Development of a solid‐phase microextraction LC–MS/MS method for determination of oxidative stress biomarkers in biofluids

Recently the connection between oxidative stress and various diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's, attracts notice as a pathway suitable for diagnostic purposes. 8‐Oxo‐deoxyguanosine and 8‐oxo‐deoxyadenosine produced from the interaction of reactive oxygen species with DNA become prominent as biomarkers. Several methods have been developed for their determination in biofluids, including solid‐phase extraction and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays. However, still, there is a need for reliable and fast analytical methods. In this context, solid‐phase microextraction offers many advantages such as flexibility in geometry and applicable sample volume, as well as high adaptability to high‐throughput sampling. In this study, a solid‐phase microextraction method was developed for the determination of 8‐oxo‐deoxyguanosine and 8‐oxo‐deoxyadenosine in biofluids. The extractive phase of solid‐phase microextraction consisted of hydrophilic–lipophilic balanced polymeric particles. In order to develop a solid‐phase microextraction method suitable for the determination of the analytes in saliva and urine, several parameters, including desorption solvent, desorption time, sample pH, and ionic strength, were scrutinized. Analytical figures of merit indicated that the developed method provides reasonable interday and intraday precisions (<15% in both biofluids) with acceptable accuracy. The method provides a limit of quantification for both biomarkers at 5.0 and 10.0 ng/mL levels in saliva and urine matrices, respectively.     

A Gorizont neutron reflectometer—small-angle spectrometer based on the IN-06 pulsed neutron source

The Gorizont time-of-flight neutron reflectometer—small-angle spectrometer has been designed, manufactured, and assembled to operate with the IN-0 6 pulsed neutron source. The instrument has a vertical neutron scattering plane enabling research on liquid surfaces and interfaces. Model calculations of neutron spectra, beam profiles, and spectrometer resolutions have been performed via the Monte Carlo method. The spectrometer operates at wavelengths from 1.5 to 9 Å and ensures measurements in the momentum-transfer range of 0.003—1.5 Å^-1.     

ZnS(Ag)/<Superscript>6</Superscript>LiF and LiI(Eu) scintillators and silicon photomultipliers for thermal neutron detectors with high space and time resolution

ZnS(Ag)/⁶LiF and LiI(Eu) scintillators for thermal neutron detectors have been investigated and neutron detectors based on these scintillators and photomultipliers have been tested. The efficiencies of these detectors are 5 and 66%, respectively. The possibility of developing position-sensitive detectors of thermal neutrons with high space and time resolution is discussed.     

On modeling the frequency transformation effect in elastic waves

We present a continual model of an elastic medium with a field of distributed defects and use it to study the frequency transformation effect in elastic waves. By an example of simulation of the one-dimensional waves arising under a harmonic action on a layer with defects, we demonstrate the possibility of describing frequency transformation in the framework of the model.     

Tagging system for almost-real photons at VEPP-3 storage ring

At BINP the construction of the tagging system for almost-real photons (TS) is in progress. The energy of tagging photons can be up to 1.5 GeV. The projected energy resolution of TS is better then 1%. For at least a half of photons the linear polarization can be determined. The tagging system will extend the possibilities for photoreaction studying at VEPP-3 significantly. TS would allow to perform a complete kinematics reconstruction, thus permitting a reliable rejection of the background processes; to extend the measurements to higher photon energy; to enabling Σ-asymmetry measurements and double polarization experiments.     

Limiting the Number of Potential Binding Modes by Introducing Symmetry into Ligands: Structure‐Based Design of Inhibitors for Trypsin‐Like Serine Proteases

In the absence of X‐ray data, the exploration of compound binding modes continues to be a challenging task. For structure‐based design, specific features of active sites in different targets play a major role in rationalizing ligand binding characteristics. For example, dibasic compounds have been reported as potent inhibitors of various trypsin‐like serine proteases, the active sites of which contain several binding pockets that can be targeted by cationic moieties. This results in several possible orientations within the active site, complicating the binding mode prediction of such compounds by docking tools. Therefore, we introduced symmetry in bi‐ and tribasic compounds to reduce conformational space in docking calculations and to simplify binding mode selection by limiting the number of possible pocket occupations. Asymmetric bisbenzamidines were used as starting points for a multistage and structure‐guided optimization. A series of 24 final compounds with either two or three benzamidine substructures was ultimately synthesized and evaluated as inhibitors of five serine proteases, leading to potent symmetric inhibitors for the pharmaceutical drug targets matriptase, matriptase‐2, thrombin and factor Xa. This study underlines the relevance of ligand symmetry for chemical biology.     

Connected signed graphs of fixed order,size, and number of negative edges with maximal index

In this paper we focus on connected signed graphs of fixed number of vertices, positive edges and negative edges that maximize the largest eigenvalue (also called the index) of their adjacency matrix. In the first step we determine these signed graphs in the set of signed generalized theta graphs. Concerning the general case, we use the eigenvector techniques for getting some structural properties of resulting signed graphs. In particular, we prove that positive edges induce nested split subgraphs, while negative edges induce double nested signed subgraphs. We observe that our concept can be applied when considering balancedness of signed graphs (the property that is extensively studied in both mathematical and non-mathematical context).     

Poly(ethylene glycol)-supported tetrahydroxyphenyl porphyrin: a convenient,recyclable catalyst for photooxidation reactions

[reaction: see text] A new poly(ethylene glycol)-supported porphyrin has been prepared and its ability as a promoter in photooxidation reactions has been studied. The PEG-supported catalyst exhibits high activity, comparable to that of a nonanchored sensitizer, and it is easily removable by filtration from the reaction mixture. The polymer-bound porphyrin has been recycled up to six times with no loss of chemical and stereochemical efficiency.