Determination of moniliformin in maize by ion chromatography

An ion chromatographic method for the determination of the mycotoxin moniliformin in maize was developed. The method contains a fast and simple clean-up procedure, which allows high volume sample injection. No further pre-concentration step is required. The limit of quantification was estimated to be 0.12 mg/kg moniliformin in maize. In contrast to the two previously published ion chromatographic methods, the moniliformin peak is base line separated and occurs in a region of a smooth base line in the ion chromatogram. The newly developed method showed a recovery through the whole analytical procedure of 97+/-3.5 %, whereas most previously described analytical methods had recoveries in the 70% range.     

Luminescence lifetime-based sensor for cyanide and related anions

A new Ru(II) complex is described which serves as a luminescence lifetime-based sensor for fluoride and cyanide anions (KF = 640 000 mol-1, KCN = 430 000 mol-1). This chromophore displays observable changes in its UV-vis and steady-state luminescence spectra upon cyanide binding. Prior to cyanide addition, this complex exhibits a single-exponential lifetime (tau = 377 +/- 20 ns). With increasing cyanide concentrations, the intensity decays are composed of two exponentials: long tau (320-370 ns) and short tau (13-17 ns). The average lifetimes shorten as a function of cyanide concentration since the fractional intensity shifts from an initial dominant long lifetime component to the short lifetime component. This work represents the first example of a direct method for the luminescence lifetime-based sensing of anions.     

Slow relaxation,confinement, and solitons

Millisecond crystal relaxation has been used to explain anomalous decay in doped alkali halides. We attribute this slowness to Fermi-Pasta-Ulam solitons. Our model exhibits confinement of mechanical energy released by excitation. Extending the model to long times is justified by its relation to solitons, excitations previously proposed to occur in alkali halides. Soliton damping and observation are also discussed.     

Photobinding of carprofen to protein

Carprofen is a non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug with marked photosensitising properties. In order to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the phenomenon of drug-protein photobinding, mixtures of the drug and human serum albumin were irradiated under different experimental conditions. After irradiation and subsequent gel-filtration chromatography of the photomixture, the eluting protein fraction was analysed by means of fluorescence spectroscopy. The formation of drug-protein photoadducts could be evidenced by the characteristic emission properties of the carbazole chromophore. The photobinding of the drug to human serum albumin appears to involve the formation of aryl radicals resulting from carbon-halogen photocleavage. This mechanistic interpretation is supported by the observed variations in the intensity of the fluorescence spectra, which can be correlated with the lower quantum yield emission of chlorocarbazoles as compared to non-halogenated analogues. The results from laser flash photolysis studies are also in agreement with this proposal.     

Random deposition of two annihilating species in the (1+1) dimension

We present simulation results for the one-dimensional random deposition of two annihilating species A and B, falling with probabilities p and q (p+q=1), which then react to produce an inert product, i.e., A+B-->0. Two different annihilation rules are defined: top annihilation and nearest-neighbor annihilation (NNA), leading to distinct scaling behaviors. In particular, the values of the scaling exponents for NNA are found to be dependent on probability p, suggesting different universality classes.     

Effect of ultrasonic treatment on the molecular weight of carboxymethylated chitin-glucan complex from Aspergillus niger

Different factors affecting the efficiency of the ultrasonic depolymerization of the high-molecular-weight carboxymethylated chitin-glucan prepared from the fungal mycelium of Aspergillus niger have been investigated. The influence of the following parameters was examined: concentration of the chitin-glucan complex, duration of ultrasonic irradiation, reaction temperature and volume of the ultrasonicated solution. The optimized conditions for the efficient ultrasonic depolymerization include: polysaccharide concentration--0.2 mg ml-1; volume of the sonicated solution--25 ml; duration of the sonication--10 min; and constant cooling of the sonicated sample in an ice-water bath.     

Determination of small amounts of lead in uranium

Small amounts of lead in the presence of large amounts of uranium can be determined by complexing the lead with nitrilotriacetic acid in aqueous solution at about pH 6 (adjusted with hexamine)and extracting the uranium into a chloroform solution of diphenylacetic acid. The aqueous phase is then acidified the lead determined polarographically.     

Sharp gene pool transition in a population affected by phenotype-based selective hunting

We use a microscopic model of population dynamics, a modified version of the well known Penna model, to study some aspects of microevolution. This research is motivated by recent reports on the effect of selective hunting on the gene pool of bighorn sheep living in the Ram Mountain region, in Canada. Our model finds a sharp transition in the structure of the gene pool as some threshold for the number of animals hunted is reached.     

Simple electrooptical sensors for inorganic anions

[reaction: see text] Electrooptical sensors consisting of a conjugated chromophore undergoing a change in color and a redox-active moiety such as quinone fused to the chromophore were synthesized. Strong changes in colorimetric and electrochemical properties were observed in the presence of inorganic anions. A unique anion-specific response was observed for fluoride, pyrophosphate, and acetate. DFT (B3LYP/6-31G) calculations performed for both "on/off" states of a sensor-fluoride model are in good agreement with the observed electrochemical and spectroscopic data.     

Kinetic study of the degradation of a potential local anesthetic drug in serum using the DNA-based electrochemical biosensor

DNA-drug association interaction at the DNA modified screen-printed electrode for 1-methyl-2-piperidinoethylester of 2-hexoxyphenylcarbamic acid was found leading to an accumulation of the drug within the DNA layer. A procedure for the determination of drug in blood serum matrix using the protein precipitation and voltammetric measurement of the electroactive drug with the DNA biosensor was obtained and an effort was done to apply it for an assay of the drug enzymatic degradation in human and rabbit sera at 37 degrees C.