Smart Biopolymer-Based Nanocomposite Materials Containing pH-Sensing Colorimetric Indicators for Food Freshness Monitoring

Nanocomposite biopolymer materials containing colorimetric pH-responsive indicators were prepared from gelatin and chitosan nanofibers. Plant-based extracts from barberry and saffron, which both contained anthocyanins, were used as pH indicators. Incorporation of the anthocyanins into the biopolymer films increased their mechanical, water-barrier, and light-screening properties. Infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy analysis indicated that a uniform biopolymer matrix was formed, with the anthocyanins distributed evenly throughout them. The anthocyanins in the composite films changed color in response to alterations in pH or ammonia gas levels, which was used to monitor changes in the freshness of packaged fish during storage. The anthocyanins also exhibited antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, which meant that they could also be used to slow down the degradation of the fish. Thus, natural anthocyanins could be used as both freshness indicators and preservatives in biopolymer-based nanocomposite packaging materials. These novel materials may therefore be useful alternatives to synthetic plastics for some food packaging applications, thereby improving the environmental friendliness and sustainability of the food supply.     

Ensemble Approach for Detection of Depression Using EEG Features

Depression is a public health issue that severely affects one’s well being and can cause negative social and economic effects to society. To raise awareness of these problems, this research aims at determining whether the long-lasting effects of depression can be determined from electroencephalographic (EEG) signals. The article contains an accuracy comparison for SVM, LDA, NB, kNN, and D3 binary classifiers, which were trained using linear (relative band power, alpha power variability, spectral asymmetry index) and nonlinear (Higuchi fractal dimension, Lempel–Ziv complexity, detrended fluctuation analysis) EEG features. The age- and gender-matched dataset consisted of 10 healthy subjects and 10 subjects diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime. Most of the proposed feature selection and classifier combinations achieved accuracy in the range of 80% to 95%, and all the models were evaluated using a 10-fold cross-validation. The results showed that the motioned EEG features used in classifying ongoing depression also work for classifying the long-lasting effects of depression.     

Design and optimization of high-performance microring-based uni-traveling carrier photodiode for WDM optical systems

This paper presents the design principles of a novel optimized microring-based uni-traveling carrier photodiode (MR-UTC-PD), for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical systems. The fundamental parameters for output characteristics such as quantum efficiency and 3-dB bandwidth of MR-UTC-PD are discussed. We analyze the effects of basic parameters as effective ring radius, definite coupling condition and the suitable cross section on the MR-UTC-PD main characteristics for high performance of the device. It is shown that the maximum quantum efficiency and most efficient performance of the device can be obtained at critical coupling condition. We show that the maximum 3-dB bandwidth and an efficient approach for high bandwidth-efficiency product can be achieved at overcoupling condition. In this regard, some design curves are presented for the optimized MR-UTC-PD.     

Extraction and Determination of Two Antidepressant Drugs in Human Plasma by Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction‒HPLC

In this study, an effective method of ultrasound-assisted ionic liquid based dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (UA?IL?DLLME) coupled with HPLC was applied for extraction and determination of two antidepressant drugs: venlafaxine hydrochloride and amitriptyline hydrochloride from human plasma samples. Three ionic liquids were studied: 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium hexafluorophosphate, 1-hexyl-3- methyl imidazolium hexa-fluoro-phosphate, and 1-octyl-3-methyl imidazolium hexafluorophosphate [C8MIM][PF6]. Various factors affect the stages and efficiency of extraction, some of which are pH of sample solution, type and volume of ionic liquid, the time of ultrasonication, centrifuging time and rate, and the ionic strength of solution. In this research, optimum conditions were obtained as 55 μL of [C8MIM][PF6] selected as ionic liquid, pH 11, 2% NaCl, 4 min ultrasonication and 5 min centrifuging at 3500 rpm. Under the optimized conditions, the linearity was obtained in the range of 0.2 to 250 μg/L. The limits of detection were 0.5 μg/L for venlafaxine and 0.8 μg/L for amitriptyline. Pre-concentration factors were 1.3 × 10³ for venlafaxine and 1.2 × 10³ for amitriptyline. The UA?IL?DLLME method coupled with HPLC was successfully used for the determination of venlafaxine and amitriptyline spiked into the real samples of human plasma.     

Adsorption of Cu(II) and Zn(II) ions from aqueous solutions onto fine powder of Typha latifolia L. root: kinetics and isotherm studies

Fine powder of Typha latifolia L. root was used for adsorption of copper and zinc ions from buffered and nonbuffered aqueous solutions. The adsorption reached equilibrium in 60 min. During this time, more than 90 % of the adsorption process was completed. The effect of initial pH, initial concentration of metal ion, and contact time was investigated in a batch system at room temperature. The optimum adsorption performance was observed at pH 5.00 and 4.25 for nonbuffered solutions of Cu(II) and Zn(II), respectively, while for buffered solutions it occurred at pH 6.00. The total metal uptake decreased on application of ammonium acetate buffer, from 37.35 to 17.00 mg g^?1 and 28.80 to 9.90 mg g^?1 for Cu(II) and Zn(II) solutions, respectively, with 100 mg L^?1 initial concentration. The pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, intraparticle diffusion, and Elovich models were used to describe the adsorption kinetics. The experimental data followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The biosorption equilibrium was well described by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models.     

Enantioselective Diethylzinc Addition to Aromatic Aldehydes Catalyzed by Novel Ti(IV) Complex of Three-Dentate Chiral Sulfonamide Ligands

The synthesis of several novel three-dentate sulfonamide alcohol ligands is described, starting from camphorsulfonyl chloride. The influence of temperature and ligand structure on the asymmetric addition of dietylzinc to aromatic aldehydes has been studied. Enantioselectivities up to 76% have been obtained.     

Per Aqueous Liquid Chromatography (PALC) as a Simple Method for Native Separation of Protein A

Staphylococcal protein A (protein A) is an important protein frequently used in research studies within the fields of biomedicine and biotechnology. Due to some limitations in available protein purification methods which can hold the native structure of the protein A without changing the folding or adding histidine to structure of this protein, its separation in the native form is difficult. In this study, a new cost-effective and powerful technique was introduced for separation of the full-length and truncated forms of recombinant protein A, without any alteration in their 3D structures. Per aqueous liquid chromatography with bare silica gel stationary phase and water:acetonitrile as the mobile phase was proved to be an attractive choice among the range of separation methods. Similar to hydrophilic liquid chromatography, this method employs high percentage of water in mobile phase. The effects of mobile phase composition, pH, and salt concentration on the retention behavior of protein A on bare silica gel stationary phases were investigated. In this method, applying high amounts of aqueous solvent accompanied by a minimum percentage of organic solvent could successfully separate protein A with preservation of folding, and any affinity-tagged group such as histidine has not occurred on its structure. Purity of the fractions obtained by the proposed method was confirmed using SDS-PAGE, western blotting, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. According to the results of ELISA, separated proteins retained their ability of binding to antibody.     

A novel heterogeneous nanocatalyst: 2‐Methoxy‐1‐phenylethanone functionalized MCM‐41 supported Cu(II) complex for C‐S coupling of aryl halides with thiourea

An environmentally friendly copper‐based catalyst supported on 2‐Methoxy‐1‐phenylethanone functionalized MCM‐41 was prepared and characterized by FT‐IR, FE‐SEM, TEM, XRD, EDX, BET and ICP techniques. The catalyst was applied for the C?S cross‐coupling reaction of aryl halides with thiourea. Corresponding products were produced in good yields in aerobic conditions. The catalyst could be recovered and recycled for several times.     

Classification of some large sets and designs

In this paper, we briefly introduce an algorithm, based on the standard basis of trades, which has proven successful in the complete classification of certain combinatorial objects.     

Ultrasound Assisted Emulsification Microextraction Based on dimetyl (E)‐2‐[(Z)‐1‐acetyl)‐2‐hydroxy‐1‐propenyl]‐2‐butenedioate for Determination of Total Amount of Iron in Water and Tea Samples

An ultrasound assisted emulsification microextraction (USAEME) is successfully used for extraction and determination of trace amount of iron in water and tea samples, followed by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS). In this approach, a new synthetic ligand dimetyl (E)‐2‐[(Z)‐1‐acetyl)‐2‐hydroxy‐1‐propenyl]‐2‐butenedioate (DAHPB) is used as chelating agent and chloroform is selected as an extraction solvent. The factors influencing the complex formation and extraction by USAEME method are optimized. These factors are extraction solvent type as well as extraction volume, time, temperature, pH, and the amount of chelating agent. Under optimum conditions, an enrichment factor of 202.9 is obtained from only 7.1 mL of aqueous phase. The calibration graph using the preconcentration system for iron is linear between 40.0 and 800.0 μg L^?1 with a detection limit of 7.4 μg L^?1. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D) for ten replicate measurements of 500.0 μg L^?1 of iron is 2.5%.