Synthesis and efficiency of a chelating fiber for preconcentration and separation of trace Au(III) and Pd(IV) from solution samples

A novel poly(acryl-benzoylamidrazone-acryl-benzoylhydrazine) chelating fiber was synthesized simply from nitrilon (polyacrylonitrile fiber). The structure of the chelating fiber was verified with the help of FT-IR spectrum. The parameters influencing the efficiency of the fiber for concentrating trace amounts of Au(III) and Pd(IV) were investigated in detail. Trace Au(III) and Pd(IV) were enriched and separated from real sample solutions and detected using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) with satisfactory results. The experiments show that the method is rapid, precise, simple and convenient to use.     

Functional GPCR microarrays

This paper describes G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) microarrays on porous glass substrates and functional assays based on the binding of a europium-labeled GTP analogue. The porous glass slides were made by casting a glass frit on impermeable glass slides and then coating with gamma-aminopropyl silane (GAPS). The emitted fluorescence was captured on an imager with a time-gated intensified CCD detector. Microarrays of the neurotensin receptor 1, the cholinergic receptor muscarinic 2, the opioid receptor mu, and the cannabinoid receptor 1 were fabricated by pin printing. The selective agonism of each of the receptors was observed. The screening of potential antagonists was demonstrated using a cocktail of agonists. The amount of activation observed was sufficient to permit determinations of EC50 and IC50. Such microarrays could potentially streamline drug discovery by helping integrate primary screening with selectivity and safety screening without compromising the essential functional information obtainable from cellular assays.     

The influence of nonuniform coating and taylor dispersion on the evaluation of capillary column inverse gas chromatography

A mathematical model which takes into account the combined effect of Taylor dispersion and film eccentricity on the elution profiles has been developed for the analysis of a capillary column inverse gas chromatography (CCIGC) experiment. In this paper, we present an additional improvement on the model presented by Hamdan et al. [E. Hamdan, J. F. Milthorpe, J. C. S. Lai, J. Chromatogr. A, 1078 (2005) 144] to include the effect of coating nonuniformity. The new model shows that while Taylor dispersion effect has a very significant effect on the elution profiles at low values of beta and gamma, the general effect of film asymmetry is to reduce this effect. At sufficiently large gamma and/or beta values, Taylor dispersion effect becomes negligible and the elution profiles will be mainly affected by film asymmetry. The inclusion of Taylor dispersion effect will increase the variance of the elution curves which could significantly affect the estimated value of the diffusivity Dp. The error in the estimated Dp values obtained using the Pawlisch et al. [C. A. Pawlisch, J. R. Bric, R.L. Laurence, Macromolecules 21 (1988) 1685] nonuniform model increases as gamma and/or beta are reduced and when the coated polymer exhibits less deviation from uniform films.     

Self-assembling structures and thin-film microscopic morphologies of amphiphilic rod-coil block oligomers

This paper examines the influences of solvent evaporation and atmosphere humidity on self-assembling structures and thin-film microscopic morphologies of amphiphilic rod-coil block oligomers (EOnOPV) containing conjugated oligo(phenylene vinylene) dimer (OPV) coupled to poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO; n, the average number of ethylene oxides, is 16, 12, 7, and 3, respectively) on hydrophilic substrates. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV-vis absorption, and small angle X-ray diffraction are employed to investigate the thin-film morphology and structure. Solvent evaporation and atmosphere humidity are found to exert a strong influence on thin-film morphology and structure. Under the condition of quick evaporation and dry atmosphere, all EOnOPV oligomers form the monolayer islands. Increasing the solute volume, both EO16OPV and EO12OPV oligomers can form the polar lamellas with a head-to-tail packing arrangement. Under the condition of slow evaporation and humid atmosphere, EO16OPV and EO12OPV may self-assembly into curvy nanoribbons with well-defined width and curvature radii on mica, while EO7OPV and EO3OPV with the shorter PEO coils do not form. A symmetric bilayer structure for the ribbons is proposed. Plausible reasons for the variation in thin-film morphology are discussed, based on the results obtained from investigation of PEO coil length, solvent evaporation, and atmosphere humidity effects.     

The miscibility of poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) with amphiphilic molecules and the interaction of their mixtures with DNA at air/water interface

The miscibility of poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLG) with three amphiphilic molecules and the interaction of the PLG/surfactant mixtures with DNA at air/water interface are investigated by pi-A isotherms, Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. The pi-A isotherms of the PLG mixtures with cationic C(12)AzoC(6)PyBr, and C(12)AzoC(6)N(CH(3))(3)Br, are quite different from the pi-A isotherm of pure PLG on water subphase. In contrast to the case, the pi-A isotherm of PLG mixed with nonionic C(12)AzoC(6)OPy is almost identical to the pure PLG except some increasing of molecular area. Similar phenomena are observed on DNA subphase. The in situ BAM and ex situ AFM observations demonstrate that the dispersion of PLG at air/water interface becomes good when it mixes with the two cationic surfactants, whereas quite poor due to the phase separation when it mixes with the nonionic amphiphilic molecule. Based on these results we conclude that the cationic surfactants can affect the conformation change of PLG at air/water interface and figure a well miscibility with polymer whereas the nonionic amphiphilic molecule presents poor miscibility. In addition, the even mixing of the PLG and the cationic surfactants is favorable for the adsorption to DNA more effectively.     

Nonreductive deiodination of ortho-iodo-hydroxylated arenes using tertiary amines

A convenient and nonreductive deiodination is reported for the ortho-iodo-hydroxylated arenes including derivatives of quinolinol, phenol, and naphthol. Tertiary amines pyridine, triethylamine, and N-methylmorpholine in the presence of water initiated deiodination of ortho-iodo-hydroxylated arenes without affecting para-iodine and other reduction-susceptible groups. This reported method also works efficiently for polyiodinated systems. Simplicity, short reaction times, and absence of reducing catalyst are features of this method.     

Chemical reactivities of the cation and anion of M@C82 (M = Y, La, and Ce)

The chemical reduction and oxidation of M@C82 (M = Y, La, and Ce) afford the corresponding anion and cation, respectively, which show unique and interesting chemical reactivities. It is found that the successful reversible gain or loss of electrons by ionization is useful for controlling the stability and reactivity of M@C82 toward both nucleophiles and electrophiles.     

Spanning Trails Connecting Given Edges

Suppose that is the set of connected graphs such that a graph G if and only if G satisfies both (F1) if X is an edge cut of G with |X|3, then there exists a vertex v of degree |X| such that X consists of all the edges incident with v in G, and (F2) for every v of degree 3, v lies in a k-cycle of G, where 2k3.In this paper, we show that if G and (G)3, then for every pair of edges e,fE(G), G has a trail with initial edge e and final edge f which contains all vertices of G. This result extends several former results.     

The neutral deoxygenation (reduction) of aryl carbonyl compounds with raney-nickel. an alternative to the clemmenson,wolf-kishner or mozingo (thioketal) reductions.

W-7 Raney-Nickel reduces mono or diaryl carbonyl compounds in 50% aqueous ethanol in excellent yields to the aryl methanes.