Sugar-sensitive thin films were prepared by a layer-by-layer deposition of concanavalin A (Con A) and glycogen on the surface of a quartz slide and their sugar-induced decomposition was studied. The Con A/glycogen multilayer films can be decomposed by exposing them to sugar solutions (D-glucose, D-mannose, methyl-α-D-glucose and methyl-α-D-mannose), as a result of displacement of sugar residues of glycogen from the binding sites of Con A by the free sugar added in the solution. The rate of decomposition significantly depended on the type of sugar and its concentration.

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A signal registration strategy from micropatterned immunosensors that converts antigen-antibody binding reactions into electrochemical signals was demonstrated. An array-type micropatterned gold electrode on a silicon wafer was fabricated, containing two electrode geometries of rectangular (100 µm × 500 µm) and circular (r. 50 µm) types, exhibiting electrochemical characteristics of bulk and micro-electrodes, respectively. Ferritin was employed as a model analyte for immunosensing because it has an advantageous molecular structure for functionalization to the sensing interface, and is regarded as a general marker protein for tumors and cancer recurrence. With the fabricated and ferritin-functionalized immunosensors, biospecific interactions were performed with antiferritin antiserum and secondary antibody samples, followed by electrochemical signaling via an immunoprecipitation reaction by the label enzyme. Under the optimized affinity-surface construction steps and reaction conditions, both types of microfabricated electrodes exhibited well-defined calibration results as a function of the protein concentration in antiserum samples. Furthermore, circular-type micropatterned immunoelectrodes exhibited voltammetric characteristics of microelectrodes, which is advantageous in terms of sensor operation under a fixed potential and low signal drift during the signaling reaction compared with the bulk-type electrodes. The results support that the employed signaling method with the proposed immunosensor configuration is fit for sensor miniaturization and integration to future biomicrosystems.

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The immobilization of glucose oxidase (GOx), using self assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold surfaces, was investigated by grazing angle FT-IR spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) in conjunction with confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). To find an optimum condition for the maximum GOx loading density on gold surfaces, different cleaning protocols were examined. The loading density of GOx on surfaces was investigated by AFM and CLSM. In particular, CLSM was more effective for identifying the GOx density than AFM, since its scanning speed is much faster and it covers a larger area. Based on CLSM images of the GOx immobilized on the surfaces, it was concluded that the pre-cleaning process of gold substrates using different solvents, such as acetone, ethanol and 2-propanol, is very important for enhancing the GOx loading density. This result enables us to investigate an effective fabrication process in fabricating biosensors.

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In the dye-binding method for determining the albumin concentration, the absorbance increase due to the change of the color shade by protein error of a pH indicator can be measured by a spectrophotometer. This absorbance increase is observed only in a restricted pH region, but this pH region is not theoretically studied yet. Thus, the author investigated the upper limit pH (pH_UL) at which the absorbance increase occurs by the theoretical calculation, and compared these results with those obtained experimentally using four pH indicators. The pH_UL is not affected by the dye or protein concentrations, or by the formation constant of the dye-protein complex; but the value changes according to the acid-dissociation constant of the dye (K_D) and the ratio of the molar absorptivities of the proton-dissociated dye anion (ε_D) and the dye-protein complex (ε_PD). The pH_UL value can be calculated by the equation, found theoretically. The calculated pH_UL values of BPB, BCG, BCP and BTB were 5.1, 4.8, 6.2 and 5.5, respectively. These values correlated with the experimental results of 4.5 for BPB, 4.7 for BCG, 5.9 for BCP and 5.2 for BTB, but were not associated with the pK_D values of each dye. The pH_UL of these dyes did not change significantly for various dye and protein concentrations, as was expected from the thoretical calculation.

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The preparation and utilization of a novel composite silica-hemin nanoparticles (CSHNs) as mimetic peroxidase are reported in this article. Experimental results showed that the composite nanoparticles had unique advantages over free hemin molecules in good stability and highly catalytic activity. By employing these nanoparticles as biocatalyst, we developed a new spectrofluorometric method for the determination of trace level glucose. The calibration graph for glucose was linear over the range 4.0 × 10^-7 mol/L - 7.0 × 10^-5 mol/L, with a detection limit of 1.0 × 10^-7 mol/L. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the determination of glucose in serum samples and offers the advantages of being rapid, stable, sensitive, and renewable.

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A nitric oxide (NO) biosensor based on silver nanoparticles was fabricated with high sensitivity and selectivity as well as stability. Silver nanoparticles could preserve the microstructures of hemoglobin, but the electrochemical reactivity of the protein and its detection sensitivity toward NO could be greatly enhanced. Accordingly, a NO biosensor was developed. The linear concentration range was from 1.0 × 10^-6 to 5.0 × 10^-5 M. Its detection limit was 3.0 × 10^-7 M with a sensitivity of 0.0424 µA µM^-1 NO. The possible co-existing compounds would not interfere with the detection.

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A sensitive hydrogen peroxidase (H₂O₂) amperometric sensor based on horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labeled nano-Au colloids has been proposed. Nano-Au colloids were immobilized by the thiol group of cysteamine, which was associated with the carboxyl groups of poly(2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid) (PPDA). With the aid of the hydroquinone, the sensor displayed excellent electrocatalytical response to the reduction of H₂O₂. Compared with the non-Au-colloid modified electrode, i.e., PPDA/HRP, the Au-colloid modified electrode exhibited better performance characteristics, including stability, reproducibility, sensitivity and accuracy. The biosensor shows a linear response to H₂O₂ in the range of 3.0 × 10^-7 - 2 × 10^-3 M. The detection limit was 1.0 × 10^-7 M.

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Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy (SECM) feedback mode and substrate generation-tip collection (SG-TC) mode coupled with chronoamperometric approach were used to investigate H₂ oxidation and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at a polyaniline (PAni) coated highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) electrode. Using the former mode, the heterogeneous electron transfer (ET) kinetics for H₂ oxidation was studied, while the latter mode allowed mapping of the distribution of local [H₂] at the nanoparticulate/aqueous interface, followed by monitoring the transients at the tip. These preliminary studies demonstrate that SECM is useful in evaluating the activity of nanophase electrocatalysts. Particularly, if one employs nanometer-sized tips or hydrodynamic microjet electrodes where the mass transfer rate is significantly high, it should be possible to investigate the ET kinetics more accurately.

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A novel data processing method for a hyphenated technique, size exclusion chromatography/matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (SEC/MALDI-MS), has been proposed to determine accurate molecular weight distributions on the basis of the individual oligomer species of a polymer. This method is based on the concept that the individual peak intensities of MALDI mass spectrum observed for every SEC fraction with narrow molecular weight distribution could be adjusted to the quantified values to reveal the accurate molecular weight distribution using the signal intensity of the corresponding fraction on the SEC chromatogram observed with a refractive index detector. At first, the theory of the proposed date processing is described in detail. Then, experimental verification of the method is described. This was performed through the characterization of mixtures of three kinds of monodispersed polystyrene reference materials (weight average molecular weight = ca. 6000, 10000, and 18000) as model samples. An accurate trimodal molecular weight distribution for the individual oligomer species of the sample was obtained without any influence of the chromatographic band broadening observed in the original SEC chromatogram. Moreover, the method for depicting the elution profiles of individual oligomer species during SEC separation was also obtained as a “mass chromatogram” using the data processing procedure.

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A versatile preconcentration system for trace element determination by ICPMS was developed. It is composed of a commercial flow injection analysis system (FIAS) retrofitted with a home-made control unit containing three solenoid valves and working concomitantly with the FIAS, permitting selection and segmentation of sample, reagent, washing solution and elution flow. The knotted reactor used had a length of 200 cm and was made from 0.05 cm i.d. PTFE tubing. The method applies ammonium 1-pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC) as complexant, allowing the preconcentration and quantitative multi-element determination of Cu, Ni, V, Co, Nb, Mo, In, Sb and Bi. Ethanol and 4-methyl-2-pentanone were tested as eluents. Recovery tests using complex matrices and spike concentrations of 200 ng L^-1 showed typical values in the range of 90% to 110%. Relative standard deviations were < 7% for elution with ethanol and < 5% with methyl isobutyl ketone. For simulated freshwater samples using 4-methyl-2-pentanone as an eluent, a sample loading rate of 5.0 ml min^-1, and a preconcentration time of 60 s, detection limits (ng L^-1) were in the range of 0.02 (Bi) to 30 (Cu). Under these conditions, analytical frequency was about 15 samples per hour. The feasibility of the method was demonstrated by the succesful analysis of wastewater and seawater certified reference materials.

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REE (rare earth element) distribution coefficients (K_d) between the aqueous phase and montmorillonite surface were obtained to investigate the relation between the REE distribution patterns and the species of REE sorbed on the solid-water interface. It was shown that the features in the REE patterns, such as the slope of the REE patterns, the tetrad effect, and the Y/Ho ratio, were closely related to the REE species at the montmorillonite-water interface. In a binary system (REE-montmorillonite) below pH 5, three features (a larger K_d value for a lighter REE, the absence of the tetrad effect, and the Y/Ho ratio being unchanged from its initial value) suggest that hydrated REE are directly sorbed as an outer-sphere complex at the montmorillonite-water interface. Above pH 5.5, the features in the REE patterns, the larger K_d value for heavier REE, the M-type tetrad effect, and the reduced Y/Ho ratio, showed the formation of an inner-sphere complex of REE with -OH group at the montmorillonite surface. In addition, the REE patterns in the presence of humic acid at pH 5.9 were also studied, where the REE patterns became flat, suggesting that the humate complex is dominant as both dissolved and sorbed species of REE in the ternary system. All of these results were consistent with the spectroscopic data (laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy) showing the local structure of Eu(III) conducted in the same experimental system. The present results suggest that the features in the REE distribution patterns include information on the REE species at the solid-water interface.

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A rapid and specific HPLC method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of propafenone, an antiarrhythmic agent, and its major metabolites in human serum. The sample preparation was a simple deproteinization with a mixture of ZnSO₄ and methanol, yielding almost 100% recoveries of three compounds. Separation was developed on a reverse-phase tracer excel C₁₈ column (25 × 0.46 cm i.d., 5 µm), using an acetonitrile-phosphate buffer gradient at a flow rate of 1.7 ml min^-1, and UV detection of 210 nm. The calibration curves were linear (r² > 0.999) in the concentration range of 10 - 750 ng ml^-1. The lower limit of quantification was 10 ng ml^-1 for all of the compounds studied. The within and between day precisions in the measurement of QC samples at four tested concentrations were in the range of 1.4 - 8.1% and 4.2 - 11.5% RSD, respectively. The developed procedure was applied to assess the pharmacokinetics of propafenone and its major metabolites following administration of a single 300 mg oral dose of propafenone hydrochloride to three healthy male volunteers.

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A methodology of phosphopeptide-selective analysis coupled with column-switching HPLC utilizing titania as precolumn media is presented. Phosphopeptides were selectively enriched on titania packing within a protein/peptide mixture without any additional procedure, and analyzed by column-switching high-performance liquid chromatography. First, phospho-compounds were separated from complex mixtures by trapping them under acidic conditions on a titania packing, where non-phosphorylated compounds were effused out of the precolumn. Subsequently, phospho-compounds were desorbed from the titania column under a specific condition and analyzed. The behavior of phospho-compounds on a titania surface, especially adsorption/desorption, was precisely examined and optimized. A phosphoric buffer was successively employed for the elution of phosphopeptides on a titania surface by competition with the free phosphate group. From the successes of a selective concentration/analysis of phosphopeptides with column-switching HPLC with a titania precolumn, a novel phosphopeptide-selective RP-HPLC analysis has been shown to have an application possibility as a tool for phosphoproteomics.

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Two new specific, selective, simple and inexpensive spectroscopic methods for estimating a trace amount of chromium (Cr³⁺) from a multi-vitamin with multi-mineral pharmaceutical formulations were developed. The proposed methods are based on the conversion of Cr³⁺ to Cr⁶⁺ either by oxidation with a nitric acid-perchloric acid mixture (method I) or by fusion with an excess amount of sodium carbonate (method II), followed by the complexation of Cr⁶⁺ with 1,5-diphenylcarbazide (DPC) in a mineral acidic solution of pH 1.0 ± 0.5. The pink-colored complex was estimated at 544 nm. Both methods were found to be linear in the range of 0.1 - 0.8 µg/ml with a limit of detection in the range of 0.0123 - 0.0157 µg/ml and a limit of quantitation in the range of 0.0419 - 0.0525 µg/ml. Method I was found to be suitable for estimating Cr³⁺ species in various formulations, like tablets, capsules and syrups, while method II was found to be suitable for tablets and capsules. Satisfactory recovery from spiked samples of standard Cr³⁺ suggests no interference of any excipients and diverse ions present in the formulations. The developed methods were compared with AAS by ANOVA, and no significant difference was observed.

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Based on the complexation between proteins and Cu(II) coupled with the time-resolved chemiluminescence (CL) technique, a highly sensitive and quantitative assay for measuring proteins in solution is described. The complexes of proteins with Cu(II) have a strongly catalytic effect on the luminol-H₂O₂ CL reaction. Because the CL emission produced by the complexes is much more long-lived than that by Cu(II), the CL signals originating from proteins can be easily identified and measured with a time-resolved technique. On this basis, bovine albumin fraction V (BAF V) can be quantitatively determined in the range of 0.01 - 5.0 µg/ml with a detection limit of 5.8 ng/ml. The results show that the proposed assay exhibits a small variation in the response values for the same amount of different proteins, as compared to the Lowry as well as Bradford assays. The CL assay has also been studied for the detection of immobilized proteins.

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Results of some studies on the interaction of noble metals with quercetin (Q) and quercetin-5′-sulfonic acid (QSA), the compounds of flavonoid group, are presented. The reactions of chloride complexes of the metals: RuOHCl₅^2-, PdCl₄^2-, OsCl₆^2-, PtCl₆^2- and AuCl₄^- with both reagents were examined. The redox reactions of ruthenium and gold with Q and QSA have been identified. The reaction of the metals with both reagents results in the formation of the oxidized form of Q that exhibits maximum absorbance at 291 nm. Ruthenium and gold react with the examined reagents under similar conditions: 0.04 M HCl and 1 × 10^-4 M Q (or QSA). The CH₃OH + H₂O (1:1) (Q) and pure aqueous (QSA) media can be used. The reaction of gold with Q is slow at room temperature. It can be accelerated by heating the solution being examined. The reaction proceeds significantly faster when the water-soluble sulfonic derivative of quercetin, quercetin-5′-sulfonic acid, is used as a reagent. The new species formed can make the basis of spectrophotometric methods for the determination of ruthenium and gold. The molar absorptivities at 291 nm are equal to 5.0 × 10³ and 2.2 × 10⁴ L mol^-1 cm^-1 for Ru and Au, respectively, independently of the reagent used. Some methods for the determination of the content of gold (0.04%) in a cosmetic cream were developed.

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A novel chemometric method, region orthogonal signal correction (ROSC), is proposed and applied to pretreat near-infrared (NIR) spectra of blood glucose measured in vivo. Water is the most serious interference component in such kinds of noninvasive measurements, because it shows very high absorbance in the spectra. In the present study, the spectra of blood glucose in the range of 1212 - 1889 nm are used, in which the absorption of water around 1440 nm is very high. ROSC aims at removing the interference signal due to water from the spectra by selecting a set of spectra with a special region of 1404 - 1454 nm that mainly contain information about the variation of the interference component, water, and calculating the orthogonal components to the concentrations of glucose that will be removed. The difference between ROSC and orthogonal signal correction (OSC) is that ROSC uses a special region of spectra for the estimation of scores and loading weights of orthogonal components to pretreat the spectra in other regions, while OSC only uses one fixed region of spectra to calculate loadings, scores and weights of OSC components and removes the OSC components in the same region. A clear advantage of ROSC is that it is more interpretable than OSC, because one can select a spectral region to remove the variation of a special component such as water. Another chemometric method, moving window partial least squares (MWPLSR), is also used to select informative regions of glucose from the NIR spectra of blood glucose measured in vivo, leading to improved PLS models. Results of the application of ROSC demonstrate that ROSC-pretreated spectra including the whole spectral region of 1212 - 1889 nm or an informative region of 1600 - 1730 nm selected by MWPLSR provide very good performance of the PLS models. Especially, the later region yields a model with RMSECV of 15.8911 mg/dL for four PLS components. ROSC is a potential chemometric technique in the pretreatment of various spectra.

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Oleate-stabilized silver colloids of 5-nm-diameter were adsorbed to a toluene/water interface, and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra from these colloids were measured under the total internal reflection (TIR) condition. From the observed spectra, we examined the states of oleate ions and toluene molecules on silver colloids at the liquid/liquid interfacial region. The TIR-SERS spectra of oleate ions showed stronger peaks of the carboxylate group and the ethylene group than those of alkyl chains. From these results, it was found that the oleate ions were adsorbed on the silver surface in two different ways at the liquid/liquid interface; the carboxylate group adsorbed in the organic phase side, while the ethylene group adsorbed in the aqueous phase side. The shifts of the toluene in the interfacial SERS spectra were identical to those of bulk toluene, though the relative intensities among the peaks were not same. This result suggested that the toluene was adsorbed with a weak interaction, but was significantly enhanced by the local electromagnetic field at the colloid surface.

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Cloud point extraction was successfully applied to the preconcentration of phenothiazine derivatives, such as pericyazine (PC), chlorpromazine (CP) and fluphenazine (FUL), for gas chromatography (GC). Phenothiazine derivatives were separated from surfactants by passing the surfactant-rich phase through a cation exchange column after cloud point extraction, permitting the determination of the phenothiazine derivatives extracted in the surfactant-rich phase by GC. The optimal condition for the cloud point extraction of phenothiazine derivatives was also investigated using Triton X-100, Triton X-114, and PONPE10. Triton X-114 provided the most efficient recovery of phenothiazine derivatives among the surfactants used. The addition of sodium chloride and excess ammonia to the sample solution resulted in a decrement of the recovery of the phenothiazine derivatives. The proposed method was applied to the determination of phenothiazine derivatives in spiked human serum by GC. The recoveries of PC, CP, and FUL in spiked human serum were 95.1%, 87.1%, and 84.7%, respectively.

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On the basis of the affinity of alumina towards hydroxyl functional groups, a solid phase microextraction (SPME) fiber was constructed using alumina powder and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). Different compositions were tested and alumina:PVC (97:3) was selected as an optimun composition. A piece of silver wire was used as fiber support. The fiber producing was simple and could be completed in a few minutes. The mechanical durability of the fiber was so good that only a single fiber was used during this study. Ethanol, 1-butanol, 2-butanol, 1-pentanol, 2-pentanol and cyclohexanol were selected as target analytes. Finally, ethanol concentration in the fruit juices and vinegar was measured using SPME-capillary gas chromatography followed by flame ionization detection.

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Various designs of quartz tube in a slotted tube atom trap were examined for improving the sensitivity of flame AAS. A 3.5-fold enhancement in the sensitivity was obtained by using the optimized method. The method was applied to the determination of Cu in cancerous and non-cancerous human thyroid tissues. The Cu concentrations of the cancerous samples tended to increase compared with the non-cancerous samples. Zn concentrations of the same tissues were also determined.

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Duolite GT-73 resin was used for the preconcentration of Hg(II) from hydrochloric acid media as well as separation of the analyte from diversity of the co-existing metal ions (Al, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in off-line column operation. Due to the high affinity of the resin to the transition metals, Hg was adsorbed alongside with the foreign metals investigated. A complete release of the concomitant metals from the resin without the desorption of Hg was carried out using solutions of HCl and HNO₃. A quantitative recovery of Hg was obtained by digestion of the resin using a H₂SO₄ and H₂O₂ mixture in an open-vessel system. An enrichment factor of 40 was achieved. The devised procedure was applied for the determination of Hg(II) in tap-water samples.

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