Reversed phase UHPLC/ESI-MS determination of oxylipins in human plasma: a case study of female breast cancer

The ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC/MS) method was optimized and validated for the determination of oxylipins in human plasma using the targeted approach with selected reaction monitoring (SRM) in the negative-ion electrospray ionization (ESI) mode. Reversed phase UHPLC separation on an octadecylsilica column enabled the analysis of 63 oxylipins including numerous isomeric species within 12-min run time. The method was validated (calibration curve, linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, carry-over, precision, accuracy, recovery rate, and matrix effect) and applied to 40 human female plasma samples from breast cancer patients and age-matched healthy volunteers (control). Thirty-six oxylipins were detected in human plasma with concentrations above the limit of detection, and 21 of them were quantified with concentrations above the limit of quantitation. The concentrations determined in healthy controls are in a good agreement with previously reported data on human plasma. Quantitative data were statistically evaluated by multivariate data analysis (MDA) methods including principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). S-plot and box plots showed that 13-HODE, 9-HODE, 13-HOTrE, 9-HOTrE, and 12-HHTrE were the most upregulated oxylipin species in plasma of breast cancer patients.

     

Muon spin relaxation and susceptibility studies of the pure and diluted spin 1/2 kagomé-like lattice system (CuxZn(1-x))3V2O7(OH2) 2H2O

Muon spin relaxation and magnetic susceptibility measurements have been performed on the pure and diluted spin 1/2 kagomé system (CuxZn(1-x))3V2O7(OH)2 2H2O. In the pure x=1 system we found a slowing down of Cu spin fluctuations with decreasing temperature towards T approximately 1 K, followed by slow and nearly temperature-independent spin fluctuations persisting down to T=50 mK, indicative of quantum fluctuations. No indication of static spin freezing was detected in either of the pure (x=1.0) or diluted samples. The observed magnitude of fluctuating fields indicates that the slow spin fluctuations represent an intrinsic property of kagomé network rather than impurity spins.     

Crossover from dilute to majority spin freezing in two leg ladder system Sr(Cu,Zn)2O3

The two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in moderate magnetic fields in ultraclean AlAs-GaAs heterojunctions exhibits transport anomalies suggestive of a compressible anisotropic metallic state. Using scaling arguments and Monte Carlo simulations, we develop an order parameter theory of an electron nematic phase. The observed temperature dependence of the resistivity anisotropy behaves like the orientational order parameter if the transition to the nematic state occurs at a finite temperature T(c) approximately 65 mK, and is slightly rounded by a small background microscopic anisotropy. We propose a light scattering experiment to measure the critical susceptibility.     

The isotopic composition of evaporating waters - review of the historical evolution leading up to the Craig-Gordon model

Attempts to explain the variations in the abundance of heavy isotopic species of water throughout the hydrologic cycle solely by means of the classical equilibrium-fractionation processes could not be reconciled with measured abundances of the isotopic species in residues of "evaporation systems". Focusing on the evaporation of surface waters, the paper follows the evolution of the concepts during the 1950-ties and early 1960-ties leading up to the formulation of the Craig-Gordan Evaporation Model in 1965.     

Hydrodynamic Lyapunov Modes in Translation-Invariant Systems

We study the implications of translation invariance on the tangent dynamics of extended dynamical systems, within a random matrix approximation. In a model system, we show the existence of hydrodynamic modes in the slowly growing part of the Lyapunov spectrum, which are analogous to the hydrodynamic modes discovered numerically by Dellago, Posch, and Hoover. The hydrodynamic Lyapunov vectors lose the typical random structure and exhibit instead the structure of weakly perturbed coherent long-wavelength waves. We show further that the amplitude of the perturbations vanishes in the thermodynamic limit, and that the associated Lyapunov exponents are universal.