Capillary electrophoresis of Cr(VI) reducer Arthrobacter oxydans

Rapid and effective separation of bacteria Arthrobacter oxydans was performed using capillary electrophoresis. For optimal separation of bacteria the influence of buffer concentration, pH and applied voltage were studied. It was found that the most appropriate conditions for electrophoretic mobility measurements are as follows: applied voltage 6-14 kV; buffer concentration 5-10 mM pH 6-8. At the stationary phase of growth there are always two main heterogeneous peaks. They are connected with the morphology of bacteria as well as with cell aggregation. The heterogeneity of samples may be explained by surface modifications of bacterial cells.     

Epithermal neutron activation analysis of Spirulina platensis biomass and extracted C-phycocianin and DNA

Epithermal neutron activation analysis (ENAA) was used for study the biomass of Spirulina platensis. The background levels of concentration 27 macro-, micro- and trace elements ranging from 10^-3 to 10⁴ ppm was determined. It was found that the biomass of Spirulina does not contain toxic element concentrations above the tolerance level and can be utilized as a matrix of pharmaceuticals. The conentrations of basic elements in C-phycocianin and DNA extracted from Spirulina platensis were determined by ENAA. A comparison of the element content of a whole Spirulina biomass with that of a refined C-phycocianin preparation was made.     

Rapid crack growth in a thermoelastic solid under mixed-mode thermomechanical loading

A two-dimensional steady-sate analysis of semi-infinite brittlecrack growth at a constant subcritical rate in an unboundedfully-coupled thermoelastic solid under mixed-mode thermomechanicalloading is made. The loading consists of normal and shear tractionsand heat fluxes applied as point sources (line loads in theout-of-plane direction). A related problem is solved exactly in an integral transformspace, and robust asymptotic forms used to reduce the originalproblem to a set of integral equations. The equations are partiallycoupled and exhibit operators of both Cauchy and Abel types,yet can be solved analytically. The temperature change field at a distance from the moving crackedge is then constructed, and its dominant term is found tobe controlled by the imposed heat fluxes. The role of this termis, indeed, enhanced if the heat fluxes serve to render thecrack as a net heat source/sink for the solid, as opposed tobeing a transmitter of heat across its plane. More generally,the influence of the thermoelastic coupling on this field, aswell as other functions, is found to increase with crack speed.     

NAA for studying detoxification of Cr and Hg by Arthrobacter globiformis 151B

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used to study accumulation of Hg(II) and Cr(VI) ions in Arthrobacter globiformis 151B, a gram-positive, Cr(VI)-reducer aerobic bacterium isolated from basalt sample taken from the most polluted region in the Republic of Georgia (Kazreti). Experiments were focused on (1) accumulation of Hg(II) in bacterial cells; (2) accumulation of Cr(VI) in A. globiformis 151B in the presence of Hg(II) and (3) effects of Hg(II) and mixture of Cr(VI)–Hg(II) on the elemental composition of bacteria. It was shown that this bacterial strain possesses uptake mechanisms by which mercury toxicity can be reduced in environment and that accumulation of Cr(VI) in A. globiformis 151B is much higher in the presence of Hg(II) ions. Accumulation of Hg(II), similar to the Cr(VI) accumulation, follows well the Lengmuir–Freundlich model. NAA measurements showed increased content of Fe in bacteria under Hg and Cr action, suggesting that Fe-containing biomolecules play a decisive role in detoxifying of heavy metals by A. globiformis 151B. A concentration of 5000 μg/L of Hg(II) was found to be critical for A. globiformis 151B. At this concentration of Hg(II) the concentrations of both essential (Na, Mg, Al, Cl, K, Mn, Zn) and some non-essential elements (Rb, Sb, Sc, As) changed drastically along with a decrease of the biomass of bacteria by a factor of two. One may assume that under this high exposure to Hg(II) the structure of the bacterial cell wall was destroyed.     

A comparison of synthetic irradiation-resistant multielement standards for activation analysis

An aluminium matrix and a phenolformaldehyde polymer were tested as base materials for multielement standards resistant to high neutron doses in activation analysis. Interlaboratory analyses showed that these standards can be certified for the concentrations of the majority of introduced elements.     

Investigation of gamma-spectra of biological materials irradiated in the epithermal range of the reactor neutron spectrum

Irradiation of various biological materials in the nuclear reactor neutron epithermal flux allows the increase of the selectivity of the pure instrumental method of activation analysis for the definite set of tracers either not determined instrumentally during sample irradiation by the thermal neutron flux or determined with low sensitivity. The given paper describes a method of increasing the sensitivity of the instrumental neutron activation determination of As, Br, Mo, Cd, Sb, W and Au in biological materials at the level of the whole blood, tissue and subcellular components.     

Synthetic magnetic opals

We present studies of novel nanocomposites of BiNi impregnated into the structure of opals as well as inverse opals. Atomic force microscopy and high resolution elemental analyses show a highly ordered structure and uniform distribution of the BiNi filler in the matrix. These BiNi-based nanocomposites are found to exhibit distinct ferromagnetic-like ordering with transition temperature of about 675 K. As far as we know there exists no report in literature on any BiNi compound which is magnetic.     

Multielement standards for instrumental neutron activation analysis of biological materials

Standards for instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of biological materials are proposed. The standards are multielement solid solutions in phenol-formaldehyde resole resin (PFR) moulded as pellets weighing 30 to 50 mg. The concentrations of trace elements in the standards are selected so that, firstly, they are commensurable with their concentrations in the biological materials and, secondly, that the analytical lines of each of the elements incorporated in PFR are resolved with the aid of modern equipment. The principal standard contains 21 trace elements from among those of greatest interest for INAA of biological materials. This standard is recommended for work on high-resolution equipment. At the same time, standards of simpler trace element composition have been prepared and studied which can be used in work on simpler equipment or in solving particular problems in determination of certain groups of chemical elements.     

Epithermal neutron activation analysis of blue-green algae Spirulina platensis as a matrix for selenium-containing pharmaceuticals

To evaluate the potentiality of the blue-green algae Spirulina platensis as a matrix for the production of Se-containing pharmaceuticals, the background levels of 31 major, minor and trace elements (Na, Mg, Al, Cl, K, Ca, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni using (n,p) reaction), As, Br, Zn, Rb, Mo, Ag, Sb, I, Ba, Sm, Tb, Tm, Hf, Ta, W, Au, Hg, Th were determined in Spirulina platensis biomass by means of epithermal neutron activation analysis. The possibility of the purpose-oriented incorporation of Se into Spirulina platensis biomass was demonstrated. The polynomial dependence of the Se accumulation on nutritional medium loading was revealed. The analytical technique used allows to control the amount of toxic elements in algae Spirulina platensis. Based on this study, a conclusion of the possibility to use Spirulina platensisas a matrix for the production of Se-containing pharmaceutical was drawn.     

Chromium interaction with blue-green microalga <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spirulina platensis</Emphasis>

The interaction of different chromium species with blue-green microalga Spirulina platensis was studied by neutron activation analysis (NAA). It was found that, in contrast to other microorganisms, spirulina predominantly assimilates nontoxic, essential Cr(III) species rather than the toxic Cr(VI) species. Photometry and EPR proved the absence of toxic chromium species with high degrees of oxidation in the course of Cr(III) accumulation by S. platensis cells. The relationship between the Cr(III) concentration in the chromium-containing spirulina biomass and the chromium concentration in the nutrient medium was found; it can be used for the determination of Cr(III) concentrations necessary for cell cultivation. The control of the protein composition and cytological status of cells showed that the S. platensis biomass assimilated Cr(III) in necessary concentrations under the selected conditions retained its protein composition and useful natural properties, and, hence, could be used for medical and preventive purposes.