Interaction of cylindrical polymer brushes in dilute and semi-dilute solution

We present a systematic study of flexible cylindrical brush-shaped macromolecules in a good solvent by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), static light scattering (SLS), and by dynamic light scattering (DLS) in dilute and semi-dilute solution. The SLS and SANS data extrapolated to infinite dilution lead to the shape of the polymer that can be modeled in terms of a worm-like chain with a contour length of 380 nm and a persistence length of 17.5 nm. SANS data taken at higher polymer concentration were evaluated by using the polymer reference interaction site model (PRISM). We find that the persistence length reduce from 17.5 nm at infinite dilution to 5.3 nm at the highest concentration (volume fraction 0.038). This is comparable with the decrease of the persistence length in semi-dilute concentration predicted theoretically for polyelectrolytes. This finding reveals a softening of stiffness of the polymer brushes caused by their mutual interaction.     

Trichloropalladate(II) Complexes with Pyridine Ligands – Molecular Structure and Conformational Analysis of [K(18C6)][PdCl3(py)]

[K(18C6)]₂[Pd₂Cl₆] ( 1 ) (18C6 = 18‐crown‐6) was found to react with pyridines in a strictly stoichiometric ratio 1 : 2 in methylene chloride or nitromethane to yield trichloropalladate(II) complexes [K(18C6)][PdCl₃(py*)] (py* = py, 2a ; 4‐Bnpy, 2b ; 4‐tBupy, 2c ; Bn = benzyl; tBu = tert‐butyl). The reaction of 1 with pyrimidine (pyrm) in a 1 : 1 ratio led to the formation of the pyrimidine‐bridged bis(trichloropalladate) complex [K(18C6)]₂[(PdCl₃)₂(μ‐pyrm)] ( 3 ). The identities of the complexes were confirmed by means of NMR spectroscopy (¹H, ¹³C) and microanalysis. The X‐ray structure analysis of 2a reveals square‐planar coordination of the Pd atom in the [PdCl₃(py)]^? anion. The pyridine plane forms with the complex plane an angle of 55.8(2)°. In the [K(18C6)]⁺ cation the K⁺ lies outside the mean plane of the crown ether (defined by the 6 O atoms) by 0.816(1) Å. There are tight K···Cl contacts between the cation and the anion (K···Cl1 3.340(2) Å, K···Cl2 3.166(2) Å). To gain an insight into the conformation of the [PdCl₃(py)]^? anion, DFT calculations were performed showing that the equilibrium structure ( 6eq ) has an angle between the pyridine ligand and the complex plane of 35.3°. Rotation of the pyridine ligand around the Pd–N vector exhibited two transition states where the pyridine ligand lies either in the complex plane ( 6TS _pla, 0.87 kcal/mol above 6eq ) or is perpendicular to it ( 6TS _per, 3.76 kcal/mol above 6eq ). Based on an energy decomposition analysis the conformation of the anion is discussed in terms of repulsive steric interactions and of stabilizing σ and π orbital interactions between the PdCl₃^? moiety and the pyridine ligand.     

Rapid chemiluminescence biosensing of microcystin-LR

A rapid immunoassay for sensitive detection of microcystin-LR using a portable chemiluminescence multichannel immunosensor (CL-MADAG) was developed. The sensor device is based on a capillary ELISA technique in combination with a miniaturized fluidics system and uses chemiluminescence as the detection principle. Minimum concentrations of at least 0.2 μg L⁻¹ microcystin-LR could be unambiguously measured in a spiked buffer system as well as in spiked real water samples. A single sample analysis for detection of microcystin-LR could be accomplished in just 13 min on the CL-MADAG. Besides providing a highly reproducible, fast and easy to perform test format, one major advantage of the newly established capillary immunoassay is represented by the feasibility of an internal retrospective quality control mechanism. Finally, simultaneous CL-MADAG measurements employing our inhibition immunoassay and a sandwich ELISA could be successfully demonstrated.     

Optoelectronic instrumentation enhancement using data mining feedback for a 3D measurement system

3D measurement by a cyber-physical system based on optoelectronic scanning instrumentation has been enhanced by outliers and regression data mining feedback. The prototype has applications in (1) industrial manufacturing systems that include: robotic machinery, embedded vision, and motion control, (2) health care systems for measurement scanning, and (3) infrastructure by providing structural health monitoring. This paper presents new research performed in data processing of a 3D measurement vision sensing database. Outliers from multivariate data have been detected and removal to improve artificial intelligence regression algorithm results. Physical measurement error regression data has been used for 3D measurements error correction. Concluding, that the joint of physical phenomena, measurement and computation is an effectiveness action for feedback loops in the control of industrial, medical and civil tasks.     

Chiral recognition mass spectrometry: remarkable effects observed from the relative ion abundances of ternary diastereomeric complexes using electrospray ionization

The relative abundances of ternary diastereomeric complexes (composed each from a cinchonane-type chiral selector, a model chiral acid, and an alkali cation) are shown to change remarkably and fortuitously with variation in concentration and type of alkali metal using electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry and competitive binding analysis.     

Elucidation of the fragmentation pathways of different phosphatidylinositol phosphate species (PIPx) using IRMPD implemented on a FT-ICR MS

This work reports on the fragmentation of phosphoinositides by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and MS3 experiments on a hybrid apex-Qe Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT-ICR MS) using internal infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD). The fragmentation behavior of diacylphophatidylinositol triphosphate was intensively studied since an abundant loss of inositol biphosphate was observed. This loss was suggested to occur via phosphate migration along the inositol head group. Substantiation by MS3 experiments showed that this neutral loss is formed after the loss of water from the precursor ion, indicating phosphate migration along the inositol ring to the glycerol backbone. Further fragmentation of the ion formed by the loss of inositol biphosphate from diacylphophatidylinositol triphosphate resulted in the formation of a product ion with a molecular formula of C(3)H(5)O(7)P(2), corresponding to a glycerol backbone linked to two phosphate groups. We suggested different structures for this ion and compared their stability using modeling experiments.     

Femtosecond relaxation dynamics of solvated electrons in liquid ammonia.

The ultrafast relaxation dynamics of the well-known solvated electron in liquid ammonia solutions are investigated with femtosecond near-infrared pump-probe absorption spectroscopy. Immediately after photoexcitation, the dynamic absorption spectrum of the electron is substantially red-shifted with respect to its stationary spectrum. A subsequent dynamic blue shift of the pump-probe spectrum occurs on a timescale of 150 fs. The data are understood in terms of ground-state "cooling" and can be quantitatively simulated by an intuitive temperature-jump model employing a dynamically evolving Kubo line shape for the electronic resonance. A simple estimate implies that, on average, the electron in the liquid is coordinated to six nearest-neighbor ammonia molecules. An equivalent analysis of the data based on a bubble-formation/cavity-contraction mechanism is briefly outlined.