Strange particle production at the intersection of soft and hard processes at RHIC

Nuclear suppression factor and u ₂ measurements as a function of transverse momentum for neutral strange particles are shown and compared to particle identified spectra from PHENIX and WA98 and to models that attempt to describe the suppression of particles at moderate pt in central RHIC Au?Au collisions. It is shown that identified spectra carry additional information to the published charged particle spectra. In particular, dependencies of the R _AA and u ₂ values on the measured particle species will be discussed in the context of several models.     

Stochastic Arithmetic: s-spaces and Some Applications

It has been recently shown that computation with stochastic numbers as regard to addition and multiplication by scalars can be reduced to computation in familiar vector spaces. In this work we show how this can be used for the algebraic solution of linear systems of equations with stochastic right-hand sides. On several examples we compare the algebraic solution with the simulated solution using the CADNA package.     

Differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry of osmium-modified peptides

Complexes of osmium tetroxide with nitrogen ligands were developed and used in our laboratory as probes of the DNA structure. Here, we show that the complex of osmium tetroxide with 2,2'-bipyridine (Os,bipy) can be used for modification and electrochemical detection of proteins at neutral pH. Salmon luteinizing hormone (SLH) containing two tryptophan (Trp) residues and human luteinizing hormone (HLH) containing one Trp were modified by Os,bipy and measured by differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry (DPAdSV) at a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE). The intensity of the DPAdSV catalytic signals corresponded to the number of Trp residues in the peptide molecule. Decreasing pH of the background electrolyte from 6.6 to 3.8 led to the increase of DPAdSV signals, suggesting that at pH 3.8, the DPAdSV detection limit might be well below 1 ng/ml. Our results suggest that Os,bipy is potentially useful for chemical modification of proteins.     

Polyfluorothiolate derivatives of rhodium(I). Crystal and molecular structure of [Rh(μ-SC6HF4)(C8H12)]2

Summary The thiolato-bridged dinuclear compounds [Rh(-SR)-(COD)]₂, where R=p-C₆HF₄ (1),p-C₆H₄F (2) and CF₃ (3), are obtained from the chloro-bridged analogue by ligand exchange.Compound (1) crystallizes in the space group P₁ with a=9.740(3)Å, b=11.642(4)Å, c=13.997(6)Å, =103.87(3)°, =106.98(3)° and =105.10(2)°; z=2. In this dinuclear molecule both Rh atoms have a square planar coordination sharing one edge, namely the two sulphur bridging atoms. The Rh—Rh separation of 2.96 Å is consistent with at most a very weak metal-metal interaction. Upon addition of CO the dimeric [Rh(-SR)(CO)₂]₂ (4), (5) and (6) are obtained, but addition of PPh₃ affords the monomeric species [Rh(SR)(PPh₃)-(COD)] (7), (8) and (9). Reactions of the dimeric tetracarbonyl derivatives with PPh₃ vary with the nature of R; [Rh(-SR)(PPh₃)(CO)]₂ is obtained when R=p-C₆H₄F (10) and CF₃ (11) but monomeric [Rh(SR)-(PPh₃)(CO)₂] (12) is produced when R=p-C₆HF₄. The latter mononuclear compounds, with R=p-C₆H₄F (13) and CF₃ (14), are also formed by reaction of [Rh(SR)-(PPh₃)(COD)] with CO.     

Square-wave voltammetric determination of cefoperazone in a bacterial culture,pharmaceutical drug,milk, and urine

Use of square-wave voltammetry (SWV) for determination of cefoperazone (CFPZ) in some buffers, bacterial culture, urine, and milk is described. CFPZ provides a specific voltammetric signal which is affected by pH and solution components. Determination of CFPZ in Britton–Robinson buffer, pH 4.4, is sensitive with a low detection limit (about 0.5 nmol L^–1). In a more complex medium (bacterial 2YT medium, pH 7.2) the detection limit was approximately 1.5 mol L^–1. We provide evidence that SWV is a suitable and quick method for CFPZ determination in a culture of living bacteria without separation of biomass. We have found big differences between methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) in cultivation in the presence of CFPZ, depending on time. When CFPZ is cleaved by penicillinase, a new SWV peak b appears at more positive potentials. This peak rises both with increasing concentration of enzyme and with cleavage time while the original CFPZ peak is simultaneously decreasing. We determined the concentration of CFPZ in the drug Pathozone by the standard addition method and achieved good agreement with the declared value of CFPZ in the drug. With a simple pretreatment procedure it is possible to determine CFPZ in milk; for urine no pretreatment was required. Using SWV we could detect CFPZ concentrations as low as 500 nmol L^–1 in bovine milk and human urine.     

Characterisation of Sugar Cane Combustion Particles in the Araraquara Region, Southeast Brazil

Biomass burning is an important primary and secondary source of aerosol particles. The presence of carbonaceous particles in the respirable size range makes the study of this fraction important in view of possible health and climatic effects. The annual burning of sugar cane plantations causes emission of huge amounts of pyrogenic particles. Aerosol samples were collected in Araraquara city, São Paulo state, Brazil, during the harvest season for fine and coarse particles and bulk; they were analysed by electron-probe microanalysis, including facilities for low-Z element determination (low-Z EPMA) and by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), in order to investigate the elemental composition of individual particles and bulk samples, respectively. Numerical analysis of the EPMA results by hierarchical clustering shows high contributions of carbonaceous particles that can be distinguished mainly in two different types: biogenic and carbon-rich. Additionally, two significant contributions of aluminosilicate particles were identified: as rather pure aluminosilicates or mixed with carbonaceous species. The EDXRF results are compatible with those of aerosol particles in Amazon, which is nowadays one of the main sources of biogenic particles in the world.     

An analysis of avidin, biotin and their interaction at attomole levels by voltammetric and chromatographic techniques

The electroanalytical determination of avidin in solution, in a carbon paste, and in a transgenic maize extract was performed in acidic medium at a carbon paste electrode (CPE). The oxidative voltammetric signal resulting from the presence of tyrosine and tryptophan in avidin was observed using square-wave voltammetry. The process could be used to determine avidin concentrations up to 3 fM (100 amol in 3 l drop) in solution, 700 fM (174 fmol in 250 l solution) in an avidin-modified electrode, and 174 nM in a maize seed extract. In the case of the avidin-modified CPE, several parameters were studied in order to optimize the measurements, such as electrode accumulation time, composition of the avidin-modified CPE, and the elution time of avidin. In addition, the avidin-modified electrode was used to detect biotin in solution (the detection limit was 7.6 pmol in a 6 l drop) and to detect biotin in a pharmaceutical drug after various solvent extraction procedures. Comparable studies for the detection of biotin were developed using HPLC with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) and flow injection analysis with electrochemical detection, which allowed biotin to be detected at levels as low as 614 pM and 6.6 nM, respectively. The effects of applied potential, acetonitrile content, and flow rate of the mobile phase on the FIA-ED signal were also studied.     

On-line high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometric characterization of native oligosaccharides from glycoproteins

An on-line high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS) method is described for the rapid characterization of any type of oligosaccharide released from glycoproteins. The procedure can be applied without further manipulation to fractions collected from a high-performance anion-exchange chromatography-pulse amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD) system commonly used for glycosylation mapping of glycoproteins, or to a pool of oligosaccharides directly released from glycoproteins. The system consists of a porous graphitized high-performance chromatography column (Hypercarb) coupled to a quadrupole time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer. Oligosaccharides are eluted from the column with a gradient of ammonium acetate/acetonitrile and directly identified following in-source fragmentation. Some applications of the method are presented, as well as information about the spectra and fragmentation behavior observed for N- and O-linked oligosaccharides released from some recombinant glycoproteins. Low femtomole limits of detection are achieved using proper miniaturization.     

Two problematic human polymorphic Alu insertions

Analysis of two previously described polymorphic Alu insertions (Sb19.3 and NBC3) in world-wide human populations generated genotypic frequencies grossly in violation of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium expectations. GenBank searches at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and sequencing analyses revealed that samples homozygous for the Sb19.3 Alu insertion amplify a band indistinguishable in size to the lack of insertion amplicon, corresponding to a paralogous locus on chromosome 4. This locus displays a very similar sequence (84%) to that flanking the Sb19.3 Alu insertion located at chromosome 19. Moreover, we have determined that NBC3, a different Alu insertion, is not located in the pseudoautosomal region of the Y-chromosome, as previously reported, but in position Yq11.2. Also, the band that mimics the lack of insertion amplicon corresponds to a paralogous locus located at chromosome X with a similarity of 92% to the sequence flanking the NBC3 Alu insertion. Finally, the utilization of newly designed primers avoided amplification from the paralogous loci and allowed a reliable assignation of genotypes for both loci. Unlike previously reported, using our new primers the Y-specific locus NBC3 was found not to be polymorphic in the populations analyzed.