Determination of silver in environmental samples by tungsten wire preconcentration method-electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A preconcentration method for silver in environmental waters involving adsorption on a tungsten wire, followed by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with a tungsten tube atomizer is described. The optimal immersing time was 90 s. The best pH for the adsorption of silver was 3. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limit for silver by the tungsten wire preconcentration method was 5.0 ng l⁻¹ (3S/N) and the relative standard deviation was 8.2%. The effects of large amounts of concomitants on the preconcentration of silver were evaluated. Even though 10³- to 10⁴-fold excess of matrix elements existed in water, the silver response was not significantly affected by the matrix elements. The method with preconcentration on a tungsten wire was applied to the determination of silver in waters and proved to be sensitive, simple, and convenient. This adsorption method can be utilized in in situ sampling of ultra-trace silver in environmental samples (waters). Furthermore, after sampling it is easy to carry and store the tungsten wire without contamination for a long time.     

Capillary electrophoresis microchip for direct amperometric detection of DNA fragments

Detection and quantitation of nucleic acids have gained much importance in the last couple of decades, especially in the post-human genome project era. Such processes are tedious, time consuming and require expensive reagents and equipment. Therefore, in the present study, we demonstrated a simple process for the separation and analysis of small DNA fragments using capillary electrophoretic amperometric detection on an inexpensive disposable glass microchip. The device used polydimethylsiloxane engraved microchannel and Au/Ti in-channel microelectrodes for sample detection. The DNA fragments were separated under low electric field (20 V/cm) for improved detection sensitivity and to retain the biomolecules in their native conformation. With a low sample requirement (as low as 1 μL) and high reproducibility, the proposed microchip device was successful in resolution and detection of DNA fragments of various lengths.     

Effect of surface modification of indium tin oxide by nanoparticles on the electrochemical determination of tryptophan

The effect of surface modification of indium tin oxide (ITO) by multi wall carbon nanotube (MWNT) and gold nanoparticles attached multi wall carbon nanotube (AuNP-MWNT) has been studied to determine tryptophan, an important and essential amino acid for humans and herbivores. A detailed comparison has been made among the voltammetric response of bare ITO, MWNT/ITO and AuNP-MWNT/ITO in respects of several essential analytical parameters viz. sensitivity, detection limit, peak current and peak potential of tryptophan. The AuNP-MWNT/ITO exhibited a well defined anodic peak at pH 7.2 at a potential of ∼669 mV for the oxidation of tryptophan as compared to 760 mV at MWNT/ITO electrode. Under optimum conditions linear calibration curve was obtained over tryptophan concentration range 0.5-90.0 μM in phosphate buffer solution of pH 7.2 with detection limit and sensitivity of 0.025 μM and 0.12 μA μM⁻¹, respectively. The oxidation of tryptophan occurred in a pH dependent, 2e⁻ and 2H⁺ process and the electrode reaction followed adsorption controlled pathway. The method has been found selective and successfully implemented for the determination of tryptophan in human urine and plasma samples using standard addition method. The electrode exhibited an efficient catalytic response with good reproducibility and stability.     

Ditopic double pincer palladacycle catalyst for C-C coupling

A ditopic palladacycle with SCS pincer coordination, L(PdCl)(2) (1), was isolated and structurally characterized and represents the first example of a transition metal complex with a polythioamide-based macrocycle. Preliminary studies of 1 in the catalytic coupling of 4-iodotoluene and styrene indicated it to be robust in the presence of oxygen and high temperatures, with high turnover numbers in relatively short times.     

A class of approximate stationary solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell equations

A class of approximate stationary solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell equations are obtained by expanding the metric in powers of a certain parameter and solving explicitly the first few orders in terms of four harmonic functions. These solutions, to the order considered, reduce to the Weyl, Bonnor, and Perjés-Israel-Wilson solutions, respectively, for suitable choice of the harmonic functions. They also contain a subclass that is asymptomatically flat and has realistic arbitrary spinning sources.     

Sensitivity variation for H, B, Si, Cl, Ca and Cd in solid materials by prompt gamma-ray analysis with a special emphasis on the presence of hydrogen

The effects of neutron scattering by matrix hydrogen in geological samples were examined in order to accurately determine their chemical compositions by neutron-induced prompt gamma-ray analysis (PGA). Three different matrix materials including basaltic reference rock sample (JB-2) mixed with chemical reagents including H-containing ones were analyzed by using thermal and/or cold neutron-guided beams of JRR-3 at Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The sensitivity change of elements with the variation of the H concentrations was evaluated for disk and spherical target geometries. The results show that the analytical sensitivities of B, Cl and Cd in disk samples seem to increase with increasing the matrix H concentrations by the irradiation of both thermal and cold-neutron beams. The sensitivity enhancement of B for disk-shaped JB-2 mixed with up to 2% mass H is within the analytical uncertainty associated with PGA with a thermal-neutron beam.     

The contribution of fructose and nitric oxide to oxidative stress in hamster islet tumor (HIT) cells through the inactivation of glutathione peroxidase

Reducing sugars, such as glucose and fructose, are known to play a role in the initiation of apoptosis in pancreatic beta-cells. The data collected in this study show that fructose increases H2O2 levels and lipid peroxidation of hamster islet tumor (HIT) cells, which originated from hamster pancreatic beta-cells. In an attempt to clarify the mechanism of this oxidative stress, we were able to show that glutathione peroxidase (GPx) is inactivated by fructose, and that mRNA expression of GPx is suppressed by fructose. Nitric oxide (NO) is also known to bring about apoptosis. The presence of NO increases intracellular peroxide levels in HIT cells as judged by flow cytometric analysis. These data suggest that fructose and nitric oxide suppress the activity or expression of GPx, and, as a result, permit an increase in intracellular peroxides or lipid peroxidation. This represents a major contribution to the main mechanism of apoptosis by fructose and NO.     

An Analytical Three-Region Two-Dimensional Model for SiGe MOSFETs Operating at Millimeter Wave Frequencies

An analytical two-dimensional model for an n-channel SiGe MOSFET is presented. In this paper a three-region model for SiGe is developed. The space charge region under the gate has been divided into three regions and the two-dimensional potential distribution is found by choosing appropriate boundary conditions for the drain, source and depletion regions. The analytical model predicts unity current-gain cut-off frequency (f _T ) of a 0.5 m SiGe MOSFET to be over 18.6 GHz.