Fabrication of nanocapsules with Au particles trapped inside carbon and silica nanoporous shells

Carbon capsules with hollow cores and mesoporous shells (HCMS) containing entrapped Au particles were prepared by template replication from solid core/mesoporous shell silica spheres with encapsulated Au particles. The resulting HCMS carbon capsules were then nanocast one step further to generate Au-trapping hollow core silica capsules with nanostructured shells.     

Cavitands bearing four fluorophores

The synthesis of novel cavitands containing four fluorophores [tert-butoxycarbonyl protected 2,2′-bis(furyl)benzidine (t-BOC FurylBz) or 5,5′-bis(4-aminophenyl)-2,2′-bifuryl (t-BOC PFDA)] and ionophoric functional groups on the upper rim is reported. The cavitands bearing the four fluorophores emit blue light photoluminescence. In particular, the cavitand containing PFDA moieties exhibits a high photoluminescence quantum yield.     

The role of neuropeptide somatostatin in the brain and its application in treating neurological disorders

Somatostatin (SST) is a well-known neuropeptide that is expressed throughout the brain. In the cortex, SST is expressed in a subset of GABAergic neurons and is known as a protein marker of inhibitory interneurons. Recent studies have identified the key functions of SST in modulating cortical circuits in the brain and cognitive function. Furthermore, reduced expression of SST is a hallmark of various neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and depression. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on SST expression and function in the brain. In particular, we describe the physiological roles of SST-positive interneurons in the cortex. We further describe the causal relationship between pathophysiological changes in SST function and various neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Finally, we discuss potential treatments and possibility of novel drug developments for neurological disorders based on the current knowledge on the function of SST and SST analogs in the brain derived from experimental and clinical studies.Subject terms: Molecular neuroscience, Drug development     

Ruthenium‐catalyzed synthesis of quinolines via reductive heteroannulation of nitroarenes with 3‐amino‐1‐propanols

Nitroarenes are reductively cyclized with 3‐amino‐1‐propanols in dioxane/H₂O in the presence of a ruthenium catalyst and tin(II) chloride dihydrate together with isopropanol to afford the corresponding quinolines. A reaction pathway involving initial reduction of nitroarenes to anilines, propanol group transfer from 3‐amino‐1‐propanols to anilines, N‐alkylation of anilines by 3‐anilino‐1‐propanols and heteroannulation of 1,3‐dianilinopropanes is proposed.     

Modeling of the Permeate Flux during Microfiltration of BSA-Adsorbed Microspheres in a Stirred Cell

A study on the variation of the permeate flux was performed in a stirred cell charged with microspheres, to investigate the effects of the stirrer speeds (300, 400, and 600 rpm) and the BSA concentration (0.1, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 g/L) under constant pressure. The permeate flux increased over time before the saturation point, but it began to decrease after that point. An increase of the BSA concentration and the stirrer speed resulted in the rapid increase of the permeate flux. This is contrary to the observation of the conventional filtration experiments using a stirred cell. A resistance-in-series model was employed for the modeling of the permeate flux. The cake resistance (R(c), induced by the concentration polarization of microspheres) and the fouling resistance (R(f), induced by the adsorption of BSA inside the membrane pore) must be considered simultaneously for the modeling. These modeling results were in good agreement with the experimental data. These can be applied to the special system considering both R(c) and R(f) as well as the general filtration systems using a stirred cell. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Anomalies in the asymmetric hydroboration of olefins with the 11 adduct of (+)-α-pinene and BH3 · THF

The hydroboration of cis-2-butene and cis-3-hexene with pure diisopinocampheylborane (IPC₂BH) and monoisopinocampheylborane (IPCBH₂), both prepared from (+)-α-pinene, were studied. In contrast to IPC₂BH, which yielded R-(?)-2-butanol and R-(?)-3-hexanol in 98.4 and 94.5% optical purities, IPCBH₂ yielded S-(+)-2-butanol and S-(+)-3-hexanol in 23.6 and 19.7% optical purifies respectively. PMR examination of the methanolyzed products were utilized to establish the species present in the freshly prepared and aged $\text{1}\text{1}$ adduct from (+)-α-pinene and BH₃ · THF. The results confirm the interpretation previously advanced for the major differences realized in asymmetric hydroboration with the fresh and aged $\text{1}\text{1}$ adducts.     

A boundary element method for molecular electrostatics with electrolyte effects

A boundary element method is developed to compute the electrostatic potential inside and around molecules in an electrolyte solution. A set of boundary integral equations are derived based on the integral formulations of the Poisson equation and the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation. The boundary integral equations are then solved numerically after discretizing the molecular surface into a number of flat triangular elements. The method is applied to a spherical molecule for which analytical solutions are available. Use is made of both constant and linearly varying unknowns over the boundary elements, and the method is tested for various values of parameters such as the dielectric constant of the molecule, ionic strength, and the location of the interior point charge. The use of the boundary integral method incorporating the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation is also briefly discussed.     

Direct determination of estriol 3- and 16-glucuronides in pregnancy urine by column-switching liquid chromatography with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

Using column-switching liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), we developed an improved analytical method of urinary estriol glucuronides. This new method is derived predominantly from maternal and fetal precursors in pregnancy. We used in the following procedure: first, we filtered urine samples with a membrane filter. Next, we directly injected the 50 microL aliquot of urine samples onto a pre-column. Then, after activating the column-switching valve, we backflushed the loaded samples onto the C(18) analytical column. Urine samples can be assayed within 20 min without any sample preparation steps. We monitored separated estriol glucuronides by negative electrospray ionization (ESI) and selected-reaction monitoring (SRM). The calibration range of estriol-3-glucuronide (E3-3G) and estriol-16-glucuronide (E3-16G) was 0.1-20 microg/mL and the linearity of the method was 0.9984 for E3-3G and 0.9987 for E3-16G. The limits of detection at a signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of 3 were 10 ng/mL (E3-3G) and 5 ng/mL (E3-16G). The analytical recovery was over 85% and, in general, inter-day and intra-day variability for precision and accuracy were less than 10%. When applied to a pregnancy urine sample to biomedical monitoring of the function of the maternal/fetal unit, the proposed method allowed rapid and sensitive screening for the detection of E3-3G and E3-16G.     

Controlled peak wavelength shift of Ca1−xSrx(SySe1−y):Eu phosphor for LED application

The highly efficient red-orange-yellow-emitting phosphor (Ca_1−xSr_x)(S_1−ySe_y):Eu²⁺ in combination with commercial green phosphor SrGa₂S₄:Eu²⁺ and blue LED are proposed for a three-band white LED. The luminescence mechanism and optimization parameters are discussed on the basis of proposed peak wavelength diagram.