Development of a mild mercaptoethanol extraction method for determination of mercury species in biological samples by HPLC–ICP-MS

A mild, efficient and convenient extraction method of using 2-mercaptoethanol contained extractant solution combined with an incubator shaker for determination of mercury species in biological samples by HPLC–ICP-MS has been developed. The effects of the concentration of 2-mercaptoethanol, the composition of the extractant solution and the shaking time on the efficiency of mercury extraction were evaluated. The optimization experiments indicated that the quantitative extraction of mercury species from biological samples could be achieved by using 0.1% (v/v) HCl, 0.1% (v/v) 2-mercapoethanol and 0.15% (m/v) KCl extractant solution in an incubator shaker for shaking overnight (about 12 h) at room temperature. The established method was validated by analysis of various biological certified reference materials, including NRCC DOLT-3 (dogfish liver), IAEA 436 (tuna fish), IAEA MA-B-3/TM (garfish filet), IAEA MA-M-2/TM (mussel tissue), GBW 08193 (bovine liver) and GBW 08572 (prawn). The analytical results of the reference materials were in good agreement with the certified or reference values of both methyl and total mercury, indicating that no distinguishable transformation between mercury species had occurred during the extraction and determination procedures. The limit of detection (LOD) for methyl (CH₃Hg⁺) and inorganic mercury (Hg²⁺) by the method are both as 0.2 μg L⁻¹. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.s) for CH₃Hg⁺ and Hg²⁺ are 3.0% and 5.8%, respectively. The advantages of the developed extraction method are that (1) it is easy to operate in HPLC–ICP-MS for mercury species determination since the extracted solution can be directly injected into the HPLC column without pH adjustment and (2) the memory effect of mercury in the ICP-MS measurement system can be reduced.     

Remarkably enhanced capacitance of ordered polyaniline nanowires tailored by stepwise electrochemical deposition

A stepwise deposition method was employed to create ordered polyaniline (PANI) nanowires with remarkably enhanced capacitance. Cyclic voltammetry, AC impedance, and galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling were employed to investigate the electrochemical performance of the PANI electrodes. The PANI-deposited electrode exhibits much higher capacitance than those prepared by one-step deposition method, which were mainly contributed from the unique nano structure of PANI and the increased biological, economical, and technical surface areas. The superior capacitive behaviors of the nano PANI electrodes show great potential in preparation of high efficient electrochemical capacitors or rechargeable batteries.     

Detection of environmental chemicals by SPR assay using branched cyclodextrin as sensor ligand

We obtained the association constants Ka of estrogen (E2) and environmental chemicals by the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assay using the immobilized mono-6-O-α-maltosyl-β-CD (G₂βCD) compared with the immobilized β-CD and the immobilized estrogen receptor (ER). The association behavior of G₂βCD was shown as a ER model compound. The calibration curve was determined by the initial rate of association depending on the various concentrations, and the minimum detectable concentrations in the order of parts per billion were calculated. The SPR assay has advantages that the pre-treatment of the sample is not necessary and the immobilized ligand is stable and useful for the repeated measurement.     

Effect of Low-Dose Gamma Radiation on HIV Replication in Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells

Recent studies have demonstrated that UV light and x-irradiation enhance human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) gene expression. There are few published data on related effects of γ-radiation. This may be of clinical relevance, as radiotherapy has been used extensively for the treatment of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome associated conditions. With this in mind, we have studied the effects of γ-radiation on HIV replication in mononuclear cells (MC). These cells were obtained from five seronegative healthy donors, exposed to0–200 cGy γ-radiation, stimulated with phytohemagglutinin-P (PHA-P) for 24 h, infected with a laboratory strain of HIV (HTLV-IIIB, multiplicity of infection = 0.001), then carried in culture for 14 days. Overall, when considering p24 antigen levels on days 7 and 11 in cultures established from cells exposed to 50 cGy, the maximal levels were significantly higher than those measured in the parallel control cultures taken as a whole (P < 0.05), with viral replication enhanced as much as 1000-fold in one case. No significant cytotoxicity was observed following exposure to doses up to 50 cGy. The mechanism of the observed effect remains unknown but may relate to direct gene activation and/or free radical generation, leading to such activation. To date, there is no evidence that viral stimulation occurs following therapeutic radiation in a clinical setting.     

二(2,4,4-三甲基戊基)膦酸萃取分离稀土元素(Ⅲ)的研究

本文研究了二(2,4,4-三甲基戊基)磷酸(Cyanex 272)的煤油溶液在不同介质(HCI,HNO_3)中对三价混合稀土的萃取分离性能.观测了平衡水相酸度对萃取平衡的影响,由酸度曲线求出相邻元素的平均分离系数,并考察了酸度对反萃取平衡的影响.比较了HCI和HNO_3介质中,Cyanex 272对混合稀土(Ⅲ)的萃取性能.     

Molecularly imprinted sol-gel nanotubes membrane for biochemical separations

In this study, we report a simple procedure for applying molecular imprinting functional groups to the inner surfaces of the template-synthesized sol-gel nanotubes for chemical separation of estrone. The silica nanotubes were synthesized within the pores of nanopore alumina template membranes using a sol-gel method by simultaneous hydrolysis of a silica monomer-imprinted molecule complex and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). A covalent imprinting strategy was employed by generating a sacrificial spacer through the reaction of the isocyanate group of 3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl isocyanate and a phenol moiety of estrone to form a thermally cleavable urethane bond. This allowed us to remove the imprinted estrone by simple thermal reaction and to simultaneously introduce functional groups into the cavity formed by the silica nanotubes. Experiments indicated that estrone could be bound selectively by such an approach and have a binding affinity of 864 +/- 137 (n = 3).     

Polymer-Titanium hybrids obtained by radical polymerization and Sol-Gel process

The possibility to prepare hybrids made by poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and/or poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEtA) with TiO₂ was studied. The processes of polymer formation-radical polymerization and sol-gel process for inorganic network —were achieved simultaneously. Due to a high reactivity of titanium isopropoxide (TIP) in the sol-gel process, a complexant comonomer, allyl acetoacetate (AlAcAc), was used. Covalent bonds between polymer and inorganic chains were obtained by addition of trialkoxysilane derivates with vinyl (VTES) or methacryloyl (MPTS) groups. The presence of TIP inhibits the radical polymerization of vinyl acetate (VAc). The PVAc-TiO₂ hybrids were produced by the sol-gel process of TIP in the presence of pre-obtained PVAc. Except for VTES and MPTS, trialkoxysilane derivates with methyl (MeTES), octyl (OTES) and phenyl (PTES) groups were used. The thermal stability of hybrids is strongly affected by TiO₂ presence and by the type of trialkoxysilane derivates. The thermal stability of PVAc hybrids decreases in the presence of TiO₂ inorganic network. The glass transition temperature of polymers increases in the presence of the inorganic network.     

Solving the 3-SAT problem based on DNA computing

The 3-SAT problem is an NP-complete problem, and many algorithms based on DNA computing have been proposed for solving it since Adleman's pioneering work. This paper presents a new algorithm based on the literal string strategy proposed by Sakamoto et al. Simulation results show that the maximal number of literal strings produced during the computing process is greatly reduced. Moreover, the length of the literal strings is also reduced from m to n at most.     

Synthesis of the Biomimetic Polymer： Aliphatic Diamine and RGDS Modified Poly（d,l-lactic acid）

A novel poly（d, /-lactic acid） （PDLLA） based biomimetic polymer was synthesized by grafting maleic anhydride, butanediamine and arg-gly-asp-ser （RGDS） peptides onto the backbone of PDLLA, aiming to overcome the acidity and auto-accelerating degradation of PDLLA during degradation and to improve its biospecificity and biocompatibility. The synthetic copolymer was characterized by FTIR, ^13C NMR and amino acid analyzer （AAA）.