In situ generation of a Zwitterionic fluorescent probe for detection of human serum albumin protein.

In this article, a new approach for human serum albumin selective fluorophore design has been reported. The fluorophore reported here comprises a substituted phenol donor and a cationic benzo[e]indolium acceptor connected with a π bond. Originally, the cationic fluorophore did not bind with human serum albumin. Upon deprotonation of the phenolic-OH by a water molecule the cationic form was transformed into an active zwitterionic form. Spectroscopic studies and theoretical calculations revealed that the new active form remained in a zwitterionic state in neutral aqueous solution, and it formed a strong supramolecular complex with human serum albumin. The spontaneous complexation resulted multi-fold increase of fluorescence intensity which increased linearly with the concentrations of the protein, thus giving an analytical tool to monitor human serum albumin in aqueous samples. We believe, this simple strategy applied on appropriate fluorogenic scaffolds would prove useful to develop new and improved turn-on fluorescent probes for pH regulated biological applications.

Correction to: Clinical and demographic characteristics of primary progressive multiple sclerosis in Argentina: Argentinean registry cohort study (RelevarEM).

The above article was published online with incorrect figure 1.

An Environmental-friendly Procedure Based on Deep Eutectic Solvent for Extraction and Determination of Toxic Elements in Fish Species from Different Regions of Iraq.

In this study, an eco-friendly procedure was established by vortex-assisted liquid-phase microextraction based on deep eutectic solvent (VA-LPME-DES) combined with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GFAAS). The performance of this method was demonstrated by the extraction and analysis of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) in fish samples. The hydrophobic DES is considered as a green extractant (environmentally friendly and less toxic than common organic solvents) and is a suitable alternative to common toxic organic solvents and is made of l-menthol and ethylene glycol (EG) with a molar ratio of 1:1. Under optimized conditions, the method linearity was in the ranges of 0.15-150 µg kg-1 with the coefficient of determinations (r2) higher than 0.996. Accordingly, the detection limits for Pb, Cd, and Hg were 0.05, 0.05, and 0.10 µg kg-1, respectively. The analysis of fish samples showed that the concentration of toxic elements in fish caught from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers is much higher than the concentration of these elements in locally farmed trout fish. Also, the analysis of fish-certified reference materials with presented procedure produced results that were in good agreement with the certified values. The results showed that VA-LPME-DES is a very cheap, fast, and environmental-friendly procedure for the analysis of toxic elements in different types of fish species.

Disease activity after discontinuation of disease-modifying therapies in patients with multiple sclerosis in Argentina: data from the nationwide registry RelevarEM.

INTRODUCTION: The discontinuation of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) in multiple sclerosis (MS) is commonly seen in real-world settings due to several factors. AREA COVER: The aim of this study is to describe the frequency of disease activity after discontinuation of DMTs in MS patients included in the Argentinean MS and NMOSD registry. DISCUSION: Patients with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) and active secondary progressive MS (SPMS) were included based on the following criteria: they discontinued treatment for more than 6 months, they had been treated with a DMT for ≥2 years, and they had at least 6 months of follow-up in the registry after discontinuation. Demographic and clinical data were collected. Disease activity during follow-up was defined as the presence of a clinical relapse or a new magnetic resonance (MRI) lesion (either new lesions on T2-weighted sequence and/or contrast enhancement). Bivariate analysis was applied to identify clinical and demographic factors related to disease activity. CONCLUSION: We included 377 patients (75.5% RRMS, 22.5% SPMS) who had discontinued DMTs. The mean (SD) follow-up after discontinuation was 15.7 (7.9) months. After discontinuation, the presence of relapse was detected in 18.8% and 3.5% in RRMS and SPMS, respectively; and new MRI activity in 22% and 3.5%, respectively. We found that higher risk of relapse and MRI activity was associated with younger age (p < 0.001), shorter disease duration (p < 0.001), and RRMS phenotype (p = 0.006). Males showed higher MRI activity (p 0.011). This study provides real-world data that can guide physicians when considering discontinuation of DMTs.

Phosphate Ion Removal from Synthetic and Real Wastewater Using MnFe2O4 Nanoparticles: A Reusable Adsorbent.

The purpose of this study was to eliminate phosphate (P) from wastewater using MnFe2O4 nanoparticles. BET, TGA/DTG, FTIR, SEM, TEM, VSM, XRD and EDX/Map analyses were used to determine the MnFe2O4 surface properties. The specific surface area of the adsorbent was 196.56 m2/g and VSM analysis showed that the adsorbent has a ferromagnetic property. The maximum P sorption efficiency using MnFe2O4 (98.52%) was achieved at pH 6, temperature of 55 °C, P concentration of 10 mg/L, time of 60 min, and sorbent dosage of 2.5 g/L, which is a significant value. Also, the thermodynamic study indicated that the P sorption process is spontaneous and endothermic. Moreover, the utmost sorption capacity of P using MnFe2O4 was 39.48 mg/g. Besides, MnFe2O4 can be used for up to 6 reuse cycles with high sorption efficiency (>91%). Also, MnFe2O4 was able to remove phosphate, COD, and BOD5 from municipal wastewater with considerable removal efficiencies of 82.7%, 75.8%, and 77.3%, respectively.