From Electrode Surface Fouling to Sensitive Electroanalytical Determination of Phenols

The present investigation of phenol and chlorophenols is conducted on the surface of glassy carbon by cyclic and square wave stripping voltammetry, and by Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy. The surface fouling is accompanied by the appearance of reversible peaks at lower potential range (+0.1 to+0.4 V), that grew up with CV‐cycling and attributed to the electro‐redox reactions of formed polymer film via electropolymerization. The electroanalytical monitoring of formed polymer oxidation peaks improved both sensitivity and detection limit by 35 and 10 times, respectively. The FT‐IR supported semiempirical prediction attributes the electropolymerization to the formation of ortho‐para and/or ortho‐meta C? C coupled‐system.     

Development and Validation of a Method for Quantification of Favipiravir as COVID-19 Management in Spiked Human Plasma

In the current work, a simple, economical, accurate, and precise HPLC method with UV detection was developed to quantify Favipiravir (FVIR) in spiked human plasma using acyclovir (ACVR) as an internal standard in the COVID-19 pandemic time. Both FVIR and ACVR were well separated and resolved on the C18 column using the mobile phase blend of methanol:acetonitrile:20 mM phosphate buffer (pH 3.1) in an isocratic mode flow rate of 1 mL/min with a proportion of 30:10:60 %, v/v/v. The detector wavelength was set at 242 nm. Maximum recovery of FVIR and ACVR from plasma was obtained with dichloromethane (DCM) as extracting solvent. The calibration curve was found to be linear in the range of 3.1–60.0 µg/mL with regression coefficient (r²) = 0.9976. However, with acceptable r², the calibration data’s heteroscedasticity was observed, which was further reduced using weighted linear regression with weighting factor 1/x. Finally, the method was validated concerning sensitivity, accuracy (Inter and Intraday’s % RE and RSD were 0.28, 0.65 and 1.00, 0.12 respectively), precision, recovery (89.99%, 89.09%, and 90.81% for LQC, MQC, and HQC, respectively), stability (% RSD for 30-day were 3.04 and 1.71 for LQC and HQC, respectively at −20 °C), and carry-over US-FDA guidance for Bioanalytical Method Validation for researchers in the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Furthermore, there was no significant difference for selectivity when evaluated at LLOQ concentration of 3 µg/mL of FVIR and relative to the blank.     

Modeling framework for optimal evacuation of large-scale crowded pedestrian facilities

The paper presents a simulation–optimization modeling framework for the evacuation of large-scale pedestrian facilities with multiple exit gates. The framework integrates a genetic algorithm (GA) and a microscopic pedestrian simulation–assignment model. The GA searches for the optimal evacuation plan, while the simulation model guides the search through evaluating the quality of the generated evacuation plans. Evacuees are assumed to receive evacuation instructions in terms of the optimal exit gates and evacuation start times. The framework is applied to develop an optimal evacuation plan for a hypothetical crowded exhibition hall. The obtained results show that the model converges to a superior optimal evacuation plan within an acceptable number of iterations. In addition, the obtained evacuation plan outperforms conventional plans that implement nearest-gate immediate evacuation strategies.     

Orthoproducts and f-representations of archimedean {\ell}-groups

Let G be an archimedean \({\ell}\) -group. By an f-representation of G we mean an orthomorphism-valued group homomorphism S on G for which (Sf)g =  (Sg)f for all \({f, g \in G}\) . We prove that the set \({\mathfrak{Rep}(G)}\) of all f-representations in G is an archimedean \({\ell}\) -group with respect to pointwise addition and ordering. Furthermore, we define an orthoproduct on G to be a bilinear map on G which is an orthomorphism in each variable separately. It turns out that the set \({\mathfrak{Opro}(G)}\) is an archimedean \({\ell}\) -group G with the set \({\mathfrak{Mult}(G)}\) of f-multiplications in G as a positive cone. Moreover, we show that \({\mathfrak{Opro}(G)}\) and \({\mathfrak{Rep}(G)}\) are isomorphic as \({\ell}\) -groups. In spite of that, we get a representation theorem for f-multiplications in an \({\ell}\) -subgroup of an archimedean f-ring R with unit element. This allows us to find an example of an archimedean \({\ell}\) -group with no nontrivial structure of an f-ring and another which cannot be a reduced f-ring.     

Multi-scale analysis of SPDEs with degenerate additive noise

We consider a quite general class of stochastic partial differential equations with quadratic and cubic nonlinearities and derive rigorously amplitude equations, using the natural separation of time-scales near a change of stability. We show that degenerate additive noise has the potential to stabilize or destabilize the dynamics of the dominant modes, due to additional deterministic terms arising in averaging. We focus on equations with quadratic and cubic nonlinearities and give applications to the Burgers’ equation, the Ginzburg–Landau equation, and generalized Swift–Hohenberg equation.     

Synthesis and characterization of mono- and bicyclic heterocyclic derivatives containing 1,2,4-triazole, 1,3,4-thia-, and -oxadiazole rings

A series of new N- and S-substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives were synthesized. 5-Pyridin-3-yl-3-[2-(5-thioxo-4,5-dihydro-l,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)ethyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2(3H)-thione and 5-[(5-(pyridin-3-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-ylthio)methyl]-N-phenyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-amine were formed by cyclization of 3-(5-pyridin-3-yl-2-thioxo-1,3,4-oxadiazol-3(2H)-ylpropanimidohydrazide and 2-[(5-pyridin-3-yl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)thio]thiosemicarbazide with CS₂ and H₂SO₄. On the other hand, a number of new bicyclic 1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazole derivatives were synthesized. 6-Pyridin-3-ylbis[1,2,4]‐triazolo[3,4-b:4′,3′-d][1,3,4]thiadiazole-3(2H)-thione was synthesized by reaction of 6-(hydrazino)-3-pyridine-3-yl[1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazole with CS₂/KOH/EtOH. The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were elucidated by the spectral and analytical data IR, Mass, and ¹H NMR spectra. Correspondence: Adel A.-H. Abdel-Rahman, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University, Shebin El-Koam, Egypt; Wael A. El-Sayed, National Research Centre, Department of Photochemistry, Cairo, Egypt.     

Immobilization of cytochrome c on cysteamine-modified gold electrodes with EDC as coupling agent

Cyclic voltammetry has been applied for the characterization of cross-linked horse heart cytochrome c (HHC) on cysteamine-modified gold electrodes. The cross-linking, i.e. amide bond formation, between the proteins was achieved by using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide (EDC) as coupling reagent. The optimal conditions for the formation of the HHC film were determined by varying the HHC concentration. In addition the reproducibility, stability and the influence of the scan rate upon these films were investigated with cyclic voltammetry. The protein film stability in a 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid (HEPES) buffer solution was tested by UV/vis absorption spectroscopy.     

Rapid metabolite identification with sub parts-per-million mass accuracy from biological matrices by direct infusion nanoelectrospray ionization after clean-up on a ZipTip and LTQ/Orbitrap mass spectrometry

Metabolite identification studies remain an integral part of pre-clinical and clinical drug development programs. Analysis of biological matrices, such as plasma, urine, feces and bile, pose challenges due to the large amounts of endogenous components that can mask a drug and its metabolites. Although direct infusion nanoelectrospray using capillaries has been used routinely for proteomic studies, metabolite identification has traditionally employed liquid chromatographic (LC) separation prior to analysis. A method is described here for rapid metabolite profiling in biological fluids that involves initial sample clean-up using pipette tips packed with reversed-phase material (i.e. ZipTips) to remove matrix components followed by direct infusion nanoelectrospray on an LTQ/Orbitrap mass spectrometer using a protonated polydimethylcyclosiloxane cluster ion for internal calibration. We re-examined samples collected from a prazosin metabolism study in the rat. Results are presented that demonstrate that sub parts-per-million accuracies can be achieved on molecular ions, facilitating identification of metabolites, and on product ions, facilitating structural assignments. The data also show that the high-resolution measurements (R = 100 000 at m/z 400) enable metabolites of interest to be resolved from endogenous components. The extended analysis times available with nanospray enables signal averaging for 1 min or more that is valuable when metabolites are present in low concentrations as encountered here in plasma and brain. Using this approach, the metabolic fate of a drug can be quickly obtained. A limitation of this approach is that metabolites that are structural isomers cannot be distinguished, although such information can be collected by LC/MS during follow-on experiments. Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ozonization and cyclic voltammetry as efficient methods for the regeneration of gelatin-coated SPR chips

The application of ozonization and cyclic voltammetry for the regeneration of gold chips containing a chemisorbed gelatin layer is reported. The efficiency of the regeneration process was analyzed using various surface analysis techniques indicating a complete removal of the biopolymer layer. The current findings open up perspectives for regeneration and multiple application of gold chips for SPR measurements.     

Spaces between and

In this paper we consider the spaces that lie between and . We discuss their interpolation properties and the behavior of maximal functions and singular integrals acting on them.