Elastic behavior of non-Gaussian polymethylene chains

In this paper, elastic behaviors of non-Gaussian polymethylene (PM) chains with chain length N=100 are investigated by rotational isomeric state model. Here the tetrahedral lattice of PM chain and the non-local interaction of Sutherland potential are adopted. In the metropolis movement of PM chain, a four-bond movement model is used. The average energy and average Helmholtz free energy with various elongation ratios λ are calculated by Monte Carlo simulation method. The average energy increases with elongation ratio λ and the average Helmholtz free energy decreases with elongation ratio λ. The elastic force f and the energy contribution to elastic force f_u can be obtained from f=∂〈A〉/∂r and f=∂〈U〉/∂r. We find that the elastic force f increases with elongation ratio λ and the energy contribution f_u decreases with elongation ratio λ, and f_u is less than zero. The ratio f_u/f is close to −0.21 for λ?1.25, and −0.04 to −0.35 for λ>1.25 at T=364 K. In our calculation, the rubber elasticity may be discussed in terms of the chemical structure of polymer chains.     

Rapid 3-dimensional shape determination of globular proteins by mobility capillary electrophoresis and native mass spectrometry

Established high-throughput proteomics methods provide limited information on the stereostructures of proteins. Traditional technologies for protein structure determination typically require laborious steps and cannot be performed in a high-throughput fashion. Here, we report a new medium throughput method by combining mobility capillary electrophoresis (MCE) and native mass spectrometry (MS) for the 3-dimensional (3D) shape determination of globular proteins in the liquid phase, which provides both the geometric structure and molecular mass information of proteins. A theory was established to correlate the ion hydrodynamic radius and charge state distribution in the native mass spectrum with protein geometrical parameters, through which a low-resolution structure (shape) of the protein could be determined. Our test data of 11 different globular proteins showed that this approach allows us to determine the shapes of individual proteins, protein complexes and proteins in a mixture, and to monitor protein conformational changes. Besides providing complementary protein structure information and having mixture analysis capability, this MCE and native MS based method is fast in speed and low in sample consumption, making it potentially applicable in top–down proteomics and structural biology for intact globular protein or protein complex analysis.

Using native mass spectrometry and mobility capillary electrophoresis, the ellipsoid dimensions of globular proteins or protein complexes could be measured efficiently.     

The intercalation of cetyltrimethylammonium cations into muscovite by a two-step process: II. The intercalation of cetyltrimethylammonium cations into Li-muscovite

The alkylammonium cations were successively intercalated into the interlayer of muscovite. It was achieved by inorganic-organic ion exchange in the hydrothermal reaction of the LiNO₃-treated muscovite with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide solution. One-dimensional Patterson plots and electron density calculations show that hydrated Li⁺ and CTA⁺ cations entered the interlayer of muscovite successively. The CTA⁺-intercalated muscovite was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction and elemental analysis, in conjunction with FTIR, nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray photoelectron spectra, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, etc. The experiments show that organo-muscovite composite with ordered structure has been obtained. The CTA⁺ headgroups are distributed in the interlayer uniformly. However, the arrangement and conformation of CTA⁺ chains are strongly dependent upon the reaction temperature. At lower reaction temperature, the chains of CTA⁺ ions adopt a little more disordered arrangement and have higher gauche/trans conformer ratio, resulting in the disturbance to the interlayer symmetry. Whereas at higher reaction temperature, the sample with paraffin-like arrangement of CTA⁺ chains could be obtained, in which the methylene chains of CTA⁺ adopt a fully stretched, all-trans conformation.     

Impact of azaproline on Peptide conformation

The amino acid analog azaproline (azPro) contains a nitrogen atom in place of the C(alpha) of proline. Peptides containing azPro were shown to stabilize the cis-amide conformer for the acyl-azPro bond and prefer type VI beta-turns both in crystals and in organic solvents by NMR. The increased stability for cis-amide conformers was relatively minor with respect to the trans-conformers. Further, their conformational preferences were depended on solvent. To elucidate the impact of azPro substitution on amide cis-trans isomerism and peptide conformation, this paper reports ab initio studies on azPro derivatives and a comparison with their cognate Pro derivatives: 1-acetyl-2-methyl pyrrolidine (1), 1-acetyl-2-methyl pyrazolidine (2), Ac-Pro-NHMe (3), Ac-azPro-NHMe (4), Ac-azPro-NMe(2) (5), Ac-azAzc-NHMe (6), and Ac-azPip-NHMe (7). Conformational preferences were explored at the MP2/6-31+G** level of theory in vacuo. Solvation effects for 1 and 2 were studied implicitly using the polarizable continuum model and explicitly represented by interactions with a single water molecule. An increase in the conformational preference for the cis-amide conformer of azPro was clearly seen. An intramolecular hydrogen bond occurred solely in the trans-amide conformer that reduced the preference for the cis-conformer by 2.2 kcal/mol. The larger ring homolog aza-pipecolic acid (azPip), in which this internal hydrogen bond was diminished, significantly augmented stabilization of the cis-amide conformer. In aqueous solution, the preference for the cis-amide conformers was greatly reduced, mainly as a result of interaction between water and the lone pair of the alpha-nitrogen in the trans-amide conformer that was 3.8 kcal/mol greater than that in the cis-conformer. In the azPro analog, the energy barrier for cis-trans amide isomerization was 6 kcal/mol less than that in the cognate Pro derivative. Because the azPro derivatives can stabilize the cis-amide bond and mimic a type VI beta-turn without incorporation of additional steric bulk, such a simple chemical modification of the peptide backbone provides a useful conformational constraint when incorporated into the structure of selected bioactive peptides. Such modifications can scan receptors for biological recognition of reverse turns containing cis-amide bonds by the incorporation of type VI beta-turn scaffolds with oriented appended side chains.     

Influence of post-annealing temperature on properties of ZnO:Li thin films

Li-doped ZnO thin films were prepared on glass substrates by DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The influence of post-annealing temperature on the electrical, structural, and optical properties of the films was investigated. A conversion from p-type conduction to n-type in a range of temperature was confirmed by Hall measurement. The optimal p-type conduction is achieved at the annealing temperature of 500 °C with a resistivity of 57 Ω cm, carrier concentration of 1.07 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ and Hall mobility of 1.03 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. From the temperature-dependent PL analysis, the energy level of Li_Zn acceptor was determined to be 140 meV above the valence band.     

Analysis of flavonoids in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ginkgo biloba</Emphasis> L. and its phytopharmaceuticals by capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection

A high-performance capillary electrophoretic (CE) method with electrochemical detection (ED) has been developed for determination of the pharmacologically active flavonoids in Ginkgo biloba L. and phytopharmaceuticals containing its extract. Epicatechin, catechin, rutin, apigenin, luteolin, and quercetin are important flavonoids in this plant. Operated in a wall-jet configuration, a 300 micro m diameter carbon-disk electrode was used as working electrode with good response to the six analytes at +1000 mV (relative to the SCE). Under the optimum conditions, the analytes were separated within 22 min in a borax buffer (pH 9.0). Excellent linearity was obtained over two orders of magnitude and detection limits (S/N=3) ranged from 1.4 x 10(-7) to 5.0 x 10(-7) g mL(-1) for all six analytes. The method was successfully used for assay of Ginkgo biloba L. and its phytopharmaceuticals after a relatively simple extraction procedure; the results obtained were satisfactory.     

Study on open tubular capillary affinity liquid chromatography

A novel mode of affinity chromatography (AC) based on an open tubular capillary column (OTAC) is demonstrated. The OTAC column is prepared by immobilizing Cibacron blue F3GA onto the inner surface of a 50-microm-i.d. capillary column. The AC experiment is performed on a capillary electrophoresis instrument by using its pressure system as the driving force. Bovine serum albumin and lysozyme (Lys) are successfully separated with stepwise gradient elution. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for the elution time of the retained Lys is 0.08%, and good repeatability of its peak area and peak height with an RSD value lower than 2.12% for 10 consecutive runs is observed. The loading capacity and detection limit for the retained Lys are approximately 36 ng and 8.6 ng, respectively. It is also found that the amount of protein adsorbed is unaffected by the flow rate of the loading buffer, and OTAC can be used for the fast determination of biopolymers. Some of the advantages of OTAC over conventional modes of open tubular capillary liquid chromatography are that the detection sensitivity and loading capacity of a sample can be greatly improved, because the relatively large inner diameter of the capillary can be adopted and the whole capillary column can be used to adsorb the solute in OTAC.     

免疫亲和柱净化/柱前衍生化-高效液相色谱荧光检测法测定粮谷中的T-2毒素

建立了免疫亲和柱净化/柱前衍生化-高效液相色谱荧光检测器测定粮谷中T-2毒素含量的方法。样品经甲醇-水(体积比为80∶20)混合溶剂提取,通过免疫亲和柱(IAC)净化,以氰酸蒽(1-AN)为衍生化试剂、4-二甲基氨基吡啶(DMAP)为催化剂进行衍生,以ZORBAX Eclipse XDB-C18 柱为分离柱,乙腈-水(体积比为80∶20)为流动相进行高效液相色谱分离及荧光检测，荧光检测的激发波长为381 nm，发射波长为470 nm。T-2毒素的质量浓度为0.01~1.5 mg/L时与峰高呈良好的线性,相关系数为0.9985。在0.01~1.5 μg/g添加水平下，回收率为79.7%~94.5%,相对标准偏差小于7%；检出限（S/N＝3）为0.01 μg/g。该方法净化效果好,灵敏度高,操作简便快速。     

血橙中微量元素的测定

采用电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱仪(ICP-AES),对血橙果肉汁、皮、籽中10种微量元素进行了测定。结果表明,血橙果肉汁、皮、籽中含有Ca、Mg、Fe、Zn、Mn、Cu、Ni等丰富的人体必需微量元素,且血橙果皮、籽中的微量元素含量普遍高于果肉汁中的微量元素的含量,这为血橙药效功能的进一步研究和资源综合开发利用提供一定的科学依据。     

Direct electron transfer reaction of glucose oxidase at bare silver electrodes and its application in analysis

The direct electron transfer reaction of glucose oxidase (GOx) at a bare silver electrode is verified. The electron transfer number n = 2, electron transfer coefficient α = 0.45 and rate constant of the electrochemical reaction K_s = 0.1 s⁻¹ are obtained. This communication presents a multimolecular adsorption model to explain the properties of the direct electron reaction between GOx and bare silver electrodes. The residual valence force may be an important factor to ensure a direct electron transfer reaction on the bare electrode. On the basis of the experimental fact that only biologically active GOx exhibits electrochemical activity in solution, a facile analytical method for analyzing the active GOx concentration is developed. The results determined correspond very well to that of a spectrometric method.