Rapid detection of a foreign protein in milk using IMS–SERS

A method for rapid detection of foreign protein contamination in complex food matrices is critically needed. Here we present a novel method that combines immunomagnetic separation (IMS) and surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to detect ovalbumin (OVA), an egg white protein, added into whole milk. IMS was used to specifically capture the OVA out of the milk. Then SERS was applied to analyze the IMS eluate using silver dendrites as the substrate. Two SERS sample preparation methods, namely solution based and substrate based, were used to prepare the IMS eluate for SERS analysis. Results show both methods were able to detect 1 µg OVA in 1 ml milk (1 part per million). Based on the results of principal component analysis and partial least‐squares analysis, solution SERS was more capable of quantitative analysis, while substrate SERS was more sensitive for qualitative analysis. The total analytical time for IMS–SERS was less than 20 min, which satisfied the requirement of rapid detection in a milk processing facility. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stabilization of a standard gas mixture generator with diffusion tubes

Summary The generator contains diffusion tubes of known length and internal diameter. Once produced, the mixture of the carrier gas and acetone, the reference material, is sent through a chromatographic flame ionisation detector. Its signal reaches a constant level after a time corresponding to the stabilization time of the generator. The technique described is simple and gives repeatable results.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">A Priori</Emphasis> Parameter Estimation for the Thermodynamically Constrained Averaging Theory: Species Transport in a Saturated Porous Medium

The thermodynamically constrained averaging theory (TCAT) has been used to develop a simplified entropy inequality (SEI) for several major classes of macroscale porous medium models in previous works. These expressions can be used to formulate hierarchies of models of varying sophistication and fidelity. A limitation of the TCAT approach is that the determination of model parameters has not been addressed other than the guidance that an inverse problem must be solved. In this work we show how a previously derived SEI for single-fluid-phase flow and transport in a porous medium system can be reduced for the specific instance of diffusion in a dilute system to guide model closure. We further show how the parameter in this closure relation can be reliably predicted, adapting a Green’s function approach used in the method of volume averaging. Parameters are estimated for a variety of both isotropic and anisotropic media based upon a specified microscale structure. The direct parameter evaluation method is verified by comparing to direct numerical simulation over a unit cell at the microscale. This extension of TCAT constitutes a useful advancement for certain classes of problems amenable to this estimation approach.     

INTERMEDIATES IN THE ROOM TEMPERATURE FLASH PHOTOLYSIS AND LOW TEMPERATURE PHOTOLYSIS OF PURINE SOLUTIONS

The flash photolysis of purine in acetonitrile and in water at different pH was studied. The transients produced on flash excitation of degassed aqueous solutions have been identified as the triplet excited state, the hydrated electron, a purine radical cation and radical anion on the basis of quenching experiments and comparison to transients observed in low temperature photolysis.     

Michael additions of benzoins versus Michael-Stetter additions of aldehydes

Triethylamine catalyzed Michael additions of benzoins to chalcone can prevail over the expected Michael-Stetter additions when certain thiazolium ion conjugate bases - prepared $\text{in situ}$ from the pertinent thiazolium salts and triethylamine- are used as catalysts.     

Cyclotetraveratrylene and its benzene solvate

The title compound crystallizes in a solvent-free form and also includes solvent molecules. The X-ray structure analysis reveals that in the both crystal forms the cyclododecatetraene ring in the host molecules adopts a sofa conformation. The guest molecules occupy the channels formed among columns of stacked host molecules.Contribution No. 1452 of Instituto de Química, UNAM.     

Physicochemical Characterization of BADGE <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis> = 0/Zinc Meso-tetra(4-pyridyl) Porphyrin Resin

In this work we introduce the zinc 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl)-21H,23H-porphine (ZnTPyP) macrocycle as a crosslinking agent of the epoxy resin BADGE n = 0. NMR, TEM and FTIR confirm that both homopolymerization and heteropolymerization (resulting in the formation of a pyridone) are taken place. DSC evidences two exothermic signals at 170 and 290°C, with enthalpy values of 262.3 and–20.7 J/g, respectively. Crystal powder diffraction supports that the second one corresponds to a physical process. The introduction of the ZnTPyP into the epoxy network improves the thermal stability of the material, which, although very weakly, shows ferromagnetic properties.     

On the constellations of Weierstrass points

We prove that the constellation of Weierstrass points characterizes the isomorphism-class of double coverings of curves of genus large enough. The author was supported by a grant from the International Atomic Energy Agency and UNESCO.     

Degenerations of K3 surfaces in projective space

The purpose of this article is to study a certain kind of numerical K3 surfaces, the so-called K3 carpets. These are double structures on rational normal scrolls with trivial dualizing sheaf and irregularity . As is deduced from our study, K3 carpets can be obtained as degenerations of smooth K3 surfaces. We also study the Hilbert scheme near the locus parametrizing K3 carpets, characterizing those K3 carpets whose corresponding Hilbert point is smooth. Contrary to the case of canonical ribbons, not all K3 carpets are smooth points of the Hilbert scheme.