A new biomaterial,hen egg shell membrane,to eliminate heavy metal ion from their dilute waste solution

The egg shell membrane (ESM) is an intricate lattice network of stable and water-insoluble fibers with high surface area. ESM accumulates and eliminates various heavy metal ions from dilute aqueous solution with high affinity and in short contact time, depending on pH and characteristics of the individual ion. Under certain conditions, the level of precious ions, Au, Pt, and Pd accumulation approaches 55, 25, and 22% of dry wt of ESM, respectively. Also uranium uptake 30% of that of ESM. Experiments suggested that ESM is promising to use for the purpose of removal/recovery of metals and water pollution control.     

Cramér theorem on symmetric spaces of noncompact type

We prove the Cramér theorem forK-invariant Gaussian measures on irreducible symmetric spacesX=G/K withG semisimple noncompact. To do this we use a kind of Abel transform ofK-invariant measures onX.This research is supported by KBN Grant.     

Glass capillary gas chromatography of amino acid enantiomers

Glass capillaries coated with Chirasil-Val, a chirally functionalised polysiloxane, are capable in principle of resolving all protein amino-acid enantiomers in a single run and within a short analysis time, thus allowing for example the quantitative amino acid determination by enantiomer labelling. The elution characteristics of the individual amino acids however are also dependent upon the chemical nature of the capillary wall surface, and a surface pretreatment is found to be necessary if all protein amino acids are to be analysed. Of the various methods of pretreatment tested, etching of borosilicate glass with gaseous HCl followed by deposition of colloidal silicic acid is considered to be the most suitable.     

Liquids and liquid mixtures: Deduction of the BGY equation considering the angular distribution function

The Born→Green→Yvon equation for molecular fluid has been deduced considering the orientational distribution functions. The isotropic and anisotropic parts of the distribution function have been separated. The expressions deduced can be used in the case of mixtures and for the non-central type of intermolecular potential energy.     

Influence of mechanical properties of pectin films on charge density and charge density distribution in pectin macromolecule

The hydration and mechanical properties of citrus pectin films were examined in conditions relevant to those in the plant cell wall. The pectins used for this study varied in the degree of esterification (DE) (high or low) and charge distribution on the backbone (random or block). The hydration of the films was controlled in an osmotic pressure experiment using polyethylene glycol solutions (PEG 20000). Hysteresis tests at constant deformation rate (stress vs deformation) were used for investigating the mechanical behaviour of films. Mechanical and hydration properties of pectin films were examined as a function of charge density, charge density distribution and counterion environment—K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺. Swelling decreased with increasing counterion concentration. The effect is stronger in the case of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ for low esterified pectins and therefore crosslinks from divalent ions could be assumed. The crosslink effect is confirmed in mechanical experiments where an increase in the film tensile modulus is observed with increasing counterion concentration. It is shown for the first time that in case of highly concentrated pectin solutions Mg²⁺ cations also act as a crosslinker for pectin macromolecules.     

Spherical models with a Gates-Penrose-type phase transition

Gates and Penrose have given criteria under which classical gases with weak long-range interactions fail to be described by the van der Waals equation with Maxwell's rule. Unfortunately, examples of equations of state for such systems have not yet been produced. This paper examines the Gates-Penrose class of interactions-i.e.,U (r)=q(r)+(r), in the limit0, where the Fourier transform (p) has a minimum at a nonzero value ofp-for the spherical model on a one-dimensional lattice. Free energy and magnetization isotherms are computed; it is seen that there is a phase transition, but that the zero-field spontaneous magnetization is always zero (a parahelicoidal phase). However, the pair-correlation function may exhibit either long-range order or the appearance of oscillation.     

Synthesis of poly(styrene-co-3-trimethoxysilyl propyl methacrylate) microspheres coated with polysiloxane layer

A procedure has been developed to coat micron-sized poly(styrene-co-3-trimethoxysilyl propyl methacrylate) microspheres with a smooth layer of polysiloxane by the hydrolysis and condensation of methyl trimethoxylsilane (MTMS). Firstly, polystyrene microspheres containing silanol groups were prepared by conventional dispersion polymerization using 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate (MPS) as a functional comonomer in an ethanol/water medium. Secondly, the synthesis of the polysiloxane shell was carried out using a sol–gel process of MTMS. The thickness of the shells can be easily varied with different copolymer seeds and MTMS feed ratio. When we used copolymer particles with 2.00 μm diameter as seeds, the thickness of the polysiloxane shells can be varied from 0.10 to 0.18 μm. The core/shell structure of the composite microspheres was characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM).     

An analysis of the complex molecular orbitals method

Numerical results for the ground state of the HN ₂ ⁺ and HCO⁺ molecular ions at their near equilibrium geometry, obtained by the complex molecular orbitals (CMO) method in the extended basis set, are reported. The CMO wavefunction of the HN ₂ ⁺ ion is compared with the CI wavefunction obtained in the same basis set. This reveals the nature of approximations inherent in the CMO method. A peculiar feature of the occupation numbers of the CMO natural orbitals is also explained.Alexander von Humboldt Fellow. On leave from the Institute Rudjer Bokovi, Zagreb, Croatia, Yugoslavia.     

Ag@Au core/shell triangular nanoplates with dual enzyme-like properties for the colorimetric sensing of glucose

Due to the serious harm of diabetes to human health, development of sensitive assays for glucose level is of high significance for early prevention and treatment of diabetes. Currently, most conventional enzyme-based glucose sensors suffer from high cost and low stability due to the inherent defects of natural enzymes. Herein, we develop a pure nanozyme-based glucose detection method using Ag@Au core/shell triangular nanoplates (TNPs), which combines glucose oxidase (GOD)- and horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-like activities of the Au shell and inherent plasmonic properties of Ag TNPs. The sensing mechanism is based on the fact that the Au shell possessed GOD-like activity, enabling the oxidation of glucose to produce H₂O₂, which can further etch the silver core, leading to the decrease of absorbance at 800 nm and the color change from blue to colorless. Compared with the previous nanozymes-based glucose sensors, our method avoids the use of enzymes and organic chromogenic agent. Moreover, the stability of the Ag@Au core/shell TNPs is much better than that of Ag TNPs due to the protection by the coating of the Au shell. This method was successfully applied to the detection of urine samples from patients with diabetes, indicating its practical applicability for real sample analysis.