Quick and accurate determination of hazardous phenolic compounds using CaCu2O3 nanorods based electrochemical sensor

In the present work, we report the fabrication of a novel electrochemical sensor based on nanostructured CaCu₂O₃ as electrode material for the simultaneous determination of 2-Aminophenol (o-AP), 2-Chlorophenol (o-CP) and 2-Nitrophenol (o-NP). Nanorods-shaped CaCu₂O₃ have been synthesized by chemical precipitation method and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photo-electron microscopy (XPS), field emission electron microscopy (FESEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Glassy carbon electrodes (3 mm diameter) have been modified using CaCu₂O₃ nanorods by drop-casting method. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies at CaCu₂O₃/GCE exhibited excellent electrochemical behaviours towards the oxidation of 2-AP, 2-CP and 2-NP at different potentials well separated from each other. The CaCu₂O₃/GCE displayed the lowest detection limits of 5.74 nM (0.626 ppb), 1.38 nM (0.177 ppb) and 1.03 nM (0.143 ppb) for 2-AP, 2-CP and 2-NP respectively over wide measurable linear ranges of 175 nM-68 μM (2-AP), 50 nM-90 μM (2-CP) and 25 nM-32 μM (2-NP). Cyclic stability studies showed a loss of 7%, 13% and 14% from initial current responses after conducting 100 cycles of CV for 2-AP, 2-CP and 2-NP in PBS (pH 7.0) which indicated the excellent stability of the fabricated electrode. Reproducibility studies of six different CaCu₂O₃/GCEs exhibited good recoveries in the order of 3.23% (2-AP), 3.54% (2-CP) and 2.46% (2-NP) respectively. The fabricated electrode with excellent sensitivity, stability and reproducibility has been successfully applied for the determination of 2-AP, 2-CP and 2-NP simultaneously in tap water and agricultural water samples. Selectivity studies carried out on CaCu₂O₃/GCE revealed its ability to detect 4-aminophenol and 4-nitorphenol at different oxidation potentials. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) studies have been carried out to validate the practical utility of the fabricated sensor.

ALCHEMIST: Bringing genomic discovery and targeted therapies to early-stage lung cancer

The identification of druggable molecular alterations represents one of the greatest advances in cancer treatment. Such progress is particularly evident for lung cancer, which now has numerous molecularly defined subsets such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements. However, understanding of the significance of these genomic alterations is largely limited to incurable, metastatic lung cancer. ALCHEMIST (Adjuvant Lung Cancer Enrichment Marker Identification and Sequencing Trial) is a National Cancer Institute-sponsored initiative to address these questions in earlier-stage disease.