The manipulation of fluids in channels with dimensions of tens of micrometres--microfluidics--has emerged as a distinct new field. Microfluidics has the potential to influence subject areas from chemical synthesis and biological analysis to optics and information technology. But the field is still at an early stage of development. Even as the basic science and technological demonstrations develop, other problems must be addressed: choosing and focusing on initial applications, and developing strategies to complete the cycle of development, including commercialization. The solutions to these problems will require imagination and ingenuity.

The origins and the future of microfluidics

Nanoparticles containing magnetic materials, such as magnetite (Fe3O4), are particularly useful for imaging and separation techniques. As these nanoparticles are generally considered to be biologically and chemically inert, they are typically coated with metal catalysts, antibodies or enzymes to increase their functionality as separation agents. Here, we report that magnetite nanoparticles in fact possess an intrinsic enzyme mimetic activity similar to that found in natural peroxidases, which are widely used to oxidize organic substrates in the treatment of wastewater or as detection tools. Based on this finding, we have developed a novel immunoassay in which antibody-modified magnetite nanoparticles provide three functions: capture, separation and detection. The stability, ease of production and versatility of these nanoparticles makes them a powerful tool for a wide range of potential applications in medicine, biotechnology and environmental chemistry.

Intrinsic peroxidase-like activity of ferromagnetic nanoparticles

http://lovely-physics.persiangig.com/document/DLLME.pdf

Determination of organic compounds in water using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction

For decades, studies of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have challenged traditional concepts in toxicology, in particular the dogma of “the dose makes the poison,” because EDCs can have effects at low doses that are not predicted by effects at higher doses. Here, we review two major concepts in EDC studies: low dose and nonmonotonicity. Low-dose effects were defined by the National Toxicology Program as those that occur in the range of human exposures or effects observed at doses below those used for traditional toxicological studies. We review the mechanistic data for low-dose effects and use a weight-of-evidence approach to analyze five examples from the EDC literature. Additionally, we explore nonmonotonic dose-response curves, defined as a nonlinear relationship between dose and effect where the slope of the curve changes sign somewhere within the range of doses examined. We provide a detailed discussion of the mechanisms responsible for generating these phenomena, plus hundreds of examples from...

/pdf/hormones-and-endocrine-disrupting-chemicals-low-dose-effects-2vn32zoqc8.pdf

Hormones and endocrine-disrupting chemicals: Low-dose effects and nonmonotonic dose responses

Background: Thyroid disease in pregnancy is a common clinical problem. Since the guidelines for the management of these disorders by the American Thyroid Association (ATA) were first published in 2...

https://www.thyca.org/download/document/486/PregnancyandPostpartum.pdf

2017 Guidelines of the American Thyroid Association for the Diagnosis and Management of Thyroid Disease During Pregnancy and the Postpartum

A membrane-discriminated gas phase analyzer is proposed for multicomponent determinations. Nitrogen gas flows countercurrent through outer and inner channels in a tube-in-tube arrangement. The only communication between the two channels occurs through a 500μm aperture covered by a porous PTFE membrane. A mixture of organic compounds (up to four components) is injected into the inner channel by a heated backflushed injector and the sample components diffusing into the outer channel are monitored by a flame ionization detector (FID). A calibration set, consisting of pure components, binary, ternary and quaternary mixtures (a total of 64 samples), provides the known data base: temporal profiles of the FID output as a function of sample composition, Although the overall response behavior is not a linearly additive function of individual analyte concentrations, the use of successive inverse multiple linear regression (while continually altering the choice of the calibration samples considered for the forward regression, on the basis of the most recent values of the predicted unknown sample composition) is shown to yield analytical results for unknown samples that are in good agreement with their true values.

Multicomponent determinations by a membrane‐discriminated gas phase analyzer and successive regression in the fiduciary region

Inexpensive automated electropneumatic syringe dispenser

Electroosmosis-Driven Flow Analysis

Transport of permitted and Donnas-forbidden ions as well as neutral solutes through ion exchange membranes have been investigated in continuous flow-through configurations in the presence and absence of an alternating electrical field (0.05–100 kHz, 0–40 V p-p). There is no discernible effect on the transport rate of forbidden ions and neutral solutes but very significant increases in steady state transmembrane transport occur for permitted ions. At least for cation exchangers, an increase in effective ion exchange capacity also appears to occur in the presence of the field. These effects are ascribed to the greater kinetic energy of the ions exposed to the alternating field and thus to the higher effective thermodynamic temperature the ions experience.

Effects of alternating electric fields on transport through ion exchange membranes

not available for EP0646239Abstract of corresponding document: US5316630A method is described for the normalization and standardization of variabilities of electropherograms obtained with conductometric capillary electrophoresis. The variabilities may be associated with differences in the sample injection volume between two or more runs. Alternatively, the variabilities may be associated with alterations in the electroosmotic flow velocity of two or more runs.

Purnendu K. Dasgupta

Papers

Multicomponent determinations by a membrane‐discriminated gas phase analyzer and successive regression in the fiduciary region

Inexpensive automated electropneumatic syringe dispenser

Electroosmosis-Driven Flow Analysis

Effects of alternating electric fields on transport through ion exchange membranes

Method and apparatus for chromatography analysis