A matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry approach to the lipid A from Mesorhizobium loti

The isolation, purification and analysis of the lipid A obtained from Mesorhizobium loti Ayac 1 BII strain is presented. Analysis of the carbohydrate moiety after acid hydrolysis by high-pH anion-exchange chromatography with pulse amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD) showed the presence of glucosamine and galacturonic acid as the only sugar components. Gas chromatographic (GC) and GC/mass spectrometric (MS) analysis of the fatty acids revealed the presence of 3-OH-C12:0; 3-OH-C13:0; 3-OH-C20:0 and 27-OH-C28:0 among the major hydroxylated species. In addition, C16:0, C17:0, C18:0 and C 20:0 were shown as main saturated fatty acids. Different polyacylated species were evidenced by thin layer chromatography of lipid A, allowing the purification of two fractions. Ultraviolet matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (UV-MALDI-TOF) MS analysis with different matrices, in the positive- and negative-ion mode, was performed. The fast moving component revealed the presence of hexa-acylated species, varying in the fatty acid composition. Species containing three 3-OH fatty acids and a 27-OH-C28:0 fatty acid were observed. Individual ions within this family differ by +/-14 mass units. The slow moving component was enriched mainly in penta-acylated species. Among them, three subgroups were detected: the major one compatible with the sugar core bearing two 3-OH 20:0 fatty acids, a 3-OH 13:0 or a 3-OH 12:0 fatty acid, a 27-OH 28:0 fatty acid and one saturated fatty acid. Each signal differs in a C18:0 acyl unit from the corresponding hexa-acylated family. On the other hand, a subgroup bearing one 3-OH 20:0 fatty acid, one 27-OH 28:0 fatty acid and two non-polar fatty acids was shown. A minor subgroup compatible with structures containing two hydroxylated and three non-polar fatty acids was also detected. The results obtained showed that nor-harmane was an excellent matrix for charged lipid A structural studies in both, positive and negative ion modes.     

Biosensors for effective environmental and agrifood protection and commercialization: from research to market

Biosensors are projected to find many applications due to their high selectivity and sensitivity, rapid reaction, economy and ease of handling in field measurements. Even though biosensors for a wide range of environmental pollutants have been extensively reported in the literature, the decision to develop a suitable biosensing system that can be approved by a regulatory perspective for environmental applications is fraught with technical issues. These issues mainly concern the biological recognition element, the physico-chemical transducer and the interfaces between the biological and the physical components, but also aspects of fluidics, electronics, and software for data processing. This article reviews methods together with a process to move biosensor technology from research laboratories to market, focusing as a case in point on challenges and possible opportunities in the development of photosynthetic-based biosensors for environmental applications.     

Steps in the Classification of Cohen–Macaulay Modules Over Singularities of Type xt + y3

Let k be an algebraically closed field of characteristic 3 and i, j, t some positive integers such that 1 i < j < t, i + j t. Then there exist a finite number of nonisomorphic indecomposable maximal Cohen–Macaulay modules N over k[[x, y]] /(x^t + y³) such that N / y N is a direct sum of copies of k[[x]] /(xⁱ), k[[x]] /(x^j) and we describe them completely.     

Inorganic by-products in waters disinfected with chlorine dioxide

The continuing diminishing sources of fresh waters has stimulated the search for unconventional water resources, such as effluents from municipal sewage treatment plants, which can be reused for purposes of irrigation in agriculture, cooling water in industry, groundwater aquifer recharge and in the long term even for drinking water. The main problem of using effluents is the presence of pathogenic bacteria and viruses that can affect human and animal health. Therefore, disinfection has been used for many years to control and reduce waterborne diseases.At the moment, most water treatment plants use sodium hypochlorite as their primary biocide. However, the toxicity of chlorinated organic compounds produced during the treatment has led to increased interest in the use of alternative agents. One possible candidate as viable substitute of free chlorine is chlorine dioxide. Before this disinfectant can be recommended for routine use, it is imperative that its safety be assessed.In this research we have investigated the presence of chlorite and chlorate in sewage disinfected with chlorine dioxide. The effect of initial concentration of biocide and contact time was evaluated using a pilot plant fed with the effluent of a municipal treatment plant. Moreover, the influence of ClO₂ generator performance was analyzed and discussed.     

Salt-induced Charge Separation in Photoinduced Electron Transfer Reactions. The Effect of Ion Size*

The effect of added salts on the efficiency for photoinduced charge separation in two typical electron acceptor (A)/electron donor (D) systems was studied by the technique of laser flash photolysis. We investigate the exciplex-forming pyrene/p-dicyanobenzene (Py/DCB) and pyrene/N,N-dimethylaniline (Py/DMA) systems in ethyl acetate. The salts selected for this study are tetrabutylammonium chloride, tetrahexylammonium chloride, lithium perchlorate, sodium perchlorate, tetrabutylammonium perchlorate, sodium tetraphenylborate and tetrabutylammonium tetraphenyl-borate. In most cases, the salts quench the emission of the exciplexes with rate constants near the diffusional rate limit in ethyl acetate. An apparent red shift of the fluorescence maximum of the exciplexes with increasing salt concentration is also generally observed. Laser flash photolysis experiments showed that in the absence of the salts both A/D systems yield exclusively the triplet excited state of the polyaromatic. However, in the presence of many of the electrolytes studied, induced free radical ion formation is observed. The experimental efficiencies for induced charge separation (n) depend on the A/D system and on the nature of the salt. The measured n values vary between 0 and 0.5. The most striking variation corresponds to the lithium and sodium perchlorates. These salts are almost totally inefficient in quenching the Py/DCB exciplex, while they quench and induce charge separation from the Py/DMA exciplex with a high yield. The effect of the different salts on both exciplexes may be rationalized by using the concept of the soft/hard character of the interacting ions.     

Quantum study of the active sites of the γ alumina surface (II): QM/MM (LSCF) approach to water, hydrogen disulfide and carbon monoxide adsorption

The mixed quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) local self consistent field (LSCF) method is applied to study the adsorption of water, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon monoxide molecules on γ alumina surfaces. The effect of the long-range contributions included in the LSCF adsorption/dissociation energies are compared to cluster results. For the carbon monoxide, the long-range contributions do not change the adsorption energies in comparison with the cluster approach. In opposition, the long-range contributions lower the adsorption and dissociation energies of water and hydrogen disulfide. Cautions to be taken on the application of the LSCF method to γ alumina are also discussed.     

Geometry determination of tetrasubstituted stilbenes by proton NMR spectroscopy

A simple spectroscopic method was applied to determine the geometry of tetrasubstituted alkenes. The observation of the ⁵J-coupling constants in proton NMR spectra on the ¹³C satellite signals could confirm the previous misassignment of 2,3-diphenylbutene. Hence, the (E)-isomer showed a 1.5 Hz coupling constant, whereas the (Z)-isomer showed a 1.1 Hz coupling constant. Based on this new assignment and a stereospecific preparation, we also propose a revision concerning the NMR data of 2,3-diphenyl-2,3-butanediol.     

UV Spectrophotometry: Improvements in the Study of the Degree of Acetylation of Chitosan

A simple and rapid method for determining the degree of N‐acetylation (DA) of chitosan by ultraviolet spectrophotometry using double beam equipment is proposed. D ‐Glucosamine (GlcN) hydrochloride and N‐acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) were used as model substances, and chitosan solutions in different solvents were studied. The best results were obtained from 0.1 M HCl solutions, with high reproducibility and in good agreement with those given by conductometric titration, FT‐IR, ¹H NMR and elemental analysis.

Correlation between DA obtained by UV and DA obtained by conductometric titration.     

Detecting “bad” regression models: multicriteria fitness functions in regression analysis

Regression models with good fitting but no predictive ability are sometimes chance correlations and often show some pathological features such as multicollinearity, overfitting, and inclusion of noisy/spurious variables. This problem is well known and of the utmost importance. The present paper proposes some criteria that are to be fulfilled as conditions for model acceptability, the aim being to recognize linear regression models with pathology. These criteria have been thought of in order to face the following problems:

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model instability due to outliers and influential objects;

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predictor multicollinearity;

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redundancy in explanatory variables;

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overfitting due to chance factors.

A multicriteria fitness function based on the maximization of the Q² statistics under a set of tests is proposed here. This new fitness function can also be used in model searching by variable selection approaches in order to obtain a final optimal population of models. Computations on the Selwood data set are reported to illustrate the use of this multicriteria fitness function in model searching.