[Functionality and seniors: where are we and where should we be going?Funcionalidade e pessoas idosas: onde estamos e para onde devemos ir?].

The process of population aging will lead to an increase in health problems in older people, mainly related to their functionality. Accordingly, the countries of the Region of the Americas must begin to act to meet this challenge. One of the fundamental tasks involves the ability to measure and monitor functionality in the population.

Microfluidic "thin chips" for chemical separations.

This paper describes the design, development and application of microfluidic "thin chips" fabricated from PDMS. Thin chips consist of multiple layers of PDMS chemically bonded onto each other. Unlike thicker PDMS chips that suffer from lack of sensitivity due to PDMS absorption in the VIS and UV range, the thinness of these chips allows for the detection of chromophoric species within the microchannel via an external fiber optics detection system.

Chemometrical examination of active parameters and interactions in flow injection-capillary electrophoresis.

The first detailed examination of flow injection-capillary electrophoresis (FI-CE) active parameters and their interactions via response surface methodology (RSM) is presented. Specifically, RSM in the form of a Box-Behnken design was implemented to effectively predict the significance of capillary length, voltage and injection volume on the optimization of an in-house built FI-CE analyzer. Initial studies were performed assessing peak height and peak shape of the model compound N,N-dimethylformamide.

Recent advances in affinity capillary electrophoresis (2007).

Papers detailing the use of affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE) in examining binding parameters between biological species are summarized in this review. The works cited in this review were published during 2007 and were drawn from the major chemical and biochemical journals and especially the major analytical chemistry literature.