Three-dimensional molecular reconstruction of rat heart with mass spectrometry imaging

Cardiovascular diseases are the world’s number one cause of death, accounting for 17.1 million deaths a year. New high-resolution molecular and structural imaging strategies are needed to understand underlying pathophysiological mechanism. The aim of our study is (1) to provide a molecular basis of the heart animal model through the local identification of biomolecules by mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) (three-dimensional (3D) molecular reconstruction), (2) to perform a cross-species validation of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS)-based cardiovascular molecular imaging, and (3) to demonstrate potential clinical relevance by the application of this innovative methodology to human heart specimens. We investigated a MSI approach using SIMS on the major areas of a rat and mouse heart: the pericardium, the myocardium, the endocardium, valves, and the great vessels. While several structures of the heart can be observed in individual two-dimensional sections analyzed by metal-assisted SIMS imaging, a full view of these structures in the total heart volume can be achieved only through the construction of the 3D heart model. The images of 3D reconstruction of the rat heart show a highly complementary localization between Na⁺, K⁺, and two ions at m/z 145 and 667. Principal component analysis of the MSI data clearly identified different morphology of the heart by their distinct correlated molecular signatures. The results reported here represent the first 3D molecular reconstruction of rat heart by SIMS imaging.

Working group report: Heavy-ion physics and quark-gluon plasma

This is the report of Heavy Ion Physics and Quark-Gluon Plasma at WHEPP-09 which was part of Working Group-4. Discussion and work on some aspects of quark-gluon plasma believed to have created in heavy-ion collisions and in early Universe are reported.     

Phosphorus and Arsenic Chalcogenides as Reagents Toward Transition Metal-Ligand Systems

Abstract

The compounds obtained by reacting the P₄S₃, P₄Se₃ and As₄S₃ cage molecules with various transition metal-ligand moieties are reported. The transition metal-ligand systems are bound either to the intact molecules or to fragments (hexa- or tri-atomic) originating from the cage molecules. Such compounds provide examples of selective activation of cage molecules by metal moieties.     

Angular momentum states in antiproton-nucleon annihilations at rest in deuterium

We discuss the effect of the Fermi motion on the angular momentum states of anti-proton-nucleon annihilation at rest in deuterium. For annihilations from S-orbitals we find an important contribution of the P-wave in the $\text{p}\text{N}$ system with a peculiar shape of the “spectator” momentum spectrum. A cut on the spectator momentum can therefore reduce this contribution to a very small level.     

Inclusive highP T π0 production from π± and protons at 200 GeV/c

We have measured the inclusive cross-section for π⁰ production at large transverse momentum by 200 GeV/c positive and negative hadron beams on Carbon targets (2.9<P _T <6 GeV/c; ?0.4<y ^*<1.2). We used the NA3 spectrometer at the CERNSPS.     

Electrospray MS and MALDI imaging show that non‐specific lipid‐transfer proteins (LTPs) in tomato are present as several isoforms and are concentrated in seeds

Non‐specific lipid‐transfer proteins (nsLTPs) are major human allergens in many plant species, albeit their role in plant biochemistry is still undefined. They are found in many plant species, either as one or several isoforms according to the species, and usually they are found to concentrate in the outer part of the fruits. In this work, the characterization of tomato nsLTP isoforms was performed on the three main fractions of Piccadilly tomato fruit (peel, pulp and seeds) by using ultracentrifuge devices with molecular cut‐off able to retain proteins with molecular weight typical of plant LTPs. The isolated proteins were further analysed by LC‐MS, in order to investigate the occurrence and the localization of tomato LTP isoforms. The chromatographic retention times, the molecular masses, the presence of eight cysteine residues in their tertiary structures and the sequence information obtained by MS, although not complete yet, allowed us to identify four different LTP isoforms, not yet reported in the literature, which were found to be concentrated in the seed fractions. None of the molecular masses of these potential LTPs was already present in the UniProtKB/SwissProt database. MALDI imaging experiments confirmed their presence and main localization in seeds, although the actual data hinted at their presence around seeds, rather than exactly in them. These data hint to a complicated scenario concerning LTP proteins in tomato. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of a solid phase microextraction method for detection of the use of banned azo dyes in coloured textiles and leather

A new method to detect the use of banned azo dyes in the manufacture and treatment of coloured textiles and leather is described. The determination of the azo dyes was made by quantification of aromatic amines generated by reductive cleavage in a citrate buffer medium. The aromatic amines were then extracted from 1 mL of the reaction solution by means of solid phase microextraction (SPME) and determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). We also evaluate accuracy, precision, range of linearity and limit of detection for the eighteen aromatic amines investigated, and show that the method is comparable with current established methods. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measurement of charge asymmetries in charmless hadronic B meson decays

We search for CP-violating charge asymmetries (alpha(CP)) in the B meson decays to K(+/-)pi(-/+), K(+/-)pi(0), K(0)(S)pi(+/-), K(+/-)eta('), and omega pi(+/-). Using 9.66 million upsilon(4S) decays collected with the CLEO detector, the statistical precision on alpha(CP) is in the range of +/-0.12 to +/-0.25 depending on decay mode. While CP-violating asymmetries of up to +/-0.5 are possible within the standard model, the measured asymmetries are consistent with zero in all five decay modes studied.