Correlation between Structure and Energetic Properties of Three Nitroaromatic Compounds: Bis(2,4-dinitrophenyl) Ether, Bis(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl) Ether, and Bis(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl) Thioether.

Decades after the initial discovery of bis(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl) ether derivatives, the first single-crystal X-ray structures for three members of this compound class can finally be shown and the analytical data could be completed. This group of molecules is an interesting example that illustrates why older predictive models for the sensitivity values of energetic materials like bond dissociation enthalpy and electrostatic potential sometimes give results that deviate significantly from the experimentally determined values. By applying newer models like Hirshfeld surface analysis and fingerprint plot analysis that utilize the crystal structure of an energetic material, the experimentally found trend of sensitivities could be understood and the older models could be brought into a proper perspective.

Evaluation of protein loading techniques and improved separation in OFFGEL isoelectric focusing.

2-DE proved to be a key technology in protein science since the two orthogonal separation dimensions are capable of protein isoform separation. Recently, Agilent introduced the OFFGEL 3100 fractionator for in solution IEF (off-gel) of proteins with the help of a 12- or 24-well frame. With this instrument also conventional focusing in IPG strips after passive in-tray rehydration can be performed.

Hemorphins act as homeostatic agents in response to endotoxin-induced stress.

The effect of synthetic LVV-hemorphin-7 and hemorphin-7 on hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis activity in response to endotoxin-induced stress was studied. The intraperitoneal (ip) endotoxin (lipopolysaccaride, LPS) (0.5 mg/kg) administration in combination with hemorphin (1 mg/kg) induce significant decrease in plasma corticosterone and modest decrease in plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) in compare with elevated levels of both corticosterone and TNFalpha in plasma of rats received LPS administration alone.

ICPLQuant - A software for non-isobaric isotopic labeling proteomics.

The main goal of many proteomics experiments is an accurate and rapid quantification and identification of regulated proteins in complex biological samples. The bottleneck in quantitative proteomics remains the availability of efficient software to evaluate and quantify the tremendous amount of mass spectral data acquired during a proteomics project. A new software suite, ICPLQuant, has been developed to accurately quantify isotope-coded protein label (ICPL)-labeled peptides on the MS level during LC-MALDI and peptide mass fingerprint experiments.