Chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on a strip to detect Escherichia coli O157:H7

A fast and sensitive chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method to measure pathogenic bacteria, Escherichia coli O157:H7, on immuno-chromatographic membrane was studied. Non-specific binding of proteins on membrane strip was controlled to attain the best performance of immunosensor by optimising the composition of a running buffer. The specificity of the proposed immunostrip was confirmed by conducting experiments for four different micro-organisms. A chemiluminescent signal could be successfully generated from a proposed immunostrip sensing system, and a significant change in the chemiluminescent light intensity with the concentration of target microbes was obtained. E. coli O157:H7 could be quantitatively measured in the range of 1.1?×?10^3?–1.1?×?10⁷ CFU (colony forming units) mL^?1 within 16?min by using the developed chemiluminescent immunostrip.     

Optimal Groomings with Grooming Ratios Six and Seven

Grooming uniform all‐to‐all traffic in optical (SONET) rings with grooming ratio C requires the determination of a decomposition of the complete graph into subgraphs each having at most C edges. The drop cost of such a grooming is the total number of vertices of nonzero degree in these subgraphs, and the grooming is optimal when the drop cost is minimum. The determination of optimal C‐groomings has been considered for , and completely solved for . For , it has been shown that the lower bound for the drop cost of an optimal C‐grooming can be attained for almost all orders with 5 exceptions and 308 possible exceptions. For , there are infinitely many unsettled orders; especially the case is far from complete. In this paper, we show that the lower bound for the drop cost of a 6‐grooming can be attained for almost all orders by reducing the 308 possible exceptions to 3, and that the lower bound for the drop cost of a 7‐grooming can be attained for almost all orders with seven exceptions and 16 possible exceptions. Moreover, for the unsettled orders, we give upper bounds for the minimum drop costs.     

A turn-on and reversible fluorescence sensor with high affinity to Zn in aqueous solution

A new simple receptor 1 based on aminosalicylimine was prepared. It exhibited an ‘off–on fluorescence type’ mode with high sensitivity in the presence of Zn²⁺. In particular, this chemosensor could clearly distinguish Zn²⁺ from Cd²⁺. Also, it could be a reusable chemosensor because the addition of EDTA quenched the fluorescence of the Zn²⁺-2·1 complex. Furthermore, receptor 1 had a sufficiently low detection limit (68 nM) in aqueous solutions, which implies that 1 could sense the nanomolar concentration of Zn²⁺. Therefore, this sensor has the ability to be a practical system for the monitoring of Zn²⁺ concentrations in aqueous samples.     

Comparative study on structure and properties of titanium/silicon mono‐ and co‐doped amorphous carbon films deposited by mid‐frequency magnetron sputtering

The titanium/silicon mono‐ and co‐doped amorphous carbon films were deposited by mid‐frequency magnetron sputtering Ti target, Si target, and Ti80S20 alloy target, respectively. The effects of doped elements on the composition, surface morphology, microstructure, and mechanical and tribological properties of the films were investigated. The results reveal that the ratio of sp³ and sp² carbon bonds of the films is regulated between 0.28 and 0.62 by a combination of Ti and Si dopant. The addition of small amounts of silicon leads to an increase in sp³ bonds and disorder degree of the sp² carbon. The co‐doped film exhibits significantly superior friction performance than the mono‐doped films. The ultra‐low friction (μ < 0.01) was achieved under a load of 2 N in ambient air with 40% RH. By comparing to the mono‐and co‐doped films, it is thought that the sp³/sp² ratio of the films may play a key role for the superlow friction. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Substituted chromones in [3+2] cycloadditions with nonstabilized azomethine ylides: synthesis of 1-benzopyrano[2,3-c]pyrrolidines and 1-benzopyrano[2,3-c:3,4-c′]dipyrrolidines

Chromones bearing electron-withdrawing substituents at the 2- or 3-position react with nonstabilized azomethine ylides to produce 1-benzopyrano[2,3-c]pyrrolidines in good yields. Reactions of 3-cyanochromones proceed diastereoselectively to give 1-benzopyrano[2,3-c]pyrrolidines and tetrahydro-1H-spiro[chromeno[2,3-c]pyrrol-9,5′-oxazolidine]-9a-carbonitriles, depending on the reactant ratio, as a result of a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of the azomethine ylide at the double bond and carbonyl group of the chromone system. The latter undergoes demethylenation and recyclization into a novel hexahydrochromeno[2,3-c:3,4-c′]dipyrrole tetracyclic system on heating with hydrochloric acid.     

BF3·OEt2-catalyzed synthesis of 1-(tetrahydropyran-3-yl)-1,3-dihydroisobenzofuran and trans-fused hexahydropyrano[3,2-c]chromene derivatives

A novel intramolecular Prins cyclization of (E)-5-(2-(hydroxymethyl)phenyl)pent-4-en-1-ol with aldehydes has been achieved using 10 mol % BF₃·Et₂O to produce 1-(tetrahydropyran-3-yl)-1,3-dihydroisobenzofuran derivatives in good to excellent yields with high selectivity. Similar type of coupling with salicylaldehydes provides the trans-fused hexahydropyrano[3,2-c]chromene derivatives in excellent yields.