Electrochemical Sensor Design Based on Silver Nanoparticles Modified Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Paste Electrode for the Sensitive Determination of Mepivacaine.

Mepivacaine, an amide-type local anesthetic drug widely used in regional anesthesia, was studied by some aspects such as electrochemical behavior, mechanism illumination, and analytical applications by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and different pulse voltammetry (DPV) methods. In this study, a novel, fast, simple, portable, and the inexpensive electrochemical sensor was developed for the determination of mepivacaine. This study was carried out by mepivacaine anodic direction detection for the first time. The modified sensor was fabricated with silver nanoparticles (AgNP) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes paste electrode (MWCNTPE) by using the drop-dry method. Different experimental parameters, such as pulse amplitude, step potential, and scanning rate in the DPV application module, were optimized. Under optimal operation conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) as low as 31 µg L-1 was found over the dynamic range (0.1-8.0 mg L-1). In contrast to its high response towards mepivacaine, the DPV exhibits negligible responses on modified AgNP/MWCNTPE when exposed to interfering species such as dopamine, uric acid, glucose, ascorbic acid, and some heavy metals. Exceptionally, the proposed DPV method on modified AgNP/MWCNTPE was successfully applied to pharmaceutical dosage form and synthetic human serum with a low relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.35% and 2.02%, respectively.

Phthalocyanine Modified Electrodes in Electrochemical Analysis.

Phthalocyanines are aromatic or macrocyclic organic compounds and attract great attention due to their numerous properties. They have many high-tech applications in different areas of the industry such as dyestuffs, thermal printing screens, photovoltaic solar cells, membrane catalytic reactors, semiconductor materials and gas sensors. In the last decade, electrochemical sensor studies have accelerated with the catalytic lighting. It plays a dominant role in the development and implementation of new generation sensors. The aim of this study is to review the electrochemical methods based on electrode modification with phthalocyanines and to shed light on new application areas of phthalocyanines. The focal point was based on the sensor applications of phthalocyanines in the determination of drugs, pesticides, organic materials and metals etc. by electrochemical methods. Experimental conditions and some validation parameters of the sensor applications such as metal phthalocyanine types, indicator electrodes, selectivity, working ranges, detection limits, and analytical applications were discussed. Consequently, this is the first review dealing with the applications of phthalocyanines in electrochemical sensors for the sensitive determination of analytes in a variety of matrices.

Apical extrusion of sodium hypochlorite activated with two laser systems and ultrasonics: a spectrophotometric analysis.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to compare the effect of ultrasonically or laser (Nd:YAG or diode) activated irrigation on the irrigating solution extrusion compared to non-activated syringe irrigation. METHODS: Extracted mandibular premolar teeth (n = 48) with single canals were instrumented. The teeth were secured through the lid of an Eppendorf tube filled with 1.0 mL distilled water to collect the apically extruded irrigating solution. The teeth were randomly divided into four groups: non-activated syringe irrigation, diode laser, Nd:YAG laser and passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI) using 2% NaOCl. The irrigating solution extruded through the apical foramen was collected in the Eppendorf tube and evaluated by a chemical reaction with using a spectrophotometer. The data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc test (α = 0.05). RESULTS: All the groups showed apically extruded irrigating solution. There were significant differences among the groups (p < 0.05). Nd:YAG laser activated irrigation showed greater extrusion (p < 0.05), while the non-activated syringe irrigation showed less extrusion (p < 0.05). Only the difference between diode laser and PUI was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Within the limitations of this in vitro study, the researchers concluded that non-activated syringe irrigation caused less apically extruded irrigating solution than PUI and LAI using Nd:YAG or diode lasers.

Comparison of color removal from reactive dye contaminated water by systems containing fungal biosorbent, active carbon and their mixture.

The adsorption of Everzol Black (EB) from synthetic aqueous solution onto active carbon (AC) and dried fungal biosorbent (Rhizopus arrhizus) was studied under the same experimental conditions. The effects of initial dye concentration, adsorbent dosage and contact time were examined at a batch-scale level. As an alternative to AC, fungus was investigated as a low-cost adsorbent for dye removal. The amount of EB adsorbed onto AC was lower compared with fungal biosorbent; dye adsorption capacity of AC and fungal biosorbent were 94.48 and 106.61 mg/g, respectively. The adsorbent dosage experiments showed that 4 g/L biosorbent removed 100% of EB (Co: 114.39 mg/L) after 2 hours. The results obtained from this study showed that biosorbent effectively removed reactive dye from dye-containing water in a short time period. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models were used for mathematical description of the biosorption equilibrium data; the Freundlich model was found to exhibit good fits to the experimental data. According to the Freundlich isotherm, the maximum dye adsorption capacities of AC and biosorbent were calculated as 344.82 and 357.14 mg/g, respectively. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectral analysis showed the involvement of functional groups for dye bindings.

Genotoxicity effects of Flusilazole on the somatic cells of Allium cepa.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the fungicide flusilazole on somatic cells of Allium cepa. For evaluation of cytogenetic effects, root meristem cells of A. cepa were treated with 10, 20, 30 and 45 ppm (EC50 concentration) for 24, 48 and 72 h. The mitotic index and different types of chromosomal abnormalities such as bridges, stickiness and laggards were determined in both control and test groups. Acridine orange/Ethidium bromide double staining and fluorescence microscope was used to determine the stability of chromosome structure. Data obtained from staining process indicated that ratio of necrotic cells significantly increased by the flusilazole presoaking. The RAPD-PCR method was used and the higher doses treated-group (45 ppm) was more distant to the control group compare with others.