Techniques to Treat the Continuum Applied to Electromagnetic Transitions in 8Be

Bremsstrahlung emission in collisions between charged nuclei is equivalent to nuclear gamma decay between continuum states. The way the continuum spectrum can be treated is not unique, and efficiency and accuracy of cross section calculations depend on the chosen method. In this work we describe, relate, and compare three different methods in practical calculations of inelastic cross sections, that is, by (i) treating the initial and final states as pure continuum states on the real energy axis, (ii) discretizing the continuum states on the real energy axis with a box boundary condition, and (iii) complex rotation of the hamiltonian (complex scaling method). The electric quadrupole transitions, 2⁺ → 0⁺ and 4⁺ → 2⁺, in α + α scattering are taken as an illustration.     

Marinocyanins,cytotoxic bromo-phenazinone meroterpenoids from a marine bacterium from the streptomycete clade MAR4

Six cytotoxic and antimicrobial metabolites of a new bromo-phenazinone class, the marinocyanins A-F (1–6), were isolated together with the known bacterial metabolites 2-bromo-1-hydroxyphenazine (7), lavanducyanin (8, WS-9659A) and its chlorinated analog WS-9659B (9). These metabolites were purified by bioassay-guided fractionation of the extracts of our MAR4 marine actinomycete strains CNS-284 and CNY-960. The structures of the new compounds were determined by detailed spectroscopic methods and marinocyanin A (1) was confirmed by crystallographic methods. The marinocyanins represent the first bromo-phenazinones with an N-isoprenoid substituent in the skeleton. Marinocyanins A-F show strong to weak cytotoxicity against HCT-116 human colon carcinoma and possess modest antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and amphotericin-resistant Candida albicans.     

Poly(Arylene Ether)s with Pendant Ethynyl Groups

Abstract

Three novel bisphenols containing pendant ethynyl, hexynyl, and phenylethynyl groups were synthesized and used to prepare arylene ether polymers and copolymers. When heated to 250–350°C, the ethynyl groups react. After curing, the homopolymers were brittle due to the high crosslink density. Copolymers prepared using either 10 or 30 mol% of the ethynyl-containing bisphenol and either 90 or 70 mol% of the bisphenol with no ethynyl groups were relatively tough and formed creasible films. After a thermal cure, the copolymers became insoluble and exhibited high T _gs and good thin film tensile properties.     

Stem cell survival is severely compromised by the thymidineanalog EdU (5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine), an alternative to BrdU for proliferation assays and stem cell tracing

Stem cell therapy has opened up the possibility of treating numerous degenerating diseases. However, we are still merely at the stage of identifying appropriate sources of stem cells and exploring their full differentiation potential. Thus, tracking the stem cells upon in vivo engraftment and during in vitro co-culture is very important and is an area of research embracing many pitfalls. 5-Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU), a rather new thymidine analog incorporated into DNA, has recently been suggested to be a novel highly valid alternative to other dyes for labeling of stem cells and subsequent tracing of their proliferation and differentiation ability. However, our results herein do not at any stage support this recommendation, since EdU severely reduces the viability of stem cells. Accordingly, we found that transplanted EdU-labeled stem cells hardly survive upon in vivo transplantation into regenerating muscle, whereas stem cells labeled in parallel with another dye survived very well and also participated in myofiber formation. Similar data were obtained upon in vitro myogenic culture, and further analysis showed that EdU reduced cell numbers by up to 88 % and increased the cell volume of remaining cells by as much as 91 %. Even at low EdU concentrations, cell survival and phenotype were substantially compromised, and the myogenic differentiation potential was inhibited. Since we examined both primary derived cells and cell lines from several species with the same result, this appears to be a common trait of EdU. We therefore suggest that EdU labeling should be avoided (or used with precaution) for stem cell tracing purposes.

Development and characterization of a small electromembrane extraction probe coupled with mass spectrometry for real-time and online monitoring of in vitro drug metabolism

A small and very simple electromembrane extraction probe (EME-probe) was developed and coupled directly to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and this system was used to monitor in real time in vitro metabolism by rat liver microsomes of drug substances from a small reaction (incubation) chamber (37 °C). The drug-related substances were continuously extracted from the 1.0 mL metabolic reaction mixture and into the EME-probe by an electrical potential of 2.5 V. The extraction probe consisted of a 1-mm long and 350-μm ID thin supported liquid membrane (SLM) of 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether. The drugs and formed metabolites where extracted through the SLM and directly into a 3 μL min^?1 flow of 60 mM HCOOH inside the probe serving as the acceptor solution. The acceptor solution was directed into the ESI-MS-system, and the MS continuously monitored the drug-related substances extracted by the EME-probe. The extraction efficiency of the EME-probe was dependant on the applied electrical potential and the length of the SLM, and these parameters as well as the volume of the reaction chamber were set to the values mentioned above to avoid serious depletion from the reaction chamber (soft extraction). Soft extraction was mandatory in order not to affect the reaction kinetics by sample composition changes induced by the EME-probe. The EME-probe/MS-system was used to establish kinetic profiles for the in vitro metabolism of promethazine, amitriptyline and imipramine as model substances.     

Photochemical Synthesis of the Bioactive Fragment of Salbutamol and Derivatives in a Self-Optimizing Flow Chemistry Platform

The implementation of self-optimizing flow reactors has been mostly limited to model reactions or known synthesis routes. In this work, a self-optimizing flow photochemistry platform is used to develop an original synthesis of the bioactive fragment of Salbutamol and derivatives. The key photochemical steps for the construction of the aryl vicinyl amino alcohol moiety consist of a C−C bond forming reaction followed by an unprecedented, high yielding (>80 %), benzylic oxidative cyclization.     

Hydrogen Peroxide Detection Using Prussian Blue-modified 3D Pyrolytic Carbon Microelectrodes

A highly sensitive amperometric Prussian blue-based hydrogen peroxide sensor was developed using 3D pyrolytic carbon microelectrodes. A 3D printed multielectrode electrochemical cell enabled simultaneous highly reproducible Prussian blue modification on multiple carbon electrodes. The effect of oxygen plasma pre-treatment and deposition time on Prussian blue electrodeposition was studied. The amperometric response of 2D and 3D sensors to the addition of hydrogen peroxide in μM and sub-μM concentrations in phosphate buffer was investigated. A high sensitivity comparable to flow injection systems and a detection limit of 0.16 μM was demonstrated with 3D pyrolytic carbon microelectrodes at stirred batch condition