Thermal Lens Phenomenon Studied by the Z-Scan Technique: Measurement of the Thermal Conductivity of Highly Absorbing Colloidal Solutions

We discuss the thermal lens phenomenon in high-absorbing colloidal systems, studied by using the Z-scan technique. The characteristics of the experimental setup to avoid undesirable effects are presented, in particular when pulsed laser beam is used. We show that a cumulative effect may appear in the experiment with chopped laser beams and compromise the results obtained with this technique. This artefact is more significative when colloidal suspensions are investigated. These materials have different characteristic times of heat and mass diffusion, which must be carefully considered to choose the appropriate time interval for the laser pulse and the time between pulses. Two experimental cases with a chopped laser beam, with and without a shutter, are discussed. The sample employed is a magnetic colloidal suspension (a ferrofluid). This sample has magnetic nanoparticles electrically charged in an aqueous solution with free ions and counter ions. Besides the thermal lens effect, charge and mass diffusion may take place when the sample is illuminated by the Gaussian beam, which imposes a thermal gradient on it. The results show that, with the experimental setup without a shutter, the sample does not achieve a complete relaxation between two laser pulses. This generates a measurable cumulative effect after the sample is illuminated during a relatively long period of time. A time modulation with longer time interval between chopped pulses allows the complete relaxation of the sample. This procedure is important for the correct analysis of the thermal lens effect. Reliable values of the thermal conductivity of the sample in different temperatures are obtained and discussed.     

New sensitive fluorophores for selective DNA detection

4,7-Disubstituted benzothiadiazoles containing 1-arylethynyl and 4-methoxyphenyl groups are selective photoluminescent "light up" probes to duplex DNA with unprecedented sensibility in both spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric measurements.     

Generalized canonical osp(1,2) quantization

A possibility of constructing a generalized canonical quantization for arbitrary dynamical systems with first-class constrains is considered based on the invariance principle of the osp(1,2) global supersymmetry. Tomsk State Pedagogical University, Russia; Departamento de Fisica, ICE, Universidade Federal de Juize de Fora, Brazil. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 10, pp. 3–6, October, 1999.     

Micellization study and adsorption properties of an ionic surfactant synthesized from hydrogenated cardanol in air–water and in air–brine interfaces

A sulfonate (2,4-sodium dissulfonate-5-n-pentadecylphenol) was synthesized from hydrogenated cardanol and the micellization study was carried out using temperature and electrolyte concentration as variables. The adsorption parameters were obtained using surface tension data by the Frumkin adsorption model and the Simplex Nelder–Mead method. Values of critical micelle concentration (cmc) and surface excess (Γ) were obtained in three different temperatures (303 K, 313 K, and 323 K) and two electrolyte concentrations (NaCl solution—0.1 M and 0.25 M). It was verified that cmc decreased with increasing electrolyte concentration and temperature. The Gibbs free energy showed that the micellization process was spontaneous for all studied systems and temperatures, and also that the presence of several CH₂ groups was significant for micelle formation.     

Exploratory analysis and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) applied in the determination of metals in soft drinks

A 2³ factorial design and a CCD (Central Composite Design) were employed to optimize the operational conditions for determining Al, Ba, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, K, Mg, Na, Ni, Pb, Sn and Zn in soft drink samples by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES). Satisfactory parameters of merit were obtained (Plasma stability, linearity, SBR, BEC, LOD and LOQ). The accuracy was evaluated by means of a recovery study. Thirty five soft drink samples were analyzed. The results obtained were used in an exploratory analysis, in which principal component analysis and cluster analysis were applied in order to differentiate the several soft drink classes. Adequate LOQ values were obtained for all elements (0.34 μg L^− 1 for Ca to 88.7 μg L^− 1 for Mg) and the recovery study results ranged between 80 and 100%. Cluster analysis revealed four sample classes characterized by flavor and other characteristics, such as being light, diet, low calorie or regular beverages. A model with 4 PCs was obtained by means of a principal component analysis, which explained 99.8% of the total variance.     

Voltammetric studies on the electrochemical determination of methylmercury in chloride medium at carbon microelectrodes

Electroanalytical techniques have been used to determine methylmercury at low levels in environmental matrices. The electrochemical behaviour of methylmercury at carbon microelectrodes in a hydrochloric acid medium using cyclic, square wave and fast-scan linear-sweep voltammetric techniques has been investigated. The analytical utility of the methylmercury reoxidation peak has been explored, but the recorded peak currents were found to be poorly reproducible. This is ascribed to two factors: the adsorption of insoluble chloromercury compounds on the electrode surface, which appears to be an important contribution to hinder the voltammetric signal of methylmercury; and the competition between the reoxidation of the methylmercury radical and its dimerization reaction, which limits the reproducibility of the methylmercury peak. These problems were successfully overcome by adopting the appropriate experimental conditions. Fast-scan rates were employed and an efficient electrochemical regeneration procedure of the electrode surface was achieved, under potentiostatic conditions in a mercury-free solution containing potassium thiocyanate—a strong complexing agent. The influence of chloride ion concentration was analysed. Interference by metals, such as lead and cadmium, was considered. Calibration plots were obtained in the micromolar and submicromolar concentration ranges, allowing the electrochemical determination of methylmercury in trace amounts. An estuarine water sample was analysed using the new method with a glassy carbon microelectrode.     

Energy Propagation in Classical Harmonic Lattices with Diluted Disorder

We consider the problem of a harmonic lattice in which masses’ distribution is a superposition of a random and a periodic distribution. Classical equations for the mass displacement and velocities are solved using a second-order Euler formalism. Energy flow was investigated on two distinct experiments: (i) We injected an initial wave-packet with energy E ₀ and analyzed the dynamics of the resulting energy pulse; (ii) we pumped one of the sides of the lattice with a external signal and then we observed the propagation of the pulse until the other side of chain. Our calculations suggest that the diluted disordered mass distribution promotes energy dynamics at high frequency limit.     

Simulation and design of a bandpass filter on metasubstrates

This work presents an analysis of the microstrip bandpass filter on metamaterial substrates. The filter is composed of two ring resonators with quarter-wavelength side-coupled sections. The filter input is provided, as well as the output port, using a quarter-wavelength side-coupled microstrip line section. Simulations by finite element method have been carried out to verify the effect of the metamaterial substrate properties on the filter performance, and to compare these results to those obtained considering isotropic substrate.     

Lectin from Canavalia brasiliensis seeds (ConBr) is a valuable biotechnological tool to stimulate the growth of Rhizobium tropici in vitro

To study the interactions between a Rhizobium tropici strain and lectins isolated from the seeds of Canavalia ensiformis (ConA) and Canavalia brasiliensis (ConBr), a lectin fluorescence assay was performed. In addition, an experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of the two lectins on bacterial growth. Both lectins were found to bind to R. tropici cells, but the interactions were inhibited by D-mannose. Interestingly, only ConBr stimulated bacterial growth in proportion to the concentrations used (15.6-500 μg/mL), and the bacterial growth stimulation was inhibited by D-mannose as well. Structure/Function analyses by bioinformatics were carried out to evaluate the volume and carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) configuration of ConA and ConBr. The difference of spatial arrangement and volume of CRD may indicate the variation between biological activities of both lectins. The results suggest that ConBr could be a promising tool for studies focusing on the interactions between rhizobia and host plants.