Allgemeine Methoden

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Techniques of differential scanning calorimetry for quantification of low contents of amorphous phases

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is one of the most frequently used techniques for analyzing small concentrations of amorphous phases in a crystalline matrix. In recent years novel enhanced DSC approaches have been intensively looked for to improve parameters such as sensitivity, accuracy, and detection limit of the technique. Low levels of amorphous phases can be quantitatively determined in DSC by measuring the heat capacity change associated with the glass transition. In this short review the potentials provided by the HyperDSC and StepScan DSC techniques are discussed. Examples illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of the techniques and compare their abilities to detect small glass transitions and determine low contents of amorphous phases in samples which are mostly crystalline.     

A unique single carboxylate-bridged spin-frustrated chiral Mn(II) metallatriangle

The reaction between Hmbpymca ligand (prepared in situ from the hydrolysis of 5-methyl-4-cyano-bispyrimidine with NaOH and further neutralization with 2 M HCl) and Mn(ClO(4))(2)·4H(2)O in 1:1 molar ratio afforded the triangulo-trimanganese(II) complex [Mn(3)(bpymca)(3)(H(2)O)(6)]Cl(3)·6H(2)O 1. The chloride anions in this complex come from the HCl used in the neutralization process. The molecular structure of 1 consists of cationic molecular triangles [Mn(3)(μ-mbpymca)(3)(H(2)O)(6)](3+) with C(3) symmetry, chloride anions and crystallization water molecules, all of them involved in an extensive network of hydrogen bonds, leading to a chiral network. Within the [Mn(3)(μ-mbpymca)(3)(H(2)O)(6)](3+) cations, seven-coordinated Mn(II) ions are bridged by both oxygen atoms of the carboxylate groups and exhibit a MnO(5)N(2) compressed pentagonal bipyramidal coordination environment. The temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility shows the presence of weak antiferromagnetic interactions between Mn(II) ions mediated by the carboxylate group of the mbpymca ligand and the existence of a 3D antiferromagnetic ordering below 4 K, which has its origin in the AF inter-trimer exchange interactions mediated by the strong hydrogen bonds present in the crystal of 1. The experimental magnetic susceptibility data above 7 K could be satisfactorily fitted to the theoretical analytical expression derived from the spin Hamiltonian H = -J(S(1)S(2) + S(1)S(3) + S(2)S(3)) with J = -0.782(3) cm(-1) and g = 2.092(3). The model predicts a degenerate ground state with an S = 1/2, which is typical of triangular trimetallic spin frustrated systems containing metal with non-integer spins. DFT calculations were performed on the molecular structure as found in the solid state to support the experimental J value and the Mn-O(carb)-Mn as the primarily exchange pathway.     

AT‐Specific DNA Binding of Binuclear Ruthenium Complexes at the Border of Threading Intercalation

The binuclear ruthenium complex [μ‐bidppz(phen)₄Ru₂]⁴⁺ has been extensively studied since the discovery of its unusual threading intercalation interaction with DNA, a binding mode with extremely slow binding and dissociation kinetics. The complex has been shown to be selective towards long stretches of alternating AT base pairs, which makes it interesting, for example, as a model compound for anti‐malaria drugs due to the high AT content of the genome of the malaria parasite P. falciparum. We have investigated the effect of bridging ligand structure on threading intercalation ability and found that length and rigidity as well as the size of the intercalated ring system are all factors that affect the rate and selectivity of the threading intercalation. In particular, we discovered a new DNA‐threading compound, [μ‐dppzip(phen)₄Ru₂]⁴⁺, which appears to be just at the border of being capable of threading intercalation and displays even greater selectivity for AT‐DNA than the parent compound, [μ‐bidppz(phen)₄Ru₂]⁴⁺.     

Rotordynamical simulations of a fibre refiner during production

A key component in panel board production is the refiner, whose task is to break raw cellulose wood chips into slender fibres, done by a relative angular motion between stator and rotor. The main problem in predicting the dynamics of these machines is to model the complicated fibre breaking process, since the refining process leads to a three-phase flow (solid wood, water and steam) between the stator and rotor. By modelling the rotor as a rigid body, the process can only contribute by a resulting force and a resulting moment. Through this approach and axial force measurements, it has been shown that the refining process can be treated as a time dependent stiffness matrix and external load. The objective for this paper is to predict and explain dynamical characteristics of fibre refiners during production in such a way that the results can be used already at early stages of the product development process. Two different pressure distribution cases are studied, i.e. one axisymmetric with only radial variations and one non-axisymmetric. It is found that the axisymmetric case only excited forward modes, while the non-axisymmetric case excited all modes. The time dependent stiffness matrix resulted in unstable domains, but also in stable domains with intermittent high amplitudes.     

Dicaesium silver zinc thio­cyanate,Cs2[AgZn(SCN)5]

The title compound, dicaesium(I)‐μ‐thio­cyanato‐κ²N:S‐zinc(II)‐tetra‐μ‐thio­cyanato‐κ²S:N‐argentate(I), crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pmn2₁ and contains units of composition AgZn(SCN)₃ lying on a mirror plane and bonded together through Cs⁺ ions and thio­cyanate groups. The crystal studied contained equal numbers of inversion twins.     

Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of Optimal Cutting Temperature (OCT) Embedded Core-Needle Biopsy of Lung Cancer

With recent advances in understanding the genomic underpinnings and oncogenic drivers of pathogenesis in different subtypes, it is increasingly clear that proper pretreatment diagnostics are essential for the choice of appropriate treatment options for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Tumor tissue preservation in optimal cutting temperature (OCT) compound is commonly used in the surgical suite. However, proteins recovered from OCT-embedded specimens pose a challenge for LC-MS/MS experiments, due to the large amounts of polymers present in OCT. Here we present a simple workflow for whole proteome analysis of OCT-embedded NSCLC tissue samples, which involves a simple trichloroacetic acid precipitation step. Comparisons of protein recovery between frozen versus OCT-embedded tissue showed excellent consistency with more than 9200 proteins identified. Using an isobaric labeling strategy, we quantified more than 5400 proteins in tumor versus normal OCT-embedded core needle biopsy samples. Gene ontology analysis indicated that a number of proliferative as well as squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) marker proteins were overexpressed in the tumor, consistent with the patient’s pathology based diagnosis of “poorly differentiated SqCC”. Among the most downregulated proteins in the tumor sample, we noted a number of proteins with potential immunomodulatory functions. Finally, interrogation of the aberrantly expressed proteins using a candidate approach and cross-referencing with publicly available databases led to the identification of potential druggable targets in DNA replication and DNA damage repair pathways. We conclude that our approach allows LC-MS/MS proteomic analyses on OCT-embedded lung cancer specimens, opening the way to bring powerful proteomics into the clinic.

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Graphical Abstract ?

     

Precision Matrix Estimation With ROPE

It is known that the accuracy of the maximum likelihood-based covariance and precision matrix estimates can be improved by penalized log-likelihood estimation. In this article, we propose a ridge-type operator for the precision matrix estimation, ROPE for short, to maximize a penalized likelihood function where the Frobenius norm is used as the penalty function. We show that there is an explicit closed form representation of a shrinkage estimator for the precision matrix when using a penalized log-likelihood, which is analogous to ridge regression in a regression context. The performance of the proposed method is illustrated by a simulation study and real data applications. Computer code used in the example analyses as well as other supplementary materials for this article are available online.     

Cauliflower-like CdS microspheres composed of nanocrystals and their physicochemical properties

Cauliflower-like cadmium sulfide (CdS) microspheres composed of nanocrystals have been successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method using poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as the template coordination agent and characterized by a variety of methods. Our experiments confirmed that the size of the CdS microspheres could be easily modified by controlling the chain length of PEG. Powder X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy measurements revealed the cubic structure of the CdS microspheres; morphological studies performed by HR-SEM and HR-TEM methods showed the cauliflower-like structure of the synthesized CdS microspheres. Each microsphere was identified to be created by the self-assembly of CdS nanocrystals and is attributed to the oriented aggregation of the CdS nanocrystals around a polymer-Cd(2+) complex spherical framework structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis confirmed the stoichiometries of the CdS microspheres. Diffuse reflectance spectrum (DRS) measurements showed that increasing the PEG chain length increased the band gap value of the CdS microspheres slightly, from 1.99 to 2.06 eV. The cauliflower-like CdS microspheres could be applied to photocatalytic degradation studies.     

Functionalized fullerenes in self-assembled monolayers

Anisotropy of intermolecular and molecule-substrate interactions holds the key to controlling the arrangement of fullerenes into 2D self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). The chemical reactivity of fullerenes allows functionalization of the carbon cages with sulfur-containing groups, thiols and thioethers, which facilitates the reliable adsorption of these molecules on gold substrates. A series of structurally related molecules, eight of which are new fullerene compounds, allows systematic investigation of the structural and functional parameters defining the geometry of fullerene SAMs. Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) measurements reveal that the chemical nature of the anchoring group appears to be crucial for the long-range order in fullerenes: the assembly of thiol-functionalized fullerenes is governed by strong molecule-surface interactions, which prohibit formation of ordered molecular arrays, while thioether-functionalized fullerenes, which have a weaker interaction with the surface than the thiols, form a variety of ordered 2D molecular arrays owing to noncovalent intermolecular interactions. A linear row of fullerene molecules is a recurring structural feature of the ordered SAMs, but the relative alignment and the spacing between the fullerene rows is strongly dependent on the size and shape of the spacer group linking the fullerene cage and the anchoring group. Careful control of the chemical functionality on the carbon cages enables positioning of fullerenes into at least four different packing arrangements, none of which have been observed before. Our new strategy for the controlled arrangement of fullerenes on surfaces at the molecular level will advance the development of practical applications for these nanomaterials.