Cystinosis: practical tools for diagnosis and treatment

Cystinosis is the major cause of inherited Fanconi syndrome, and should be suspected in young children with failure to thrive and signs of renal proximal tubular damage. The diagnosis can be missed in infants, because not all signs of renal Fanconi syndrome are present during the first months of life. In older patients cystinosis can mimic idiopathic nephrotic syndrome due to focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis. Measuring elevated white blood cell cystine content is the corner stone for the diagnosis. The diagnosis is confirmed by molecular analysis of the cystinosin gene. Corneal cystine crystals are invariably present in all patients with cystinosis after the age of 1 year. Treatment with the cystine depleting drug cysteamine should be initiated as soon as possible and continued lifelong to prolong renal function survival and protect extra-renal organs. This educational feature provides practical tools for the diagnosis and treatment of cystinosis

Adsorption of Dopamine on Rutile TiO2(110): A Photoemission and Near-Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Study

Synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) techniques have been used to study the adsorption of dopamine on a rutile TiO2 (110) single crystal. Photoemission results suggest that dopamine bonds through the oxygen molecules in a bidentate fashion. From the data, it is ambiguous whether the oxygens bond to the same 5-fold coordinated surface titanium atom or bridges across two, although based on the bonding of pyrocatechol on rutile TiO2 (110), it is likely that the dopamine bridges two titanium atoms. Using the searchlight effect, the carbon K-edge near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure NEXAFS spectra recorded for dopamine on rutile TiO2 (110) show the phenyl ring to be oriented at 78° ± 5° from the surface and twisted 11 ± 10° relative to the (001) direction

Adsorption Studies of p-Aminobenzoic Acid on the Anatase TiO2(101) Surface

The adsorption of p-aminobenzoic acid (pABA) on the anatase TiO2 (101) surface has been investigated using synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy, Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy and Density Functional Theory (DFT). Photoelectron spectroscopy indicates that the molecule is adsorbed in a bidentate mode through the carboxyl group following deprotonation. NEXAFS spectroscopy and DFT calculations of the adsorption structures indicate ordering of a monolayer of the amino acid on the surface with the plane of the ring in an almost upright orientation. Adsorption of pABA on nanoparticulate TiO2 leads to a red shift of the optical absorption relative to bare TiO2 nanoparticles. DFT and valence band photoelectron spectroscopy suggest the shift is attributed to the presence of the highest occupied molecular orbitals in the TiO2 band gap region and the presence of new molecularly derived states near the foot of the TiO2 conduction band