Microwave-accelerated SPOT-synthesis on cellulose supports

[reaction: see text] We demonstrate that microwave irradiation can dramatically accelerate reaction rates for spatially addressable library synthesis on planar membrane supports. The development of a robust support/linker system, microwave-assisted synthesis of small molecule test libraries, and methods for solid-phase scale-up on cellulose are described.     

Design and synthesis of macrocyclic peptomers as mimics of a quorum sensing signal from Staphylococcus aureus

We report the design and synthesis of macrocyclic peptide-peptoid hybrids (peptomers) as analogs of autoinducing peptide I (AIP-I) from Staphylococcus aureus. Our solid-phase synthetic route includes efficient microwave-assisted reactions and a tandem macrocyclization-cleavage step, and we demonstrate its compatibility with parallel synthesis through the generation of a focused peptomer library. One of the peptomers was capable of stimulating biofilm formation in S. aureus, a phenotype linked to AIP-I receptor (AgrC-I) inhibition.     

Deformable spherical devices to measure stresses within field soils

The design, calibration and use of two deformable spherical stress transducers are described. They are suitable for detecting principal stresses in deforming media such as soil and have major advantages over many rigid transducers previously used in such situations. One of the transducers is a water-filled rubber ball (WFRB) sensitive to hydrostatic and deviator stresses, the other is a mastic ball which deforms plastically and is sensitive to only deviator stresses. When the two devices are used at similar depths under a surface load, e.g. a wheel, the combined measurements of internal pressure of the WFRB and axial deformation of the mastic ball can be used to derive values for first and third principal stresses (assuming second and third principal stresses are equal). Calibration of the transducers at different temperatures is described.

Field measurements made with the transducer under loaded wheels are compared with predicted values of first principal stresses using equations developed by Söhne. Close correspondence between predicted and measured values was observed, when the existing soil strength conditions were taken into account.

The transducers promise to be useful in the measurement of stresses in field soils.     

Photoionization of Al IV (neon-type) from its ground 2s 22p 6 1 S e and excited 2s 22p 53p 3,1 P 0 3 S e states using the R-matrix method

The R-matrix method is used to calculate the total photoionization cross-sections from the ground 2s ²2p ^{6 1} S ^e and the first three excited 2s ²2p ⁵3p ^3,1 S ^e states of Al IV, for photon energies ranging from the first ionization threshold to just above the second threshold of the residual ion Al V. The two lowest LS terms of Al V − 2s ²2p ^{5 2} P ⁰, 2s2p ^{6 2} S ^e, 2s2p ^{6 2} S ^e, represented by sophisticated configuration interaction wavefunctions, are included in the R-matrix calculation. The resulting cross-sections are affected by Rydberg series of resonances converging to the 2s2p ^{6 2} S ^e excited threshold.     

Effect of Mobile Phase Components on the Separation of Polypeptides Using Carbon Dioxide-Based Mobile Phases

The effect of mobile phase modifier and additive on the chromatographic properties of various small polypeptides was explored under subcritical conditions. A polymeric column was used to separate various enkephalin analogs, bradykinin, and oxytocin using a carbon dioxide-based mobile phase with either an ethanol or a 2-methoxyethanol modifier. The role of the modifier was found to be secondary to that of the mobile phase additive. As progressively stronger acidic mobile phase additives were used, the peak profiles of the various polypeptides improved and retention decreased. Heptadecafluorooctanesulfonic acid was found to be the most useful additive for these types of solutes under near-critical conditions, while the potassium salt of heptadecafluorooctanesulfonic acid failed to elute any of the polypeptides. At low temperatures, pressure gradients with a carbon dioxide/ethanol/heptadecafluorooctanesulfonic acid ternary mobile phase produced reasonably good peak profiles with the polymeric column.     

Study of the Effect of Mobile Phase Additives on Retention in Reversed Phase HPLC Using Linear Solvation Energy Relationships

Linear solvation energy relationships (LSERs) were used to delineate which specific intermolecular interactions are responsible for changes in retention for a variety of well characterized analytes when acidic and basic additives were used in reversed phase HPLC. The effects of trifluoroacetic acid, triethylamine and a combination of trifluoroacetic acid and triethylamine on the LSERs were compared to those observed in the absence of additives. These effects were examined using four different mobile phase modifiers and five different stationary phases. Trifluoroacetic acid alone and in combination with triethylamine produced LSER regression coefficients nearly identical to those obtained with no additive present in the mobile phase. Triethylamine alone produced different LSER regression coefficients from the other systems unless the mobile phase contained trifluoroethanol as the mobile phase modifier, or the stationary phase consisted of a polymeric support.     

Information sharing impact of stochastic diffusion search on differential evolution algorithm

This work details the research aimed at applying the powerful resource allocation mechanism deployed in stochastic diffusion search (SDS) to the differential evolution (DE), effectively merging a nature inspired swarm intelligence algorithm with a biologically inspired evolutionary algorithm. The results reported herein suggest that the hybrid algorithm, exploiting information sharing between the population elements, has the potential to improve the optimisation capability of classical DE algorithms. This claim is verified by running several experiments using state-of-the-art benchmarks. Additionally, the significance of the frequency within which SDS introduces communication and information exchange is also investigated.