Absolute Quantification of Noncoding RNA by Microscale Thermophoresis

Accurate quantification of the copy numbers of noncoding RNA has recently emerged as an urgent problem, with impact on fields such as RNA modification research, tissue differentiation, and others. Herein, we present a hybridization‐based approach that uses microscale thermophoresis (MST) as a very fast and highly precise readout to quantify, for example, single tRNA species with a turnaround time of about one hour. We developed MST to quantify the effect of tRNA toxins and of heat stress and RNA modification on single tRNA species. A comparative analysis also revealed significant differences to RNA‐Seq‐based quantification approaches, strongly suggesting a bias due to tRNA modifications in the latter. Further applications include the quantification of rRNA as well as of polyA levels in cellular RNA.     

One-Step Photochemical Green Synthesis of Water-Dispersible Ag,Au, and Au@Ag Core–Shell Nanoparticles

A simple and green synthetic protocol for the rapid and effective preparation of Ag, Au and Au@Ag core–shell nanoparticles (NPs) is reported based on the light irradiation of a biocompatible, water-soluble dextran functionalized with benzophenone (BP) in the presence of AgNO₃, HAuCl₄, or both. Photoactivation of the BP moiety produces the highly reducing ketyl radicals through fast (<50 ns) intramolecular H-abstraction from the dextran scaffold, which, in turn, ensures excellent dispersibility of the obtained metal NPs in water. The antibacterial activity of the AgNPs and the photothermal action of the Au@Ag core–shell are also shown.     

Corrosion Behavior of Biocompatible Stainless Steels in Physiological Medium for Non‐invasive Diagnosis of Small Fiber Neuropathies Applications

A non‐invasive device based on measurements of electrochemical skin conductance can detect small fiber neuropathy, a sweat gland dysfunction implicated in several diseases. The measurement is related to sweat composition and notably to chloride concentration. To optimize the electrode material, in vitro experiments are performed in mimetic sweat solutions. This work reports on the resistance to pitting corrosion of biocompatible stainless steels (AISI 304L, AISI 430, AISI 430T, D2205) in sweat mimicking electrolyte at pH 7 with variable chloride concentration, to determine the most sensitive material to sweat composition. AISI 430 is promising due to its high sensitivity to chloride concentration variations.     

Position-specific 15N isotope analysis in organic molecules: A high-precision 15N NMR method to determine the intramolecular 15N isotope composition and fractionation at natural abundance

The position-specific ¹⁵N isotope content in organic molecules, at natural abundance, is for the first time determined by using a quantitative methodology based on ¹⁵N Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometry. ¹⁵N NMR spectra are obtained by using an adiabatic “Full-Spectrum” INEPT sequence in order to make possible ¹⁵N NMR experiments with a high signal-to-noise ratio (>500), to reach a precision with a standard deviation below 1‰ (0.1%). This level of precision is required for observing small changes in ¹⁵N content associated to ¹⁵N isotope effects. As an illustration, the measurement of an isotopic enrichment factor ε for each ¹⁵N isotopomer is presented for 1-methylimidazole induced during a separation process on a silica column. The precision expressed as the long-term repeatability of the methodology is good enough to evaluate small changes in the ¹⁵N isotope contents for a given isotopomer. As observed for ¹³C, inverse and normal ¹⁵N isotope effects occur concomitantly, giving access to new information on the origin of the ¹⁵N isotope effects, not detectable by other techniques such as isotope ratio measured by Mass Spectrometry for which bulk (average) values are obtained.     

Influence of pressure on the electrical and electrochemical behaviour of high-temperature steam electrolyser La<Subscript>0.6</Subscript>Sr<Subscript>0.4</Subscript>Co<Subscript>0.2</Subscript>Fe<Subscript>0.8</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> anode

This paper is dedicated to the impact of pressure on the electrochemical behaviour of LSCF (La_1-xSr_xCo_yFe_1-yO_3-δ) anode in high-temperature electrolysers. This study was carried out with symmetrical cells associating LSCF electrodes to a 3YSZ (yttrium-stabilised zirconia) electrolyte. Impedance spectroscopy measurements were performed using a three-electrode configuration, at temperature as high as 700 to 800 °C, in a pressure range from 1 to 30 bar. A clear improvement in terms of electrode resistance decrease is highlighted, mainly due to faster oxygen adsorption/desorption kinetics and a better supply of gas to electrochemical reaction sites. Other assumptions were considered and analysed, such as the impact of pressure on LSCF electrical conductivity and on the mechanical contacts. Thus, three contributions were determined as limiting steps at low pressure, up to 5 bar, whilst for higher pressure, the optimised conditions in operation are reached. This study completes a previous one related to a modelling approach.     

Chemical and Bioactive Characterization of the Essential Oils Obtained from Three Mediterranean Plants

Cupressus sempervirens L., Juniperus communis L. and Cistus ladanifer L. are Mediterranean arboreal and shrub species that possess essential oils (EO) in their leaves and branches. This study aimed at characterizing the EOs obtained by steam distillation from the three species collected in different locations from Spain (Almazán, Andévalo, Barriomartín, Cerezal, Ermitas and Huéscar). For this purpose, volatiles composition was determined by GC-MS, and different bioactivities were evaluated. The highest content in terpenes was observed in C. sempervirens (Huéscar origin) followed by J. communis (Almazán origin), corresponding to 92% and 91.9% of total compounds, respectively. With exception of C. ladanifer from Cerezal that presented viridiflorol as the most abundant compound, all the three species presented in common the α-pinene as the major compound. The EOs from C. ladanifer showed high antibacterial potential, presenting MIC values from 0.3 to 1.25 mg/mL. Concerning other bioactivities, C. ladanifer EO revealed an oxidation inhibition of 83%, while J. communis showed cytotoxicity in the MCF-7 cell line, and C. sempervirens and C. ladanifer EOs exhibited the highest potential on NCI-H460 cell lines. Nevertheless, some EOs revealed toxicity against non-tumoral cells but generally presented a GI₅₀ value higher than that of the tumor cell lines.     

Synthesis and micellization of amphiphilic poly(ethylene oxide)‐block‐poly(methylidene malonate 2.1.2.) diblock copolymers

Poly(ethylene oxide)‐block‐poly‐(methylidene malonate 2.1.2.) diblock copolymers were prepared by anionic polymerization. They were characterized by SEC, ¹H NMR spectroscopy and DSC. Their micellization behavior was examined in aqueous medium. The micelle size, as determined by dynamic light scattering, could be correlated to the degree of polymerization of each sequence in agreement with existing theories.