Detection and quantitation of a pheomelanin component in melanin pigments using pyrolysis-gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry system with multiple reaction monitoring mode

Here, we describe the reliable method for the detection and quantitation of a pheomelanin component in melanin pigments. Synthetic melanins with various contents of pheomelanin-type structural units were thermally degraded, and the multiple reaction monitoring mode was applied to detect the pheomelanin markers in the pyrolysates by GC/MS/MS. The method allowed the specific detection and quantitation of a pheomelanin component in melanin with the incorporation of pheomelanin-type units as low as 0.05%. Considering highly universal character of the pheomelanin markers, the method could be applied for structural studies of natural melanin pigments being mixtures of eumelanin and pheomelanin.     

Light and heavy dansyl reporter groups in food chemistry: amino acid assay in beverages

5-Dimethylamino-1-sulfonyl naphthalene (DNS, commonly referred as dansyl) is a functionality, bearing well-established properties in directing the fragmentation, by mass spectrometry (MS), of the corresponding ionized sulfonylated derivatives. This property is shared also by its labeled analogs. The use of d(0)/d(6) DNS derivatives is now exploited in the application of the well-established isotope dilution mass spectrometric approach in the assay of complex mixtures. A new method for the quantitation of amino acids (AAs) in beverages is therefore presented, which relies on liquid chromatographic separation of their N-dansylated derivatives followed by comparative electrospray tandem MS/MS of the d(0)/d(6) isobaric mixtures. Labeled and unlabeled DNS derivatives of the selected AAs are readily available by microwave-assisted synthetic protocols. The novelty of the method is represented by the use of heavy and light DNS-isotopologue providing suitable reporter groups. Multiple-reaction monitoring has been applied in the assay of AAs in wine, pineapple juice and bergamot juice with good-to-excellent results as proved by both relative standard deviation, lower than 15%, and by the accuracy values in the range 90-110%.     

Analysis of spectral properties of acoustic noise produced during magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique enables non-invasive analysis of the human vocal tract during phonation. Creation of MR images of the vocal tract is accompanied by simultaneous recording of the produced speech. The paper analyzes and compares spectral properties of an acoustical noise produced by mechanical vibration of the gradient coils during scanning in the open-air MRI equipment working in a weak magnetic field with low B₀ up to 0.2 T. This noise exhibits harmonic character, so it is suitable to analyze its properties in the spectral domain. Obtained results of spectral analysis will be used to devise a new cepstral-based filtering method for noise suppression of recorded speech.     

Gas-Phase Generation and Photoelectron Spectra of Reactive Unsubstituted Cycloalkenethiones

The flash vacuum thermolysis of cycloalkenyl allyl sulfides, potential precursors of unsubstituted cycloalkenethiones, has been investigated by photoelectron spectroscopy. This technique allowed us to characterize in the gas phase very reactive species of this series, the conjugated and nonconjugated cyclopentene and cyclohexenethiones, and to compare the reactivity of these compounds. The assignment of the PE spectra is supported by electronic structure calculations, particularly by the HF method at the MP2 level and the density functional theory (DFT) using the B3LYP and BP86 functionals with the 6-311G(d, p) basis set. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

共聚物混溶性热力学-分子内排斥作用与附加共聚焓

基于聚合物分子间物理相互作用和统计平均场理论,引入附加共聚焓定义,使聚合物分子间的作用得到量化,同时推导出二元共混体系相互作用参数和三元共混体系混合焓关系式.利用所导出的公式解释一些常见聚合物共混体系和增溶体系.导出的关系式很好地解释了聚合物的热力学混溶性,但不能解释聚合物共混增溶作用.     

Same-sign W pair production as a probe of double-parton scattering at the LHC

We study the production of same-sign W boson pairs at the LHC in double parton interactions. Compared with simple factorised double parton distributions (dPDFs), we show that the recently developed dPDFs, GS09, lead to non-trivial kinematic correlations between the W bosons. A numerical study of the prospects for observing this process using same-sign dilepton signatures, including W ^± W ^± jj, diboson and heavy flavour backgrounds, at 14 TeV centre-of-mass energy is then performed. It is shown that a small excess of same-sign dilepton events from double parton scattering over a background dominated by single scattering W ^± Z(γ ^*) production could be observed at the LHC.     

Formation of PAHs and soot platelets: multiconfiguration theoretical study of the key step in the ring closure–radical breeding polyyne‐based mechanism

Polyynes of general formula H? (C?C? )_nH are known to play a significant role in combustion and pyrolysis, possibly being intermediates in the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and soot. They have also been detected in astrophysical investigations. The key step in the polyyne‐based radical breeding mechanism for PAH growth is a cyclization, put forward by Krestinin, which implies disruption of electron couples, plausibly expected to be energy demanding. We explore the electronic features and energy requirements of such a process by quantum mechanical multiconfiguration methods (CASSCF and CASPT2). The features of the wavefunction are analyzed, and the free energy barriers are estimated over a wide range of temperatures, for three molecular models. The initial radical adduct A, generated by H ^. , HC?C ^. (ethynyl), or HC?C? C ^. H₂ ( propargyl ) addition to butadiyne (BD, HC?C? C?CH), undergoes a cyclization with the generation of two new radical centers. However, in most of the cases, one of these new singly occupied sp² orbitals has some overlap with the unpaired electron lobe already existent in A: some sort of bonding builds up and consequently the triradical character cannot be large. Only one model suggests a possible role of the radical breeding mechanism during combustion. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two-electron entanglement in elliptically deformed quantum dots

Entropic entanglement measures of a two-dimensional system of two Coulombically interacting particles confined in an anisotropic harmonic potential are discussed in dependence on the anisotropy and the interaction strength. The harmonic approximation appears exact in the strong interaction limit, allowing determination of the asymptotic expression for the linear entropy. Entanglement properties are dramatically influenced by the anisotropy of the confining potential in the strong-correlation regime.