Increased viscosity of erythrocyte suspension upon hemolysis

Viscous properties of partially hemolyzed erythrocyte suspensions were studied with a cone-plate viscometer. A Casson plot was successfully applied for analysis of the viscous properties. When the degree of hemolysis was increased, Casson viscosity ( _c) of the partially hemolyzed erythrocyte suspensions increased, but the substitution of hemoglobin solution with the same O₂-carrying capacity of hemolyzed fraction (containing ghost) reduced the _c remarkably. The yield stress (f _c) of the intact erythrocyte suspension increased with increasing hematocrit, but thef _c of partially hemolyzed erythrocyte suspension was dependent on both hematocrit and the degree of hemolysis. The apparent viscosity ( _a) of erythrocyte suspension was drastically increased with the slight hemolysis, and became maximum at a certain degree of hemolysis which was dependent on both total hemoglobin concentration and shear rate. Such influence of hemolysis on the _a was also evident in the mixture of erythrocyte suspension and hemoglobin solution. These results suggest that the hemoglobin molecule plays a certain role in erythrocyte-erythrocyte interaction in their suspension, which modifies the viscosity.     

Information theory of miniaturization advantages of column liquid chromatography for quantitative analysis

Summary The influences of decreasing column diameter and length on two analytical goals, the precision and solvent efficiency, in reversed-phase liquid-chromatography are studied. Low solvent consumption is one of analytical advantages of miniaturized columns and is shown to be quantitatively evaluated by the precision and solvent efficiency which are defined to be the total Shannon mutual information obtained from an assay and the information obtained in a unit solvent volume, respectively. Analysis of paraben food additives on a microbore column is taken as an example. In trace analysis, the relative standard deviation (RSD) of measurements theoretically derived from the precision is shown to approach to the observed ones.     

Identification of Shiga toxins in Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli using immunoprecipitation and high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

We developed a rapid and reliable identification method for Shiga toxins in Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) using immunoprecipitation and high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS). Polyclonal antisera specific for Shiga toxin 1 (Stx1) and Shiga toxin 2 (Stx2) were raised in rabbits so as to be used for the immunoprecipitation. The immunoprecipitaion was carried out by mixing sample solutions with 50 microl each of the antisera to Stx1 and Stx2 followed by allowing the mixed solutions to stand for 30 min. The quantity required to obtain the immunoprecipitate was more than 0.5 microg of Shiga toxins. HPLC-ESI-MS analysis of the resulting immunoprecipitates provided accurate molecular weight information on Shiga toxins, leading to direct evidence for the presence of these toxins. It requires at most two days to perform our procedure from toxin extraction to measurement of HPLC-ESI-MS whereas the previous method using isolation procedures required about two weeks to complete. The usefulness of the present method has been demonstrated by identifying Stx1, Stx2 and a variant of Stx2 (Stx2e) in the immunoprecipitates prepared from STEC strains.     

Preparation of Hydrophobically Modified Poly(amidoamine) Dendrimer-Encapsulated Gold Nanoparticles in Organic Solvents

HAuCl(4) in aqueous solution was extracted to toluene or chloroform using a hydrophobically modified poly(amidoamine) dendrimer. Then, by reduction of Au(3+) ions with dimethylamineborane, gold nanoparticles in the size range of 2-4 nm were obtained in toluene or chloroform. It is suggested that gold nanoparticles are encapsulated by the dendrimer. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Kinetic stabilization of the [1.1]paracyclophane system: isolation and X-ray structural analysis of a [1.1]paracyclophane derivative and its interconversion with the transannular adduct

Intentionally designed kinetic stabilization of the [1.1]paracyclophane skeleton has been achieved by multiple substitution of the aromatic rings with trimethylsilylmethyl and N,N-dimethyl-carbamoyl groups, which serve to shield the proximate bridgehead carbon atoms sterically from access by other reagents. The bis(Dewar benzene) precursor (1a) has been prepared in essentially the same manner as previous derivatives--starting from the photocycloaddition of 1,4-bis(trimethylsilyl)-2-butyne to octa-hydroindacene-1,5-dione--except for a few critical modifications described in the text. Substituted [1.1]paracyclophane (2a), photochemically generated from the precursor, is indefinitely stable at 50 degrees C and suffers decomposition only by 8 % after 2 h at 100 degrees C in degassed n-decane, demonstrating its greatly improved kinetic stability compared to previous [1.1]paracyclophanes. Since 2a undergoes efficient photochemical transformation into the transannular addition product 3a, irradiation of la tends to produce a mixture of products consisting mainly of 3a. Compound 3a, however, reverts thermally to 2a in a process of half life 40 min at 55 degrees C; the activation parameters for this process are deltaH(not equal to)= 21.1 +/- 0.8 kcalmol(-1) and deltaS(not equal to) = -10.5 +/- 2.6 cal K(-1)mol(-1). Thus, on heating 3a in benzene and cooling the resultant solution, 2a is obtained as orange-red crystals. X-ray crystallographic analysis of 2a reveals benzene rings bent to the highest degree ever reported for a paracyclophane, with their face-to-face arrangement in unusually close proximity. The shortest nonbonding interatomic distance is 2.376 A; less than the sum of the van der Waals radii by more than 1.0A. The generation of related substituted [1.1]paracyclophanes and their kinetic stabilities are also reported.