Robust and Accurate Inference via a Mixture of Gaussian and Student’s t Errors

A Gaussian measurement error assumption, that is, an assumption that the data are observed up to Gaussian noise, can bias any parameter estimation in the presence of outliers. A heavy tailed error assumption based on Student’s t distribution helps reduce the bias. However, it may be less efficient in estimating parameters if the heavy tailed assumption is uniformly applied to all of the data when most of them are normally observed. We propose a mixture error assumption that selectively converts Gaussian errors into Student’s t errors according to latent outlier indicators, leveraging the best of the Gaussian and Student’s t errors; a parameter estimation can be not only robust but also accurate. Using simulated hospital profiling data and astronomical time series of brightness data, we demonstrate the potential for the proposed mixture error assumption to estimate parameters accurately in the presence of outliers. Supplemental materials for this article are available online.     

Fractionation of Corn Fiber Treated by Soaking in Aqueous Ammonia (SAA) for Isolation of Hemicellulose B and Production of C5 Sugars by Enzyme Hydrolysis

A process was developed to fractionate and isolate the hemicellulose B component of corn fiber generated by corn wet milling. The process consisted of pretreatment by soaking in aqueous ammonia followed by enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis, during which the hemicellulose B was solubilized by cleavage into xylo-oligosaccharides and subsequently recovered by precipitation with ethanol. The pretreatment step resulted in high retention of major sugars and improvement of subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. The recovered hemicellulose B was hydrolyzed by a cocktail of enzymes that consisted of β-glucosidase, pectinase, xylanase, and ferulic acid esterase (FAE). Xylanase alone was ineffective, demonstrating yields of less than 2% of xylose and arabinose. The greatest xylose and arabinose yields, 44% and 53%, respectively, were obtained by the combination of pectinase and FAE. A mass balance accounted for 87% of the initially present glucan, 91% of the xylan, and 90% of the arabinan. The developed process offered a means for production of corn fiber gum as a value-added co-product and C5 sugars, which could be converted to other valuable co-products through fermentation in a corn wet-milling biorefinery.     

Two-electron oxidation of deoxyguanosine by a Ru(III) complex without involving oxygen molecules through disproportionation

Among the many mechanisms for the oxidation of guanine derivatives (G) assisted by transition metals, Ru(III) and Pt(IV) metal ions share basically the same principle. Both Ru(III)- and Pt(IV)-bound G have highly positively polarized C8-H's that are susceptible to deprotonation by OH(-), and both undergo two-electron redox reactions. The main difference is that, unlike Pt(IV), Ru(III) is thought to require O(2) to undergo such a reaction. In this study, however, we report that [Ru(III)(NH(3))(5)(dGuo)] (dGuo = deoxyguanosine) yields cyclic-5'-O-C8-dGuo (a two-electron G oxidized product, cyclic-dGuo) without O(2). In the presence of O(2), 8-oxo-dGuo and cyclic-dGuo were observed. Both [Ru(II)(NH(3))(5)(dGuo)] and cyclic-dGuo were produced from [Ru(III)(NH(3))(5)(dGuo)] accelerated by [OH(-)]. We propose that [Ru(III)(NH(3))(5)(dGuo)] disproportionates to [Ru(II)(NH(3))(5)(dGuo)] and [Ru(IV)(NH(3))(4)(NH(2)(-))(dGuo)], followed by a 5'-OH attack on C8 in [Ru(IV)(NH(3))(4)(NH(2)(-))(dGuo)] to initiate an intramolecular two-electron transfer from dGuo to Ru(IV), generating cyclic-dGuo and Ru(II) without involving O(2).     

(Z)-(2-bromovinyl)-MIDA boronate: a readily accessible and highly versatile building block for small molecule synthesis

Iterative cross-coupling represents a potentially general approach for the simple, efficient, and flexible construction of a wide range of functional small molecules. In this context, (Z)-(2-bromovinyl)-N-methyliminodiacetic acid (MIDA) boronate is a very useful building block for small molecule synthesis. This compound can serve as a starting material for the preparation of a wide range of cis-alkene-containing MIDA boronates. This compound can also be used for the iterative cross-coupling-based synthesis of various cis-olefin-containing targets. Collectively, these results contribute to the expanding generality of the MIDA boronate platform.     

Synthesis, characterization, and cytotoxicity of platinum(IV) carbamate complexes

The synthesis, characterization, and cytotoxicity of eight new platinum(IV) complexes having the general formula cis,cis,trans-[Pt(NH(3))(2)Cl(2)(O(2)CNHR)(2)] are reported, where R = tert-butyl (4), cyclopentyl (5), cyclohexyl (6), phenyl (7), p-tolyl (8), p-anisole (9), 4-fluorophenyl (10), or 1-naphthyl (11). These compounds were synthesized by reacting organic isocyanates with the platinum(IV) complex cis,cis,trans-[Pt(NH(3))(2)Cl(2)(OH)(2)]. The electrochemistry of the compounds was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The aryl carbamate complexes 7-11 exhibit reduction peak potentials near -720 mV vs Ag/AgCl, whereas the alkyl carbamate complexes display reduction peak potentials between -820 and -850 mV vs Ag/AgCl. The cyclic voltammograms of cis,cis,trans-[Pt(NH(3))(2)Cl(2)(O(2)CCH(3))(2)] (1), cis,cis,trans-[Pt(NH(3))(2)Cl(2)(O(2)CCF(3))(2)] (2), and cis-[Pt(NH(3))(2)Cl(4)] (3) were measured for comparison. Density functional theory studies were undertaken to investigate the electronic structures of 1-11 and to determine their adiabatic electron affinities. A linear correlation (R(2) = 0.887) between computed adiabatic electron affinities and measured reduction peak potentials was discovered. The biological activity of 4-11 and, for comparison, cisplatin was evaluated in human lung cancer A549 and normal MRC-5 cells by the MTT assay. The compounds exhibit comparable or slightly better activity than cisplatin against the A549 cells. In MRC-5 cells, all are equally or slightly less cytotoxic than cisplatin, except for 4 and 5, which are more toxic.     

Large-scale symmetry-adapted perturbation theory computations via density fitting and Laplace transformation techniques: investigating the fundamental forces of DNA-intercalator interactions

Symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) provides a means of probing the fundamental nature of intermolecular interactions. Low-orders of SAPT (here, SAPT0) are especially attractive since they provide qualitative (sometimes quantitative) results while remaining tractable for large systems. The application of density fitting and Laplace transformation techniques to SAPT0 can significantly reduce the expense associated with these computations and make even larger systems accessible. We present new factorizations of the SAPT0 equations with density-fitted two-electron integrals and the first application of Laplace transformations of energy denominators to SAPT. The improved scalability of the DF-SAPT0 implementation allows it to be applied to systems with more than 200 atoms and 2800 basis functions. The Laplace-transformed energy denominators are compared to analogous partial Cholesky decompositions of the energy denominator tensor. Application of our new DF-SAPT0 program to the intercalation of DNA by proflavine has allowed us to determine the nature of the proflavine-DNA interaction. Overall, the proflavine-DNA interaction contains important contributions from both electrostatics and dispersion. The energetics of the intercalator interaction are are dominated by the stacking interactions (two-thirds of the total), but contain important contributions from the intercalator-backbone interactions. It is hypothesized that the geometry of the complex will be determined by the interactions of the intercalator with the backbone, because by shifting toward one side of the backbone, the intercalator can form two long hydrogen-bonding type interactions. The long-range interactions between the intercalator and the next-nearest base pairs appear to be negligible, justifying the use of truncated DNA models in computational studies of intercalation interaction energies.     

Exploring single and double proton transfer processes in the gas phase: a high resolution electronic spectroscopy study of 5-fluorosalicylic acid

Two species that possess different absorption and emission properties have been observed in the low resolution fluorescence excitation spectrum of 5-fluorosalicylic acid (FSA) in the gas phase. The two species were identified as monomer and dimer species using high resolution techniques. Studies of these spectra in the presence of an applied electric field, together with ab initio quantum chemistry calculations, show that the monomer is a "closed" form of FSA exhibiting an intramolecular C = O???H-O-C hydrogen bond in the ground state. Absorption of light at ～344 nm transforms this species into the tautomeric form C-O-H???O = C via a barrierless proton transfer process. The large charge rearrangement that accompanies this process results in a significantly red-shifted emission spectrum. The (FSA)(2) dimer exhibits two intermolecular C=O?H-O-C hydrogen bonds but in this case the double proton transfer leads to a conical intersection with the ground state and rapid nonradiative decay. The onset of this process and the time scale on which it occurs are revealed by a homogeneous broadening of the dimer's high resolution spectrum.     

The fabrication of stable gold nanoparticle-modified interfaces for electrochemistry

Forming stable gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-modified surface is important for a number of applications including sensing and electrocatalysis. Herein, tethering AuNPs to glassy carbon (GC) surfaces using surface bound diazonium salts is investigated as a strategy to produce stable AuNP surfaces. GC electrodes are first modified with 4-aminophenyl (GC-Ph-NH(2)), and then the terminal amine groups are converted to diazonium groups by incubating the GC-Ph-NH(2) interface in NaNO(2) and HCl solution to form a 4-phenyl diazonium chloride-modified interface (GC-Ph-N(2)(+)Cl(-)). Subsequently AuNPs are immobilized on the interface by electrochemical reduction to give a 4-phenyl AuNP-modified interface (GC-Ph-AuNP). For comparison, 4-aminophenyl AuNP- and 4-thiophenol AuNP-modified GC interfaces (GC-Ph-S-AuNP and GC-Ph-NH-AuNP), in which AuNPs are tethered to the surfaces by forming S-Au and NH-Au bond, respectively, were also prepared. Cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy are used to characterize these fabricated interfaces. The AuNP on GC-Ph-AuNP surfaces demonstrate good stability under sonication in Milli-Q water, during electrochemical treatment in 0.05 M H(2)SO(4) solution, and over several weeks. By contrast, the GC-Ph-NH-AuNP and GC-Ph-S-AuNP surfaces showed significant particle losses under equivalent conditions.     

Differential cross sections for H + D2 → HD(v' = 2, j' = 0,3,6,9) + D at center-of-mass collision energies of 1.25, 1.61, and 1.97 eV

We have measured differential cross sections (DCSs) for the reaction H + D(2) → HD(v' = 2,j' = 0,3,6,9) + D at center-of-mass collision energies E(coll) of 1.25, 1.61, and 1.97 eV using the photoloc technique. The DCSs show a strong dependence on the product rotational quantum number. For the HD(v' = 2,j' = 0) product, the DCS is bimodal but becomes oscillatory as the collision energy is increased. For the other product states, they are dominated by a single peak, which shifts from back to sideward scattering as j' increases, and they are in general less sensitive to changes in the collision energy. The experimental results are compared to quantum mechanical calculations and show good, but not fully quantitative agreement.     

Oxidative acetylenic coupling reactions as a surface chemistry tool

A novel method to prepare redox monolayers on silicon electrodes has been developed that employs Cu(I)-catalyzed oxidative acetylenic coupling reactions for molecular electronic type applications. As the first case study, ethynylferrocene was covalently immobilized onto an acetylene-terminated monolayer on a Si(100) surface to give a 1,3-diyne (C≡C-C≡C-) linked redox assembly. The derivatization process requires no protection/de-protection steps, nor activation procedures. The effect of the conjugated diyne linkage on the rate of electron transfer between tethered ferrocenyl units and the silicon electrode is benchmarked against well-established "click" products (i.e. 1,2,3-triazole linkage). The surfaces, after each step, are characterized thoroughly using X-ray reflectivity (XRR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The coupling chemistry provides a useful strategy for functionalizing silicon surfaces and contributes to an expanding repertoire of wet chemistry routes for the functionalization of solid substrates.