Liquid-phase microextraction of biomarkers: A review on current methods

The detection and quantification of biomarkers have gained more attention in the medical discipline to evaluating disease progression to manage medical treatment. Biomarkers range from gases to biological macromolecules. Because of the nanomolar range levels of typical biomarkers in plasma, blood, urine, exhalation samples, and other biological fluids as well as complex matrix of biological media, adequate sample preparation methods should be used for quantification of biomarkers. Biomarkers are discussed here generally classified mainly into two subgroups which arisen from disease or exposure compounds. The analytical method is critical for the validity/reliability of a biomarker. Accuracy, precision, reproducibility, recovery, sensitivity, and specificity all have high influence to the consistency with the limit and reference values concerned. In this paper, developments in well-established liquid-phase microextraction techniques for the clinical analysis of biological samples will be reviewed and discussed. This article presents an overview of microextraction methods for biological samples, focusing especially on biomarkers.     

Chaos control via TDFC in time-delayed systems: The harmonic balance approach

This Letter deals with the problem of designing time-delayed feedback controllers (TDFCs) to stabilize unstable equilibrium points and periodic orbits for a class of continuous time-delayed chaotic systems. Harmonic balance approach is used to select the appropriate controller parameters: delay time and feedback gain. The established theoretical results are illustrated via a case study of the well-known Logistic model.     

The feasibility of using dielectrophoresis for isolation of glioblastoma subpopulations with increased stemness

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are aggressive subpopulations with increased stem‐like properties. CSCs are usually resistant to most standard therapies and are responsible for tumor repropagation. Similar to normal stem cells, isolation of CSCs is challenging due to the lack of reliable markers. Antigen‐based sorting of CSCs usually requires staining with multiple markers, making the experiments complicated, expensive, and sometimes unreliable. Here, we study the feasibility of using dielectrophoresis (DEP) for isolation of glioblastoma cells with increased stemness. We culture a glioblastoma cell line in the form of neurospheres as an in vitro model for glioblastoma stem cells. We demonstrate that spheroid forming cells have higher expression of stem cell marker, nestin. Next, we show that dielectric properties of neurospheres change as a result of changing culture conditions. Our results indicate that spheroid forming cells need higher voltages to experience the same DEP force magnitude compared to normal monolayer cultures of glioblastoma cell line. This study confirms the possibility of using DEP to isolate glioblastoma stem cells.     

Ni@Pd core–shell nanoparticles immobilized on yolk–shell Fe3O4@polyaniline composites as a highly efficient,magnetically separable and atom‐economical catalyst for reduction of nitrobenzenes

The preparation of Ni@Pd core–shell nanoparticles immobilized on yolk–shell Fe₃O₄@polyaniline composites is reported. Fe₃O₄ nanoclusters were first synthesized through the solvothermal method and then the SiO₂ shell was coated on the Fe₃O₄ surface via a sol–gel process. To prepare Fe₃O₄@SiO₂@polyaniline composites, polyvinylpyrrolidone was first grafted on to the surface of Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ composites and subsequently polymerization of aniline was carried out via an ultrasound‐assisted in situ surface polymerization method. Selective etching of the middle SiO₂ layer was then accomplished to obtain the yolk–shell Fe₃O₄@polyaniline composites. The approach uses polyaniline (PANI) conductive polymer as a template for the synthesis of Ni@Pd core–shell nanoparticles. The catalytic activity of the synthesized yolk–shell Fe₃O₄@PANI/Ni@Pd composite was investigated in the reduction of o‐nitroaniline to benzenediamine by NaBH₄, which exhibited conversion of 99% in 3 min with a very low content of the catalyst. Transmission electron microscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, TGA, X‐ray diffraction, UV–visible, scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray energy dispersion spectroscopy and FT‐IR were employed to characterize the synthesized nanocatalyst. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal Characteristics of PVA-PANI-ZnS Nanocomposite Film Synthesized by Gamma Irradiation Method

Gamma irradiation is employed for in situ preparation of PVA-PANI-ZnS nanocomposite. The irradiation dose is varied from 10 to 40 kGy at 10 kGy intervals. The XRD result confirms the formation of crystalline phases corresponding to ZnS nanoparticles, PVA and PANI. Field emission scanning electron microscopy shows the formation of agglomerated PANI along the PVA backbone, within which the ZnS nanoparticles are dispersed.UV-visible spectroscopy is conducted to measure the transmittance spectra of samples revealing the electronic absorption characteristics of ZnS and PANI nanoparticles. Photo-acoustic(PA) setup is installed to investigate the thermal properties of samples. The PA spectroscopy indicates a high value of thermal diffusivity for samples due to the presence of ZnS and PANI nanoparticles. Moreover, at higher doses, the more polymerization and formation of PANI and ZnS nanoparticles result in enhancement of thermal diffusivity.     

Physical–chemical hybrid transiency: A fully transient li‐ion battery based on insoluble active materials

Transient Li‐ion batteries based on polymeric constituents are presented, exhibiting a twofold increase in the potential and approximately three orders of magnitude faster transiency rate compared to other transient systems reported in the literature. The battery takes advantage of a close variation of the active materials used in conventional Li‐ion batteries and can achieve and maintain a potential of >2.5 V. All materials are deposited form polymer‐based emulsions and the transiency is achieved through a hybrid approach of redispersion of insoluble, and dissolution of soluble components in approximately 30 min. The presented proof of concept has paramount potentials in military and hardware security applications. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 2021–2027     

Development of a new microelectrolysis system for in-situ electrodeposition of ultra-traces of gold prior to measurement by ETAAS

Electrodeposition is known to be suitable for separation and preconcentration of extremely low concentrations of analyte from bulk samples and is instrumentally is very simple. In this approach a new combined system was designed for in-situ electrodeposition of ultratrace levels of gold from micro samples on to a graphite furnace prior to determination by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). Sediment samples were digested and traces of the gold content were extracted with boiling aqua regia. To prevent the highly corrosive effect of aqua regia media, the graphite tube surface was pre-coated by electrodeposition of ppm amounts of Pd prior to sample introduction. Separation of the analyte from the matrix was achieved by electrodeposition of the analyte in situ on the Pd/C surface of the furnace tube. Vanadium was also used as a modifier to stabilize the analyte from decomposition at charring temperatures. By using the proposed microelectrolysis preconcentration technique a considerable improvement in sensitivity and detection limit was achieved compared with conventional ETAAS. Characteristic masses for ED-ETAAS techniques in both nitric acid and aqua regia were reported to be m(o)=4.1 pg, with %RSD=2.9; the calculated LOD was 0.105 ppb, and typical calibration graphs for this element in nitric acid and aqua regia for both techniques were linear up to 70 microg L(-1) with about 99% recovery. Six reference sediments samples were tested by the proposed technique and by the Conv-ETAAS method. The results were in agreement with recommended values (reported by a reference laboratory using UV-visible spectrometry), demonstrating the efficiency of extraction and preconcentration of ultratrace levels of gold.     

Pd(II) anchored to modified Fe<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> nanoparticles as a new magnetically recoverable catalyst for epoxidation of styrene

A new support for Pd(II) was synthesized via the functionalization of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles with N-(2-aminoethyl)acetamide. PdCl₂ was anchored to the support for obtaining a heterogeneous magnetically recoverable catalyst for Pd(II). High yield and excellent selectivity were obtained for the green epoxidation of styrene derivatives using H₂O₂ as a green oxidant in H₂O as the solvent at 100 °C. Also, the recovered catalyst is applicable for four times without significant decrease in yield.     

A Pseudospectral Method for Fractional Optimal Control Problems

In this article, a direct pseudospectral method based on Lagrange interpolating functions with fractional power terms is used to solve the fractional optimal control problem. As most applied fractional problems have solutions in terms of the fractional power, using appropriate characteristic nodal-based functions with suitable power leads to a more accurate pseudospectral approximation of the solution. The Lagrange interpolating functions and their fractional derivatives belong to the Müntz space; such functions are employed to show that a relationship exists between the Karush–Kukn–Tucker conditions associated with nonlinear programming and the first optimal necessary conditions. Furthermore, the convergence of the method is investigated. The obtained numerical results are an indication of the behavior of the algorithm.     

Exploiting the versatility of pyridyl ligands for the preparation of diorganotin (IV) adducts: spectral,crystallographic and Hirshfeld surface analysis studies

Diorganotin (IV) complexes SnR₂X₂ (R = Me, Ph; X = Cl, NCS) form a series of versatile complexes when react with bidentate substituted pyridyl ligands. The reaction of dimethyltin dichloride with 5,5′‐dimethyl‐2,2′‐bipyridine (5,5′‐Me₂bpy) resulted in the formation of [SnMe₂Cl₂(5,5′‐Me₂bpy)] ( 1 ). Moreover, the reaction of SnMe₂(NSC)₂ with 4,4′‐di‐tert‐butyl‐2,2′‐bipyridine (bu₂bpy), 1,10‐phenanthroline (phen) and 4,7‐diphenyl‐1,10‐phenanthroline (bphen) affords the hexa‐coordinated complexes [SnMe₂(NCS)₂(bu₂bpy)] ( 2 ), [SnMe₂(NCS)₂(phen)] ( 3 ) and [SnMe₂(NCS)₂(bphen)] ( 4 ), respectively. The resulting complexes have been characterized using elemental analysis, IR, multinuclear NMR (¹H, ¹³C, ¹¹⁹Sn) and DEPT‐135^° NMR spectroscopy. On the other hand, the reaction of diphenyltin dichloride with 2,2′‐biquinoline (biq) and 4,7‐phenantroline (4,7‐phen) led to the formation of polymeric complexes of [SnPh₂Cl₂(4,7‐phen)]_n ( 5 ) and [SnPh₂Cl₂(biq)]_n ( 6 ). The NMR spectra, however, reveal the ligand lability in solution and suggest a coordination number of 5 . The X‐ray crystal structures of complexes [SnMe₂Cl₂(5,5′‐Me₂bpy)] ( 1 ), [SnMe₂(NCS)₂(bu₂bpy)] ( 2 ) and [SnMe₂(NCS)₂(bphen)] ( 4 ) have been determined which reveal that the geometry around the tin atom is distorted octahedral with trans‐[SnMe₂] configuration. Interestingly, the crystal structure of (H₂biq)₂[SnPh₂Cl₄]?2CHCl₃ ( 7 ) was characterized by X‐ray crystallography from a chloroform solution of [SnPh₂Cl₂(biq)]_n ( 6 ) indicating the formation of doubly protonated [H₂biq]⁺ and [Ph₂SnCl₄]^2? which are stabilized by a network of hydrogen bonds with a feature of trans‐[SnPh₂]. The 3D Hirshfeld surface analysis and 2D fingerprint maps were used for quantitative mapping out of the intermolecular interactions for 1 , 2 , 4 and 7 which show the presence of π‐π and hydrogen bonding interactions which are associated between donor and acceptor atoms (N, S, Cl) in the solid state.