Brush-like copolymer as a physically adsorbed coating for protein separation by capillary electrophoresis

A brush-like copolymer consisting of poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate and N,N-dimethylacrylamide (PEGMA-DMA) was synthesized and used as a novel static physically adsorbed coating for protein separation by capillary electrophoresis for the first time, in order to stabilize electroosmotic flow (EOF) and suppress adsorption of proteins onto the capillary wall. Very stable and low EOF was obtained in PEGMA-DMA-coated capillary at pH 2.2-7.8. The effects of molar ratio of PEGMA to DMA, copolymer molecular mass, and pH on the separation of basic proteins were discussed. A comparative study of bare capillary with PEGMA-DMA-coated capillary for protein separation was also performed. The basic proteins could be well separated in PEGMA-DMA-coated capillary over the investigated pH range of 2.8-6.8 with good repeatability and high separation efficiency because the copolymer coating combines good protein-resistant property of PEG side chains with excellent coating ability of PDMA-contained backbone. Finally, the coating was successfully applied to the fast separation of other protein samples, such as protein mixture and egg white, which reveals that it is a potential coating for further proteomics analysis.     

Molecular characterization of arabinoxylans from hull-less barley milling fractions

Arabinoxylans were prepared from different hull-less barley milling fractions (bran, shorts and flour). The yields of hull-less bran arabinoxylan (HBB-AX), shorts arabinoxylan (HBS-AX) and flour arabinoxylan (HBF-AX) were 8.42%, 4.08% and 2.13% respectively. Sugar composition analysis showed that arabinose and xylose were the main sugars. HBF-AX had the highest Ara/Xyl ratio, followed by HBS-AX and HBB-AX. Size exclusion chromatography analysis (HPSEC) showed that HBF-AX had the highest molecular weight, followed by HBS-AX and HBB-AX, which had the lowest molecular weight. Aqueous solutions of HBB-AX, HBS-AX and HBF-AX had higher molecular weight(Mw) than in 0.5 mol/L NaOH and 1.0 mol/L NaOH. Dynamic light scattering analysis (DLS) showed that HBB-AX, HBS-AX and HBF-AX had existed in two states in distilled water, 0.5 mol/L NaOH, 1.0 mol/L NaOH, and DMSO/H?O (90/10), an unaggregated state and an aggregated state, with the latter predominating.     

CO2 and formate complexes of phosphine/borane frustrated Lewis pairs

The reaction of a solution of B(C6F4H)3 and either iPr3P or tBu3P with CO2 afforded the species R3P(CO2)B(C6F4H)3 (R=iPr (1), tBu (2)). In a similar fashion the boranes, RB(C6F5)2 (R=hexyl, cyclohexyl (Cy), norbornyl), ClB(C6F5)2, or PhB(C6F5)2 were combined with tBu3P and CO2 to give the species tBu3P(CO2)BR(C6F5)2 (R=hexyl (3), Cy (4), norbornyl (5), Cl (6), Ph (7)). Similarly, the compounds [tBu3PH][RBH(C6F5)2] (R= hexyl (8), Cy (9), norbornyl (10)) were prepared by reaction of the precursor frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) with H2. Subsequent reactions of 9 and 10 with CO2 afforded the species [((C6F5)2BR)2(μ-HCO2)][tBu3PH] (R= Cy (11), norbornyl (12)). In related chemistry, combinations of the boranes RBG(C6F5)2 (R=hexyl, Cy, norbornyl) with tBu3P treated with an equivalent of formic acid gave [(C6F5)2BR(HCO2)][tBu3PH] (R=hexyl (13), Cy (14), norbornyl (15)). Subsequent addition of an additional equivalent of borane provides a second synthetic route to 11 and 12. Crystallographic studies of compounds 2-6 and 8-14 are reported and discussed. Further understanding of the FLP complexation and activation of CO2 is provided by computational studies.     

Numerical study of premixed flame dynamics in a closed tube: Effect of wall boundary condition

Numerical simulations were conducted to study the dynamics of premixed flames propagating in a closed tube by solving the fully compressible reactive Navier–Stokes equations using a high-order numerical method on a dynamically adapting grid. A simplified chemical-diffusive model was used to describe the reactions and energy release in a stoichiometric hydrogen-air mixture. The influence of wall boundary condition on the flame dynamics was explored by considering three different types of condition on the walls: adiabatic no-slip, adiabatic free-slip, and isothermal. The calculations show that the wall boundary condition has a significant effect on the generation and amplification of pressure waves and consequently on the flame dynamics. In the early stages of flame propagation, the flame behaves in a similar manner for different boundary conditions, that is, the flame develops a tulip shape that further evolves into a distorted tulip flame (DTF) through Rayleigh-Taylor instability arising from acoustic-flame interaction. Significant differences, however, arise after DTF formation in the late stages, especially when the primary acoustic wave is amplified to form a shock wave in the adiabatic free-slip and isothermal cases. The shock-flame interactions facilitate the formation of a series of increasingly corrugated flames by triggering the Richtmyer–Meshkov instabilities. The way how the lateral flame fronts touch the tube sidewalls to generate the primary acoustics and the heat conduction through the tube sidewalls play an important role in the generation and amplification of the pressure waves.     

Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Six Flavonoids from Smilax glabra Roxb

This study aimed to isolate, prepare and identify the main flavonoids from a standardized Smilax glabra flavonoids extract (SGF) using preparative HPLC, MS, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR, determine the contents of these flavonoids using UPLC, then compare their pharmacological activities in vitro. We obtained six flavonoids from SGF: astilbin (18.10%), neoastilbin (11.04%), isoastilbin (5.03%), neoisoastilbin (4.09%), engeletin (2.58%) and (−)-epicatechin (1.77%). The antioxidant activity of six flavonoids were evaluated by determining the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and 2,2′-Azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS⁺) radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). In addition, the anti-inflammatory activity of six flavonoids were evaluated by determining the production of cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6), nitric oxide (NO) using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and the NF-κB p65 expression using Western blotting in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. The results showed that (−)-epicatechin, astilbin, neoastilbin, isoastilbin and neoisoastilbin had strong antioxidant activities, not only in DPPH and ABTS⁺ radicals scavenging capacities, but in FRAP system. Furthermore, all the six flavonoids could significantly inhibit the secretion of IL-1β, IL-6, NO (p < 0.01) and the protein expression of NF-κB p-p65 (p < 0.01) in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. This study preliminarily verified the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of six flavonoids in S. glabra.     

Low-frequency vibrational modes of dl-homocysteic acid and related compounds

In this paper several polycrystalline molecules with sulfonate groups and some of their metal complexes, including dl-homocysteic acid (DLH) and its Sr- and Cu-complexes, pyridine-3-sulphonic acid and its Co- and Ni-complexes, sulfanilic acid and l-cysteic acid were investigated using THz time-domain methods at room temperature. The results of THz absorption spectra show that the molecules have characteristic bands in the region of 0.2–2.7 THz (6–90 cm⁻¹). THz technique can be used to distinguish different molecules with sulfonate groups and to determine the bonding of metal ions and the changes of hydrogen bond networks. In the THz region DLH has three bands: 1.61, 1.93 and 2.02 THz; and 0.85, 1.23 and 1.73 THz for Sr-DLH complex, 1.94 THz for Cu-DLH complex, respectively. The absorption bands of pyridine-3-sulphonic acid are located at 0.81, 1.66 and 2.34 THz; the bands at 0.96, 1.70 and 2.38 THz for its Co-complex, 0.76, 1.26 and 1.87 THz for its Ni-complex. Sulphanilic acid has three bands: 0.97, 1.46 and 2.05 THz; and the absorption bands of l-cysteic acid are at 0.82, 1.62, 1.87 and 2.07 THz, respectively. The THz absorption spectra after complexation are different from the ligands, which indicate the bonding of metal ions and the changes of hydrogen bond networks. M–O and other vibrations appear in the FIR region for those metal–ligand complexes. The bands in the THz region were assigned to the rocking, torsion, rotation, wagging and other modes of different groups in the molecules. Preliminary assignments of the bands were carried out using Gaussian program calculation.     

The role of copper ions on the structural and magnetic characteristics of MgZn ferrite nanoparticles and thin films

In this study Cu_xMg_0.5−xZn_0.5Fe₂O₄ (x=0-0.5) nanoparticles and thin films were prepared by sol-gel processing. The morphologies of nanoparticles were observed by transmission electron microscope (TEM). The Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS) was employed to determine the site preference of the constitutive elements. Magnetic dynamics of the nanoparticles was studied by the measurement of AC magnetic susceptibility versus temperature at different frequencies. The phenomenological Néel-Brown and Vogel-Fulcher models were employed to distinguish between interacting or non-interacting system. Results exhibited that there is strong interaction between fine particles. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the thin films indicate the formation of single-phase cubic spinel structure. Atomic force microscope (AFM) was employed to evaluate the surface morphologies of the prepared thin films. Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) was employed to probe magnetic properties of samples. It was found that with an increase in the amount of copper, the saturation of magnetization and initial permeability increase.     

Magnetic properties of hexagonal strontium ferrite thick film synthesized by sol–gel processing using SrM nanoparticles

Strontium ferrite SrFe₁₂O₁₉ (SrM) thick films have been synthesized using a spinning coating sol–gel process. The coating sol was formed from SrFe₁₂O₁₉ powders dispersed in the strontium ferrite raw sol. XRD, TEM, SEM, vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and ac susceptometer were employed to evaluate the structure, composition and magnetic properties of SrFe₁₂O₁₉ thick films. The results indicated that a uniform and crack-free coating of Strontium ferrite with ∼15 μm thickness can be produced with a good deal of consistency. The magnetization hysteresis loops were almost the same for magnetic fields both applied in parallel and perpendicular.     

色谱分析中的串联技术

样品中物质信息的获取离不开分离和检测,对于复杂样品的分析,简单的一维色谱方法常常难以完成所有组分的分离和鉴定。为此,多种色谱串联技术引起了人们的广泛关注。色谱串联技术包括柱串联技术、检测器串联技术、多维色谱等。该文详细介绍了以上3种串联技术（不包括色谱-质谱联用技术）自2010年以来的最新研究进展,以及这些技术在获取样品中更加全面和精准的信息方面的典型应用。最后对色谱串联分析技术的发展进行了总结和展望。