Sample Consumption Research Articles

Magnetic Particle Spray Mass Spectrometry.

In this work, the concept of magnetic particle spray mass spectrometry (MPS-MS) is reported for the first time. Magnetic sorbent particles are used to extract the analytes from a liquid sample. The particles are magnetically attracted to the tip of a magnetic probe that is positioned at the entrance of the mass spectrometer. A solvent is dispensed on the particles, and a high voltage promotes the formation of the Taylor cone around the particles agglomerate. Analytes are desorbed by the solvent, ionized, and analyzed by mass spectrometry. MPS-MS is totally in consonance with the green chemistry principle. A minimal consumption of sample (100 μL), solvent (34 μL), and magnetic sorbent (500 μg) is needed per analysis for an excellent performance of MPS-MS in terms of sensitivity and selectivity. The determination of amitriptyline, citalopram, clomipramine, chlorpromazine, doxepin, haloperidol, nortriptyline, and venlafaxine in human plasma samples using magnetic restricted-access carbon nanotubes was carried out as a proof of principle. Limits of quantification of 10 μg L-1 and correlation coefficients higher than 0.98 were obtained for all of the analytes. Limits of detection ranged from 0.43 to 2.82 μg L-1. Precision (as relative standard deviation) and accuracies (as relative error) ranged from 3.6 to 23.6%, as well as -12.8 to 18.7%, respectively. MPS-MS opens a new line of developments in the association of sample preparation with ambient ionization. New sorbents, device configurations, and physical and chemical conditions can also be analyzed for the analysis of many other analytes in different samples.

Simultaneous and on-line detection of organic and heavy metal components in water using a novel nebulization-assisted injection plasma ionization triple quadruple mass spectrometry instrument

BackgroundThe global release of organic and heavy metal components into natural water bodies is a major concern for the environment and human health. The assessment of water quality relies on analyzing organic and heavy metal components qualitatively and quantitatively. Real-time identification of organic and metal components in water systems requires different analytical techniques due to varying measurement requirements. Thus, on-line detecting both organic compounds and heavy metals in ambient water systems simultaneously using a single instrumentation setup presents a significant challenge. ResultsIn this study, an analytical technique of nebulization-assisted injection plasma ionization mass spectrometry (NI-PIMS) was developed. This novel method enables the simultaneous detection of heavy metals and organic compounds in water system with high sensitivity, which has been demonstrated by the limit of quantification (LOQ) values below 1.0 μg/L for the three sterols (Enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and clenbuterol) and three heavy metals (Pb, Ba, and Cd). Moreover, the method was successfully applied to rapidly analyze real water samples from urban and rural areas in China. The analytical results are available in less than 0.5 min, and only a few microliters of sample are required for each analysis. Significance and noveltyAs far as we know, this is the first report of on-line simultaneous analysis of organic compounds and heavy metals in a water system using a single mass spectrometry instrument. Compared to traditional methods, NI-PIMS demonstrates higher efficiency, sensitivity, no or lower sample preparation, and less sample consumption. The advancement and widespread use of this technology are expected to enhance the effectiveness of mass spectrometers, broaden the applications, and play an important role in complex sample analysis in fields such as atmospheric science, environmental science, and earth science.

Cucurbit[7]uril-mediated matrix solid phase dispersion extraction strategy combined capillary electrophoresis for detection of biogenic amines in foods

Biogenic amines (BAs) are the vital indicators of food freshness, and monitoring the change of BAs content is quite essential for food safety. Herein, we developed a matrix solid phase dispersion (MSPD) extraction technology based on cucurbit[7]uril (Q[7]) to extract BAs from pork and shrimp. Then, the extracted BAs were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis (CE) with low sample consumption and high analytical efficiency. The factors affecting MSPD extraction were optimized by Plackett-Burman and the Box-Behnken design (BBD). The limits of detection (LODs) were ranging from 0.003 to 0.019 mg kg−1, the recoveries of spiked samples were 80.15 %–110.3 %. The satisfactory accuracy and precision were attributed to the host–guest interaction between Q[7] and BAs. Furthermore, the freshness of pork and shrimp was evaluated by simultaneous determination of four BAs. For its wide linear range, high sensitivity, and cost-effectiveness, the proposed Q[7] mediated MSPD-CE-UV provides meaningful potential prospects in the rapid monitor of food freshness and safety.

A three-dimensional hierarchical porous graphene aerogel as a fiber coating for headspace solid-phase microextraction: Enhancing the enrichment and detection of polychlorinated naphthalenes in fish

In this study, a novel three-dimensional hierarchical porous deep eutectic solvents-modified graphene aerogel (3D DES-GA) was synthesized for use as a solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber coating. The SPME fiber was characterized by its fluffy and hierarchical porous structure, uniform thickness, and rapid mass transfer capabilities. This fiber demonstrated a lifetime (≥160 uses) and excellent precision (with relative standard deviations of 2.4–6.6% for single fiber and 6.0–9.8% for fiber-to-fiber repeatability). The SPME fiber also exhibited remarkable extraction performance for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls, which are common persistent organic pollutants in environmental samples. When combined with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, the method allowed for high-efficiency extraction (enrichment factors ranging from 1225 to 4652 folds) and sensitive determination (limit of detection ranging from 0.010 to 0.056 pg g−1) of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) in complex samples. To validate this method, we applied it to the determination of four PCNs in five types of fish tissues. The results revealed the presence of 1-chloronaphthalene at concentrations of 7.0 ± 2.9–34.8 ± 2.1 pg g−1 and 1,4-dichloronaphthalene at concentrations of 6.0 ± 0.3–10.9 ± 1.4 pg g−1 in three fish species. Compared with reported sample pretreatment methods reported in the literature, this proposed headspace SPME method offers additional advantages, including simplicity of operation and reduced sample and organic solvent consumption.

Waterborne 2-component polyurethane coatings based on acrylic polyols with secondary alcohols

We report the effects of increasing the molecular weight of a secondary alcohol-based polyol in a two-component waterborne polyurethane (2 K-WB-PUR) formulation. The system consists of an acrylic polyol latex and a water-dispersible polyisocyanate (hmPIC, Basonat HW1000 from BASF). The polyols investigated incorporated hydroxypropyl methacrylate as a comonomer to introduce the secondary –OH groups, in contrast to typical polyols which have primary -OH groups. Three molecular weights of this polyol were prepared (Mn ≈ 5100, Ð = 2.4; 10,300, Ð = 2.7; or 12,900 g/mol, Ð = 3.6) with a uniform Tg (∼20 °C) and hydrodynamic diameter (dh) ≈ 120 nm. The polyol and polyisocyanate were mixed with a molar NCO:OH ratio of 1.3:1. The particle size of the mixed dispersion was monitored by dynamic light scattering. The 5 K sample remained stable in dispersion over 7 days whereas the higher molecular weight formulations flocculated after 1 day. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) measurements revealed that all NCO groups were consumed within 15–23 h for all dispersed samples. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) experiments were carried out on samples in the dispersed state as well as on films formed from these dispersions. Very little molecular level mixing was observed in the dispersed phase for the samples. In the films, a large extent of mixing was observed in the 5 K sample whereas the extents of mixing for the higher molecular weight samples were reduced. The FTIR measurements recorded as the films formed showed that the NCO consumption in the 5 K film (t1/2 = 56 h) was comparable to an analogous 2 K-WB-PUR formulation based on a 5 K primary alcohol from a previous study. Surprisingly, the NCO consumption in the higher molecular weight samples was faster (t1/2 = 31, 32 h). We found that the composition of the resulting films formed from higher molecular weight polyols contained a greater relative ratio of polyurea to polyurethane.

Abstract 2291: Bravo automation of Agilent Avida targeted enrichment for high-throughput detection of genomic alteration and DNA methylation

Abstract Background: Current genomic and epigenomic profiling of cancer tissue DNA or cfDNA (cell-free DNA) in liquid biopsy relies upon separate, time- and sample-consuming technologies for somatic variant detection or methylation analysis. Here we describe workflow and performance of the Agilent Bravo automated liquid handling platform with the Agilent Avida targeted enrichment solution for next generation sequencing of somatic variants and methylation profiling. This solution can effectively analyze low-input tumor DNA or cfDNA samples. The Avida Duo workflow enables highly sensitive detection of single nucleotide variant (SNV), insertions and deletions (INDEL), copy number variation (CNV) and DNA methylation profiles from a single sample, without any sample splitting. Methods and Results: Panels, reagents, and automated workflows for Avida DNA, Avida Methyl, and Avida Duo Methyl (combined DNA & methylation) kits were developed to accommodate up to 96 samples on the Bravo NGS workstation. The automated solution supports independent single-day workflows for somatic variants or methylation sample preparation. The Avida Duo analysis combines both workflows without sample splitting, streamlining the process and reducing sample consumption. Leveraging a focused cancer hotspot panel, we demonstrate excellent reproducibility and low allele frequency (SNV at sub 1%) variant detection in cfDNA samples and reference standards with as little as 10ng DNA input. We exhibit similar performance with a larger ~300 kb target region tumor profiling panel. Finally, we demonstrate DNA methylation detection in the standalone or combined (“Duo”) workflows across differentially methylated regions (DMRs) with a panel of ~3400 targets. Conclusions: Automation of the Avida targeted enrichment solution with the Bravo NGS workstation enables a sensitive, high-throughput, end-to-end analysis for detection of genomic alterations and DNA methylation changes from a single low-input cfDNA or tumor DNA sample. Citation Format: Ashraf Wahba, Tony Ho, Sarah Johns, Aswati Aravind, Heng Wang, Neelima V. Mehendale, Gilbert P. Amparo, Khine Win, Manuel Gomez, Grace Zhao, Douglas N. Roberts. Bravo automation of Agilent Avida targeted enrichment for high-throughput detection of genomic alteration and DNA methylation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 2291.

Joint forces of mass spectrometric techniques (ICP-MS and MALDI-TOF-MS) and fluorescence spectrometry in the study of platinum-based cytostatic drugs interactions with metallothionein MT2 and MT3

Herby, the interaction of metallothioneins with commonly used Pt-based anticancer drugs – cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin - was investigated using the combined power of elemental (i.e. LA-ICP-MS, CE-ICP-MS) and molecular (i.e. MALDI-TOF-MS) analytical techniques providing not only required information about the interaction, but also the benefit of low sample consumption. The amount of Cd and Pt incorporated within the protein was determined for protein monomers and dimer/oligomers formed by non-oxidative dimerization. Moreover, fluorescence spectrometry using Zn2+-selective fluorescent indicator – FluoZin3 - was employed to monitor the ability of Pt drugs to release natively occurring Zn from the protein molecule. The investigation was carried out using two protein isoforms (i.e. MT2, MT3), and significant differences in behaviour of these two isoforms were observed.The main attention was paid to elucidating whether the protein dimerization/oligomerization may be the reason for the potential failure of the anticancer therapy based on these drugs. Based on the results, it was demonstrated that the interaction of MT2 (both monomers and dimers) interacted with Pt drugs significantly less compared to MT3 (both monomers and dimers). Also, a significant difference between monomeric and dimeric forms (both MT2 and MT3) was not observed. This may suggest that dimer formation is not the key factor leading to the inactivation of Pt drugs.

Elongation and Ligation-Mediated Differential Coding for Label-Free and Locus-Specific Analysis of 8-Oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine in DNA.

Oxidative DNA damage is closely associated with the occurrence of numerous human diseases and cancers. 8-Oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoG) is the most prevalent form of DNA damage, and it has become not only an oxidative stress biomarker but also a new epigenetic-like biomarker. However, few approaches are available for the locus-specific detection of 8-oxoG because of the low abundance of 8-oxoG damage in DNA and the limited sensitivity of existing assays. Herein, we demonstrate the elongation and ligation-mediated differential coding for label-free and locus-specific analysis of 8-oxoG in DNA. This assay is very simple without the involvement of any specific labeled probes, complicated steps, and large sample consumption. The utilization of Bsu DNA polymerase can specifically initiate a single-base extension reaction to incorporate dATP into the opposite position of 8-oxoG, endowing this assay with excellent selectivity. The introduction of cascade amplification reaction significantly enhances the sensitivity. The proposed method can monitor 8-oxoG with a limit of detection of 8.21 × 10-19 M (0.82 aM), and it can identify as low as 0.001% 8-oxoG damage from a complex mixture with excessive undamaged DNAs. This method can be further applied to measure 8-oxoG levels in the genomic DNA of human cells under diverse oxidative stress, holding prospect potential in the dynamic monitoring of critical 8-oxoG sites, early clinical diagnosis, and gene damage-related biomedical research.

Online-Monitoring of the Enantiomeric Ratio in Microfluidic Chip Reactors Using Chiral Selector Ion Vibrational Spectroscopy.

A novel experimental approach for the rapid online monitoring of the enantiomeric ratio of chiral analytes in solution is presented. The charged analyte is transferred to the gas phase by electrospray. Diastereomeric complexes are formed with a volatile chiral selector in a buffer-gas-filled ion guide held at room temperature, mass-selected, and subsequently spectrally differentiated by cryogenic ion trap vibrational spectroscopy. Based on the spectra of the pure complexes in a small diastereomer-specific spectral range, the composition of diastereomeric mixtures is characterized using the cosine similarity score, from which the enantiomeric ratio in the solution is determined. The method is demonstrated for acidified alanine solutions and using three different chiral selectors (2-butanol, 1-phenylethanol, 1-amino-2-propanol). Among these, 2-butanol is the best choice as a selector for protonated alanine, also because the formation ratio of the corresponding diastereomeric complexes is found to be independent of the nature of the enantiomer. Subsequently, a microfluidic chip is implemented to mix enantiomerically pure alanine solutions continuously and determine the enantiomeric ratio online with minimal sample consumption within one minute and with competitive accuracy.

Kinetic detection of hydrogen peroxide in single horseradish peroxidase-concentrated silica particle using confocal fluorescence microspectroscopic measurement

In the present study, we propose a scheme for detecting H2O2 by using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) adsorbed onto single silica particles and fluorescence microspectroscopy. When the silica particles were immersed in an HRP solution, the HRP concentration in the silica particles increased by a factor of 690 compared to that in the bulk aqueous solution because HRP was adsorbed on the silica surface. When a single particle containing HRP was added to a mixed solution of H2O2 and Amplex Red, fluorescence from resorufin, which was produced by the reaction of HRP, H2O2, and Amplex Red, was observed. The fluorescence from the resorufin in the particles increased after a single particle was added to the solution, and the release of resorufin was observed. As the concentration of H2O2 (CH2O2) decreased, the time it takes for fluorescence intensity to reach its maximum was shorter. The detection limit for H2O2 in the present system was 980 nM. The reaction behavior of a single silica particle was evaluated using a spherical diffusion model, which explains the approximate concentration change of resorufin in the silica particle. The proposed method has the advantages of simple sample preparation and detection, low sample consumption, and a short detection time.

High-Throughput Capillary Liquid Chromatography Using a Droplet Injection and Application to Reaction Screening.

The cycle time of a standard liquid chromatography (LC) system is the sum of the time for the chromatographic run and the autosampler injection sequence. Although LC separation times in the 1-10 s range have been demonstrated, injection sequences are commonly >15 s, limiting throughput possible with LC separations. Further, such separations are performed on relatively large bore columns requiring flow rates of ≥5 mL/min, thus generating large volumes of mobile phase waste when used for large scale screening and increasing the difficulty in interfacing to mass spectrometry. Here, a droplet injector system was established that replaces the autosampler with a four-port, two-position valve equipped with a 20 nL internal loop interfaced to a syringe pump and a three-axis positioner to withdraw sample droplets from a well plate. In the system, sample and immiscible fluid are pulled alternately from a well plate into a capillary and then through the injection valve. The valve is actuated when sample fills the loop to allow sequential injection of samples at high throughput. Capillary LC columns with 300 μm inner diameter were used to reduce the consumption of mobile phase and sample. The system achieved 96 separations of 20 nL droplet samples containing 3 components in as little as 8.1 min with 5-s cycle time. This system was coupled to a mass spectrometer through an electrospray ionization source for high-throughput chemical reaction screening.

Kilohertz droplet-on-demand serial femtosecond crystallography at the European XFEL station FXE.

X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) allow the collection of high-quality serial femtosecond crystallography data. The next generation of megahertz superconducting FELs promises to drastically reduce data collection times, enabling the capture of more structures with higher signal-to-noise ratios and facilitating more complex experiments. Currently, gas dynamic virtual nozzles (GDVNs) stand as the sole delivery method capable of best utilizing the repetition rate of megahertz sources for crystallography. However, their substantial sample consumption renders their use impractical for many protein targets in serial crystallography experiments. Here, we present a novel application of a droplet-on-demand injection method, which allowed operation at 47 kHz at the European XFEL (EuXFEL) by tailoring a multi-droplet injection scheme for each macro-pulse. We demonstrate a collection rate of 150 000 indexed patterns per hour. We show that the performance and effective data collection rate are comparable to GDVN, with a sample consumption reduction of two orders of magnitude. We present lysozyme crystallographic data using the Large Pixel Detector at the femtosecond x-ray experiment endstation. Significant improvement of the crystallographic statistics was made by correcting for a systematic drift of the photon energy in the EuXFEL macro-pulse train, which was characterized from indexing the individual frames in the pulse train. This is the highest resolution protein structure collected and reported at the EuXFEL at 1.38 Å resolution.

Hollow-microsphere-integrated optofluidic immunochip for myocardial infarction biomarker microanalysis

This work developed an optofluidic immunochip that uses whispering gallery mode with fiber laser enhancement, for the rapid detection of a key biomarker cardiac troponin I for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The immunochip adopted an innovative design, using perforated hollow glass microspheres (HGMS) as carriers, with antibodies immobilized on the inner surface of the HGMS, thereby achieving ultra-low sample consumption. The performance of the immunochip was improved by fiber laser, including spectral width compression to 0.019 nm, optical signal-to-noise ratio amplification to 63.17 dB, and an enhancement in the limit of detection to 5 pg/mL. Moreover, this immunochip can provide results within 15 minutes, making it highly suitable for early AMI risk management. Compared to the standard electrochemiluminescence detection method, although some differences exist in the results of the immunochip due to the principle of detection and differences in antibody affinity, its positive reference value can be calculated as 0.0754 ng/mL, with a successful recognition rate of 88% for positive patients. The immunosensor is integrated on a polydimethylsiloxane substrate, with a compact size suitable for use in point-of-care devices and AMI self-screening, as well as rapid disease screening and microanalysis of various biomarkers, offering new possibilities for applications in these fields.

Research on the upgrade and maintenance method of apple soluble solids content models

AbstractIn this paper, 3 years (2020, 2021, and 2022) of Bingtangxin apples were used to study the upgrade and maintenance method of apple soluble solids content (SSC) model using near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Modeling by partial least squares (PLS) and one‐dimensional convolutional neural network (1D‐CNN) algorithm. The “base model” is built with apples in 2020 and then upgrade and maintain it. The upgraded model is used to predict the sample in 2021 and 2022. Three methods were used to upgrade and maintenance the model, which are based on updated data, direct correction‐based method, and similar band‐based method. Among the three upgrade methods, the model maintenance method using updated data had the greatest improvement in prediction correlation coefficients (Rp) in both years, and both obtained good predictions. The use of direct correction resulted in the greatest reduction in the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) in both years. However, the Rp of the model is not improved much by using the direct correction method. The model maintenance method using similar bands combined with different modeling methods also gives good prediction results. Finally, after comparison, the model maintenance method of selecting similar bands is preferred. In the case of limited improvement in the effect of using the similar band method, the model is maintained using the method of adding updated data. The investigation of model upgrade and maintenance methods can reduce human and material consumption and make apple SSC models more versatile.Practical applicationsNIR technology is the first choice for online fruit quality inspection, but its inspection process requires constant upgrading and maintenance with models. The quality of apples varies from year to year, and the model built with samples from a single year does not work well in predicting samples from other years, resulting in the need to upgrade and maintain the fruit quality detection model. However, sometimes, although a large amount of experimental material is lost, it still results in a generic calibration model that is too cumbersome and leads to poor prediction results. At this time, finding an effective model upgrade and maintenance method can both reduce the sample consumption and make the model prediction accuracy improve, and also reduce the model complexity and make the maintained model more robust.

Chiral Analysis of Pesticides and Emerging Contaminants by Capillary Electrophoresis-Application to Toxicity Evaluation.

Chiral analysis is a very relevant topic in environmental chemistry. This is due to the different properties of the stereoisomers of chiral compounds. In the case of agrochemicals, the desired activity, degradation rate, or toxicity, among other characteristics, may differ between stereoisomers, and the same is true for emerging contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Therefore, the development of chiral analytical methodologies enabling their determination in samples of environmental interest is paramount. Although other techniques have been widely employed to carry out chiral separations, such as HPLC, GC, and SFC, capillary electrophoresis (CE) has attracted a lot of attention in the field of chiral analysis due to its simplicity, flexibility, and low cost. In fact, chromatographic columns are not needed, and the consumption of reagents and samples is very low due to the small dimensions of the separation capillaries. This article reviews the characteristics of the chiral methodologies developed by CE for the stereoselective analysis of pesticides and emerging contaminants in environmental samples (water and soil), as well as pesticides in food samples and commercial agrochemical formulations. Applications of the developed CE methodologies in stability and toxicity studies of these chiral contaminants are also reviewed.

Baijiu hangover: Correlation analysis between neurobiochemical and behavioral parameters in a mouse model and clinical symptoms

Baijiu, a distilled Chinese spirit, is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages. However, excessive drinking of Baijiu may cause severe hangover symptoms, including headache, reduced appetite, and dizziness. Herein, we aimed to characterize various clinical hangover symptoms induced by binge consumption of Baijiu samples with different post-drinking qualities in a BALB/c mouse model. Baijiu sample with higher concentrations of alcohols and aldehydes resulted in more severe hangovers in population. Mice administered with the low post-drinking quality Baijiu exhibited altered neurobiochemical parameters and impaired motor performance 10 h after gavage dose of 4.3 g ethanol/kg body weight, including decreased brain 5-hydroxytryptamine, sucrose preference, increased serum endothelin and gait ataxia. Correlation analysis further revealed that these mouse indices were strongly correlated with hangover symptoms in population, and profound correlations were observed between mice indicators and Baijiu congeners. These results indicated that assessing these mouse indices at 10 h after administration can effectively discriminate Baijiu with different hangover effects, and high concentrations of congeners, such as alcohols and aldehydes, may be responsible for the varying post-drinking qualities of Baijiu.

The nature of PDMS affects the results of the immunoassays carried out in microfluidic channels

Due to various physical or biochemical processes, the nature of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) could affect the sensitivity and accuracy of immunoassays performed in microfluidic channels. An appropriate PDMS membrane with high adsorption properties and low background noise allows more sensitive detection of biomarkers. Here, we explored the unusual correlation between membrane surface properties and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of immunoassay, developed a microfluidic-based versatile point-of-care (MVP) detection system on PDMS membrane to simultaneously detect multiple vitamins from multiple human serums. Compared with conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Roche electroluminescence method, the MVP detection system exhibits a lower consumption of sample and reagents (10 µL per test), a lower limit of detection (LOD: 6.15 ng/mL), a higher SNR (33.49 dB) and multiplexed ability (seven samples and two targets in one assay). Our MVP detection system can quantitatively detect folic acid (FA) and vitamin D3 (VD3) from human serums and shows good consistency with ELISA and Roche electroluminescence methods. The R square values of FA and VD3 detections are 0.94 and 0.91, respectively. The MVP system is more cost-effective than utilizing conventional methods for a single detection (about 0.04 USD for each target) because of the straightforward design of our detection instruments, their superior anti-interference capabilities, and the low cost of routine instrument maintenance.

Adsorptivity and mechanism investigation for auramine on sugarcane leaf-based activated carbon prepared with Ni(NO3)2/NH4H2PO4 as an activator

Water pollution causes serious harm to aquatic plants and human health, which is an urgent problem in the world. In this paper, sugarcane leaf-based activated carbon (PSLAC and NiPSLAC) was prepared with sugarcane leaves as raw material and NH4H2PO4 and Ni(NO3)2/NH4H2PO4 as activators, respectively, which was applied to the adsorption of auramine in dyeing wastewater. At the same time, the water consumption of the sample preparation process was studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTG), fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) were used to investigate the physicochemical properties of the samples. The water consumption of the NiPSLAC sample during the preparation process was 213.15 mL/g, which was 4.93%, 91.05%, 89.09%, 85.58%, and 54.18% of the NH4H2PO4, NaOH, KOH, K2CO3, and H3PO4 activated samples, respectively. The specific surface area and pore volume of the NiPSLAC sample were 1386.20 m2/g and 1.53 cm3/g, which were 410.57 m2/g and 0.46 cm3/g higher than the PSLAC sample, respectively. Compared with the PSLAC sample, the NiPSLAC sample had a higher graphitization degree and richer surface functional groups. Therefore, the NiPSLAC sample showed a higher adsorption capacity for auramine, reaching 164 mg/g, which was 1.12 times that of PSLAC, and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm model could describe the adsorption process. This study provides a novel and advanced idea for developing a high-quality adsorbent for the removal of dyeing wastewater.

Miniaturized Laser Probe for Exosome-Based Cancer Liquid Biopsy.

Exosomes have been established as a valuable tool for clinical applications for the purpose of liquid biopsy and therapy. However, the clinical practice of exosomes as cancer biopsy markers is still to a very low extent. Active mode optical microcavity with microlaser emission has aroused as a versatile approach for chemical and biological sensing due to its benefits of larger photon population, increased effective Q-factor, decreased line width, and improved sensitivity. Herein, we report a label-free and precise quantification of exosome vesicles and surface protein profiling of breast cancer exosomes using functionalized active whispering gallery mode (WGM) microlaser probes. A detection limit of 40 exosomes per microresonator was achieved. The proposed system enabled a pilot assay of quantitative exosome analysis in cancer patients' blood with only a few microliters of sample consumption, holding good potential for large-scale cancer liquid biopsy. Multiplexed functionalization of the optical microresonator allowed us to profile cancer exosomal surface markers and distinct subclasses of breast cancer-associated exosomes and monitor drug treatment outcomes. Our findings speak volumes about the advantages of the WGM microlaser sensor, including very small sample consumption, low detection limit, high specificity, and ease of operation, offering a promising means for precious clinical sample analysis.

Children’s physiological and behavioural response during the observation, olfaction, manipulation, and consumption of food products with varied textures. Part 2: Solid products

Texture is one of the main attributes that determine food preferences in schoolchildren. While texture acceptance and preference has been widely investigated in this target group, the effect of texture on other aspects of the food behaviour is still lacking. In this regard, one previous study evaluated the emotional response elicited by liquid textures showing that thicker liquids are less liked by schoolchildren and generally evoked a more negative emotional response. The current work was designed to extend the research conducted with liquid textures to solid food products. To achieve these goals, 45 children (5–12 yrs old) evaluated three solid products designed to only vary in texture following four sensory tasks: observation, olfaction, manipulation, and consumption. After each sample was tasted, children rated liking with a 7-pt hedonic scale. Facial expressions and Skin Conductance Response (SCR) were monitored during the test, and they were analysed as action units (AUs) and basic emotions as well as changes in SCR.Results showed that the three texture-modified solids tested were equivalently liked by the children. However, the products induced a significantly different emotional response at both unconscious and conscious level measured through automatic facial coding and SCR. The combined method used in this study showed good discrimination ability among the three samples tested, confirming that facial coding and SCR are suitable methods to measure the behavioural and physiological inherent of emotions in schoolchildren in a broad range of sensory tasks, such as the observation, olfaction, manipulation, and consumption of food samples.