Mass spectrometry imaging: a new vision in differentiating Schistosoma mansoni strains

Schistosomiasis is a neglected disease with large geographic distribution worldwide. Among the several different species of this parasite, S. mansoni is the most common and relevant one; its pathogenesis is also known to vary according to the worms' strain. High parasitical virulence is directly related to granulomatous reactions in the host's liver, and might be influenced by one or more molecules involved in a specific metabolic pathway. Therefore, better understanding the metabolic profile of these organisms is necessary, especially for an increased potential of unraveling strain virulence mechanisms and resistance to existing treatments. In this report, MALDI‐MSI and the metabolomic platform were employed to characterize and differentiate two Brazilian S. mansoni strains: males and females from Belo Horizonte (BH) and from Sergipe (SE). By performing direct analysis, it is possible to distinguish the sex of adult worms, as well as identify the spatial distribution of chemical markers. Phospholipids, diacylglycerols and triacylglycerols were located in specific structures of the worms' bodies, such as tegument, suckers, reproductive and digestive systems. Lipid profiles were found to be different both between strains and males or females, giving specific metabolic fingerprints for each group. This indicates that biochemical characterization of adult S. mansoni may help narrowing‐down the investigation of new therapeutic targets according to worm composition, molecule distribution and, therefore, aggressiveness of disease. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High-spin structure of yrast-band in 78Kr

Lifetime of levels up to 22⁺, have been measured in ⁷⁸Kr and an oblate shape is assigned to the ground state using the CSM and the configuration dependent shell correction calculations. Calculations further show that ⁷⁸Kr is highly γ-soft nucleus. The experimental Q _t values coupled with theoretical calculations indicate an oblate shape for ⁷⁸Kr at low spins and triaxial shape at higher spins     

Routine analysis by high precision gas chromatography/mass selective detector/isotope ratio mass spectrometry to 0.1 parts per mil

Stable isotope methods are potentially quite useful for validating natural or enhanced mineral degradation of contaminants. For this reason, a continuous flow gas chromatograph (GC), isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) has been coupled with a quadrupole mass selective detector (MSD) to allow simultaneous mass spectral and stable carbon isotope ratio data to be obtained from a single chromatographic analysis. This allows the target contaminant and any extra-cellular degradation intermediates to be both qualified and quantified. Previously acceptable limits of precision (0.3 parts per mil) are undesirable given the small fractionation observed during aerobic degradation. To further understand the fate of organic contaminants and to gain information about the metabolic degradative pathway employed by a microorganism, routine isotopic analyses on a range of analytes have been performed. Quantities of sample producing mass-44 ion beam signal (I(44)) of 2 x 10(-10) to 1 x 10(-8) A were analysed. When the IRMS was tuned for high sensitivity, ion source nonlinearities were overcome by peak height correction from an algorithm that was produced using known isotopic standards of varying concentrations. This led to sample accuracy of <0.01 per thousand and sample precision of 0.1 per thousand. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structure of 72,74Se at high spin

Lifetimes of high spin states up to { }=22⁺ in the yrast positive parity bands have been measured to investigate the shape evolution with increasing spin in ^{72, 74}Se. The Q _t values derived from these measurements indicate that prolate shape stabilizes for ⁷²Se, while a triaxial shape develops for ⁷⁴Se at higher spins. Comparison of the observed trend in Q _t with spin for ^{72, 74}Se with that of the corresponding kryptones isotones emphasizes the stability provided by N=38 prolate shell gap even at high rotational frequency.