Electrokinetic characterization of hybrid NOA 81-glass microchips: Application to protein microchip electrophoresis with indirect fluorescence detection

A low-cost and straightforward hybrid NOA (Norland optical adhesive) 81-glass microchip electrophoresis device was designed and developed for protein separation using indirect fluorescence detection. This new microchip was first characterized in terms of surface charge density via electroosmotic mobility measurement and stability over time. A systematic determination of the electroosmotic mobility (μ_eo) over a wide pH range (2–10) and at various ionic strengths (20–50 mM) was developed for the first time via the neutral marker approach in an original simple frontal methodology. The evolution of μ_eo was proved consistent with the silanol and thiol functions arising from the glass and the NOA materials, respectively. The repeatability and reproducibility of the measurements on different microchips (RSD < 14%) and within 15 days (less than 5% decrease) were successfully demonstrated. The microchip was then applied for the efficient electrophoretic separation of proteins in a zonal mode coupled with indirect fluorescence detection, which is, to our knowledge, the first proof of concept of capillary zone electrophoresis in this hybrid microsystem.     

Isometric artifacts from polymerase chain reaction-massively parallel sequencing analysis of short tandem repeat loci: An emerging issue from a new technology?

The recent introduction of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-massively parallel sequencing (MPS) technologies in forensics has changed the approach to allelic short tandem repeat (STR) typing because sequencing cloned PCR fragments enables alleles with identical molecular weights to be distinguished based on their nucleotide sequences. Therefore, because PCR fidelity mainly depends on template integrity, new technical issues could arise in the interpretation of the results obtained from the degraded samples. In this work, a set of DNA samples degraded in vitro was used to investigate whether PCR-MPS could generate “isometric drop-ins” (IDIs; i.e., molecular products having the same length as the original allele but with a different nucleotide sequence within the repeated units). The Precision ID GlobalFiler NGS STR panel kit was used to analyze 0.5 and 1 ng of mock samples in duplicate tests (for a total of 16 PCR-MPS analyses). As expected, several well-known PCR artifacts (such as allelic dropout, stutters above the threshold) were scored; 95 IDIs with an average occurrence of 5.9 IDIs per test (min: 1, max: 11) were scored as well. In total, IDIs represented one of the most frequent artifacts. The coverage of these IDIs reached up to 981 reads (median: 239 reads), and the ratios with the coverage of the original allele ranged from 0.069 to 7.285 (median: 0.221). In addition, approximately 5.2% of the IDIs showed coverage higher than that of the original allele. Molecular analysis of these artifacts showed that they were generated in 96.8% of cases through a single nucleotide change event, with the C > T transition being the most frequent (85.7%). Thus, in a forensic evaluation of evidence, IDIs may represent an actual issue, particularly when DNA mixtures need to be interpreted because they could mislead the operator regarding the number of contributors. Overall, the molecular features of the IDIs described in this work, as well as the performance of duplicate tests, may be useful tools for managing this new class of artifacts otherwise not detected by capillary electrophoresis technology.     

高中有机化学教学中提升核心素养并体味科学价值*——以“乙炔的化学性质”为例

介绍了“乙炔的化学性质”的教学设计思路,展现了如何利用创新实验、丰富素材和问题讨论,帮助学生理解有机物性质和结构之间的关系。主要涉及以下几个环节:(1)通过课前自主预习,从乙炔与乙烯的相似性入手,预测乙炔的性质,了解乙炔的实验室制法;(2)结合2个创新分组实验“基于井穴板的微型化气体连续制备和性质检验装置”“利用真空输液瓶、微型样品瓶和注射器的密闭气体微型反应装置”,教师和学生一起巩固了乙炔的实验室制法,验证了预测的化学性质,丰富了对乙炔性质的感性认知,发现了“乙炔不能使酸性K₂Cr₂O₇溶液褪色”的异常现象;(3)从尝试解释异常现象入手,教师和学生一起从键能、加成比例、聚合后主链结构等多个角度探讨了乙炔与乙烯性质和结构的差异,建立起有机物官能团与性质关系的认知模型;(4)通过尝试利用模型解释2000年诺贝尔化学奖“导电高分子”和2017年度国家自然科学成果一等奖“AIE聚集诱导发光材料” 的结构、性质与应用,教师和学生一起提升了对认知模型的理解建构,感悟了科学研究的乐趣,体会化学科学在促进人类文明发展和社会进步中的重要作用。     

“宏观辨识与微观探析”视域下的初中化学教学*——中和反应

在“宏观辨识与微观探析”视域下进行中和反应教学,首先以常规实验为载体,从宏观视角认识中和反应的外在表现,然后以模型、动画为载体,从微观视角了解中和反应的微观过程,再以数字化实验为载体,从宏观与微观相结合的视角理解中和反应的内在本质,最后联系生产生活实际,体验中和反应的应用价值。这样设计,学生能深刻理解中和反应的本质,增进化学学科理解,培养化学学科核心素养。     

Janus 粒子在环境检测领域中的应用

Janus 粒子,也称为阴阳结构粒子或两面性非对称粒子,是指表面上具有两种或两种以上不同化学组成或性质的不对称粒子。目前,Janus 粒子因其独特的结构和功能已经逐渐成为生物医药、催化、材料以及防污等领域中的新型功能材料。在环境检测领域,Janus材料亦因其特殊的光学、磁学及电学性能,为提高检测灵敏度、选择性和稳定性等提供了新的研究方向。基于此,本文主要讨论了Janus材料在环境检测方面的特点、优势和相关应用。最后,本文基于本课题组的研究经验以及工作中所面临的问题,对本领域的发展和未来的研究方向提出了展望,以期对本领域的未来发展提供指导。     

Microwave-assisted synthesis of colorimetric and fluorometric dual-functional hybrid carbon nanodots for Fe3+ detection and bioimaging

Carbon nanodots (CDs) based fluorescent nanoprobes have recently drawn much attention in chemo-/bio-sensing and bioimaging. However, it is still challenging to integrate the colorimetric and fluorometric dual readouts into a single CD. Herein, novel hybrid CDs (HCDs) are prepared by a simple microwave-assisted reaction of citric acid (CA), branched polyethyleneimine (BPEI) and potassium thiocyanate (KSCN). As-prepared HCDs show extraordinary properties, including excitation-dependent emission, satisfactory fluorescence quantum yield (46.8%), excellent biocompatibility and optical stability. Significantly, the fluorescence intensity at 450 nm exhibits linear correlation over the Fe³⁺ concentration from 1 μmol/L to 150 μmol/L with a detection limit (LOD) of 52 nmol/L. Meanwhile, the solution color changes from colorless to orange, and the absorbance at 460 nm increased linearly with Fe³⁺ concentration ranging from 0.02 mmol/L to 5 mmol/L (LOD: 3.4 μmol/L). All the evidence illustrates that the HCDs can be conditioned for specific Fe³⁺ sensing with colorimetric and fluorometric dual readouts, which has also been verified with paper-based microchips. The possible mechanism is attributed to the specific interactions between surface functional groups on the HCDs and Fe³⁺. Additionally, the HCDs are successfully applied in sensing Fe³⁺ in wastewater and living cells, demonstrating its potential applications in future environment monitoring and disease diagnosis.     

Hardness and slip systems of orthorhombic hen egg-white lysozyme crystals

Hardness and slip systems by an indentation method were investigated on different habit planes of orthorhombic hen egg-white lysozyme (O-HEWL) crystals containing water. A dependence of the hardness on the water-evaporation time exhibits three stages as incubation, transition and saturated ones, as tetragonal (T)-HEWL crystals reported previously. The hardness values of (1 1 0), (0 1 0) and (0 1 1) habit planes of O-HEWL in the incubation stage or wet condition exhibits 6, 8 and 10 MPa, respectively. The hardness depends on indented planes but it is independent of the air-humidity and crystal volumes. These values correspond to the intrinsic hardness for O-HEWL crystals containing water. In the incubation stage, the slip traces are clearly observed around the indentation mark and the corresponding six kinds of slip systems are identified to be {0 1 1}<1 0 0>, {1 1 0}<1 1 0>, {0 1 1}<0 1 1>, {1 1 0}<0 0 1>, {1 0 0}<0 0 1> and {0 1 0}<0 0 1>.     

Microalgae separation by inertia-enhanced pinched flow fractionation

To improve the accuracy and efficiency of ships’ ballast water detection, the separation of microalgae according to size is significant. In this article, a method to separate microalgae based on inertia-enhanced pinched flow fractionation (iPFF) was reported. The method utilized the inertial lift force induced by flow to separate microalgae according to size continuously. The experimental results show that, as the Reynolds number increases, the separation effect becomes better at first, but then stays unchanged. The best separation effect can be obtained when the Reynolds number is 12.3. In addition, with the increase of the flow rate ratio between sheath fluid and microalgae mixture, the separation effect becomes better and the best separation effect can be obtained when the flow rate ratio reaches 10. In this case, the recovery rate of Tetraselmis sp. is about 90%, and the purity is about 86%; the recovery rate of Chlorella sp. is as high as 99%, and the purity is about 99%. After that, the separation effect keeps getting better but very slowly. In general, this study provides a simple method for the separation of microalgae with different sizes, and lays a foundation for the accurate detection of microalgae in the ballast water.