Development and validation of a glass-silicon microdroplet-based system to measure sulfite concentrations in beverages

Sulfite is often added to beverages as an antioxidant and antimicrobial agent. In fermented beverages, sulfite is also naturally produced by yeast cells. However, sulfite causes adverse health effects in asthmatic patients and accurate measurement of the sulfite concentration is therefore very important. Current sulfite analysis methods are time- and reagent-consuming and often require costly equipment. Here, we present a system allowing sensitive, ultralow-volume sulfite measurements based on a reusable glass-silicon microdroplet platform on which microdroplet generation, addition of enzymes through chemical-induced emulsion destabilization and pillar-induced droplet merging, emulsion restabilization, droplet incubation, and fluorescence measurements are integrated. In a first step, we developed and verified a fluorescence-based enzymatic assay for sulfite by measuring its analytical performance (LOD, LOQ, the dynamic working range, and the influence of salts, colorant, and sugars) and comparing fluorescent microplate readouts of fermentation samples with standard colorimetric measurements using the 5,5′-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) assay of the standard Gallery Plus Beermaster analysis platform. Next, samples were analyzed on the microdroplet platform, which also showed good correlation with the standard colorimetric analysis. Although the presented platform does not allow stable reinjection of droplets due to the presence of a tight array of micropillars at the fluidics entrances to prevent channel clogging by dust, removing the pillars, and integrating miniaturized pumps and optics in a future design would allow to use this platform for high-throughput, automated, and portable screening of microbes, plant, or mammalian cells.

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Interrelations between the parasitophorous vacuole of Toxoplasma gondii and host cell organelles.

Toxoplasma gondii, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, is capable of actively penetrating and multiplying in any nucleated cell of warm-blooded animals. Its survival strategies include escape from fusion of the parasitophorous vacuole with host cell lysosomes and rearrangement of host cell organelles in relation to the parasitophorous vacuole. In this article we report the rearrangement of host cell organelles and elements of the cytoskeleton of LLCMK2 cells, a lineage derived from green monkey kidney epithelial cells, in response to infection by T. gondii tachyzoites. Transmission electron microscopy made on flat embedded monolayers cut horizontally to the apical side of the cells or field emission scanning electron microscopy of monolayers scraped with scotch tape before sputtering showed that association of mitochondria to the vacuole is much less frequent than previously described. On the other hand, all parasitophorous vacuoles were surrounded by elements of the endoplasmic reticulum. These data were complemented by observations by laser scanning microscopy using fluorescent probes from mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum and reinforced by three-dimensional reconstruction from serial sections observed by transmission electron microscopy and labeling of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum by fluorescent probes.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of tocopherols in infant formulas

A method for the simultaneous determination of alpha-tocopherol acetate and alpha-, delta-, and gamma-tocopherols by normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a fluorescent detector in infant formula is proposed. The values obtained in the determination of the analytical parameters: linearity, precision, limit of detection and accuracy (analysis of a standard reference material, SRM 1846), confirm the quality of the method. The proposed method is useful for the determination of alpha-, delta-, and gamma-tocopherols and alpha-tocopherol acetate in infant formulas at a low cost and in a total time of 2 h.     

A new method for the generation of isobenzofurans: A simple entry to substituted naphthalenes

5,6-Dimethoxy isobenzofuran is generated $\text{in situ}$ from the dimethylacetal of 6-hydroxymethyl veratraldehyde and intercepted by a variety of dienophiles to produce the expected oxygen-bridged adducts in good yield. Many of the latter are easily aromatised to naphthalenes.     

Ab initio analytical potential energy surface and quasiclassical trajectory study of the O(+)((4)S)+H(2)(X (1)Sigma(g) (+))-->OH(+)(X (3)Sigma(-))+H((2)S) reaction and isotopic variants

An analytical potential energy surface (PES) representation of the O(+)((4)S)+H(2)(X (1)Sigma(g) (+)) system was developed by fitting around 600 CCSD(T)/cc-pVQZ ab initio points. Rate constant calculations for this reaction and its isotopic variants (D(2) and HD) were performed using the quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) method, obtaining a good agreement with experimental data. Calculations conducted to determine the cross section of the title reaction, considering collision energies (E(T)) below 0.3 eV, also led to good accord with experiments. This PES appears to be suitable for kinetics and dynamics studies. Moreover, the QCT results show that, although the hypotheses of a widely used capture model are not satisfied, the resulting expression for the cross section can be applied within a suitable E(T) interval, due to errors cancellation. This could be a general situation regarding the application of this simple model to ion-molecule processes.     

Cross sections of the O+ + H2 --> OH+ + H ion-molecule reaction and isotopic variants (D2, HD): quasiclassical trajectory study and comparison with experiments

A dynamics study [cross section and microscopic mechanism versus collision energy (E(T))] of the reaction O+ + H2 --> OH+ + H, which plays an important role in Earth's ionosphere and interstellar chemistry, was conducted using the quasiclassical trajectory method, employing an analytical potential energy surface (PES) recently derived by our group [R. Martinez et al., J. Chem. Phys. 120, 4705 (2004)]. Experimental excitation functions for the title reaction, as well as its isotopic variants with D2 and HD, were near-quantitatively reproduced in the calculations in the very broad collision energy range explored (E(T) = 0.01-6.0 eV). Intramolecular and intermolecular isotopic effects were also examined, yielding data in good agreement with experimental results. The reaction occurs via two microscopic mechanisms (direct and nondirect abstraction). The results were satisfactorily interpreted based on the reaction probability and the maximum impact parameter dependences with E(T), and considering the influence of the collinear [OHH]+ absolute minimum of the PES on the evolution from reactants to products. The agreement between theory and experiment suggests that the reaction mainly occurs through the lowest energy PES and nonadiabatic processes are not very important in the wide collision energy range analyzed. Hence, the PES used to describe this reaction is suitable for both kinetics and dynamics studies.     

Thermodynamics of liquid mixtures containing n-alkanes and strongly polar components: VE and C P E of mixtures with either pyridine or piperidine

Excess molar volumes V _E and excess molar heat capacities C _P ^/E at constant pressure have been obtained, as a function of mole fraction x₁, for several binary liquid mixtures belonging either to series I: pyridine+n-alkane (C_lH_2l+2), with l=7, 10, 14, 16, or series II: piperidine+n-alkane, with l=7, 8, 10, 12, 14. The instruments used were a vibrating-tube densimeter and a Picker flow microcalorimeter, respectively. V ^E of pyridine+n-heptane shows a S-shaped composition dependence with a small negative part in the region rich in pyridine (x₁>0.90). All the other systems show positive V ^E only. The excess volumes increase with increasing chain length l of the n-alkane. The excess molar heat capacities of the mixtures belonging to series II are all negative, except for a small positive part for piperidine+n-heptane in the region rich in piperidine (x₁>0.87). The C _P ^/E at the respective minima, C _P ^/E (x_1,min ), become more negative with increasing l, and the x_1,min values range from about 0.26 (l=7) to 0.39 (l=14). Most interestingly, mixtures of series I exhibit curves of C _P ^/E against x₁ with two minima and one maximum, the so-called W-shape curves.Dedicated to Professor A. Néckel on the occasion of his 65^th birthday. Communicated in part at the XVII^èmes Journées de Calorimétrie, d'Analyse Thermique et de Thermodynamique Chimique, Ferrara, Italy, 27–30 October, 1986.     

Mixed micellar systems of octyl β,d-glucopyranoside with a nonionic surfactant and a water-soluble polymer

We have made a comparative study between the micellar regions of the octyl -d-glucoside (OG)–tetraethylene glycol monododecyl ether and the OG–poly(ethylene glycol) 20,000 systems by means of surface tension and viscosimetric measurements. The incorporation of the tetraethylene glycol monododecyl ether nonionic surfactant in the OG micelles decreases the critical micelle concentration, whereas the presence of polymer increases it. The nonionic surfactant mixture exhibits nonideal mixing behaviour. The data fit to Rubinghs treatment with a value of –5.1, which implies a modest attraction between both surfactants. The surfactant–poly(ethylene glycol) 20,000 system does not form mixed micelles. The incorporation of polymer increases the critical micelle concentration of the surfactant. The viscosity for the surfactant–polymer system is higher than that for the pure polymer, demonstrating a surfactant-induced structuring.     

Synthesis and characterisation of poly[2,2-(m-phenylene)-5,5-bibenzimidazole] as polymer electrolyte membrane for high temperature PEMFCs

Intermediate-high molecular weight poly[2,2-(m-phenylene)-5,5-bibenzimidazole] has been produced by mixing 3,3′,4,4′-tetraminobiphenyl and isophthalic acid in polyphosphoric acid as polycondensing agent and triphenyl phosphite as catalyst. Polymers with intrinsic viscosities close to 1 were measured in 97% sulphuric acid. Membranes were prepared by solution casting and subsequently immersed in phosphoric acid in order to gain ionic conductivity. These membranes were characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analyses, methanol permeation and conductivity measurements. Levels of acid and water absorbed by the membranes were measured and the kinetic of this process was studied. Finally, doped membranes were tested in an actual fuel cell setup, obtaining also information about gases crossover from the open circuit potential. Acceptably reproducible molecular weights between 115,000 and 190,000 were obtained allowing the casting of mechanically stable membranes, which showed a great affinity towards phosphoric acid, high thermal stability, and a conductivity of 0.039 S/cm at 190 °C with the membrane equilibrated in saturated air at 60 °C. Open circuit potential of a PBI membrane was 0.99 V, close to those of commercial perfluorinated membranes. A H₂/O₂ fuel cell with dry gases was able to produce a maximum power output of 0.22 W/cm² at 175 °C.