Behavior of thermoresponsive ionogenic poly(2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline) stars and their mixture in aqueous solutions

Star-shaped eight-arm poly(2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline)s with basic and acidic groups were synthesized using a “grafting from” approach. Molar masses were 13,700 and 14,900?g mol^?1 for polybase and polyacid, respectively. The aqueous solutions of synthesized polymers and their mixture were investigated by the light scattering and turbidimetry methods within wide range of temperatures and pH values. It was shown that the studied polymers separately do not exhibit pH-sensitivity due to the low content of ionogenic groups. For the solutions of mixture, one phase transition was detected, the onset temperature T₁ of which lies between the phase separation temperatures for polymers. The value of T₁ for mixture decreases with increasing acidity of the medium.     

Kinetics And Mechanism of The Non-isothermal Decomposition. Some Ni(II)-carboxylate-imidazole ternary complexes

The thermal decomposition of some Ni(II)-carboxylate-imidazole complexes in a nitrogen atmosphere was studied non-isothermally. From the non-isothermal thermoanalytical data, it was found that these complexes decompose through a stepwise release of imidazole molecules and/or CO ones forming unstable intermediates which produce metal oxide or the metal as a final decomposition product. TG in conjunction with DTG were used to evaluate the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the decomposition reaction. The kinetic studies were performed employing a computer-oriented kinetic analysis of each set of W-T data obtained under constant heating rate. The diffusion processes are the decisive mechanisms for the decomposition. The values of ΔE, A, ΔH, ΔS and ΔG for activation were calculated for the complexes and correlated to variation in their structure. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

New luminescent terbium complex for the determination of DNA

New terbium complexes of derivatives of 2-oxo-4-hydroxy-quinoline-3-carboxylic acid are reported, which are highly luminescent, water soluble and do not require luminescence enhancers. The triplet-state energy levels of the ligands, the relative quantum yields (QYs) and the excitation maxima of the respective terbium chelates were determined. The large luminescence enhancement of one of these complexes by nucleic acids was investigated and a mechanism of its interaction with DNA is proposed. The optimal conditions for determination of DNA are equal concentrations of Tb(3+) and ligand R(1) (C = 1 x 10(-6) M), pH 9.0. Under optimal conditions the luminescence intensity (RI) is proportional to the concentration of fish sperm DNA (fsDNA) or calf thymus DNA (ctDNA), respectively, within the range of 0.05-1.5 microg ml(-1). The detection limits were 10 ng ml(-1) for fsDNA and 12 ng ml(-1) for ctDNA.     

HIV-I protease

A new method for obtaining HIV-I protease was suggested. Fusion proteins composed of the N-terminal fragment of human γ-interferon and HIV-I protease connected with (Asp)₄Lys (protein I) or Asp-Pro (protein II) linkers were expressed inEscherichia coli cells. The fusion proteins were produced as insoluble inclusion bodies in the 20% yield of total cell protein. Protein I was cleaved by enterokinase. The solubility of protein I was increased by treating with Nasulfite/Na-tetrathionate under denaturing conditions. Optimal conditions for efficient acidic hydrolysis of protein II at Asp-Pro bond were found. The hydrolysis products were separated by reversed-phase FPLC. The amount of tryptophan and cysteine residues in the enzyme obtained was estimated. The activity of HIV-I protease was determined using the chromogenic peptide AlaArgVal NleNphGluAlaNleNH₂ and a high-mol-wt substrate consisting of β galactosidase and a fragment ofgag proteins, including pl7-p24 processing site.     

Experimental measurements of mutual solubility of cyclohexanone,cyclohexene and ionic liquid

This work presents new experimental liquid–liquid equilibrium data for four ternary systems, containing cyclohexanone, cyclohexene and ionic liquids (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, triethylammonium trifluoromethanesulfonate, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate) at temperature 296.15 K and at atmospheric pressure. Compositions of ternary liquid mixtures were determined using refractometric methods. It was shown that 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate containing imidazole cations can be considered as solvent for oxidation of cyclohexene to cyclohexanone.     

Optimization of discrete broadcast under uncertainty using conditional value-at-risk

The paper considers the problem of scheduling packets in wireless broadcast systems under uncertainty with the conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) constraints. In such systems, a server periodically transmits a stream of packets over a broadcast channel. The client that needs to access the data, tunes in to the channel and waits for the next packet. This allows one to serve a large number of clients in an efficient way and also keep clients’ location secret. We formulate and solve two alternative stochastic optimization problems that minimize the transmission time subject to CVaR constraints. Our results indicate that it is possible to derive an analytical solution to the problems in certain cases of practical interest. We also propose a methodology to obtain numerical solutions for the general case.     

Rational design of aminoanthraquinones for colorimetric detection of heavy metal ions in aqueous solution

A family of water-soluble colorimetric chemosensors incorporating an anthraquinone signalling subunit functionalized with a polyamine chain that bears hydrophilic diethoxyphosphoryl moieties was prepared with the aim of assaying metal cations. The outstanding UV-Vis absorption properties of the 1-aminoanthraquinone chromophore allowed the efficient visual detection and quantification of copper(II) ions by chelators L(1)-L(3) in buffered aqueous solution. Moreover, the visible response of L(2) is not interfered by addition of large excesses of 13 common metal ions, whereas chemosensor L(3) produces also a color change in the presence of equimolar amounts of lead(II). Considering the 134 nm gap between both absorption maxima, simultaneous colorimetric quantification of lead and copper can be envisaged. Detailed potentiometric and spectrophotometric analysis of Cu(2+) complexation by L(2) and L(3), as well as Pb(2+) and Cd(2+) by L(3) was undertaken in order to gain a deeper insight into the pH-dependent speciation and understanding the color changing process. Furthermore, the inner coordination sphere of the [PbL(3)](2+) complex was probed by NMR spectroscopy.