The effect of covalent surface immobilization on the bactericidal efficacy of a quaternary ammonium compound

This study investigates the effect of surface immobilization on the bactericidal function of a quaternary ammonium compound. Quaternary ammonium silane (QAS) coated planar surfaces did not produce any measurable mortality of Staphylococcus aureus, while 1 µm QAS‐coated microparticles did produce S. aureus mortality. The experiments using QAS‐coated microparticles indicate that the ability of QAS molecules to disrupt the cell wall is not hindered by covalent immobilization of QAS to a surface. These results provide evidence that S. aureus cells on a QAS‐coated planar surface are not exposed to a sufficient number of QAS molecules to produce significant mortality. This result has important implications for the development of self‐decontaminating coatings. Covalent immobilization is used to prevent leaching of the bactericidal compound. However, covalent immobilization may result in a significant tradeoff in bactericidal performance. Published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Networks and chain coverings in partial orders and their products

For an arbitrary poset P, subposets {P _i : 1ik} form a transitive basis of P if P is the transitive closure of their union. Let u be the minimum size of a covering of P by chains within posets of the basis, s the maximum size of a family of elements with no pair comparable in any basis poset, and a the maximum size of an antichain in P. Define a dense covering to be a collection D of chains within basis posets such that each element belongs to a chain in D within each basis poset and is the top of at least k-1 chains and the bottom of at least k-1 chains in D. Dense coverings generalize ordinary chain coverings of poset. Let d=min {|D|–(k–1)|P|}. For an arbitrary poset and transitive basis, a convenient network model for dense coverings yields the following: Theorem 1: da, with equality iff P has a minimum chain decomposition in which every pair of consecutive elements on each chain are comparable in some basis poset. Theorem 2: usda. Theorem 3: s=d iff s=a. The most interesting special case is where the transitive basis expresses P as the product of two posets, in which case u and s measure the minimum and maximum sizes of unichain coverings and semiantichains.     

Some spectrofluorimetric applications of the cerium(IV)-cerium(III) system

Cerium(III) ions in dilute sulphuric acid medium exhibit a characteristic fluorescence which has its excitation maximum at 260 nm and its fluorescence emission maximum at 350 nm. By utilising the osmium-catalysed redox reaction between cerium(IV) and arsenic(III), microgram amounts of arsenic (7.5–37.5 μg) may be determined by spectrofluorimetric measurement of the ceriurm(III) produced. The principle may be applied to the determination of several other ions which cannot yet be determined by direct spectrofluorimetry, e.g.. Fe(II) (5.6–28 μg), oxalate (8.8–44μg). Osmium(VIII) (0.05–0.2 μg) and iodide (0.6–2.5 μg) may be determined by their catalytic action.     

Selenomethionine contents of NIST wheat reference materials

Values of the total selenium and selenomethionine (Semet) content of four wheat-based reference materials have been obtained by gas chromatography-stable isotope dilution mass spectrometry methods. The total Se method is an established one, and the results obtained with it are consistent with previously-assigned values. The Semet method (previously reported by our laboratory) is based on reaction with CNBr. Our data indicate that the four wheat samples (wheat gluten, durum wheat, hard red spring wheat, and soft winter wheat), though having a 30-fold range in total Se content, all have about 45% of their total Se values in the form of selenomethionine. Investigation of the CNBr-based method suggests that additional experiments are needed to verify that all selenomethionine in the wheat samples is accounted for, but also indicates that the values obtained are within 15% of the true values. As the form in which Se occurs in foods and dietary supplements is important from a nutritional perspective, adding information about Se speciation to total Se values in appropriate reference materials makes these materials more valuable in relevant analytical work.     

Surface modification of imide containing polymers I: Catalytic groups

This paper describes basic studies of the surface modification of polyimide covered wires for insulation of electrical machines. Drain-off of the impregnating resin during production should be reduced by introduction of surface catalytic groups. ¹H NMR kinetic analysis of aminolytic ring opening reaction of low molecular model compounds for polyimides showed very fast modification reactions. The catalytic effect of various functional groups on unsaturated polyester imide, acrylate and epoxy resins was investigated by DSC. Co(II)-catalysts and tertiary aliphatic amines proved highest activity for double bond containing systems and epoxy resins, respectively. Aminolytic treatment of Kapton^® slides was followed by ATR-IR spectroscopy. Plate-plate rheometer measurements of epoxy resins employing tertiary amine-treated Kapton^® slides proved significantly reduced gelling temperature.