Chemical effects of satellites on X-ray emission spectra—II. A general theory of the origin of chemical effects and its application to Cl Kα spectra

A theory is presented to predict the intensity of satellites in the compounds through second order in perturbation theory. It was found that the satellite intensity is proportional to the square of the orbital-relaxation energy. We have applied the theory to the interpretation of chemical effects of K_α parasites—satellites within the natural width of main lines—of Cl compounds. The relaxation energies of the compounds have been calculated with the use of an SCC-DV-X_α MO method. The theory is in good agreement with the experimental results except for CsCl and RbCl. A reason for the exceptions is also presented.     

Chemical effects of satellites on X-ray emission spectra-I. Observation of chemical effects in Cl Kα spectra

Fluorescent K_α X-ray spectra of Cl were observed with a two-crystal spectrometer equipped with Si(111) + Si(111) analyzer crystals. K_α line shapes appeared asymmetrically smeared due to the presence of the shake satellites within the natural width of main lines. Two components, which were assigned to the transitions KM → LM and KM² → LM² by X_α calculations, were found by numerical deconvolution. The relative intensity of K_α parasites-satellites behind the main lines-was measured for a number of compounds. Bonding effects of KMⁿ → LMⁿ satellites-parasites-of chlorine were observed (n = 1, 2). It was found that the more covalent the chlorine compound, the weaker the parasites become except for a few compounds.     

Chemical effects on Lα/Lβ X-ray intensity ratios of Ba,La and Ce

Chemical effects on the Lα/Lβ X-ray intensity ratio of Ba, La and Ce were investigated. The vacancies in the L shell were created by 59.5 keV γ-rays from an Am-241 radioactive source and the L X-rays were measured using a Si(Li) detector with resolution 160 eV at 5.9 keV. The experimental values are given with the theoretical values of the pure elements.     

Study on the resonance Rayleigh scattering spectra and resonance non-linear spectra of congo red-amikacin system and its analytical application

The interaction between congo red (CR) and amikacin (AMK) was studied by resonance Rayleigh scattering (RRS), frequency doubling scattering (FDS) and second-order scattering (SOS) combining with absorption spectrum. In a weak acidic medium, CR combined with AMK to form an ion association complex with the composition ratio of 1∶1 by electrostatic interaction, hydrophobicity and charge transferring effect. As a result, the new spectra of RRS, FDS, and SOS appeared and their intensities were enhanced greatly. The maximum wavelengths of RRS, FDS and SOS were located at 563 nm, 475 nm and 940 nm, and the scattering intensities were proportional to the concentration of AMK. These three methods have very high sensitivities, and the detection limits were 4.0 ng·mL?1 for RRS, 3.6 ng·mL?1 for FDS and 1.9 ng·mL?1 for SOS, respectively. At the same time, the methods have better selectivity. A new method for the determination of trace amounts of AMK with congo red by resonance scattering technique has been developed. The recovery for the determination of AMK in blood serum and urine sample was between 95.5% and 105.5%. In this study, the properties, such as enthalpy of formation, charge distribution and mean polarizability, were calculated by AM1 quantum chemistry method. In addition, the reaction mechanism and the reasons for the enhancement of scattering spectra were discussed.     

Chemical shifts of Kα and Kβ<Subscript>1,3</Subscript> X-ray emission spectra for oxygen compounds of Ti,Cr, Fe,Co, Cu with WDXRF

Chemical shifts and full widths at half maximum intensity (FWHM) of Kα and Kβ_1,3 X-ray emission lines and differences of full widths at half maximum intensity (ΔFHWM) using metallic element as reference for these emission lines were measured for oxygen compounds of elements in the range 22≤Z≤29 with a Wavelength-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (WDXRF). It was also found larger chemical shifts and FWHM for Kβ_1,3 lines than those of Kα ones. It should be noted that the magnitude of the chemical shifts increases with increasing number of ligand atom.     

Chemical modification of L-asparaginase with N, O-carboxymethyl chitosan and its effects on plasma half-life and other properties

E.coli L-asparaginase,an antitumor enzyme,was chemically modified with N,O-carboxymethyl chitosan to lower its artigenicity and increase its plasma half-life.The results showed that the modified L-asparaginase has almost the same apparent Km value as that of native enzyme.The modified L-asparaginase also showed a higher protease stability against trypsin and a-chymotrypsin.After being modified,the enzyme exhibited the complete loss of antigenicity towards antiasparaginase serum.In addition,the higher the molecular weight of modifying reagents,the better the effects on reduction of antigenicity.When tested in vivo,the plasma half-life of the modified enzyme (t1/2=40 h) was over 33 times longer than that of the native enzyme (t1/2=1.2 h).     

A family of four-step trigonometrically-fitted methods and its application to the schrödinger equation

In this article we present a singularly almost P-stable exponentially-fitted four-step method for the approximate solution of the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation. More specifically we present a method that is singularly almost P-stable (a concept later introduced in this article) and also integrates exactly any linear combination of the functions {1, x, exp ( ±I v x) , x exp ( ±I v x) , x ² exp ( ±I v x)}. The numerical experimentation showed that our method is considerably more efficient compared to well known methods used for the approximate solution of resonance problem of the radial Schrödinger equation.     

LapRLSR for NIR spectral modeling and its application to online monitoring of the column separation of Salvianolate

A novel near infrared (NIR) modeling method—Laplacian regularized least squares regression (LapRLSR) was presented, which can take the advantage of many unlabeled spectra to promote the prediction performance of the model even if there are only few calibration samples. Using LapRLSR modeling, NIR spectral analysis was applied to the online monitoring of the concentration of salvia acid B in the column separation of Salvianolate. The results demonstrated that LapRLSR outperformed partial least squares (PLS) significantly, and NIR online analysis was applicable.     

Quasirelativistic theory for the magnetic shielding constant. III. Quasirelativistic second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory and its application to tellurium compounds

The quasirelativistic (QR) generalized unrestricted Hartree-Fock method for the magnetic shielding constant [R. Fukuda, M. Hada, and H. Nakatsuji, J. Chem. Phys. 118, 1015 (2003); R. Fukuda, M. Hada, and H. Nakatsuji, J. Chem. Phys.118, 1027 (2003)] has been extended to include the electron correlation effect in the level of the second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2). We have implemented the energy gradient and finite-perturbation methods to calculate the magnetic shielding constant at the QR MP2 level and applied to the magnetic shielding constants and the NMR chemical shifts of 125Te nucleus in various tellurium compounds. The calculated magnetic shielding constants and NMR chemical shifts well reproduced the experimental values. The relations of the chemical shifts with the natures of ligands, and the tellurium oxidation states were investigated. The chemical shifts in different valence states were explained by the paramagnetic shielding and spin-orbit terms. The tellurium 5p electrons are the dominant origin of the chemical shifts in the Te I and Te II compounds and the chemical shifts were explained by the p-hole mechanism. The tellurium d electrons also play an important role in the chemical shifts of the hypervalent compounds.     

A new method to analyze polarization curves — its application for the determination of kinetic parameters for oxygen reduction

A new method has been developed to analyze current–potential curves. The treatment was applied to determine the kinetic parameters of oxygen reduction. The reduction of oxygen was studied on thin-film platinum electrodes in alkaline solution. For the purpose of comparison the kinetic parameters were determined by the traditional method of constructing Tafel plots.     

Development of an ion-exchange method for separation of radioiodine from tellurium and antimony and its application to the production of 124I via the 121Sb(α,n)-process

A novel anion-exchange chromatographic method for separation of radioiodine from an antimony target irradiated with ³He- or α-particles was developed, with separation yield of radioiodine amounting to 90 ± 5 % and its decontamination factor from the Te and Sb radionuclides to ~10⁴. The optimized separation method developed was then applied to the production of ¹²⁴I via the ¹²¹Sb(α,n)¹²⁴I process using a highly enriched ¹²¹Sb target. Quality control tests showed that the separated ¹²⁴I occurred >99 % as iodide and the longer lived impurities ¹²⁶I and ¹²⁵I amounted to 0.16 % and <0.05 %, respectively. The trace level of inactive Sb impurity was determined by ICP–OES.     

PSIXAS: A Psi4 plugin for efficient simulations of X-ray absorption spectra based on the transition-potential and Δ-Kohn–Sham method

Near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra and their pump-probe extension (PP-NEXAFS) offer insights into valence- and core-excited states. We present PSIXAS, a recent implementation for simulating NEXAFS and PP-NEXAFS spectra by means of the transition-potential and the Δ-Kohn–Sham method. The approach is implemented in form of a software plugin for the Psi4 code, which provides access to a wide selection of basis sets as well as density functionals. We briefly outline the theoretical foundation and the key aspects of the plugin. Then, we use the plugin to simulate PP-NEXAFS spectra of thymine, a system already investigated by others and us. It is found that larger, extended basis sets are needed to obtain more accurate absolute resonance positions. We further demonstrate that, in contrast to ordinary NEXAFS simulations, where the choice of the density functional plays a minor role for the shape of the spectrum, for PP-NEXAFS simulations the choice of the density functional is important. Especially hybrid functionals (which could not be used straightforwardly before to simulate PP-NEXAFS spectra) and their amount of “Hartree-Fock like” exact exchange affects relative resonance positions in the spectrum.     

Native chemical ligation of thioamide-containing peptides: development and application to the synthesis of labeled α-synuclein for misfolding studies

Thioamide modifications of the peptide backbone are used to perturb secondary structure, to inhibit proteolysis, as photoswitches, and as spectroscopic labels. Thus far, their incorporation has been confined to single peptides synthesized on solid phase. We have generated thioamides in C-terminal thioesters or N-terminal Cys fragments and examined their compatibility with native chemical ligation conditions. Most sequence variants can be coupled in good yields with either TCEP or DTT as the reductant, though some byproducts are observed with prolonged TCEP incubations. Furthermore, we find that thioamides are compatible with thiazolidine protection of an N-terminal Cys, so that multiple ligations can be used to construct larger proteins. Since the acid-lability of the thioamide prohibits on-resin thioester synthesis using Boc chemistry, we devised a method for the synthesis of thioamide peptides with a masked C-terminal thioester that is revealed in situ. Finally, we have shown that thioamidous peptides can be coupled to expressed protein fragments to generate large proteins with backbone thioamide labels by synthesizing labeled versions of the amyloid protein α-synuclein for protein folding studies. In a proof-of-principle experiment, we demonstrated that quenching of fluorescence by thioamides can be used to track conformational changes during aggregation of labeled α-synuclein.     

Electrochemical synthesis of copper nanoparticles on nafion–graphene nanoribbons and its application for the synthesis of diaryl ethers

Electrochemical synthesis of copper nanoparticles on nafion–graphene nanoribbons support for the synthesis of diaryl ethers via Ullmann type coupling is reported. The catalyst showed excellent performance for C–O cross coupling reactions under ligand free condition. The catalyst was characterized by various techniques such as SEM, TEM, XRD, EDX, BET, TGA, and UV spectrophotometry. It was recycled several times without significant loss in its catalytic activity.     

Influence of Chemical Effect on the Kβ/Kα Intensity Ratios and KβEnergy Shift of Co,Ni, Cu,and Zn Complexes

Chemical effects on the Kβ/Kα intensity ratios and ￠E energy differences for Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn complexes were investigated. The samples were excited by 59.5 keV γ-rays from a 241Am annular radioactive source. K X-rays emitted by samples were counted by an Ultra-LEGe detector with a resolution of 150 eV at 5.9 keV. We observed the effects of different ligands on the Kβ/Kα intensity ratios and ⊿E energy differences for Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn complexes. We tried to investigate chemical effects on central atoms using the behaviors of different ligands in these complexes. The experimental values of Kβ/Kα were compared with the theoretical and other experimental values of pure Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn.     

Surface plasmon resonance-based immunoassay for 17β-estradiol and its application to the measurement of estrogen receptor-binding activity

A rapid and simple surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based immunoassay for detection of 17-estradiol was developed. The assay was designed as an inhibitive format, in which 17-estradiol–BSA conjugates are immobilized on an SPR sensor chip and the binding of antibody to the chip is measured. The binding was inhibited by 17-estradiol in the concentration range 0.468 to 21.4 nmol L^–1 with an IC₅₀ value of 2.29±0.10 nmol L^–1. Although not as sensitive as traditional radioimmunoassay (RIA) and enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA), this method requires no separation and washing after addition of the antibody, steps which are relatively time-consuming. Estrogen receptor (ER)-binding was then investigated using this SPR immunoassay for the determination of the amount of unbound 17-estradiol after competition with test compounds for the ER-binding. Inhibition of the binding of 17-estradiol to ER by diethylstilbestrol (DES) was successfully measured by injecting the reaction mixture into the SPR sensor after addition of the antibody. This binding assay requires no separation of unbound 17-estradiol from the mixture and no radioisotope- or fluorescence-labeling of 17-estradiol. These results show the potential usefulness of the SPR sensor both detecting 17-estradiol and evaluating the ER-binding activity of xenoestrogens such as DES in a single assay system.     

A fluorescent “on-off-on” assay for selective recognition of Cu(II) and glutathione based on modified carbon nanodots,and its application to cellular imaging

Carbon nanodots modified with triethylenetetramine (referred to as TCDs) are shown to be viable fluorescent probes for relay recognition of Cu(II) ion and glutathione (GSH). The assay is based on an “on-off-on” mechanism where the “on-off” effect, i.e. quenching by Cu(II) by up to 67%, is exploited to quantify it in concentrations as low as 3.4 nM. The unique quenching of fluorescence (measured at excitation/emission wavelengths of 380/470 nm; quantum yield 16%) is attributed to the fairly selective capture of Cu(II) by the amino and amide groups on the surface of the TCDs. On addition of GSH to the quenched TCD/Cu(II) complex, fluorescence is restored. This effect enables GSH to be quantified in the 0.2 to 175 μM concentration range, with a 0.11 μM detection limit. The turn-on response to GSH is highly selective over other natural amino acids and common anions. Furthermore, the TCDs were successfully applied to image Cu(II) and GSH in living yeast cells.

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Graphical Abstract Carbon nanodots modified with triethylenetetramine show strong blue fluorescence which is quenched by Cu(II) but restored on addition of glutathione. Both Cu(II) (down to 3.4 nM) and glutathione (down to 110 nM) can be detected via these effects.