Electrocatalytical properties of polymethylferrocenyl dendrimers and their applications in biosensing

The electrochemical characterization of polymethylferrocenyl dendrimers deposited onto a platinum electrode and their applications as hydrogen peroxide and glucose sensor are described. The redox dendrimers consist of flexible poly(propileneimine) dendrimer cores functionalised with octamethylferrocenyl units. Amperometric biosensors for glucose were prepared by immobilization of glucose oxidase onto these modified electrodes. The influence of the dendrimer generation and the thickness of the dendrimer layer, the effect of the substrate concentration, and the interferences and reproducibility on the response of the sensors were investigated.     

ISOLTRAP results 2006–2009

Since 2006 the ISOLTRAP mass spectrometer has provided high-precision masses of many short-lived nuclides located all across the nuclear chart with half-lives down to a few 10 ms. These nuclides range from the two-proton halo candidate ¹⁷Ne, via the neutron-rich magic ⁸⁰Zn and ¹³²Sn, up to ²²⁹Rn which was identified for the first time. The results show that ISOLTRAP is a versatile tool well suited to address physics topics such as nuclear structure, stellar nucleosynthesis, or the weak interaction.     

The aqueous Raman optical activity spectra of 4(R)‐hydroxyproline: theory and experiment

Vibrational Raman optical activity (ROA) spectra have been measured for aqueous solutions of 4(R)‐hydroxyproline at three different pH values and are compared with theoretical results calculated for several conformations of anionic, cationic and zwitterionic 4(R)‐hydroxyproline using density functional theory (DFT) and the polarizable continuum model (PCM). The experimental ROA bands have been ascribed to the normal modes by comparison of the experimental and calculated vibrational frequencies and ROA intensities. Overall, using PCM for geometry optimization and force field calculations gives simulated Raman and ROA spectra that agree with the main features of the experimental spectra, whereas using PCM also in the calculations of optical tensors seems more problematic. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regularity of solutions for the critical N-dimensional Burgers' equation

We consider the fractional Burgers' equation on RN${\mathbb{R}}^N$ with the critical dissipation term. We follow the parabolic De-Giorgi's method of Caffarelli and Vasseur and show existence of smooth solutions given any initial datum in L²(RN)$L^2({\mathbb{R}}^N)$.     

Fluorescence Study of Intermolecular Interactions in Diluted Aqueous Solutions of Some Cationic Amphiphilic Polysaccharides

The intermolecular hydrophobic association in diluted aqueous solutions of some cationic amphiphilic polysaccharides was investigated using fluorescence techniques. Dextran and dextran carrying N-alkyl-N,N-dimethyl-N(2-hydroxypropylene) ammonium chloride groups as side chains were single labeled with pyrene or naphthalene. The intensity of the pyrene excimer peak and the ratio I₃/I₁ determined from the fluorescence emission spectra of pyrene-labeled amphiphilic polymer increased with increasing polymer concentration and were higher than in the solution containing pyrene-labeled dextran. Emission spectra of diluted solution (0.008–0.2 g/dl) containing mixtures of pyrene and naphthalene single-labeled amphiphilic polymers proved the occurrence of a nonradiative energy transfer between labels at very a low polymer concentration (<10^?2 g/dl). The energy transfer was not observed in mixtures of single-labeled unmodified dextran. All these results suggest that the intermolecular hydrophobic association of alkyl substituents takes place at a very low concentration of amphiphilic polymers.     

The properties of functional inclusions and Hyers–Ulam stability

We prove that a set-valued function satisfying some functional inclusions admits, in appropriate conditions, a unique selection satisfying the corresponding functional equation. As a consequence we obtain the result on the Hyers–Ulam stability of that functional equation.     

Early error detection: an action-research experience teaching vector calculus

This paper describes an action-research experience carried out with second year students at the School of Engineering of the National University of Entre Ríos, Argentina. Vector calculus students played an active role in their own learning process. They were required to present weekly reports, in both oral and written forms, on the topics studied, instead of merely sitting and watching as the teacher solved problems on the blackboard. The students were also asked to perform computer assignments, and their learning process was continuously monitored. Among many benefits, this methodology has allowed students and teachers to identify errors and misconceptions that might have gone unnoticed under a more passive approach.     

Classification of rotational special Weingarten surfaces of minimal type in {\mathbb{S}^2 \times \mathbb{R}} and {\mathbb{H}^2 \times \mathbb{R}}

In this paper we classify the complete rotational special Weingarten surfaces in ${\mathbb{S}^2 \times \mathbb{R}}$ and ${\mathbb{H}^2 \times \mathbb{R}}$ ; i.e. rotational surfaces in ${\mathbb{S}^2 \times \mathbb{R}}$ and ${\mathbb{H}^2 \times \mathbb{R}}$ whose mean curvature H and extrinsic curvature K _e satisfy H = f(H ² ? K _e ), for some function ${f \in \mathcal{C}^1([0,+\infty))}$ such that f(0) = 0 and 4x(f′(x))² < 1 for any x ≥ 0. Furthermore we show the existence of non-complete examples of such surfaces.     

A meshless procedure for transient heat conduction in functionally graded materials

A meshless numerical procedure is developed for analyzing the transient heat conduction problem in non-homogeneous functionally graded materials. In the proposed method the time derivative of temperature is approximate by the finite difference. At each time step the original nonlinear boundary value problem is transform into a hierarchy of non-homogeneous linear problem by used the homotopy analysis method. In this method a sought solution is presented by using a finite expansion in Taylor series, which consecutive elements are solutions of series linear value problems defining differential deformations. Each of linear boundary value problems with the corresponding boundary conditions is solved by using the method of fundamental solutions and radial basis functions which are used for interpolation of the inhomogeneous term. The accuracy of the obtained approximate solution is controlled by the number of components of the Taylor series, while the convergence of the process is monitored by an additional parameter of the method. Numerical experiments demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the present scheme in the solution of the heat conduction problem in nonlinear functionally graded materials. (© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Estimation of free copper ion concentrations in blood serum using T(1) relaxation rates

The water proton relaxation rate constant R(1)=1/T(1) (at 60 MHz) of blood serum is substantially increased by the presence of free Cu2+ ions at concentrations above normal physiological levels. Addition of chelating agents to serum containing paramagnetic Cu2+ nulls this effect. This was demonstrated by looking at the effect of adding a chelating agent-D-penicillamine (D-PEN) to CuSO4 and CuCl2 aqueous solutions as well as to rabbit blood serum. We propose that the measurement of water proton spin-lattice relaxation rate constants before and after chelation may be used as an alternative approach for monitoring the presence of free copper ions in blood serum. This method may be used in the diagnosis of some diseases (leukaemia, liver diseases and particularly Wilson's disease) because, in contrast to conventional methods like spectrophotometry which records the total number of both bound and free ions, the proton relaxation technique is sensitive solely to free paramagnetic ions dissolved in blood serum. The change in R(1) upon chelation was found to be less than 0.06 s(-1) for serum from healthy subjects but greater than 0.06 s(-1) for serum from untreated Wilson's patients.