Characterization of a β-glucanase produced by Rhizopus microsporus var. microsporus, and its potential for application in the brewing industry

Background  

In the barley malting process, partial hydrolysis of β-glucans begins with seed germination. However, the endogenous 1,3-1,4-β-glucanases are heat inactivated, and the remaining high molecular weight β-glucans may cause severe problems such as increased brewer mash viscosity and turbidity. Increased viscosity impairs pumping and filtration, resulting in lower efficiency, reduced yields of extracts, and lower filtration rates, as well as the appearance of gelatinous precipitates in the finished beer. Therefore, the use of exogenous β-glucanases to reduce the β-glucans already present in the malt barley is highly desirable.     

Energy and mass-number dependence of the dissociation temperature in hydrodynamical models

Transverse-momentum distributions of andK have been analyzed within a framework of the hydrodynamical model to obtain the dependence of the collective transverse flow and the dissociation temperatureT _d inpp- and -induced multiparticle production reactions. The main outcomes are the steadily increasing transverse flow and a slowly decreasingT _d as the incident energy increases. This behavior is in excellent agreement with early Landau's estimate. An extension of this to nucleus-nucleus collisions correctly gives account of the very soft component which has been observed in heavyion experiments.     

Propargylation of aromatic compounds using Ce(OTf)3 as catalyst

Ce(OTf)₃ was successfully employed as catalyst for the activation of the hydroxyl group in the Friedel–Crafts reaction of aromatic compounds with propargylic alcohols in nitromethane. The products were obtained in good to excellent yields.     

The Mössbauer spectrum of synthetic hureaulite: Fe5 2+(H2O)4(PO4H)2(PO4)2

The crystal structure of synthetic ferrous hureaulite, Fe₅ ²⁺ (H₂O)₄(PO₄H)₂(PO₄)₂, was refined from single-crystal X-ray data. It is monoclinic, space group C2/c, with a=17.487(4), b=9.017(2), c=9.338(2) Å, β=96.27(3)°, V=1463.6(6) Å³, Z=4 and D _calc=3.327 g/cm³. This end member of the hureaulite series was crystallized under distinctly acidic conditions, by a method that gives perfect crystals, large enough for X-ray single crystal studies. The main feature of the hureaulite structure is that it has an equal number of normal (PO₄)³⁺ and acid (PO₄H)²⁺ tetradentate groups. These are centered on Fe²⁺ atoms and share corners with edge-linked octahedra, forming pentamer units. The five Fe²⁺ atoms are distributed on three distinct sites in these units. This can be directly observed in the Mössbauer spectrum at 295 K, which contains three doublets whose relative intensities correspond to the 1:2:2 distributions of crystallographic sites.     

Structural and electronic effects in metallocene catalysts studied by x‐ray techniques

A series of metallocenes, namely, [Cp₂ZrCl₂], [(MeCp)₂ZrCl₂], [(nBuCp)₂ZrCl₂], [(iBuCp)₂ZrCl₂], [(tBuCp)₂ZrCl₂], [Et(Ind)₂ZrCl₂], [Et(IndH₄)₂ZrCl₂], and [MeSi₂(Ind)₂ZrCl₂)] were analyzed by extended x‐ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Complementary techniques, UV–vis spectroscopy and cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry, were employed to characterize the organometallic complexes. The catalysts were evaluated in ethylene polymerization, having methylaluminoxane (MAO) as the cocatalyst, and the resulting polymers were characterized by gel permeation chromatography. The structural and electronic effects caused by the coordination sphere around the metal center and their effects on the catalytic activity and polymer characteristics are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Photoacoustic spectroscopy of Baru – <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dipteryx alata</Emphasis> Vog

Photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) was used to investigate samples produced from Baru (Dipteryx alata Vog.), a typical fruit from the Brazilian Cerrado, which is considered as a good source of nutrients. The photoacoustic (PA) spectra of samples prepared from Baru seeds present three different absorption bands in the wavelength range 0.3–1.0 μm, named Band-C, Band-S, and Band-L. We found that PAS can be useful for monitoring the strong absorption of visible light by Baru's seeds constituents mainly in the shorter wavelength measured range. This study is important from both agricultural and commercial point of view once it introduces PAS as a potential characterization technique allowing better control of fruit and seed selection, storage and transportation.     

Autoresonant excitation of antiproton plasmas

We demonstrate controllable excitation of the center-of-mass longitudinal motion of a thermal antiproton plasma using a swept-frequency autoresonant drive. When the plasma is cold, dense, and highly collective in nature, we observe that the entire system behaves as a single-particle nonlinear oscillator, as predicted by a recent theory. In contrast, only a fraction of the antiprotons in a warm plasma can be similarly excited. Antihydrogen was produced and trapped by using this technique to drive antiprotons into a positron plasma, thereby initiating atomic recombination.     

Mössbauer investigation of maghemite-based glycolic acid nanocomposite

Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy were used in the characterization of a nanocomposite containing magnetic nanoparticles dispersed in a glycolic acid-based template. Maghemite nanoparticles were identified as the iron oxide phase dispersed in the polymeric template. From the low-temperature Mössbauer data the amount of the iron-based, non-magnetic material at the nanoparticle surface was estimated as roughly one monolayer in thickness.