Increasing proteome coverage for gel‐based human tear proteome maps: towards a more comprehensive profiling

In situations where the molecular mechanism of many ocular disorders is unknown, owing to the difficulties associated with sampling from ocular tissues, human tear film can be a promising medium in ophthalmic research. The present study demonstrates an in‐depth gel‐based proteome optimization survey to approach more appropriate and efficient systems in various situations such as normal and dry‐eye syndromes. Therefore, systematic and statistical evaluations were performed on different preparation methods, including acetone, acetone–methanol, chloroform–methanol–water, trichloroacetic acid (TCA)–acetone, tri‐n‐butylphosphate–acetone–methanol precipitations and ammonium sulfate fractionation at three different percentages of saturations (50, 70 and 90%). Methods were compared quantitatively on both one‐ and two‐dimensional patterns. Some important parameters such as total protein recovery yield, densitometric analysis of some protein contaminants, banding patterns and total spot numbers along with statistical models for proper clustering were considered. Findings revealed noticeable impacts of preparation methods on all aspects of gel‐based separations as well as recovery yield (ranging from 5.29 ± 0.96 to 22.56 ± 1.77 µg/mm) and banding and pattern resolution. In addition to all these, the most important point is that the total protein spot number on the final two‐dimensional patterns (varied from 528.00 ± 19.00 to 657.00 ± 21.52 for different methods) were also noticeably increased in comparison with previously published reports (maximum of 250 spots), which is essential for a more comprehensive analysis. Increasing the proteome coverage in the present study is supposed to originate from improved solubility and effective rehydration during the sample application and isoelectric focusing (IEF) procedure along with proper sample preparation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Facile Oxidation of Thiols to Disulfides with Bis(2,2′-Bipyridyl) Copper-(II) Permanganate

The title compound is used in the oxidation of several thiols to produce their corresponding disulfides in excellent yields in methylene chloride at room temperature.     

1H NMR based metabolic profiling in Crohn's disease by random forest methodology

The present study was designed to search for metabolic biomarkers and their correlation with serum zinc in Crohn's disease patients. Crohn's disease (CD) is a form of inflammatory bowel disease that may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract and can be difficult to diagnose using the clinical tests. Thus, introduction of a novel diagnostic method would be a major step towards CD treatment. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H NMR) was employed for metabolic profiling to find out which metabolites in the serum have meaningful significance in the diagnosis of CD. CD and healthy subjects were correctly classified using random forest methodology. The classification model for the external test set showed a 94% correct classification of CD and healthy subjects. The present study suggests Valine and Isoleucine as differentiating metabolites for CD diagnosis. These metabolites can be used for screening of risky samples at the early stages of CD diagnoses. Moreover, a robust random forest regression model with good prediction outcomes was developed for correlating serum zinc level and metabolite concentrations. The regression model showed the correlation (R²) and root mean square error values of 0.83 and 6.44, respectively. This model suggests valuable clues for understanding the mechanism of zinc deficiency in CD patients. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis,characterization and photocatalytic properties of nanoparticles CuAl2O4 by Pechini method using Taguchi statistical design

In the present work nano crystalline copper aluminate (CuAl₂O₄) has been synthesized by the Pechini method using aqueous solutions containing corresponding metal nitrates. A Taguchi L₄ statistical design was employed for investigating the most effective factors on the synthesis conditions and their interactions and production optimization. Nano crystalline CuAl₂O₄ particles with crystal size between 17 and 26 nm were obtained. The product characterized by XRD, FT-IR, DLS and TGA. The morphological properties have investigated using SEM. The photocatalytic degradation was investigated using methyl orange under the irradiation of visible light.     

Investigation of Aqueous Diethanolamine Performance in Prediction of Hydrogen Sulfide and Carbonyl Sulfide Removal from Liquefied Propane

Journal of Solution Chemistry - Hydrogen sulfide and carbonyl sulfide represent undesirable impurities in a variety of industrial gas streams such as natural gas, liquefied natural gas and...     

Synthesis and interfacial properties of novel cationic polyelectrolytes with brush-on-brush structure of poly(ethylene oxide) side chains

Novel cationic polyelectrolytes with a brush-on-brush structure of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) side chains and a charge-containing polyacrylate backbone were synthesized. The PEO side chains were not directly attached to the backbone but via polymethacrylate spacers, thus locating the PEO chains a distance away from the charged units of the backbone. The cationic brush-on-brush polyelectrolytes with high density of PEO chains showed a strong affinity to silica surfaces, provided the backbone charge density was high enough. The adsorption of these polymers was studied by QCM-D giving very high sensed mass, 20 mg/m². It was shown by direct force measurements that protective surface layers were formed by the novel polyelectrolytes, generating strongly repulsive steric forces, which provided an effective barrier against flocculation. The adsorbed layer was sufficiently robust to withstand sliding experiments under a pressure of up to 35 MPa. The friction force in water was very low, and the lubrication was characterized by a friction coefficient in the range of 0.02-0.06.     

One-pot synthesis of 4-arylquinolines from aromatic aminoketones and vinylphosphonium salts

The addition of acetylenic esters to aromatic amines such as 2-amino benzophenone derivatives in the presence of triphenylphosphine leads to highly functionalized phosphoranes, which undergo an intramolecular Wittig reaction following oxidation to produce quinoline derivatives.     

Theoretical study of highly doped heterofullerenes evolved from the smallest fullerene cage

Structural Chemistry - The structural stabilities and electronic properties of C12X8 heterofullerenes where X = B, Al, Ga, C, Si, Ge, N, P, and As are probed at the...