Decellularized Spinach Biomaterials Support Physiologically Relevant Mechanical Cyclic Strain and Prompt a Stretch-Induced Cellular Response.

Recently, decellularized plant biomaterials have been explored for their use as tissue engineered substitutes. Herein, we expanded upon the investigation of the mechanical properties of these materials to explore their elasticity as many anatomical areas of the body require biomechanical dynamism. We first constructed a device to secure the scaffold and induce a strain within the physiological range of the normal human adult lung during breathing (12-20 movements/min; 10-20% elongation).

Application of prediction intervals to the interpretation of the robustness study of a UHPLC method for the separation of cannabinoids.

Design of Experiments (DoE) is a well-established tool used for analytical methods robustness studies, because of its ability to assess the effect of a great number of factors in a minimal number of experiments. However, when assessing the robustness of an analytical method the analysis of the individual effect of each factor is not sufficient on its own. Some factors may not influence the robustness of the method, but their effect combined with the effects of other factors may have a significant contribution on the robustness of the method, which is not given by conventional analysis of DoE results.

Sub/supercritical fluid chromatography versus liquid chromatography for peptide analysis.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography (UHPSFC) for peptide analysis by comparing its analytical performance to several chromatographic approaches based on reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC), hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) and mixed-mode liquid chromatography. First, the retention behavior of synthetic peptides with 3 to 30 amino acids and different isoelectric points (acid, neutral, and basic) was evaluated. For all the tested conditions (13 peptides in 8 conditions), only 4 results were not exploitable (not retained or not eluted), confirming that all the tested chromatographic conditions can be successfully applied when analyzing a wide range of diverse peptides.

Novel water treatment system in a low-resource community.

This paper evaluates the performance of a low-cost technology in rural Benin (West Africa) that locally produces chlorine (sodium hypochlorite) and then injects it into the community water tanks. Thirty-one water tanks were selected in cooperation with local authorities to receive electro-chlorinator devices (WATA™). Water samples were tested at two points: before chlorination and at the most distant terminal after chlorination.

Interlaboratory study of a supercritical fluid chromatography method for the determination of pharmaceutical impurities: Evaluation of multi-systems reproducibility.

Modern supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is now a well-established technique, especially in the field of pharmaceutical analysis. We recently demonstrated the transferability and the reproducibility of a SFC-UV method for pharmaceutical impurities by means of an inter-laboratory study. However, as this study involved only one brand of SFC instrumentation (Waters®), the present study extends the purpose to multi-instrumentation evaluation.