A New Trend on Biosensor for Neurotransmitter Choline/Acetylcholine—an Overview

Technology always has been an indispensible part in the development of biosensors. The performance of biosensors is being tremendously improved using new materials as transducer as well as binding material in their construction. The use of new materials allowed innovation on transduction technology in biosensor preparations. Because of the submicron dimensions of these sensors, simple and rapid analyses in vitro as well as in vivo are now possible. Portable instruments capable of analysing multiple components are becoming available, too. Sensors that provide excellent temporal and spatial resolution for in vivo monitoring such as for measurement of neurotransmitters have become prominent. The interest to improve the stability, sensitivity and selectivity of the sensors is paramount. This study tries to give an overview of the present status of the material-based biosensor design and new generation of choline/acetylcholine neurotransmitter biosensors.     

UV-absorption and fluorimetric methods for the determination of alprazolam in pharmaceutical formulation

The development of UV and fluorescence spectrophotometric methods for the quantitative determination of alprazolam in dosage forms using As(III)?SDS system. The two simple and sensitive, spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric methods were developed for the determination of alprazolam (ALP) in tablets. These methods are based on formation of ALP?As(III) complex in the presence of SDS. The UV-spectrum of 30% methanolic solution of ALP (5 × 10^?5 M) at pH 6.5 (Mclivaine buffer) was run between 200 and 380 nm. The absorption spectrum of ALP exhibits two peaks with a λ_max. at 255 nm and a weak band at 325 nm. When the spectra of the drug were run at varying pH in the region 200–380 nm, one isosbestic point at 290 nm was observed, which indicated the presence of two ionic conditions in solution. The complex exhibited an absorption maximum at 265 nm and emission peak at 520 nm with respect to the excitation wavelength of 325 nm. The spectrophotometric method was found to be linear in 8.0–17.0 μg ml^?1 range with detection limit of 13.520 μg ml^?1, while 0.05–9.5 μg ml^?1 range was with detection limit of 1.048 × 10^?2 μg ml^?1 by spectrofluorimetric method. The mean percentage recovery of the added quantity was found to be 99.54 (spectrophotometric method) and 100.22 (spectrofluorimetric method) and the %RSD are lower than 0.478 and 0.296 determined spectrophotomerically and spectrofluorimtrically, respectively. This indicates that the proposed method is accurate. The apparent ionization constant of ALP was found to be 9.29. The spectra, experimental conditions were set followed by determination stoichiometry, stability constant and thermodynamic parameters of the As(III), Co(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II) complexes with ALP at pH 6.5. The proposed methods have been successfully applied to the assay of ALP in tablets and the results were statistically evaluated.     

Characterization and applications of as-grown β-Fe<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> nanoparticles prepared by hydrothermal method

The production of low-dimensional nanoparticles (NPs) with appropriate surface modification has attracted increasing attention in biological, biochemical, and environmental applications including chemical sensing, photocatalytic degradation, separation, and purification of toxic molecules from the matrices. In this study, iron oxide NPs have been prepared by hydrothermal method using ferric chloride and urea in aqueous medium under alkaline condition (pH 9 ~ 10). As-grown low-dimensional NPs have been characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy, FT-IR, X-ray diffraction, Field emission scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, High-resolution Transmission electron microscopy, and Electron Diffraction System. The uniformity of the NPs size was measured by the scanning electron microscopy, while the single phase of the nanocrystalline β-Fe₂O₃ was characterized using powder X-ray diffraction technique. As-grown NPs were extensively applied for the photocatalytic degradation of acridine orange (AO) and electrochemical sensing of ammonia in liquid phase. Almost 50% photo-catalytic degradation with AO was observed in the presence of UV sources (250 W) with NPs. β-Fe₂O₃ NP-coated gold electrodes (GE, surface area 0.0216 cm²) have enhanced ammonia-sensing performances in their electrical response (I–V characterization) for detecting ammonia in liquid phase. The performances of chemical sensor were investigated, and the results exhibited that the sensitivity, stability, and reproducibility of the sensor improved significantly using β-Fe₂O₃ NPs on GE surface. The sensitivity was approximately 0.5305 ± 0.02 μAcm⁻²mM⁻¹, with a detection limit of 21.8 ± 0.1 μM, based on a signal/noise ratio of 3 with short response time.     

Electrochemical unzipping of multi-walled carbon nanotubes for facile synthesis of high-quality graphene nanoribbons

Here we report a remarkable transformation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to nanoribbons composed of a few layers of graphene by a two-step electrochemical approach. This consists of the oxidation of CNTs at controlled potential, followed by reduction to form graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) having smooth edges and fewer defects, as evidenced by multiple characterization techniques, including Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. This type of "unzipping" of CNTs (single-walled, multi-walled) in the presence of an interfacial electric field provides unique advantages with respect to the orientation of CNTs, which might make possible the production of GNRs with controlled widths and fewer defects.     

Study of the base-catalysed oxidation of the anti-bacterial and anti-protozoal agent metronidazole by permanganate ion in alkaline medium

The mechanism of dismutation of MnO₄ ^2? via the complex [MTZ–MnO₄·OH]^2?, formed during the oxidation of metronidazole (MTZ), has been investigated spectrophotometrically at different temperatures. The stoichiometry of the reaction is 1:1, i.e. 1 mol MTZ reacts with 1 mol Mn(VII).The reaction is first order in permanganate, less than first order in [MTZ] and [alkali]. The effects of added products and the dielectric constant and ionic strength of the reaction medium were investigated. The main products were identified by spot test and FT-IR. A mechanism involving a free radical has been proposed. In the equilibrium step MTZ binds to the MnO₄ ^? species to form a complex (C). Investigation of the reaction at different temperatures enabled determination of the activation data for the slow step of proposed mechanism. The proposed mechanism and the derived rate laws are consistent with the observed kinetics.     

Three-step iterative methods for general variational inclusions in L P spaces

In this paper, we show that the general variational inclusions are equivalent to the fixed point problem. We use this equivalence to discuss the existence of the variational inclusions in L ^p spaces. Using the technique of the updating solution, we suggest some three-step iterative methods for solving the general variational inclusion. We also consider the convergence analysis of the proposed iterative methods under some mild conditions. Since the general variational inclusions include several classes of variational inequalities and optimization problems as special cases, results proved in this paper continue to hold for these problems.     

Self-adaptive methods for mixed quasi-variational inequalities

It is well known that the variational inequalities involving the nonlinear term φ are equivalent to the fixed-point problems and the resolvent equations. In this paper, we use these alternative equivalent formulations to suggest and analyze some new self-adaptive iterative methods for solving mixed quasi-variational inequalities. Our results can be viewed as significant extensions of the previously known results for mixed quasi-variational inequalities. An example is given to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method.     

High-resolution studies of BaD molecule in the ultraviolet region

Summary We report a new high-resolution absorption spectrum of BaD in the wavelength region (3580÷3760) ? using the third order of a 21 ft. concave grating spectrograph. Two new electronic states of BaD are reported named asK ²∃-X ² ∃ at 3750 ? andL ² II-X ² ∃ at 3680 ?, respectively. The (0,0),(1,1),(1,0) and (2,1) bands of theL ²-II-X ²∃ state and (0,0) and (1,0) bands of theK ²∃-X ²∃ state have been observed. Vibrational and rotational analysis of these newly observed bands have been carried out and the corresponding effective vibrational and rotational constants are reported. TheK ²∃ andL ² II states are tentatively assigned as originating from the 7p atomic state of barium.     

Algebraic properties of first integrals for systems of second-order ordinary differential equations of maximal symmetry

Symmetries of the first integrals for scalar linear or linearizable secondorder ordinary di?erential equations (ODEs) have already been derived and shown to exhibit interesting properties. One of these is that the symmetry algebra sl(3, IR) is generated by the three triplets of symmetries of the functionally independent first integrals and its quotient. In this paper, we first investigate the Lie-like operators of the basic first integrals for the linearizable maximally symmetric system of two second-order ODEs represented by the free particle system, obtainable from a complex scalar free particle equation, by splitting the corresponding complex basic first integrals and its quotient as well as their associated symmetries. It is proved that the 14 Lie-like operators corresponding to the complex split of the symmetries of the functionally independent first integrals I₁, I₂ and their quotient I₂/I₁ are precisely the Lie-like operators corresponding to the complex split of the symmetries of the scalar free particle equation in the complex domain. Then, it is shown that there are distinguished four symmetries of each of the four basic integrals and their quotients of the two-dimensional free particle system which constitute four-dimensional Lie algebras which are isomorphic to each other and generate the full symmetry algebra sl(4, IR) of the free particle system. It is further shown that the (n + 2)-dimensional algebras of the n + 2 first integrals of the system of n free particle equations are isomorphic to each other and generate the full symmetry algebra sl(n + 2, IR) of the free particle system.     

Electron-induced dissociation of glycosaminoglycan tetrasaccharides

Electron detachment dissociation (EDD) Fourier transform mass spectrometry has recently been shown to be a powerful tool for examining the structural features of sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). The characteristics of GAG fragmentation by EDD include abundant cross-ring fragmentation primarily on hexuronic acid residues, cleavage of all glycosidic bonds, and the formation of even- and odd-electron product ions. GAG dissociation by EDD has been proposed to occur through the formation of an excited species that can undergo direct decomposition or ejects an electron and then undergoes dissociation. In this work, we perform electron-induced dissociation (EID) on singly charged GAGs to identify products that form via direct decomposition by eliminating the pathway of electron detachment. EID of GAG tetrasaccharides produces cleavage of all glycosidic bonds and abundant cross-ring fragmentation primarily on hexuronic acid residues, producing fragmentation similar to EDD of the same molecules, but distinctly different from the products of infrared multiphoton dissociation or collisionally activated decomposition. These results suggest that observed abundant fragmentation of hexuronic acid residues occurs as a result of their increased lability when they undergo electronic excitation. EID fragmentation of GAG tetrasaccharides results in both even- and odd-electron products. EID of heparan sulfate tetrasaccharide epimers produces identical fragmentation, in contrast to EDD, in which the epimers can be distinguished by their fragment ions. These data suggest that for EDD, electron detachment plays a significant role in distinguishing glucuronic acid from iduronic acid.