Synthesis and hydrolysis behaviour of poly(ester anhydrides) from polylactone precursors containing alkenyl moieties

Hydroxyl-group functional polylactones were prepared and converted to acid- terminated polyesters in a reaction with a series of alkenylsuccinic anhydrides containing 8, 12, or 18 carbons in their alkenyl chains. These polyester precursors were then linked into higher molecular weight poly(ester anhydrides) containing alkenyl moieties in their polyester blocks. The hydrolysis behaviour of the poly(ester anhydrides) was found to depend on the thermal properties of the polyester precursors. For poly(ester anhydrides) prepared from low molecular weight prepolymers with thermal transitions below 37 degrees C, the presence of hydrophobic alkenyl chains in the polyester precursors slowed the rate of weight loss. Poly(ester anhydrides) prepared from higher molecular weight prepolymers showed the opposite weight-loss behaviour; i.e., the crystallinity and thermal transitions of the alkenyl chain-containing poly(ester anhydrides) were low, and the weight loss was faster than for poly(ester anhydrides) without the alkenyl chains. The differences in length of the alkenyl chain, as such, had little effect on the hydrolysis behaviour and thermal properties of the poly(ester anhydrides).     

Capacities of Physical Layer Scheduling Strategies on a Shared Link

We compare capacities of three physical layer scheduling algorithms: on-off scheduling (OOS), maximum SNR, and round robin schedulers. With OOS, downlink transmission is suspended if the instantaneous received SNR in the mobile station falls below a given threshold requiring only one feedback bit per user, which considerably decreases the overhead of the feedback signaling when compared with maximum SNR scheduler. In case of FDD systems, OOS and maximum SNR schedulers require a fast feedback channel from mobile to base station like the one in the FDD WCDMA system, while round robin operates independently of the channel state. We derive asymptotic capacity gains of the three schedulers in high SNR region and study the effect of feedback bit errors to capacities. It is noticed that OOS has an optimal threshold, which depends on the number of users and their mean SNRs. As expected, maximum SNR scheduler provides the largest capacity among the three schedulers, but if additional spatial diversity, i.e., transmit antenna selection is available, the difference between the capacities of OOS and maximum SNR schedulers is small.     

Transmit Diversity in the WCDMA System

This document presents the transmit diversityconcept adopted for the FDD mode of the thirdgenerationWCDMA system in ETSI in 1998. The open-loop mode isbased on the space-time block code attaining full diversity order with two transmit antennas.Different feedback modes are specified. They all utilizeterminal measurements in controlling the transmitweighting in the transmit antennas. The concept is described in detail for two transmit antennas.It is shown that very limited feedback from the terminalto the base, as defined for the FDD mode, can increasedownlink performance significantly when compared to single-antenna transmission.     

Coronene Encapsulation in Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Stacked Columns,Peapods, and Nanoribbons

Encapsulation of coronene inside single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) was studied under various conditions. Under high vacuum, two main types of molecular encapsulation were observed by using transmission electron microscopy: coronene dimers and molecular stacking columns perpendicular or tilted (45–60°) with regard to the axis of the SWNTs. A relatively small number of short nanoribbons or polymerized coronene molecular chains were observed. However, experiments performed under an argon atmosphere (0.17 MPa) revealed reactions between the coronene molecules and the formation of hydrogen‐terminated graphene nanoribbons. It was also observed that the morphology of the encapsulated products depend on the diameter of the SWNTs. The experimental results are explained by using density functional theory calculations through the energies of the coronene molecules inside the SWNTs, which depend on the orientation of the molecules and the diameter of the tubes.     

Chalcogen-Bonding Interactions in Telluroether Heterocycles [Te(CH2)m]n (n=1–4; m=3–7)

The Te ⋅⋅⋅ Te secondary bonding interactions (SBIs) in solid cyclic telluroethers were explored by preparing and structurally characterizing a series of [Te(CH₂)_m]_n (n=1–4; m=3–7) species. The SBIs in 1,7-Te₂(CH₂)₁₀, 1,8-Te₂(CH₂)₁₂, 1,5,9-Te₃(CH₂)₉, 1,8,15-Te₃(CH₂)₁₈, 1,7,13,19-Te₄(CH₂)₂₀, 1,8,15,22-Te₄(CH₂)₂₄ and 1,9,17,25-Te₄(CH₂)₂₈ lead to tubular packing of the molecules, as has been observed previously for related thio- and selenoether rings. The nature of the intermolecular interactions was explored by solid-state PBE0-D3/pob-TZVP calculations involving periodic boundary conditions. The molecular packing in 1,7,13,19-Te₄(CH₂)₂₀, 1,8,15,22-Te₄(CH₂)₂₄ and 1,9,17,25-Te₄(CH₂)₂₈ forms infinite shafts. The electron densities at bond critical points indicate a narrow range of Te ⋅⋅⋅ Te bond orders of 0.12–0.14. The formation of the shafts can be rationalized by frontier orbital overlap and charge transfer.     

Homoleptic, heteroleptic and mixed-valent thallium and indium complexes of multidentate chalcogen-centred PCP-bridged ligands

The metathetical reaction of [Li(TMEDA)][HC(PPh(2)Se)(2)] ([Li(TMEDA)]1) with TlOEt in a 1:1 molar ratio afforded a homoleptic Tl(I) complex as an adduct with LiOEt, Tl[HC(PPh(2)Se)(2)]·LiOEt (7), which undergoes selenium-proton exchange upon mild heating (60 °C) to give the mixed-valent Tl(I)/Tl(III) complex {[Tl][Tl{(Se)C(PPh(2)Se)(2)}(2)]}(∞) (8). Treatment of TlOEt with [Li(TMEDA)](2)[(SPh(2)P)(2)CE'E'C(PPh(2)S)(2)] (3b, E' = S; 3c, E' = Se) in a 2:1 molar ratio produced the binuclear Tl(i)/Tl(i) complexes Tl(2)[(SPh(2)P)(2)CE'E'C(PPh(2)S)(2)] (9b, E' = S; 9c, E' = Se), respectively. Selenium-proton exchange also occurred upon addition of [Li(TMEDA)]1 to InCl(3) to yield the heteroleptic complex (TMEDA)InCl[(Se)C(PPh(2)Se)(2)] (10a). Other examples of this class of In(III) complex, (TMEDA)InCl[(E')C(PPh(2)E)(2)] (10b, E = E' = S; 10c, E = S, E' = Se) were obtained via metathesis of InCl(3) with [Li(TMEDA)](2)[(E')C(PPh(2)E)(2)] (2b, E = E' = S; 2c, E = S, E' = Se, respectively). All new compounds have been characterized in solution by (1)H and (31)P NMR spectroscopy and the solid-state structures have been determined for 8, 9c and 10a-c by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Complex 8 is comprised of Tl(+) ions that are weakly coordinated to octahedral [Tl{(Se)C(PPh(2)Se)(2)}(2)](-) anions to give a one-dimensional polymer. The complex 9c is comprised of two four-coordinate Tl(+) ions that are each S,S',S',Se bonded to the hexadentate [(SPh(2)P)(2)CSeSeC(PPh(2)S)(2)](2-) ligand in which d(Se-Se) = 2.531(2) ?. The six-coordinate In(III) centres in the distorted octahedral complexes 10a-c are connected to a tridentate [(E')C(PPh(2)E)(2)](2-) dianion, a chloride ion and a neutral bidentate TMEDA ligand.     

Measurement of elastic light scattering from two optically trapped microspheres and red blood cells in a transparent medium

Optical tweezers can be used to manipulate small objects and cells. A trap can be used to fix the position of a particle during light scattering measurements. The places of two separately trapped particles can also be changed. In this Letter we present elastic light scattering measurements as a function of scattering angle when two trapped spheres are illuminated with a He-Ne laser. This setup is suitable for trapping noncharged homogeneous spheres. We also demonstrate measurement of light scattering patterns from two separately trapped red blood cells. Two different illumination schemes are used for both samples.     

Structural changes in apolipoproteins bound to nanoparticles

Nanoparticles are widely used in the pharmaceutical and food industries, but the consequences of exposure to the human body have not been thoroughly investigated. Apolipoprotein A-I (apoAI), the major protein in high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and other lipoproteins are found in the corona around many nanoparticles, but data on protein structural and functional effects are lacking. Here we investigate the structural consequences of the adsorption of apoAI, apolipoprotein B100 (apoB100), and HDL on polystyrene nanoparticles with different surface charges. The results of circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy, and limited proteolysis experiments indicate effects on both secondary and tertiary structures. Plain and negatively charged nanoparticles induce helical structure in apoAI (negative net charge) whereas positively charged nanoparticles reduce the amount of helical structure. Plain and negatively charged particles induce a small blue shift in the tryptophan fluorescence spectrum, which is not noticed with the positively charged particles. Similar results are observed with reconstituted HDL. In apoB100, both secondary and tertiary structures are perturbed by all particles. To investigate the generality of the role of surface charge, parallel experiments were performed using human serum albumin (HSA, negative net charge) and lysozyme (positive net charge). Again, the secondary structure is most affected by nanoparticles carrying an opposite surface charge relative to the protein. Nanoparticles carrying the same net charge as the protein induce only minor structural changes in lysozyme whereas a moderate change is observed for HSA. Thus, surface charge is a critical parameter for predicting structural changes in adsorbed proteins, yet the effect is specific for each protein.     

Quantification of human brain metabolites from in vivo 1H NMR magnitude spectra using automated artificial neural network analysis

Long echo time (TE=270 ms) in vivo proton NMR spectra resembling human brain metabolite patterns were simulated for lineshape fitting (LF) and quantitative artificial neural network (ANN) analyses. A set of experimental in vivo 1H NMR spectra were first analyzed by the LF method to match the signal-to-noise ratios and linewidths of simulated spectra to those in the experimental data. The performance of constructed ANNs was compared for the peak area determinations of choline-containing compounds (Cho), total creatine (Cr), and N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) signals using both manually phase-corrected and magnitude spectra as inputs. The peak area data from ANN and LF analyses for simulated spectra yielded high correlation coefficients demonstrating that the peak areas quantified with ANN gave similar results as LF analysis. Thus, a fully automated ANN method based on magnitude spectra has demonstrated potential for quantification of in vivo metabolites from long echo time spectroscopic imaging.