Rapid determination of underivatized pyroglutamic acid, glutamic acid, glutamine and other relevant amino acids in fermentation media by LC-MS-MS

Determination of amino acids in a complex matrix without derivatization is advantageous, however, difficulties are found in both the detection and the separation of those compounds. In this study, a rapid and reliable LC-MS-MS method for the quantitation of underivatized amino acids in exocellular media was established. Injections were made directly after centrifugation of the samples, without further preparation. The separation of seven underivatized amino acids was achieved on a reversed-phase C18 column with pentadecafluorooctanoic acid as a volatile ion-pair reagent, and the specific detection of most amino acids was achieved by MS-MS of the specific transitions [M + H]+-->[M + H - 46]+. The calibration curves of all analytes were linear over the range of 1.0-1000 microg ml(-1) and the detection limits ranged from 0.1 to 5 ng ml(-1), with an injection volume of 20 microl. The inter-day and intra-day precisions ranged from 2.6 to 5.7% and 4.8 to 8.2%, respectively; the mean recoveries of the seven analytes were 81-104%, 91-107% and 93-101% respectively at the spiked level of 10, 40 and 200 microg ml(-1). A large number of fermentation samples were analysed using this method. The technique is simple, rapid, selective and sensitive, and shows potential for the high-throughput quantitation of amino acids from other biological matrices.     

Swallowtail porphyrins: synthesis, characterization and incorporation into porphyrin dyads

The incorporation of symmetrically branched tridecyl ("swallowtail") substituents at the meso positions of porphyrins results in highly soluble building blocks. Synthetic routes have been investigated to obtain porphyrin building blocks bearing 1-4 swallowtail groups. Porphyrin dyads have been synthesized in which the zinc or free base (Fb) porphyrins are joined by a 4,4'-diphenylethyne linker and bear swallowtail (or n-pentyl) groups at the nonlinking meso positions. The swallowtail-substituted Zn(2)- and ZnFb-dyads are readily soluble in common organic solvents. Static absorption and fluorescence spectra and electrochemical data show that the presence of the swallowtail groups slightly raises the energy level of the filled a(2u)(pi) HOMO. EPR studies of the pi-cation radicals of the swallowtail porphyrins indicate that the torsional angle between the proton on the alkyl carbon and p-orbital on the meso carbon of the porphyrin is different from that of a porphyrin bearing linear pentyl groups. Regardless, the swallowtail substituents do not significantly affect the photophysical properties of the porphyrins or the electronic interactions between the porphyrins in the dyads. In particular, time-resolved spectroscopic studies indicate that facile excited-state energy transfer occurs in the ZnFb dyad, and EPR studies of the monocation radical of the Zn(2)-dyad show that interporphyrin ground-state hole transfer is rapid.     

Preparation and characterization of dendrimer-star PNIPAAM using dithiobenzoate-terminated PPI dendrimer via RAFT polymerization

Two dendritic reversible addition-fragmentation transfer (RAFT) agents with 8 and 16 terminal dithiobenzoate (DTB) groups on the surface of poly(propylene imine) (PPI) dendrimers (generation 2.0 and 3.0, respectively) were successively prepared, and they were used in the RAFT polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAM). The polymerization kinetics was confirmed to pseudo-first-order behavior. The ¹H NMR and GPC analyses show that the dendrimer-star den (NIPAAM)_x (x = 8 or 16) prepared by RAFT method has well-defined structure, controlled molecular weight and low polydispersities (PDI < 1.3). The aqueous solution prepared from dendrimer-star PNIPAAM showed reversible changes in optical properties: transparent below a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and opaque above the LCST.     

Synthesis, Structure and Characterization of [Cu(2,2'-bpy)2][{Cu(2,2'-bpy)2}2W12O40(H2)]·4H2O

An organic-inorganic compound [Cu(2,2'-bpy)2][{Cu(2,2'-bpy)2}2W12O4o(H2)]·4H2O (Mr = 4048.00) was prepared from the hydrothermal reaction of Na2WO4·2H2O, CuCl2·2H2O,2,2'-bipyridine (2,2'-bpy) and H2O at 160 ℃ for 4 days. The compound crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P21/n with a = 18.9196(8), b = 20.4212(8), c = 21.8129(9)(A), β=96.992(3)°, V= 8365.0(6) (A)3, Dc= 3.214 g/cm3, Z = 4,μ(MoKα) = 17.269 mm-1 and F(000) = 7324.Of the 119837 total reflections, 17315 were unique (Rint = 0.0489). The final R = 0.0385 and wR =0.0770 for 11142 observed reflections with I ＞ 2σ(I). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that the structure is composed of [{Cu(2,2'-bpy)2}2W12O40(H2)]2- anions, discrete [Cu(2,2'-bpy)2]2 cations and lattice water molecules, and the anion is made up of a {W12O40(H2)}6- α-Keggin core decorated with two {Cu(2,2'-bpy)2}2 groups through bridging oxygen atoms.     

Total syntheses of epothilones B and d

A convergent, total synthesis of epothilones B (2) and D (4) is described. The key steps are Normant coupling to establish the desired (Z)-stereochemistry at C12-C13, Wadsworth-Emmons olefination of methyl ketone 28 with the phosphonate ester 8, diastereoselective aldol condensation of aldehyde 5 with the enolate of keto acid derivatives to form the C6-C7 bond, selective deprotection of acid 52, and macrolactonization.     

Decision-feedback detection for block differential space-time modulation

Time variation on fading channels hinders accurate channel estimation in differential space-time modulation and deteriorates the performance. Decision-feedback differential detection is studied for block differential space-time modulation, and compared with conventional differential space-time modulation. It is observed that the proposed scheme does not suffer effective fading bandwidth expansion, as does the conventional scheme. An improved effective signal-to-noise ratio approach is proposed for analyzing the performance of the proposed scheme in time-varying flat Rayleigh fading. Theoretical analysis and simulations show the improved performance of the proposed scheme over the conventional scheme.     

A 3-GHz 70-mb SRAM in 65-nm CMOS technology with integrated column-based dynamic power supply

Column-based dynamic power supply has been integrated into a high-frequency 70-Mb SRAM design that is fabricated on a high-performance 65-nm CMOS technology. The fully synchronized design achieves a 3-GHz operating frequency at 1.1-V power supply. The power supply at SRAM cell array is dynamically switched between two different voltage levels during READ and WRITE operations. Silicon measurement has proven this method to be effective in achieving both good cell READ and WRITE margins, while lowering the overall SRAM leakage power consumption.     

模电教学中工程观念的培养

"模拟电子线路"课程是工科本科电子信息类专业的一门重要的专业基础课程.本文以集成运放电路在压力检测中的应用为例,探讨了模拟电子线路课程教学中如何将理论联系实际、如何培养工程观念、如何将基本理论与工程应用相结合等问题.通过课程教案示例,阐述了工程观念的培养在教学实践中的具体做法.