Structural and Size Effects on the Spectroscopic and Redox Properties of CdSe Nanocrystals in Solution: The Role of Defect States

Two series of CdSe quantum dots (QDs) with different diameters are prepared, according to frequently used protocols of the same synthetic procedure. For each sample the photophysical properties and the potentials for the first reduction and oxidation processes in organic solution are determined. The band gap obtained from electrochemical experiments is compared with that determined from the absorption and luminescence spectra. While the optical band gap decreases upon increasing the nanocrystal diameter, as expected on the basis of quantum confinement, the redox potentials and the electrochemical band gap are not monotonously related to the QD size. For both series, the smallest and largest QDs are both easier to oxidize and reduce than mid‐sized QDs. In fact, the latter samples exhibit very broad voltammetric profiles, which suggests that the heterogeneous electron‐transfer processes from/to the electrode are kinetically hindered. Conversely, the electrochemical band gap for the smallest and largest particles of each series is somewhat smaller than the optical band gap. These results indicate that, while the optical band gap depends on the actual electron–hole recombination within the nanocrystal, and therefore follows the size dependence expected from the particle‐in‐a‐box model, the electrochemical processes of these QDs are strongly affected by other factors, such as the presence of surface defects. The investigations suggest that the influence of these defects on the potential values is more important for the smallest and largest QDs of each series, as confirmed by the respective luminescence bands and quantum yields. An interpretation for the size‐dependent evolution of the surface defects in these nanocrystals is proposed based on the mechanism of their formation and growth.     

Low affinity PEGylated hemoglobin from Trematomus bernacchii, a model for hemoglobin-based blood substitutes

Background

The majority of peroxisomal matrix proteins destined for translocation into the peroxisomal lumen are recognised via a C-terminal Peroxisomal Target Signal type 1 by the cycling receptor Pex5p. The only structure to date of Pex5p in complex with a cargo protein is that of the C-terminal cargo-binding domain of the receptor with sterol carrier protein 2, a small, model peroxisomal protein. In this study, we have tested the contribution of a second, ancillary receptor-cargo binding site, which was found in addition to the characterised Peroxisomal Target Signal type 1.

Results

To investigate the function of this secondary interface we have mutated two key residues from the ancillary binding site and analyzed the level of binding first by a yeast-two-hybrid assay, followed by quantitative measurement of the binding affinity and kinetics of purified protein components and finally, by in vivo measurements, to determine translocation capability. While a moderate but significant reduction of the interaction was found in binding assays, we were not able to measure any significant defects in vivo.

Conclusions

Our data therefore suggest that at least in the case of sterol carrier protein 2 the contribution of the second binding site is not essential for peroxisomal import. At this stage, however, we cannot rule out that other cargo proteins may require this ancillary binding site.     

[4+2] Cycloaddition on densely functionalized cyclopentadiene

The Diels-Alder (DA) and hetero-Diels-Alder (HDA) reaction of N-(2,4-dicyano-1,5-dimethyl-3-phenylcyclopenta-2,4-dienyl)-2,2,2-trifluoroacetamide 1 can be conveniently used for the synthesis of biarylic and polycyclic compounds, depending on whether you use alkynes or alkenes as dienophiles. We observe a totally regioselectivity and endo-diastereoselectivity of the cycloaddition reactions.     

Multivalent calixarene-based C-fucosyl derivative: a new Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm inhibitor

The first example of multivalent conjugate in which four α-l-C-fucosyl units are clustered by means of a calix[4]arene platform was designed as a new potential Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm inhibitor. The anti-biofilm activity of the synthesized compound (6) against PAO1 strain was assayed and it was found to be dose-dependent. The presence of the fucose cluster improves the biofilm inhibitor efficiency as proven by the lower inhibitor activity of the analogous glycyl-calix[4]arene derivative (3) lacking in the fucose moieties.     

Plasma-derived clotting factor VIII: heterogeneity evaluation in the quest for potential inhibitory-antibody stimulating factors

In this study, we investigated the heterogeneity and the purity grade of three commercially available plasma‐derived clotting factor VIII (FVIII) concentrates, which highly differ with regard to purification strategies, relative concentrations of stabilizers (von Willebrand factor, with or without albumin) and virus inactivation strategies (solvent/detergent and/or heat/pasteurization treatments). Western blot analyses were used to evaluate product‐specific variations from Emoclot^®, Alphanate^® and Haemate^® both in the presence and absence of reducing agents (dithiotreithol). All the plasma‐derived concentrates showed a strong heterogeneity, as they all included a significant amount of truncated forms of the full‐length (FL) clotting FVIII protein. The intact protein accounted for the 38% of the total FVIII proteins in Haemate^® and 29 and 23% in Alphanate^® and Emoclot^®, respectively. Lower intact FVIII amounts in Emoclot might be mainly due to the low von Willebrand factor dosage and the absence of albumin. Upon addition of thrombin, both the FL and truncated forms of the FVIII protein were almost completely digested. Indeed, after thrombin activation, we could still observe a mixture of B‐domain truncated forms of the FL protein along with biologically active digested‐A1 forms. Batch‐to‐batch variation was tested with no evident changes appearing among different batches. Despite the variables in manufacturing processes, inter‐product comparisons yielded similar results for all the plasma‐derived FVIII considered in this study. However, we could individuate in Emoclot a band that was not digested by thrombin, which we could characterize as the 200 kDa FVIII heavy chain. This investigation prompts new concerns about the strong heterogeneity observed upon thrombin digestion of plasma‐derived FVIII, which might contribute to the development of inhibitory antibodies at an early stage of therapy, and to which extent these untoward phenomena could be avoided through direct intervention on routine manufacturing processes.     

Development and in-house validation of a robust and sensitive solid-phase extraction liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method for the quantitative determination of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, G2, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, T-2 and HT-2 toxins in cereal-based foods

A sensitive and robust liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of aflatoxins (B(1), B(2), G(1), G(2)), ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, T-2 and HT-2 toxins in cereal-based foods. Samples were extracted with a mixture of acetonitrile/water (84:16, v/v) and cleaned up through a polymeric solid-phase extraction column. Detection and quantification of the nine mycotoxins were performed by reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS), using fully (13)C-isotope-labelled mycotoxins as internal standards. The method was validated in-house for five different cereal processed products, namely barley, oat and durum wheat flours, rye- and wheat-based crisp bread. Recoveries and repeatability of the whole analytical procedure were evaluated at contamination levels encompassing the EU maximum permitted levels for each tested mycotoxin. Recoveries ranged from 89 to 108% for deoxynivalenol, from 73 to 114% for aflatoxins, from 85 to 114% for T-2 and HT-2 toxins, from 64 to 97% for zearalenone, from 74 to 102% for ochratoxin A. Relative standard deviations were less than 16% for all tested mycotoxins and matrices. Limits of detection (signal-to-noise ratio 3:1) ranged from 0.1 to 59.2 μg/kg. The trueness of the results obtained by the proposed method was demonstrated by analysis of reference materials for aflatoxins, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone. The use of inexpensive clean-up cartridges and the increasing availability of less expensive LC/MS/MS instrumentation strengthen the potential of the proposed method for its effective application for reliable routine analysis to assess compliance of tested cereal products with current regulation.     

Comparison of 24-h volume and creatinine-corrected total urinary polyphenol as a biomarker of total dietary polyphenols in the Invecchiare InCHIANTI study

Polyphenols have beneficial effects on several chronic diseases but assessing polyphenols intake from self-reported dietary questionnaires tends to be inaccurate and not very reliable. A promising alternative is to use urinary excretion of polyphenols as a proxy measure of intake. The best method to assess urinary excretion is to collect 24-h urine. However, since collecting 24-h urine method is expensive, time consuming and may be difficult to implement in large population-based studies, measures obtained from spot urine normalized by creatinine are commonly used. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the correlation between polyphenols dietary intake and total urinary polyphenol excretion (TPE), expressed by both 24-h volume and urinary creatinine normalization in 928 participants from the InCHIANTI study. Dietary intake data were collected using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Urinary TPE was analyzed by Folin-Ciocalteau assay. Both urinary TPE expression models were statistically correlated (r=0.580), and the partial correlation coefficient improved (pr=0.722) after adjusting for the variables that modify the urinary creatinine excretion (i.e. gender, age, BMI, physical activity and renal function). In crude models, polyphenol intake was associated with TPE corrected by 24-h volume (r=0.211; P<0.001), but not with creatinine normalization (r=0.014; P=0.692). However, urinary TPE expressed by creatinine correction was significantly correlated with dietary polyphenols after adjusting for covariates (pr=0.113; P=0.002). We conclude that urinary TPE expressed by 24-h volume is a better biomarker of polyphenol dietary intake than by urinary creatinine normalization. After covariate adjustment, both can be used for studying the relationships between polyphenol intake and health in large-scale epidemiological studies.     

BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and protein levels in Amniotic Fluid

Background

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin which plays survival- and growth-promoting activity in neuronal cells and it is involved in cellular plasticity mechanisms as it controls activity dependent synaptic transmission. A functional polymorphism (Val66Met) in the pro-region of BDNF, which affects the intracellular trafficking of proBDNF has been associated with memory and cognitive deficits as well as to an increased susceptibility for several psychiatric disorders especially those with a neurodevelopmental origin. To date, no study has evaluated the influence of the Val66Met polymorphism on BDNF levels in a peripheral system that may reflect fetal neurodevelopment. Therefore we investigated in amniotic fluids (AF) obtained from 139 healthy women during 15-17 week of pregnancy, BDNF protein levels in correlation with the Val66Met polymorphism.

Results

Interestingly we found a significant BDNF protein levels reduction in 55 Met carriers (Val/Met and Met/Met) (p = 0.002) as compared to 84 non carriers (Val/Val), and no effect of fetus gender, maternal age or gestation week on BDNF levels has been observed.

Conclusion

These results, although explorative, indicate that during fetal life the Val66Met genotype might influences BDNF protein levels in AF supporting the involvement of this polymorphism in behavioral and functional brain individual differences in the adulthood.     

Phase stability and homogeneity in undoped and Mn‐doped LiFePO4 under laser heating

Thermal stability and phase homogeneity of the triphylite LiFePO₄ compound were investigated by means of Raman spectroscopy. A detailed check of phase homogeneity of undoped samples obtained from different preparation routes—hydrothermal, sol–gel, and solid state synthesis—and Mn‐doped compounds from solid‐state synthesis was performed by means of a mapping of the Raman spectra. The triphylite compositional and structural properties were carefully investigated also with the help of structural refinements and magnetic techniques, which also allowed us to reveal and identify the impurity phases formed together with the olivine LiFePO₄. The effect of laser irradiation on the triphylite thermal stability was thoroughly investigated and related to the synthesis route, to the doping, and to the sample homogeneity. The thermal stability of iron oxides, present both as synthesis products and as consequence of the irradiation itself, was also analyzed following the magnetite→maghemite→hematite phase transformation. All the experimental observations concur in indicating that the effectiveness of the laser heating on these compounds mainly depends on grain size and the degree of order of the olivine structure, the highest thermal stability being displayed in the case of the nonhomogenous undoped samples obtained from solid‐state preparation, which show a highly ordered triphylite phase. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Visibility graph analysis of wall turbulence time-series

The spatio-temporal features of the velocity field of a fully-developed turbulent channel flow are investigated through the natural visibility graph (NVG) method, which is able to fully map the intrinsic structure of the time-series into complex networks. Time-series of the three velocity components, $(u,v,w)$, are analyzed at fixed grid-points of the whole three-dimensional domain. Each time-series was mapped into a network by means of the NVG algorithm, so that each network corresponds to a grid-point of the simulation. The degree centrality, the transitivity and the here proposed mean link-length were evaluated as indicators of the global visibility, inter-visibility, and mean temporal distance among nodes, respectively. The metrics were averaged along the directions of homogeneity ($x,z$) of the flow, so they only depend on the wall-normal coordinate, $y^{+}$. The visibility-based networks, inheriting the flow field features, unveil key temporal properties of the turbulent time-series and their changes moving along $y^{+}$. Although intrinsically simple to be implemented, the visibility graph-based approach offers a promising and effective support to the classical methods for accurate time-series analyses of inhomogeneous turbulent flows.