Determination of acetaldehyde in saliva by gas-diffusion flow injection analysis

The consumption of ethanol is known to increase the likelihood of oral cancer. In addition, there has been a growing concern about possible association between long term use of ethanol-containing mouthwashes and oral cancer. Acetaldehyde, known to be a carcinogen, is the first metabolite of ethanol and it can be produced in the oral cavity after consumption or exposure to ethanol. This paper reports on the development of a gas-diffusion flow injection method for the online determination of salivary acetaldehyde by its colour reaction with 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone (MBTH) and ferric chloride. Acetaldehyde samples and standards (80 μL) were injected into the donor stream containing NaCl from which acetaldehyde diffused through the hydrophobic Teflon membrane of the gas-diffusion cell into the acceptor stream containing the two reagents mentioned above. The resultant intense green coloured dye was monitored spectrophotometrically at 600 nm. Under the optimum working conditions the method is characterized by a sampling rate of 9 h⁻¹, a linear calibration range of 0.5–15 mg L⁻¹ (absorbance = 5.40 × 10⁻² [acetaldehyde, mg L⁻¹], R² = 0.998), a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.90% (n = 10, acetaldehyde concentration of 2.5 mg L⁻¹), and a limit of detection (LOD) of 12.3 μg L⁻¹. The LOD and sampling rate of the proposed method are superior to those of the conventional gas chromatographic (GC) method (LOD = 93.0 μg L⁻¹ and sampling rate = 4 h⁻¹). The reliability of the proposed method was illustrated by the fact that spiked with acetaldehyde saliva samples yielded excellent recoveries (96.6–101.9%), comparable to those obtained by GC (96.4–102.3%) and there was no statistically significant difference at the 95% confidence level between the two methods when non-spiked saliva samples were analysed.     

Numerical Approximations of Impulsive Delay Differential Equations

The article deals with numerical approximations of impulsive delay differential equations with a non-fixed time of impulses. The right-hand side of the approximation is assumed to be Lipschitz with respect to the norm of the measurable functions, which allows us to estimate the distance between functions with different times of jumps. Illustrative examples are provided.     

Einfluß der vertikalen Auflösung der Neutronensonde bei der Bestimmung des Wassergehaltes des Bodens

Es wird der Einfluß der vertikalen Auflösung der Neutronensonde auf die Genauigkeit der Bestimmung des Wassergehaltes des Bodens betrachtct. Die Ergebnisse von Messungen der Neutronensonden mit verschiedener vertikaler Auflösung werden vorgelegt. Die Möglichkeit des Mangels an dem durch schlechte vertikale Auflösung bedingten Fehler bei der Bestimmung des Wassergehaltes des Bodens wird betrachlet und theoretisch qualitativ begründet.     

Infrared Study of Anthraquinone-Anion-Radical and its 180 Labelled Isomer

Abstract

Infrared spectra of anthraquinone and anthraquinone-¹⁸0-anion-radicals have been investigated. Anion-radicals have been obtained by electrochemical reduction of anthraquinone and anthraquinone-¹⁸0 in dimethylsulf-oxide-d₆.

Band assignment has been performed using the group vibrational concept and isotopic shift data. The assignment of IR active C[dbnd]O stretching band and the other bands in 1150–1800 cm^?1 region of anthraquinone anion-radical (anthrasemiquinone) have been discussed and compared with those of some other ¹⁸0 labelled anion-radicals. A decrease of 182 cm^?1 has been found forafter transformation of the neutral quinone into anion-radical.     

Infrared Spectra and Configuration of Anion Radical and Dianion of Benzil and Benzil-18o

Abstract

Infrared spectra of the products of one- and two -step reduction of both benzil and benzil-¹⁸0 have been investigated in dimethylsulfoxide-d₆ and tetrahydrofurane solutions. Anion-radicals have been obtained by electrochemical reduction of benzil and benzil-¹⁸0; dinegative ions have been prepared by reduction of the same ketones with potassium mirror in vacuo. The band assignment has been performed using the group vibrational concept and isotopic shift data. The previous assignment of the C[dbnd]O stretching band of benzil anion-radical-has been discussed and corrected. Two bands in the infrared spectra of benzil dianion have been found to be sensitive upon ¹⁸0 isotope labelling. This result certifies the presence of cis-configuration of benzil dianion in the investigated solutions. A decrease of ca. 290 cm-¹ has been found for vC[dbnd]O after the transformation of the neutral benzil into an anion-radical. Conversion of benzil anion-radical into dianion has been accompanied by an additional vC[dbnd]O downward shift of 105 cm^?1     

Geodesic completeness for Sobolev H s -metrics on the diffeomorphism group of the circle

We prove that the weak Riemannian metric induced by the fractional Sobolev norm H ^s on the diffeomorphism group of the circle is geodesically complete, provided that s > 3/2.     

Solid phase extraction of zinc(II) using a PVC-based polymer inclusion membrane with di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) as the carrier

A polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) is reported consisting of 45% (m/m) di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) immobilized in poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) for use as a solid phase absorbent for selectively extracting Zn(II) from aqueous solutions in the presence of Cd(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Ni(II) and Fe(II). Interference from Fe(III) in the sample is eliminated by precipitation with orthophosphate prior to the extraction of Zn(II). Studies using a dual compartment transport cell have shown that the Zn(II) flux (2.58 × 10⁻⁶ mol m⁻² s⁻¹) is comparable to that observed for supported liquid membranes. The stoichiometry of the extracted complex is shown to be ZnR₂·HR, where R is the D2EHPA anion.     

Passive mode locking of a self-frequency-doubling Yb:YAl(3) (BO(3))(4) laser

We report passive mode-locking experiments with a novel self-doubling laser crystal Yb:YAl(3)(BO(3))(4) (Yb:YAB). The diode-pumped laser was mode locked by an ion-implanted semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. Far off phase matching, soliton mode locking produced pulse widths of 198 fs to 1.4 ps, with up to 660-mW output and optical efficiency of 24% at 1040 nm. The shortest pulses had a peak power of 28 kW with 440-mW average power and 16% efficiency. A few degrees off phase matching, a total of 60 mW of green femtosecond pulses was generated simultaneously. Close to phase matching, the laser produced picosecond pulses and, without infrared output, a total of 270 mW of green output, corresponding to 10% conversion efficiency (absorbed pump to green output).     

Fluorescence studies on native and bound to trifluraline soy bean Lb"a" in the enhanced N2 fixation.

The differences in the tryptophan (Trp) fluorescence of native (control) Lb"a" and experimental substance isolated from nodules of the Williams' soy beans variety treated with trifluraline at a concentration of 2.1 x 10(-10) M have been studied. A positively charged environment has been proved for the tryptophans of the native Lb"a" and a negative one for the tryptophans of the experimental Lb"a". The difference in the tryptophan emission spectra at lambdaex = 280 and 300 nm may be assigned to conformational alterations occurring in the experimental Lb"a". This is also confirmed by the greater energy transfer from tyrosine to tryptophan in the experimental Lb"a"--30% compared to the 10% in the native Lb"a". The value of the constant of acrylamide quenching (Ksv = 2.77 M(-1)) shows that the tryptophans are buried more deeply in the experimental Lb"a" than in the native Lb"a" (Ksv = 4 M(-1)). They are substantially lower than Ksv of the standard compound N-Ac-Trp-NH2 (16.30 M(-1)). The activation energy (Ea) of the thermal quenching of tryptophan fluorescence is higher for the experimental Lb"a" (37 kJ mol(-1)) as compared to the standard compound N-Ac-Trp-NH2 (24 kJ mol(-1)) and the native Lb "a" (32 kJ mol(-1)). The dissociation constant of the complex of trifluraline with Lb "a" (6.32 x 10(-11) M) has been determined as well as the stoichiometric ratio trifluraline/Lb"a" (1:1). The estimated nitrogenase activity (microM/gfrw h) and the total Lb (mg/gfrw) for trifluraline are higher as compared to those for the control.