Solid phase microextraction fills the gap in tissue sampling protocols

Metabolomics and biomarkers discovery are an integral part of bioanalysis. However, untargeted tissue analysis remains as the bottleneck of such studies due to the invasiveness of sample collection, as well as the laborious and time-consuming sample preparation protocols. In the current study, technology integrating in vivo sampling, sample preparation and global extraction of metabolites – solid phase microextraction was presented and evaluated during liver and lung transplantation in pig model. Sampling approaches, including selection of the probe, transportation, storage conditions and analyte coverage were discussed. The applicability of the method for metabolomics studies was demonstrated during lung transplantation experiments.     

Search for heavy particles decaying into electron-positron pairs in pp collisions

We present results of searches for technirho (rho(T)), techniomega (omega(T)), and Z' particles, using the decay channels rho(T),omega(T),Z'-->e(+)e(-). The search is based on 124.8 pb(-1) of data collected by the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron during 1992-1996. In the absence of a signal, we set 95% C.L. upper limits on the cross sections for the processes pp-->rho(T),omega(T),Z'-->e(+)e(-) as a function of the mass of the decaying particle. For certain model parameters, we exclude the existence of degenerate rho(T) and omega(T) states with masses below about 200 GeV. We exclude a Z' with mass below 670 GeV, assuming that it has the same couplings to fermions as the Z boson.     

Quantum effects in the low temperature reorientation of N2− in KCl and KI

The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of KCl:N₂^? and KI:N₂^? were studied as a function of temperature and applied uniaxial stress in the temperature range 2–35°K. The molecular reorientation rates were determined for both 60 and 90° reorientations from the motional broadening and narrowing effects in the observed spectra. Although thermally activated in the range 15–35°K for KCl:N₂^?, the parameters deduced from the data are not consistent with a simple classical model of the motion. In both hosts the 90° rotation is markedly faster than the 60° reorientation, in conflict with simple models, but explicable in terms of the suppression of the tunneling matrix elements by polarization of the host crystal. In KI:N₂^?, the 90° reorientation is still apparent at 1·7°K and the spectra clearly show the influence of the symmetry of the nuclear spin states upon the reorientation kinetics, an effect predicted by Sussman.