Network polymers with β-cyclodextrin moieties were prepared by nucleophilic substitution reactions between polyamines, linear polyethyleneimine (LPEI), polyallylamine (PAA), (ε-poly-L-lysine) (EPL), and monochlorotriazinyl-β-cyclodextrin (MCTCD) in methanol/water mixed solvent or water. The reactions under conditions of high material concentration (30 wt%) and a feed ratio of [MCT]/[NH] = 0.5 (mol/mol) successfully yield porous polymers via reaction-induced phase separation. The molecular structure of the polyamines and reaction conditions strongly affected the morphology of the resulting porous polymers. The porous polymers were composed of connected particles, gathered (slightly connected) particles, and/or disordered bulky structures, with sizes of 10[-9] m-10[-8] m. An increase in the molecular weight of LPEI and PAA and the feed molar ratio of [MCT]/[NH] tended to decrease the particle size. Young's moduli of the LPEI-MCTCD and PAA-MCTCD porous polymers increased with an increase in bulk density, which was derived from small particle sizes. The wide particle size distribution and disordered structure caused collapse by the compression under 50 N of pressure. An LPEI-MCTCD adsorbed methyl orange, methylene blue, and phenolphthalein through ionic interactions, π-π interaction, and/or β-cyclodextrin inclusion.

Over the years, many materials have been used to restore buildings, paintings, ceramics, and mosaic pieces exhibiting different types of dyes and colour hues. Recently, geopolymers have been used for restoration purposes owing to their high chemical and mechanical resistance. In this work, white metakaolin was used to obtain white geopolymers, cured at 25 and 40 °C, as bulk materials to be coloured with synthetic organic dyes, i.e., bromothymol blue, cresol red, phenolphthalein, and methyl orange. These dyes were added during the fresh paste preparation to obtain dyed geopolymeric solids. Ionic conductivity and pH measurement confirmed the chemical stability of the consolidated materials, while FT-IR analyses were used to follow the geopolymerisation occurrences at different ageing times (from 7 to 56 days). Finally, the colour hues and properties were assessed in the CIELAB colour space before and after immersion in water.

Few data are available on psyllium use during breastfeeding. However, the drug is not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, so it cannot enter the breastmilk. Psyllium is acceptable to use during breastfeeding.[1,2]

A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for highly selective solid-phase extraction (SPE) of bisphenol A (BPA) was prepared using phenolphthalein (PP) as the novel dummy template by bulk polymerization. A particle diameter distribution of 40[-]60 μm, a specific surface area of 359.8 m[2]·g[-1], and a total pore volume of 0.730 cm[3]·g[-1] for the prepared PP-imprinted polymer (PPMIP) were obtained. Good selectivity and specific adsorption capacity for BPA of the prepared PPMIP were also demonstrated by the chromatographic evaluation and sorption experiments. The PPMIP as a SPE sorbent was evaluated for the selective extraction and clean-up of BPA from complex biological, environmental, and food samples. Meanwhile, an accurate and sensitive analytical method based on the PPMIP-SPE purification procedure coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) detection has been successfully developed for the rapid determination of BPA from these samples, with detection limits of 1.3 ng·mL[-1] for bovine serum and milk, 2.6 ng·mL[-1] for human urine and edible oil, 5.2 ng·mL[-1] for soybean sauce, and 1.3 ng·g[-1] for sediment. The BPA recoveries at two different spiking levels were in the range of 82.1[-]106.9%, with relative standard deviation (RSD) values below 7.7%.

A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for selective recognition of seven bisphenols (BPs) was prepared using dummy template phenolphthalein (PP) by bulk polymerization. The characterization results of scanning electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements showed that the prepared PP-MIP possessed narrow particle diameter distribution (40-60 µm), a specific surface area (S(BET)) of 359.77 m2/g and a total pore volume (Vt) of 0.730 cm3/g. The adsorption capacity for bisphenol A (BPA) of PP-MIP was evaluated by static adsorption experiment. And the Scatchard analysis revealed that the maximum specific adsorption capacity of PP-MIP was 4.661 µmol/g. Good class selectivity for BPA and its six structural analogues of bisphenol B (BPB) , bisphenol E (BPE), bisphenol AF (BPAF), bisphenol S (BPS), bisphenol AP (BPAP) and bisphenol Z (BPZ) was demonstrated by the chromatographic evaluation experiment. The prepared PP-MIP was successfully used as solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbent for the separation and purification of the seven BPs in human urine, bovine serum and beer samples. Meanwhile, an accurate and sensitive MIP-SPE-HPLC method was established for the determination of the seven BPs in human urine, bovine serum and beer samples. The limits of detection (LODs) for the three samples were in the range of 1.2-2.0 µg/L. The results showed that good linearities were obtained in the range of 0.02-2 mg/L for the seven BPs and the correlation coefficients (r) were higher than 0.999 8. The recoveries of the BPs spiked in blank samples at two spiked levels (100 and 500 µg/L for each BP) were in the range of 90.1%-107.1% with the RSDs ≤ 8.1%. The proposed method is simple and reliable for the rapid detection of the seven BPs in human urine, bovine serum and beer samples.

The objectives to be achieved by a medical therapy of constipation are: 1) to protect the patient from excessive use of dangerous drugs (laxatives), 2) to help the patient to understand what is a "normal" intestinal function, 3) to reduce or eliminate pain and 4) to avoid complications. The first step consists in general measures (reduced stress, regular meals and physical exercise) and some modifications in diet habits (greater than 1.5 1 of water a day, vegetables, fruits, whole wheat bread). The pharmacological therapy is based on drugs which act in different ways: a) some contain unabsorbable substances (i.e. cellulose, emicellulose) that increase the volume of the stools: b) unabsorbable sugars (i.e. lactulose, lactose) or salts (Mg-sulphate, citrate and Na-sulphate) that provoke an osmotic effect and stimulate the colonic motility; c) suppositories that stimulate the defecation reflex; d) drugs able to stimulate colonic secretion and propulsive motility (i.e. anthraquinones, oral bisacodyl, phenolphthalein, castor oil, prokinetics). There are many conditions in which medical therapy fails its objective: in these cases it is important to exclude other causes of constipation (i.e. drug-related constipation, endocrine disorders, metabolic diseases, systemic illnesses or lesion of the enteric plexus) in order to obtain an improvement of this symptom.

Constipation in elderly long-care patients is an important problem. We compared the daily administration of three bulk-forming agents, semen psyllii (Effersyllium), wheat bran with karaya gum (Crusca di Fior) and bruised linseed, with the routine laxative therapy in our clinic based on lactulose (Duphalac) and a combination of paraffin oil and phenolphthalein (Agarol). To evaluate these two laxative regimens the following parameters were monitored: quantity and quality of the feces and of additional laxatives used for regular defecation; acceptance by the patient; costs per patient and day. The results of this study show that daily administration of a laxative is significantly more efficient than periodic administration, and that daily administration of a bulk-forming agent is, at the same level of effectiveness, less expensive (-35%) than therapy with lactulose alone.