in vitro Selection of Aptamer for Imidacloprid Recognition as Model Analyte and Construction of a Water Analysis Platform

Pesticide use in agriculture is one of the threats to water safety. Therefore, detection of pesticide residues is crucial for human health. Compared to conventional chromatographic methods, aptasensors are promising tools for fast, cheap and sensitive detection of environmental contaminants. To the best of our knowledge, such an aptasensor has not been reported for imidacloprid (Imi) which is one of the most widely used pesticides. In order to meet this demand, we initially selected two novel aptamers designated as ‘Apta‐1’ and ‘Apta‐2’ by graphene oxide‐SELEX (GO‐SELEX) method. Then, these aptamers were used to fabricate the gold electrode‐based aptasensor platforms and characterized by using electrochemical methods such as cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy as well as X‐Ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the limit of detection value of Apta‐1 based sensor for the Imi was found better than Apta‐2 based system, although linear ranges were similar. Based on that finding, Apta‐1 based system was further tested against possible interference molecules. The proposed platform was successfully used for detection of very low concentrations of Imi in the range of ng/mL. Thus, it eliminates the need for sample pre‐treatment and enables a practical analysis in real wastewater samples.     

Carbon Dots as a Promising Green Photocatalyst for Free Radical and ATRP‐Based Radical Photopolymerization with Blue LEDs

Carbon dots (CDs) have been used for the first time as a sensitizer to initiate and activate free radical and controlled radical polymerization, respectively, based on an ATRP protocol with blue LEDs. Consideration of diverse heteroatom‐doped CDs indicated that N‐doped CDs could serve as an effective photocatalyst and photosensitizer in combination with LEDs emitting either at 405 nm or 470 nm. Free radical polymerization was initiated by combining the CDs with an iodonium or sulfonium salt in tri(propylene glycol) diacrylate. Polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) by photo‐induced ATRP was achieved with CDs and ethyl α‐bromophenylacetate using Cu^II as catalyst in the ppm range. The polymers obtained showed temporal control, narrower dispersity ?1.5, and chain‐end fidelity. The first‐order kinetics and ON/OFF experiments additionally gave evidence of the constant concentration of polymer radicals. No remarkable cytotoxic activity was observed for the CDs, underlining their biocompatibility.     

The impact of an out‐of‐school STEM education program on students’ attitudes toward STEM and STEM careers

There is an increasing awareness of out‐of‐school program value in enhancing student interest and understanding of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This study examined the impact of an out‐of‐school STEM education program on student attitudes toward STEM disciplines and STEM careers. A STEM education program implemented at a public research university was designed to integrate STEM disciplines with hands‐on problem‐based activities. Design features included authentic learning contexts, engineering design processes, and content integration. Data sources included an attitude survey and interviews conducted with forty sixth grade middle school student participants. The analysis revealed significant differences between pre and posttests on student attitudes toward personal and social implications of STEM, science and engineering learning, and their relationship to STEM. Findings showed that the program contributed to students’ developing interest in STEM fields, and helped them make connections between schoolwork and daily lives. Recommendations for future research on out‐of‐school STEM education programs were discussed.     

Portfolio optimization for a large investor under partial information and price impact

This paper studies portfolio optimization problems in a market with partial information and price impact. We consider a large investor with an objective of expected utility maximization from terminal wealth. The drift of the underlying price process is modeled as a diffusion affected by a continuous-time Markov chain and the actions of the large investor. Using the stochastic filtering theory, we reduce the optimal control problem under partial information to the one with complete observation. For logarithmic and power utility cases we solve the utility maximization problem explicitly and we obtain optimal investment strategies in the feedback form. We compare the value functions to those for the case without price impact in Bäuerle and Rieder (IEEE Trans Autom Control 49(3):442–447, 2004) and Bäuerle and Rieder (J Appl Prob 362–378, 2005). It turns out that the investor would be better off due to the presence of a price impact both in complete-information and partial-information settings. Moreover, the presence of the price impact results in a shift, which depends on the distance to final time and on the state of the filter, on the optimal control strategy.     

Characterization of paraben substituted cyclotriphosphazenes,and a DNA interaction study with a real-time electrochemical profiling based biosensor

Microchimica Acta - This paper describes an amperometric method for studying DNA-drug candidate interactions. It uses an automatted electrochemical biosensor (MiSens®) based on real-time...     

Amperometric Lactate Biosensor Based on Carbon Paste Electrode Modified with Benzo[c]cinnoline and Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Amperometric lactate biosensor based on a carbon paste electrode modified with benzo[c]cinnoline and multiwalled carbon nanotubes is reported. Incorporation of benzo[c]cinnoline acting as a mediator and multiwalled carbon nanotubes providing a conduction pathway to accelerate electron transfer due to their excellent conductivity into carbon paste matrix resulted in a high performance lactate biosensor. The resulting biosensor exhibited a fast response, high selectivity, good repeatability and storage stability. Under the optimal conditions, the enzyme electrode showed the detection limit of 7.0×10^?8 M with a linear range of 2.0×10^?7 M–1.1×10^?4 M. The usefulness of the biosensor was demonstrated in serum samples.     

Periodic solutions for certain non-smooth oscillators by iterated homotopy perturbation method combined with modified Lindstedt-Poincaré technique

In this paper, a new technique is introduced by combining Homotopy perturbation method and modified Lindstedt-Poincaré technique to obtain the periodic solutions of certain non-smooth oscillators. In this technique, homotopy perturbation method is re-written in iterative form to linearize perturbation process by homotopy, and then, the modified Lindstedt-Poincaré method is utilized to obtain next approximation for each iteration step. We realize that this new technique works very well for the whole range of initial amplitudes, and the excellent agreement of the approximate frequencies and periodic solutions with the exact ones has been confirmed and discussed. Only one or two iterations lead to high accuracy of the solutions. The result obtained and comparison with analytical solution and different methods provide confirmation for the validity of the technique.     

Optimization of the Parameters of the Magnetic Filtration Process Using Response Surface Methodology

In this study, we aimed at optimizing the parameters which govern the separation efficiency in the magnetic filtration of magnetizable dispersed particles from a water medium. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to determine the influence of the process parameters. Also, the optimal processing conditions were determined in order to reduce the external magnetic field strength, diameter of the filter matrix elements, and filter length to a safe level. A three-level central composite design (CCRD) involving the variables, such as external magnetic field strength (148–282 kA/m), diameter of the filter elements (0.005–0.011 m), and the filter length (0.01–0.10 m) was developed for this purpose. Data obtained from the RSM was subjected to the analysis of variance (ANOVA) using a second-order polynomial equation, which provided the optimized process conditions as 298 kA/m for external magnetic field strength, 0.0015 m for diameter of the filter elements, and 0.095 m for the filter length. The separation efficiency was optimized for magnetic filtration of micron sized particles that can be magnetized in an external magnetic field and the value was found to be 97%.     

Simultaneous Determination of Antimony and Lead in Gunshot Residue by Cathodic Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetric Methods

Differential pulse cathodic adsorptive stripping (DPCAdSV) and square wave cathodic adsorptive stripping (SWCAdSV) voltammetric methods were developed for the determination of antimony and lead in gunshot residues. Linear working ranges for DPCAdSV and SWCAdSV methods were (2.0×10^?9–5.0×10^?7) M and (2.0×10^?9–7.0×10^?7) M for antimony and 2.0×10^?9–3.0×10^?7 M (both methods) for lead. The detection of antimony limits were found to be 1.3×10^?9 M for DPCAdSV and 7.3×10^?10 M for SWCAdSV while the corresponding values for lead were 3.0×10^?9 M and 5.8×10^?10 M. Antimony and lead contents obtained by these methods in gunshot residues are in good agreement with those obtained by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometric method within a confidence limit of 95%.     

Metal-Chelating Nanopolymers for Antibody Purification from Human Plasma

The purification of immunoglobulin G (IgG) from human plasma was performed by using a novel metal-chelated adsorbent with nano size. The non-porous nanoparticles were produced by surfactant free emulsion polymerization of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) and 2-methacryloylamidohistidine (MAH). Then, Cu(II) ions were chelated on the nanoparticles. The nano-poly(EDMA-MAH) nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscope and elemental analysis. The non-porous nanoparticles were spherical form and have 100?C250?nm size distribution. The maximum IgG adsorption capacity of the Cu(II) chelated nanoparticles was found to be 463?mg/g polymer at pH 7.0 in HEPES buffer. Desorption of IgG was performed by 1.0?M NaCl and desorption rate was found to be 97?%. IgG was obtained from human plasma with purity of 94?% (up to 578?mg/g polymer). The non-porous nanoparticles allowed one-step purification of IgG from human plasma.