A review of recent advances in chemiluminescence detection using nano-colloidal manganese(IV)

The application of ‘soluble’ (colloidal) manganese(IV) for chemiluminescence detection is reviewed, focussing on papers published since the last comprehensive review of the subject in 2008. Advances in this reagent system include: the on-line formation of manganese(IV); new insight into the light-producing pathway and selectivity of the reagent; its application to assess total antioxidants in plant derived samples and oxidative stress in biological fluids and tissues; and the replacement of the formaldehyde enhancer with ethanol.     

An adaptive OPD and dislocation prediction used characteristic of interference pattern for interference hyperspectral image compression

According to the imaging principle and characteristic of LASIS (Large Aperture Static Interference Imaging Spectrometer), we discovered that the 3D (three dimensional) image sequences formed by different interference pattern frames, which were formed in the imaging process of LASIS Interference hyperspectral image, had much stronger correlation than the original interference hyperspectral image sequences, either in 2D (two dimensional) spatial domain or in the spectral domain. We put this characteristic into image compression and proposed an adaptive OPD (optical path difference) and dislocation prediction algorithm for interference hyperspectral image compression. Compared the new algorithm proposed in this paper with Dual-Direction Prediction [1] proposed in 2009, lots of experimental results showed that the prediction error entropy of the new algorithm was much smaller. In the prediction step of lifting wavelet transform, this characteristic would also reduce the entropy of coefficients in high frequency significantly, which would be more advantageous for quantification coding [2].     

Instrument forward model of the modified Sagnac interferometer for atmospheric wind measurement

The instrument forward model of the modified super-wide-Sagnac imaging interferometer based on liquid crystals on Silicon (MSASII-LCoS) is developed as an integrated code package with Matlab language to simulate the images of satellite observations. There are five sub-models in the forward model including radiation model of O(¹S), orbit attitude, filter, interferometer and array detector. The principle of each sub-model is described separately and then the overall forward model equation is derived. The four simulation images are obtained. Based on the integrated signal level for the daytime observations, the apparent measurement error of wind is less than 3 m/s and the signal noise ratio (SNR) is greater than 194 with a binning of 2 × 25 pixels at the tangent height range of 70-190 km.     

Current trends in separation of plasmid DNA vaccines: A review

Plasmid DNA (pDNA)-based vaccines offer more rapid avenues for development and production if compared to those of conventional virus-based vaccines. They do not rely on time- or labour-intensive cell culture processes and allow greater flexibility in shipping and storage. Stimulating antibodies and cell-mediated components of the immune system are considered as some of the major advantages associated with the use of pDNA vaccines. This review summarizes the current trends in the purification of pDNA vaccines for practical and analytical applications. Special attention is paid to chromatographic techniques aimed at reducing the steps of final purification, post primary isolation and intermediate recovery, in order to reduce the number of steps necessary to reach a purified end product from the crude plasmid.     

High quality drug screening by capillary electrophoresis: A review

High quality assays are needed in drug discovery to reduce the high attrition rate of lead compounds during primary screening. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) represents a versatile micro-separation technique for resolution of enzyme-catalyzed reactions, including substrate(s), product(s), cofactor(s) and their stereoisomers, which is needed for reliable characterization of biomolecular interactions in free solution. This review article provides a critical overview of new advances in CE for drug screening over the past five years involving biologically relevant enzymes of therapeutic interest, including transferases, hydrolases, oxidoreductases, and isomerases. The basic principles and major configurations in CE, as well as data processing methods needed for rigorous characterization of enzyme inhibition are described. New developments in functional screening of small molecules that modulate the activity of disease-related enzymes are also discussed. Although inhibition is a widely measured response in most enzyme assays, other important outcomes of ligand interactions on protein structure/function that impact the therapeutic potential of a drug will also be highlighted, such as enzyme stabilization, activation and/or catalytic uncoupling. CE offers a selective platform for drug screening that reduces false-positives while also enabling the analysis of low amounts of complex sample mixtures with minimal sample handling.