We present a practical setup to perform continuous-wave X-band electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy by using planar microstrip lines and general purpose instrumentation. We fabricated Ag/alumina and Nb/sapphire microstrip resonators and transmission lines and compared their performance down to 2 K and under applied magnetic field. We used these devices to study single crystals of molecular Cr\(_{3}\) nanomagnets. By means of X-band planar resonators we measured angle-dependent spectra at fixed frequency, while broadband transmission lines were used to measure continuous wave spectra with varying frequency in the range 2–25 GHz. The spectra acquired at low temperatures allowed to extract the essential parameters of the low-lying energy levels of Cr\(_{3}\) and demonstrate that this method is particularly suitable to study small crystals of molecular nanomagnets. 相似文献
This paper describes methods for the determination of low-molecular-weight (LMW) dicarboxylic acids in atmospheric aerosols
as important chemical tracers for source apportionment of aerosol organics and for studying atmospheric processes leading
to secondary organic aerosol formation. The two derivatization procedures most widely used in GC analysis of dicarboxylic
acids were compared: esterification using BF3/alcohol reagent and silylation using N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)-trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA). The advantages and drawbacks of the two methods are investigated and compared
in terms of (1) precision and accuracy of the results and (2) sensitivity and detection limit of the procedure. The comparative
investigation was performed on standard solutions containing target C3–C9 dicarboxylic acids and on experimental particulate matter (PM) samples. Attention was focused on low-volume sampling devices
that collect small amounts of sample for organic speciation. The results show that, overall, both the techniques appear suitable
for the analysis of LMW dicarboxylic acids in atmospheric aerosols since they provide low detection limits (≤4 ng m−3) and satisfactory reproducibility (RSD% ≤ 15%). Between them, BSTFA should be the reagent of choice under the most limiting
conditions of PM filters collected by low-volume air samplers: It provides determination of all the target C3–C9 dicarboxylic acids with lower detection limits (≤2 ng m−3) and higher reproducibility (RSD% ≤ 10%)
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Artemia larvae may show swarming organization under the presence of a light spot, while being insensitive to several other external stimuli. In this paper, the dynamics of the Artemia population in response to this kind of stimuli has been exploited to design a robot moving inside the water and able to lead the direction of the group. The robot therefore implements external leadership, by driving the Artemia population along a set of desired trajectories. Experimental results and simulations based on a model of Artemia motion confirmed the suitability of the approach. 相似文献
We consider a class of hyperbolic 3-orbifoldsO(α/β); the underlying topological space of such an orbifold is the 3-sphere and the singular set is obtained by adding the two standard (upper and lower) unknotting tunnels to a 2-bridge linkL(α/β) (and associating branching order two to both unknotting tunnels). These 3-orbifolds are extremal with respect to the notion of Heegaard genus or Heegaard number of 3-orbifolds; it is to be expected that they are also extremal with respect to the volume, that is the smallest volume hyperbolic 3-orbifolds should belong to this or some closely related class. We show that an orbifoldO(α/β) has a uniqueD2-covering by an orbifold?n(α/β) wose space is the 3-sphere and whose singular set is the same 2-bridge linkL(α/β) used for the construction ofO(α/β); moreoverO(α/β) is hyperbolic if and only if?n(α/β) is hyperbolic. As the volumes of the orbifolds?n(α/β) are known resp. can be computed, this allows to compute the volumes of the orbifoldsO(α/β). The problem of computation of volumes remains open for some closely related classes of 3-orbifolds which are also extremal with respect to the Heegaard genus (for example associating a branching order bigger than two to one or both unknotting tunnels). 相似文献
We report a molecular dynamics simulation study of a zinc-protease--gelatinase A or MMP2--which is a major target for drug design, being involved in tumor metastasis and other degenerative diseases. Two structures have been employed as starting conditions, one based on the crystal of multi-domain proMMP2, the other consisting of the catalytic domain only. The overall fold of the two models is maintained over the 1260 ps trajectory, enabling us to analyze correlations of fluctuations among domains, and to observe the presence of correlations within the catalytic domain in the multi-domain enzyme only, hence due to the presence of hemopexin and fibronectin domains. In the multi-domain protein, two cavities are conserved over the trajectory, one of them pointing to a key region, a crevice surrounding the catalytic zinc. The other one is localized across the three domains of the MMP2 metalloproteinase. These areas are partially covered by the propeptide in the crystal structure of proMMP2. We propose a model of MMP2-collagen interaction that involves both identified cavities and takes into account the inter/intra domain cross-correlations. 相似文献
AbstractThe antioxidant activity of eumelanin, a ubiquitous pigment in flora and fauna, constitutes one of its most fascinating physicochemical properties. To shed light on free radical scavenging vs redox facets of such activity, we applied hydrogen atom transfer- and electron transfer-based assays to pristine Sepia ink, eumelanin from Sepia ink, chemically controlled eumelanins and their precursor building blocks. Our work contributes to the rational use of the antioxidant properties of eumelanin for health, cosmetics and environmental applications. 相似文献
The revised (four-step) BCR sequential extraction procedure has been applied to fractionate the chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, lead and zinc contents in urban soil samples from public-access areas in five European cities. A preliminary inter-laboratory comparison was conducted and showed that data obtained by different laboratories participating in the study were sufficiently harmonious for comparisons to be made between cities and land types (e.g. parks, roadside, riverbanks, etc.). Analyte recoveries by sequential extraction, with respect to direct aqua regia digestion, were generally acceptable (100 ± 15%). Iron, nickel and, at most sites, chromium were found mainly in association with the residual phase of the soil matrix. Copper was present in the reducible, oxidisable and residual fractions, whilst zinc was found in all four sequential extracts. Manganese was strongly associated with reducible material as, in some cities, was lead. This is of concern because high lead concentrations were present in some soils (>500 mg kg−1) and the potential exists for remobilisation under reducing conditions. As would be expected, extractable metal contents were generally highest in older, more heavily industrialised cities. Copper, lead and zinc showed marked (and often correlated) variations in concentrations between sites within the same city whereas manganese and, especially, iron, did not. No overall relationships were, however, found between analyte concentrations and land use, nor between analyte partitioning and land use. 相似文献
Different brain imaging devices are presently available to provide images of the human functional cortical activity, based on hemodynamic, metabolic or electromagnetic measurements. However, static images of brain regions activated during particular tasks do not convey the information of how these regions are interconnected. The concept of brain connectivity plays a central role in the neuroscience, and different definitions of connectivity, functional and effective, have been adopted in literature. While the functional connectivity is defined as the temporal coherence among the activities of different brain areas, the effective connectivity is defined as the simplest brain circuit that would produce the same temporal relationship as observed experimentally among cortical sites. The structural equation modeling (SEM) is the most used method to estimate effective connectivity in neuroscience, and its typical application is on data related to brain hemodynamic behavior tested by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), whereas the directed transfer function (DTF) method is a frequency-domain approach based on both a multivariate autoregressive (MVAR) modeling of time series and on the concept of Granger causality.
This study presents advanced methods for the estimation of cortical connectivity by applying SEM and DTF on the cortical signals estimated from high-resolution electroencephalography (EEG) recordings, since these signals exhibit a higher spatial resolution than conventional cerebral electromagnetic measures. To estimate correctly the cortical signals, we used a subject's multicompartment head model (scalp, skull, dura mater, cortex) constructed from individual MRI, a distributed source model and a regularized linear inverse source estimates of cortical current density. Before the application of SEM and DTF methodology to the cortical waveforms estimated from high-resolution EEG data, we performed a simulation study, in which different main factors (signal-to-noise ratio, SNR, and simulated cortical activity duration, LENGTH) were systematically manipulated in the generation of test signals, and the errors in the estimated connectivity were evaluated by the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The statistical analysis returned that during simulations, both SEM and DTF estimators were able to correctly estimate the imposed connectivity patterns under reasonable operative conditions, that is, when data exhibit an SNR of at least 3 and a LENGTH of at least 75 s of nonconsecutive EEG recordings at 64 Hz of sampling rate.
Hence, effective and functional connectivity patterns of cortical activity can be effectively estimated under general conditions met in any practical EEG recordings, by combining high-resolution EEG techniques and linear inverse estimation with SEM or DTF methods. We conclude that the estimation of cortical connectivity can be performed not only with hemodynamic measurements, but also with EEG signals treated with advanced computational techniques. 相似文献
Ammonium N‐acetyl‐l ‐threoninate, NH4+·C6H10NO4?, and methylammonium N‐acetyl‐l ‐threoninate, CH6N+·C6H10NO4?, crystallize in the orthorhombic P212121 and monoclinic P21 space groups, respectively. The two crystals present the same packing features consisting of infinite ribbons of screw‐related N‐acetyl‐l ‐threoninate anions linked together through pairs of hydrogen bonds. The cations interconnect neighbouring ribbons of anions involving all the nitrogen‐H atoms in three‐dimensional networks of hydrogen bonds. The hydrogen‐bond patterns include asymmetric `three‐centred' systems. In both structures, the Thr side chain is in the favoured (g?g+) conformation. 相似文献