Development and characterization of ultra-porous silica films made by the sol–gel method. Application to biosensing

The aim of this work is to demonstrate the sensing ability of reverse-symmetry waveguides to investigate adsorption of casein and build-up of poly-L-lysine mediated casein multilayers. A first part of this study is dedicated to the elaboration and characterization of ultra-porous thin films with very low refractive indices by an appropriate sol–gel method. This will form the basis of our planar optical sensors. Optical waveguide light mode spectroscopy is a real-time and sensitive method to study protein adsorption kinetics and lipid bilayers. We used it to test the obtained waveguides for in-situ monitoring of biomolecule adsorption. As a result, significant changes in the incoupling peak position were observed during the layer-by-layer adsorption. Finally, refractive index and thickness of the adsorbed layers were established.     

Investigation of the thermal properties of glycidyl methacrylate–ethylene glycol dimethacrylate copolymeric microspheres modified by Diels–Alder reaction

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The study describes the thermal properties of functional microspheres composed of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and crosslinking agent ethylene glycol...     

Interaction enthalpy of lysozyme with vesicles

Negatively charged vesicles made of non-stoichiometric amounts of sodium dodecylsulfate and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide were characterised by physico-chemical methods. Interactions with lysozyme were examined by calorimetry. A remarkable heat effect is observed upon diluting the protein with the vesicular pseudo-solvent. The maximum ΔH_bind value occurs at complete vesicle charge neutralisation by the protein.     

Synthesis of lead metaniobate by thermal decomposition of a coprecipitation product

The paper reports a new, nonconventional method for the preparation of oxygen-containing niobium compounds, based upon coprecipitation. The coprecipitation product of niobic acid with lead oxalate was used as precursor. Lead metaniobate was obtained by proper thermal treatment of the coprecipitate. The coprecipitate mechanism was studied and the optimal conditions for quantitative precipitation of niobium and lead were established. The mechanism of thermal decomposition of the coprecipitate was investigated by differential thermal analysis and X-ray powder diagrams. The final product of thermal decomposition, lead metaniobate, is formed at 850°C.     

Modeling NMR chemical shifts: a comparison of charge models for solid state effects on N chemical shift tensors

This paper presents results from applying different point charge models to take into account intermolecular interactions to model the solid state effects on the ¹⁵N NMR chemical shifts tensors. The DFT approach with the BLYP gradient corrected exchange correlation functional has been used because it can include electron correlation effects at a reasonable cost and is able to reproduce ¹⁵N NMR chemical shifts with reasonable accuracy. The results obtained with the point charge models are compared with the experimental data and with results obtained using the cluster model, which includes explicitly neighboring molecular fragments. The results show that the point charge models can take into account solid state effects at a cost much lower than the cluster methods.     

Effect of preparation of sol-gel coatings on the strength of optical fibres

SiO₂, TiO₂, ZrO₂, and TiO₂-ZrO₂ thin coatings were applied by sol-gel method on quartz fibres during the fibre drawing. Durable layers with the thicknesses up to 0.7 m were obtained. The layer smoothness and thickness were determined using electron microprobe analyzer and electron or optical microscopy. In order to investigate a decrease in the strength of sol-gel coated fibres a novel method employing silica capillaries was developed. The fibre strength decrease was explained by the influence of water penetrating as a result of the coating process into the flaws on the fibre surface.     

Interactions between titanium dioxide and phosphatidyl serine-containing liposomes: formation and patterning of supported phospholipid bilayers on the surface of a medically relevant material

Titanium is widely used in biomedical applications. Its mechanical properties and biocompatibility, conferred by a layer of oxide present on its surface, make titanium the material of choice for various implants (artificial hip and knee joints, dental prosthetics, vascular stents, heart valves). Furthermore, the high refractive index of titanium oxide is advantageous in biosensor applications based on optical detection methods. In both of the above fields of application, novel surface modification strategies leading to biointeractive interfaces (that trigger specific responses in biological systems) are continuously sought. In this report, we investigate the interactions between TiO2 and phosphatidyl serine-containing liposomes, present a novel approach for preparing supported phospholipid bilayers (SPBs) of various compositions on TiO2, and use the unique ability of liposomes to distinguish between different surfaces to create SPB corrals on SiO2/TiO2 structured substrates. These results represent an important first step toward the design of biointeractive interfaces on titanium oxide surfaces that are based on a cell membrane-like environment.     

Determination of ceftriaxone in cerebrospinal fluid by ion-pair liquid chromatography

An ion-pair liquid chromatographic assay was developed and validated for the determination of ceftriaxone in cerebrospinal fluid. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a C18 column (125 x 4 mm, 5 microm) with detection at 270 nm, a 1 mL/min flow rate and a 50 microL loop. The mobile phase consisted of 300 mL acetonitrile, 50 mL 0.1M phosphate buffer (pH 7.4), 3.2 g tetrabutylammonium bromide as the ion-pairing agent, and dilution with distilled deionized water to 1 L. Cephradine was used as the internal standard. The assay was linear for ceftriaxone concentrations of 0.5-50 microg/mL. The coefficients of variation for precision were <4.61%. The accuracy ranged from 96.07 to 102.42%. The detection and quantitation limits were 0.019 and 0.065 microg/mL, respectively. This method was used to quantify ceftriaxone in the cerebrospinal fluid of children with meningitis. The results showed that the method described here is useful for the determination of ceftriaxone in cerebrospinal fluid.