1-ethynylpyrene-modified guanine and cytosine as optical labels for DNA hybridization

1-ethynylpyrene shows remarkable absorption changes upon DNA hybridization when it is covalently attached to the 8-position of guanine. An absorption band at approximately 420 nm is only present in the duplex, exhibits thermal melting behaviour and provides the basis for a molecular beacon together with 1-ethynylpyrene-modified cytosine.     

Use of ultrafast-laser-driven microexplosional for fabricating three-dimensional void-based diamond-lattice photonic crystals in a solid polymer material

Micro-sized void spheres are successfully generated in a solid polymer by use of a tightly focused femtosecond laser beam from a high-repetition-rate laser oscillator. Confocal reflection images show that the void spheres are longitudinal rotational symmetric ellipsoids with a ratio of long to short axes of approximately 1.5. Layers of void spheres are then stacked to create three-dimensional diamond-lattice photonic crystals. Three gaps are observed in the [100] direction with a suppression rate of the second gap of up to approximately 75% for a 32-layer structure. The observed first- and second-order gaps shift to longer and shorter wavelengths, respectively, as the angle of incidence increases.     

Quantification of arecoline (areca nut alkaloid) in neonatal biological matrices by high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray quadrupole mass spectrometry

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with mass spectrometric detection is described for determination of arecoline in newborn meconium, urine and cord serum, using pilocarpine as internal standard. The analytes were extracted from neonatal biological matrices with chloroform/isopropanol (95:5, v/v) at alkaline pH. Extracts were analyzed by HPLC coupled to an electrospray (ESI) interface and a quadrupole mass spectrometer. Chromatography was performed on a C(8) reversed-phase column using 10 mM ammonium acetate (pH 4.3)/acetonitrile (90:10, v/v) as mobile phase. The mass spectrometer was operated in selected ion monitoring mode. The method was validated over the concentration range 0.005-1.00 micro g/g meconium, 0.004-1.00 micro g/mL cord serum and 0.001-1.00 micro /mL urine. Mean recoveries ranged between 86.5 and 90.7% for arecoline in the different biological matrices, with precision always better than 10%. The quantification limits of arecoline were 0.005 micro g/g meconium, 0.004 micro g/mL cord serum, and 0.001 micro g/mL urine. The method was applied to the analysis of neonatal biological matrices to assess eventual fetal exposition to arecoline. Two newborns from Asian mothers who declared areca nut consumption presented arecoline in meconium with concentrations in the range 0.006-0.008 micro g/g; also the urine from one neonate tested positive for the drug.     

Aziridines as a protecting and directing group. Stereoselective synthesis of (+)-bromoxone

[reaction: see text] The directing ability of an aziridine group for the epoxidation of adjacent double bonds is demonstrated. The aziridine group is also used to effectively protect a double bond in a cycloenone system for a short synthesis of the title compound.     

Primal separation for 0/1 polytopes

 The 0/1 primal separation problem is: Given an extreme point xˉ of a 0/1 polytope P and some point x ^*, find an inequality which is tight at xˉ, violated by x ^* and valid for P or assert that no such inequality exists. It is known that this separation variant can be reduced to the standard separation problem for P. We show that 0/1 optimization and 0/1 primal separation are polynomial time equivalent. This implies that the problems 0/1 optimization, 0/1 standard separation, 0/1 augmentation, and 0/1 primal separation are polynomial time equivalent. Then we provide polynomial time primal separation procedures for matching, stable set, maximum cut, and maximum bipartite graph problems, giving evidence that these algorithms are conceptually simpler and easier to implement than their corresponding counterparts for standard separation. In particular, for perfect matching we present an algorithm for primal separation that rests only on simple max-flow computations. In contrast, the known standard separation method relies on an explicit minimum odd cut algorithm. Consequently, we obtain a very simple proof that a maximum weight perfect matching of a graph can be computed in polynomial time. Received: August 20, 2001 / Accepted: April 2002 Published online: December 9, 2002 RID="⋆" ID="⋆" This research was developed while the author was on leave at the Istituto di Analisi dei Sistemi ed Informatica, Viale Manzoni 30, 00185 Roma, supported by the project TMR-DONET nr. ERB FMRX-CT98-0202 of the European Union. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 90C10, 90C60, 90C57     

Copolymerization of 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate with a comonomer with spiroacetal moiety

The study reports the synthesis of a copolymer based on 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate and 3,9‐divinyl‐2,4,8,10‐tetraoxaspiro[5.5]undecane (U) acquired through radical polymerization in the presence of 2,2′‐azobis(2‐methylpropionitrile). The attempt was to have a solid content as high as 10 wt %. The polymerization process was conducted in the presence of a classic ionic surfactant—sodium lauryl sulfate—and comparatively using two variants of protective colloid β‐cyclodextrin and poly(aspartic acid), respectively. The prepared dispersions were characterized from the viewpoint of their hydrodynamic radius, zeta potential, and conductivity evolution during syntheses. The mean particle size and size distribution and zeta potential and conductivity were also evaluated for the synthesized polymeric particles. The compositions of the polymers were confirmed by FTIR and ¹H NMR spectra, and also, the thermal stability of the polymeric compounds was evaluated. SEM and AFM investigations of the polymer morphology are also presented. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Development and Application of Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography Method to the Quantification of the Biotransformation of Methyl Paraben in Eisenia foetida

A simple and quick ultra performance liquid chromatography method (UPLC) has been developed for determination of methyl paraben (MP) and its major metabolites p‐hydroxybenzoic acid (pHBA) and phenol (Phe), following its biotransformations in Eisenia foetida. After different exposure time to paper contact test, the presence of methyl paraben and his biotransformation products in adult earthworms was monitored. Determination of its metabolites was achieved with a BEH (bridged ethane‐silicon hybrid) C₁₈ column (2.1×50 mm i.d., 1.7 µm particle size), using methanol/water/phosphoric acid as mobile phase, under a gradient elution program, and a PDA (photo‐diode array) detection (quantification with MaxPlot in the range 210–400 nm). The absorption of MP did not exceed 30% and in the first 4–6 h after exposure only minute amounts of pHBA and Phe were detected in the worm homogenates. After 48 h of exposures, almost 70% of absorbed MP was already metabolized to Phe and around 20% could be found as pHBA.