13C N.M.R. and 14N N.Q.R. in ferroelectric liquid crystals Polar versus quadrupolar ordering

Abstract

¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance and ¹⁴N nuclear quadrupole resonance spectra of ferroelectric smectic C?liquid crystals and their non-chiral analogues allow for a microscopic determination of the polar and quadrupolar (or bipolar) biasing of rotation around the long molecular axis as well as for a determination of the anisotropy in the fluctuations of this axis. The results show that the microscopic origin of the biquadratic coupling between the polarization and the tilt, which has been recently introduced into the extended Landau model of the S_A–S?_C transition, is the quadrupolar (or bipolar) rotational bias induced by the anisotropy in the fluctuations of the long molecular axis. The tilt induced anisotropy in the fluctuations is practically identical in chiral and non-chiral smectic C phases.     

The effect of high frequency electric pulses on muscle contractions and antitumor efficiency in vivo for a potential use in clinical electrochemotherapy

Muscle contractions present the main source of unpleasant sensations for patients undergoing electrochemotherapy. The contractions are a consequence of high voltage pulse delivery. Relatively low repetition frequency of these pulses (1 Hz) results in separate muscle contractions associated with each single pulse that is delivered. It would be possible to reduce the number of unpleasant sensations by increasing the frequency of electric pulses above the frequency of tetanic contraction, provided that the antitumor efficiency of electrochemotherapy remains the same. These assumptions were investigated in the present paper by measuring the muscle torque at different pulse repetition frequencies and at two different pulse amplitudes in rats and studying the antitumor efficiency of electrochemotherapy at different pulse repetition frequencies on tumors in mice. Measurements of muscle torque confirmed that pulse frequencies above the frequency of tetanic contraction (>100 Hz) reduce the number of individual contractions to a single muscle contraction. Regardless of the pulse amplitude, with increasing pulse frequency muscle torque increases up to the frequency of 100 or 200 Hz and then decreases to a value similar to that after application of a 1 Hz pulse train. Electrochemotherapy in vivo with higher repetition frequencies inhibits tumor growth and is efficient at all pulse frequencies examined (1 Hz-5 kHz). These results suggest that there is a considerable potential for clinical use of high frequency pulses in electrochemotherapy.     

Quality assurance in daily practice

 A report based on the workshop on "Quality Assurance in Daily Practice", organised by the study group "Quality Assurance and Accreditation" from the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the Federation of European Chemical Societies (SGQAA/DAC/FECS) held at the EUROANALYSIS-10 conference in Basle, 6–11 September 1998.     

Quantitative determination of coenyzme Q10 by liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry in dairy products

The dietary sources of CoQ10 and the evaluation of CoQ10 in dairy products were characterized. For quantitation of CoQ10 in food samples, 2 liquid chromatography (LC) methods with UV and mass spectrometry (MS) detections were developed. LC with UV detection was performed at 25 degrees C on a Hyperclone ODS 5 microm 150 x 4.6 mm column with mobile phase consisting of methanol-ethanol-2-propanol (70 + 15 + 15, v/v/v). Flow rate was 1.0 mL/min. Retention time of CoQ10 was 10.9 +/- 0.1 min. The method was sensitive [limit of detection (LOD) = 0.2 mg/kg], reproducible [relative standard deviation (RSD) = 3:0%), and linear up to 25 mg/kg (R > 0.999). LC/MS analysis was performed on a LUNA C18 3 microm, 150 x 4.6 mm column, using mobile phase consisting of ethanol-dioxane-acetic acid (9 + 1 + 0.01, v/v/v), flow rate was 0.6 mL/min, and the retention time of CoQ10 was 4.1 +/- 0.1 min. Identification and quantitation were performed with a Finnigan-LCQ mass detector in positive atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mode. Mass spectra were obtained in selected-ion monitoring mode; molecular mass (M+H)+ m/z 863.4 +/- 1 was used for quantitative determination. MS detection is more sensitive than UV detection (LOD = 0.1 mg/kg), less reproducible (RSD = 4.0%), and linear in selected range. Analytical recoveries are 75-90% and depend on the ratio between the amount of fat in the matrix and the concentration of CoQ10 in the sample. Some soybean milk products were analyzed together with different cow, goat, and sheep milk products. Concentrations obtained with LC and LC/MS were compared with a few accessible results available from the literature. Concentrations varied from 0 ppm in soybean milk to nearly 2 ppm in fresh milk from local farms.     

31P NMR as a tool for studying incorporation of Ni, Co, Fe, and Mn into aluminophosphate zeotypes

The incorporation of moderate amounts of Ni(II), Co(II), Fe(II/III), and Mn(II/III) into aluminophosphate zeotype AlPO4-34 and Fe(II/III) into aluminophosphate zeotype AlPO4-36 was studied by broadline 31P NMR. The technique provided direct evidence on isomorphous substitution of framework aluminum by transition metals and allowed us to determine the extent of the substitution. 31P NMR proved to be complementary to other spectroscopic techniques such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), M?ssbauer, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopies. The position of the NMR signal belonging to phosphorus in the P(OAl)3(OMe) environment depended mostly on the magnitude of the hyperfine interaction between a phosphorus nucleus and an unpaired electron, which was delocalized from the transition metal atom Me by covalent bonding. The width of the NMR signal was dominated by dipolar coupling among phosphorus nuclei and nearest paramagnetic centers. In addition, broadline NMR of ethylenediamine-templated manganese phosphate (C2H10N2)[Mn2(HPO4)3(H2O)], which was used as a model compound, showed that on the basis of line positions and line widths different 31P signals could easily be assigned to different phosphorus crystallographic sites. The technique could thus be applied to extract valuable structural information about metal phosphates as well.     

Gas solubility in hydrophobic confinement

Measured forces between apolar surfaces in water have often been found to be sensitive to exposure to atmospheric gases despite low gas solubilities in bulk water. This raises questions as to how significant gas adsorption is in hydrophobic confinement, whether it is conducive to water depletion at such surfaces, and ultimately if it can facilitate the liquid-to-gas phase transition in the confinement. Open Ensemble molecular simulations have been used here to determine saturated concentrations of atmospheric gases in water-filled apolar confinements as a function of pore width at varied gas fugacities. For paraffin-like confinements of widths barely exceeding the mechanical instability threshold (spinodal) of the liquid-to-vapor transition of confined water (aqueous film thickness between three and four molecular diameters), mean gas concentrations in the pore were found to exceed the bulk values by a factor of approximately 30 or approximately 15 in cases of N2 and CO2, respectively. At ambient conditions, this does not result in visible changes in the water density profile next to the surfaces. Whereas the barrier to capillary evaporation has been found to decrease in the presence of dissolved gas (Leung, K.; Luzar, A.; and Bratko, D. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2003, 90, 065502), gas concentrations much higher than those observed at normal atmospheric conditions would be needed to produce noticeable changes in the kinetics of capillary evaporation. In simulations, dissolved gas concentrations corresponding to fugacities above approximately 40 bar for N2, or approximately 2 bar for CO2, were required to trigger expulsion of water from a hydrocarbon slit as narrow as 1.4 nm. For nanosized pore widths corresponding to the mechanical instability threshold or above, no significant coupling between adsorption layers at opposing confinement walls was observed. This finding explains the approximately linear increase in gas solubility with inverse confinement width and the apparent validity of Henry's law in the pores over a broad fugacity range.     

Identification of anthocyanins in wines by liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance

Liquid chromatography (LC) was used for the fractionation of particular anthocyanins in glycoside form from methanol extracts of red grape skins and solid phase extracts of red wine. By the combination of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and LC-mass spectroscopy the identification of 13 anthocyanins in a particular LC fraction and hence the in particular peaks in chromatograms were obtained. Peaks areas in the chromatograms obtained under the semi-quantitaive conditions of the solid phase extracts of red wines Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from the Coastal wine-growing region in Slovenia, produced in 1999, were used as input data in chemometric analysis. The chemometric methods used were hierarchical clustering analysis and regularised discriminant analysis. The results of both methods give 100% correct classification of wines regarding the vine variety.     

Growth and production of buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) treated with reduced, ambient, and enhanced UV-B radiation

The effect of enhanced UV-B radiation on buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench. variety 'Darja'), an important high elevation crop, was studied in order to estimate its vulnerability in changing UV-B environment. Plants were grown in outdoor experiments from July to October under reduced and ambient UV-B levels, and an UV-B level simulating 17% ozone depletion in Ljubljana. During the development the following parameters were monitored: light saturated photosynthetic activity, transpiration, potential and effective photochemical efficiencies of photosystem II, the contents of photosynthetic pigments and methanol soluble UV-B absorbing compounds. At the end of the experiment, growth rate and production of seeds were estimated. In the following growth season the seeds collected from plants exposed to different UV-B treatments were tested for germination capacity. Total UV-B absorbing compounds during plant development were increased by UV-B radiation, photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a and b and carotenoids) decreased. Photosynthetic rate was lowered in an early stage of development. UV-B treatment resulted in the increase in the transpiration rate and consequently the decrease in water use efficiency (WUE). The disturbances in water economy and in photosynthesis affected the reproduction potential negatively; the production of seeds in plants cultivated under ambient and enhanced UV-B was 57 and 39% of the production of specimens treated with reduced UV-B, respectively. The germination of seeds collected from treated plants revealed on average about 95% success, independently of the treatment, but the time needed for germination was the shortest for seeds developed under enhanced UV-B level treatment. Enhanced UV-B radiation affected water relations and production of buckwheat, but not the potential of seeds for germination.     

Uncertainty in quantitative thin-layer chromatography

Globalization forces analysts to demand extended control of variability in analytical measurements. A calculation procedure named the "error budget model" following recommendations proposed more than 20 years ago by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures is established as a rule for evaluating and expressing the measurement uncertainty across a broad spectrum of measurements. This metrological approach common in physical measurement is not applicable in separation techniques and cannot quantitate measurement uncertainty. Our experiments show that it can be used as a planning tool in the validation of thin-layer chromatographic (TLC) methods. A computer program that quantitates uncertainty components associated with potential sources of uncertainty in quantitative TLC is prepared and tested with experimental data. TLC plates with different qualities of stationary phases (TLC and high-performance TLC) spotted with different types of samples are measured. Application is performed manually and automatically. Plates are scanned with UV-vis scanners and a video documentation system in remission and transmission mode and fluorescence. Although the calculated values are close to the values obtained with validation procedures, the error budget approach cannot substitute validation. Calculated results can predict critical points in real quantitative TLC, but they cannot confirm the validity of a selected chromatographic procedure.     

Comparison of TLC and Spectrophotometric Methods for Evaluation of the Antioxidant Activity of Grape and Berry Anthocyanins

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - Variation of antioxidant activity was measured for differently prepared extracts of pressed residues (marc) from red wine making...