Parallel electromembrane extraction in a multiwell plate

This paper describes the concept of parallel electromembrane extraction (Pa-EME) with flat membranes in a multiwell format for the first time. The setup is based on a multiwell plate and provided simultaneous and selective isolation, cleanup, and enrichment of several human plasma samples as well as LC-MS-compatible extracts within 8 min of extraction. Undiluted human plasma samples spiked with four antidepressant drugs were added to separate wells in the donor plate. Subsequently, the samples were extracted with Pa-EME. The four drugs migrated electrokinetically from undiluted human plasma through a flat polypropylene membrane impregnated with 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether, and were isolated into formic acid. Extraction time, extraction voltage, agitation rate, sample volume, and acceptor solution volume were all optimized with an experimental design. The optimal conditions were as follows: The agitation rate was 1,040 rpm, and an extraction voltage of 200 V was applied. The sample volume and acceptor solution volume was 240 and 70 μL, respectively. The extraction was continued for 8 min. Eventually, the extracts were analyzed by LC-MS/MS. The combination of Pa-EME with LC-MS/MS provided quantitation limits below the therapeutic level and reported relative standard deviations in the range 5–13 %. Linear calibration curves were obtained for all analytes, and the correlation coefficients were above 0.9974 in the range 1–400 ng mL^?1. The drug concentrations from two subjects treated with quetiapine and sertraline were successfully determined with Pa-EME combined with LC-MS/MS. Post-column infusion experiments demonstrated that Pa-EME provided extracts free from interfering matrix components.     

A reduced-basis element methodUne méthode d'éléments en base réduite

Reduced basis methods are particularly attractive to use in order to diminish the number of degrees-of-freedom associated with the approximation to a set of partial differential equations. The main idea is to construct ad hoc basis functions with a large information content. In this Note, we propose to develop and analyze reduced basis methods for simulating hierarchical flow systems, which is of relevance for studying flows in a network of pipes, an example being a set of arteries or veins. We propose to decompose the geometry into generic parts (e.g., pipes and bifurcations), and to construct a reduced basis for these generic parts by considering representative geometric snapshots. The global system is constructed by gluing the individual basis solutions together via Lagrange multipliers. To cite this article: Y. Maday, E.M. Rønquist, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 335 (2002) 195–200.     

Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid as a catalyst for the formation of dansylhydrazone derivatives

Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFMSA) is presented as a new, efficient catalyst in the pre-column fluorescent derivatization of the 3-ketosteroid budesonide with dansylhydrazine and compared to the commonly used catalyst trifluoroacetic acid. With TFMSA the derivatization reaction may be carried out at room temperature, with a considerably higher reaction rate compared to previously used acids. The chromatograms also show that TMFSA results in less formation of spurious peaks from the reagent. Derivatization of steroid solutions ranging from 0.5 to 64 μM could be performed using identical reaction conditions.     

Free radical conformations and conversions in X-irradiated single crystals of L-cysteic acid by electron magnetic resonance and density functional theory studies

Single crystals of L-cysteic acid monohydrate were X-irradiated and studied at 295 K using EPR, ENDOR, and EIE techniques. Three spectroscopically different radicals were observed. These were a deamination radical reduction product (R1), and two oxidation products formed by hydrogen abstraction (radicals R2, R3). R2 and R3 were shown to exhibit the same chemical structure while exhibiting very different geometrical conformations. Cluster DFT calculations at the 6-31G(d,p) level of theory supported the experimental observations for radicals R1 and R2. It was not possible to simulate the R3 radical in any attempted cluster; hence, for this purpose a single molecule approach was used. The precursor radicals for R1, R2, and R3, identified in the low-temperature work on L-cysteic acid monohydrate by Box and Budzinski, were also investigated using DFT calculations. The experimentally determined EPR parameters for the low-temperature decarboxylated cation could only be reproduced correctly within the cluster when the carboxyl group remained in the proximity of the radical. Only one of the two observed low-temperature carboxyl anions (stable at 4 and 48 K) could be successfully simulated by the DFT calculations. Evidence is presented in support of the conclusions that the carboxyl reduction product already is protonated at 4 K and that the irreversible conversion between the two reduction products is brought forward by an umbrella-type inversion of the carboxyl group.     

Proton-coupled hole transfer in X-irradiated doped crystalline cytosine.H2O

Following exposure to X-irradiation at low temperatures, the main reactions taking place in single crystals of cytosine monohydrate doped with minute amounts of 2-thiocytosine are hole transfer (HT) from the electron-loss centers to the dopant and recombination of oxidation and reduction products, assumedly by electron transfer. A huge deuterium kinetic isotope effect (KIE; >102-103) at 100 K, together with the kinetic curves obtained and density functional theory (DFT) calculations of equilibrium energy changes, indicates that these reactions proceed through a concerted proton-coupled electron/hole transfer where the proton transfer occurs between hydrogen-bonded cytosine molecules. The temperature dependence of these reaction rates between 10 and 150 K in normal and partially deuterated samples was investigated by monitoring the growth and decay of the various radical species over time using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. By assuming a random distribution of the hole donors and acceptors in the crystals, the data are consistent with an exponential distance-dependent rate, giving a distance decay constant (beta) around 1 A-1 for the HT, which indicates that a long-range single-step superexchange mechanism mediates the charge transfer. The reactions undergo a transition from a slow, weakly temperature-dependent rate to an Arrhenius-type rate at 40-50 K, presumably being activated by excitation of low-frequency intermolecular vibrations that couple to the process. Below this transition temperature, the transfer probability might be dominated by temperature-independent nuclear tunneling. A similar beta value in both temperature regions suggests that hopping is not activated.     

Volumetric properties of the glycyl group of proteins in aqueous solution at high pressures

Sound speeds have been measured for aqueous solutions of alanine and the peptides alanylglycine (alagly), alanylglycylglycine (ala(gly)(2)), alanylglycylglycylglycine (ala(gly)(3)) and alanylglycylglycylglycylglycine (ala(gly)(4)) at T=298.15 K and at the pressures p=0.1, 5.0, 10.0, 20.0, 40.0, 60.0, 80.0 and 100.0 MPa. A method is described whereby reliable partial molar volumes at infinite dilution, Vo2, partial molar isentropic compressions at infinite dilution, Ko(S,2), and partial molar isothermal compressions at infinite dilution, Ko(T,2), for the solutes can be derived from the sound speed data. These results were used to obtain partial molar volumes, isentropic and isothermal compressions for the backbone glycyl group of proteins, CH(2)CONH, over the pressure range p=0.1 to 100.0 MPa. The variations of these properties with pressure are discussed in terms of the likely glycyl-group-water interactions.     

The transition from spark to arc discharge and its implications with respect to nanoparticle production

Indium (III) phthalocyanine (InPc) was encapsulated into nanoparticles of PEGylated poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA-PEG) to improve the photobiological activity of the photosensitizer. The efficacy of nanoparticles loaded with InPc and their cellular uptake was investigated with MCF-7 breast tumor cells, and compared with the free InPc. The influence of photosensitizer (PS) concentration (1.8–7.5 μmol/L), incubation time (1–2 h), and laser power (10–100 mW) were studied on the photodynamic effect caused by the encapsulated and the free InPc. Nanoparticles with a size distribution ranging from 61 to 243 nm and with InPc entrapment efficiency of 72 ± 6 % were used in the experiments. Only the photodynamic effect of encapsulated InPc was dependent on PS concentration and laser power. The InPc-loaded nanoparticles were more efficient in reducing MCF-7 cell viability than the free PS. For a light dose of 7.5 J/cm² and laser power of 100 mW, the effectiveness of encapsulated InPc to reduce the viability was 34 ± 3 % while for free InPc was 60 ± 7 %. Confocal microscopy showed that InPc-loaded nanoparticles, as well as free InPc, were found throughout the cytosol. However, the nanoparticle aggregates and the aggregates of free PS were found in the cell periphery and outside of the cell. The nanoparticles aggregates were generated due to the particles concentration used in the experiment because of the small loading of the InPc while the low solubility of InPc caused the formation of aggregates of free PS in the culture medium. The participation of singlet oxygen in the photocytotoxic effect of InPc-loaded nanoparticles was corroborated by electron paramagnetic resonance experiments, and the encapsulation of photosensitizers reduced the photobleaching of InPc.     

Isotope exchange in reactions between D2O and size-selected ionic water clusters containing pyridine, H+ (pyridine)m(H2O)n

Pyridine containing water clusters, H(+)(pyridine)(m)(H(2)O)(n), have been studied both experimentally by a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer and by quantum chemical calculations. In the experiments, H(+)(pyridine)(m)(H(2)O)(n) with m = 1-4 and n = 0-80 are observed. For the cluster distributions observed, there are no magic numbers, neither in the abundance spectra, nor in the evaporation spectra from size selected clusters. Experiments with size-selected clusters H(+)(pyridine)(m)(H(2)O)(n), with m = 0-3, reacting with D(2)O at a center-of-mass energy of 0.1 eV were also performed. The cross-sections for H/D isotope exchange depend mainly on the number of water molecules in the cluster and not on the number of pyridine molecules. Clusters having only one pyridine molecule undergo D(2)O/H(2)O ligand exchange, while H(+)(pyridine)(m)(H(2)O)(n), with m = 2, 3, exhibit significant H/D scrambling. These results are rationalized by quantum chemical calculations (B3LYP and MP2) for H(+)(pyridine)(1)(H(2)O)(n) and H(+)(pyridine)(2)(H(2)O)(n), with n = 1-6. In clusters containing one pyridine, the water molecules form an interconnected network of hydrogen bonds associated with the pyridinium ion via a single hydrogen bond. For clusters containing two pyridines, the two pyridine molecules are completely separated by the water molecules, with each pyridine being positioned diametrically opposite within the cluster. In agreement with experimental observations, these calculations suggest a "see-saw mechanism" for pendular proton transfer between the two pyridines in H(+)(pyridine)(2)(H(2)O)(n) clusters.