We developed a novel, simple and inexpensive electrochemical sensor for measuring formaldehyde in gaseous phase. The sensor is composed of a three-electrode screen printed system modified with in-our-laboratory synthesized nanostructured hydrazinium polyacrylate serving as (i) electrolyte, (ii) accumulation, and (iii) derivatization medium. It exhibits linear response in the examined concentration range of 4 - 16 ppm gaseous formaldehyde after 120 min accumulation; sub-ppm concentration levels of formaldehyde could be detected when the exposure time was extended.
COBISS.SI-ID: 5949210
Aromatics are important atmospheric pollutants and represent considerable hazard for our ecosystemÍž a powerful tool for the assessment of their impact on the environment was developed. The study revealed that remote biotopes might be the most damaged by wet urban guaiacol-containing biomass burning aerosols. Revising the recent understanding of atmospheric chemistry, which is mostly concerned with radical mechanisms, this is mainly due to electrophilic nitrogen-containing reactive species.
COBISS.SI-ID: 37870853
The quality of elemental image maps obtained via experimental line scan-based LA-ICP-MS is a function of the temporal response of the entire experimental system, governed by the design of the system and mapping, and acquisition conditions used, next to the characteristics of the sample. To quantify image degradation, ablation targets with periodic gratings are required for the construction of a modulation transfer function (MTF) and subsequent determination of the lateral resolution as a function of image noise and contrast. Since such ablation targets, with suitable matrix composition, are not readily available, computer-generated periodic gratings were virtually ablated via a computational process based on a two-step discrete-time convolution procedure using empirical/experimental input data. This facilitates indirect retrieval of the experimental lateral resolution for the matrix targeted without performing actual line scanning on periodic gratings.
COBISS.SI-ID: 5939994
Through a rational approach, the carboxamido moiety of tetracyclines (an important structural feature for their bioactivity) was introduced into the chelocardins, which are atypical tetracyclines with an unknown mode of action. A broad-spectrum antibiotic lead was generated with significantly improved activity, including against all Gram-negative pathogens of the ESKAPE panel. Since the lead structure is also amenable to further chemical modification, it is a platform for further development through medicinal chemistry and genetic engineering. In the Departmernt of Analytical Chemistry at the National Institute of Chemistry we contributed to the work with structure elucidation of the newly synthesized compounds using mass spectrometry.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4486520
We described the discovery and the first determination of free bilirubin in vascular endothelial cells, as well as the possibilities for increasing the anti-oxidative potential in cells through the activation of heme-oxygenase. With this we have gathered important data on anti-oxidative action of free bilirubin and its role in preventing cardiovascular disease. The key to this was the development of highly sensitive analytical techniques based on thermal lens spectrometry (TLS), which enabled the detection of free bilirubin, that was impossible with previously available analytical techniques.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4431099