An integrated solid-phase extraction system for sub-picomolar detection

A microchip structure etched on a glass substrate for packed column solid-phase extraction (SPE) and capillary electrochromatography (CEC) is described. A 200 microm long, octadecylsilane (ODS) packed column was secured using two different approaches: solvent lock or polymer entrapment. The former method was utilized for SPE while the latter approach was applied for CEC. In SPE, the ODS packed chamber gave a detection limit of 70 fM for a nonpolar BODIPY (493/503) dye when concentrated for 3 min at an electroosmotic flow rate of 4.14 nL/min, compared to 30 pM for this detector without the SPE step. SPE beds showed reproducible, linear calibration curves (R(2) = 0.9989) between 1 and 100 pM BODIPY at fixed preconcentration times. Breakthrough curves for the 330 pL (ODS-packed) bed indicated a capacity for BODIPY dye of 8.1 x 10(-14) mmol, or 0.25 mmol dye per liter of bed. The ODS-chamber could also be used to analyze dilute amino acid and peptide solutions. In the CEC format, two neutral dyes (BODIPY and acridine orange) were baseline-separated in an isocratic run with a theoretical plate count of 84 (420 000 plates/m) and a reduced plate height of about 1. A labeled peptide was also analyzed by CEC, using the acidic eluent (84% acetonitrile, and 26% aqueous trifluoroacetic acid (0.05%)) preferred for peptide separations on ODS-coated silica particles.     

1H NMR spectra and conformational analysis of some 1,4-dithiepan-6-ones

¹H NMR Parameters are reported for five 1,4-dithiepan-6-ones. 1,4-Dithiepan-6-one 1-oxide exists in solution as an equilibrium involving two different twist-chair conformations, which contrasts with its conformational behaviour in the solid state. Twist-chair conformers are also adopted by other members of the series, the favoured form varying with ring substitution. The S?O bond in 1,4-dithiepan-6-one 1-oxide and in its 5,5-dimethyl analogue exhibit a preference for the pseudoaxial site.     

Measurement of angular distribution of soft X‐ray radiation from thin targets in the tabletop storage ring MIRRORCLE‐20SX

The only available tabletop electron storage rings are the machines from the MIRRORCLE series. The electrons are accelerated in a microtron and injected into the storage ring. During its circulation, each electron passes through a tiny target many times, emitting a photon beam. Both the spectrum and the angular distribution of the radiation depend on the material, the thickness and the shape of the target. In this paper measured angular distributions of the radiation from several different targets in the magnetic field of the 20 MeV storage ring MIRRORCLE‐20SX are presented. The detector comprises a 3 mm × 3 mm × 8.5 µm plastic scintillator (PS) coupled to a photomultiplier by a bundle of optical fibers. The output of the photomultiplier is digitized by an IF converter. This detector is sensitive mostly to soft X‐ray radiation, and its PS is moved by a mechanical system in a plane perpendicular to the radiation axis. The measured angular distributions for Mo and Sn targets contain an annulus which is attributed to transition radiation. The angular distributions for Al, carbon nanotube and diamond‐like carbon (DLC) targets show some suppression of the radiation along the magnetic field. This is the first evidence of observation of the angular distribution of synchrotron Cherenkov radiation, which represents Cherenkov radiation in a magnetic field. The power radiated from the DLC target is estimated.     

Lattice dynamics of some binary alloys

Summary The phonon dispersion frequencies for Cu₃Au, Cu₃Zn and Ni₃Fe alloys have been calculated using the model potential approach. The contribution of a short-range three-body interaction to the dynamical matrix has also been included in the present study. The theoretically computed phonon dispersion curves of these alloys are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.     

A new antibacterial benzophenone glycoside from Psidium guajava (Linn.) leaves

Bioactivity-guided fractionation of methanol extract from the leaves of Psidium guajava L. (Myrtaceae) yielded a new benzophenone glycoside, Guajaphenone A (2) together with two known compounds, Garcimangosone D (1) and Guaijaverin (3). Their structures were elucidated by analysis of spectroscopic data including 1D and 2D NMR and electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The isolated compounds were screened against standard strains of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria using broth dilution assay method, and the MIC values determined and compared with reference antibiotic ceftriaxone. They were found to have significant antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with all of them showing better activities against S. aureus, but displaying weaker activities, in comparison to ceftriaxone. However, despite reduced effect of these compounds against the organisms, this work opens the perspective to use these molecules as ‘leads’ for the design of novel and selective drug candidates for some tropical infectious diseases.     

Lattice dynamics of molybdenum and tungsten

Summary The lattice dynamics of molybdenum and tungsten has been re-examined within the framework of the transition metal model potential by incorporating the local-field correction to the dynamical matrix for phonon dispersion relation. It is observed that the local-field correction can be represented by an attractive short-range potential which tends to cancel or ?screen? the Born-Mayer repulsion. The numerical calculations for molybdenum and tungsten show that the local-field correction plays a significant role and leads to a better agreement between the theoretically computed phonon dispersion curves and the experimental data.     

Improved selectivity for the analysis of maternal serum and cord serum for polyfluoroalkyl chemicals

Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid, two of the most widely studied polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs), can cross the placenta. Therefore, data on the exposure to PFCs of the very young are needed to evaluate the potential health effects associated with such exposure. Human serum, especially serum collected from pregnant women and cord serum, may contain endogenous components that can interfere in the separation by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of PFOS and another PFC of interest, perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), from other serum biomolecules. The presence of such interferences may prevent the adequate quantification of PFOS and PFHxS in cord serum or serum collected from pregnant women, and potentially hinder the assessment of gestational exposure to these important PFCs using biomonitoring. We have modified our on-line solid phase extraction-HPLC-isotope dilution-tandem mass spectrometry analytical method for measuring PFCs in serum and developed an approach that allows for the elimination of these potential interferences without compromising analytical sensitivity and throughput. The combination of acetonitrile as the HPLC mobile phase organic solvent and a Betasil C8 HPLC column provided the best separation of PFOS and PFHxS from interferent peaks. In addition to eliminating these interferences, the acetonitrile method has a shorter runtime and is more sensitive for most PFCs (limits of detection were 0.1 ng/mL except for PFOS (0.2 ng/mL)) than our previous method that used methanol for the HPLC separation. The present method should improve the precise and selective analysis of maternal and cord serum for PFCs.     

Ginzburg-Landau theory for higher order phase transition

Ginzburg-Landau theory for studying phase transitions of higher order has been derived using coarse graining and lattice formulation within Ehrenfest thermodynamics. Our developed Hamiltonian leads directly to the functional of the system. We studied the evolution of the order parameter using our developed model equations for third and fourth order phase transitions. The periodic nature of the system can be likened to spatially varying periodic soliton/antisoliton lattice of holes in condensate. This is different from what one observes for any conventional solitary wave in the second order phase regime.     

Synthesis,experimental and theoretical characterization,and antimicrobial studies of some Fe(II), Co(II), and Ni(II) complexes of 2-(4,6-dihydroxypyrimidin-2-ylamino)naphthalene-1,4-dione

The work reported the synthesis and characterisation of Fe²⁺, Co²⁺, and Ni²⁺ complexes of 2-(4,6-dihydroxypyrimidin-2-ylamino)naphthalene-1,4-dione (HL). The spectroscopic and elemental analysis results obtained were consistent with the adoption of the formulas, [ML₂] (M = Fe and Co) and [ML₂(H₂O)] (M = Ni) for the metal complexes. Electronic spectra and magnetic moments of the metal complexes corroborated octahedral geometry for Ni(II) complex and tetrahedral geometry for Fe(II) and Co(II) complexes. However, quantum-chemical calculations using density functional theory predicted trigonal bipyramidal geometry for Ni(II) complex and provided corroborative explanations for the structures of the other complexes. Conductance measurements in dimethylsulfoxide indicate that the complexes are non-electrolytes. The antimicrobial potential of the compounds was evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella oxytoca, Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, and Rhizopus stolonifer. The compounds gave moderate to good antimicrobial activity. However, the bacterial and fungal organisms were more susceptible to the cobalt complex and ligand respectively than the other compounds at concentration of 10 mg/mL. The compounds were also assessed for their antioxidant potential using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. The compounds displayed good DPPH radical scavenging activities. The nickel complex exhibited the best DPPH radical scavenging activity compared to the other compounds.