Mini-emulsion solvent evaporation: a simple and versatile way to magnetic nanosensors

Magnetic optical sensor particles were prepared using a mini-emulsion solvent evaporation (MESE) technique. The resulting nanoparticles (NPs) have diameters around 100?nm and relatively narrow size distribution (PDI < 0.2). Incorporation of probes for oxygen or pH resulted in magnetic sensor particles for bioprocess monitoring and imaging applications. The MESE technique yields sensing NPs in higher quantities than obtained by a previously reported nanoprecipitation method, and the size of the NPs is smaller than that of particles made by spray-drying of sensor cocktails. Moreover, the technique is flexible in terms of polymers, solvents and indicators used in that it may be applied??at least in principle??to numerous combinations of two-phase systems.     

Spatial sign preprocessing: a simple way to impart moderate robustness to multivariate estimators

The spatial sign is a multivariate extension of the concept of sign. Recently multivariate estimators of covariance structures based on spatial signs have been examined by various authors. These new estimators are found to be robust to outlying observations. From a computational point of view, estimators based on spatial sign are very easy to implement as they boil down to a transformation of the data to their spatial signs, from which the classical estimator is then computed. Hence, one can also consider the transformation to spatial signs to be a preprocessing technique, which ensures that the calibration procedure as a whole is robust. In this paper, we examine the special case of spatial sign preprocessing in combination with partial least squares regression as the latter technique is frequently applied in the context of chemical data analysis. In a simulation study, we compare the performance of the spatial sign transformation to nontransformed data as well as to two robust counterparts of partial least squares regression. It turns out that the spatial sign transform is fairly efficient but has some undesirable bias properties. The method is applied to a recently published data set in the field of quantitative structure-activity relationships, where it is seen to perform equally well as the previously described best linear model for these data.     

Sonochemistry: a powerful way of enhancing the efficiency of carbohydrate synthesis

Using sonication as a means of facilitating organic reactions in carbohydrate chemistry was explored under the conditions used for traditional organic synthesis. An array of representative reactions, including hydroxy group manipulation (acylation, protection/deprotection, acyl group migration), thioglycoside synthesis, azidoglycoside synthesis, 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition and reductive cleavage of benzylidene, commonly used in the synthesis of carbohydrate derivatives was examined. A series of glycosylation reactions that employ thioglycosides, glycosyl trichloroacetimidate, glycosyl bromide and glycosyl acetate as the glycosyl donors was also examined. Our results demonstrate that sonication can significantly shorten the reaction time, enhance the reactivity of reactant and lead to superior yield and excellent stereoselectivity. More importantly, a general protocol of glycosylation may finally be developed. Sonication is compatible to the conditions used for traditional organic synthesis. We believe that sonication can also be applied to other areas of synthetic processes.     

Surfactant-induced aggregation patterns of thiazole orange: a photophysical study

The aggregation behavior of the DNA marker dye thiazole orange (TO), has been investigated in two types of surfactant assemblies, namely, premicelles/micelles of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and pre reverse micelles/reverse micelles of sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT). In the case of an SDS/water system, absorption spectral changes of TO signify the formation of H-aggregates and H-dimers of the dye at premicellar concentrations, which subsequently convert to the monomeric form beyond the critical micellar concentration (cmc). Interestingly, the observed changes in the absorption and emission characteristics due to the surfactant-induced formation of H-aggregates/dimers of TO are found to be useful to estimate the surfactant concentration parameters for premicellar aggregation of SDS. In the case of an AOT/n-heptane system, similarly, H-aggregates/dimers are observed at low AOT concentrations, below the cmc. However, in this case, the H-dimers persist even beyond the cmc. This is attributed to the strong tendency of TO for self-aggregation and its favorable electrostatic interactions with the AOT head groups. With increasing water content in the AOT reverse micelles, the hydration of the dye leads to the conversion of H-dimers to the monomeric form. The steady-state fluorescence results are nicely corroborated with those from time-resolved fluorescence studies and demonstrate the interesting behavior of the surfactant-induced aggregation of TO dye.     

Detection of heavy metals in water by fluorescence spectroscopy: on the way to a suitable sensor system

In order to develop a fiber optical heavy metal ion detection system, the applicability of selected complexing agents with fluorescent properties has been studied. Beginning with the application of known chelators, like BTC-5N, Newport Green, neocuproine, and chromotropic acid, a sensor configuration has been found, which allows the detection of Cd2+, Ni2+, and Cu2+ well below the chemical parameter threshold values of the new Water Quality Directive 98/83/EU. The sensor itself uses a membrane separation of the chelator flow from the sample volume. The diffusion across the membrane limits the response time to about 15 to 20 min. Applications are seen in monitoring networks.     

Detection of heavy metals in water by fluorescence spectroscopy: On the way to a suitable sensor system

In order to develop a fiber optical heavy metal ion detection system, the applicability of selected complexing agents with fluorescent properties has been studied. Beginning with the application of known chelators, like BTC-5N, Newport Green™, neocuproine, and chromotropic acid, a sensor configuration has been found, which allows the detection of Cd²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Cu²⁺ well below the chemical parameter threshold values of the new Water Quality Directive 98/83/EU. The sensor itself uses a membrane separation of the chelator flow from the sample volume. The diffusion across the membrane limits the response time to about 15 to 20 min. Applications are seen in monitoring networks. Received: 6 January 2000 / Revised: 16 February 2000 / Accepted: 20 February 2000     

Maximizing synthetic efficiency: multi-component transformations lead the way

With the emergence of high-throughput screening in the pharmaceutical industry in the early 1990's, organic chemists were faced with a new challenge: how to prepare large collections of molecules (the libraries) to "feed" the high-throughput screen? The unique exploratory power of some reactions (such as the 40 year-old Ugi four-component condensation) was soon recognized to be extremely valuable to produce libraries in a time- and cost-effective manner. Over the last five years, industrial and academic researchers have made these powerful transformations into one of the most efficient and cost-effective tools for combinatorial and parallel synthesis.     

Evaluation of the responses of a semiconductor gas sensor to gaseous mixtures under the application of temperature modulation

A novel gas-sensing system based on a dynamic nonlinear response is reported to evaluate the effect of gaseous mixtures on the sensor response. A sinusoidal temperature perturbation was applied to a semiconductor gas sensor and the resulting conductance of the sensor was analyzed by fast Fourier transformation (FFT). The sensor response, which changed characteristically depending on the composition of the gaseous mixture, could be classified into three types (enhanced, suppressed, and preferential responses) by the mixture. To monitor the progress of the reaction of gases, the sample gas was analyzed by gas chromatography. The coexistent effect on the response to gaseous mixtures was theoretically simulated by considering the kinetics of gas molecules on the semiconductor surface.     

Antibody-free reading of the histone code using a simple chemical sensor array

The histone code refers to the complex network of histone post-translational modifications that control gene expression and are of high interest as drivers of a large number of human diseases. We report here on a mix-and-match toolkit of readily available dyes and calixarene host molecules that can be combined to form dye-displacement sensors that respond to a wide variety of cationic peptides. Using the data from only two or three such simple supramolecular sensors as a chemical sensor array produces fingerprints of data that discriminate robustly among many kinds of histone code elements. "Reads" that are accomplished include the discrimination of unmethylated, mono-, di-, and trimethylated lysines on a single histone tail sequence, identification of different modifications and combinations of modifications on a single histone tail sequence, identification of a single modification type in several different sequence contexts, and identification of isomeric dimethylarginine modifications. Reads that are sometimes troublesome for antibodies are achieved. We also report on the ability of the sensor array to report simultaneously on the concentrations and identities of histone modifications. This sensor array discriminates between post-translationally modified analytes without being limited to partners that contain a single, programmed binding interaction.     

The correct and incorrect way to calibrate a Compton suppression counting system for gamma-ray efficiency

Gamma-ray efficiency calculations for a germanium detector have been made for a Compton suppression system. Results have shown that for radionuclides that have gamma rays in coincidence the photopeaks can be severely depressed leading to erroneous results. While this can be overcome in routine neutron activation analysis using a comparator method, special consideration must be given to determine the suppression for coincident gamma rays when calculating the efficiency curve and for radionuclide activities. This is especially important for users of the k ₀ method and for fission product identification using Compton suppression methods.     

Surfactant-induced amorphous aggregation of tobacco mosaic virus coat protein: a physical methods approach

The interactions of non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100 and the coat protein of tobacco mosaic virus, which is an established model for both ordered and non-ordered protein aggregation, were studied using turbidimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, isothermal titration calorimetry, and dynamic light scattering. It was found that at the critical aggregation concentration (equal to critical micelle concentration) of 138 x 10(-6) M, Triton X-100 induces partial denaturation of tobacco mosaic virus coat protein molecules followed by protein amorphous aggregation. Protein aggregation has profound ionic strength dependence and proceeds due to hydrophobic sticking of surfactant-protein complexes (start aggregates) with initial radii of 46 nm. It has been suggested that the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate forms mixed micelles with Triton X-100 and therefore reverses protein amorphous aggregation with release of protein molecules from the amorphous aggregates. A stoichiometric ratio of 5 was found for Triton X-100-sodium dodecyl sulfate interactions.     

HTS quality control and data analysis: a process to maximize information from a high-throughput screen

Changes in all aspects of HTS from compound management through to evaluation of hits and leads, strengthened by infrastructure improvements, in both automation and informatics, have made possible increased analysis and implementation of process and quality control throughout HTS. This paper focuses on the process of HTS with an emphasis on quality control, reducing the variability of all the processes that have an impact on the final result, and argue that by increasing the quality of the entire process that data mining of primary screening data is in fact possible and will reduce cycle times to medicinal chemistry.     

Characterisation of individual pixel efficiency in the PILATUS II sensor

Synchrotron applications such as protein crystallography and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) demand precise knowledge of detector pixel efficiency for data corrections. Current techniques used to determine detector efficiency are only applicable for the specific set-up for which the calibration is performed. Here the effect of comparator thresholding on pixel efficiency for PILATUS is presented for standard amplifier and shaper gain settings, allowing users to make necessary corrections to their intensity data for various threshold settings without requiring repeated empirical calibrations. A three-dimensional TCAD simulation of the sensor is also presented and is used to confirm the experimental result.     

Nitridation: A simple way to improve the catalytic performance of hierarchical porous ZSM-5 in benzene alkylation with methanol

Nitrided hierarchical porous ZSM-5 was synthesized by nitridation of hierarchical porous ZSM-5 with flowing ammonia at elevated temperature. The samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, Nitrogen sorption isotherms, NH₃-TPD and Py-IR, and evaluated in alkylation of benzene and methanol. The result indicated that the high specific surface area of parent ZSM-5 was maintained, while the Brönsted acidity was effectively adjusted by nitridation. Moreover, the high suppression of ethylbenzene was observed on nitrided catalyst and this could be attributed to the decrease of Brönsted acidity which suppressed the methanol to olefins reactions.     

A simple and smart oxygen sensor based on the intrazeolite reactions of a substituted anthraquinone

Inclusion of 2-(hydroxymethyl)anthraquinone in zeolite NaY leads to a solid, photoactivated, reusable oxygen sensor capable of reporting and memorizing oxygen contamination events by simple visual inspection.     

Stereoselective hydroboration of 5-dimethylaminomethyl-2-methyl-4,5-dihydrofuran: A simple way to (±)-muscarine

Conclusions A fundamentally new scheme was found for the synthesis of (±)-muscarine, in which the required arrangement of all the substituents is achieved in a single step, involving the hydroboration of 5-dimethylaminomethyl-2-methyl-4,5-dihydrofuran.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1383–1386, June, 1989.