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Biopolymer-based packaging films were prepared from pectin (PEC) and sodium alginate (SA), with the incorporation of 10 % MCC and different concentrations of geraniol (GER at 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 10.0 %). Rheological properties suggested that film-forming solutions and film-forming emulsions exhibited a shear-thinning or pseudo-plastic non-Newtonian behaviour. The dried films were crosslinked with 2.0 % CaCl 2 . The addition of MCC into PEC/SA film enhanced the TS but reduced it with the impregnation of GER without influencing the EAB and toughness of the film. The water solubility of the films significantly reduced with the rise in the GER levels but enhanced the water vapor and oxygen barrier attributes. TGA demonstrated that incorporating MCC reduced the film's thermal degradation (44.92 % to 28.81 %), but GER had an insignificant influence on the thermal stability. FTIR spectra revealed that hydrogen bond formation was positively linked with the GER addition in the film formulation. X-ray diffractograms showed that prepared films were predominantly amorphous. Antimicrobial studies showed a complete reduction of Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus in 24 h. Overall, the composite film displayed excellent physical and active properties and PEC/SA/MCC/5.0 %GER/CaCl 2 film was considered the best formulation for food packaging applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this paper we report a centrifugal microfluidic "lab-on-a-disc" system for at-line monitoring of human immunoglobulin G (hIgG) in a typical bioprocess environment. The novelty of this device is the combination of a heterogeneous sandwich immunoassay on a serial siphon-enabled microfluidic disc with automated sequential reagent delivery and surface-confined supercritical angle fluorescence (SAF)-based detection. The device, which is compact, easy-to-use and inexpensive, enables rapid detection of hIgG from a bioprocess sample. This was achieved with, an injection moulded SAF lens that was functionalized with aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) using plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) for the immobilization of protein A, and a hybrid integration with a microfluidic disc substrate. Advanced flow control, including the time-sequenced release of on-board liquid reagents, was implemented by serial siphoning with ancillary capillary stops. The concentration of surfactant in each assay reagent was optimized to ensure proper functioning of the siphon-based flow control. The entire automated microfluidic assay process is completed in less than 30 min. The developed prototype system was used to accurately measure industrial bioprocess samples that contained 10 mg mL(-1) of hIgG., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Nanoparticles are increasingly used as diagnostic tools due to the ease with which their surface chemistry, optical and physical properties can be controlled. Molecules, drugs, enzymes and fluorophores can be protected within the particle core or conjugated externally conferring nanoparticle biocompatibility, target specificity or environmental sensitivity. This study details the development and characterisation of stable, bright, dye-doped silica nanoparticles which are surface functionalised with PAMAM dendrimers to enable efficient conjugation to platelet activation-specific antibodies. We present the physical and optical properties and demonstrate colloidal stability. We also provide the first evidence of how NPs can be employed to specifically label human platelets immobilised on a lab-on-a-chip platform. Using a single step protocol, we demonstrate highly specific platelet labelling with the distribution of antibody-conjugated NPs matching that expected for the platelet GPIIb/IIIa receptor. The work highlights the potential of functionalized fluorescent NPs as diagnostic tools for cardiovascular disease., From the Clinical Editor: This study details the development and characterization of PAMAM dendrimer functionalized, stable, and bright dye-doped silica nanoparticles that enable efficient conjugation to platelet activation-specific antibodies. These fluorescent NPs may specifically label human platelets that can be used as diagnostic tools for cardiovascular disease., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This paper describes the fabrication and performance of a range of highly sensitive luminescence-based oxygen sensor films based on the fluorinated sol-gel precursor 3,3,3-trifluoropropyltrimethoxysilane (TFP-TMOS). The oxygen-sensitive ruthenium complex [Ruthenium(II)-tris(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline)] dichloride, [Ru(dpp)(3)](2+) was entrapped in a wide range of ORMOSILs (organically modified silicates) matrices composed of alkyl and TFP-TMOS sol-gel precursors in different relative ratios. The influence of TFP-TMOS on sensor sensitivity, humidity-sensitivity and long-term stability was investigated and performance was compared to that of similar but non-fluorinated films. The optimum limit of detection was found to be 0.002% of oxygen for the propyltriethoxysilane (PTEOS)/TFP-TMOS-derived film compared to 0.09% for PTEOS-derived films reported previously. Photobleaching of the luminescent complex in fluorinated and non-fluorinated matrices was also investigated. It was established that photobleaching was reduced but not eliminated in fluorinated films. All films produced in this study exhibit very good reproducibility, reversibility, enhanced sensitivity, humidity-insensitivity and long-term stability., (2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)