Prospects for the commercialization of chemiluminescence-based point-of-care and on-site testing devices

Chemiluminescent reactions have found application in a number of commercial point-of-care and on-site testing devices. Notable examples include allergy tests (e.g., MASTpette, OPTIGEN® systems), flu tests (e.g., ZstatFlu®-II), cartridge-based immunoassay systems (FastPack® IP System, PATHFAST®), forensic tests for bloodstains, portable analyzers for biochip array assays (Evidence MultiStat), water quality tests (Eclox), air pollutants (e.g., oxides of nitrogen), and handheld devices for detecting explosives (e.g., E3500 Chemilux®). Many other point-of-care or on-site testing devices with a chemiluminescent end point have been devised on the basis of a variety of formats (e.g., cuvette, cassette, dipstick, test strip, microchip), but most have not progressed beyond a proof-of-principle or prototype stage.     

Ion-Molecule Clustering in Differential Mobility Spectrometry: Lessons Learned from Tetraalkylammonium Cations and their Isomers

Differential mobility spectrometry (DMS) can distinguish ions based upon the differences in their high- and low-field ion mobilities as they experience the asymmetric waveform applied to the DMS cell. These mobilities are known to be influenced by the ions’ structure, m/z, and charge distribution (i.e., resonance structures) within the ions themselves, as well as by the gas-phase environment of the DMS cell. While these associations have been developed over time through empirical observations, the exact role of ion structures or their interactions with clustering molecules remains generally unknown. In this study, that relationship is explored by observing the DMS behaviors of a series of tetraalkylammonium ions as a function of their structures and the gas-phase environment of the DMS cell. To support the DMS experiments, the basin-hopping search strategy was employed to identify candidate cluster structures for density functional theory treatment. More than a million cluster structures distributed across 72 different ion-molecule cluster systems were sampled to determine global minimum structures and cluster binding energies. This joint computational and experimental approach suggests that cluster geometry, in particular ion-molecule intermolecular separation, plays a critical role in DMS. Figure

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Chemistry and technology of 2‐alkenyl azlactones

The chronology of 2‐alkenyl azlactone research at 3M is discussed in terms of its origination; consideration of economics, overall safety, and opportunities for patent protection; elaboration of the chemistry; and, finally, applying lessons learned toward the development of commercial technologies. The chemistry is dominated by the presence of three electrophilic reaction centers and a readily polymerizable 2‐alkenyl group. Technological development has been focused in four general areas: acrylamide monomers, acrylamide materials, azlactone materials, and polymer modification. Application areas disinclude lithographic printing plates, contact lens materials, adhesives, dispersants for printing inks, and supports for immobilizing enzymes. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 3655–3677, 2001     

Detection of Al(III) and Ga(III) complexes with morin by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

The Al(III) and Ga(III) complexes formed by morin (M) in aqueous solution were investigated by means of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). In the full scan mass spectra, Al:M showed 1:2 and 2:3 stoichiometric ratios. When (S)-N-acetylserine methyl ester (Ser), as a partial mimic of the serine residue in silk, was added to Al:M and Ga:M complexes in aqueous solution, the mass spectra of Ser:Al:M showed 1:1:1 and 1:1:2 stoichiometric ratios. The patterns of the mass spectra of Ga:M and Ser:Ga:M complexes were similar to those for the corresponding Al(III) complexes. Calculated heats of formation of potential structures of the complexes, with and without bound water, were obtained using semiempirical PM3 calculations.     

Effect of blend composition on diffusivity and solubility of small molecules in polystyrene/poly(vinyl methyl ether) blends

The capillary column inverse gas chromatography technique was used to determine diffusivity and solubility data for several solvents in polymer blends composed of polystyrene and poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME). Diffusivity behaved as expected, increasing as the concentration of PVME increased in the blend. Knowing only the free‐volume parameters for the pure polymers, the free‐volume theory was successfully applied to predict the dependence of the diffusion coefficients on the blend composition. Transport in blends above the glass transition temperature is controlled by free volume, and the effect of concentration fluctuations is minimal at the temperatures studied. Experimental data show an increase in the partition coefficient of some solvents in the blends with respect to the pure polymers. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2071–2082, 2007     

Saturation and universality in QCD at small x

We find approximate solutions to the renormalization group equation which governs the quantum evolution of the effective theory for the Color Glass Condensate. This is a functional Fokker–Planck equation which generates in particular the non-linear evolution equations previously derived by Balitsky and Kovchegov within perturbative QCD. In the limit where the transverse momentum of the external probe is large compared to the saturation momentum, our approximations yield the Gaussian ansatz for the effective action of the McLerran–Venugopalan model. In the opposite limit, of a small external momentum, we find that the effective theory is governed by a scale-invariant universal action which has the correct properties to describe gluon saturation.     

Quantitative analysis of bronze samples by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS): A new approach, model, and experiment

A new approach to the quantitative elemental analysis of alloys by means of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is proposed. The disproportion between the element stoichiometry and spectral intensities is attributed to selective evaporation of components during the heating-melting-evaporation stage. The proposed correction to plasma spectra with account for the Prokhorov-Bunkin melt transparency wave ensures a good agreement between the relative intensities of LIBS analytical lines [(nm): Cu, 511; Zn, 472; Sn, 286; Pb, 406] and the alloy stoichiometry for five samples of four-component bronze measured in various regimes of plasma excitation and signal detection. A criterion is formulated to select the analytical lines, for which the concentration of elements is proportional to the constant of the process and the intensity of the corrected lines.