Enantiomer discrimination by mass spectrometry: noncovalent interactions of an N-derivatized dipeptide with various cinchona alkaloid derivatives and comparison with enantioselective liquid-phase separations

The enantiomer discrimination properties of cinchona alkaloid derived chiral selectors (CSs) towards a dipeptide analyte are examined by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The complexes formed between the CSs and the analyte enantiomers owing to various noncovalent interactions are analyzed and the magnitudes of enantiomer discrimination are determined from the complexes mass spectrometric intensities. The influence of different structural features of the CSs on enantioselectivity is discussed. The enantiomer discrimination results obtained by mass spectrometry are compared with those from related liquid chromatography enantiomer separations. A certain coherence between the chromatographic and mass spectrometric enantioselectivities could be established and the enantiomer discrimination patterns, i.e., the relative binding strengths, were identical for the two techniques. Thus, the use of mass spectrometry as a screening tool in the development of new CSs for chromatographic applications seems feasible.     

Discriminating bacteria from other atmospheric particles using femtosecond molecular dynamics

We investigated femtosecond pump–repump depletion schemes in biological fluorophors (tryptophan and riboflavin) in order to discriminate bioaerosols from organic interferents emitted by combustion (traffic related urban aerosols). Although fluorescence depletion is significative for riboflavin (Rbf, Vitamin B2), the most striking results have been obtained for the amino acid tryptophan (Trp). By using a 270 nm-pump 810 nm-repump femtosecond excitation, we showed that Trp exhibits fluorescence depletion up to 50%, contrary to naphthalene (<2%), despite almost identical absorption/emission spectra. We demonstrate that this process in Trp is so robust that it still occurs in living bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Escherechia coli and Enterococcus fæcalis) but is absent for pure diesel fuel. This remarkable difference between biological and organic aerosols can be exploited to discriminate among them.     

Amino acid cluster formation studied by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

The association properties of natural and non-natural amino acids were studied in detail using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The results show a highly diverse cluster formation behavior of amino acids. There are differences regarding the degree of clustering (average cluster size), the presence or absence of one or several 'magic' clusters of special stability and the influence of chirality on cluster stability. Cluster formation does not show a good correlation with simple physico-chemical properties (such as solubility), indicating that it is a specific process and not only a simple aggregation during evaporation/ionization. A systematic study of cluster formation of serine derivatives reveals that all functional groups play a prominent role in the binding of the magic octamer. The results support the idea of the zwitterionic character of the octamer. Electrospray ionization of the side-chain acetylated serine shows the formation of a very stable tetramer with a strong preference for homochirality. The results suggest that Ser8 is made up of two tetramer subunits, held together by hydrogen bonds of the side-chain.     

A scheme of quantum state discrimination over specified states via weak-value measurement

The commonly adopted projective measurements are invalid in the specified task of quantum state discrimination when the discriminated states are superposition of planar-position basis states whose complex-number probability amplitudes have the same magnitude but different phases. Therefore we propose a corresponding scheme via weak-value measurement and examine the feasibility of this scheme. Furthermore, the role of the weak-value measurement in quantum state discrimination is analyzed and compared with one in quantum state tomography in this Letter.     

A designed locked nucleic acid-based nanopore for discriminating ctDNA and its coexisting analogue ncDNA

Circulating tumor DNA(ctDNA),carrying tumor-specific sequence mutations,is a promising biomarker for classification,diagnosis and prognosis of cancers.However,there is still a great challenge in discriminating single-base difference between ctDNA and its coexisting analogue(normal circulating DNA,ncDNA)at a serum sample.A locked nucleic acid(LNA)probe combined with a-HL nanopore sensor was designed,which achieved a high signal-to-background ratio(SBR)of^8.34 × 10^3,as well as a significant discrimination capability(~12.3 times)of single-base diffe rence.The accurate discrimination strategy is label-free,convenient,selective and sensitive,which has great potential in the early diagnosis of diseases and biomedical research fields.     

Phenotyping Metastatic Brain Tumors Applying Spectrochemical Analyses: Segregation of Different Cancer Types

Metastatic brain tumors represent a significant proportion of tumors identified intraoperatively. A rapid diagnostic method, circumventing the need for histopathology studies, could prove clinically useful. As many spectroscopic studies have shown ability to differentitate between different tumor types, this technique was evaluated for use within metastatic brain tumors. Spectrochemical approaches [Raman and attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy] were applied to determine how readily they may identify the primary site for the metastatic tumor. Metastases were from primary adenocarcinomas of lung (n?=?7) and colorectum (n?=?7), and for comparison, metastatic melanoma (n?=?7). The objective was to determine if Raman or ATR-FTIR spectroscopy could delineate the origin of the primary tumor. The results demonstrate that there are marked similarities between the two adenocarcinoma groups and whilst Raman and ATR-FTIR can distinguish the three groups with limited success, classification accuracy is greatly improved when combining the adenocarcinoma groups. The use of such techniques in the clinical setting is more likely to be found intraoperatively, determining the presence of a tumor and suggesting the tumor class; however, traditional histopathology would still be needed to identify the primary origin of the tumor.     

Chiral Recognition of Zolmitriptan by Modified Cyclodextrins

The two pyrrolidinylidenesulfamido‐modified β‐cyclodextrins (β‐CDs) 3 and 4 were prepared and studied for chiral discrimination of the enantiomers (R)‐ and (S)‐ 1 of zolmitriptan. The pyrrolidinylidenesulfamido spacer improved the chiral discrimination and binding abilities of these modified cyclodextrins. The hosts 3 and 4 showed higher selectivity for (S)‐ 1 . The association constants (Table) and enantioselectivity factors were calculated for the complexes of (R)‐ and (S)‐ 1 with the β‐CDs 2 – 4 . The formation of host?guest complexes was confirmed by ¹H‐NMR studies.     

Objective discrimination of fur type based on electrophoresis optimized for fur-hair proteins

The accurate identification of animal species used for fur is important for conserving endangered animals, stopping illegal fur distribution, and addressing consumer concerns. Animal species used for fur are currently differentiated by observing species-specific morphological fur-hair features through a microscope. Although this method is simple, the results may differ among inspectors owing to its subjective nature. To develop an objective approach for differentiating animal species based on fur, we utilized the electrophoretic patterns of fur-hair proteins. First, we optimized protein extraction methods to produce clear electrophoretic patterns from fur-hair proteins. Then, we obtained 324 electrophoretic patterns from 54 fur samples belonging to 24 different animals; 216 of the 324 patterns were used for the construction of a discrimination model using two-way orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis. The model correctly discriminated between all the remaining 108 patterns without any false negatives or positives. Moreover, this model could discriminate between fur samples from closely related species that are difficult to distinguish using conventional microscopic identification because of the visual similarity of the fur hairs.     

基于堆栈压缩自编码的近红外光谱药品鉴别方法

由于近红外光谱在药品鉴别应用中具有分析速度快、样品无损、可现场检测等突出优点，目前已在众多领域中广泛应用。但近红外光谱存在信噪比低，吸收强度弱且谱峰重叠等缺点，无法从光谱中直接得到定性/定量的物质信息，因而近红外光谱分析技术常作为一种间接分析技术，并且光谱的化学计量学建模方法成为近红外光谱分析的核心内容。深度学习是机器学习的一个新的分支，并已经成功运用于多个领域。深度学习的网络结构和非线性的激活能力，使其模型特别适合高维、非线性的大规模数据建模。为进一步丰富近红外光谱建模方法，并提高近红外光谱分析技术的回归精度或分类准确率，将深度学习方法应用于近红外光谱分析，发展新的建模方法十分必要。面向近红外光谱定性分析技术，提出一种基于堆栈压缩自编码网络(SCAE)光谱定性分析方法，并应用于多类别药品的光谱分析，以区分或鉴别不同厂家生产的同种药品。压缩自编码网络(CAE)以自编码网络(AE)为基础，进一步加入雅克比矩阵作为约束项。自编码网络最初是用实现数据降维，以学习数据内部特征，而雅克比矩阵包含数据在各个方向上的信息，将其作为AE的约束项则可使提取到的特征对输入数据在一定程度下的扰动具有不变性，从而提高AE提取特征的能力。SCAE是一种由多层CAE构成的神经网络。前一层CAE的隐藏层作为后一层CAE的输入层，网络的全部参数是通过采用逐层贪婪的训练方式来获取的，训练结束后将所有网络视为一个整体，通过反向传播算法进行微调，最后使用Logistic/Softmax分类器进行定性分析。实验数据均为中国食品药品检定研究院采集，以头孢克肟胶囊作为二分类实验数据，硝酸异山梨酯片作为多分类实验数据。通过Bruker Matrix光谱仪测定每个样本在不同波长下的吸光度值得到其光谱曲线，再通过OPUS软件消除漂移等因素对光谱样本之间产生的偏差。接下来通过实验确定约束项雅克比矩阵的系数λ为0.003之后建立模型。建模过程分为五个阶段，分别为： 预处理阶段，预训练阶段，微调阶段，测试阶段和对比阶段。为了验证SCAE在分类准确性、算法稳定性和建模时间等方面的性能，与BP神经网络、SVM算法、稀疏自编码(SAE)和降噪自编码(DAE)开展对比实验研究。分类准确性方面，在不同的训练集与测试集的比例下，SCAE均有最佳的分类准确性与算法稳定性。建模时间方面，由于SVM算法不需要预训练和特征提取，所以运行时间方面比其他算法有大的优势，但是SCAE建模速度优于除SVM之外的其他对比算法。综合而言，使用SCAE进行药品鉴别有效可行。     

Analysis of questioned documents: A review

During the last years (2000–2014), many publications concerning the forensic analysis of questioned documents have been published, and new techniques and methodologies are nowadays employed to overcome forensic caseworks. This article reviews a comprehensive collection of the works focused on this issue, including dating studies, the analysis of inks from pens and printers, the analysis of paper, the analysis of other samples related to questioned documents and studies on intersecting lines. These sections highlight the most relevant analytical studies by a wide range of analytical techniques. Separation and spectrometric techniques are critically discussed and compared, emphasizing the advantages and disadvantages of each one. Finally, concluding remarks on the research published are included.