Electrospray mass spectrometry with controlled in-source atomization (ERIAD) as a promising elemental method: evaluation of analytical features.

Electrospray ionization with controlled in-source fragmentation and atomization (ERIAD) is promising method for mass-spectrometric elemental analysis. This paper concerns the main analytical features and necessary instrumentation for ERIAD. The method is shown to be effective for more than 70 elements of the periodic table: those that present as cations in a water solution. It shows a high absolute sensitivity with a low spread from Li to U, and a detection limit of tens of parts per trillion. The soft ionization used results in the absence of plasma chemical reaction products, typical for inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and the spectra are nearly free from interferences. The method does not require a high resolution and can be used for samples with an artificial isotopic content. The method is essentially valid for radiochemistry and metallomics, as it has the possibility to combine measurements of chemical, elemental, and even isotopic content simultaneously.

[Special features of water structure formation in biosystems according to dielkometric data].

Experimental data on dielectric function and dielectric loss tangent in living and non-living water-containing systems have been discussed from the viewpoint of our earlier concept on energy transfer in living systems and the role of water in this process. Estimates have been made of a mean length of fractal quasi-crystals, representing the form of biomolecules hydration in the living system; the expected lengths of these quasicrystals are of order of 1000 H2O molecules. It is concluded that the peaks at the curve of frequency dependence of dielectric loss tangent in living systems is due to water sub-system, but not biomolecular vibrations.

[ERIAD mass spectrometry (electrospray with controlled fragmentation) is the common method for metallomics and biochemistry of elementoorganic molecules].

The physical aspects of the ERIAD method (electrospray with controlled fragmentation) in terms of the problems of metallomics and biochemistry of elementoorganic compounds have been considered. It was shown that the method is well suited to study the objects of this class since it enables one to change from the molecular to the elemental analysis merely by changing the voltage between the nozzle and the skimmer. In the regime of molecular analysis, it is possible to determine the mass of the molecule as a whole and decipher its structure by controlled fragmentation, and in the regime of elemental analysis the number of atoms of heteroelements incorporated in the molecule can be quantified.

[Mechanism of intermolecular energy transfer and reception of ultralow action by chemical and biological systems].

A novel concept of intermolecular energy transfer and reception of the ultralow action in living systems is proposed. The concept is based on the methods of nonlinear mathematical physics used in description of energy movement along molecular chains and on quantum mechanical ideas concerning signal formation in anisotropic media. A concept of a molecular cell as an indivisible structural unit and a constituent of a biological (chemical) system has been put forward and substantiated, which manifests collective features of the unity of molecules, physical fields, and energetically strained bound water media in processes of energy transfer and reception. Both intermolecular energy transfer and amplification of the ultralow action has been shown to be the components of a unified energy process in a living system, and the physical basis of both processes is the unity of molecules and water-field media in a molecular cell.