Molecular imprinting technology (MIT) concerns formation of selective sites in a polymer matrix with the memory of a template. Recently, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have aroused extensive attention and been widely applied in many fields, such as solid-phase extraction, chemical sensors and artificial antibodies owing to their desired selectivity, physical robustness, thermal stability, as well as low cost and easy preparation. With the rapid development of MIT as a research hotspot, it faces a number of challenges, involving biological macromolecule imprinting, heterogeneous binding sites, template leakage, incompatibility with aqueous media, low binding capacity and slow mass transfer, which restricts its applications in various aspects. This critical review briefly reviews the current status of MIT, particular emphasis on significant progresses of novel imprinting methods, some challenges and effective strategies for MIT, and highlighted applications of MIPs. Finally, some significant attempts in further developing MIT are also proposed (236 references).

http://ir.yic.ac.cn/bitstream/133337/4853/1/Recent%20advances%20in%20molecular%20imprinting%20technology%20current%20status%2c%20challenges%20and%20highlighted%20applications.pdf

Recent advances in molecular imprinting technology: current status, challenges and highlighted applications

Over the past century, hydrogels have emerged as effective materials for an immense variety of applications. The unique network structure of hydrogels enables very high levels of hydrophilicity and biocompatibility, while at the same time exhibiting the soft physical properties associated with living tissue, making them ideal biomaterials. Stimulus-responsive hydrogels have been especially impactful, allowing for unprecedented levels of control over material properties in response to external cues. This enhanced control has enabled groundbreaking advances in healthcare, allowing for more effective treatment of a vast array of diseases and improved approaches for tissue engineering and wound healing. In this extensive review, we identify and discuss the multitude of response modalities that have been developed, including temperature, pH, chemical, light, electro, and shear-sensitive hydrogels. We discuss the theoretical analysis of hydrogel properties and the mechanisms used to create these responses, highlighting both the pioneering and most recent work in all of these fields. Finally, we review the many current and proposed applications of these hydrogels in medicine and industry.

/pdf/stimulus-responsive-hydrogels-theory-modern-advances-and-20f2g2ofnl.pdf

Stimulus-responsive hydrogels: Theory, modern advances, and applications

This review covers advances in electrochemical and biochemical sensor development and usage during 2010 and 2011 In choosing scholarly articles to contribute to this review, special emphasis was placed on work published in the areas of reference electrodes, potentiometric sensors, voltammetric sensors, amperometric sensors, biosensors, immunosensors, and mass sensors In the past two years there have been a number of important papers, that do not fall into the general subsections contained within the larger sections Such novel advances are very important for the field of electrochemical sensors as they open up new avenues and methods for future research Each section above contains a subsection titled “Other Papers of Interest” that includes such articles and describes their importance to the field in general For example, while most electrochemical techniques for sensing analytes of interest are based on the changes in potential or current, Shan et al1 have developed a completely novel method for performing electrochemical measurements In their work, they report a method for imaging local electrochemical current using the optical signal of the electrode surface generated from a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) The electrochemical current image is based on the fact that the current density can be easily calculated from the local SPR signal The authors demonstrated this concept by imaging traces of TNT on a fingerprint on a gold substrate

Full articles and reviews were primarily amassed by searching the SciFinder Scholar and ISI Web of Knowledge Additional articles were found through alternate databases or by perusing analytical journals for pertinent publications Due to the reference limitation, only publications written in English were considered for inclusion Obviously, there have been more published accounts of groundbreaking work with electrochemical and biochemical sensors than those covered here This review is a small sampling of the available literature and not intended to cover every advance of the past two years The literature chosen focuses on new trends in materials, techniques, and clinically relevant applications of novel sensors To ensure proper coverage of these trends, theoretical publications and applications of previously reported sensor development were excluded

We want to remind our readers that this review is not intended to provide comprehensive coverage of electrochemical sensor development, but rather to provide a glimpse of the available depth of knowledge published in the past two years This review is meant to focus on novel methods and materials, with a particular focus on the increasing use of graphene sheets for sensor material development For readers seeking more information on the general principles behind electrochemical sensors and electrochemical methods, we recommend other sources with a broader scope2, 3 Electrochemical sensor research is continually providing new insights into a variety of fields and providing a breadth of relevant literature that is worthy of inclusion in this review Unfortunately, it is impossible to cover each publication and unintentional oversights are inevitable We sincerely apologize to the authors of electrochemical and biochemical sensor publications that were inadvertently overlooked

Electrochemical Sensors and Biosensors

Herein, we present a survey of the literature covering the development of molecular imprinting science and technology over the years 2004-2011. In total, 3779 references to the original papers, rev ...

Molecular imprinting science and technology: a survey of the literature for the years 2004-2011.

Recent advances in recognition elements of food and environmental biosensors: a review

A new molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based electrochemical sensor for monitoring 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in natural waters and soil samples.

All pharmaceutical drugs, vaccines, cosmetic products, and many medical breakthroughs must first be approved through clinical research and trials before advancing to standard practice or entering the marketplace. Clinical trials are sets of tests that are required to determine the safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical compounds, drugs, and treatments. There is one pre-phase and four main clinical phase requirements that every drug must pass to obtain final approval. Analytical techniques play a unique role in clinical trials for measuring the concentrations of pharmaceutical compounds in biological matrices and monitoring the conditions of patients (or volunteers) during various clinical phases. This review focuses on recent analytical methods that are employed to determine the concentrations of drugs and medications in biological matrices, including whole blood, plasma, urine, and breast milk. Four primary analytical techniques (extraction, spectroscopy, chromatography, and electrochemical) are discussed, and their advantages and limitations are assessed. Subsequent to a survey of evidence and results, it is clear that microelectromechanical system (MEMS) based electrochemical sensor and biosensor technologies exhibit several notable advantages over other analytical methods, and their future prospects are discussed.

/pdf/determination-of-drugs-in-clinical-trials-current-status-and-24mg4w5c.pdf

Babak Tavana

Papers

A new molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based electrochemical sensor for monitoring 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in natural waters and soil samples.

Determination of Drugs in Clinical Trials: Current Status and Outlook