Time-resolved fluorescence study of the single tryptophan in thiocyanate and azide derivatives of horseradish peroxidase: Implication for a p H-induced conformational change in the heme cavity

Detailed pH-dependent steady state and picosecond time-resolved tryptophan fluorescence studies on thiocyanate and azide complexes of horseradish peroxidase have been carried out. The fluorescence decay of the single tryptophan in these species was fitted to a discrete three exponential model. Maximum entropy method analysis also gave three distinct regions of lifetime distributions. The fast subnanosecond lifetime component was found to have > 97% amplitude contribution while other two longer lifetime components have small contributions. Small contributions from the nanosecond lifetime components possibly arise from apoprotein impurity or some small amount of disordered heme conformer of the protein. pH dependence of the fast picosecond lifetime components was found to show a systematic behavior which has been interpreted in the light of obligatory conformation change associated with activation of the enzyme at low pH.     

On pathwise behavior of multiserver queues

In this paper, by exploiting recent results on the pathwise behavior of the workload process in single server, work conserving queues of theG/G/1/ type, we show that the workload of multiserver, work conserving queues ofG/G/m/ (m<) (andG/G/) queues satisfies an o(t) growth condition, provided that the time average of the work brought into the system is less thanm form < (and finite form=).     

Kinetics of catalyzed esterification of acetic acid with n-butanol using carbonized agro-waste

The objective of this research work was to investigate the kinetics of esterification of acetic acid with n-butanol through the variation of experimental parameters. The reaction mixture was catalyzed heterogeneously by a sulfonated catalyst in batch mode of operation. The catalyst was prepared from abundantly available agro-waste, Cajanus cajan husk by chemical activation process, which produces a carbon-based solid catalyst with high surface area. The catalyst was characterized by a Brunauer-Emmet-Teller surface analyzer and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to know the surface morphology. Process parameters such as contact time, reaction temperature, and catalyst loading, which can influence the extent of conversion of reactants, were studied. Furthermore, the kinetic investigation was also carried out to estimate the kinetic parameters for uncatalyzed and catalyzed reaction using the second-order pseudo-homogeneous (P-H), Eley-Rideal (E-R), and Langmuir-Hinshelwood (LH) kinetic models for this research work. The kinetic parameters such as activation energy, preexponential factor, and the thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy and entropy were estimated for uncatalyzed and catalyzed reactions using these three models. The process conditions were optimized for catalyzed and uncatalyzed reactions to obtain the maximum product yield by minimizing root mean square error of each experimental data using the MS-excel solver tool. Thus, this study reveals the high potential of an agro-waste, Cajanus cajan husk as raw material for the synthesis of catalyst. The results show that the E-R model is more appropriate for predicting the dynamic data of an esterification reaction, as the forward rate of reaction estimated using the E-R model are more modified than P-H and L-H models.     

Formation of bamboo-shaped carbon nanotubes on carbon black in a fluidized bed

For the first time, bamboo-shaped multiwalled carbon nanotubes, having diameter of the order of 50 nm, have been grown on carbon black in a fluidized bed in bulk amount. The activation energy for the synthesis of the product was found out to be around 33 kJ/mol in the temperature range of 700−900 °C. The carbon nanotubes were separated from the carbon black by preferential oxidation of the later, the temperature of which was determined by thermogravimetry. The transmission electron microscopy revealed different features of the nanotubes such as “Y” junction, bend, and catalyst filling inside the nanotubes. Small angle neutron scattering was performed on the nanotubes synthesized at different temperatures. The data were fitted into a suitable model in order to find out the average diameter, which decreases with increase in synthesis temperature. The Monte Carlo simulation predicts the same behavior. Based on the above observations, a possible growth mechanism has been predicted. The oscillation in carbon saturation value inside the catalyst in the fluidized bed has been indicated as the responsible factor for the bamboo-shaped structure.