Material parameters for thermoelectric performance

The thermoelectric performance of a thermoelement is ideally defined in terms of the so-called figure-of-meritZ = α²σ/λ, where α,σ and λ refer respectively to the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity of the thermoelement material. However, there are other parameters which are fairly good indicators of a material’s thermoelectric ‘worth’. A simple yet useful performance indicator is possible with only two parameters — energy gap and lattice thermal conductivity. This indicator can outline all potentially useful thermoelectric materials. Thermal conductivity in place of lattice thermal conductivity can provide some additional information about the temperature range of operation. Yet another performance indicator may be based on the slope of α vs. ln σ plots. α plotted against ln σ shows a linear relationship in a simplified model, but shows a variation with temperature and carrier concentration. Assuming that such a relationship is true for a narrow range of temperature and carrier concentration, one can calculate the slope m of α vs. ln σ plots against temperature and carrier concentrations. A comparison between the variation ofZT and slopem suggests that such plots may be useful to identify potential thermoelectric materials.     

Synthesis, charecterization and chelation ion-exchange studies of a resin copolymer derived from 8-hydroxyquinoline-formaldehyde-catechol

A chelating ion exchange resin was synthesized from 8-hydroxyquinoline and catechol using formaldehyde as a cross linking agent at 120 ± 2 °C in DMF solution. The resin was characterized by FTIR and elemental analysis. The morphology of the synthesized resin was studied by optical photograph and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Various kinetic parameters such as energy of activation (E_a), enthalpy of activation (H?), entropy of activation (S?), free energy of activation (G?), order of reaction (n) and pre-exponential factor (A) of various steps of thermal decomposition have been calculated from thermogravimertic results. The physico-chemical properties of the resin have been studied. The total cation exchange capacity was measured and effect of pH and metal ion concentration on ion exchange capacity were studied. The rate of cation exchange reactions and distribution coefficient values in tartaric acid media at different pH were also studied using batch equilibration method.     

Reversed phase-HPLC for rapid determination of polyphenols in flowers of rose species

A rapid, simple, sensitive, robust, and improved HPLC method was developed and validated for determination of 10 polyphenols, namely gallic acid, catechin, epicatechin, rutin, m-coumaric acid, quercitrin, myricetin, quercetin, apigenin, and kaempferol in fresh flowers of Rosa bourboniana and R. brunonii and in both fresh flowers and marc (left after industrial distillation of rose oil) of R. damascena. Six polyphenols, gallic acid, rutin, quercitrin, myricetin, quercetin, and kaempferol, were detected and quantified in all extracts. The chromatographic separation of 10 polyphenols was achieved in less than 16 min by RP-HPLC (Phenomenex, Luna C18 (2) column, 5 microm, 250 mm x 4.6 mm) using linear gradient elution of water and acetonitrile (0.02% trifluroacetic acid) with a flow rate of 1 mL/min at lambda 280 nm. Standard calibration curves were linear in the range of 0.39-500 microg/mL. Good results were achieved with respect to repeatability (RSD <3%) and recovery (98.6-100.8%). The method was validated for linearity, accuracy, repeatability, LOD, and LOQ.     

Simple, sensitive, selective and validated spectrophotometric methods for the estimation of a biomarker trigonelline from polyherbal gels

Simple, accurate, reproducible, selective, sensitive and cost effective UV-spectrophotometric methods were developed and validated for the estimation of trigonelline in bulk and pharmaceutical formulations. Trigonelline was estimated at 265 nm in deionised water and at 264 nm in phosphate buffer (pH 4.5). Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration ranges of 1-20microg mL(-1) (r2=0.9999) in deionised water and 1-24 microg mL(-1) (r2=0.9999) in the phosphate buffer medium. The apparent molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity coefficient were found to be 4.04 x 10(3)L mol(-1)cm(-1) and 0.0422 microg cm(-2)/0.001A in deionised water; and 3.05 x 10(3)L mol(-1)cm(-1) and 0.0567 microg cm(-2)/0.001A in phosphate buffer media, respectively. These methods were tested and validated for various parameters according to ICH guidelines. The detection and quantitation limits were found to be 0.12 and 0.37 microg mL(-1) in deionised water and 0.13 and 0.40 microg mL(-1) in phosphate buffer medium, respectively. The proposed methods were successfully applied for the determination of trigonelline in pharmaceutical formulations (vaginal tablets and bioadhesive vaginal gels). The results demonstrated that the procedure is accurate, precise, specific and reproducible (percent relative standard deviation <2%), while being simple and less time consuming and hence can be suitably applied for the estimation of trigonelline in different dosage forms and dissolution studies.     

Development of a liposome-based immunochromatographic strip assay for the detection of Salmonella

Salmonella species are ubiquitous human pathogens which pose a dangerous threat to the elderly and children worldwide. In this study, to develop a more efficient assay procedure for the rapid detection of Salmonella Typhimurium, an immunochromatographic strip assay was developed using immunoliposome (anti-Salmonella IgG-tagged) encapsulated with sulforhodamine B (SRB). The detection sensitivity of the developed immunochromatographic assay was compared with a commercial immunochromatographic test strip using colloidal gold nanoparticles. The liposomes were prepared through a reverse-phase evaporation method by using a lipid and phospholipid mixture and SRB, a fluorescence dye, which was encapsulated in the phospholipid bilayer. Furthermore, the outer surface of the SRB-encapsulated liposome was conjugated with antibody (affinity-purified polyclonal goat anti-Salmonella IgG) to form an immunoliposome (size, 223 nm), used as the analytical reagent in the developed immunoassay. For this strip assay, a plastic-backed nitrocellulose strip was immobilized with two antibody zones. The lower zone of the strip referred to Salmonella antigen capture zone (test line), while the other zone served as a positive control (control line). The lower zone was coated with affinity-purified polyclonal goat anti-Salmonella IgG, while the upper zone was coated with rabbit anti-goat IgG. During capillary migration of the wicking solution (diluted liposome and Salmonella culture, each 50 μl), Salmonella was captured with surface-bound immunoliposomes at the antigen capture zone, while the unbound liposomes migrated upward and bound to another zone. The color density of the antigen capture zone was directly proportional to the amount of S. Typhimurium in the test sample. As a result, the detection limit of the immunochromatographic strip assay developed in this study against S. Typhimurium was found to be 10² CFU/ml, which was significantly higher than the detection limit (10⁷ CFU/ml) of the commercial immunochromatographic test strip assay.     

Identification of impurities in polymyxin B and colistin bulk sample using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

The European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) describes liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (LC-UV) methods using C₁₈ stationary phases for the analysis of polymyxin B and colistin.Several unknown impurities were detected in commercial samples of those polypeptide complexes. However, the Ph. Eur. does not specify any related substances for polymyxin B and colistin. Since both methods use non-volatile buffers, the mobile phases were incompatible with mass spectrometry (MS). For the identification of related substances in bulk samples by LC/MS, volatile mobile phase systems were developed. However, the LC/MS methods (with volatile additives) showed inferior chromatographic separation compared to the LC-UV method (with non-volatile additives). Moreover, previously identified impurities by LC/MS could not be assigned in LC-UV methods as the separation in both systems was different.In this study, known impurities were traced in the LC-UV methods and new impurities present in polymyxin B and colistin bulk samples were characterized. To achieve this, each peak from the non-volatile system was collected separately and reinjected into an LC system with a volatile mobile phase coupled to MS. This way, collected impurity peaks were rechromatographed on a reversed phase column in order to separate the analyte from the buffer salts. Using this method, out of 39 peaks, five novel related substances were characterized in a polymyxin B bulk sample. Fourteen impurities, which were already reported in the literature were traced as good as possible in the LC-UV method. In the case of colistin, a total of 36 peaks were investigated, among which four new compounds. Additionally, 30 known impurities were traced in the LC-UV method.     

'Fab-chips': a versatile, fabric-based platform for low-cost, rapid and multiplexed diagnostics

Low cost and scalable manufacture of lab-on-chip devices for applications such as point-of-care testing is an urgent need. Weaving is presented as a unified, scalable and low-cost platform for the manufacture of fabric chips that can be used to perform such testing. Silk yarns with different properties are first selected, treated with the appropriate reagent solutions, dried and handloom-woven in one step into an integrated fabric chip. This platform has the unique advantage of scaling up production using existing and low cost physical infrastructure. We have demonstrated the ability to create pre-defined flow paths in fabric by using wetting and non-wetting silk yarns and a Jacquard attachment in the loom. Further, we show that yarn parameters such as the yarn twist frequency and weaving coverage area may be conveniently used to tune both the wicking rate and the absorptive capacity of the fabric. Yarns optimized for their final function were used to create an integrated fabric chip containing reagent-coated yarns. Strips of this fabric were then used to perform a proof-of-concept immunoassay with sample flow taking place by capillary action and detection being performed by a visual readout.     

Thermal,Mechanical and Morphological Behavior of Poly(propylene)/Wood Flour Composites

The comparative studies on the thermal, mechanical and morphological behavior of compression molded poly(propylene) (PP)/wood flour (WF) composites were performed using wood flours (WFs) of different origins. The comparison has been made on the basis of results obtained from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and tensile testing. It has been demonstrated that an addition of 5 wt.-% of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MA) has a significant effect on the morphological and thermomechanical behavior of the composites. Although, microscopic examinations revealed no significant differences in the morphology of the compatibilized composites, a remarkable improvement of thermal degradation behavior was observed. From the view point of mechanical properties, the composites with high amount of filler (60 wt.-%) showed similar behavior irrespective of the origin of wood flour.     

Residual properties of unit loops and augmentation ideals of alternative loop rings

In this paper we study the lattice of all preradicals on a ring R. We describe this lattice, we prove that it is an atomic and coatomic lattice and we describe the atoms and coatoms. We also give characterizations of simple Artinian, semisimple Artinian, and V-rings in terms of preradicals.     

Cancellation of simple optical anisotropies without use of a Faraday mirror

We first derive the round-trip Jones matrix for double passage through a reciprocal optical medium by means of reflection off a plane mirror that could be optically anisotropic. We then show that if a medium with only linear birefringence and linear dichroism is placed between a pair of orthogonal quarter-wave plates with principal axes at 45 degrees to that of the medium and the sandwich is placed in front of an isotropic mirror it behaves, under double passage, like an isotropic medium. We describe a simple liquid crystal device that behaves, in reflection, as an isotropic medium whose refractive index can be varied by application of an electric field, thus acting as a phase only modulator for light in any polarization state.