Ionic liquid gated poly(triaryl amine) thin film field effect transistor

A poly(triaryl amine) thin film field effect transistor was investigated in air with ionic liquid (IL) gating for the first time. The transistor retained a high-on/off ratio of ~700 and mobility of ~10⁻² cm²/V-s. When compared to a transistor based on the conducting polymer polyaniline under similar operating conditions, it was found to exhibit superior performance. Significantly low-operating voltages (±1 V) enhances the possibility of its use in organic electronics. The device was successfully tested for binary operation, and we demonstrate its suitability for use in low-power consumption electronic circuits.     

Identification of Vegetable Oil or Biodiesel Added to Diesel Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Principal Component Analysis

In order to identify possible adulteration of onroad diesel with vegetable oil, fluorescence spectroscopy was used as the analytical technique to differentiate between vegetable oil and biodiesel in diesel blends. Diesel/oil and diesel/biodiesel blends made with different proportions of soy, canola or waste cooking oil were analyzed. The reduced cost of analysis using fluorescence spectroscopy together with the reliability of the results suggest that this technique could be of great use in differentiating between diesel, biodiesel and vegetable oil and could therefore be used for rapid identification or confirmation of adulterated diesel. Furthermore, a compact fluorescence spectrophotometer with an LED excitation source could be used in gas stations or fuel distributors for diesel quality control because of its practicality, low cost and reliability.     

Association between Serum Soluble CD154 Levels and Mortality in Patients with Malignant Middle Cerebral Artery Infarction

Background: CD154 and its soluble counterpart (sCD154) are proteins of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family and exhibit proinflamatory and procoagulant properties. Higher circulating sCD154 levels have been found in ischemic stroke patients than in controls. However, the association between circulating sCD154 levels and mortality in ischemic stroke patients has not been reported, and was the focus of this study. Methods: This was a multicenter, observational and prospective study carried out in six Spanish Intensive Care Units. We measured serum sCD154 from 50 patients with severe malignant middle cerebral artery infarction (MMCAI), defined as Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) lower than 9, at the moment of the severe MMCAI diagnosis and from 50 healthy controls. The end-point of the study was 30-day mortality. Results: We found higher serum sCD154 levels in patients with severe MMCAI than in healthy controls (p < 0.001). We found higher serum sCD154 levels (p < 0.001) in non-surviving (n = 26) than in surviving MMCAI patients (n = 24). Multiple binomial logistic regression analysis showed that serum sCD154 levels >1.41 ng/mmL were associated with 30-day mortality (OR = 10.25; 95% CI = 2.34–44.95; p = 0.002). Conclusions: The new more important finding of our study was that serum sCD154 levels in MMCAI patients were associated with mortality.