LC/MS/MS analysis of α‐tocopherol and coenzyme Q10 content in lyophilized royal jelly,beebread and drone homogenate

This study shows the results of application liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) for assay of the content of α‐tocopherol and coenzyme Q₁₀ in bee products of animal origin, i.e. royal jelly, beebread and drone homogenate. The biological matrix was removed using extraction with n‐hexane. It was found that drone homogenate is a rich source of coenzyme Q₁₀. It contains only 8 ± 1 µg/g of α‐tocopherol and 20 ± 2 µg/g of coenzyme Q₁₀. The contents of assayed compounds in royal jelly were 16 ± 3 and 8 ± 0.2 µg/g of α‐tocopherol and coenzyme Q₁₀, respectively. Beebread appeared to be the richest of α‐tocopherol. Its level was 80 ± 30 µg/g, while the level of coenzyme Q₁₀ was only 11.5 ± 0.3 µg/g. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The synthesis and characterisation of some nickel(0) complexes with π-bounded vinylsilicon ligands; the molecular structure of [Ni{P(C6H5)3}2{η-CH2CHSi(CH3)3}]

Reactions of the nickel(0) complexes [Ni(cod)₂] (in the presence of PP or [Ni(PPh₃)₂C₂H₄] with vinyl-siloxanes, -silanes or -silazanes yield, by displacement of alkene ligand, the new nickel π-complexes [Ni(PPh₃)₂(η-CH₂CHSi(OSiMe₃)₃)] (2), [{Ni(PPh₃)}₂{μ-(η-{(CH₂CH)₂SiMe}₂O})] (4), [Ni(PPh₃){η⁴-CH₂CHSi(Me)(μ-O)}₃] (5), [{Ni(η-CH₂CHSiMe₂)₂O}(η-CH₂CHSiMe₃)] (7) and the known complexes [Ni(PPh₃)₂(η-CH₂CHSiMe₃)] (1), [{Ni(PPh₃)}₂{μ-(η-(CH₂CH)₄Si})] (3), [{Ni(PPh₃)(η-CH₂CHSiMe₂)₂NH}] (6) obtained by a simple one pot synthesis, more efficiently than in hitherto published reports. The X-ray crystal structure of (1) shows a trigonal planar environment around the nickel atom.     

Postdiagenetic Changes in Kerogen Properties and Type by Bacterial Oxidation and Dehydrogenation

A significant part of organic carbon found on the earth is deposited as fossil organic matter in the lithosphere. The most important reservoir of carbon is shale rocks enriched with organic matter in the form of kerogen created during diagenesis. The purpose of this study was to analyze whether the bacterial communities currently inhabiting the shale rocks have had any impact on the properties and type of kerogen. We used the shale rock located on the Fore-Sudetic Monocline, which is characterized by oil-prone kerogen type II. We were able to show that shale rock inhabited by bacterial communities are characterized by oxidized and dehydrated kerogen type III (gas-prone) and type IV (nonproductive, residual, and hydrogen-free). Bacterial communities inhabiting shale rock were dominated by heterotrophs of the Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria phyla. Additionally, we detected a number of protein sequences in the metaproteomes of bacterial communities matched with enzymes involved in the oxidative metabolism of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, which may potentially contribute to the postdiagenetic oxidation and dehydrogenation of kerogen. The kerogen transformation contributes to the mobilization of fossil carbon in the form of extractable bitumen dominated by oxidized organic compounds.     

Proficiency assessment of laboratories undertaking hard coal analysis

The Institute for Chemical Processing of Coal in Zabrze, Poland, organized a proficiency testing round to determine the mass fraction of ash, total sulfur and total carbon and the value of gross calorific value. Forty-four participants from Polish heat and power plants, research entities and independent laboratories reported results. The performance of the participants was evaluated using z and E _n scores. Over 85 % of the participants reported satisfactory results indicating the high level of proficiency of the Polish laboratories in the field.     

A novel method for the detection of plasma jet boundaries by exploring DNA damage

The coupled-channel optical method (CCOM) is implemented in this work to study the scattering of electron on rubidium atom at 20 eV. In order to provide a realistic calculation, the continuum effect of the scattering system is accounted by incorporate an ab initio optical potential into the CCOM calculation. The differential cross sections (DCS), as well as the reduced Stokes parameters of 5p excitation are reported and compared to the available experimental and theoretical data.     

Empirical wavelet analysis of tail and memory properties of LARCH and FIGARCH models

Using computationally efficient wavelet methods, we study two nonlinear models of financial returns {r _t }: linear ARCH (LARCH) and fractionally integrated GARCH (FIGARCH). We estimate the tail index α and the long memory parameter d of the squared returns X_t = r_t²{X_t= r_t^2} of LARCH, and of the powers X _t = |r _t | ^p of FIGARCH. We find that the X _t have infinite variance and long memory, and show how the estimates of α and d depend on the model parameters. These relationships are determined empirically, as the setting is quite complex, and no suitable theory has been developed so far. In particular, we provide empirical relationships between the estimates [^(d)]{\hat d} and the difference parameters in LARCH and FIGARCH. Our computational work uncovers tail and memory properties of LARCH and FIGARCH for practically relevant parameter ranges, and provides some guidance on modeling returns on speculative assets including FX rates, stocks and market indices.