Development of a quality control material for the measurement of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine, an in vivo marker of oxidative stress, and comparison of results from different laboratories

The measurement of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine is an increasingly popular marker of in vivo oxidative damage to DNA. A random-sequence 21-mer oligonucleotide 5'-TCA GXC GTA CGT GAT CTC AGT-3' in which X was 8-oxo-guanine (8-oxo-G) was purified and accurate determination of the oxidised base was confirmed by a 32P-end labelling strategy. The lyophilised material was analysed for its absolute content of 8-oxo-dG by several major laboratories in Europe and one in Japan. Most laboratories using HPLC-ECD underestimated, while GC-MS-SIM overestimated the level of the lesion. HPLC-ECD measured the target value with greatest accuracy. The results also suggest that none of the procedures can accurately quantitate levels of 1 in 10(6) 8-oxo-(d)G in DNA.

A compact free space quantum key distribution system capable of daylight operation

A free space quantum key distribution system has been demonstrated. Consideration has been given to factors such as field of view and spectral width, to cut down the deleterious effect from background light levels. Suitable optical sources such as lasers and RCLEDs have been investigated as well as optimal wavelength choices, always with a view to building a compact and robust system. The implementation of background reduction measures resulted in a system capable of operating in daylight conditions. An autonomous system was left running and generating shared key material continuously for over 7 days. © 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V..

Free to publish - free to read

Full Text: August 2001 saw the birth of the British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease (Figure 1): an open-access peer review journal.1 Free to publish and free to read. The founding editorial board and publisher (MediNews Diabetes) aimed to deliver a free journal to the diabetes team and vascular professionals with a special interest in diabetes. Despite the shifting sands of time and a change of publisher (SAGE) the journal has remained true to its founding philosophy - publication is on merit, not on ability to pay and free online access remains available worldwide (www.bjdvd.com) plus an extensive – mainly UK - print circulation. Evolution- The journal attracted much attention and was soon receiving good quality experimental and clinical science manuscripts. However it was felt that these articles, especially experimental and pre-clinical studies, were not within the focus of the British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease, thus Diabetes & Vascular Disease Research was conceived –and is now also a SAGE journal and has an impact factor of 2.59. Over the years the organisation of topics has changed, for example the Healthcare management, The diabetes care team and Trans-cultural medicine sections have been absorbed into the Achieving Best Practice and Current Topics sections which better reflect the broader-based content of submitted material. Landmark Studies was a regular highly popular section – but how many truly Landmark Studies are undertaken? Not enough to warrant special attention 6 times a year for 12 years. Interestingly one of the studies reviewed is consistently amongst the top ten of our most read online articles.2 The British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease has also challenged convention with the production of two Jubilee issues.3,4 The celebrations for the golden and diamond jubilees of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II afforded opportunities to reflect on changes in the understanding and treatment of diabetes during her reign. Most of the articles in these issues were written by authors who had first hand experience of the changing face of diabetes and vascular disease care. The increased costs of print and post – both financially and environmentally mean that digital communications are likely to become more popular (assuming that these approaches have a smaller ecological footprint). The British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease is pleased to be able to celebrate its 12th birthday as an original open-access journal, with an ongoing commitment to support authors to publish free of charge whilst providing free reader access. As for what the future holds: tomorrow is another day. References 1.British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease 2001; 1: 1-92. 2.Levy J. Impotence and its medical and psychosocial correlates: results of the Massachusetts Male Aging Study. Br J Diabetes Vasc Dis 2002; 2: 278-80. 3.British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease. (Golden Jubilee Issue) 2002; 2: 415-480. 4.British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease. (Diamond Jubilee Issue) 2012; 12: 266-380.

Synthesis of highly efficient and recyclable visible-light responsive mesoporous g-C3N4 photocatalyst via facile template-free sonochemical route

Herein we demonstrate a facile template-free sonochemical strategy to synthesize mesoporous g-C3N4 with a high surface area and enhanced photocatalytic activity. The TEM and nitrogen adsorption–desorption studies confirm mesoporous structure in g-C3N4 body. The photocatalytic activity of mesoporous g-C3N4 is almost 5.5 times higher than that of bulk g-C3N4 under visible-light irradiation. The high photocatalytic performance of the mesoporous g-C3N4 was attributed to the much higher specific surface area, efficient adsorption ability and the unique interfacial mesoporous structure which can favour the absorption of light and separation of photoinduced electron–hole pairs more effectively. A possible photocatalytic mechanism was discussed by the radicals and holes trapping experiments. Interestingly, the synthesized mesoporous g-C3N4 possesses high reusability. Hence the mesoporous g-C3N4 can be a promising photocatalytic material for practical applications in water splitting as well as environmental remediation.