Syntheses of oxazabicycle library via one-pot tandem reactions

A practical protocol for the preparation of a parallel solution-phase library of oxazabicycle is reported. Target compounds were obtained in moderate to good yields by a Yb(OTf)3-catalyzed one-pot tandem reaction from various anisidines, aromatic aldehydes, isobutyraldehyde, and 4-hydroxycoumarins/dimedone. Purification of the final products by either recrystallization in ethyl acetate/methylene chloride or column chromatography allowed easy isolation of the 18 components of the array.     

MAC-level Forward Error Correction mechanism for minimum error recovery overhead and retransmission

Wireless transmission suffers from poor wireless channel conditions, such as high bit error rate and error bursts resulting from channel fading and radio interference. The MAC-level Forward Error Correction (MFEC) mechanism is proposed to solve these problems. The MFEC mechanism cannot only adaptively adjust Forward Error Correction (FEC) redundancy, depending on the network condition, but can also retransmit whole packets even if the error packet includes several bit errors. In this paper, an Adaptive MAC-level FEC (AMFEC) mechanism is proposed to improve wireless transmission quality. The AMFEC mechanism relies on the effective packet loss rate model to dynamically adjust MFEC redundancy in order to minimize error recovery overhead. The AMFEC mechanism will retransmit the error of sub-packets and increase FEC redundancy to reduce transmission redundancy. The AMFEC mechanism not only enhances the quality of wireless transmission but also reduces the overhead of retransmission. The experimental results show the AMFEC mechanism is better than conventional MFEC mechanisms.     

The inverse problem for differential pencils on a star-shaped graph with mixed spectral data

The partial inverse problem for differential pencils on a star-shaped graph is studied from mixed spectral data.More precisely,we show that if the potentials on all edges on the star-shaped graph but one are known a priori then the unknown potential on the remaining edge can be uniquely determined by partial information on the potential and a part of eigenvalues.     

Challenges in quantum dot-neuron active interfacing

Semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots (qdots) are now being explored in applications requiring active cellular interfaces, such as biosensing and therapeutics in which information is passed from the qdot to the biological system, or vice versa, to perform a function. These applications may require surface coating chemistry that is different from what is commonly employed for passive interface applications like labeling (i.e., thick polymer coatings such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)), in which the only concern is nonspecific sticking to cells and biocompatibility. The thick insulating coatings that are generally needed for labeling are generally not suitable for active qdot-cell interface applications. There is currently little data regarding the interactions between viable cells and qdots under physiological conditions. Our initial investigations using mercaptoacetic acid-coated CdS and CdTe qdots as a simple model to interface with neuron cell surface receptors under physiological conditions uncovered two significant technological hurdles: nonspecific binding and endocytosis. Nonspecific binding can be extensive and in general there appears to be greater nonspecific binding for larger particle sizes, but this also depends sensitively on the particle surface characteristics and the type of neuron, possibly indicating a detailed relationship between particle-cell affinity and cell membrane chemistry. More importantly, qdot endocytosis occurs rapidly at physiological temperature for the different nerve cell types studied, within the first five minutes of exposure to both CdS and CdTe qdots, regardless of whether the molecular coatings specifically recognize cell surface receptors or not. As a consequence, new strategies for tagging cell surface recognition groups for long-term active interfacing with cells under physiological conditions are needed, which requires more sophisticated ligands than MAA but also the absence of thick insulating coatings.     

Dispersion relations of the surface plasma oscillations of multilayers

An equation for determining the dispersion relations of the surface plasma oscillations has been derived for the most general case of multilayers. The equation is given in a very simple form of the vanishing of the trace of a product of 2×2 matrices of recursive type.     

Cytotoxicity of Postmodified Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework‐90 (ZIF‐90) Nanocrystals: Correlation between Functionality and Toxicity

Using a simple method, the aldehyde groups of zeolitic imidazolate framework‐90 (ZIF‐90) nanocrystals were converted into carboxyl, amino, and thiol groups, without affecting the integrity of the framework. Notably, for the first time, correlations between functionality and cytotoxicity are also demonstrated via in vitro cytotoxicity assays. The positive charged aminated‐ZIF‐90 presumably results in either perturbation of cell membrane, more efficient cell uptake, or both. Therefore, the half‐maximal effective (EC₅₀) concentration of aminated‐ZIF‐90 has a higher cytotoxicity of about 30 μg mL^?1.     

A continuation BSOR-Lanczos–Galerkin method for positive bound states of a multi-component Bose–Einstein condensate

We develop a continuation block successive over-relaxation (BSOR)-Lanczos–Galerkin method for the computation of positive bound states of time-independent, coupled Gross–Pitaevskii equations (CGPEs) which describe a multi-component Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC). A discretization of the CGPEs leads to a nonlinear algebraic eigenvalue problem (NAEP). The solution curve with respect to some parameter of the NAEP is then followed by the proposed method. For a single-component BEC, we prove that there exists a unique global minimizer (the ground state) which is represented by an ordinary differential equation with the initial value. For a multi-component BEC, we prove that m identical ground/bound states will bifurcate into m different ground/bound states at a finite repulsive inter-component scattering length. Numerical results show that various positive bound states of a two/three-component BEC are solved efficiently and reliably by the continuation BSOR-Lanczos–Galerkin method.     

Molecular Structures and Magnetic Properties of Strongly Antiferromagnetically Coupled Binuclear Copper(II) Complexes [CU2 REP(μ-X)(Y)2]

The molecular structures of binuclear copper(II) complexes [Cu₂REP(μ-OH)(ClO₄)₂] (4) and [Cu₂REP(μ-Cl)Cl₂] (5), in which REP = deprotonated 2,6-bis(1′-(4′-(2″-pyridyl)-2′-thiabutyl))-4-methylphenol, have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The former crystallizes in the triclinic space group Pl? with a = 10.156(3), b = 12.631(3), c = 25.128(10) Å, α = 92.03(3), β = 96.84(3), γ = 108.02(2),° and Z ? 2. Complex 5 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/c with a = 12.166(2), b = 11.825(2), c = 18.240(4) Å, β = 100.97(2)°, and Z =4. All copper ions are pentacoordinated with ligation to a sulfur, a nitrogen, and the bridging phenolato oxygen of the REP ligand, the exogenous bridge, and a counteranion. The coordination geometry of each copper of the binuclear copper sites is square pyramidal in both 4 and 5. Magnetic susceptibility measurements in the temperature range 6–300 K reveal a strong antiferromagnetic spin exchange in 5 (exchange integral 2J = ?460 cm^?1). A diamagnetic behavior is observed for 4 according to a similar cryomagnetic investigation. The diamagnetism of 4 is further confirmed by measurements of magnetic susceptibility through Evan's method at room temperature. Complex 4 has no EPR signal. The powder EPR spectrum of 5 shows the typical triplet state characteristics with Δm = ±1 transitions at g = 2.15 and a weaker Δm = 2 transition at half field with g = 4.24.     

A comprehensive and non‐prefractionation on the protein level approach for the human urinary proteome: touching phosphorylation in urine

Increasing attention has been paid to the urinary proteome because it holds the promise of discovering various disease biomarkers. However, most of the urine proteomics studies routinely relied on protein pre‐fractionation and so far did not present characterization on phosphorylation status. Two robust approaches, integrated multidimensional liquid chromatography (IMDL) and Yin‐yang multidimensional liquid chromatography (MDLC) tandem mass spectrometry, were recently developed in our laboratory, with high‐coverage identification of peptide mixtures. In this study, we adopted a strategy without pre‐fractionation on the protein level for urinary proteome identification, using both the IMDL and the Yin‐yang MDLC methods for peptide fractionation followed by identification using a linear ion trap‐orbitrap (LTQ‐Orbitrap) mass spectrometer with high resolution and mass accuracy. A total of 1310 non‐redundant proteins were highly confidently identified from two experiments, significantly including 59 phosphorylation sites. More than half the annotated identifications were membrane‐related proteins. In addition, the lysosomal as well as kidney‐associated proteins were detected. Compared with the six largest datasets of urinary proteins published previously, we found our data included most of the reported proteins. Our study developed a robust approach for exploring the human urinary proteome, which would provide a catalogue of urine proteins on a global scale. It is the first report, to our best knowledge, to profile the urinary phosphoproteome. This work significantly extends current comprehension of urinary protein modification and its potential biological significance. Moreover, the strategy could further serve as a reference for biomarker discovery. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.