Immobilizing redox enzymes at mesoporous and nanostructured electrodes

Three key challenges are stimulating intensive research in the development of productive direct electron transfer mode enzyme electrodes: proper enzyme orientation, high enzyme loading, and full retention of enzyme activity. In this review, we summarize some significant advances that have been reported in the last years on the design of mesoporous and nanostructured electrodes as enzyme scaffolds and of innovative methodologies for wiring enzymes to electrodes. Particular attention is given to investigations on physical factors that determine a favorable enzyme immobilization, to provide rational guidelines for the design of productive enzymatic electrodes. Finally, some emerging trends focused on the spatial organization of either single enzymes or enzyme cascades are also briefly addressed.     

Simple, expedient methods for the determination of water and electrolyte contents of cellulose solvent systems

The concentrations of water, W, and electrolytes present in solutions of LiCl in N,N-dimethylacetamide, LiCl/DMAc, and of tetrabutylammonium fluoride. x-hydrate in DMSO, TBAF.xW/DMSO can be accurately and expediently determined by three independent methods, UV–vis, FTIR and EMF measurement. The first relies on the use of solvatochromic probes whose spectra are sensitive to solution composition. It is applicable to W/LiCl/DMAc solutions but not to TBAF.xW/DMSO, because the charge-transfer complex bands of the probes are suppressed by strong interactions with the latter electrolyte. Integration of ν_OH band of water may be employed in order to determine [W], hence [electrolyte] by weight difference. EMF measurement uses ion-selective electrodes in order to determine [electrolyte], hence [W] by weight difference. Results of the latter method were in excellent agreement with those of FTIR. The reason for the failure of Karl Fischer titration is addressed, and the relevance of the results obtained to functionalization of cellulose under homogenous solution conditions is briefly commented on.     

放射性9C束流不同贯穿深度上的线能谱测量

为阐述放射性⁹C束流应用于治癌的物理基础, 运用一个球形生物组织等效正比计数器测量了⁹C束流不同贯穿深度上的线能谱, 得到了沿束流贯穿深度上的剂量平均线能分布. 将实验测量得到的线能谱转换成为不同传能线密度在吸收剂量中所占份额的分布, 得到了该⁹C束流在不同贯穿深度上的剂量平均传能线密度分布. 将生物组织等效正比计数器测量得到的与先前通过平行板正比计数器测量得到的该⁹C束流的剂量平均传能线密度分布进行比较, 发现: 在束流入射通道上, 两者测量数据符合很好, 而在束流Bragg峰附近⁹C离子的沉积区域, 由组织等效正比计数器测量得到的剂量平均传能线密度值大于由平行板正比计数器测量得到的值.     

Chalcogenide based all-solid-state thin electroplated ion-selective membrane for Hg(II) flow-injection determinations

The response to Hg(II) of a thin all-solid-state Te-doped silver chalcogenide membrane, described by the general formula Ag₂ + δSe_{1 − x}Te_x, which has been electrochemically prepared following a previously proposed approach, has been investigated. The kinetics of formation of the membrane's secondary dynamic response to Hg(II) has been successfully combined with the precise timing and transient signal, typical for flow-injection (FI) measurements, in developing a sensitive and reliable mercury FI detector. Under optimized stream conditions it exhibits a linear Nernstian response, with a double slope of the calibration graph of 59 mV dec⁻¹, over the mercury(II) concentration range 10⁻⁶ − 10⁻³ M, the typical sample throughput amounting to about 70 samples per hour. The observed chemical amplification of the signal is due to the specificity of the processes dominating the initial step in formation of the steady-state signal of the membrane to mercury. The analytical performance of the Hg(II) FI detector, as regards sensitivity, reproducibility, selectivity and long-term stability has been thoroughly investigated. The exact procedure for membrane electrodeposition is given and the potential of the proposed approach as a cost-effective way for preparing chalcogenides of unique structure and properties has been outlined in the above context.     

基于低功耗双边沿D触发器的任意进制异步计数器设计

从D触发器激励表入手，分别给出了采用单边沿D触发器和双边沿D触发器的2^n进制异步加法计数器、减法计数器的设计方法．在此基础上，采用逻辑函数修改技术，通过实例讨论了基于单边沿D触发器和双边沿D触发器的异步任意进制计数器的设计．该设计方法方便，快速，具有一定的实用意义．     

T-C模型中虚光子过程对光场压缩效应的影响

利用全量子理论,研究非旋波近似下TC模型中受激场的压缩效应.结果表明:非旋波近似下,由于虚光场的影响,Q的演化曲线出现了“小锯齿状”,表现为系统的量子噪声,随着ω和n的增大,量子噪声分别减小和增大,虚光子过程使光场的压缩程度明显加深;研究结果还揭示了原子场耦合系数λ及原子间耦合系数g与光场压缩效应的关系. 关键词： T-C模型 非旋波近似 压缩效应 量子噪声     

Effect of surfactants on the voltammetric response and determination of an antihypertensive drug

The effect of adding surface-active agents to electrolytes containing terazosin, an antihypertensive drug, on the voltammetric response of glassy carbon electrode was studied. The current signal due to the oxidation process was a function of the amount of terazosin, pH of the medium, type of surfactant, and accumulation time at the electrode surface. Two surfactants were used, an anionic type, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and a cationic type, cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). Addition of SDS to the terazosin-containing electrolyte was found to enhance the oxidation current signal while CTAB showed an opposite effect. Beside the interfacial interaction of the surfactant with the electrode surface in reference to the bias applied potential and the charge of surfactant, terazosin-surfactant interaction in the electrolytic solution was found to be critical to the magnitude of current signal. Addition of SDS to terazosin-containing buffer solution resulted in a decrease in the drug absorption spectrum both in the ultra-violet and visible (UV-vis) regions. Moreover, NMR measurements showed considerable chemical shifts for the aromatic protons of the quinazolinyl moiety of the terazosin in presence of SDS. The affected aromatic protons are positioned next to the interacting protonated amino-group of the terazosin with the charged sulfonate-group of SDS. On the other hand, addition of CTAB did not cause noticeable changes both to the UV-vis and NMR spectra of the drug. The use of SDS in the electrochemical determination of terazosin using linear sweep voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry at solid glassy carbon electrode enhanced the detection limit from 6.00 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹ in absence of surfactant to 4.58 × 10⁻⁹ mol L⁻¹ when present. The validity of using this method in the determination of drug active ingredient in urine samples and tablet formulations was also demonstrated.     

Production of carbon soot with a high content of C60 and C70 fullerenes by electric arc

The effect of the parameters of the electric arc (helium pressure, current and voltage, clearance between electrodes) and of the peculiarities of the setup design (arrangement of electrodes, distance between the arc and the cooling surface, temperature of the soot condensation surface) on the yield of fullerenes has been studied. Conditions for producing soot with a C₆₀ and C₇₀ content up to 43% (toluene extract) have been found.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 805–809, May, 1994.The authors are grateful to N. G. Spitsyna and A. V. Dubovitskii for the determination of the content of C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerenes in the extract.The work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project 93-03-18705).     

Recognition of Monohydrogen Anions of Geometrical and Positional Isomers of Dicarboxylic Acids Based on Polymeric Liquid Membranes Incorporating Polyamine Host

Macrocyclic lipophilic polyamines were applied as the sensory elements of polymeric liquid membrane electrodes. These hosts gain the anion receptor functionality upon protons uptake from the aqueous solutions. The electrodes studied were able to distinguish potentiometricaly isomers of monocharged and doublecharged forms of ethylene and benzene dicarboxylic acids. The selectivity of interaction between protonated hosts and anionic guests relays not only on the electrostatic interactions, but on hydrogen bounds formations as well. The influence of lipophilicity of protonated hosts on the potential response generation was discussed.