Untersuchung von Fleisch, Fleischextrakt und Wurstwaren

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Distinction between surface hydroxyl and ether groups on boron-doped diamond electrodes using a chemical approach

While it is clearly established that oxidation of as-grown boron-doped diamond (BDD) interfaces results in the introduction of different surface oxygen functions such as ether, carbonyl and hydroxyl groups, there is no reported approach which can clearly distinguish between the different surface functions. For further surface functionalization, it is important to quantify the presence of each group on the diamond surface. In this paper, the presence and amount of surface hydroxyl groups is identified using esterification of the COH groups with trifluoroacetic acid. The presence of CF₃ group in the acid allowed the identification and estimation of the amount of surface hydroxyl groups using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).     

Witness Rectangle Graphs

In a witness rectangle graph (WRG) on vertex point set P with respect to witness point set W in the plane, two points x, y in P are adjacent whenever the open isothetic rectangle with x and y as opposite corners contains at least one point in W. WRGs are representative of a larger family of witness proximity graphs introduced in two previous papers. We study graph-theoretic properties of WRGs. We prove that any WRG has at most two non-trivial connected components. We bound the diameter of the non-trivial connected components of a WRG in both the one-component and two-component cases. In the latter case, we prove that a graph is representable as a WRG if and only if each component is a connected co-interval graph, thereby providing a complete characterization of WRGs of this type. We also completely characterize trees drawable as WRGs. In addition, we prove that a WRG with no isolated vertices has domination number at most four. Moreover, we show that any combinatorial graph can be drawn as a WRG using a combination of positive and negative witnesses. Finally, we conclude with some related results on the number of points required to stab all the rectangles defined by a set of n points.     

Comparison of three methods for fractionation and enrichment of low molecular weight proteins for SELDI-TOF-MS differential analysis

In most diseases, the clinical need for serum/plasma markers has never been so crucial, not only for diagnosis, but also for the selection of the most efficient therapies, as well as exclusion of ineffective or toxic treatment. Due to the high sample complexity, prefractionation is essential for exploring the deep proteome and finding specific markers.In this study, three different sample preparation methods (i.e., highly abundant protein precipitation, restricted access materials (RAM) combined with IMAC chromatography and peptide ligand affinity beads) were investigated in order to select the best fractionation step for further differential proteomic experiments focusing on the LMW proteome (MW inferior to 40,000 Da). Indeed, the aim was not to cover the entire plasma/serum proteome, but to enrich potentially interesting tissue leakage proteins. These three methods were evaluated on their reproducibility, on the SELDI-TOF-MS peptide/protein peaks generated after fractionation and on the information supplied.The studied methods appeared to give complementary information and presented good reproducibility (below 20%). Peptide ligand affinity beads were found to provide efficient depletion of HMW proteins and peak enrichment in protein/peptide profiles.     

Development of Effective Skin Cancer Treatment and Prevention in Xeroderma Pigmentosum

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare, recessively transmitted genetic disease characterized by increasingly marked dyspigmentation and xerosis (dryness) of sun‐exposed tissues, especially skin. Skin cancers characteristically develop in sun‐exposed sites at very much earlier ages than in the general population; these are often multiple and hundreds or even thousands may develop. Eight complementation groups have been identified. Seven groups, XP‐A…G, are associated with defective genes encoding proteins involved in the nucleotide excision DNA repair (NER) pathway that recognizes and excises mutagenic changes induced in DNA by sunlight; the eighth group, XP‐V, is associated with defective translesion synthesis (TLS) bypassing such alterations. The dyspigmentation, xerosis and eventually carcinogenesis in XP patients appear to be due to their cells’ failure to respond properly to these mutagenic DNA alterations, leading to mutations in skin cells. A subset of cases, especially those in some complementation groups, may develop neurological degeneration, which may be severe. However, in most XP patients, in the past the multiple skin cancers have led to death at an early age due to either metastases or sepsis. Using either topical 5‐fluorouracil or imiquimod, we have developed a protocol that effectively prevents most skin cancer development in XP patients.     

Nonribosomal peptide synthesis in animals: the cyclodipeptide synthase of Nematostella

Cyclodipeptide synthases (CDPSs) are small enzymes structurally related to class-I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs). They divert aminoacylated tRNAs from their canonical role in ribosomal protein synthesis, for cyclodipeptide formation. All the CDPSs experimentally characterized to date are?bacterial. We show here that a predicted CDPS from the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis is an active CDPS catalyzing the formation of various cyclodipeptides, preferentially containing tryptophan. Our findings demonstrate that eukaryotes encode active CDPSs and suggest that all CDPSs have?a similar aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase-like architecture and ping-pong mechanism. They also raise questions about the biological roles of the cyclodipeptides produced in bacteria and eukaryotes.     

Linear and nonlinear optical properties of cationic bipyridyl iridium(III) complexes: tunable and photoswitchable?

A series of cationic Ir(III) substituted bipyridyl ()(N(∧)N (N(∧)N-bpy) complexes incorporating electron-donor and -acceptor substituents, [Ir(C(∧)N-ppy-R')(2)(N(∧)N-bpy-CH═CH-C(6)H(4)-R)][X] (X(-) = PF(6)(-) or C(12)H(25)SO(3)(-)), 2 (a, R = NEt(2) and R' = Me; b, R = O-Oct and R' = Me; c, R = NO(2) and R' = C(6)H(13); C(∧)N-ppy = cyclometalated 2-phenylpyridine, [Ir(C(∧)N-ppy-Me)(2)(N(∧)N-bpy-CH═CH-thienyl-Me)][PF(6)], 2d, and the dithienylethene (DTE)-containing complex 2e have been synthesized and characterized, and their absorption, luminescence, and quadratic nonlinear optical (NLO) properties are reported. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent-DFT (TD-DFT) calculations on the complexes facilitate a detailed assignment of the excited states involved in the absorption and emission processes. All five complexes are luminescent in a rigid glass at 77 K, displaying vibronically structured spectra with long lifetimes (14-90 μs), attributed to triplet states localized on the styryl-appended bipyridines. The second-order NLO properties of 2a-d and related complexes 1a-d with 1,10-phenanthrolines have been investigated by both electric field induced second harmonic generation (EFISH) and harmonic light scattering (HLS) techniques. They are characterized by high negative EFISH μβ values which decrease when the ion pair strength between the cation and the counterion (PF(6)(-), C(12)H(25)SO(3)(-)) increases. The EFISH response is mainly controlled by metal-to-ligand charge-transfer/ligand-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT/L'LCT) processes. A combination of HLS and EFISH techniques is used to evaluate both the dipolar and octupolar contributions to the total quadratic hyperpolarizability, demonstrating that the major contribution is controlled by the octupolar part. The incorporation of a photochromic DTE unit into the N(∧)N-bpy ligand (complex 2e) allows the luminescence to be switched ON or OFF. The photocyclisation of the DTE unit can be triggered by using either UV (365 nm) or visible light (430 nm), leading to an efficient quenching of the ligand-based 77 K luminescence, which can be restored upon irradiation of the closed form at 715 nm. In contrast, no significant modification of the EFISH μβ value is observed upon photocyclization, suggesting that the quadratic NLO response is dominated by the MLCT/L'LCT processes, rather than by the intraligand excited states localized on the substituted bipyridine ligand.     

Determination of the enantiomeric excess of α-hydroxy acids

This work describes a convenient and accurate method for optical purity determination of α-hydroxy acids. Their derivatization with commercially available valine methyl ester affords diastereoisomers easily separable by HPLC using achiral C₁₈ columns.