Characterization and separation of Al13 species using gel-filtration chromatography

A polyaluminum chloride (PAC) sample was prepared using a slow alkaline titration method. The Bio-Gel P-100 gel column chromatographic technique was used to separate and characterize the various forms of aluminum present in the prepared PAC solution. The effluents from a gel column were monitored using online chemical method: Al-Ferron timed complexation spectrophotometry and by ²⁷Al nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Effects of different experimental conditions such as eluent flow rate, ionic strength and pH on separation of Al₁₃ were investigated. Experimental results indicated that molecule size exclusion was not the only parameter affecting the column chromatographic separation efficiency of Al₁₃ but molecule charge as well. Reducing the eluent flow rate, increasing the ionic strength and suitable pH resulted in increase in the separation efficiency. Experimental results clearly indicated that by varying the experimental conditions, it is possible to produce pure Al₁₃ species using a gel column chromatographic technique.     

Interactive effects of ultraviolet-B radiation and temperature on cotton physiology, growth, development and hyperspectral reflectance

Current conditions of 2-11 kJ m(-2) day(-1) of UV-B radiation and temperatures of >30 degrees C during flowering in cotton cultivated regions are projected to increase in the future. A controlled environment study was conducted in sunlit growth chambers to determine the effects of UV-B radiation and temperature on physiology, growth, development and leaf hyperspectral reflectance of cotton. Plants were grown in the growth chambers at three day/night temperatures (24/16 degrees C, 30/22 degrees C and 36/28 degrees C) and three levels of UV-B radiation (0, 7 and 14 kJ m(-2) day(-1)) at each temperature from emergence to 79 days under optimum nutrient and water conditions. Increases in main stem node number and the node of first fruiting branch and decrease in duration to first flower bud (square) and flower were recorded with increase in temperature. Main effects of temperature and UV-B radiation were significant for net photosynthetic rates, stomatal conductance, total chlorophyll and carotenoid concentrations of uppermost, fully expanded leaves during squaring and flowering. A significant interaction between temperature and UV-B radiation was detected for total biomass and its components. The UV-B radiation of 7 kJ m(-2) day(-1) reduced boll yield by 68% and 97% at 30/22 degrees C and 36/28 degrees C, respectively, compared with yield at 0 kJ m(-2) day(-1) and 30/22 degrees C. No bolls were produced in the three temperature treatments under 14 kJ m(-2) day(-1) UV-B radiation. The first-order interactions between temperature, UV-B radiation and leaf age were significant for leaf reflectance. This study suggests a growth- and process-related temperature dependence of sensitivity to UV-B radiation.     

Si4+Si3反应动力学：振动激发态对反应的影响

用准经典轨线方法研究了处于振动激发态的硅原子团簇与硅原子团簇碰撞的反应动力学，计算表明，对于Ｓｉ４＋Ｓｉ３反应，当反应物团簇处于振动激发态时，有利于生成更小团簇的碎片，而对生成Ｓｉ６＋Ｓｉ及Ｓｉ５＋Ｓｉ２的影响不大。     

Structure of inhomogeneous attractive and repulsive hard-core yukawa fluid: grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation and density functional theory study

A density functional theory is proposed for an inhomogeneous hard-core Yukawa (HCY) fluid based on Rosenfeld's perturbative method. The excess Helmholtz energy functional is derived from a modified fundamental measure theory for the hard-core repulsion and a quadratic functional Taylor expansion for the long-ranged attractive or repulsive interactions. To test the established theory, grand canonical ensemble Monte Carlo simulations are carried out to simulate the density profiles of attractive and repulsive HCY fluid near a wall. Comparison with the results from the Monte Carlo simulations shows that the present density functional theory gives accurate density profiles for both attractive and repulsive HCY fluid near a wall. Both the present theory and simulations suggest that there is depletion for attractive HCY fluid at low temperature, but no depletion is found for repulsive HCY fluid. The calculated results indicate that the present density functional theory is better than those of the modified version of the Lovett-Mou-Buff-Wertheim and other density functional theories. The present theory is simple in form and computationally efficient. It predicts accurate radial distribution functions of both attractive and repulsive HCY fluid except for the repulsive case at high density, where the theory overestimates the radial distribution function in the vicinity of contact.     

用峰鉴别技术反相高效液相色谱法测定火锅汤料中微量吗啡

本文报道了以峰鉴别技术为定性依据的测定火锅汤料中微量吗啡的反相高效液相色谱法。本法采用改良的Ｓｔａｓ－ｏｔｔｏ法分离提取复杂样品中的微量吗啡。由于采用峰鉴别技术，增加了定性参数，大大提高了定性方法的准确性。本法简便、快速。最低检出浓度为０．０４ｍｇ／Ｌ。在数十例样品分析中，与其它仪器分析结果比照，非常符合。     

Quantum dot nanocrystals for in vivo molecular and cellular imaging

Semiconductor quantum dots (QD) are nanometer-sized crystals with unique photochemical and photophysical properties that are not available from either isolated molecules or bulk solids. In comparison with organic dyes and fluorescent proteins, QD are emerging as a new class of fluorescent labels with improved brightness, resistance against photobleaching and multicolor fluorescence emission. These properties could improve the sensitivity of biological detection and imaging by at least 10- to 100-fold. Further development in high-quality near-infrared-emitting QD should allow ultrasensitive and multicolor imaging of molecular targets in deep tissue and living animals. Here, we discuss recent developments in QD synthesis and bioconjugation, applications in molecular and cellular imaging as well as promising directions for future research.     

Solving the 3-SAT problem based on DNA computing

The 3-SAT problem is an NP-complete problem, and many algorithms based on DNA computing have been proposed for solving it since Adleman's pioneering work. This paper presents a new algorithm based on the literal string strategy proposed by Sakamoto et al. Simulation results show that the maximal number of literal strings produced during the computing process is greatly reduced. Moreover, the length of the literal strings is also reduced from m to n at most.     

Monitoring formation of poly(neutral red) film by EQCM

An electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) is employed for monitoring the growth of poly(neutral red) films on platinum in the electrolytic solution containing 5.0 mmol dm⁻³ neutral red, 0.3 mol dm⁻³ H₂SO₄, and 0.5 mol dm⁻³ Na₂SO₄. The in situ measurement of the frequency changes of the EQCM reveals that both the adsorption/desorption of neutral red and the formation of poly(neutral red) film can be observed together with anion sorption/desorption during the redox transformation of the polymer, and that the polymerization rate of neutral red increases slowly before the 11th cycle and then increases quickly with increasing number of potential cycles. Published in Russian in Elektrokhimiya, 2007, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 284–289. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Shot noise sets the limit of quantification in electrochemical measurements

Detection of single molecules, particles, and rapid redox events is a challenge of electrochemical investigations and requires either an amplification strategy or significant averaging for the electrochemical current to exceed the noise level. We consider the minimum number of electrons required to reach the limit of quantification in these electrochemical measurements. A survey of the literature indicates that the state-of-the-art limit in current detection for different types of measurements (e.g. voltammetry, single-molecule redox cycling, ion channel recordings of single molecules, metal nanoparticle collision, and phase nucleation) is independent of the nature of the measurement and increases linearly with reciprocal response time, Δt^?1, over ～5 orders of magnitude (from ～10 to ～10⁶ s^?1). We demonstrate that the practical limit of quantification requires cumulative measurement of ～2100 electrons during Δt and is determined by statistics of counting electrons, that is, the shot noise in the current.     

Parallel solution combustion synthesis for combinatorial materials studies

A parallel solution combustion synthesis technique was developed for combinatorial materials studies. The vigorous combustion reactions were successfully limited in the microreactors by using a substrate-net-mask microreactor system and the lowest adoptable furnace temperature. Using this technique, a luminescent materials library of Y3Al5O12/Tb(chi) was synthesized with the aid of an ink-jet delivery system. Structure and luminescence characterizations were implemented using X-ray diffraction and UV/X-ray spectroscopies, respectively. The results show that this technique is reliable and applicable to combinatorial study of powder materials with high synthesis temperature.