Encapsulation of small fullerenes into nitrogenated holey nanotubes: a density functional theory study

Encapsulation of fullerene into nanotubes based on a C₂N sheet, known as nitrogenated holey graphene, was investigated using density functional theory. The structural and electronic properties of these carbon hybrid materials, consisting of nitrogenated holey nanotubes and a small C₂₀ fullerene, were studied. The formation energies showed that encapsulation of the fullerene into the nitrogenated holey nanotube is an exothermic process. To characterise the electronic properties, the electronic band structure and density of states of armchair and zigzag nitrogenated holey nanotubes were calculated. Filling these nanotubes with the C₂₀ fullerene resulted in a p-type semiconducting character. The energy band gap of the nitrogenated holey nanotubes decreased with fullerene encapsulation. The results are indicative of the possibility of band gap engineering by encapsulation of small fullerenes into nitrogenated holey nanotubes.     

A sunlight-induced method for rapid biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using an <Emphasis Type="Italic">Andrachnea chordifolia</Emphasis> ethanol extract

In this study a sunlight-induced method for rapid synthesis of silver nanoparticles using an ethanol extract of Andrachnea chordifolia is described. The silver nitrate solutions (1 mM) containing the ethanol extract of Andrachnea chordifolia were irradiated by both sunlight radiation and by sunlight radiation passed through different colored filters (red, yellow or green). The smallest size of silver nanoparticles was obtained when a silver ion solution was irradiated for 5 minutes by direct sunlight radiation. Further examination of the shape and size and of the surface chemistry of these biogenic silver nanoparticles, which were prepared under sunlight radiation, was carried out using transmission electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy images show spherical particles with an average size of 3.4 nm. Hydroxyl residues were also detected on the surface of these biogenic silver nanoparticles fabricated using plant extract of Andrachnea chordifolia under sunlight radiation. Our study on the reduction of silver ions by this plant extract in darkness shows that the synthesis process can take place under dark conditions at much longer incubations (48 hours). Larger silver polydispersed nanoparticles ranging in size from 3 to 30 nm were obtained when the silver ions were treated with the ethanol extract of Andrachnea chordifolia under dark conditions for 48 hours.     

Swirl effects on variable-density jet mixing in confined flows

An experimental investigation on swirl effects on inhomogeneous confined jet mixing in a combustor configuration is reported. The confined swirling flow was simulated by a swirler with a central jet mounted in a cyclindrical tube. Helium and air jets set at different velocities were injected into the confined swirling air flow. The resulting flow fields due to two vane swirlers with constant vane angles of 35° and 66° were compared. Results show that the 35° vane swirler produces a solid-body rotation core with a slope about twice that created by the 66° vane swirler. It is the behavior of this solid-body rotation core that determines jet mixing rather than the swirler vane angle. Consequently, the coaxial jet decays much faster, the mixing is more intense, and the turbulence intensities are higher for the 35° vane swirler. In view of these results, combustor designers should be more concerned with behavior of the solid-body rotation core produced by the swirler, instead of the swirler vane angle.     

Cross-Correlated Motions in Azidolysozyme

The changes in the local and global dynamics of azide-labelled lysozyme compared with that of the wild type protein are quantitatively assessed for all alanine residues along the polypeptide chain. Although attaching -N3 to alanine residues has been considered to be a minimally invasive change in the protein it is found that depending on the location of the alanine residue, the local and global changes in the dynamics differ. For Ala92, the change in the cross-correlated motions are minimal, whereas attaching -N3 to Ala90 leads to pronounced differences in the local and global correlations as quantified by the cross-correlation coefficients of the Cα atoms. We also demonstrate that the spectral region of the asymmetric azide stretch distinguishes between alanine attachment sites, whereas changes in the low frequency, far-infrared region are less characteristic.     

Separation and preconcentration of cadmium by biological organisms and analysis by graphite furnace atomic absorption

A pure strain of algae (Stichococcus bacillaris) is utilized to preconcentrate Cd ions from dilute solutions. Cd uptake curves for several concentrations of Cd and algae mass are presented. To assess the analytical utility of this algae, the concentrations of Cd in two dilute solutions (0.288 and 0.576 μg/l) are determined using preconcentration techniques. The calculated results are within 5% of the nominal concentrations. Stichococcus bacillaris is most useful at low concentrations of analyte with nearly quantitative uptake. At higher concentrations changes in either the analyte amount, or volume of the solution drastically affect the Cd uptake by this organism     

Variational transition state theory with multidimensional tunnelling and kinetic isotope effects in the reactions of C2H6, C2H5D and C2D6 with .CCl3 to produce CHCl3 and CDCl3

ABSTRACT

Rate constants for the reactions of C₂H₆, C₂H₅D and C₂D₆ with .CCl₃. for the production of CHCl₃ and CDCl₃ (k₁, k₂, k₃ and k₄) were computed using variational transition state theory coupled with hybrid-meta density functional theory (MPWB1K) over the temperature range of 200–2900 K. The ground-state vibrational adiabatic potential was plotted for all channels. Small- and large-curvature tunnelling were determined to include quantum effects in the calculation of rate constants. Harmonic vibrational frequencies along the reaction path were calculated in curvilinear coordinates with scaled frequencies. Anharmonicity was included in the lowest-frequency torsion. The position of formation and dissociation of bonds was specified using the variation in harmonic vibrational frequencies along the reaction path. Representative tunnelling energy and the thermally averaged transmission probability at 298 K (P(E)exp?( ? ΔE/RT)) were determined for the reactions in which tunnelling is important. The kinetic isotope effect was used to calculate the considerable contributions of tunnelling and vibration. The expressions for rate constants were determined using nonlinear least-square fitting over the temperature range of 200–2900 K.     

High resolution capillary electrophoresis of carbon nanotubes

Purification of single-walled carbon nanotubes by capillary electrophoresis (CE) is demonstrated. Real-time Raman spectroscopy of the separation process and single-wavelength UV/vis detection show the ability of CE to provide high-resolution separations of nanotube fractions with baseline separation. AFM images of collected fractions demonstrate that separations are based on tube length. The separation method is suggested to be based on alignment of the nanotubes along the separation field.     

Antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of nanochelating based silver nanoparticles against several nosocomial pathogens

The emergence of multi‐drug resistant (MDR) bacteria and dynamic pattern of infectious diseases demand to develop alternative and more effective therapeutic strategies. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are among the most widely commercialized engineered nanomaterials, because of their unique properties and increasing use for various applications in nanomedicine. This study for the first time aimed to evaluate the antibacterial and antibiofilm activities of newly synthesized nanochelating based AgNPs against several Gram‐positive and ‐negative nosocomial pathogens. Nanochelating technology was used to design and synthesize the AgNPs. The cytotoxicity was tested in human cell line using the MTT assay. AgNPs minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by standard broth microdilution. Antibiofilm activity was assayed by a microtiter‐plate screening method. The two synthesized AgNPs including AgNPs (A) with the size of about 20‐25 nm, and AgNPs (B) with 30‐35 nm were tested against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. AgNPs exhibited higher antibacterial activity against Gram‐positive strains. AgNPs were found to significantly inhibit the biofilm formation of tested strains in concentration 0.01 to 10 mg/mL. AgNPs (A) showed significant effective antibiofilm activity compared to AgNPs (B). In summary, our results showed the promising antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of our new nanochelating based synthesized AgNPs against several nosocomial pathogens.     

Vector and Cell Line Engineering Technologies Toward Recombinant Protein Expression in Mammalian Cell Lines

The rapid growth of global biopharmaceutical market in the recent years has been a good indication of its significance in biotechnology industry. During a long period of time in recombinant protein production from 1980s, optimizations in both upstream and downstream processes were launched. In this regard, one of the most promising strategies is expression vector engineering technology based on incorporation of DNA opening elements found in the chromatin border regions of vectors as well as targeting gene integration. Along with these approaches, cell line engineering has revealed convenient outcomes in isolating high-producing clones. According to the fact that more than 50% of the approved therapeutic proteins is being manufactured in mammalian cell lines, in this review, we focus on several approaches and developments in vector and cell line engineering technologies in mammalian cell culture.     

Capillary electrophoresis inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Chemical speciation (extraction of elemental information and identification of molecular environment for an analyte in a complex sample) has been a long sought after goal for analytical chemists. Recently, because of successful developments in more sensitive element-specific detectors and gentle separation schemes, which preserve the true chemical information in a real sample, routine speciation experiments are becoming a common occurrence in the scientific literature. For many reasons, the combination of capillary electrophoresis (for separation of different chemical species) with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (for element and isotope specific detection) has emerged as the method of choice for these analyses. In this article the basic principles of capillary electrophoresis inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry are discussed. Design consideration for instrument interface, anticipated difficulties with speciation experiments and applications for specific matrices and analytes are also presented in this article.