Avoiding negative populations in explicit Poisson tau-leaping

The explicit tau-leaping procedure attempts to speed up the stochastic simulation of a chemically reacting system by approximating the number of firings of each reaction channel during a chosen time increment tau as a Poisson random variable. Since the Poisson random variable can have arbitrarily large sample values, there is always the possibility that this procedure will cause one or more reaction channels to fire so many times during tau that the population of some reactant species will be driven negative. Two recent papers have shown how that unacceptable occurrence can be avoided by replacing the Poisson random variables with binomial random variables, whose values are naturally bounded. This paper describes a modified Poisson tau-leaping procedure that also avoids negative populations, but is easier to implement than the binomial procedure. The new Poisson procedure also introduces a second control parameter, whose value essentially dials the procedure from the original Poisson tau-leaping at one extreme to the exact stochastic simulation algorithm at the other; therefore, the modified Poisson procedure will generally be more accurate than the original Poisson procedure.     

Simultaneous hydrogen and peroxide production by photocatalytic water splitting

Photocatalytic oxidation of water is a promising method to realize large-scale H₂O₂ production without a hazardous and energy-intensive process. In this study, we introduce a Pt/TiO₂(anatase) photocatalyst to construct a simple and environmentally friendly system to achieve simultaneous H₂ and H₂O₂ production. Both H₂ and H₂O₂ are high-value chemicals, and their separation is automatic. Even without the assistance of a sacrificial agent, the system can reach an efficiency of 7410 and 5096 μmol g^–1 h^–1 (first 1 h) for H₂ and H₂O₂, respectively, which is much higher than that of a commercial Pt/TiO₂(anatase) system that has a similar morphology. This exceptional activity is attributed to the more favorable two-electron oxidation of water to H₂O₂, compared with the four-electron oxidation of water to O₂.     

Substituent effects on monoboronic acid sensors for saccharides based on N-phenyl-1,8-naphthalenedicarboximides

In the course of our investigations on new monoboronic acid saccharide sensors with C(0) spacers, a series of probes 1-6 based on 1,8-naphthalenedicarboximide were synthesized. Sensor 1 displays features typical of PET monoboronic acid sensors and shows high selectivity to fructose. Sensor 2 exhibits a novel dual emission and remarkable sensitivity for glucose relative to fructose and galactose through subtle changes in pH. Sensor 3 displays significantly enhanced fluorescence in the presence of galactose at low pH. Although probes 4-6 exhibit unique properties such as high quantum yield (Phi(F) = 0.407) and excellent solubility in water, they did not show significant change in fluorescence intensity in the presence of monosaccharides. The effects of substituent on all six probes lend support to the proposed photoelectrochemical model.     

A Novel Preprocessing Algorithm for Three-Way HPLC Data

Orthogonal signal correction (OSC) was a data preprocessing algorithm. It ensured that the filtered information was irrelevant to concentration data while using it to filter the noise from the original data. This paper extended the OSC application range from two-way data to three-way data. Two drug data sets, Enoxacin, Norfloxacin, Ciprofloxacin and Betamethasone, cortisone acetate, prednisone acetate, showed that the application of the OSC algorithm to three-way HPLC data was feasible and needed further research.     

A molecular docking model of SARS-CoV S1 protein in complex with its receptor, human ACE2

The exact residues within severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) S1 protein and its receptor, human ACE2, involved in their interaction still remain largely undetermined. Identification of exact amino acid residues that are crucial for the interaction of S1 with ACE2 could provide working hypotheses for experimental studies and might be helpful for the development of antiviral inhibitor. In this paper, a molecular docking model of SARS-CoV S1 protein in complex with human ACE2 was constructed. The interacting residue pairs within this complex model and their contact types were also identified. Our model, supported by significant biochemical evidence, suggested receptor-binding residues were concentrated in two segments of S1 protein. In contrast, the interfacial residues in ACE2, though close to each other in tertiary structure, were found to be widely scattered in the primary sequence. In particular, the S1 residue ARG453 and ACE2 residue LYS341 might be the key residues in the complex formation.     

Separation of Sulfonylurea Herbicides and Determination of Bensulfuron-methyl Residues in Tapwater by HPTLC

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - In this work we have studied the separation of a mixture of the sulfonylurea herbicides (metsulfuron-methyl, chlorsulfuron,...     

Alkylation of ethylenethiourea with alcohols: a convenient synthesis of S-alkyl-isothioureas without toxic alkylating agents

The alkylation of ethylenethiourea with alcohols and aqueous acids (HCl, HBr, and HI) allows the synthesis of the respective S-alkyl-isothioureas in high yield and purity. Consistently high yields (91-98%) were obtained with 56% HI, the yields for 48% HBr (48-93%) and 37% HCl (36-85%) were lower and varied with the type of alcohol. The method is a convenient low-cost alternative to the use of alkyl iodides and an easy access to the S-tert-butyl isothiourea.     

Phosphonium and arsonium ylides. XVII. A facile synthesis of methyl 2,6-bisperfluoroalkylbenzoates via acyclic precursors

The title compounds 6a—6f were prepared with high yield via intramolecular Wittig reaction of methyl 3-perfluoroalkyl-6-peifluoroacyl-2-triphenylphosphoranylidenchex-3,5-dienoates (5a—5i) which were obtained from the reaction of 3-perfluoroacylprop-2-enylidenetriphenylphosphoranes (3a—3c) with methyl perfluoroalkynoates (4a—4c).     

Reversible addition of ethylene to a pincer-based boryl-iridium unit with the formation of a bridging ethylidene

This report examines reactions of a series of Ir complexes supported by the diarylboryl/bis(phosphine) PBP pincer ligand with ethylene: (PBP)IrH₄ (1), (PBP)IrH₂(CO) (2), and (PBP)Ir(CO)₂ (3). The outcomes of these reactions differ from those typical for Ir complexes supported by other pincer ligands and do not give rise to simple ethylene adducts or products of insertion of Ir into the C–H bond of ethylene. Instead, the elements of ethylene are incorporated into the molecules to result in B–C bonds. In the case of 2 and 3, ethylene addition results in the formation of B/Ir bridging ethylidene complexes 5 and 6. For 6, the addition of ethylene (and the analogous addition of 1-hexene) is shown to be partially reversible. Addition of ethylene to 2 and 3 is remarkable because they are saturated at Ir and yet the net outcome is such that ethylene binds without replacing any ligands already present. A mechanistic inquiry suggests that dissociation of CO from 3 or 6 is necessary in order for the addition or loss of ethylene to proceed.

(PBP)Ir pincer complexes containing a boryl-iridium linkage reversibly bind ethylene as an ethylidene bridging B and Ir.     

6-Oxy-(N-succinimidyl acetate)-9-(2'-methoxycarbonyl)fluorescein as a new fluorescent labeling reagent for aliphatic amines in environmental and food samples using high-performance liquid chromatography

6-Oxy-(N-succinimidyl acetate)-9-(2'-methoxycarbonyl)fluorescein (SAMF), a new fluorescein-based amine-reactive fluorescent probe was well designed, synthesized and used as a pre-column derivatizing reagent for the determination of aliphatic amines in HPLC. It exhibited relatively pH-independent fluorescence (pH 4-9) and excellent photostability. The derivatization was performed at room temperature in 6min. On a C18 column, the derivatives of SAMF with eight aliphatic amines were baseline separated in 28 min with a mobile phase of methanol-water (57:43, v/v) containing 10 mmol l(-1) pH 5.0, H3Cit3-NaOH buffer. With fluorescent detection at lambda(ex)/lambda(em) = 484/516 nm, the detection limit could reach 2-320 fmol (signal-to-noise = 3), which was equivalent to or better than the detection limits obtained from other analytical methods of aliphatic amines. The proposed method has been applied to the determination of the aliphatic amines in environmental and food samples such as lake water, red wine, white wine, and cheese with satisfying recoveries varying from 95 to 106%.