Separation of rotational diffusion and level kinetics in transient absorption spectroscopy

Transient absorption spectroscopy on electronic levels of molecules in the liquid phase is governed by population kinetics as well as rotational diffusion. The goal of transient absorption experiments has been the true level kinetics free of rotation. Moreover, to extract the rotational time from transient photodichroism experiments the knowledge of true population kinetics is instrumental. Three methods for separating rotational and level kinetics are described theoretically, and one of them is performed experimentally using a repetitive picosecond spectrometer for the measurement of rotational behaviour of fluorescein 27 in solvents of different viscosity.     

Classification of signatures of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in serum using infrared spectroscopy

Signatures of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) have been identified in serum by means of "Diagnostic Pattern Recognition (DPR)". For DPR-analysis, mid-infrared spectroscopy of dried films of 641 serum samples was performed using disposable silicon sample carriers and a semi-automated DPR research system operating at room temperature. The combination of four mathematical classification approaches (principal component analysis plus linear discriminant analysis, robust linear discriminant analysis, artificial neural network, support vector machine) allowed for a reliable assignment of spectra to the class "BSE-positive" or "BSE-negative". An independent, blinded validation study was carried out on a second DPR research system at the Veterinary Laboratory Agency, Weybridge, UK. Out of 84 serum samples originating from terminally-ill, BSE-positive cattle, 78 were classified correctly. Similarly, 73 out of 76 BSE-negative samples were correctly identified by DPR such that, numerically, an accuracy of 94.4 % can be calculated. At a confidence level of 0.95 (alpha = 0.05) these results correspond to a sensitivity > 85% and a specificity > 90%. Identical class assignment by all four classifiers occurred in 75% of the cases while ambiguous results were obtained in only 8 of the 160 cases. With an area under the ROC (receiver operating charateristics) curve of 0.991, DPR may potentially supply a valuable surrogate marker for BSE even in cases in which a deliberate bias towards improved sensitivity or specificity is desired. To the best of our knowledge, DPR is the first and--up to now--only method which has demonstrated its capability of detecting BSE-related signatures in serum.     

The mass spectra of TMS-ethers of deuterated polyalcohols. A contribution to the structural investigation of sugars

Aldoses, ketoses, deoxy-aldoses, deoxy-keto-aldoses, lactones, deoxy-lactones and other similar compounds are readily reduced by NaBD₄ to the corresponding polyalcohol. Their trimethylsilyl ethers show characteristic mass spectra which allow firm assignments of the position of deuteration and hence of the nature of the starting sugar compound. The g.c./m.s. coupling technique even allows trace analysis since full information can be derived from the most intense fragments of the mass spectra.     

Minimization of empirical energy functions in proteins including hydrophobic surface area effects

We present analytical expressions to calculate the gradient of the water-accessible surface area of proteins with respect to Cartesian coordinates and dihedral angles. A detailed mathematical analysis leads to corrected equations for the gradient calculation used previously in the ANAREA program. To study the hydrophobic effect of solvent-protein interactions, our expressions have been implemented to further improve the program package FANTOM. We used this version of FANTOM to minimize the ECEPP/2 and the hydrophobic energy of tendamistat. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The mass spectra of small-ring hetero-cycles—II. Aziridinones (α-lactams)

The mass spectra of six aziridinones (α-lactams) are presented. The six aziridinones exhibit the same general fragmentation pattern, the primary processes being loss of the N-t-butyl group, loss of carbon monoxide and loss of t-butyl isocyanate. Several additional rearrangement or fragmentation processes are observed with specific α-lactams.     

Photochemische synthese von H2Fe3-komplexen und ihre aktivität bei der photokatalytischen hydrierung von olefinen und dienen

The photochemical reaction of the trinuclear complex Fe₃(CO)₁₀NSi(CH₃)₃ under hydrogen leads to substitution of the bridging carbonyl group by two hydrogens. The resulting complex H₂Fe₃(CO)₉NSi(CH₃)₃ acts as a catalyst in the photochemical hydrogenation of olefins and dienes.