A new bacterial biosensor for trichloroethylene detection based on a three-dimensional carbon nanotubes bioarchitecture

Trichloroethylene (TCE), a suspected human carcinogen, is one of the most common volatile groundwater contaminants. Many different methodologies have already been developed for the determination of TCE and its degradation products in water, but most of them are costly, time-consuming and require well-trained operators. In this work, a fast, sensitive and miniaturised whole cell conductometric biosensor was developed for the determination of trichloroethylene. The biosensor assembly was prepared by immobilising Pseudomonas putida F1 bacteria (PpF1) at the surface of gold interdigitated microelectrodes through a three-dimensional alkanethiol self-assembly monolayer/carbon nanotube architecture functionalised with Pseudomonas antibodies. The biosensor response was linear from 0.07 to 100 μM of TCE (9–13,100 μg L⁻¹). No significant loss of the enzymatic activity was observed after 5 weeks of storage at 4 °C in the M457 pH 7 defined medium (two or three measurements per week). Ninety-two per cent of the initial signal still remained after 7 weeks. The biosensor response to TCE was not significantly affected by cis-1,2-dichloroethylene and vinyl chloride and, in a limited way, by phenol. Toluene was the major interference found. The bacterial biosensor was successfully applied to the determination of TCE in spiked groundwater samples and in six water samples collected in an urban industrial site contaminated with TCE. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometric analysis of these samples confirmed the biosensor measurements.     

A new method for constructing a minimal PERT network

A project is an enterprise consisting of several activities which are to be carried out in some specific order. The activities and the order in which they need to be carried out can be represented by a PERT network. The PERT technique is a traditional, well-known approach to the expert of project management. When networks are used, it often becomes necessary to draw dummy activities. Since the computation of project completion time is proportional to the number of arcs, including dummy arcs, it is desirable to draw a network with as few dummy activities as possible.In this paper, we propose a new method for constructing, for a given project scheduling problem, a PERT network having as small as possible the number of dummy arcs by using some results on line graphs. This algorithm deals with the existence of transitive arcs. The paper contains illustrative examples, proofs of some theoretical results as well as a comparative study with a similar algorithm known in the literature. Computational results showed the superiority of our algorithm.     

Equations des variétés de Kummer

Sans résumé

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A two parameter mixed interior-exterior penalty algorithm

In this paper, we analyze the mixed penalty methods introduced in the classic book of Fiacco and McCormick usingtwo distinct penalty parametersr, t. The two penalty coefficients induce a two-parameter differentiable trajectory. We analyze the numerical behaviour of an extrapolation strategy that follows the path of the two-parameter trajectory. We show also how to remove the ill-conditioning by suitable transformations of the equations. In the resulting theory, we show that function values as well as distances to the optimum are both governed by the same behaviour as interior methods (two-step superlinearly convergent, with limiting exponent 4/3).Research partially supported by NSERC grant OGP0036512.Research partially supported by NSERC grant OGP0005491.     

Bioactive Chemical Constituents of Cladiella Species

From the methanolic extract of Cladiella sp., collected from the Andaman Island, India, a new sesquiterpene, cladidiol ( 2 ), and three known diterpenes, cladiellaperoxide ( 3 ), (6E)‐2α,9α‐epoxyeunicella‐6,11(12)‐dien‐3β‐ol ( 4 ), and polyanthellin A ( 5 ) were isolated. The structures of these compounds were established by extensive spectroscopic studies. Compound 2 exhibited modest acetylcholinesterase‐inhibition activity, and compounds 3 – 5 showed antibacterial activities against Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.     

Polarographic reduction and tautomeric structure of 2-amino-5-arylazothiazoles

The polarographic behaviour of a series of 2-amino-4-phenyl-5-arylazothiazoles has been investigated at a dropping mercury electrode. Each of the compounds studied exhibits one wave which was shown to correspond to the reductive cleavage of the azo linkage by a 4e irreversible step. On the basis of the polarographic data, it was concluded that the compounds exist only in one tautomeric form, namely the aminoazo structure 1 . The results of E_1/2 — σ_X correlations and HMO calculations of bonding energies of the various possible tautomeric forms 1–3 indicate that the aminoazo form 1 is the most stable structure of the compounds examined.     

Facile synthesis of thiadiazolo [2,3-b] quinazoline derivatives via the Japp-Klingemann Reaction

Diazotized anathranilic acid and its methyl ester react with substituted α-thiocyanatoacetoacetanilides3a–c to give in both cases the corresponding thiadiazolo [2,3-b] quinazolines6a–c, respectively. A mechanism is proposed and it is substantiated by synthesis of6a from N-(2-car?yphenyl)-C-phenylcarbamoyl hydrazidoyl chloride8a or its N-(2-methoxycarbonylcarbonylphenyl) analogue8d.     

A one step synthesis of thiadiazolo[2,3-b]quinazoline derivatives

Diazotized anthranilic acid and its methyl ester react with substituted phenacyl thiocyanates 3 to give in both cases the corresponding thiadiazolo[2,3-b]quinazolines 7a-e . A mechanism is proposed and it is substantiated by alternate synthesis of 7a from the hydrazidoyl chlorides 9a,b and potassium thiocyanate.     

Molecularly ordered nanoporous organosilicates prepared with and without surfactants

The first example of pure periodic mesoporous organosilica (O3/2Si-CH=CH-C6H4-CH=CH-SiO3/2) containing aromatic and olefinic functional groups was synthesized using a single precursor. In addition to the long-range order of the pore system, this material exhibited a structural periodicity with a spacing of 11.9 A due to the formation of lamellar bis(ethen-2-yl)benzene silica within the pore walls. It was also demonstrated that the molecular order can be achieved regardless of the occurrence of a periodic pore system or the use of surfactants.     

Crystal structure and electrical properties study of 4-aminopyridinium chloridobismuthate (III) (C5N2H7)4.HBi2Cl11

The crystal structure of (C₅N₂H₇)₄.HBi₂Cl₁₁ has been determined at room temperature by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The compound crystallizes in the triclinic system with Pī space group. The crystal structure consists of two asymmetric inequivalent molecules of 4-aminopyridinium and anionic HBi₂Cl₁₁ chains. The HBi₂Cl₁₁ anionic chains stacked along the a-axis are formed with Bi₂Cl₁₁ dimers connected to each other via hydrogen atoms. The crystal packing is stabilized with N–H...Cl hydrogen bonds connecting aminopyridinium units to the HBi₂Cl₁₁ anionic chains. The title compound exhibits an order–disorder phase transition at 338 K. The AC electrical conductivity properties of (C₅N₂H₇)₄.HBi₂Cl₁₁ compound have been investigated by means of impedance spectroscopy measurements over wide ranges of frequencies and temperatures, 200 Hz to 5 MHz and 303 to 418 K, respectively. Detailed analysis of the impedance spectrum suggests that the electrical properties of the material are strongly temperature dependent. The frequency-dependent conductivity data were fitted in the Jonscher's law: $ \sigma \left( \omega \right) = \sigma (0) + A{\omega^n} $ . The nature of variation of DC conductivity suggests Arrhenius type of electrical conductivity.