Glass transition study of blends of poly(N-methyldodecano-12-lactam) with poly(styrene-co-acrylic acid)

The blends of poly(N-methyldodecano-12-lactam) (MPA) with poly(styrene-co-acrylic acid) (PSAA) prepared from dioxane solutions were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The experimental DSC data of glass transition temperature T_g as a function of composition of amorphous phase were fitted for the as-prepared and re-scanned samples using theoretical approaches. The as-prepared blends show monotonic single-T_g dependence. The values of the Gordon-Taylor coefficient not far from unity suggest miscibility of the blend system in amorphous phase in the whole concentration range. As documented by FTIR, this miscibility is associated with hydrogen bonds between COOH groups of the acrylic acid units in PSAA molecules acting as the H-bond donor and CO groups of MPA acting as the H-bond acceptor. The T_g-dependencies obtained form the second runs have a profound sigmoid character. The Schneider treatment induced an idea of partial limited miscibility in the MPA/PSAA blends caused by prevalence of homogeneous contacts. The difference in T_g between the first and second run can partly be attributed to higher crystallinities in the former.     

二维小波变换与子窗口因子分析法结合用于含噪声HPLC-DAD数据的解析

将二维小波变换与子窗口因子分析法相结合,用于模拟的高噪声HPLC-DAD数据的解析.首先应用二维小波变换滤除噪声,然后采用子窗口因子分析法解析重叠峰.结果表明,信噪比为10的高噪声基本被滤除掉.     

Dephosphorylation of intact glycoprotein to greatly improve digestion efficiency coupled with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometric analysis

Sialylation is essential for a variety of cellular functions. Herein, we used bovine fetuin with three potential N-linked glycosylation sites containing complex-type glycan structures, four potential O-linked glycosylation sites and six potential phosphorylation sites as a model compound to develop a highly-efficient digestion strategy for sialylated glycoproteins and efficient enrichment strategy for sialylated glycopeptides using titanium dioxide. The former according to the process of alkaline phosphatase digestion followed by tryptic digestion and then proteinase K digestion could greatly improve the enzymatic efficiency on fetuin, and the latter could obviously enhance the enrichment efficiency for multisialylated glycopeptides using phosphoric acid solution as elution buffer. The mass spectra of the enriched glycopeptides derived from fetuin reveal that several series of the ion clusters with mass difference of 291 Da correspond to the presence of multisialylated glycopeptides. In addition, the approach was applied to characterize the sialylated status of α2-macroglobulin and transferrin, respectively, from the sera of healthy subjects and sex- and age-matched patients with thyroid cancer, and their spectra indicate that the change in the amount of the glycoforms containing different number of sialic acid (SA) residues from one glycosylation site may be used to differentiate between healthy subjects and cancer cases.     

红树林湿地土壤矿物的分析

以湛江湾南海堤典型红树林湿地土壤为研究对象,采用X射线衍射(XRD)和傅立叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)快速批量鉴定土壤中矿物成分,利用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)观察土壤颗粒形貌特征并获得化学成分组成信息;同时采集附近光滩土壤样品进行对比研究,以揭示红树林湿地土壤特殊的生态环境特征。结果表明,红树林湿地土壤矿物主要由高岭石、石英、白云母、埃洛石、地开石和蛇纹石等组成;与光滩土壤相比,红树林湿地土壤矿物类型多样,而光滩土壤矿物相对单一,主要为石英和高岭石;红树林湿地土壤颗粒以片状聚合体为主,主要元素组成为C、O、S、Al、Si、Mg、Fe等,常见含有Cu、Zn、Mo等重金属元素。同时发现红树林湿地土壤颗粒含有较丰富的硫化物;而光滩土壤未发现上述特征,表明红树林湿地处于一个特殊的生态环境,土壤沉积物中富含有机质、Fe、S等,比一般潮滩更易于富集硫化物或重金属。     

基于迭代小波变换的光谱信号本底扣除方法研究

本底会对光谱分析结果产生很大的干扰作用,为获取特征峰的有效信息,必须首先去除本底。该文提出了一种基于小波变换的本底扣除算法,通过对光谱及后续光谱迭代进行小波变换,利用逼近系数估计本底,直到本底收敛。提出了判断多次估计的本底最大误差是否足够小的收敛准则。利用该算法去除本底后,即可进行特征峰信息的提取。分别利用仿真光谱和实验能量色散X射线荧光光谱对算法进行了验证,并与传统小波变换和多项式拟合法进行了对比。结果表明,该算法能够更准确扣除光谱本底,对其他光谱的本底扣除也具有借鉴意义。     

Characterization of lead and lead leaching properties of lead glazed ceramics from the Solis Valley, Mexico, using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFT)

Ingestion of relatively small amounts of lead is now recognized to cause significant neurological and cognitive effects in humans. Large quantities may be fatal, yet lead poisoning, especially of children, is still a major public health concern in many parts of the world. In rural Mexican communities lead oxide (PbO) is added to ceramic glaze as a fluxing agent, lowering starting firing temperatures to 500 °C. The purpose of this study is to characterize the lead chemical forms in ceramic glazes from the Solis Valley, Mexico, to investigate lead leaching properties of these ceramics, and to demonstrate the applicability of lead isotope signatures as a means of tracing lead source origins. Ceramics were collected from the rural village of Santa Maria de Canchesda, State of Mexico, Mexico. Dried liquid glazes, post-fired glaze material, and pure PbO were analyzed by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFT). Results from DRIFT analysis indicate that PbO (1429 cm⁻¹ band) is the active form of lead found in liquid glazes and ceramics. Some shifting of 1429 cm⁻¹ PbO peak to lower wavenumbers occurs in post-fired ceramics, and this may be due to the formation of lead bisilicate during firing. Ceramics samples were leached in 0.02 M citric acid solution for 1 min, and leached lead concentrations were measured using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Lead concentrations in these leachates varied from 0.4-80.4 μg ml⁻¹, while the control pottery from the US leached only 0.1 μg ml⁻¹ lead. Elemental distributions on glaze surfaces were identified by laser ablation (LA)-ICP-MS. Nitric acid extracts of soils, teeth, and ceramic glazes were analyzed for lead isotope ratios (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb vs. ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb) using ICP-MS. Similarities of tooth and ceramic lead isotope ratios indicate that ceramics may be a substantial source of body lead burden in the Solis Valley. This study demonstrates the applicability of lead isotope ratios for lead source identification, and it identifies potential health risks from ceramic use induced lead toxicity within the Solis Valley.     

Determination of the diffusion coefficient of water into atelocollagen type I thin films by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

 The diffusion coefficient of water into thin polymer layers of glutar aldehyde cross-linked atelocollagen type I matrix (sample 1, the typical layer thickness was about 0.065 × 10⁻³ m) at 23 °C was 1.142 × 10⁻¹⁰ m² s⁻¹. At twice the concentration of the cross-linking agent (sample 2) the diffusion coefficient was 2.795 × 10⁻¹⁰ m² s⁻¹. This increase was attributed to the more ordered morphology and the creation of ordered microvoids in the film. A larger surface area is then available for the transport of diffusing molecules, allowing a higher penetration rate of the solvent. Received: 11 January 2000/Accepted: 6 May 2000     

Constructing irregular surfaces to enclose macromolecular complexes for mesoscale modeling using the discrete surface charge optimization (DISCO) algorithm

Salt-mediated electrostatics interactions play an essential role in biomolecular structures and dynamics. Because macromolecular systems modeled at atomic resolution contain thousands of solute atoms, the electrostatic computations constitute an expensive part of the force and energy calculations. Implicit solvent models are one way to simplify the model and associated calculations, but they are generally used in combination with standard atomic models for the solute. To approximate electrostatics interactions in models on the polymer level (e.g., supercoiled DNA) that are simulated over long times (e.g., milliseconds) using Brownian dynamics, Beard and Schlick have developed the DiSCO (Discrete Surface Charge Optimization) algorithm. DiSCO represents a macromolecular complex by a few hundred discrete charges on a surface enclosing the system modeled by the Debye-Hückel (screened Coulombic) approximation to the Poisson-Boltzmann equation, and treats the salt solution as continuum solvation. DiSCO can represent the nucleosome core particle (>12,000 atoms), for example, by 353 discrete surface charges distributed on the surfaces of a large disk for the nucleosome core particle and a slender cylinder for the histone tail; the charges are optimized with respect to the Poisson-Boltzmann solution for the electric field, yielding a approximately 5.5% residual. Because regular surfaces enclosing macromolecules are not sufficiently general and may be suboptimal for certain systems, we develop a general method to construct irregular models tailored to the geometry of macromolecules. We also compare charge optimization based on both the electric field and electrostatic potential refinement. Results indicate that irregular surfaces can lead to a more accurate approximation (lower residuals), and the refinement in terms of the electric field is more robust. We also show that surface smoothing for irregular models is important, that the charge optimization (by the TNPACK minimizer) is efficient and does not depend on the initial assigned values, and that the residual is acceptable when the distance to the model surface is close to, or larger than, the Debye length. We illustrate applications of DiSCO's model-building procedure to chromatin folding and supercoiled DNA bound to Hin and Fis proteins. DiSCO is generally applicable to other interesting macromolecular systems for which mesoscale models are appropriate, to yield a resolution between the all-atom representative and the polymer level.     

In situ FTIR diagnostics of the radio-frequency plasma decomposition of N2O

The decomposition of N₂O in a 13.56-MHz parallel-plate system was studied usingin situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Areas of two infrared absorption bands of N₂O recorded at 8 cm^–1 resolution were used to estimate relative gas-phase dissociation as a function of rf power and flow rate at 500 mT. Flow rate was found to strongly affect band areas over the range of powers investigated (10–90 W). The effect of rf power on band areas diminished above 40 W, probably due to poor plasma confinement. Distortion of the band shapes by the plasma permitted rotational temperatures to be estimated. Rotational temperature increased essentially linearly with power at constant flow rate, reaching 450 K at 80 W, but was independent of flow rate at constant power. Rotational temperatures were also found to depend on the temperature of the electrodes, which were heated by plasma exposure. No infrared-active product species were observed even under batch conditions where all N₂O was irreversibly dissociated. This lack of detectable products and a 50% pressure rise observed in a batch study suggest that N₂ and O₂ are the primary stable discharge products.     

Fourier transform spectroscopy using image sensors

Multichannel Fourier transform spectrometers utilizing image sensing devices are reviewed along with the instrumental design concepts. Although the idea itself is fairly simple, a photographic plate in holographic spectroscopy is replaced by an image sensor, there are stringent requirements to be satisfied in order to realize the system for field use. Mainly two types of the instrument, which are characterized by the Sagnac common-path interferometer and the polarization interferometer optics, respectively, are described with regard to their system performances. Examples of the system operation introduced show that Fourier transform spectrometers without mechanical moving parts play an important role in a variety of spectroscopic applications under severe surroundings. In a summary, methods for the resolution enhancement and comments on the signal-to-noise ratio are also included.