Development of a Urea Bioprobe Based on Platinized Boron‐Doped Diamond Electrodes

Urea (CH₆ON₂) is one of the main human nitrogen‐based metabolic wastes. The concentration of urea in blood lies between 2.5–7 mM for healthy individuals, and is commonly used as an indicator for several diseases that may alter this value. Spectrophotometric methods are employed for the determination of blood urea concentration during clinical assays. Although these methods are sensitive, they make use of toxic reagents and complex reaction schemes. Therefore, in this research we present the bioelectrochemical determination of urea by the use of the protein urease (E.C.3.1.1.5) along with a nano‐platinized boron‐doped diamond electrode. This approach has been proven to be efficient and sensitive providing a platform with detection limits of 1.79 mM (S/N=3). The linear range resulted from 1 mM to 25 mM for the determination of urea, and response time of five minutes.     

Space-charge effects in the current-filamentation or Weibel instability

We consider how an unmagnetized plasma responds to an incoming flux of energetic electrons. We assume a return current is present and allow for the incoming electrons to have a different transverse temperature than the return current. To analyze this configuration we present a nonrelativistic theory of the current-filamentation or Weibel instability for rigorously current-neutral and nonseparable distribution functions, f(0)(p(x), p(y), p(z)) is not equal to f(x)(p(x))f(y)(p(y))f(z)(p(z)). We find that such distribution functions lead to lower growth rates because of space-charge forces that arise when the forward-going electrons pinch to a lesser degree than the colder, backward-flowing electrons. We verify the growth rate, range of unstable wave numbers, and the formation of the density filaments using particle-in-cell simulations.     

An interlacing theorem for matrices whose graph is a given tree

Let A and B be (n×n)-matrices. For an index set S ⊂ {1, …, n}, denote by A(S) the principal submatrix that lies in the rows and columns indexed by S. Denote by S′ the complement of S and define η(A, B) = det A(S) det B(S′), where the summation is over all subsets of {1, …, n} and, by convention, det A(∅) = det B(∅) = 1. C. R. Johnson conjectured that if A and B are Hermitian and A is positive semidefinite, then the polynomial η(λA,-B) has only real roots. G. Rublein and R. B. Bapat proved that this is true for n ⩽ 3. Bapat also proved this result for any n with the condition that both A and B are tridiagonal. In this paper, we generalize some little-known results concerning the characteristic polynomials and adjacency matrices of trees to matrices whose graph is a given tree and prove the conjecture for any n under the additional assumption that both A and B are matrices whose graph is a tree. __________ Translated from Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Matematika, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 245–254, 2004.     

Development of a voltammetric sensor for diospyrin determination in nanomolar concentrations

A sensor based on glassy carbon (GC) electrode modified with cobalt tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine (CoTSPc) and a poly-l-lysine (PLL) film is proposed for diospyrin determination in nanomolar concentrations with differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique. The modified electrode showed excellent catalytic activity presenting much higher peak currents than those measured on a bare GC electrode. Linear response range, sensitivity and limit of detection (LOD) were of 1-120 nmol l⁻¹, 220.46 nA l nmol⁻¹ cm⁻² and 0.3 nmol l⁻¹, respectively. The repeatability of the proposed sensor, evaluated in term of relative standard deviation (R.S.D.), was measured as 4.4% for 10 experiments in 50 μmol l⁻¹ diospyrin samples. The developed sensor was applied for the determination of diospyrin in the crude extracts of the stem-bark of Diospyros montana Roxb. and the average recovery for these samples was 101.9 (±3.1)%.     

Determination of metals and metalloids in light and heavy crude oil by ICP-MS after digestion by microwave-induced combustion

A method for light and heavy crude oil digestion using microwave-induced combustion (MIC) in closed vessels is described for further determination of Ag, As, Ba, Bi, Ca, Cd, Cr, Fe, K, Mg, Li, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Rb, Se, Sr, Tl, V, and Zn by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Conventional microwave-assisted acid digestion (MW-AD) in pressurized vessels and analyte determination by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) were also used for results comparison. For MIC procedure, samples were wrapped in polyethylene films and combusted using 20 bar of oxygen and 50 µl of 6 mol l^− 1 ammonium nitrate as aid for ignition. The concentration of nitric acid used as absorbing solution was evaluated (1, 2, 4, 7, 10 and 14 mol l^− 1) using an additional reflux step after combustion. Accuracy was evaluated for As, Ba, Ni, Se V, and Zn using certified reference material (CRM) with similar matrix composition and for Cr, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, and Mo by neutron activation analysis (NAA). Recovery tests were also performed for all the analytes by MIC and they were better than 97% using 2 mol l^− 1 nitric acid as absorbing solution (with reflux step). Agreement with certified values and NAA results was better than 95%. Using MIC it was possible to obtain lower limits of detection (LODs) by ICP-MS and also by ICP OES in comparison with those obtained by MW-AD. In spite of both sample preparation techniques were apparently suitable for crude oil digestion, MIC was preferable in view of the possibility of using diluted nitric acid as absorbing solution that is an important aspect to minimize interferences by ICP-MS and ICP OES. In order to avoid polyatomic interferences on ⁵²Cr and ⁵⁶Fe determinations by ICP-MS, a dynamic reaction cell with ammonia gas was used. Residual carbon content in digests obtained by MW-AD and MIC was 15% and < 1%, respectively. Using MIC the simultaneous digestion of 8 samples was possible in less than 30 min.     

Copper corrosion in soil: influence of chloride contents, aeration and humidity

The corrosion of copper in a typical Portuguese soil was studied. The original soil was characterised, and modifications were produced by adding chloride, and HClO₄ solutions, or by increasing its relative humidity. The aggressiveness degree of the various soil samples was determined. Copper coupons exposed for 3 months in the original and in the modified soil samples were analysed. The average corrosion rates determined from gravimetric data were in good correlation with the soil aggressiveness. The morphology of the corroded copper surfaces, with and without corrosion products, was analysed by visual observation, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Energy dispersive spectroscopy was used for the semi-quantitative analysis of the corrosion products and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy to identify the crystalline products. Cuprite has been identified on the copper samples corresponding to the interfaces Cu|S6 and Cu|S8, plus paratacamite on the copper coupon exposed to the soil with higher concentration of chloride (S6). Polarisation curves of copper samples in neutral solutions made by adding different amounts of chloride ions to the soil washing water, under deaereated conditions, were recorded and analysed. The passivity breakdown potential has shown, as expected, a displacement to the cathodic direction as the Cl⁻ ion concentration increases.     

Calcined sludge sintering evaluation by heating microscopy thermal analysis

Aiming the use of the sewage sludge produced in one of the largest Brazilian wastewater treatment stations as a raw material for the ceramic industry, the sintering process of the ashes produced from its calcination was evaluated by heating microscopy thermal analysis (HMTA). From the microprocessed images, a method was developed to obtain HMTA dimensional change curves as a function of temperature, equivalent to those usually obtained from dilatometers or by thermomechanical analysis (TMA). The final product after sintering at 1050°C, characterized by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray dispersive energy, indicates the presence of a vitreous phase containing phosphorus, which explains the good sintering properties of the studied calcined sludge, as shown from its HMTA dimensional change curve.     

A Critical Overview of Sensors for Monitoring Polymerizations

The available on‐line and in‐line sensor technologies developed for polymerization reactors from 1990 until today are discussed and critically reviewed. About 600 references are included, which evidence the growth in sensor technology in the last two decades. Sensors for operational parameters in polymer reactors (i.e. temperature, pressure, level and flow) as well as sensors for polymer property monitoring (i.e. calorimetry, chromatography and spectroscopy, among others) are included. Complementary topics such as state estimation, multivariate statistical methods, fault diagnosis techniques and optimal sensor selection and location are briefly covered.

     

Interferences,ghost images and other quantum correlations according to stochastic optics

There are an extensive variety of experiments in quantum optics that emphasize the non-local character of the coincidence measurements recorded by spatially separated photocounters. These are the cases of ghost image and other interference experiments based on correlated photons produced in, for instance, the process of parametric down-conversion or photon cascades. We propose to analyse some of these correlations in the light of stochastic optics, a local formalism based on classical electrodynamics with added background fluctuations that simulate the vacuum field of quantum electrodynamics, and raise the following question: can these experiments be used to distinguish between quantum entanglement and classical correlations?