MPKin-YSTR: Interpretation of Y chromosome STR haplotypes for missing persons cases

Y chromosome Short Tandem Repeat (STR) haplotypes have been used in assisting forensic investigations primarily for identification and male lineage determination. The current SWGDAM interpretation guidelines for Y-STR typing provide helpful guidance on those purposes but do not address the issue of kinship analysis with Y-STR haplotypes. Because of the high mutation rate of Y-STRs, there are complex missing person cases in which inconsistent Y-STR haplotypes between true paternal lineage relatives will arise and cases with two or more male references in the same lineage and yet differ in their haplotypes. Therefore, more useful methods are needed for interpreting the Y-STR haplotype data. Computational methods and interpretation guidelines have been developed specifically addressing this issue, either using a mismatch-based counting method or a pedigree likelihood ratio method. In this study, a software program, MPKin-YSTR, was developed by implementing those more sophisticated methods. This software should be able to improve the interpretation of complex cases with Y-STR haplotype evidence. Thus, more biological evidence will be interpreted, which in turn will result in more investigation leads to help solve crimes.     

计算机辅助设计三聚氰胺分子印迹聚合物

借助密度泛函理论(DFT)长程校正方法,以三聚氰胺(MAM)为印迹分子,甲基丙烯酸(MAA)为功能单体,分别以二甲基丙烯酸乙二醇酯(EGDMA)、三羟甲基丙烷三甲基丙烯酸酯(TRIM)及二乙烯苯(DVB)为交联剂,以乙腈(ACN)、甲醇(MT)、乙醇(EA)、甲苯(TL)、四氢呋喃(THF)及二甲基亚砜(DMSO)为溶剂,模拟了MAM与MAA单体分子印迹聚合物(MIPs)自组装体系的构型,讨论了MAM与MAA的成键作用位点,及其稳定复合物的印迹反应比例及印迹作用机理,依据结合能(△E)优化了交联剂和溶剂,并借助分子中原子理论(AIM)揭示了MAM与MAA印迹作用的本质.计算结果表明,MAM印迹分子三嗪环上的N与胺基上H均通过氢键与MAA单体进行印迹聚合反应,且在印迹反应比例为1∶6,以TL为溶剂时形成的MAM-MAA有序复合物结合能最低,构型最稳定;与TRIM及EGDMA交联剂相比,DVB与MAM结合能最低,更适宜作为MAM-MAA印迹聚合物的交联剂.本研究为MAM-MIPs合成时印迹比例、交联剂及溶剂的选择提供了理论依据.     

聚丙烯酰胺纳米复合水凝胶研究进展

传统化学交联的聚丙烯酰胺(PAM)水凝胶由于力学性能较弱,其应用范围受到很大限制。与之相比,采用纳米复合技术制备的PAM纳米复合(NC)水凝胶,不仅大幅提高了力学性能,而且在溶胀率等方面也有明显的提高。本文结合该领域近年来的研究进展,将PAM NC水凝胶分为纯物理交联和化学物理交联相结合两类,重点讨论了NC水凝胶在力学性能方面的研究结果,对溶胀率等其它方面的性能也进行了综合论述。     

马来酸酐接枝稀土异戊橡胶接枝率的测试方法

以马来酸酐(MAH)和稀土异戊橡胶(IR)聚合液为主要原料,采用溶液接枝改性反应制备了马来酸酐接枝稀土异戊橡胶(IR-g-MAH)。以IR-g-MAH接枝率的测试方法为研究对象,对比直接滴定法和返滴法,并进一步优化直接滴定法的测试条件。实验结果表明,直接滴定法测试的结果准确度高、重复性好,且测试过程简单。其较优的测试条件为:水解试剂为乙醇,样品用量为0.2~0.5g,KOH-乙醇标准溶液浓度为0.02~0.06mol/L。     

不同孪晶界密度银纳米线拉伸形变行为的分子动力学模拟

采用分子动力学方法模拟了不同孪晶界密度银纳米线的拉伸形变行为, 分析了孪晶界密度对多晶银纳米线屈服强度、弹性模量和塑性变形机理的影响. 在弹性形变区域, 孪晶界的存在对杨氏模量变化的作用不明显. 在塑性形变阶段, 首先从表面边缘开始产生位错成核, 然后延伸并受阻于孪晶界. 在进一步拉伸载荷作用下, 孪晶界将作为位错源产生新的位错. 模拟结果表明, 银纳米线的强度与孪晶界和晶粒的尺寸有关. 孪晶界密度较小(即晶粒的长径比大于1)时, 此纳米线的屈服应力比单晶纳米线还要小, 只有当孪晶界密度较大时(即晶粒的长径比小于1), 孪晶界使得纳米线得到强化. 综合分析了孪晶界和晶粒尺寸对银纳米线的影响, 为构建高强度金属纳米线打下基础. 最后讨论了温度和拉伸速度对孪晶纳米线屈服应力所产生的影响, 随着温度的升高, 孪晶纳米线与单晶纳米线的屈服应力差先升高后趋于稳定; 当拉伸速度逐渐增大, 孪晶纳米线与单晶纳米线的屈服应力差先稳定后增大.     

Bulk derivatization and cation exchange restricted access media-based trap-and-elute liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry method for determination of trace estrogens in serum

Estrone (E1), estradiols (α/β-E2), and estriol (E3) are four major metabolically active estrogens exerting strong biological activities at very low circulating concentrations. This paper reports a sensitive and efficient method with automated, on-line clean-up and detection to determine trace estrogens in a small volume of serum samples using liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry directly, without off-line liquid–liquid or solid-phase extraction pretreatments. Serum aliquots (charcoal stripped fetal bovine serum, 100 μL) were spiked with four estrogen standards and their corresponding isotope-labeled internal standards, then bulk derivatized with 2-fluoro-1-methyl-pyridium p-toluenesulfonate (2-FMP) to establish the calibration curves and perform method validation. Calibration was established in the concentration ranges of 5–1000 pg mL⁻¹, and demonstrated good linearity of R² from 0.9944 to 0.9997 for the four derivatized estrogens. The lower detection limits obtained were 3–7 pg mL⁻¹. Good accuracy and precision in the range of 86–112% and 2.3–11.9%, respectively, were observed for the quality control (QC) samples at low, medium, and high concentration levels. The stability tests showed that the derivatized serum samples were stable 8 h after derivatization at room temperature and at least to 48 h if stored at −20 °C. The method was applied to measure trace estrogens in real human and bovine serum samples, and three of four estrogen compounds studied were observed and quantified.     

Monitoring the quality consistency of Weibizhi tablets by micellar electrokinetic chromatography fingerprints combined with multivariate statistical analyses,the simple quantified ratio fingerprint method,and the fingerprint–efficacy relationship

Micellar electrokinetic chromatography fingerprinting combined with quantification was successfully developed and applied to monitor the quality consistency of Weibizhi tablets, which is a classical compound preparation used to treat gastric ulcers. A background electrolyte composed of 57 mmol/L sodium borate, 21 mmol/L sodium dodecylsulfate and 100 mmol/L sodium hydroxide was used to separate compounds. To optimize capillary electrophoresis conditions, multivariate statistical analyses were applied. First, the most important factors influencing sample electrophoretic behavior were identified as background electrolyte concentrations. Then, a Box–Benhnken design response surface strategy using resolution index RF as an integrated response was set up to correlate factors with response. RF reflects the effective signal amount, resolution, and signal homogenization in an electropherogram, thus, it was regarded as an excellent indicator. In fingerprint assessments, simple quantified ratio fingerprint method was established for comprehensive quality discrimination of traditional Chinese medicines/herbal medicines from qualitative and quantitative perspectives, by which the quality of 27 samples from the same manufacturer were well differentiated. In addition, the fingerprint–efficacy relationship between fingerprints and antioxidant activities was established using partial least squares regression, which provided important medicinal efficacy information for quality control. The present study offered an efficient means for monitoring Weibizhi tablet quality consistency.     

Theoretical Investigations on Photodissociation Dynamics of Deuterated Alkyl Halides CD3CH2F

The product branching ratio between different products in multichannel reactions is as important as the overall rate of reaction, both in terms of practical applications (\emph{e.g}. models of combustion or atmosphere chemistry) in understanding the fundamental mechanisms of such chemical reactions. A global ground state potential energy surface for the dissociation reaction of deuterated alkyl halide CD\begin{document}$ _3 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}F was computed at the CCSD(T)/CBS//B3LYP/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory for all species. The decomposition of CD\begin{document}$ _3 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}F is controversial concerning C\begin{document}$ - $\end{document}F bond dissociation reaction and molecular (HF, DF, H\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}, D\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}, HD) elimination reaction. Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) calculations were applied to compute the rate constants for individual reaction steps and the relative product branching ratios for the dissociation products were calculated using the steady-state approach. At the different energies studied, the RRKM method predicts that the main channel for DF or HF elimination from 1, 2-elimination of CD\begin{document}$ _3 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}F is through a four-center transition state, whereas D\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document} or H\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document} elimination from 1, 1-elimination of CD\begin{document}$ _3 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}F occurs through a direct three-center elimination. At 266, 248, and 193 nm photodissociation, the main product CD\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}+DF branching ratios are computed to be 96.57%, 91.47%, and 48.52%, respectively; however, at 157 nm photodissociation, the product branching ratio is computed to be 16.11%. Based on these transition state structures and energies, the following photodissociation mechanisms are suggested: at 266, 248, 193 nm, CD\begin{document}$ _3 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}F\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}absorption of a photon\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}TS5\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}the formation of the major product CD\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}+DF; at 157 nm, CD\begin{document}$ _3 $\end{document}CH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}F\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}absorption of a photon\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}D/F interchange of TS1\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}CDH\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}CDF\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}H/F interchange of TS2\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}CHD\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}CHDF\begin{document}$ \rightarrow $\end{document}the formation of the major product CHD\begin{document}$ _2 $\end{document}+CHDF.     

片状云母径厚比表征方法研究

片状材料的径厚比是片状材料的一个重要特征参数。以片状云母为研究对象,引入形状明显区别于片状云母的聚苯乙烯球作为支撑材料。实验结果表明,当云母片与聚苯乙烯球混合质量比为1∶3时,呈竖立取向云母片的数量达到最大值,随机采集200个云母片的长径和厚度,其径厚比的统计样本均值为15.37。支撑材料聚苯乙烯球为片状云母带来大量支撑位点,显著提高片状云母呈竖立取向的概率,能够快速、直观地同时测量云母片的长径和厚度,有效提高云母片径厚比的测量效率和准确性。