Immunological and biochemical evidence that blepharismin is not a prosthetic group

A polyclonal, multispecific antiserum was raised against a whole 3[(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate-extract of nonirradiated Blepharisma japonicum cells. It was used to reveal the composition of solutions that were hypothesized to contain the photoreceptor of the ciliate. A Bio-Gel A 1.5 m fine column chromatography of the extract allowed recovery of a single elution peak isolated by recording the 580 nm light absorbance. Fused-rocket immunoelectrophoresis of this material revealed a large number of > 300 kDa coeluted proteins. Blepharismin-rich material with a molecular mass of approximately 50 kDa, consisting of at least nine proteins was obtained when the same extract underwent preparative isoelectric focusing before column chromatography separation. Purification of the pigment obtained from light-exposed cells gave blepharismin-rich material with a molecular weight of approximately 200 kDa. Comparison of the materials obtained under the same conditions, either from the dark-kept or light-irradiated cells, by means of pore-gradient electrophoresis confirmed that proteins present in the two preparations were different. It revealed only a very small amount, if any, of proteins in the chromatography fractions with the highest absorbance at 600 nm. Results are discussed on the basis of the hypothesis that a specific blepharismin-binding protein does not exist in the protozoan.     

Total synthesis of a conformationally constrained didemnin B analog

The total synthesis of a didemnin B analogue containing a conformationally constrained replacement for the isostatine moiety is reported. Synthetic highlights include an improved preparation of 2-hydroxy-3-cyclohexenecarboxylic acid and a new strategy for accessing the macrocycle.     

Determination and confirmation of malachite green and leucomalachite green residues in salmon using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry with no-discharge atmospheric pressure chemical ionization

A liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) method was developed to quantitate and confirm residues of leucomalachite green (LMG) in salmon tissue after their conversion to chromic malachite green (MG) in the extraction process. The method uses no-discharge atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) in conjunction with an ion-trap instrument to generate product-ion spectra. In the sample preparation procedure, salmon tissue is extracted with acetonitrile/buffer, the LMG residue is partitioned into methylene chloride, the LMG is converted to MG using an organic oxidizing agent, and the MG is isolated on alumina/propylsulfonic acid solid-phase extraction cartridges. The method was validated by fortifying salmon with different levels of LMG, and then detecting the residue as MG The LC/MS conditions, including a comparison of electrospray and no-discharge APCI, were evaluated and optimized. MG was not confirmed in any of the control tissue extracts, and all fortified samples analyzed during validation met the confirmation criteria as described. In addition to providing confirmatory data, this method can provide an alternative method for quantitation of MG in salmon. The recoveries of LMG measured as MG by this LC/MS method, at fortification levels of 1-10 ng/g were very high (86-109%), with low relative standard deviation(RSD) values (6.4-13%). The results agreed very closely with those obtained for the same extracts using an LCNIS procedure, indicating that matrix suppression was not an issue. The presence of LMG in salmon tissue samples fortified at 0.25 ng/g was confirmed by this method, with an average recovery of 70.1% and an RSD of 12.0%. Sample extracts from fish exposed to MG were also analyzed.     

Study on the stability of noradrenaline and on the determination of its acidity constants

Noradrenaline is a catecholamine which has been largely recognised to play a very important role in biological systems. In view of the neurotransmitter's alleged importance, this work aimed at showing the influence of time on its spectral behaviour using different analytical methods and determining its acidity constants through spectrophotometric titration and by the so-called point-by-point analysis, where the samples are freshly prepared for each pH value investigated at the instant required. Because the catecholamines are light-sensitive and likely to react with the oxygen in the surrounding air, both methods used preclude its incidence onto the samples being analysed under the presence of a nitrogen atmosphere maintained over the solutions. The constants obtained through point-by-point analysis were log beta1 = 30.71+/-0.16, log beta2 = 22.00+/-0.15 and log beta3 = 11.69+/-0.16.     

Oils from Wild,Micropropagated Plants,Calli, and Suspended Cells ofEuphorbia characias L.

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - Micropropagated Euphorbia characias plants gave higher yields of crude oil than did wild ones. Leaves of either wild and micropropagated plants contained...     

Complexation of the Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug Nabumetone with Modified and Unmodified Cyclodextrins

The inclusion of the anti-inflammatory drug, Nabumetone, in -, - and hydroxypropyl--cyclodextrin (CDs) is studied using UV-VIS absorption and steady-state fluorescence emission. Binding constants and thermodynamic parameters of complex formation are determined by spectrofluorimetry. The inclusion phenomena of Nabumetone with the three cyclodextrins is compared with that of the well known similar anti-inflammatory drug Naproxen. In the case of Nabumetone pronounced differences are observed in the complexation process with each cyclodextrin whereas the respective Naproxen complexes are nearly identical. ¹H-NMR experiments show that the inclusion process in Nabumetone can occur either through the substituents in the -2 (butanone) or -6 (methoxy) positions in the naphthalene ring.     

The existence of ferrous ferricyanide

Evidence in the literature on the synthesis of ferrous ferricyanide is critically discussed. Pyrolysis and pressure effects on Prussian Blue lead to ferrous ferrocyanide together with decomposition by-products, and not to ferrous ferricyanide. The latter compound could be a precursor in the formation of Turnbull's Blue or an excited state of Prussian Blue, but it is not a stable chemical species.     

Revised Robertson's test theory of special relativity: Space-time structure and dynamics

The experimental testing of the Lorentz transformations is based on a family of sets of coordinate transformations that do not comply in general with the principle of equivalence of the inertial frames. The Lorentz and Galilean sets of transformations are the only member sets of the family that satisfy this principle. In the neighborhood of regular points of space-time, all members in the family are assumed to comply with local homogeneity of space-time and isotropy of space in at least one free-falling elevator, to be denoted as Robertson'sab initio rest frame [H. P. Robertson,Rev. Mod. Phys. 21, 378 (1949)].Without any further assumptions, it is shown that Robertson's rest frame becomes a preferred frame for all member sets of the Robertson family except for, again, Galilean and Einstein's relativities. If one now assumes the validity of Maxwell-Lorentz electrodynamics in the preferred frame, a different electrodynamics spontaneously emerges for each set of transformations. The flat space-time of relativity retains its relevance, which permits an obvious generalization, in a Robertson context, of Dirac's theory of the electron and Einstein's gravitation. The family of theories thus obtained constitutes a covering theory of relativistic physics.A technique is developed to move back and forth between Einstein's relativity and the different members of the family of theories. It permits great simplifications in the analysis of relativistic experiments with relevant Robertson's subfamilies. It is shown how to adapt the Clifford algebra version of standard physics for use with the covering theory and, in particular, with the covering Dirac theory.Part of this work was done at the Department of Physics, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322.     

The spherical-model limit in a random field

The spherical-model limitn of then-vector model in a random field, with either a statistically independent distribution or with long-range correlated random fields, is studied to demonstrate the correctness of the replica method in which then and replica limits limits are interchanged, provided the replica and thermodynamic limits are taken in the right order, in the case of long-range correlated random fields. A scaling form for the two-point correlation function relevant to the first-order phase transition below the lower critical dimensionality of the random system is also obtained.