Experimental Methods and Their Applications

Different experimental and theoretical methods have long been used to unravel the mystery behind the selection of DNA and constituents molecules (especially nucleic acid bases) by nature as genetic material [13-15], Due to complexity of the problem it can be solved only by careful applications of both types of techniques and their mutual interplay. In the next few sections, we provide a brief introduction to the theoretical and experimental methods and their applications used in this context that are discussed in detail in this volume. 

The main characteristic of most of the new experimental methods is the simultaneous use (coupling) of electrochemical techniques with other nonelectrochemical methods. Only some of these methods can be very briefly mentioned in the following sections. More detailed description of the methods and their application can be found in monographs and textbooks [109-lllj. 

The intent of this chapter is to teach several of the experimental tools routinely applied by physical organic chemists in the study of reaction mechanisms. The majority of these methods build upon an analysis of kinetics and thermodynamics, providing a natural progression from the previous chapter. Both the theory behind the methods and their application are covered, and many methods are illustrated by example. 

The present chapter has centered on experimental efforts performed to study confined polymer crystallization. However, molecular dynamics simulations and dynamic Monte Carlo simulations have also been recently employed to study confined nucleation and crystallization of polymeric systems [99, 147]. These methods and their application to polymer crystallization are discussed in detail in Chapter 6. A recent reference by Hu et al. reviews the efforts performed by these researchers in trying to understand the effects of nanoconfinement on polymer crystallization mainly through dynamic Monte Carlo simulations of lattice polymers [147, 311]. The authors have performed such types of simulations in order to study homopolymers confined in ultrathin films [282], nanorods [312] and nanodroplets [147], and crystallizable block components within diblock copolymers confined in lamellar [313, 314], cylindrical [70,315], and spherical [148] MDs. 

Section BT1.2 provides a brief summary of experimental methods and instmmentation, including definitions of some of the standard measured spectroscopic quantities. Section BT1.3 reviews some of the theory of spectroscopic transitions, especially the relationships between transition moments calculated from wavefiinctions and integrated absorption intensities or radiative rate constants. Because units can be so confusing, numerical factors with their units are included in some of the equations to make them easier to use. Vibrational effects, die Franck-Condon principle and selection mles are also discussed briefly. In the final section, BT1.4. a few applications are mentioned to particular aspects of electronic spectroscopy. 

The statistical degree of overlapping (SDO) and 2D autocovariance function (ACVF) methods have been applied to 2D-PAGE maps (Marchetti et al., 2004 Pietrogrande et al., 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006a Campostrini et al., 2005) the means for extracting information from the experimental data and their relevance to proteomics are discussed in the following. The procedures were validated on computer-simulated maps. Their applicability to real samples was tested on reference maps obtained from literature sources. Application to experimental maps is also discussed. 

Chapter 1 gives a short description of ab initio methods, Hartree-Fock and post-Hartree-Fock, focusing on the Gaussian computer programs. Chapter 2 describes semi-empirical calculations and their applications to biological systems. Chapter 3 addresses itself to electrostatic properties of molecules, as determined by quantum-chemical methods. The density functional method is discussed in chapter 4. Chapter 5 compares theoretically obtained parameters to experimental data. 

Considering that the literature on the development of experimental methods and important fields of application of X/Y correlations in inorganic, organoelement and organometallic chemistry up to 1997 has been covered in earlier reviews,11 we will focus here on recent improvements of experimental techniques and novel applications for compound characterisation. Despite the recently increasing interest in the application of X/Y correlation spectroscopy in solids,12,13 this review will cover only solution NMR techniques. Likewise, a survey of specialised triple-resonance NMR experiments devoted to the characterisation of bio-molecules, and their application, is considered beyond the scope of this article. 

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