Cu-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles for Non-Enzymatic Glucose Sensing

Copper-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles (NPs) Cu_xZn_1−xO (x = 0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, and 0.04) were synthesized via a sol-gel process and used as an active electrode material to fabricate a non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor for the detection of glucose. Their structure, composition, and chemical properties were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopies, and zeta potential measurements. The electrochemical characterization of the sensors was studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Cu doping was shown to improve the electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of glucose, which resulted from the accelerated electron transfer and greatly improved electrochemical conductivity. The experimental conditions for the detection of glucose were optimized: a linear dependence between the glucose concentration and current intensity was established in the range from 1 nM to 100 μM with a limit of detection of 0.7 nM. The proposed sensor exhibited high selectivity for glucose in the presence of various interfering species. The developed sensor was also successfully tested for the detection of glucose in human serum samples.     

Isotropic hard core dumbell fluid: Equation of state

A monte-Carlo calculation has been made for 108 hard core dumbbells of the compressibility factor in the isotropic density range. These compressibility factors are compared to several approximate theories, and comments are made on the utility of these approximate theories.     

Vibronic coupling in asymmetric bichromophores: Theory and application to diphenylmethane

The theory for modeling vibronic interactions in bichromophores was introduced in sixties by Witkowski and Moffitt [J. Chem. Phys. 33, 872 (1960)] and extended by Fulton and Gouterman [J. Chem. Phys. 35, 1059 (1961)]. The present work describes extension of this vibronic model to describe bichromophores with broken vibrational symmetry such as partly deuterated molecules. Additionally, the model is extended to include inter-chromophore vibrational modes. The model can treat multiple vibrational modes by employing Lanczos diagonalization procedure of sparse matrices. The developed vibronic model is applied to simulation of vibronic spectra of flexible bichromophore diphenylmethane and compared to high-resolution experimental spectra [J. A. Stearns, N. R. Pillsbury, K. O. Douglass, C. W. Mu?ller, T. S. Zwier, and D. F. Plusquellic, J. Chem. Phys. 129, 224305 (2008)].     

C-O and C-C bond formation in the cyclisation of gem-(dialkoxymethyl)-1,6-dienes catalysed by tin(IV) triflimidate at room temperature

We described herein a Sn(NTf₂)₄-catalysed cyclisation of gem-(dialkoxymethyl)-1,6-dienes and derivatives where cyclohexane or tetrahydrofuran rings are formed following either a 6-enexo-endo-trig process or a 5-exo-trig process, respectively, depending on substitution patterns. The latter process features an unusual dealkylative ether cyclisation, triggered by the strong Lewis acid character of the tin(IV) triflimidate catalyst.     

A novel carbon/chitosan paste electrode for electrochemical detection of normetanephrine in the urine

Normetanephrine is a marker for pheochromocytoma, a rare catecholamine-secreting and neuroendocrine tumor, that arises from sympathetic and parasympathetic paraganglia. In this work, a novel carbon/chitosan electrode paste was used for sensitive voltammetric determination of normetanephrine and dopamine in the presence of ascorbic acid and uric acid. The modified electrode has shown an increase in the effective area of up to 68%, well-separated oxidation peaks, and an excellent electrocatalytic activity. The electrochemical response characteristics were investigated by cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry. Interestingly, high sensitivity and selectivity in the linear range of normetanephrine, dopamine, ascorbic acid, and uric acid concentrations were observed. The present method was applied in the urine sample and satisfactory results were obtained showing that this electrode is very suitable in pharmaceutical and clinical preparations.     

ACCURATE ATTENUATION CORRECTION FOR ALGEBRAIC RECONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE IN SPECT

We present a new iterative reconstruction algorithm to improve the algebraic reconstruction technique （ART） for the Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography. Our method is a generalization of the Kaczmarz iterative algorithm for solving linear systems of equations and introduces exact and implicit attenuation correction derived from the attenuated Radon transform operator at each step of the algorithm. The performances of the presented algorithm have been tested upon various numerical experiments in presence of both strongly non-uniform attenuation and incomplete measurements data. We also tested the ability of our algorithm to handle moderate noisy data. Simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed method has a significant improvement in the quality of reconstructed images over ART. Moreover, convergence speed was improved and stability was established, facing noisy data, once we incorporate filtration procedure in our algorithm.     

The study on the ZnO and Zn0.95Mn0.05O added YBCO system: Investigation of microstructure and transport properties

The effect of nano-size Zn_0.95Mn_0.05O and ZnO (30 nm) addition on the microstructure and the normal state transport properties of polycrystalline YBa₂Cu₃O_y (YBCO) was systematically studied. Samples were synthesized in air using a standard solid state reaction technique by adding nano-sized particles up to 10 wt.%. When Zn_0.95Mn_0.05O and ZnO are added to the YBCO the orthorhombic structure maintained even at the highest concentration. TEM and EDS analyses show the presence of inhomeginities embedded in the superconducting matrix. To interpret the normal state properties of the samples, the percolation theory based on localized states is applied. A cross-over between variable-range hopping and Coulomb gap mechanisms is observed as a result of increasing the nano-particles concentration. The ZnO addition modifies the electrical behavior of samples from metallic to insulating with a much lower concentration comparatively to Zn_0.95Mn_0.05O addition. The calculated values of the localization length, d, are greater in the case of Zn_0.95Mn_0.05O addition. This result can be interpreted by the internal structure defects.     

Fluorescent Triphenyl Substituted Maleimide Derivatives: Synthesis,Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Calculations

In this paper we describe a semi-empirical quantum method for predicting the wavelength of maximum fluorescence excitation and emission for several known and new maleimide derivatives. All new maleimides, containing a N-Benzyl attachment, were successfully synthesised via a tandem Suzuki reaction with aryl boronic acids containing either an electron donating, electron withdrawing functional groups. Absorption and emission spectra calculated using the semi-empirical AM1 method with excited state ZINDO calculations proved more reliable than either Hartree-Fock Configuration interaction or time dependent density functional methods. Calculated absorption and emission wavelengths were compared with 26 experimental spectra from known or newly synthesised maleimides and found to have provide reasonable predictions, with an average deviation of less the 6% for absorption maxima and less than 4% for emission peaks. The described method provides a strong benchmark for the accuracy that can be expected from theoretical predictions of fluorescence spectra.