Caprolactone-Based Biodegradable Polymer for Selective, Sensitive Detection and Removal of Cu2+ Ions from Water.

Even though heavy and transition metals originated in the earth's crust, the significant human exposure and environmental pollution consequences of anthropogenic activities include industrial production and waste, mining and smelting operations, and agricultural and domestic usage of metals. Because of their nonbiodegradable nature, heavy metal ions such as Cu2+ accumulate very quickly in plants and edible animals, ultimately ending up in the human food cycle. Therefore, to nullify the detrimental effects of Cu2+ ions for the sake of the environment and living organisms, we are motivated to design a sensor molecule that can not only detect Cu2+ ions but also remove them selectively from the water medium. To detect the Cu2+ ions, we synthesized a monomer (NCu) and its biodegradable caprolactone-based polymer (PNCu). It was observed that both NCu and PNCu showed higher selectivity toward Cu2+ ions by changing the color from colorless to yellow, with a limit of detection value of 29 nM and 0.3 µM. Furthermore, removing the Cu2+ ions from the water solution was also accomplished by introducing the hydrophobicity of the polymer (PNCu) through the ring-opening polymerization process. Due to increased hydrophobicity, the polymer produced a yellow color precipitate upon adding Cu2+ ions to the solution; thus, removal of the metal ion is possible using our designed polymer and its detection ability. We checked the removal efficiency of our polymer by using UV-vis spectroscopy and EDX analysis, which indicated that almost all of the copper is removed by our polymer. Therefore, to our knowledge, this is the first biodegradable caprolactone-based polymer for colorimetric turn-on detection and separation of the Cu2+ ions from the water.

Demographic and lifestyle factors that affect HbA1c awareness amongst type II diabetic patients in Trinidad.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the awareness of HbA1c values and correlate this with educational levels, dietary intake and physical activity in type II diabetic population of Trinidad. METHODS: Total of 222 type II diabetic subjects were assessed via questionnaire evaluating their demographics, type and duration of diabetes, type and frequency of glucose testing, dietary intake and physical activity. HbA1c data was coded as patients who were aware versus patients who were not aware. RESULTS: Of the respondents, 41.9% were aware of the term HbA1c while 58.1% were unaware. Statistically, there were positive correlations (p < .05) between HbA1c awareness and level of education received by type II diabetic patients as well as between HbA1c awareness and intensity of exercise performed (p< .05). However, the relationship between dietary breakfast choices and HbA1c awareness was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: A significant correlation was established between HbA1c awareness, intensity of exercise and the level of education obtained.