Dynamic response of the spherical pendulum subjected to horizontal Lissajous excitation

Nonlinear Dynamics - This paper examines the oscillations of a spherical pendulum with horizontal Lissajous excitation. The pendulum has two degrees of freedom: a rotational angle defined in the...     

Structure and Physical Properties of Coordination Compounds of 2-Aminoindan-2-Phosphonic Acid with Some D-Electron Elements

Abstract

Many complexes of 1-aminoakylphosphonic acids have been obtained and their structures have been studied [1–3]. On the other hand, 2-aminoindan-2-phosphonic acid (2-AIP), the phosphonic conformationally restricted cyclic analogue of phenylalanine, has been recently obtained [4]. We undertook a study of interaction of cobalt(II), nickel(II), and copper(II) with 2-AIP, to learn how the rigid Iigand structure influences the complexes structure.     

Synthesis and Pesticidal Properties of Thio and Seleno Analogs of Some Common Urea Herbicides

Thio and seleno analogs of fenuron, isoproturon, chlorotoluron, metoxuron, monuron, and diuron were synthesized from the corresponding aryl amines. Their reaction with thiophosgene leads to isothiocyanates. Aryl amines were also converted (via isocyanides) to isoselenocyanates. The reaction of both isothio- and isoselenocyanates with dimethylamine affords the corresponding thio and seleno analogs of the above-mentioned urea herbicides. Herbicidal activity of the synthesized compounds was slightly lower than the activity of the parent urea herbicides. The thio and seleno analogs as well as the parent ureas showed good fungicidal activity at a concentration of 200 ppm against selected fungi.     

Synthesis and characterisation of PEG-peptide surfaces for proteolytic enzyme detection

Peptide surfaces were obtained by the covalent immobilisation of fluorescently labelled pentapeptides carboxyfluorescein–glycine–arginine–methionine–leucine–glycine, either directly or through a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) linker on modified silicon wafers. Each step during the preparation of the peptide surfaces was confirmed by several surface characterisation techniques. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to determine the surface composition, the wafers philicity was measured by contact angle and atomic force microscopy was used to investigate the surface morphology. Exposure of the peptide surfaces to trypsin resulted in the release of a fluorescently labelled peptide product, which allowed the kinetics of the enzymatic reaction to be followed with the aid of fluorescence spectroscopy. The electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry analysis of the post-digestion solution confirmed that the pentapeptides attached to the solid support undergo specific trypsin hydrolysis at the C-terminus of the arginine residues. Detailed surface analyses before and after the enzyme action was performed using ToF-SIMS. Because of the limited accessibility of the short peptide directly attached to the surface, a quantitative yield of enzymatic hydrolysis was observed only in case when the peptide was bound through the PEG linker. The insertion of the PEG linker increased the number of immobilised peptides and the rate of enzymatic digestion which consequently improved the quality of the enzyme assays. The described approach may be used for different peptide sequences designed for other proteases.

Targeted Metabolomics of Dried Blood Spot Extracts

Dried blood spot (DBS) samples are already successfully used in newborn screening and pharmacological analyses. The application of DBS matrix to further metabolomic methods will considerably extend the analytical options for the diagnostics of metabolic diseases. We present an MS/MS based method for the simultaneous extraction and quantification of 188 metabolites from dried blood spots. We provide a sensitive and reproducible method that adapts the AbsoluteIDQ? p180 kit of Biocrates to the DBS matrix for the quantification of metabolites of different substance classes including amino acids, biogenic amines, free carnitine, acylcarnitines, hexoses, glycerophospholipids, lysophosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylcholines, and sphingolipids.