Particle manipulation via integration of electroosmotic flow of power-law fluids with standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW)

Standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW) based microfluidic devices have shown great promise toward fluid and particle manipulation applications in medicine, chemistry, and biotechnology. In this article, we present an analytical model for investigating continuous manipulation of particles (both synthetic and biological) within electroosmotic flow of non-Newtonian bio-fluids in a microfluidic channel under the influence of standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW). The particles are injected along the center of channel into the electroosmotically driven flow of power-law fluids, wherein their transport through the SSAW region is dictated by the hydrodynamic, electrophoretic, and acoustic forces. We first present a mathematical model to analyze the characteristics of electroosmotic flow of non-Newtonian power-law fluids in a hydrophobic slit microchannel. Next, we investigate the trajectories of particles in the flow field due to the combined effect of electroosmotic, electrophoretic, and acoustophoretic forcing mechanisms. The effect of key parameters such as particle size, their physical properties, input power, flow rate, and flow behavior index on the particle trajectories is examined while including the effect of the channel walls. The presented model delineates the methodologies of improving SSAW-based particle separation technology by considering the fluid rheology as well as the surface properties of the channel walls. Therefore, we believe that this model can serve as an efficient tool for device design and quick optimizations to explore novel applications concerning the integration of electroosmotic flows with acoustofluidic technologies.     

Lipophilicity and bio‐mimetic properties determination of phytoestrogens using ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography

This paper presents lipophilicity and bio‐mimetic property determination of 15 phytoestrogens, namely biochanin A, daidzein, formononetin, genistein, genistein‐4,7‐dimethylether, prunetin, 3,4,7‐trihydroxyisoflavon, 4,6,7‐trihydroxyisoflavon, 4,6,7‐trimethoxyisoflavon, daidzin, genistin, ononin, sissotrin, coumestrol and coumestrol dimethylether. High‐performance liquid chromatography with fast gradient elution and Caco‐2 cell line were used to determine the physicochemical properties of selected phytoestrogens. Lipophilicity was determined on octadecyl‐sylane stationary phase using pH 2.0 and pH 7.4 buffers. Immobilized artificial membrane chromatography was used for prediction of interaction with biological membranes. Protein binding was measured on human serum albumin and α‐1‐acid‐glycoprotein (AGP) stationary phases. Caco‐2 assay was used as a gold standard for assessing in vitro permeability. The obtained results differentiate phytoestrogens according to their structure where aglycones show significantly higher lipophilicity, immobilized artificial membrane partitioning, AGP binding and Caco‐2 permeability compared with glucosides. However, human serum albumin binding was very high for all investigated compounds. Furthermore, a good correlation between experimentally obtained chromatographic parameters and in silico prediction was obtained for lipophilicity and human serum albumin binding, while the somewhat greater difference was obtained for AGP binding and Caco‐2 permeability.     

Separation and purification of scandium: From industry to medicine

Scandium and its compounds are used in many modern industrial fields due to its unique chemical and physical properties. It is mainly recovered from residues and wastes in the production of other metals. The exploitation of the ores and wastes could contaminate water and soil creating environmental problems. This paper discusses recent developments and tendencies in scandium separation, purification and preconcentration from different wastes, residues, environmental samples as well as in the production of radiopharmaceuticals for nuclear medicine, both in the laboratory and on the industrial scale. The period reviewed here mainly includes publications that have appeared, since 2010.     

Metal‐Mediated Functionalization of Natural Peptides and Proteins: Panning for Bioconjugation Gold

Selective modification of natural proteins is a daunting methodological challenge and a stringent test of selectivity and reaction scope. There is a continued need for new reactivity and new selectivity concepts. Transition metals exhibit a wealth of unique reactivity that is orthogonal to biological reactions and processes. As such, metal‐based methods play an increasingly important role in bioconjugation. This Review examines metal‐based methods as well as their reactivity and selectivity for the functionalization of natural proteins and peptides.     

Ultrathin Silicon Oxide Film-Induced Enhancement of Charge Separation and Transport of Nanostructured Titanium(IV) Oxide Photoelectrode

The development of nanostructured semiconductor electrodes represented by a mesoporous TiO₂ nanocrystalline (mp-TiO₂) film is currently bringing great progresses in photoelectrochemical (PEC) devices for solar-to-electricity and solar-to-chemical conversion. Two serious losses can occur in PEC devices: 1) recombination between the conduction band (CB) electrons and valence band (VB) holes in the bulk and at the surface and 2) back reaction or electron trapping by oxidant in the electrolyte solution during transport to the electron-collecting electrode. Thus, the major challenge in common with the nanostructured semiconductor photoanodes is to achieve efficient charge separation and electron transport. In this study, an ultrathin SiO_x layer was formed on both the external and the internal surface of mp-TiO₂ using an original chemisorption-calcination technique employing 1,3,5,7-tetramethyltetrasiloxane as a starting material. The SiO_x surface modification of the mp-TiO₂ photoanode drastically prolongs the mean lifetime of CB-electrons in TiO₂ because of enhanced charge separation and electron transport by the negative charge applied in aqueous electrolyte solution. We have demonstrated that the performance of a one-compartment H₂O₂-photofuel cell using mp-TiO₂ as the photoanode is greatly boosted by the surface modification with the SiO_x layer. We anticipate that this methodology is widely applicable to nanostructured metal oxide semiconductor electrodes, contributing to the improvement in the performance of PEC devices.     

Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Qualitative Properties of Infinite Dimensional Linear Programming Problems

Necessary and sufficient conditions for qualitative properties of infinite dimensional linear programing problems such as solvability, duality, and complementary slackness conditions are studied in this article. As illustrations for the results, we investigate the parametric version of Gale’s example.     

Different PES nanofibrous membrane parameters effect on the efficacy of immunoassay performance

The contribution of electrospun nanofibrous membranes (e.NFMs) in the biosensing platforms opens up a new prospect for the invention of faster and more sensitive analytical devices. In this paper, we utilized e.NFM of polyethersulfone (PES) as a solid substrate for the protein immobilization through two different approaches: physical and covalent. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier‐transform‐infrared (FTIR) tests were performed to study the effect of plasma treatment on protein immobilization efficacy. Moreover, taking advantage of ELISA technique, the influence of different parameters, namely, nanofibers diameter, membrane thickness, plasma treatment time, an incubation time of ethyl‐3‐(3‐dimethylaminopropyl)‐carbodiimide/N‐hydroxysuccinimide (EDC/NHS), and their ratio on antibody immobilization efficacy through two mentioned approaches, was also assessed.     

Novel drug‐eluting soy‐protein structures for wound healing applications

Naturally derived materials are becoming widely used in the biomedical field. Soy protein has advantages over the various types of natural proteins employed for biomedical applications due to its low price, nonanimal origin, and relatively long storage time and stability. In the current study, novel drug‐eluting soy‐protein films for wound healing applications were developed and studied. The films were prepared using the solvent casting technique. The analgesic drug bupivacaine and two types of wide range antibiotics (gentamicin and clindamycin) were incorporated into the soy‐protein films. The effect of drug incorporation and plasticizers content on the films' mechanical properties, drug release profiles, and cell viability was studied. Drug incorporation had a softening effect of the films, lowering mechanical strength and increasing ductility. Release profiles of bupivacaine and clindamycin exhibited high burst release of 80% to 90% of encapsulated drug within 6 hours, followed by continuous release in a decreasing rate for a period of 2 to 4 days. Gentamicin release was prolonged, probably due to interaction between the gentamicin and the polymer chains. Hybrid soy‐protein/poly (Dl‐lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) (PDLGA) microspheres structure showed potential for long and sustained release of bupivacaine. Films with no drugs and films loaded with gentamicin were found to be noncytotoxic for human fibroblasts, while bupivacaine and clindamycin were found to have some effect on cell growth. In conclusion, our new drug‐loaded soy‐protein films combine good mechanical properties and biocompatibility, with desired drug release profiles, and can therefore be potentially very useful as burn and ulcer dressings.