A simple and high‐resolution HPLC‐PDA method for simultaneous quantification of local anesthetics in in vitro buccal permeation enhancement studies

A simple, isocratic, high‐resolution and prompt HPLC‐PDA method was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of prilocaine (PCL) and lidocaine (LCL) hydrochlorides in in vitro buccal iontophoresis‐driven permeation studies. A reversed‐phase C₁₈ column (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 3μm, 110Å) was used for the chromatographic separation. The mobile phase contained acetonitrile: 0.1M sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7.0 (1:1, v/v), plus 0.05% (v/v) diethylamine. The isocratic flow rate was set at 1 mL/min and the detection wavelength was 203 nm. PCL and LCL eluted in 8.9 min and 13 min, respectively, and the system suitability parameters varied within an acceptable range. The method was selective, sensitive, precise, accurate and robust, producing a linear plot at the concentration range of 0.25 to 10 µg/mL. The application of this method was demonstrated by a significant enhancement of the permeation of PCL and LCL with the application of iontophoresis (1 mA/cm² per 1 h) through isolated porcine esophageal epithelium. The amount of the drug retained in the epithelium also increased with the application of an electrical current. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fingerprint image enhancement using data driven Directional Filter Bank

A new method based upon data driven tool, principal component analysis (PCA), for fingerprint enhancement is proposed in this paper. PCA is a very useful statistical technique that has found application in many different fields like image compression, face recognition and is commonly used for finding patterns in data of high dimension. In the proposed method, the input image is first decomposed into directional images using decimation free Directional Filter Bank (DDFB). Then these directional images are normalized. A data driven technique PCA is applied to these normalized directional fingerprint images, which gives the PCA filtered images. These are basically directional images. Then these directional images are reconstructed into one image which is the enhanced one. Simulation results are included illustrating the capability of the proposed method.     

A turn on ESIPT probe for rapid and ratiometric fluorogenic detection of homocysteine and cysteine in water with live cell-imaging

5(Benzothiazol-2-yl)-4-hydroxyisophthalaldehyde (BHI), an intense ESIPT containing molecule in mixed media loses its properties due to resonance-assisted H-bond (RAHB) in absolute water. Due to resonance-assisted H-bond the o-aldehyde is more reactive than the other one. With addition of cysteine/homocysteine into this solution the o-aldehyde group gets transformed into thiazolidine/thiazine ring, respectively, and the phenolic proton becomes free enough for transfer to nitrogen of the benzothiazole ring in excited state, that is, the ESIPT of BHI is turned on. Thus we can detect cysteine/homocysteine in water as well as in live cells.     

Plasmonic nanostructures for local field enhancement in the UV region

In this work we describe an ultraviolet subwavelength focusing in plasmonic nanostructures. A system which provides a 20–25 times local field enhancement at a wavelength of 350 nm is proposed. This system represents a metalized V-shaped groove in a surface of a dielectric medium. Subwavelength focusing is achieved by a plasmon wave propagation along the surface of metal film and by the transfer of electromagnetic field through the dielectric medium. The influence of system parameters on a local field enhancement is investigated. A simplified model that allows for determining the geometric parameters of an optimized resonator is proposed.     

聚乙烯吡咯烷酮纳米银荧光增强测定番茄红素

合成了聚乙烯吡咯烷酮纳米银,研究了番茄红素对聚乙烯吡咯烷酮纳米银体系的荧光增强效应。考察了缓冲体系、纳米银用量、聚乙二醇浓度、反应时间和温度等因素的影响,建立了测定番茄红素的新方法。在最佳条件下,体系的相对荧光强度与番茄红素浓度呈良好的线性关系,其线性范围为2.0×10-6~8.0×10-5 mol/L,检出限为1.6×10-8 mol/L。方法应用于实际样品检测,回收率为98.29%~109.36%。     

Immunosensor for the Measurement of Human Serum Albumin in Urine Based on the Spreeta Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor

The application of SPR for measurement of the concentration of human serum albumin (HSA) in urine was studied using the compact integrated SPR sensing system Spreeta. HSA was immobilized via cystamine and glutaraldehyde onto the gold sensing area and a competitive assay for HSA was developed using a limited amount of the monoclonal antibody AL-01 in solution. Measurements were carried out in the flow-through mode and the interaction between immobilized HSA and antibody was observed in real time. To obtain reproducible results, different conditions of the measurement (method of immobilization of HSA, data evaluation, concentration of antibody, regeneration procedure) were tested. The calibration curve for clinically relevant concentrations of HSA in urine samples was constructed using 300-times diluted antibody in the form of ascites fluid. The measuring range was between 0.1 and 5 mg/l of HSA, the sensing surface was successfully regenerated and suitable for more than 20 assays. The developed method was tested on real samples of urine; to overcome the non-specific adsorption of urine components, the differential approach was adopted and the measured signal was corrected by subtraction of the response observed in the absence of the antibody.     

Syntheses and structures of tetranuclear Zn（Ⅱ） complexes with in situ generated macrocyclic Schiff base ligands:Applications in Zn2+ sensing

Three novel Zn（II） complexes,[Zn₄L¹Cl₄]-3H₂O（1）,[Zn₄L²Cl₄]-2DMF（2） and[Zn₄L³Cl₄]H₂O（3）,have been synthesized and structurally characterized.In these complexes,interesting 32-membered dodecadentate macrocyclic ligands were generated in situ by ’2 + 2’ type condensation reactions between a tetraamine and various dialdehydes.All the complexes are isostructurally tetranuclear Zn（Ⅱ） complexes,containing endogenous alkoxo and phenoxo bridges.Applications of the macrocyclic ligands as Zn²⁺ sensors have been investigated.Take H₄L¹ for example,it exhibits a 4-fold fluorescence enhancement upon the addition of 2 equiv.of Zn²⁺ in MeOH.     

Site-specific C content by quantitative isotopic C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometry: A pilot inter-laboratory study

Isotopic ¹³C NMR spectrometry, which is able to measure intra-molecular ¹³C composition, is of emerging demand because of the new information provided by the ¹³C site-specific content of a given molecule. A systematic evaluation of instrumental behaviour is of importance to envisage isotopic ¹³C NMR as a routine tool. This paper describes the first collaborative study of intra-molecular ¹³C composition by NMR. The main goals of the ring test were to establish intra- and inter-variability of the spectrometer response. Eight instruments with different configuration were retained for the exercise on the basis of a qualification test. Reproducibility at the natural abundance of isotopic ¹³C NMR was then assessed on vanillin from three different origins associated with specific δ¹³C_i profiles. The standard deviation was, on average, between 0.9 and 1.2‰ for intra-variability. The highest standard deviation for inter-variability was 2.1‰. This is significantly higher than the internal precision but could be considered good in respect of a first ring test on a new analytical method. The standard deviation of δ¹³C_i in vanillin was not homogeneous over the eight carbons, with no trend either for the carbon position or for the configuration of the spectrometer. However, since the repeatability for each instrument was satisfactory, correction factors for each carbon in vanillin could be calculated to harmonize the results.     

Morphology-controlled electrochemical sensing amaranth at nanomolar levels using alumina

Different-shaped aluminas were readily prepared via hydrothermal reaction. It was found that the morphology and the electrochemical sensing properties of alumina were heavily dependent on the reaction time. When extending the reaction time from 6 h to 24 h, the obtained alumina samples changed from amorphous bumps to regular microfibers in diameter of 200 nm, as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Transmission electron microscopy observation revealed that longer reaction time was beneficial for the formation of porous and uniform fiber-like structures. Electrochemical tests proved that alumina microfibers were more active for the oxidation of amaranth and exhibited much higher enhancement effect, compared with alumina bumps. On the surface of alumina microfibers, the oxidation peak currents of amaranth increased remarkably. The influences of pH value, amount of alumina microfibers, and accumulation time on the signal enhancement of amaranth were discussed. As a result, a novel electrochemical method was developed for the detection of amaranth. The linear range was from 1 to 150 nM, and the detection limit was 0.75 nM after 1-min accumulation. The analytical application in drink samples was investigated, and the results consisted with the values that obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography.     

Influence of branched chains on the mesomorphic properties of symmetrical and unsymmetrical triphenylene discotic liquid crystals

A series of novel symmetrical and unsymmetrical triphenylene‐based discotic liquid crystalline materials with one or six branched peripheral alkoxy chains have been prepared. These materials have been compared with analogous known symmetrical and unsymmetrical compounds to reveal a balance between steric and space‐filling effects of the peripheral branched chains, which significantly affects intermolecular forces of attraction and packing, and hence affects melting and isotropisation temperatures of the liquid crystalline materials. The desired result of reduction of melting points and enhancement of isotropisation temperatures has been accomplished by use of branched alkoxy chains in both symmetrical and unsymmetrical materials.