In this study, liquid droplets of 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide have been processed by initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) with a cross-linked polymer film consisting of (hydroxyethyl)methacrylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate to develop free-standing, ion-conductive membranes. We found that the obtained films are solids and have a conductivity of up to 18 ± 6 mS/cm, associated with the negatively charged counterion, indicating no loss of conductivity, compared to the ionic liquid in the liquid state. The membranes were conductive within a large process window and in air, thanks to the fact that the iCVD process does not affect the mobility of the anion in the ionic liquid.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe chemical composition of a copolymer drives many important material properties and quantification in terms of comonomer volume fraction is thus of practical relevance for many studies. Infrared spectroscopy is one of the most common techniques for compositional analysis but it usually relies on manual evaluation of baselines and peak heights, which can be rather inaccurate and become a laborious task when having multiple spectra to evaluate. On the contrary, Maxwell's theory of electrodynamics can be used to calculate the complex index of refraction from measured spectra promising a more accurate quantification.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmorphous films of the anticonvulsant drug carbamazepine are easily accessible by various methods, while the crystallization into specific polymorphs represents a challenging and time-consuming task. In this work, the crystallization of drop cast carbamazepine at silica surfaces is investigated by atomic force microscopy and both and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. The pristine films grow with low crystallization rates into a triclinic polymorph, exhibiting poor orientational order within films.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEntamoeba histolytica remains a cause of significant morbidity and mortality in many countries. Although metronidazole has been used for the treatment of amoebiasis for several decades, little is known on how the amoebae react to this challenge on the levels of mRNA and protein expression. In this study, we examined their response using a focused microarray, quantitative RT-PCR, and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe intestinal parasite Entamoeba histolytica is one of the first protists for which a draft genome sequence has been published. Although the genome is still incomplete, it is unlikely that many genes are missing from the list of those already identified. In this chapter we summarise the features of the genome as they are currently understood and provide previously unpublished analyses of many of the genes.
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