A manganese dioxide nanoparticle-bimetallic metal organic framework composite for selective and sensitive detection of vitamin D3 in human plasma.

For the first time a metal organic framework nanomaterial has been developed comprising manganese dioxide nanoparticle and iron and zinc metal ions interlinked with each other via terephthalic acid. The framework shape was identified as an elongated hexagonal nanorod (TEM) with varying functional groups (FT-IR) and diffraction patterns (XRD). The framework nanocomposite as such in aqueous acidic electrolyte solution has displayed an excellent conductivity (redox behavior) and surface excess (3.08 × 10-8 cm-2). Under the optimized conditions (0.1 M H2SO4 as electrolyte, 50 mV/s scan rate, +1.26 V (vs Ag/AgCl)), the metal organic framework coated electrode has selectively identified vitamin D3 (VD3) in the presence of various other interfering molecules and displayed excellent limit of detection (1.9 ng mL-1). The developed sensor has been applied to the determination of VD3 in extracted human plasma samples (RSD of 0.3-2.6 % and recovery of 96-102 %), and the obtained VD3 values are similar to HPLC-UV method.

A conjoint multi metal-ion iminodiacetic acid monolith microfluidic chip for structural-based protein pre-fractionation.

PDMS-based multichannel microfluidic chip was designed and fabricated in a simple approach using readily available tools. UV-initiated in situ polymerization of poly(2-hydroxy ethyl methacrylate-co-di(ethylene glycol) diacrylate-co-N,N'-diallyl l-tartardiamide) in an Eppendorf tube was achieved within 40 min. This polymerization process was successfully translated to a microfluidic chip format without any further modifications. Iminodiacetic acid was successfully immobilized on aldehyde functional monoliths via Schiff base reaction and confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy. Four transition metal ions (Co (II), Zn (II), Ni (II), and Cu (II)) were chelated individually on four IDA-monolith microfluidic chips. The conjoint metal-ion monolith microfluidic chip has displayed high permeability (9.40 × 10-13  m2 ) and a porosity of 32.8%. This affinity microfluidic chip has pre-fractioned four human plasma proteins (fibrinogen, immunoglobulin, transferrin, and human serum albumin) based on their surface-exposed histidine surface topography. A protein recovery of approximately 95% (Bradford assay data) was achieved. The multimonolith microchip can be reusable even after three protein adsorption-desorption cycles.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice among the Healthcare Professionals regarding the myths on COVID-19 vaccination - Demystified.

BackgroundCOVID-19 vaccine is the mighty weapon opted by all the countries across the globe in an attempt to eradicate the fatal COVID-19 pandemic. The myths on the COVID-19 vaccine are spreading widely, causing a hindrance to this noble preventive measure. The prevalence of such myths among the healthcare professionals may be toxic and deadly. Aim & ObjectivesTo assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the healthcare professionals regarding the myths on COVID-19 vaccination and to demystify them. Materials and MethodsAn 18-item questionnaire evaluating knowledge, attitude, and practice based on the existing myths on COVID-19 vaccination was circulated through Google Forms(R) among the 412 healthcare professionals of six disciplines belonging to a private University. The responses obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS(R) 20 software package. ResultsA total of 385 health professionals participated in this study. The majority of them had medium knowledge (165) and positive attitude (273) with the mean knowledge and attitude scores of 3.82 {+/-} 1.55 out of 6 and 4.3 {+/-} 1.58 out of 7 respectively. Even though 312 participants got vaccinated, 72 of them failed to receive it. The knowledge scores showed a high statistically significant difference among the participants of different designations (p=0.001), but not with gender, field, and staff with different years of experience (p>0.05). The attitude scores were statistically different among participants of fields and designation (p<0.05) but not among genders (p=0.31) and staff with different years of experience (p=0.87). Knowledge and attitude scores showed a positive linear correlation and a high statistically significant difference (p<0.001). ConclusionThis study recommends more enhanced education programs on COVID-19 vaccination for the health professionals and demands an improved knowledge, attitude, and practice among them to achieve the goal of 100% vaccination so as to completely eradicate the COVID-19 pandemic.