Potential risk of gestational diabetes mellitus in females undergoing in vitro fertilization: a pilot study.

Background: Most of the cases of hyperglycemia during pregnancy are attributed to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) (75-90%). Women diagnosed with GDM are at an increased risk for complications during pregnancy and delivery. This observational prospective study aimed to investigate the potential risk of GDM among Egyptian females following in vitro fertilization (IVF) pregnancies compared to spontaneous pregnancies (SC).

Photonic crystal backbone for light trapping inside an ultrathin, low absorbing layer.

A few tens of nanometre thick ultrathin materials may suffer from a very low absorption at their band edges. In this work, we investigate a photonic crystal (PC) made of a lowcost, transparent patterned silicon nitride (SiN) layer, conformally covered with an ultrathin active layer (e.g.

Solid wetting-layers in inorganic nano-reactors: the water in imogolite nanotube case.

By combined use of wide-angle X-ray scattering, thermo-gravimetric analysis, inelastic neutron scattering, density functional theory and density functional theory molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the structure, dynamics and stability of the water wetting-layer in single-walled aluminogermanate imogolite nanotubes (SW Ge-INTs): an archetypal system for synthetically controllable and monodisperse nano-reactors. We demonstrate that the water wetting-layer is strongly bound and solid-like up to 300 K under atmospheric pressure, with dynamics markedly different from that of bulk water. Atomic-scale characterisation of the wetting-layer reveals organisation of the HO molecules in a curved triangular sublattice stabilised by the formation of three H-bonds to the nanotube's inner surface, with covalent interactions sufficiently strong to promote energetically favourable decoupling of the HO molecules in the adlayer.

Nanostructured Fe,Co-Codoped MoO₃ Thin Films.

Molybdenum oxide (MoO₃) and Fe,Co-codoped MoO₃ thin films obtained by spray pyrolysis have been in-depth investigated to understand the effect of Co and Fe codoping on MoO₃ thin films. The effect of Fe and Co on the structural, morphological and optical properties of MoO₃ thin films have been studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), optical and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, and electropyroelectric methods. The XRD patterns demonstrated the formation of orthorhombic α-MoO₃ by spray pyrolysis.

Structural resolution of inorganic nanotubes with complex stoichiometry.

Determination of the atomic structure of inorganic single-walled nanotubes with complex stoichiometry remains elusive due to the too many atomic coordinates to be fitted with respect to X-ray diffractograms inherently exhibiting rather broad features. Here we introduce a methodology to reduce the number of fitted variables and enable resolution of the atomic structure for inorganic nanotubes with complex stoichiometry. We apply it to recently synthesized methylated aluminosilicate and aluminogermanate imogolite nanotubes of nominal composition (OH)AlOSi(Ge)CH.

On-plate enzyme and inhibition assay of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase using thin-layer chromatography.

We performed on-plate enzyme and inhibition assays of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase using thin-layer chromatography. The assays were accomplished based on different retardation factors of the substrates, enzyme, and products. All the necessary steps were integrated on-plate in one developing process, including substrate/enzyme mixing, reaction starting, and quenching as well as product separation.

Enhancing separation in short-capillary electrophoresis via pressure-driven backflow.

We present a novel easy-to-operate and efficient method to improve the separation efficiency in short-capillary electrophoresis by introducing steady backflow to counterbalance electro-osmotic flow without the use of any external pressure. The backflow was easily generated by tapering the capillary end, which was achieved by heating a straight capillary and stretching it with a constant force. We investigated the net fluidic transport rate under different tip lengths and separation voltages.

Efficient capillary electrophoresis separation and determination of free amino acids in beer samples.

Simultaneous detection of various o-phthalaldehyde (OPA)-labeled amino acids (AAs) in food samples was reported based on CE separation. Ionic liquid was used for the first time for CE analysis of AAs with in-capillary derivatization. Several other additives, including SDS, α/β-CD, and ACN, as well as key parameters for CE separation (buffer pH value, separation voltage), were also investigated.