Asymmetric dimers can be formed by dewetting half-shells of gold deposited on the surfaces of spherical oxide colloids

Asymmetric dimers consisting of gold microcrystals and spherical silica colloids have been fabricated by depositing thin films of gold onto the spherical colloids to form half-shells, followed by annealing at elevated temperatures. The capability and feasibility of this procedure have been demonstrated with silica and titania beads of 0.2-2 mum in diameter and gamma-Fe2O3/polystyrene@SiO2 core-shell particles 0.5 mum in size. The dimensions of gold microcrystals could be conveniently varied in the range of 100-650 nm by controlling the thickness of gold films and/or the diameter of the spherical colloids. This method provides another route to asymmetric dimers made of colloidal particles that could be different in size, chemical composition, surface functionality, density or sign of surface charge, bulk property, or a combination of these properties.     

β-Cyclodextrin epichlorohydrin copolymer as a solid-phase extraction adsorbent for aromatic compounds in water samples

A novel solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure for trace aromatic compounds in water samples has been developed using 12 aromatic compounds as model compounds and GC-MS and UV spectrophotometry for detection. The method is based on the fact that β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) epichlorohydrin (ECH) copolymer (β-CDEP) can extract non-ionized aromatic compounds quantitatively from aqueous samples. The polymer used is a colorless, transparent and insoluble solid with a maximum capacity of 0.82 μmol aromatic compounds per gram. It was synthesized by co-polymerization of β-CD and ECH and characterized by FT-IR and UV. β-CDEP does not contain double bonds, and therefore it does not have appreciable absorbance in the UV region. The optimum pH range for the extraction of aromatic compounds is 2.5-5.0. The method has high extraction efficiency with the recoveries between 90 and 101% for aromatic compounds at 0.02-1.67 ppm levels, and the analytes can be easily eluted by methanol washing after preconcentration.     

Two-photon excitation studies of hypocrellins for photodynamic therapy

The photophysical and photochemical properties of hypocrellins (HA and HB) are examined with two-photon excitations at 800 nm using femtosecond pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser. The two-photon excited fluorescence spectra of HA and HB are very similar to those obtained by one-photon excitation, which may indicate that the two-photon induced photodynamic processes of hypocrellins are similar to one-photon induced photodynamic processes. The two-photon excitation cross sections of HA and HB are measured at 800 nm as about 34.8 x 10(-50) cm(4) s/photon and 21.3 x 10(-50) cm(4) s/photon, respectively. The large two-photon cross sections of both HA and HB, suggest that the hypocrellins can be potential two-photon phototherapeutic agents. As an example for two-photon photodynamic therapy of hypocrellins, we also further examine the cell-damaging effects of HA upon two-photon illumination. Our preliminary results of cell viability test indicate hypocrellins can effectively damage the Hela cells under two-photon illumination.     

Breakthrough of polymers in interactive liquid chromatography

Two separate peaks are observed for narrow polymer standards in both isocratic and gradient HPLC. One peak appears around the solvent front (the "solvent-plug peak" or "breakthrough peak"), whereas the second peak is retained significantly--or even highly. Although the effect has been observed many times before, it has never been rigorously explained. In this paper we provide a detailed explanation for the breakthrough peak. The two completely separate peaks are demonstrated not to represent to different fractions of the sample (e.g., the low- and high-molecular-mass parts of the distribution). Both peaks are representative of the entire polymeric sample for narrow polymer standard. Because the amount of the polymer in the breakthrough peak may vary, the quantitative analysis of the polymers by LC is jeopardized. The effects of the sample solvent, the (initial) mobile phase composition, the injection volume, the injected sample concentration, the column temperature, and the analyte structure and molecular mass on the breakthrough peak were investigated in LC experiments involving standards of polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate). Three necessary and sufficient conditionsare suggested for the breakthrough phenomenon to be observed. Recommendations to avoid the breakthrough phenomenon are given, culminating in a structured method for selecting the best possible sample solvents.     

Interaction between sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate and the adriamycin semiquinone free radical: A possible mechanism for antagonizing adriamycin-induced cardiotoxity

Adriamycin (ADR) is a powerful and widely used antitumor drug, but its dose dependent cardiotoxicity limits its application. This side effect is believed to be caused by the adriamycin semiquinone free radical (ASFR). The primary focus of this work is to test effects of sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS) on ASFR and adriamycin–induced lipid peroxidation. It was found that ADR, whether in the system of heart homogenate, heart mitochondria or heart submitochondria, with NADH as the substrate or in xanthine/xanthine oxidase under anaerobic conditions, all produced ASFR rapidly. STS was shown to effectively scavenge ASFR in all these systems and postpone the appearance of ASFR. The delayed time was proportional to the amount of STS. Under aerobic conditions, ASFR could be oxidized to generate oxygen free radicals. STS could not scavenge these oxygen free radicals, but it could effectively scavenge lipid free radicals generated from membrane lipid peroxidation of heart mitochondria. STS could significantly reduce mitochondrial swelling and lipid peroxidation induced by ADR. Animal experiments show that treatment of STS could inhibit endogenous lipid peroxidation caused by ADR. Here, a protective mechanism of STS is suggested that STS can rapidly and univalently oxidize ASFR, causing the cycle of adriamycin between its quinone form and semiquinone form and inhibiting the accumulation of ASFR. Under aerobic condition, STS can protect heart mitochondria by scavenging lipid free radicals generated from adriamycin-induced mitochondrial lipid peroxidation. This investigation shows that STS may be a physiological drug to antagonize the cardiotoxicity of ADR.     

多壁碳纳米管结构与其电化学容量之间关系的研究

采用化学气相沉积法,通过改变催化剂的成分、碳源、反应和后处理条件来制 备不同管径、管长、石墨化程度的多壁碳纳米管。经电化学容量性能测试、透射电 子显微镜观察和N_2吸附等结构表征,发现管径分布为30.0～40.0 nm、管长越短、 石墨化程度越低、比表面积越大、孔容越大的多壁碳纳米管具有更好的电化学容量 。     

Linear scaling local correlation approach for solving the coupled cluster equations of large systems

A linear scaling local correlation approach is proposed for approximately solving the coupled cluster doubles (CCD) equations of large systems in a basis of orthogonal localized molecular orbitals (LMOs). By restricting double excitations from spatially close occupied LMOs into their associated virtual LMOs, the number of significant excitation amplitudes scales only linearly with molecular size in large molecules. Significant amplitudes are obtained to a very good approximation by solving the CCD equations of various subsystems, each of which is made up of a cluster associated with the orbital indices of a subset of significant amplitudes and the local environmental domain of the cluster. The combined effect of these two approximations leads to a linear scaling algorithm for large systems. By using typical thresholds, which are designed to target an energy accuracy, our numerical calculations for a wide range of molecules using the 6-31G or 6-31G* basis set demonstrate that the present local correlation approach recovers more than 98.5% of the conventional CCD correlation energy.     

Formation and structure of a novel enediyne-RNA base covalent adduct

The structure of an unusual covalent adduct formed by thiol-activated neocarzinostatin chromophore (NCS-chrom) and a RNA-DNA hybrid having an overhang of four unpaired residues at the 3'-end of the RNA strand has been elucidated by MS and NMR spectroscopic analyses. Unlike previously characterized adducts formed by NCS-chrom on the sugar residue of the DNA target, this adduct has been found to be on one of the uracil bases in the RNA overhang. Covalent linkage is between C-6 of the post-activated NCS-chrom and C-5 of the uracil. A novel mechanism involving adduction of the NCS-chrom C-6 radical, generated by 2-mercaptoethanol activation, to C-5 of the uracil at the U9 position of the RNA 11-mer, oxidation by dioxygen, reduction by the thiol, and subsequent dehydration is proposed for adduct formation.     

Growth of Sb(2)E(3) (E = S, Se) polygonal tubular crystals via a novel solvent-relief-self-seeding process

A novel solvent-relief-self-seeding (SRSS) process was applied to grow bulk polygonal tubular single crystals of Sb(2)E(3) (E = S, Se), using SbCl(3) and chalcogen elements E (E = S, Se) as the raw materials at 180 degrees C for 7 days in ethanol solution. The products were characterized by various techniques, including X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscope (SEM), transmission electronic microscope (TEM), electronic diffraction (ED), and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS). The calculated electrical resistivities of the tubular single crystals in the range 20-320 K were of the order of 10(5)-10(6) Omega cm for Sb(2)S(3) and 10(3)-10(4) Omega cm for Sb(2)Se(3), respectively. The studies of the optical properties revealed that the materials formed had a band gap of 1.72 eV for Sb(2)S(3) and 1.82 eV for Sb(2)Se(3), respectively. The optimal reaction conditions for the growth of bulk tubular single crystals were that the temperature was not lower than 180 degrees C and the reaction time was not shorter than 7 days. The possible growth mechanism of tubular crystals was also discussed.