Electromagnetic field-induced protection of chick embryos against hypoxia exhibits characteristics of temporal sensing

We previously studied the response of mammalian cultured cells to weak, 60 Hz-electromagnetic (EM) fields. Two time constants, similar to those observed in chemotaxis, were found to govern the cellular response to the field. We concluded that a system of temporal sensing, similar to that employed in chemotaxis by motile bacteria, was operative. We termed the shorter time (approximately 0.1 s) the "sensing" time, and the longer time (approximately 10 s) the "memory" time. To investigate the possibility that temporal sensing was a general property of EM field-cell interaction, the temporal properties of another EM field-induced effect was studied. The EM field-induced protection against the effects of extreme hypoxia was examined in chick embryos. Embryos were exposed to 60 Hz-magnetic fields, the amplitudes of which were regularly altered throughout the 20-min exposure. Alteration was accomplished either by turning the field off and on at regular intervals (1-50 s), or by introducing brief (10 or 100 ms), zero amplitude gaps, once each second, throughout exposure. When the field was turned on and off at 0.1 s intervals, the protective effect conferred by a constant field was lost. At progressively longer on/off intervals, protection was progressively restored, maximizing at intervals of 10-30 s. Gapping the magnetic field for 10 ms, each second of exposure conferred the same protection as that observed for an uninterrupted field, but gapping the field at 100 ms each second produced a significant reduction in protection. These data exhibit remarkable consistency with those obtained in similar temporal studies of the magnetic field-induced enhancement of ornithine decarboxylase activity in L929 fibroblasts. It appears that temporal sensing is a general feature of the EM field-cell interaction.     

Copper-catalyzed arylation of amines using diphenyl pyrrolidine-2-phosphonate as the new ligand

[Chemical reaction: See text] We have developed a general, efficient, and inexpensive catalyst system for arylation of amines by using 10 mol % of CuI as the copper source, 20 mol % of diphenyl pyrrolidine-2-phosphonate (DPP) as the ligand, K3PO4 as the base, and DMF containing 2% water (v/v) as the solvent.     

Spectroscopy and reactivity of a photogenerated tryptophan radical in a structurally defined protein environment

Near-UV irradiation of structurally characterized [Re(I)(CO)3(1,10-phenanthroline)(Q107H)](W48F/Y72F/H83Q/Y108W)AzM(II) [Az = Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin, M = Cu, Zn]/[Co(NH3)5Cl]Cl2 produces a tryptophan radical (W108*) with unprecedented kinetic stability. After rapid formation (k = 2.8 x 106 s-1), the radical persists for more than 5 h at room temperature in the folded ReAzM(II) structure. The absorption spectrum of ReAz(W108*)M(II) exhibits maxima at 512 and 536 nm. Oxidation of K4[Mo(CN)8] by ReAz(W108*)Zn(II) places the W108*/W108 reduction potential in the protein above 0.8 V vs NHE.     

用EXAFS研究NiO在γ-Al2O3表面上的分散

本文使用EXAFS方法研究NiO在γ-Al_2O_3的表面上的分散情况。文章讨论了Ni含量为7%、13%、18%、26%、35%的NiO/γ-Al_2O_3体系的径向结构函数图以及Ni含量为13%、26%的NiO/α-Al_2O_3样品的径向结构函数图,认为NiO能在γ-Al_2O_3表面上成单层分散。分散后的Ni-O距离接近NiO晶体的Ni-O距离,表明Ni离子和γ-Al_2O_3表面上的氧有很强的相互作用。     

Kinetic and catalytic aspects of dimethylterephtalate transesterification also through the use of model molecules

Kinetic and catalytic aspects of DMT transesterification reaction, key step in the industrial production of polyethylenterephtalate (PET), have been deepened also through the use of model molecules such as CH₃COO–Ph–X. These molecules give the same reactions with ethylene glycol occurring in the DMT transesterification too. The use of model molecules in the study of this reaction seems therefore to be promising in perspective. As we observed, however, the nature of the para-substituent X has a very strong influence on the reaction rate, when salts of bivalent metals such as Zn, Cd, Co, Mg, Mn, are used as catalysts, while this influence is much smaller when a tetravalent metal, as Ti, is used. This fact suggests that the transesterification mechanism operating in the two cases is different and this suggestion has been confirmed by applying Hammett's approach to the available kinetic data. Experimental kinetic runs were all performed at 193°C, by withdrawing small samples of the reaction mixture at different reaction times. These samples were gaschromatographically analyzed. We found volcano shaped curves of the reaction rates as a function of the metal ion acidities and we obtained different trends with a maximum of activity shifted from a metal to another for different substrates. A comparison of the kinetic results obtained, respectively, with the model molecules and DMT will be reported too.     

Assay for urinary estriol during the menstrual cycle based on extraction by a graphitized carbon black cartridge followed by high-performance liquid chromatography

Summary A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay for estriol in nonpregnancy urine is described. After Enzymic hydrolysis, the estriol is extracted from urine by the sorbent trap technique utilizing graphitized carbon black (Carbopack B). After some washing steps, estriol is desorbed by a suitable solvent system. After solvent removal, the sample is injected into an HPLC column for estriol quantification. Analytical recovery of estriol was 96.1%. The precision of the method was 2.6 and 4.9% respectively at 145 and 10.6ng/ml of urine. The limit of sensitivity was set at 0.8 ng/ml of urine. The mean contents of estriol in the follicular and luteal phases were respectively 11.3 and 38.8 ng/ml of urine.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. A. Liberti on the occasion of his 70th birthday.     

Reversed-phase HPLC determination of Co(II), Ni(II) and Fe(III) as their 2-(2-thiazolylazo)-5-dimethylaminophenol chelates

The optimum chromatographic separation conditions for Co(II), Ni(II), and Fe(III) chelates with 2-(2-thiazolylazo)-5-dimethylaminophenol (TAM) were investigated. The compositions of chelates were also determined by the HPLC method and thus the possible structure of chelates was given. A precolumn derivatization method was used, followed by separation on an octyl-bonded silica stationary phase with a methanol-tetrahydrofuran-water (40:9:51, v/v/v) mobile phase containing pH 5.8 acetate buffer and 1 x 10(-4)M TAM. The detection limits of Co(II), Ni(II), and Fe(III) at 560 nm are 0.03, 0.02 and 0.1 ng (S N = 2 ), respectively. They can be determined by means of the proposed method without interference from other common metal ions and have been determined in five standard alloys with satisfactory results.     

Liquid chromatographic analysis of nucleosides and their mono-, di- and triphosphates using porous graphitic carbon stationary phase coupled with electrospray mass spectrometry

Analysis of nucleosides and nucleotides is desirable in many biological studies, but the task is analytically challenging due to the high polarity of the analytes. In this study, resolution of mixtures containing nucleosides and their mono-, di- and triphosphates was achieved using a porous graphitic carbon (PGC) stationary phase, Hypercarb, under conditions suitable for liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Different organic mobile phases and modifiers were evaluated and the separation of 16 nucleosides and nucleotides was optimized using gradient elution with a water/acetonitrile mobile phase containing ammonium acetate and diethylamine as modifiers. The ammonium acetate concentration proved to be critical for retention and diethylamine was found to improve the peak shapes of di- and triphosphates for mass spectrometric detection. A variety of silica-based columns designed for polar compound separation were also tested using optimized LC conditions and compared with results obtained with the Hypercarb column. Only the Hypercarb column provided separations suitable for accurate quantitation of mixed nucleosides and their phosphates.     

Theoretical study on the hydrogen migration reactions in ground state vinyl fluoride: Basis set and correlation energy effects

We performed ab initio molecular orbital (MO) calculations using Hartree—Fock SCF, and second- and fourth-order Møller—Plesset perturbation theory for hydrogen migration reactions on the singlet vinyl fluoride potential energy surface. We used different basis sets and polarization functions to obtain the stationary point geometries and activation barriers. Basis set and the polarization function extension have small effects, while the correlation energy evaluation leads to new conclusions for one of the studied reactions: the product singlet CHCH₂F is not a true local minimum on the potential energy surface.     

乙醇和甲苯组成的最低共沸混合物热力学性质的研究

The molar heat capacity of the azeotropic mixture composed of ethanol and toluene was measured by a high precision adiabatic calorimeter from 80 to 320 K. The glass transition and phase transitions of the azeotropic mixture were determined based on the heat capacity measurements. A glass transition at 103.350 K was found. A solid-solid phase transition at 127.282 K, two solid-liquid phase transitions at 153.612 and 160.584 K were observed, which correspond to the transition of metastable crystal to stable crystal of ethanol and the melting of ethanol and toluene, respectively. The thermodynamic functions and the excess ones of the mixture relative to the standard temperature 298.15 K were derived based on the relationships of the thermodynamic functions and the function of the measured heat capacity with respect to temperature.