An Absence of Non-specific Immune Response towards para-Sulphonato-calix[n]arenes

The effects of para-Sulphonato-calix[4]arene, para-Sulphonato-calix[6]arene and para-Sulphonato-calix[8]arene on the activation of NADPH oxidase in neutrophils has been studied. All three molecules do not induce NADPH oxidase activation, and hence do not stimulate neutrophils. Measurement of cell viability demonstrates that these three water-soluble calix[n]arene derivatives are not cytotoxic.     

Studies on the mechanism of action of azinomycin B: definition of regioselectivity and sequence selectivity of DNA cross-link formation and clarification of the role of the naphthoate

Evaluation of the sequence selectivity, noncovalent association, and orientation of the DNA cross-linking agent azinomycin B on its duplex DNA receptor is described. A strong correlation between sequence nucleophilicity and cross-linking yield was observed, and steric effects due to the thymine C5-methyl group were identified. Detailed studies on the role of the azinomycin naphthoate using viscometry, fluorescence contact energy transfer, and DNA unwinding assays point to a nonintercalative binding mode for this group. A kinetic assay for agent regioselectivity was used to determine the orientation of binding and covalent cross-link formation.     

Immobilized Glucose Oxidase in the Potentiometric Detection of Glucose

Previous work has shown that glucose oxidase can be immobilized on platinum to give an electrode that responds potentiometrically to glucose over the clinically useful range of about 10-250 mg glucose/100 mL. The present studies were carried out with electrochemically pretreated platinum and with gold or porous graphite substituted for the platinum support. The presence of the enzyme gave a significantly enhanced potentiometric response over that obtained with the bare support for both the pretreated platinum and the porous graphite, but not with gold. However, with platinum the potentiometric response became more negative with increasing glucose concentration. With porous graphite, the potential changed in the positive direction as the glucose concentration was increased. Hysteresis was demonstrated for the platinum-enzyme electrode. Mass transfer measurements with a rotating ring-disc electrode (RRDE) showed measurable diffusional resistances to the transport of a model electroactive compound (potassium ferrocyanide) through a matrix of immobilized enzyme attached to the disc of the RRDE. These results are part of a larger study to define the source of the potentiometric response by examining the roles of the support and the mass transfer resistances through the immobilized enzyme matrix.     

A chemistry home page on the World Wide Web

In this article a brief overview of the World Wide Web (WWW) is given, with some examples of the kind of information and services pertaining to analytical chemistry that can be found there. An existing WWW site that has been set up for analytical chemists is used as a case in point. The article concludes with a brief look at some of the issues raised by publishing on the Internet. Received:15 January 1996 / Accepted: 28 January 1996     

Comparison of glass fragments by neutron activation analysis

A method of comparing glass fragments of potential application to forensic sicence has been developed and evaluated. A representative sample of window glass from England and Wales has been collected and analysed for about 25 elements. An automated radiochemical separation followed by gamma-spectroscopy was used in order to determine the concentration of the maximum number of elements. Frequency distributions of the elemental concentration are shown and used to assess the discrimination of the technique and compare it with the measurement of refractive index. A few simulated cases have been included to demonstrate the possible application to forensic science problems.     

Solubilities of the cyclodextrins in the presence of transition metal salts

The solubilities of -, -, and -cyclodextrin have been measured in the presence of the first row transition metals: Cr³⁺, Mn²⁺, Fe³⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺; chlorides, nitrates and sulphates (in this case Fe²⁺), and, for companson, with CaCl₂, the corresponding Group IIa salt. Where possible the measurements are reported as a function of the activity of the salts. In general, for the transition metals the sulphates all show a linear decrease in solubility with increasing salt activity: for the nitrates the solubility increases and then reaches a limiting value; and for the chlorides a small decrease in solubility is observed at low activity followed by an increase in solubility at higher salt activity. Circular dichroism measurements confirm that there is no direct complexation at non-basic pH.Presented at the Sixth International Seminar on Inclusion Compounds, Istanbul, Turkey, 27–31 August 1995.     

Quantitative determination of selected compounds in a Kentucky 1R4F reference cigarette smoke by multidimensional gas chromatography and selected ion monitoring-mass spectrometry

Eight compounds from a Kentucky 1R4F reference cigarette smoke condensate have been determined by selected ion monitoring-mass spectrometry (SIM-MS) to confirm the validity of multidimensional gas chromatography (MDGC) as a quantitative tool in complex mixture analyses. Four electrostatically precipitated smoke condensate samples of 100 cigarettes each are dissolved individually in 25 mL of 2-propanol. The 2-propanol contains two methyl esters (C8 and C14) and seven deuterium-labeled compounds used as internal standards (IS). Analysis of the compounds of interest, pyridine; acetamide; acrylamide; phenol; o-, m-, and p-cresol; and quinoline, is accomplished by using two heartcuts. Heartcut times of the MDGC analysis are selected such that at least one IS is transferred with each group of compounds being analyzed. This study shows that the MDGC technique previously developed and described can be used for quantitative analyses. A comparison is made between the two types of internal standards. The results obtained for both types of internal standards agree within 20% of each other, on the average, with higher standard deviations for approximately 60% of the compounds where methyl esters are used as internal standards.     

Norms on Free Topological Groups

A norm on a group G is a function N mapping G into the set ofnon-negative real numbers such that for each x and y in G, N(xy^–1) N(x)+N(y) and N(e) = 0, where e is the identity element ofG. It is shown here that if F(X) is the free topological groupon any completely regular Hausdorff space X and H is a subgroupof F(X) generated by a finite subset of X, then any norm onH can be extended to a continuous norm on F(X).     

Length dependent folding kinetics of phenylacetylene oligomers: structural characterization of a kinetic trap

Using simulation to study the folding kinetics of 20-mer poly-phenylacetylene (pPA) oligomers, we find a long time scale trapped kinetic phase in the cumulative folding time distribution. This is demonstrated using molecular dynamics to simulate an ensemble of over 100 folding trajectories. The simulation data are fit to a four-state kinetic model which includes the typical folded and unfolded states, along with an intermediate state, and most surprisingly, a kinetically trapped state. Topologically diverse conformations reminiscent of alpha helices, beta turns, and sheets in proteins are observed, along with unique structures in the form of knots. The nonhelical conformations are implicated, on the basis of structural correlations to kinetic parameters, to contribute to the trapped kinetic behavior. The strong solvophobic forces which mediate the folding process and produce a stable helical folded state also serve to overstabilize the nonhelical conformations, ultimately trapping them. From our simulations, the folding time is predicted to be on the order of 2.5-12.5 mus in the presence of the trapped kinetic phase. The folding mechanism for these 20-mer chains is compared with the previously reported folding mechanism for the pPA 12-mer chains. A linear scaling relationship between the chain length and the mean first passage time is predicted in the absence of the trapped kinetic phase. We discuss the major implications of this discovery in the design of self-assembling nanostructures.     

New organolithium addition methodology to diversely functionalized indoles

A novel synthetic approach to diversely functionalized indoles is described. Boc-protected ortho-aminostyrenes undergo an alkyllithium addition reaction, thereby generating a lithiated intermediate, which upon reaction with specific electrophiles sets up a cascade reaction process between the reacted electrophile and ortho-amino substituent, facilitating an in situ ring closure, followed by dehydration, to generate an indole ring system. This methodology is demonstrated by the synthesis of a range of 3,5-, 1,3,5-, and 2,3,5-substituted indoles.