Trace analysis of rapamycin in human blood by micellar electrokinetic chromatography

A capillary electrophoretic method with UV detection at 278 nm has been developed for analysis of the immunosuppressant rapamycin (sirolimus) in human blood at low microgram per liter levels. Separation has been achieved in an acidic carrier electrolyte containing sodium dodecylsulfate and 30% (v/v) acetonitrile. For sample clean-up and preconcentration, an off-line solid-phase extraction step using a silica-based reversed-phase material and an on-capillary focussing technique were employed. The latter allows the injection of increased sample volumes without excessive band broadening. Although this new method is less sensitive than existing liquid chromatographic procedures combined with mass spectrometry, it is fully suited to routine analysis of rapamycin in blood from patients treated with this drug. Last but not least the low costs make it an attractive alternative to established methods.     

Die Gaspermeabilität von Polybutylenterephthalat in der Umgebung der Einfriertemperatur

The permeability of poly(butylene terephthalate) was examined for He, Ne, Ar and CO₂ at the temperature range of 293–338 K and an upstream pressure to 1,2 bar. The energies of activation of permeation and diffusion in case of Ne, Ar and CO₂ are higher above glass transition temperature than below, while they are nearly constant in case of He. The dependence of temperature of solubility coefficients does not change at the glass transition temperature.     

Improvement of Regio-Specific Production of Myricetin-3-O-α-l-Rhamnoside in Engineered Escherichia coli

Myricetin is an important flavonol whose medically important properties include activities as an antioxidant, anticarcinogen, and antimutagen. The solubility, stability, and other biological properties of the compounds can be enhanced by conjugating aglycon with sugar moieties. The type of sugar moiety also plays a significant role in the biological and physical properties of the natural product glycosides. Reconstructed Escherichia coli containing thymidine diphosphate-α-l-rhamnose sugar gene cassette and Arabidopsis-derived glycosyltransferase were used for rhamnosylation of myricetin. Myricetin (100 μM) was exogenously supplemented to induced cultures of engineered E. coli. The formation of target product—myricetin-3-O-α-l-rhamnoside—was confirmed by chromatographic and NMR analyses. The yield of product was improved by using various mutants and methylated cyclodextrin as a molecular carrier for myricetin in combination with E. coli M3G3. The maximal yield of product is 55.6 μM (3.31-fold higher than the control E. coli MG3) and shows 55.6 % bioconversion of substrate under optimized conditions.     

Carbaborane‐Substituted 1,2,3‐Triphospholanes and 1‐Aza‐2,5‐diphospholane: New Synthetic Approaches

New phosphorus‐containing, five‐membered P,P,P and P,N,P heterocycles were synthesized and fully characterized. The P,P,P heterocycles, 1,2,3‐triphospholanes, can be synthesized by two different facile pathways, whereas the P,N,P compound, a 1‐aza‐2,5‐diphospholane, can only be obtained with silylamine.     

Perfect impedance-matched left-handed behavior in combined metamaterial

Matching the impedance of a medium to free space, which is usually not available in natural materials, is an important advance in metamaterials. In this paper, we present a simple mechanism for a perfect impedance-matched left-handed metamaterials, that reveals a nearly zero reflection over operating frequency. This finding is based on the independent manipulation of the electric response without any effect on the magnetic one.     

Triple negative permeability band in plasmon-hybridized cut-wire-pair metamaterials

We expand the picture of plasmon hybridization in metamagnetic structure via numerically studying the electromagnetic coupling in the metallic cut-wire-pair super cells. It is shown that a triple negative permeability band can be achieved by systematically controlling the plasmon hybridization in such the structure. The corresponding transmission properties as well as the electromagnetic responses of the plasmon-hybridized structures were presented by using the finite integration technique simulations. Our results would reveal a promising design to obtain the multiple negative refractions based on the combination of hybridized cut-wire-pairs and continuous wires.     

Highly sensitive fluorescent sensor targeting CuCl2 based on thiophene attached anthracene compound (TA)

A novel thiophene attached anthracene (TA) based fluorescent compound was designed and synthesized. The TA showed a high quantum yield (Qy = 0.34) in regard to fluorescence. We applied this TA compound to detect specific metal compound and found that it could identify CuCl₂ from other metals through dramatic fluorescence change at λ_max = 460 nm. It showed strong quenching fluorescence property with CuCl₂ while with other metal compounds it exhibited strong blue fluorescence emission. UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy clearly demonstrated that the quenching property of TA at λ_max = 460 nm was due to overlapping of the fluorescence peak of TA at λ_max = 460 nm and the absorption band of CuCl₂ (from 190 nm to 525 nm). Binding constant (K′), which was 0.0895 mM^?2, indicated a complexation ratio between TA and CuCl₂ as 1:2 and this interaction induced quenching property.     

Determination of k-factors by thermal neutron activation technique

The k_{o, Au}-factors of 10 elements have been determined by irradating the samples with thermal neutrons in the reactor thermal column. The proposed method has the advantage of eliminating the errors induced by the uncertainties of the neutron spectrum parameters and the nuclear data. The results obtained are in good agreement with the literature data.