Preferential solvation stabilization for hydrophobic polymeric nanoparticle fabrication

Preferential solvation of polymer molecules and strong EPD-EPA (EPD, electron pair donor; EPA, electron pair acceptor) interaction between solvent and nonsolvent molecules were found to be of great significance in the fabrication of two kinds of aromatic polyimide (AP) nanoparticles. Surfactant free yet stable AP nanoparticles were prepared using a liquid-liquid phase separation method. The stability of the AP nanoparticles can be achieved by the solvation multilayer resulting from a solvation stabilization chain in the form of nonsolvent --> solvent --> AP (a --> b denotes that component b is solvated by component a). The significance of this stabilization chain was identified by many comparative experiments using different types of molecular probes. On the other hand, the formation of AP nanoparticles was found to be governed by a nucleation process and therefore the particle size is controlled by the nucleation rate. A very high level of supersaturation can be attained under the intensive local motions induced by ultrasound, resulting in a very high nucleation rate. This effect was found to be extremely useful in the fabrication of sub-50 nm AP nanoparticles.     

Rapid ion-exchange chromatography for preparative separation of proteins. IV. Application to bovine carbonic anhydrase III from skeletal muscle.

Bovine muscle carbonic anhydrase III was purified to homogeneity by the strategy of rapid ion-exchange chromatography. The ionic exchanger used was CM-cellulose, and this is the first application of this technique on a cation exchanger. Nitrogen gas was used to pressurize the chromatographic column to accelerate the elution. The results show that proteins with high isoelectric points can also be purified in this way. The procedure is very time-saving compared with conventional chromatography, reducing the elution time five- to ten-fold. The proteins are in addition protected against oxidation by air.     

Determination of magnetic susceptibility of various ion-labeled red blood cells by means of analytical magnetapheresis

Analytical magnetapheresis is a newly developed technique for separating magnetically susceptible particles. The magnetically susceptible particles are deposited on a bottom plate after flowing through a thin (< 0.05 cm) separation channel under a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the flow. Particles with various magnetic susceptibilities can be selectively deposited and separated by adjusting the applying magnetic force and flow rates. Magnetic susceptibility is an important parameter for magnetic separation. Magnetic susceptibility determination of various ion-labeled red blood cells (RBCs) using analytical magnetapheresis with a simple theoretical treatment is reported in this study. Susceptibility determination is based on the balance between maximal channel flow rate and magnetically induced flow rate for deposition. We tried a new approach to determine particle magnetic susceptibilities using a balance of magnetic and drag forces to control magnetically induced particle velocities. The Er3+, Fe3+, Cu2+, Mn2+, Co2+, and Ni2+ ions were used to label RBC at various labeling concentrations for susceptibility determination. The susceptibilities determined for various ion-labeled RBC under two magnetic field intensities fell within a 10% range. The average viabilities of various ion-labeled RBCs were 96.1 +/- 0.8%. The susceptibility determination generally took less than 10 min. Determined susceptibilities from analytical magnetapheresis differed by 10% from reference measurements using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer. The cost and time for analysis is much less using analytical magnetapheresis. This technique can provide a simple, fast, and economical way for particle susceptibility determinations.     

A new cobalt carbonyl-carbon disulphide cluster containing a Co3C and a Co3S pyramid symmetrically linked by a CS2-bridge: sym-SCo6(CO)16C(CS2)

sym-(CO)₉Co₃C(CS₂)Co₃(CO)₇S has been isolated from the mixture formed in the reaction of Co₂(CO)₈ with CS₂. This is the fifth member of the C_mS_nCo_p(CO)_q family identified by X-ray diffraction studies. The molecular structure of the title compound is discussed and briefly compared with that of the asymmetric isomer and related compounds.     

Studies on chemotherapeutics I. Synthesis of 5-substituted-4-oxo-1,4-dihydro-3-pyridinecarboxylic acid derivatives

Ethyl 5-substituted-4-oxo-1,4-dihydro-3-pyridinecarboxylates were synthetized by reacting 1,3,5-triazine with 4-substituted ethyl acetoacetate derivatives in ethanol, in the presence of sodium ethoxide. The l-alkyl-5-substituted-4-oxo-1,4-dihydro-3-pyridinecarboxylic acids required for the antimicrobial studies were prepared by N-alkylation (with triethyl phosphate or alkyl halides) and alkaline hydrolysis of the pyridone esters.     

Synthesis and structure of complexes formed in the reaction between dicobalt octacarbonyl and tetramethyl-biphosphine disulfide

Co₂(CO)₈ and Me₂P(S)P(S)Me₂ react to form the two cluster complexes: Co₄(CO)₉S(PMe₂)₂) (1) and Co₃(CO)₇S(SPMe₂) (2). The strucure of1 and of the disubstituted triphenyl phosphine derivative of2. Co₃(CO)₅(PPh₃)₂S (SPMe₃) (2a) were determined. Compound1 contains a quasi-planar rhomboidal Co₄ cluster formed by two Co₃ isosceles triangles sharing a Co-Co edge. One triangle is capped by a sulfur atom, the other triangle has two edge-bridging PMe₂ moieties. Electron counting gives 64 electrons corresponding to a planar system; the distribution of long Co-Co distances, in particular in the triangle bearing PMe₂ bridges, suggests that the excess electrons are located on Co-Co antibonding ortibals. Compound2a contains a Co₃S cluster with one side bridged by a SPMe₂ unit forming a four-membered Co₂SP ring. The substitution of two CO groups with two PPh₃ causes a large deformation of the cluster Co-Co bondscis to these two phosphorus atoms. Crystal data for1, space group P1,a = 9.728(2) Å,b = 10.288(2) Å,c = 11.860(3) Å, = 86.41(2)°, = 76.20(2)°, = 80.37(5)°,Z = 2, 5300 reflections,R = 0.0398; for2a, space group P1,a = 9.78(3) Å,b = 13.05(4) Å,c = 18.28(6) Å, = 93.23(3)°, = 99.17(2)°, = 97.26(6)°,Z = 2, 2976 reflections,R = 0.0579.     

On absolute summability factors of infinite series

In this paper using δ-quasi-monotone sequences a theorem on summability factors of infinite series, which generalizes a theorem of Bor [4] on summability factors of infinite series, is proved. Also, in the special case this theorem includes a result of Mazhar [8] on |C, 1|_k summability factors.     

Adsorption of short heteropolymers in slitlike pores

Adsorption of short linear heteropolymers in slitlike pores is studied using the density functional theory and Monte Carlo simulations. The molecules are assumed to be freely jointed tangent hard spheres. The segments have different affinity with regard to the walls. Each molecule contains one surface-binding segment that interacts with the walls via Lennard-Jones (3,9) potential and a number of segments interacting with surfaces via the hard-wall potentials. A position of the surface-binding segment in the chain can be arbitrarily chosen. We have studied the influence of the pore width, the chain length and the chemical structure of molecules on adsorption and the microscopic structure of the confined fluid. The theoretical predictions are compared with Monte Carlo simulations carried out for different 'isomeric' pentamers.     

Glycosyl linkage characteristics and classifications of exo-polysaccharides of some regionally different strains of Lentinula edodes by amplified fragment length polymorphism assay and cluster analysis

We report here the first combined amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis of genomic DNA fingerprinting data and cluster analysis of the exo-polysaccharide glycosyl linkage data of 10 regionally different strains of Lentinula edodes to compare their genetic and structural similarities and differences. In addition, the monosaccharide compositions, molecular weights, glycosyl structural linkages were investigated for the exo-polysaccharides extracted from these different phylogenetic groups of regionally different L. edodes. All exo-polysaccharides had similar molecular weight distribution between 1 × 10⁴ and 3 × 10⁶ Da and the monosaccharide composition analysis revealed the presence of heterogeneous materials containing glucose, mannose, xylose, galactose, fucose, rhamnose and arabinose in different ratios. Among these monosaccharides, the glucose contents are the highest for all but one strain, indicating that glucose probably is the building block of the backbones of these exo-polysaccharides. The AFLP assay data helped to classify the 10 L. edodes strains into three distinct genetic groups. Gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric (GC-MS) data revealed five different glycosyl linkage types for these exo-polysaccharides. Most of the exo-polysaccharide backbone structures contain (1 → 4)-linked-d-glucopyranosyl and (1 → 6)-linked-d-glucopyranosyl moieties. Arabinose 1 → 4 linkages and mannose 1 → 2 linkages also exist in all strains. The only differences among these linkages are their monosaccharide compositions leading to different degree of backbone and branch formations. Cluster analyses of the GC-MS data of the exo-polysaccharides of the 10 strains resulted in 10 dendrograms. However, four of the 10 dendrograms were identical and were obtained using the average, Ward and weighted linkage type method of Manhattan distance and using the Ward method of Euclidean distance. The results of cluster analyses were not very much different from that of the AFLP assay and allowed the comparison of genetic and structural similarities and differences.