Anomalous behavior of ideal Fermi gas below two dimensions

Normal behavior of the thermodynamic properties of a Fermi gas in d > 2 dimensions, integer or not, means monotonically increasing or decreasing of its specific heat, chemical potential or isothermal sound velocity, all as functions of temperature. However, for 0 < d < 2 dimensions these properties develop a "hump" (or "trough") which increases (or deepens) as d? 0 d\rightarrow 0 . Though not the phase transition signaled by the sharp features ("cusp" or "jump") in those properties for the ideal Bose gas in d > 2 (known as the Bose-Einstein condensation), it is nevertheless an intriguing structural anomaly which we exhibit in detail.     

The xraylib library for X-ray–matter interactions. Recent developments

This work presents the recent developments of xraylib, an ANSI C library that provides convenient access to a large number of X-ray related databases, with a focus on quantitative X-ray fluorescence applications. The enhancements include improved X-ray fluorescence production cross sections that take into account cascade effects and M-lines, as well as revised line energies, atomic level widths, Compton broadening profiles etc. A full overview of the complete application programming interface is presented.     

Pentafluorobenzaldehyde and its utilizing in organic synthesis

Over the past 50 years, pentafluorobenzaldehyde has received much attention due to its unique chemical and physical properties as well as its real or potential applications in chemistry of porphyrines, additives, drug delivery and in analytical chemistry. Pentafluorobenzaldehyde is multifunctional aromatic compound containing five atoms of fluorine and one aldehydic function. That is why it can provide nucleophilic substitutions of all or some atoms of fluorine, nucleophilic additions of aldehydic function, “haloform reaction” and some cyclization reactions. This year, it is being the 50th year, since the first synthesis of this compound was published.     

On the Statistical Mechanics and Surface Tensions of Binary Mixtures

Within a lattice model describing a binary mixture with fixed concentrations of the species we discuss the relationship between the surface tension of the mixture and the concentrations.     

Gasuntersuchungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Simultaneous determination of sulfoxaflor and its metabolites,X11719474 and X11721061, in brown rice and rice straw after field application using LC-MS/MS

The present study was carried out to develop an analytical method for simultaneously detecting and quantifying sulfoxaflor and its metabolites (X11721061, X11719474) in brown rice and rice straw using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The parent compound and its metabolites were extracted and purified using original ‘QuEChERS’ method with modification. The matrix-matched calibration curve of sulfoxaflor and its metabolites in both matrices achieved good linearity with determination coefficients (R²) ≥0.9944. The overall recoveries of sulfoxaflor at two fortification levels (rice: 0.2 and 1.0 mg/kg; rice straw: 0.4 and 2.0 mg/kg) ranged from 97.37% to 107.71% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) <5%. On the other hand, the recoveries of both metabolites (X11721061 and X11719474) at 0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg (rice) and 0.2 and 1.0 mg/kg (rice straw) were satisfactory with values ranging from 83.70 % to 112.60% with RSDs <8%. During storage at ?20°C, the analyte and its metabolites were stable for up to 87 days. The limits of quantification of 0.02 mg/kg were lower than the maximum residue limit (0.2 mg/kg) set by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for brown rice. The method was successfully applied to paddy field treated with different programme schedules and a preharvest interval of 7 days was proposed based upon the current study. In sum, the developed method is accurate and reproducible for ensuring the reliable determination of sulfoxaflor (and its metabolites) in harvested rice grain and straw samples from the field. The residual level of parent compound does not seem to pose any hazardous effect and treated rice could be safely used for consumption.     

Down-regulation of Bcl-2 and Akt induced by combination of photoactivated hypericin and genistein in human breast cancer cells

Presented experiment considers combination of genistein and photodynamic therapy with hypericin with a view to achieve higher therapeutic outcome in human breast adenocarcinoma cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, both identified in our conditions as photodynamic therapy resistant. Since genistein is known to suppress Bcl-2 expression, we predicted that photodynamic therapy with hypericin might benefit from mutual therapeutic combination. In line with our expectations, combined treatment led to down-regulation of Bcl-2 and up-regulation of Bax in both cell lines as well as to suppression of Akt and Erk1/2 phosphorylation induced by photoactivated hypericin in MCF-7 cells. Although Akt and Erk1/2 phosphorylation was not stimulated by photodynamic therapy with hypericin in MDA-MB-231 cells, it was effectively suppressed in combination. Variations in cell death signaling favoring apoptosis were indeed accompanied by cell cycle arrest in G₂/M-phase, activation of caspase-7, PARP cleavage and increased occurrence of cells with apoptotic morphology of nucleus. All these events corresponded with suppression of proliferation and significantly lowered clonogenic ability of treated cells. In conclusion, our results indicate that pre-treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein may significantly improve the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy with hypericin in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells.