Characterization of electrokinetic gating valve in microfluidic channels

Electrokinetic gating, functioning as a micro-valve, has been widely employed in microfluidic chips for sample injection and flow switch. Investigating its valving performance is fundamentally vital for microfluidics and microfluidics-based chemical analysis. In this paper, electrokinetic gating valve in microchannels was evaluated using optical imaging technique. Microflow profiles at channels junction were examined, revealing that molecular diffusion played a significant role in the valving disable; which could cause analyte leakage in sample injection. Due to diffusion, the analyte crossed the interface of the analyte flow and gating flow, and then formed a cometic tail-like diffusion area at channels junction. From theoretical calculation and some experimental evidences, the size of the area was related to the diffusion coefficient and the velocity of analytes. Additionally, molecular diffusion was also believed to be another reason of sampling bias in gated injection.     

One-step purification of histone deacetylase from Escherichia coli cell-lysate by counter-current chromatography using aqueous two-phase system

Aqueous-aqueous two-phase (AATP) systems composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) (molecular mass, M(r):1000-8000) and dextran (M(r):40,000) were evaluated for purification of maltose binding protein tagged-histone deacetylase (MBP-HDAC) by counter-current chromatography (CCC). CCC purification of an MBP-HDAC from Escherichia coli cell-lysate was successfully demonstrated with a 7.0% PEG 3350-10% dextran T40 system containing 10 mM potassium phosphate buffer at pH 9.0. After CCC purification, both polymers in the CCC fractions were easily removed by ultrafiltration in a short period of time. The collected fractions containing target protein were analyzed by an HPLC-based in vitro assay as well as sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. MBP tag was digested from fusion HDAC during the CCC separation and native HDAC was purified by one-step operation with well preserved deacetyl enzyme activity.     

Development and validation of bioanalytical methods for imidafenacin (KRP-197/ONO-8025) and its metabolites in human urine by using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

New bioanalytical methods have been developed for the determination of imidafenacin (KRP-197/ONO-8025, IM), a novel antimuscarinic drug developed for the treatment of overactive bladder, and its metabolites, M-2, M-3, M-4, M-6 and M-8 (method 1), M-5 and M-9 (method 2) in human urine by using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. In each method, the urine sample was extracted by solid-phase extraction, separated on a semi-micro high-performance liquid chromatography column using gradient elution and detected by tandem mass spectrometer with an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization or ionspray interface. Extraction recoveries of IM and metabolites were 81.4% or more. Calibration curves had good linearity in the concentration ranges 0.2-50 ng/mL for IM, M-2, M-3, M-4, M-6 and M-8 (method 1) and 1-250 ng/mL for M-5 and M-9 (method 2), respectively. The accuracy and precision in the intra-day and inter-day reproducibility tests were within +/-17.0 and 16.1% at the lowest concentrations, and within +/-12.8 and 11.1% at higher concentrations, respectively. Using these analytical methods, excretion profiles of IM and its metabolites in human urine were successfully determined after oral administration of IM at the therapeutic dosage of 0.1 mg.     

Fliplike motion in the thalidomide dimer: Conformational analysis of (R)-thalidomide using vibrational circular dichroism spectroscopy

The dynamic fliplike motion in the (R)-thalidomide dimer has been reported for the first time. The vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectrum of (R)-thalidomide in DMSO-d6 indicates the characteristic nu(CO) bands with opposite signs and reflects the structural property of the equatorial configuration of the phthalimide ring. On the other hand, the VCD spectrum of (R)-thalidomide in CDCl3 exhibits a different pattern of nu(CO) bands and suggests the fliplike motion in dimer forms. This novel insight for the dimer forms would be helpful for the understanding of the structure-activity relationship for thalidomide.     

Accuracy of the three-body fragment molecular orbital method applied to Møller-Plesset perturbation theory

The three‐body energy expansion in the fragment molecular orbital method (FMO) was applied to the 2nd order Møller–Plesset theory (MP2). The accuracy of both the two and three‐body expansions was determined for water clusters, alanine n‐mers (α‐helices and β‐strands) and one synthetic protein, using the 6‐31G* and 6‐311G* basis sets. At the best level of theory (three‐body, two molecules/residues per fragment), the absolute errors in energy relative to ab initio MP2 were at most 1.2 and 5.0 mhartree, for the 6‐31G* and 6‐311G* basis sets, respectively. The relative accuracy was at worst 99.996% and 99.96%, for 6‐31G* and 6‐311G*, respectively. A three‐body approximation was introduced and the optimum threshold value was determined. The protein calculation (6‐31G*) at the production level (FMO2/2) took 3 h on 36 3.2‐GHz Pentium 4 nodes and had the absolute error in the MP2 correlation energy of only 2 kcal/mol. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2007     

Theoretical study of the electronic spectra of oxidized and reduced states of lumiflavin and its derivative

Time-dependent density functional theory has been applied to investigate the electronic absorption spectrum of oxidized and reduced lumiflavin and its derivative, 8-NH(2)-lumiflavin. The calculations allow the authors to explain the origin of the difference in spectral features between oxidized and reduced states of lumiflavin. For the reduced lumiflavin, a reasonable assignment of the experimental spectrum has been made for the first time. Furthermore, the results obtained reveal that the NH(2) group plays a critical role in shaping the spectral features of 8-NH(2)-lumiflavin, and offer a reasonable explanation for the spectral changes upon substituting the NH(2) group for the CH(3) group of lumiflavin.     

Condensation of a zeotropic CFC 114-CFC 113 refrigerant mixture in the annulus of a double-tube coil with an enhanced inner tube

Local heat transfer and pressure drop measurements were made during condensation of a zeotropic CFC114-CFCll3 refrigerant mixture in the annulus of a double-tube coil consisting of three U-bends and four straight lengths. The inner tube is a 19.1-mm O.D. corrugated copper tube with wire fins soldered onto the outer surface and the inner diameter of the outer duct is 25.0 mm. The vapor-phase mass transfer coefficient exhibited a sawtooth behavior with the U-bends showing higher coefficients than the straight lengths. The frictional pressure gradient data agreed well with a previously developed empirical equation for the condensation of pure refrigerants. A prediction method for the condensation heat transfer rate was proposed on the basis of the correlations of the vapor-phase mass transfer coefficient and heat transfer coefficient of the condensate film. The heat transfer data were correlated by the present method to a mean absolute deviation of 12.9%.     

Forced Vibration of Continuous System with Unsymmetrical Collision Characteristics

This paper deals with steady-state response of a continuous system with nonlinear boundary conditions which are motion-limiting constraint. An analytical method of approximate solution for the continuous system with unsymmetrical collision characteristics in which the beam end collides with a stop once in one period of its vibration is presented. Some numerical results of the approximate solution are shown. Contrary to the case of continuous system with symmetrical collision characteristics, the resonance curves of nonlinear response of approximate solution are shown as discontinuous line. Some numerical results of a continuous system with no hysteresis damping are compared with those of a continuous system with hysteresis damping and a single-degree-of-freedom system.     

Buoyancy-induced airflow in a side-heated structure consisting of a cubic box and vertical ducts

Buoyancy-induced airflow in a box with one wall heated, an unheated inlet duct connected to its floor, and an exit duct with one side heated connected to its ceiling is experimentally investigated. A flow rate prediction method based on buoyancy and flow resistance balance is proposed and experimentally validated. The flow pattern and thermal stratification in the box; the flow resistance characteristics for low Reynolds numbers; the relationship among buoyancy, flow resistance, and pressure defect; the chimney effect caused by the exit duct; and the heat transfer characteristics of the heated walls are clarified. The flow rate, thermal stratification, and flow enhancement due to the chimney effect are considerably dependent on the size of the gap of the exit duct.