Development An Amperometric Microbial-enzyme Hybrid Cholesterol Biosensor Based On Ionic Liquid MWCNT Carbon Paste Electrode

In this study we report the development of an amperometric cholesterol biosensor based on cholesterol oxidase from Pseudomonas sp. and catalase immobilized in carbon paste electrode (CPE) modified with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and ionic liquid (IL). The working electrode (CPE/MWCNT-IL/Microorganism (MO)-Catalase) was characterized by impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry at different stages of its construction. This proposed cholesterol biosensor performed linear relationship in the range of 5–600 μM with a low detection limit of 1.52 μM. The biosensor showed good sensitivity and high selectivity and it was successfully applied for the measurement of cholesterol levels in lyophilized serum samples.     

Effects of structural isomerism on solution behaviour of solutes: Apparent molar volumes and isentropic compression of catechol,resorcinal, and hydroquinone in aqueous solution at T = (283.15, 293.15, 298.15, 303.15, and 313.15) K

Effects of structural isomerism on solution behaviour of dihydroxybenzenes were examined through the determination of volumetric properties such as apparent molar volumes, apparent molar isentropic compressions, and isobaric expansions. The isomers were 1,2-dihydroxybenzene (catechol), 1,3-dihydroxybenzene (resorcinol), and 1,4-dihydroxybenzene (hydroquinone). The volumetric properties were determined from accurate density and speed of sound measurements at T = (283.15, 293.15, 298.15, 303.15, and 313.15) K and at various concentrations. Values at infinite dilution of these parameters were obtained by suitable extrapolation procedures. The results are discussed in terms of hydrophobic, hydrogen bonding, and dipole–dipole interactions between the three isomers and water. Catechol was found to have the strongest hydrophilic and the weakest hydrophobic interactions with water among the three isomers.     

A biosensor based on urate oxidase-peroxidase coupled enzyme system for uric acid determination in urine

A new amperometric biosensor based on urate oxidase-peroxidase coupled enzyme system for the specific and selective determination of uric acid in urine was developed. Commercially available urate oxidase and peroxidase were immobilized with gelatin by using glutaraldehyde and fixed on a pretreated teflon membrane. The method is based on generation of H₂O₂ from urine uric acid by urate oxidase and its consuming by peroxidase and then measurement of the decreasing of dissolved oxygen concentration by the biosensor. The biosensor response depends linearly on uric acid concentration between 0.1 and 0.5 μM. In the optimization studies of the biosensor, phosphate buffer (pH 7.5; 50 mM) and 35 °C were obtained as the optimum working conditions. In addition, the most suitable enzyme activities were found as 64.9×10⁻³ U cm⁻² for urate oxidase and 512.7 U cm⁻² for peroxidase. And also some characteristic studies of the biosensor such as reproducibility, substrate specificity and storage stability were carried out.     

G-networks: a unifying model for neural and queueing networks

We survey results concerning a new stochastic network we have developed [1–7], which was initially motivated by neural network modelling [1], or — as we called it — by queueing networks with positive and negative customers [2, 3]. Indeed, it is well known that signals in neural networks are formed by impulses or action potentials, traveling much like customers in a queueing network. We call this model a G-network because it serves as a unifying basis for diverse areas of stochastic modelling in queueing networks, computer networks, computer system performance and neural networks. In its simplest version, negative and positive signals or customers circulate among a finite set of units, modelling inhibitory and excitatory signals of a neural network, or negative and positive customers of a queueing network. Signals can arrive either from other units or from the outside world. Positive signals are accumulated at the input of each unit, and constitute its signal potential. The state of each unit or neuron is its signal potential (which is equivalent to the queue length), while the network state is the vector of signal potentials at each neuron. If its potential is positive, a unit or neuron fires, and sends out signals to the other neurons or to the outside world. As it does so, its signal potential is depleted. In the Markovian case, this model has product form, i.e. the steady-state probability distribution of its potential vector is the product of the marginal probabilities of the potential at each neuron. The signal flow equations of the network, which describe the rate at which positive or negative signals arrive to each neuron, are non-linear. We discuss the relationship between this model and the usual connectionist (formal) model of neural networks, and present applications to combinatorial optimization and to image texture processing. Extensions of the model to the case of multiple signal classes, and to networks with triggered customer motion are presented. We also examine the general stability conditions which guarantee that the network has a well-defined steady-state behaviour.     

Relativistic energies of 1s2, 1s22s and 1s22s2 isoelectronic sequences in first- and second-row atoms

An accurate semi-empirical method based on the many-electron theory of Sinano?lu for calculating relativistic contributions to atomic energies is developed and applied to the 1s², 1s²2s and 1s²2s² isometric sequences in the first and second periods. Orbital additivity of relativistic energies is tested and found to be an inaccurate assumption for small Z.     

Liquid–liquid equilibria of the ternary system water + acetic acid + dimethyl adipate

Liquid–liquid equilibrium (LLE) data of water + acetic acid + dimethyl adipate have been determined experimentally at 298.15, 308.15 and 318.15 K. Complete phase diagrams were obtained by determining binodal curve and tie-lines. The reliability of the experimental tie-line data was confirmed by using the Othmer-Tobias correlation. UNIFAC and modified UNIFAC models were used to predict the phase equilibrium in the system using the interaction parameters determined from experimental data of CH₂, CH₃COO, CH₃, COOH, and H₂O functional groups. Distribution coefficients and separation factors were evaluated for the immiscibility region.     

Viscosities, Apparent Molar Volumes, Expansivities and Isentropic Compressibilities of some Fatty Acids and their Triglycerides in Benzene at (20, 30, 40 and 60) °C

Viscosities, apparent molal volumes, compressibilities and expansivities of lauric, palmitic and stearic acids and their triglycerides, trilaurin, tripalmitin and tristearin, were determined in benzene at 20, 30, 40 and 60 °C. Accurate density and sound velocity measurements carried out simultaneously with a high-precision vibrating-tube densimeter and sound velocity measuring device were utilized in deriving volume, compressibility and expansivity data. Viscosities were measured with Ostwald type viscometers. Infinite dilution values of the apparent molal volumes and compressibilities were obtained by an extrapolation procedure. Apparent molal expansivities at infinite dilution were obtained from the temperature dependence of the apparent molar volume at infinite dilution. The properties at infinite dilution were evaluated in terms of solute-solvent interactions. Volumetric results in benzene were compared with the corresponding data estimated from group contributions in aqueous solutions using the additivity rule.     

Spatial unmasking of birdsong in human listeners: energetic and informational factors

Spatial unmasking describes the improvement in the detection or identification of a target sound afforded by separating it spatially from simultaneous masking sounds. This effect has been studied extensively for speech intelligibility in the presence of interfering sounds. In the current study, listeners identified zebra finch song, which shares many acoustic properties with speech but lacks semantic and linguistic content. Three maskers with the same long-term spectral content but different short-term statistics were used: (1) chorus (combinations of unfamiliar zebra finch songs), (2) song-shaped noise (broadband noise with the average spectrum of chorus), and (3) chorus-modulated noise (song-shaped noise multiplied by the broadband envelope from a chorus masker). The amount of masking and spatial unmasking depended on the masker and there was evidence of release from both energetic and informational masking. Spatial unmasking was greatest for the statistically similar chorus masker. For the two noise maskers, there was less spatial unmasking and it was wholly accounted for by the relative target and masker levels at the acoustically better ear. The results share many features with analogous results using speech targets, suggesting that spatial separation aids in the segregation of complex natural sounds through mechanisms that are not specific to speech.     

Carotenoids and Related Compounds. Part 36.. Further syntheses of zeaxanthin and rhodoxanthin

A modification of a previously reported synthesis of zeaxanthin ( 1 ), and routes to both zeaxanthin and rhodoxanthin ( 2 ) from α-ionone, are described.