Structure of water incorporated in sulfobetaine polymer films as studied by ATR-FTIR

The structure and hydrogen bonding of water in the vicinity of a thin film of a sulfobetaine copolymer (poly[(N,N-dimethyl-N-(3-sulfopropyl)-3'-methacrylamidopropanaminium inner salt)-ran-(butyl methacrylate)], poly(SPB-r-BMA)), were analyzed with band shapes of O-H stretching of attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectra. The copolymer could be cast as a thin film, of approximate thickness 10 microm, on a ZnSe crystal for the ATR-IR spectroscopy. At an early stage of sorption of water into the polymer film, the O-H stretching band of the IR spectra for the water incorporated in the film was similar to that for free water. This is consistent with the tendency for another zwitterionic polymeric material, poly[(2-methacryloyloxyethylphosphorylcholine)-ran-(butyl methacrylate)] (poly(MPC-r-BMA). It is, however, contradictory to the drastic change in the O-H stretching band for water incorporated into films of polymers such as poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly(butyl methacrylate). These results suggest that polymers with a zwitterionic structure do not significantly disturb the hydrogen bonding between water molecules incorporated in the thin films. The investigation into the blood-compatibility of both the poly(SPB-r-BMA) and the poly(MPC-r-BMA) films indicate a definite correlation between the blood-compatibility of the polymers and the lack of effect of the polymeric materials on the structure of the incorporated water.     

Potential antidiabetic molecule involving a new chromium(III) complex of dipicolinic and metformin as a counter ion: Synthesis,structure, spectroscopy,and bioactivity in mice

The chromium(III) complex, Cr(C₇H₃NO₄)₂·C₄H₁₂N₅ (1), was synthesised by chelating chromium with dipicolinic (H₂dipic) in methanol, and its structure was characterised using elemental analysis (EA), spectroscopy (infrared, UV–visible, and fluorescence) and single-crystal X-ray method. The density functional theoretical (DFT) computation was performed using the Gaussian 09 package. The stability of solution at different temperatures and pH values, the electrochemical, morphological and thermal properties of complex 1 were discussed. The preliminary bioactivities of complex 1 in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) mice were investigated using daily oral gavage for 12 weeks. The cytotoxicity was assessed using the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assays, and the acute toxicity experiment test was carried out on healthy C57BL/6 mice with this complex. The complex 1 crystallised in the monoclinic system with the space group P2(1)/n, R₁ = 0.0642. The DFT-optimised structure of complex 1 was in excellent agreement with the X-ray crystal structure. The complex 1 exhibited good physical and chemical properties and beneficial function on blood glucose and lipid metabolism for T2DM. The antidiabetic activity of chromium(III) might be associated with chromium(VI). Furthermore, the cytotoxicity and the acute toxicity experiments showed that the complex 1 was hypotonic and secure to organism. The study of complex 1 showed that the prepared complex on the basis of H₂dipic and Met could inhibit hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia in vivo and did not have potential toxicity. These results demonstrated that the complex 1 might provide an important reference for the development of functional hypoglycaemic foods or pharmaceuticals of T2DM.     

Induction and suppression of cell lysis in an electrokinetic microfluidic system

The ability to strategically induce or suppress cell lysis is critical for many cellular-level diagnostic and therapeutic applications conducted within electrokinetic microfluidic platforms. The chemical and structural integrity of sub-cellular components is important when inducing cell lysis. However, metal electrodes and electrolytes participate in undesirable electrochemical reactions that alter solution composition and potentially damage protein, RNA, and DNA integrity within device microenvironments. For many biomedical applications, cell viability must be maintained even when device-imposed cell-stressing stimuli (e.g., electrochemical reaction byproducts) are present. In this work, we explored a novel and tunable method to accurately induce or suppress device-imposed artifacts on human red blood cell (RBC) lysis in non-uniform AC electric fields. For precise tunability, a dielectric hafnium oxide (HfO₂) layer was used to prevent electron transfer between the electrodes and the electric double layer and thus reduce harmful electrochemical reactions. Additionally, a low concentration of Triton X-100 surfactant was explored as a tool to stabilize cell membrane integrity. The extent of hemolysis was studied as a function of time, electrode configuration (T-shaped and star-shaped), cell position, applied non-uniform AC electric field, with uncoated and HfO₂ coated electrodes (50 nm), and absence and presence of Triton X-100 (70 µM). Tangible outcomes include a parametric analysis relying upon literature and this work to design, tune, and operate electrokinetic microdevices to intentionally induce or suppress cellular lysis without altering intracellular components. Implications are that devices can be engineered to leverage or minimize device-imposed biological artefacts extending the versatility and utility of electrokinetic diagnostics.     

Poly(aquachlorobis(1,10–phenanthroline)copper(II)iodidemonohydrate)/GCE for simultaneous determination of caffeine and theophylline in human serum,tea, and tablet samples

This paper presents metal complex based polymer film modified electrode for simultaneous determination of caffeine, and theophylline. Potentiodynamic fabrication of poly(aquachlorobis(1,10– phenanthroline)copper(II)iodidemonohydrate) modified glassy carbon electrode (poly(ACP₂CuIH)/GCE) was verified using cyclic voltammetric and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic techniques. In contrast to the unmodified glassy carbon electrode, the poly(ACP₂CuIH)/GCE in equi-molar mixture of theophylline and caffeine revealed sufficiently separated oxidative peaks with much enhanced peak current showing electrocatalytic property of the polymer film towards the oxidation of theophylline and caffeine. Under optimized solution pH and square wave voltammetric parameters, oxidative peak current response of poly(ACP₂CuIH)/GCE showed linear dependence on the concentration of caffeine and theophylline in the concentration range 1.0–200.0 µM with limit of detection 8.92 × 10^-3 µM for theophylline, and 1.02 × 10^{-2 µ}M for caffeine. Spike recovery in the range 97.0-102.4% for theophylline, and 95.4-100.0% for caffeine, interference recovery in the range 96.0–101.0% for theophylline, and 95.7–104.3% for caffeine, agreement of the detected amounts of theophylline and caffeine in tablet samples with the nominal values, and stability of the modified electrode all validated the developed method for simultaneous determination of theophylline and caffeine in wide range of real samples. The method was applied for simultaneous determination of both theophylline and caffeine in three tea brands (Black lion, Addis, and Wush wush), pharmaceutical tablet brands (Panadol extra, and Theodrine), and human blood serum samples making the method an excellent candidate.     

Global Attractivity of Positive Periodic Solutions for a Survival Model of Red Blood Cells

In this paper, we deal with a model for the survival of red blood cells with periodic coefficients x＇（g）=-μ（t）x（t）＋P（t）e^-γ（t）x（t-τ（t））,t≥0.（＊）A new sufficient condition for global attractivity of positive periodic solutions of Eq. （＊） is obtained. Our criterion improves corresponding result obtained by Li and Wang in 2005.     

Optimization of direct whole blood PCR amplification with applications on a static thermostat chip

In this paper, direct whole blood PCR amplifications on a static chip thermostat without sample purifications are demonstrated; in these amplifications, problems such as cross-interferences and contaminations could be avoided. The amplification conditions, such as the compositions of reagents and thermal programs, were investigated systematically by a GeneAmp PCR system with a native p53 gene segment (about543 bp) of human genome and an exterior lambda DNA segment (about 500 bp) as targets. Direct amplifications of p53 and K-ras (about 157 bp) gene segments from 0.5 μL blood samples were successfully demonstrated by a static PCR chip with an indium tin oxide glass substrate. The chip thermostat has a typical size of 25 mm × 25 mm, and a polyethylene tube was used as the PCR vial on the glass surface of the chip. Fuzzy proportional integration–differentiation algorithms were adopted in temperature controls of the chip with an aid of a micro-Pt100 sensor. In the direct PCR with the thermostat chip, the whole process only involves automatic thermal programs. This work demonstrated that a chip PCR for field test without desktop facilities is possible either for a point of care test or for forensic analysis. Figure Photo of the glass static thermostat chip with 2 PCR reaction vials Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Determination of total and oxidized glutathione in human whole blood with a sequential injection analysis system

This work reports the development of a simple, robust, automated sequential injection analysis (SIA) system for the enzymatic determination of total (tGSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione in human whole blood. The reduced (GSH) glutathione concentration is then obtained as the difference between the tGSH and GSSG concentrations. The determination was based on the DTNB–GSSG reductase recycling assay, which couples the specificity of the GSSG reductase (GR) with an amplification of the response to glutathione, followed by spectrophotometric detection of the 2-nitro-5-thiobenzoic acid (TNB) formed (λ = 412 nm). The implementation of this reaction in a SIA flow system with an in-line dilution strategy permitted the necessary distinct application ranges for tGSH and for GSSG. It also guaranteed the exact timing of fluidic manipulations and precise control of the reaction conditions.

The influence of parameters such as reagents concentration, temperature, pH, flow rate of the carrier buffer solution, as well as reaction coil length, etc., on the sensitivity and performance of the SIA system were studied and the optimum reaction conditions subsequently selected. Linear calibration plots were obtained for GSH and GSSG concentrations up to 3.00 and 1.50 μM, with detection limits of 0.031 and 0.014 μM, respectively. The developed methodology showed good precision, with a relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) < 5.0% (n = 10) for determination of both glutathione forms. Statistical evaluation showed good compliance, for a 95% confidence level, between the results obtained with the SIA system and those furnished by the comparison batch procedure.     

Bovine red blood cell starvation age discrimination through a glutaraldehyde-amplified dielectrophoretic approach with buffer selection and membrane cross-linking

We report a novel buffer electric and dielectric relaxation time tuning technique, coupled with a glutaraldehyde (Glt.) cross-linking cell fixation reaction that allows for sensitive dielectrophoretic analysis and discrimination of bovine red blood cells of different starvation age. Guided by a single-shell oblate spheroid model, a zwitterion buffer composition is selected to ensure that two measurable crossover frequencies (cof's) near 500 kHz exist for dielectrophoresis (DEP) within a small range of each other. It is shown that the low cof is sensitive to changes in the cell membrane dielectric constant, in which cross-linking by Glt. reduces the dielectric constant of the cell membrane from 10.5 to 3.8, while the high cof is sensitive to cell cytoplasm conductivity changes. We speculate that this enhanced particle polarizability that results from the cross-linking reaction is because younger (reduced starvation time) cells possess more amino groups that the reaction can release to enhance the cell interior ionic strength. Such sensitive discrimination of cells with different age (surface protein density) by DEP is not possible without the zwitterion buffer and cleavage by Glt. treatment. It is then expected that rapid identification and sorting of healthy from diseased cells can be similarly sensitized.     

Separation mixed semen of two individuals using magnetic beads coupled ABH blood group antibody

In sexual assault cases, one of the most common samples collected is a mixed semen stain, which is often found on the vagina, female underwear, or bed sheets. However, it is usually difficult to identify the perpetrator based on this sample alone. One technique that has been developed to address this issue is magnetic bead-based separation. This method involves using modified magnetic microspheres to capture and enrich specific target cells, in this case, sperm cells. In this study, we utilized magnetic beads coupled with ABH blood group antibody to isolate sperm cells from an individual of a single ABO blood type. Subsequently, polymerase chain reaction amplification and capillary electrophoresis were employed to perform the genotyping the short tandem repeat (STR) loci. This approach allows for the identification of different individuals in a mixed seminal stain sample from two individuals, by first separating sperm cells based on ABH antigen differences and subsequently utilizing autosomal STR typing on the enriched single blood group cells.