Advances in surface plasmon resonance-based high throughput biochips

This article reviews our recent advances in surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based biochips. It includes four issues, which are the preparation and characterization of high quality gold film, the preparation and characterization of self-assembled monolayer (SAM), dynamics of DNA adsorption on SAMs, and SPRbased microscopies. Numerous topics related to SPR, such as, the modeling of SPR by transmission matrix, effective medium theory, applications of SPR in biology, and SPR-based novel microscopies, are discussed. A novel electrochemical technique, which is extremely useful for the preparation and characterization of high quality SAMs, is also discussed.     

Cupressus sempervirens Essential Oil: Exploring the Antibacterial Multitarget Mechanisms,Chemcomputational Toxicity Prediction,and Safety Assessment in Zebrafish Embryos

Nowadays, increasing interest has recently been given to the exploration of new food preservatives to avoid foodborne outbreaks or food spoilage. Likewise, new compounds that substitute the commonly used synthetic food preservatives are required to restrain the rising problem of microbial resistance. Accordingly, the present study was conducted to examine the chemical composition and the mechanism(s) of action of the Cupressus sempervirens essential oil (CSEO) against Salmonella enterica Typhimuriumand Staphyloccocus aureus. The gas chromatography analysis revealed α-pinene (38.47%) and δ-3-carene (25.14%) are the major components of the CSEO. By using computational methods, such as quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR), we revealed that many CSEO components had no toxic effects. Moreover, findings indicated that α-pinene, δ-3-carene and borneol, a minor compound of CSEO, could inhibit the AcrB-TolC and MepR efflux pump activity of S. enterica Typhimurium and S. aureus, respectively. In addition, our molecular docking predictions indicated the high affinity of these three compounds with active sites of bacterial DNA and RNA polymerases, pointing to plausible impairments of the pathogenic bacteria cell replication processes. As well, the safety profile was developed through the zebrafish model. The in vivo toxicological evaluation of (CSEO) exhibited a concentration-dependent manner, with a lethal concentration (LC₅₀) equal to 6.6 µg/mL.     

Influences of nanoparticles and chain length on thermodynamic and electrical behavior of fluorine liquid crystals

Hydrogen-bonded polar nematic liquid crystal series with the general formula nOBAF (n = 7—12) is studied. The mesomorphic characterization is demonstrated through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy (POM). The complexes with short alkyl chains (n=7, 8) present a wide nematic range and monotropic smectic F mesophase, whereas the longer alkyl chain (n=10—12) analogues show high melting and low clearing mesomorphic liquid crystals. The thermal range of the mesophase and the birefringence increase with chain length decreasing. Furthermore, the effect of the nanoparticles (LiNbO₃) on the thermal and the electrical behavior of 8OBAF are investigated. The presence of LiNbO₃ nanoparticles increases the conductivity and reduces the resistivity of the complex.     

CoFe2O4@SiO2-PA-CC-guanidine nanoparticles: A novel,efficient, and recyclable catalyst for the synthesis of 3,5-disubstituted-2,6-dicyanoaniline derivatives

A new and efficient procedure for the synthesis of 3,5-disubstituted-2,6-dicyanoaniline derivatives by CoFe₂O₄@SiO₂-PA-CC-guanidine magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) was reported. 3,5-Disubstituted-2,6-dicyanoaniline derivatives were synthesized from malononitrile, aldehydes, and β-nitrostyrene derivatives in good yields. MNPs used for the synthesis of aniline derivatives were easy to recover and reuse. The CoFe₂O₄@SiO₂-PA-CC-guanidine MNPs were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and vibration sample magnetometry techniques.     

The effect of oxygen plasma generated by different microwave modes on NdBa2Cu3O6+δ superconductor: structure and IR studies

The effect of longitudinal and transverse modes of oxygen plasma generated by microwave source with frequency 2.45 GHz has been used to characterize polycrystalline samples of NdBa₂Cu₃O_6+δ (Nd-123) high T_c-superconductor. For this purpose we have developed a simple oxidation technique, used by us earlier, to investigate the effect of different modes on the appearance of superconductivity in Nd-123. Our main results show that the mode of microwave plasma and time of exposure can control the local arrangement of oxygen vacancies in CuO_δ basal plane. Samples exposed to the transverse mode reveals a well ordered orthorhombic phase transition while the longitudinal modes caused the samples to have a non-superconducting tetragonal structure for all of the exposure time. The T_c vs. δ curve does not show the typical 60 K plateau corresponding to the ortho-II phase. The IR spectrum show bands at shorter wavelengths which corresponding to the metal oxides.     

Blind source separation for ambulatory sleep recording.

This paper deals with the conception of a new system for sleep staging in ambulatory conditions. Sleep recording is performed by means of five electrodes: two temporal, two frontal and a reference. This configuration enables to avoid the chin area to enhance the quality of the muscular signal and the hair region for patient convenience. The electroencephalopgram (EEG), eletromyogram (EMG), and electrooculogram (EOG) signals are separated using the Independent Component Analysis approach. The system is compared to a standard sleep analysis system using polysomnographic recordings of 14 patients. The overall concordance of 67.2% is achieved between the two systems. Based on the validation results and the computational efficiency we recommend the clinical use of the proposed system in a commercial sleep analysis platform.     

Lipase-catalyzed amidation of carboxylic acid and amines

The amidation reaction is of a very particular interest, especially in the pharmaceutical industry and always requires the activation of the acid with a large excess of reactants. Therefore, a large amount of waste is generated. In order to reduce the environmental impact of such reaction, we have developed enzymatic amidation conditions which are compatible with a wide range of amines and acids, in particular with the biologically relevant lipoic acid. Water is the only by-product generated during this reaction thus a very high atom economy is obtained. In addition, we have shown that the lipase can be recovered and reused several times without a significant loss of activity.     

Synthesis,structures and antimicrobial activities of nickel(II) and zinc(II) diaminomaleonitrile-based complexes

Three Ni(II) and Zn(II) complexes [Ni(L1)], [Ni(L2)], and [Zn(L3)(DMSO)] (L1 = 2,3-bis(2-hydroxybenzylideneimino)-2,3-butenedinitrile, L2 = 2,3-bis(2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylideneimino)-2,3-butenedinitrile, L3 = 2,3-bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthylideneimino)-2,3-butenedinitrile) were obtained in DMSO by one-pot syntheses. The complexes were characterized by physicochemical and spectroscopic methods. Also, their solid-state structures were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The geometries of the Ni(II) and Zn(II) complexes were square planar and square pyramidal, respectively. The complexes were screened in vitro against a fungal species and eight species of bacteria, revealing their antimicrobial activity.     

K2CsYb(PO4)2

The crystal structure of dipotassium caesium ytterbium bis(phosphate) is built up from regular independent PO₄ tetrahedra and YbO₆ octahedra sharing corners and arranged in layers. The structure is, in many respects, similar to that of glaserite.