Filamentous bacteriophage stability in non-aqueous media.

BACKGROUND: Filamentous bacteriophage are used as general cloning vectors as well as phage display vectors in order to study ligand-receptor interactions. Exposure to biphasic chloroform-water interface leads to specific contraction of phage, to non-infective I- or S-forms. RESULTS: Upon exposure, phage were inactivated (non-infective) at methanol, ethanol and 1-propanol concentrations inversely dependent upon alcohol hydrophobicity. Infectivity loss of phage at certain concentrations of 1-propanol or ethanol coincided with changes in the spectral properties of the f1 virion in ultraviolet fluorescence and circular dichroism studies. CONCLUSIONS: The alcohols inactivate filamentous phage by a general mechanism--solvation of coat protein--thereby disrupting the capsid in a manner quite different from the previously reported I- and S-forms. The infectivity retention of phagemid pG8H6 in 99% acetonitrile and the relatively high general solvent resistance of the phage strains studied here open up the possibility of employing phage display in non-aqueous media.     

On the stability of concentrates. Non-aqueous dispersions

It is demonstrated that the depth of the potential well between two colloidal particles which interact via van der Waals interactions can be minimized if they are covered with a shell of adsorbed surfactant molecules whose Hamaker constant is near to that or the liquid medium. This result is used to explain some experimental observations (I. Sushumna, R.P. Gupta and E. Ruckenstein, J. Mater. Res., 7 (1992) 2884) which indicate that long-chain fatty acids with an alkyl side chain of 5–10 carbon atoms located far from the head group of the surfactant lead to lower paste viscosities than those without side chains or with longer side alkyl chains. It is also suggested that, in concentrated suspensions, the collective interactions when the pair interaction is attractive can lead to an effective repulsion component between two neighboring particles, and that this effect may contribute to the stability of the concentrated dispersions.     

Revisiting superdelocalizability. Mathematical stability of reactivity indices

Superdelocalizability, S _r, defined by Fukui et al. as a variant of reactivity indices in the Hückel molecular orbital scheme for conjugated hydrocarbon molecules is reinvestigated with particular emphasis on its behavior for infinitely large π-electronic systems. Surprisingly, almost all the S _r values of polyacetylene are found to diverge with the size of molecule, while all the S _r values of comb polyene converge to certain values. Similarly, the S _r values of linear polyacene diverge, while those of zigzag polyacene converge. Whether the superdelocalizability for a series of periodic polymers converges or diverges can be predicted, respectively, if the density of states of the infinitely large π-electron network is shown to have non-zero or zero gap at the Fermi level. The behavior of atom-atom polarizability defined by Coulson et al. is also checked and discussed. Received: 27 July 1998 / Accepted: 9 September 1998 / Published online: 23 February 1999     

Colloidal stability of electrostatically stabilized sol particles.

The colloid stability of ferric hydroxide sol has been investigated at three different HCl concentrations. The total HCl concentration in the sols was A>B>C, the amount of HCl adsorbed was A=B>C. The parameters which characterize the stability (flocculation value, gelation concentration, repeptizability) are related to the amount of adsorbed HCl, because this property governs the hydrophility of the sols. In contrast, the peptizability of powders after drying the sols depends on the total concentration of HCl in the system. The hydrochloric acid impedes the condensation of surface groups to Fe–O–Fe bonds.From water vapor adsorption and heat of immersion data the hydration potential barrier is constructed which is comparable to the barrier according to the DLVO theory The differences and anomalies in the stability of sols are interpreted as differences in the hydrophility of samples.     

Antisymmetry and stability of water systems. II. Polyhedral clusters

The generalized symmetry of proton configurations of water polyhedral clusters is studied. A change in the directions of all hydrogen bonds is used as the additional approximate operation of antisymmetry. The dependence of the energy of antisymmetric configurations on the cluster stabilization energy is found. It is concluded that the internal molecular asymmetry of water that is caused by the approximate character of antisymmetry of hydrogen bonding can be of fundamental scientific importance.     

Studies on the stability of four-membered ring chelates Part V. The stability of dialkyl dithiocarbamate chelates

This paper systematically studies the structure and the internal mechanism of the stability of sulphur-coordinated four-membered rings in chelates of dialkyl dithiocarbamate. It was found that the conjugated π electron structure of the free ligand is Π₄⁶, while in the metal chelate it is Π₄⁴. The stable chelates have strong σ- and π-coordinated bonds. The actual strain of the sulphur-coordinated four-membered ring in chelates is not as strong as assumed. It mainly depends on the atomic radius of the metal. The stronger the electronegativity of the metal, the stronger the π-coordinated bond. The stabler the four-membered ring, the weaker the intensity of the C-S vibrational band.     

Mechanical testing of catalysts for fuel combustion. 1. Thermomechanical stability

Factors for predicting the prolonged temperature effect on the oxide catalysts, as well as the tests of thermochemical catalyst stability are suggested.     

Antisymmetry and stability of water systems. I. Planar cyclic clusters

All topologically distinct configurations of planar cyclic water clusters consisting of three to six molecules are calculated. The symmetry of configurations is analyzed using an additional operation of antisymmetry that changes the directions of all hydrogen bonds. It is concluded that the concept of antisymmetry and the presence of similar in properties but inequivalent “configurations-antipodes” reflects a new fundamental feature of water systems, namely, the internal molecular asymmetry.     

Oxidation stability of crosslinked polyethylene. Isothermal DTA method

Isothermal differential thermal analysis has been used to study the thermooxidative stability of two grades of crosslinked polyethylene in the temperature range from 120°C to 230°C. Induction times of thermooxidative degradation were measured from 2 minutes up to 3590 hours. Oxidation Induction time and mechanical failure in oven ageing experiments coincided over the measured temperature range. The degree of crosslinking was not strongly affected by the oxidative reaction. The Arrhenius-plots of DTA results showed curvature at 150°C, so straight line extrapolations from short-term experiments at elevated temperatures to low temperatures and long times are not possible. Thermoanalytically measured residual thermooxidative stability decreased linearly with ageing time and showed great scattering of the results.

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Zusammenfassung Die isotherme Differentialthermoanalyse ist als Methode zur Abschätzung der thermooxidativen Beständigkeit von Polyolefinen seit längerem bekannt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird über isotherme DTA-Messungen an Proben aus vernetztem Polyäthylen im Temperaturbereich von 230°C bis 120°C berichtet, wobei Oxidationsinduktionszeiten bis zu 3590 Stunden gemessen wurden. Die Auftragung der Oxidationsinduktionszeiten in Arrhenius-Diagrammen zeigte für vernetztes Polyäthylen keine für Extrapolationszwecke geeignete Linearität des Logarithmus der Oxidationsinduktionszeiten über der reziproken absoluten Temperatur über weitere Bereiche der Meßzeiten bzw. Prüftemperaturen. Die thermoanalytisch bestimmten Oxidationsinduktionszeiten stimmten mit dem Steilabfall der Reißdehnung in Ofenalterungsversuchen überein während der über den Gelgehalt ermittelte Vernetzungsgrad vom thermooxidativen Abbau nicht signifikant beeinflußt wurde. Somit können aufwendige Ofenalterungsversuche durch experimentell einfache isotherme DTA-Versuche ersetzt werden. Die Messung der thermooxidativen Restbeständigkeit im isothermen DTA-Versuch bei erhöhter Prüftemperatur ermöglicht einen wesentlich deutlicheren Einblick in den thermooxidativen Schädigungszustand eines Polyolefins während der Induktionsperiode des thermooxidativen Abbaus als die Messungen des Vernetzungsgrades oder der Reißdehnung. Die Abnahme der thermooxidativen Restbeständigkeit erfolgt im Fall des vernetzten Polyäthylen in allen Fällen linear über der Alterungszeit.

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120–230°. 2 3590 . . . 150°, . .

     

Estimating the uncertainty of stability for matrix CRMs.

The new version of ISO Guide 34 requires producers of certified reference materials (CRMs) to include contributions of possible instability to the overall CRM uncertainty, to obtain a value for the uncertainty in compliance with the Guide to the Expression of the Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM). A pragmatic approach to estimating the uncertainty of stability is presented. It relies on regression analysis of stability data with subsequent testing of the slope of the regression line for significance. If the slope is found to be statistically insignificant, a shelf life is chosen and the uncertainty connected with this time is estimated via the standard deviation of the slope. This uncertainty is included in the overall uncertainty of the CRM. This approach is explained with examples showing its applicability to matrix CRMs.     

Stable drop shapes under disjoining pressure. II. Multiplicity and stability

The stability of the contact line region as affected by the disjoining pressure has been analyzed by solving the augmented Young-Laplace equation. Because of the results in Part I (Zhang, X., Neogi, P., and Ybarra, R. M., J. Colloid Interface Sci.), we have concentrated on obtaining multiple solutions for the same set of conditions. As many as five solutions were obtained: drops that end in a thin film with uniform thickness and where the film shape oscillates, drops that end with microscopic contact angles, as well as uniform thin films of two different thicknesses. The results of linear stability analysis were used to show that most cases were unstable to infinitesimal disturbances. Only two stable drop shapes for the particular disjoining pressure investigated are stable, a thin film of constant thickness and a thin drop that ends in a film of same thickness. Both multiplicity and stability have been discussed here for the first time and shed considerable light on the role of the attractive and repulsive forces.     

Liposomes prepared from synthetic amphiphiles. I. Their technetium labeling and stability

In order to apply liposomes prepared from synthetic amphiphiles containing amino acid residues to radiopharmaceuticals, their labeling with 99Tc or 99mTc and stability in saline or in serum were investigated. These liposomes were highly labeled by embedding stearylamine-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid as a ligand of technetium. The labeling was more efficient at pH 7.0 than at pH 4.0 or 8.5. Among these technetium-labeled liposomes tested, liposomes containing the alanine residue were stable in saline or in 50% serum at 37 degrees C for at least 24 h, in contrast to liposomes (phosphatidylcholine: cholesterol = 1:1 molar ratio) whose stability had been enhanced by adding cholesterol.     

Solvolyses of diarylmethyl chlorides. A comprehensive stability scale for diarylcarbenium ions.

Eleven donor substituted diarylmethyl chlorides have been solvolyzed in ethanol. The rate constants, determined at 25°C, and additional ethanolysis data taken from the literature have been connected with solvolvsis rate constants, determined in other solvents, to construct a stability scale for 74 diarylcarbenium ions, covering a rate range of > 10¹². Correlation equations are given which allow the calculation of solvolysis rates in other solvents, of equilibrium constants, and of rate constants for reactions involving diarylcarbenium ions.