Continuous-flow system for horseradish peroxidase enzyme assay comprising a packed-column, an amperometric detector and a rotating bioreactor

The roles of chemical kinetics and mass transfer in three types of bioreactors (packed-column reactors, rotating disk bioreactors and amperometric detector), used with continuous-flow sample/reagent(s) processing, are discussed in detail. A normalized quantitative comparison between these types of reactors clearly shows that rotating disk reactors afford a significantly more efficient utilization of active sites and permit the effective utilization of very small amounts of biocatalysts. Horseradish peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.7), in presence of hydrogen peroxide catalyses the oxidation of [Os(bpy)₂Cl(pyCOOH)]Cl. The electrochemical reduction back of this cosubstrate is detected on glassy carbon electrode surface at 0.00 V. Furthermore, the critical effect of substrate and cosubstrate concentration on amperometric immunosensors construction in which HRP is used as an enzymatic label was studied.     

Gel-permeation chromatography. IX. Instrumental design and computer interfacing of a GPC molecular weight detector system

The detailed design and computer interfacing of a GPC molecular weight detector based on a real time viscometer are described. The working drawings presented will permit one to fabricate and duplicate the viscometer and the complete GPC molecular weight detector system. The uses and advantages of a laboratory automation system in analyzing GPC results are also described.     

Catalytic layers in a reversible system comprising an electrolyzing cell and a fuel cell based on solid polymer electrolyte

Electrocatalytic layers of a fuel cell-electrolyzing cell reversible system with solid polymer electrolyte are studied. The system may be used as both a dc generator and a water electrolyzing cell. It is shown that the way the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) additive is introduced into the cathode’s catalytic layer affects the cathode performance. The PTFE introduction in the form of suspension in an alcohol solution of MF-4SK polymer enhanced performance. Characteristics of platinum, iridium, and platinum-iridium anode catalysts are compared. The best characteristics are obtained using a composition based on platinum black and iridium black, applied layer-by-layer, with an iridium-black layer facing the surface of a solid-polymer membrane.     

Sensitive amplification immunoassay for human IgG and anti-human IgG by using an enzyme cascade system

A sensitive heterogeneous immunoassay for human IgG and anti-human IgG was developed using an enzyme cascade system in limulus amoebocyte as a signal amplification system. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was conjugated to human IgG and anti-human IgG was adsorbed on polystyrene beads. The LPS-labelled human IgG mixed with unlabelled human IgG was allowed to react in a competitive manner with the immobilized anti-IgG on the polystyrene bead surface. After B/F separation, the LPS activity in the supernatant (free) and LPS activity on the bead (bound) were measured by using the chromogenic limulus test. IgG could be measured in the range 10^?7-10^?11 g ml^?1. LPS-labelled anti-IgG and IgG absorbed on polystyrene beads were prepared, and LPS-labeled anti-IgG mixed with unlabelled anti-IgG was allowed to react again in a competitive manner with solid-phase IgG. The LPS activity specifically bound to the bead was then measured. Anti-IgG could be measured in the range 10^?7-10^?11 g ml^?1.     

Two-dimensional self-assembly of a two-component molecular system: formation of an ordered and homogeneous molecular mesh

The formation of nanoscaled objects often relies on the two-dimensional self-assembly of organic molecules on solid substrates, leading to a number of interesting structures with nanometer dimensions. Assembly of single-component systems driven by chain-chain van der Waals interactions, hydrogen bonding, and dipolar interactions governs the structures typically formed. The two-dimensional self-assembly of a two-component molecular system is described here, where the structure involves mixing of the components at the molecular level. A mixture of 5-octadecyloxyisophthalic acid and octanoic acid forms an ordered stoichiometric array of homogeneous nanometer-sized openings of dimension 8.5 A x 13.5 A x1.8 A, verified by atomic resolution scanning tunneling microscopy. Assembly in the structure is driven by van der Waals and hydrogen bonding interactions between the molecular components.     

Copolymerization of carbon dioxide and propylene oxide using an aluminum porphyrin system and its components

The catalytic activities of tetraphenylporphinatoaluminum chloride (TPPAlCl) and its propylene oxide adduct (TPPAl(PO)₂Cl) were investigated in detail together with a quarternary salt Et₄NBr for the copolymerization of carbon dioxide and propylene oxide. In addition, for the components and starting raw materials of the catalyst systems, catalytic activities were examined for the copolymerization. The TPPAlCl catalyst delivered oligomers containing ether linkages to a large extent, regardless of its PO adduction. And cyclic propylene carbonate, as byproduct, was formed in a very small portion. Using the TPPAlCl coupled with Et₄NBr as a catalyst system, the formation of ether linkages was reduced significantly in the copolymerization; however, the obtained oligomer still contained ether linkages of 25.0 mol % in the backbone. On the other hand, the formation of cyclic carbonate was increased to 22.4 mol % relative to the oligomer product. The results indicate that the salt, which was coupled with the TPPAlCl catalyst, plays a key role in reducing the formation of ether linkage in the oligomer and, however, in enhancing the formation of cyclic carbonate. Similar results were obtained for the copolymerization catalyzed by the TPPAl(PO)₂Cl/Et₄NBr system. That is, the formation of ether linkages was not restricted further by the PO adduction of the TPPAlCl component in the catalyst system. Only oligomers with a relatively high molecular weight were produced. This indicates that the PO adduction of the TPPAlCl component contributes highly to the initiation and propagation step in the oligomerization, consequently leading to a relatively high molecular weight oligomer. In contrast, the Et₄NBr, as well as the Et₂AlCl, produced only cyclic carbonate in a very low yield. Furthermore, tetraphenylporphine exhibited no catalytic activity, regardless of using together with Et₄NBr. On the other hand, the Et₂AlCl coupled with Et₄NBr provided a low molecular weight oligomer having ether linkages of 92.3 mol % in addition to the cyclic carbonate. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 3329–3336, 1999     

An automatic gas-phase molecular absorption spectrometric system using a UV-LED photodiode based detector for determination of nitrite and total nitrate

An automatic gas-phase molecular absorption spectrometric (GPMAS) system was developed and applied to determine nitrite and total nitrate in water samples. The GPMAS system was coupled with a UV-light emitting diode photodiode (UV-LED-PD) based photometric detector, including a 255 nm UV-LED as the light source, a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tube of 14 cm as the gas flow cell, and an integrated photodiode amplifier to measure the transmitted light intensity. The UV-LED-PD detector was compact, robust, simple and of low heat production, comparing with detectors used in other GPMAS works. For nitrite measurement, citric acid was used to acidify the sample, and ethanol to catalyze the quantitative formation of NO₂. The produced NO₂ was purged with air flow into the UV-LED-PD detector, and the gaseous absorbance value was measured. The total nitrate could be determined after being reduced to nitrite with a cadmium column. Limits of detection for nitrite and nitrate were 7 μmol/L and 12 μmol/L, respectively; and linear ranges of 0.021-5 mmol/L for nitrite and 0.036-4 mmol/L for nitrate were obtained. Related standard deviations were 1.81% and 1.08% for nitrite and nitrate, respectively, both at 2 mmol/L. The proposed method has been applied to determine nitrite and total nitrate in some environmental water samples.     

Atomistic modeling of crystal-to-amorphous transition and associated kinetics in the Ni-Nb system by molecular dynamics simulations

With the aid of ab initio calculations, an n-body potential of the Ni-Nb system is constructed under the Finnis-Sinclair formalism and the constructed potential is capable of not only reproducing some static physical properties but also revealing the atomistic mechanism of crystal-to-amorphous transition and associated kinetics. With application of the constructed potential, molecular dynamics simulations using the solid solution models reveal that the physical origin of crystal-to-amorphous transition is the crystalline lattice collapsing while the solute atoms are exceeding the critical solid solubilities, which are determined to be 19 atom % Ni and 13 atom % Nb for the Nb- and Ni-based solid solutions, respectively. It follows that an intrinsic glass-forming ability of the Ni-Nb system is within 19-87 atom % Ni, which matches well with that observed in ion beam mixing/solid-state reaction experiments. Simulations using the Nb/Ni/Nb (Ni/Nb/Ni) sandwich models indicate that the amorphous layer at the interfaces grows in a layer-by-layer mode and that, upon dissolving solute atoms, the Ni lattice approaches and exceeds its critical solid solubility faster than the Nb lattice, revealing an asymmetric behavior in growth kinetics. Moreover, an energy diagram is obtained by computing the energetic sequence of the Ni(x)Nb(100)(-)(x) alloy in fcc, bcc, and amorphous structures, respectively, over the entire composition range, and the diagram could serve as a guide for predicting the metastable alloy formation in the Ni-Nb system.     

Precise and global identification of phospholipid molecular species by an Orbitrap mass spectrometer and automated search engine Lipid Search

In the present research, we have established a new lipidomics approach for the comprehensive and precise identification of molecular species in a crude lipid mixture using a LTQ Orbitrap mass spectrometer (MS) and reverse-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) combination with our newly developed lipid search engine “Lipid Search”. LTQ Orbitrap provides high mass accuracy MS spectra by Fourier-transform (FT) mass spectrometer mode and can perform rapid MSⁿ by ion trap (IT) mass spectrometer mode. In this study, the negative ion mode was selected to detect fragment ions from phospholipids, such as fatty acid anions, by MS2 or MS3. We selected the specific detection approach by neutral loss survey-dependent MS3, for the identification of molecular species of phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin and phosphatidylserine. Identification of molecular species was performed by using both the high mass accuracy of the mass spectrometric data obtained from FT mode and structural data obtained from fragments in IT mode. Some alkylacyl and alkenylacyl species have the same m/z value as molecular-related ions and fragment ions, thus, direct acid hydrolysis analysis was performed to identify alkylacyl and alkenylacyl species, and then the RPLC–LTQ Orbitrap method was applied. As a result, 290 species from mouse liver and 248 species from mouse brain were identified within six different classes of phospholipid, only those in manually detected and confirmed. Most of all manually detected mass peaks were also automatically detected by “Lipid Search”. Adding to differences in molecular species in different classes of phospholipids, many characteristic differences in molecular species were detected in mouse liver and brain. More variable number of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid-containing molecular species were detected in mouse brain than liver.     

Alternating copolymerization of carbon dioxide and epoxide catalyzed by an aluminum Schiff base–ammonium salt system

The alternating copolymerization of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and cyclohexene oxide (CHO) with an aluminum Schiff base complex in conjunction with an appropriate additive as a novel initiator is demonstrated. A typical example is the copolymerization of CO₂ and CHO with the (Salophen)AlMe ( 1a )–tetraethylammonium acetate (Et₄NOAc) system. When a mixture of the 1a –Et₄NOAc system and CHO was pressurized by CO₂ (50 atm) at 80 °C in CH₂Cl₂, the copolymerization of CO₂ and CHO took place smoothly and produced a high polymer yield in 24 h. From the IR and NMR spectra, the product was characterized to be a copolymer of CO₂ and CHO with an almost perfect alternating structure. The matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry analysis indicated that an unfavorable reaction between Et₄NOAc and CH₂Cl₂ and a possible chain‐transfer reaction with concomitant water occurred, and this resulted in the bimodal distribution of the obtained copolymer. With carefully predried reagents and apparatus, the alternating copolymerization in toluene gave a copolymer with a unimodal and narrower molecular weight distribution. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 4172–4186, 2005     

Evaluation of column bleed by using an ultraviolet and a charged aerosol detector coupled to a high-temperature liquid chromatographic system

In this study, five different HPLC columns were heated to 200 degrees C using a homemade heating system which can be operated in temperature programmed mode. The column bleed as an indicator of induced degradation of the stationary phase material was evaluated using a charged aerosol detector (CAD) and an ultraviolet diode array detector (UV-DAD) at different wavelengths. The silica based C-18 stationary phase gave the highest bleed, and the carbon clad titanium dioxide column the lowest bleed. This was independent of both the detection technique and the wavelength.     

Enhancement of the detection sensitivity for volatile organic compounds by using an annular type photoionization detector and a pre-concentration system

Photoionization detector (PID) was developed for a sensitive on-site detection of trace amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) based on an annular type ion collection electrode assembly. An ion collector with an annular geometry could detect more stable ion signals in the PID system when compared to the other types of ion collectors when an UV lamp of 10.6 eV was used as an ionization source. In order to enhance the detection sensitivity, a pre-concentration system, which was developed by adopting a ceramic heater packed with rod shaped molecular sieves, was adopted for a detection of VOCs. The adopted ceramic heaters had a resistance of 10-20 Ohm, and the temperature of the heater was optimized by controlling the heating time of the resistor. The enhancement of the detection sensitivity was found to be 8-10 times with the PID system when compared to the signals measured without a pre-concentrator. The overall detection sensitivity of the developed PID system was estimated as 10 ppb or better.     

Space-time contours to treat the interaction between an intense electric field and a molecular system

A few years ago, we developed an approach to treat molecular systems exposed to an external, intense, time-dependent field (J. Phys. Chem. A 2003, 107, 4724; J. Chem. Phys. 2003, 119, 6998). Within this study, we encountered two novel concepts: the dressed (namely, field affected) time-dependent nonadiabatic coupling term and the space-time contours. In the present article, we analyze the newly introduced nonadiabatic coupling term and discuss its importance for dynamical studies. We also refer to the just mentioned space-time contour and present the more efficient contour for realistic situations. The scope of the above-mentioned articles is extended with the aim of defining quasi-adiabatic states for such situations. Strictly speaking, molecular systems exposed to intense, fast oscillating fields are not expected to form adiabatic states. Still we consider such a situation and end up with three possibilities for quasi-adiabatical time-dependent states eventually to be used within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation.     

Macromodel—an integrated software system for modeling organic and bioorganic molecules using molecular mechanics

An integrated molecular modeling system for designing and studying organic and bioorganic molecules and their molecular complexes using molecular mechanics is described. The graphically controlled, atom-based system allows the construction, display and manipulation of molecules and complexes having as many as 10,000 atoms and provides interactive, state-of-the-art molecular mechanics on any subset of up to 1,000 atoms. The system semiautomates the graphical construction and analysis of complex structures ranging from polycyclic organic molecules to biopolymers to mixed molecular complexes. We have placed emphasis on providing effective searches of conformational space by a number of different methods and on highly optimized molecular mechanics energy calculations using widely used force fields which are supplied as external files. Little experience is required to operate the system effectively and even novices can use it to carry out sophisticated modeling operations. The software has been designed to run on Digital Equipment Corporation VAX computers interfaced to a variety of graphics devices ranging from inexpensive monochrome terminals to the sophisticated graphics displays of the Evans & Sutherland PS300 series.     

Classification and identification of mass spectra of toxic compounds with an inductive rule-building expert system and information theory

An expert system for classifying and identifying low-resolution mass spectra of toxic and related compounds was developed with an expert shell program. The shell system used was an inexpensive, rule-building software package with an implementation of the ID3 algorithm. Seventy-eight target compounds were used to establish classes previously found by SIMCA class modeling. The six classes included nonhalobenzenes; chlorobenzenes; bromoalkanes and bromoalkenes; mono- and di-chloroalkanes and the analogous alkenes; tri-, tetra- and penta-chloroalkanes and the analogous alkenes; and unknowns. Identification modules for the target compounds were forward-chained to the classification modules. An expert system based on binary-encoded mass spectra, with 17 masses selected on the basis of information content, gave 97 and 86% classification accuracy for training and test spectra, respectively. Identification accuracy was 77 and 80%, respectively. An expert system was also developed which was based on ternary encoding of the mass spectra of 108 training compounds using 25 masses. Ternary encoding has many of the advantages of binary encoding, without the disadvantages. This latter system was tested with the spectra of thirty compounds found in field samples or potential air pollutants. The classification accuracy for training and test spectra was 99 and 97%, respectively. The identification accuracy was 96 and 93%, respectively. With proper precautions, the rule-building expert system can be very effective in spectral classification and identification problems.     

Reinforcement effect of carbon nanofillers in an epoxy resin system: Rheology,molecular dynamics,and mechanical studies

The reinforcing effect of carbon nanoparticles in an epoxy resin has been estimated with different approaches based on rheology, molecular dynamics (evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry, dielectric relaxation spectroscopy, and thermally stimulated depolarization current), and dynamic mechanical analysis. Carbon particles aggregate as the volume increases and form a fractal structure in the matrix polymer. The dispersion microstructure has been characterized by its viscoelastic properties and relaxation time spectrum. The scaling of the storage modulus and yield stress with the volume fraction of carbon shows two distinct exponents and has thus been used to determine the critical carbon volume fraction of the network formation (Φ*) for the carbon/epoxy dispersions. At nanofiller concentrations greater than Φ*, the overall mobility of the polymer chains is restricted in both dispersions and solid nanocomposites. Therefore, (1) the relaxation spectrum of the dispersions is strongly shifted toward longer times, (2) the glass‐transition temperature is increased and (3) the relaxation strength of both the secondary (β) and primary (α) relaxations increases in the nanocomposites, with respect to the pure polymer matrix. The dispersion microstructure, consisting of fractal flocs and formed above Φ*, is proposed to play the main role in the reinforcement of nanocomposites. Moreover, the network structure and the interface polymer layer (bond layer), surrounding nanoparticles, increases the relaxation strength and slows the cooperative α relaxation, and this results in an improvement of the mechanical properties. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 522–533, 2005     

Performance of dodecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride as bactericide and corrosion inhibitor for 7B04 aluminum alloy in an aircraft fuel system

In this study, the broad-spectrum antimicrobial property of dodecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (DDBAC) was investigated against three species of bacteria, Lysinibacillus sphaericus (L. sphaericus), Acinetobacter lwoffii (A. lwoffii), and Sediminibacterium salmoneum (S. salmoneum) isolated and purified from a naval aircraft fuel system. Through the inhibition zone method and minimum inhibitory concentration test, DDBAC was found to have a good antimicrobial performance with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 64 mg/L. The influence of DDBAC on the corrosion behavior of fuel tank material was evaluated by electrochemical measurements, such as polarization curve and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The polarization curve indicated that DDBAC suppressed anodic and cathodic reactions as a mixed-type corrosion inhibitor, and the inhibition efficiency was 68.38% at the concentration of 80 mg/L after 28 days of immersion. The EIS results showed that DDBAC inhibited the corrosion of 7B04 aluminum alloy in the concentration range of 40–120 mg/L. The DDBAC adsorption on the aluminum alloy surface was in agreement with the modified Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. The quantum chemical calculations proved that a lone pair of electrons of nitrogen atoms in DDBAC were able to form coordinate bonds with the empty orbital in aluminum, resulting in a tight chemisorption layer on the aluminum alloy surface and corrosion inhibition.