl piperidine-N-oxyl (TEMPO) at 125 ℃ were performed. The obtained polyisoprene and polystyrene homopolymers served as macroinitiators for block copolymerization of isoprene and styrene to synthesize poly(styrene-b-isoprene) and poly(isoprene-b-styrene) diblock copolymers. Diblock copolymers with well-defined structures as well as controlled and narrow molecular weight distribution wereobtained from the lower-mass polystyrene and polyisoprene homopolymers. These copolymers were found to be active as macroinitiators in the synthesis of the poly(styrene-b-isoprene-b-styrene) and poly(isoprene-b-styrene-b-isoprene) triblock copolymers. 1H-NMR spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) were used for the investigation of polymer strucmre, molecular weight and polydispersity (PD).     

Lanthanum-selective membrane electrode based on 2,2′-dithiodipyridine

In this study, a new poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) membrane sensor for La³⁺ ion based on 2,2′-dithiodipyridine as an ion carrier was prepared. This electrode revealed good selectivity for La³⁺ over a wide variety of other metal ions. Effects of experimental parameters such as membrane composition, nature and amount of plasticizer, the amount of additive and concentration of internal solution on the potential response of La³⁺ sensor were investigated. The electrode exhibited a Nernstian slope of 20.0 ± 1.0 mV per decade of La³⁺ over a concentration range of 7.1 × 10⁻⁶ to 2.2 × 10⁻² M of La³⁺ in the pH range 3.3-8.0. The response time was about 7 s and the detection limit was 3.1 × 10⁻⁶ M. The electrode can be used for at least 2 months without a considerable divergence in potential. The proposed electrode was used as an indicator electrode in potentiometric titration of oxalate and fluoride ions and was applied for determination of F⁻ ion in mouthwash solution.     

Vortex‐assisted natural deep eutectic solvent microextraction using response surface methodology optimization for determination of orthophosphate in water samples by molybdenum blue method

A new, rapid, and efficient microextraction technique named vortex‐assisted natural deep eutectic solvent microextraction has been developed for the preconcentration and determination of orthophosphate in real water samples. The method is based on the formation of the phosphomolybdenium blue complex followed by proposed microextraction procedure and subsequent spectrophotometric determination in a microcell. Screening study for the optimal composition of natural deep eutectic solvent was initially performed with different solvents, including choline chloride as hydrogen bond acceptor and different hydrogen bond donors. A ternary mixture of glucose‐choline chloride‐water was used as the most efficient extraction solvent. Response surface methodology based on the central composite design was used to optimize experimental parameters. Under optimal conditions, the calibration graph for orthophosphate determination was linear over the range of 2.0–80.0 µg/L (correlation coefficient of 0.9971) with a detection limit of 0.2 µg/L. The repeatability, reproducibility, and relative error values of the method were below 7%, indicating acceptable precision and accuracy. This approach, using natural deep eutectic solvent as an eco‐friendly solvent with high solubilization power and vortex mixing as an alternative energy source, represents a promising choice for a green separation and preconcentration methodology for determination of orthophosphate in real water samples.     

Modified iteration method for solving fractional gas dynamics equation

This paper is devoted to the time‐fractional gas dynamics equation with Caputo derivative. Fractional operators are very natural tools to model memory‐dependent phenomena. Modified iteration method is proposed to obtain the approximate and analytical solution of the fractional gas dynamics equation. This method is a combined form of the new iteration method and Laplace transform. Modified iteration method really is powerful and simple method compared with other methods. Existence and uniqueness of solution are proven. Numerical results for different cases of the equation are obtained. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the role of substituent in noncovalent functionalization of graphene and organophosphor recognition: IQA and SAPT perspective

Despite importance of integrating organic molecules with graphene to fabricate graphene‐based electronic devices, the role of substituents and interface stabilizing forces are poorly understood. In this work, the interactions of 7,7,8,8‐tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ), 2,3,5,6‐tetrafluoro‐7,7,8,8‐tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4TCNQ), hydroquinone (Q), and tetrafluorohydroquinone (TFQ) with graphene have been investigated by means of interacting quantum atoms and SAPT(DFT). In addition, in context of potential design of a graphene‐based sensor for detection of the nerve agent sarin, we studied the interaction of graphene and the organic molecules with the dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP)—the molecule that mimics sarin. The results show that the organic molecules attach to graphene via C(sp²)?C(sp²), C(sp²)?C(sp) and H?π bonds. In addition, they trap DMMP via various linkages such as hydrogen, lonepair?π and H?π . The quantum effects play a significant role. The Pauli repulsion is responsible for p‐doping of graphene. The substituents are stabilized on graphene by the exchange‐correlation energy. The fluorination of the benzenoid ring raises the electron‐sharing . The through space and through bond effects of the fluorine atoms (‐F) increase the classical attraction of the cyano groups and benzenoid ring with graphene, respectively. When comparing performance of the ab initio and DFT methods, MP2 predicts too much attraction due to well‐known overestimation of the dispersion energy by the uncoupled dispersion component for benzene rings, while ω B97xD functional and SAPT(DFT) provide weaker interaction energies, in good agreement with each other.     

Capacitive Chemical Sensor for Thiopental Assay Based on Electropolymerized Molecularly Imprinted Polymer

A novel capacitive sensor based on electropolymerized molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for thiopental detection is described. The molecularly imprinted film as a recognition element was prepared by electropolymerization of phenol on a gold electrode in the presence of thiopental (template). Cyclic voltammetry and capacitive measurements were used for characterization and evaluation of the polymeric film. The template molecules were removed from the modified electrode surface by washing with an ethanol:water solution. The sensor’s linear response range was between 3 and 20 µM, with a detection limit of 0.6 µM. The proposed sensor exhibited good selectivity, reproducibility. Satisfactory results were obtained in the direct detection of real samples.     

Gaussian free field in the background of correlated random clusters,formed by metallic nanoparticles

The effect of metallic nano-particles (MNPs) on the electrostatic potential of a disordered 2D dielectric media is considered. The disorder in the media is assumed to be white-noise Coulomb impurities with normal distribution. To realize the correlations between the MNPs we have used the Ising model with an artificial temperature T that controls the number of MNPs as well as their correlations. In the T → 0 limit, one retrieves the Gaussian free field (GFF), and in the finite temperature the problem is equivalent to a GFF in iso-potential islands. The problem is argued to be equivalent to a scale-invariant random surface with some critical exponents which vary with T and correspondingly are correlation-dependent. Two type of observables have been considered: local and global quantities. We have observed that the MNPs soften the random potential and reduce its statistical fluctuations. This softening is observed in the local as well as the geometrical quantities. The correlation function of the electrostatic and its total variance are observed to be logarithmic just like the GFF, i.e. the roughness exponent remains zero for all temperatures, whereas the proportionality constants scale with T ? T _c . The fractal dimension of iso-potential lines (D _f ), the exponent of the distribution function of the gyration radius (τ _r ), and the loop lengths (τ _l ), and also the exponent of the loop Green function x _l change in terms of T ? T _c in a power-law fashion, with some critical exponents reported in the text. Importantly we have observed that D _f (T) ? D _f (T _c ) ~ 1/√ξ(T), in which ξ(T) is the spin correlation length in the Ising model.