An Oxidant- and Solvent-Stable Protease Produced by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus cereus</Emphasis> SV1: Application in the Deproteinization of Shrimp Wastes and as a Laundry Detergent Additive

The current increase in amount of shrimp wastes produced by the shrimp industry has led to the need in finding new methods for shrimp wastes disposal. In this study, an extracellular organic solvent- and oxidant-stable metalloprotease was produced by Bacillus cereus SV1. Maximum protease activity (5,900 U/mL) was obtained when the strain was grown in medium containing 40 g/L shrimp wastes powder as a sole carbon source. The optimum pH, optimum temperature, pH stability, and thermal stability of the crude enzyme preparation were pH 8.0, 60 °C, pH 6–9.5, and <55 °C, respectively. The crude protease was extremely stable toward several organic solvents. No loss of activity was observed even after 60 days of incubation at 30 °C in the presence of 50% (v/v) dimethyl sulfoxide and ethyl ether; the enzyme retained more than 70% of its original activity in the presence of ethanol and N,N-dimethylformamide. The protease showed high stability toward anionic (SDS) and non-ionic (Tween 80, Tween 20, and Triton X-100) surfactants. Interestingly, the activity of the enzyme was significantly enhanced by oxidizing agents. In addition, the enzyme showed excellent compatibility with some commercial liquid detergents. The protease of B. cereus SV1, produced under the optimal culture conditions, was tested for shrimp waste deproteinization in the preparation of chitin. The protein removal with a ratio E/S of 20 was about 88%. The novelties of the SV1 protease include its high stability to organic solvents and surfactants. These unique properties make it an ideal choice for application in detergent formulations and enzymatic peptide synthesis. In addition, the enzyme may find potential applications in the deproteinization of shrimp wastes to produce chitin.     

On the subordinate killed B.M in bounded domains and existence results for nonlinear fractional Dirichlet problems

We take up in this paper the existence of positive continuous solutions for some nonlinear boundary value problems with fractional differential equation based on the fractional Laplacian (-D_|D)^\fraca2{(-\Delta _{|D})^{\frac{\alpha }{2}}} associated to the subordinate killed Brownian motion process Z_a^D{Z_{\alpha }^{D}} in a bounded C ^1,1 domain D. Our arguments are based on potential theory tools on Z_a^D{Z_{\alpha }^{D}} and properties of an appropriate Kato class of functions K _α (D).     

One-pot synthesis of disperse dyes under microwave irradiation: dyebath reuse in dyeing of polyester fabrics

A series of 4-hydroxyphenylazopyrazolopyrimidine disperse dyes were prepared via one-pot reactions of p-hydroxyphenylhydrazone, hydrazine hydrate, and acetylacetone or enaminones using microwave irradiation as an energy source. Structural assignments of the dyes were confirmed by X-ray crystallographic structure determination. Instead of discharging the dyebath after each dyeing cycle, the residual dyebath was spectrophotometrically analyzed and then pH readjusted for a repeat dyeing with longer time. Fastness of the dyed samples was measured after each recycle. Most of the dyed fabrics tested displayed good light fastness and excellent fastness to washing and perspiration. Finally, the biological activity of the synthesized dyes against Gram positive bacteria, Gram negative bacteria and yeast were evaluated.     

Estimates on the Green function and existence of positive solutions for some polyharmonic nonlinear equations in the half space

Let G_m,n be the Green function of with Dirichlet boundary conditions We establish some estimates on G_m,n, including a 3G-Theorem. Next, we introduce a Kato class of functions and we exploit properties of these functions to study the existence of positive solutions of some m-polyharmonic nonlinear elliptic problems.Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 34B27, 35J40     

Atomic partitioning of the dissociation energy of the P-O(H) bond in hydrogen phosphate anion (HPO4(2-)): disentangling the effect of Mg2+

This paper has three goals: (1) to provide a first step in understanding the atomic basis of the role of magnesium in facilitating the dissociation of the P-O bond in phosphorylated biochemical fuel molecules (such as ATP or GTP), (2) to compare second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) results with those obtained at the more economical density functional theory (DFT) level for a future study of larger more realistic models of ATP/GTP, and (3) to examine the calculation of atomic total energies from atomic kinetic energies within a Kohn-Sham implemention of DFT, as compared to ab initio methods. A newly described method based on the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM), which is termed the "atomic partitioning of the bond dissociation energy" (APBDE), is applied to a simple model of phosphorylated biological molecules (HPO42-). The APBDE approach is applied in the presence and in the absence of magnesium. It is found that the P-O(H) bond in the magnesium complex is shorter, exhibits a higher stretching frequency, and has a higher electron density at the bond critical point than in the magnesium-free hydrogen phosphate anion. Though these data would seem to suggest a stronger P-O(H) bond in the magnesium complex compared to the magnesium-free case, the homolytic breaking of the P-O(H) bond in the complex is found to be easier, i.e., has a lower BDE. This effect is the result of the balance of several atomic contributions to the BDE induced by the magnesium cation, which stabilizes the dissociation product more than it stabilizes the intact model molecule.     

Adaptive boundary control of the unforced generalized Korteweg–de Vries–Burgers equation

This paper deals with the adaptive control problem of the unforced generalized Korteweg?Cde Vries?CBurgers (GKdVB) equation when the spatial domain is [0,1]. Three adaptive control laws are designed for the GKdVB equation when either the kinematic viscosity ?? or the dynamic viscosity ?? is unknown, or when both viscosities ?? and ?? are unknowns. Using the Lyapunov theory, the L ²-global exponential stability of the solutions of this equation is shown for each of the proposed control laws. Also, numerical simulations based on the Finite Element method (FEM) are given to illustrate the analytical results.     

Effects of external electric fields on double proton transfer kinetics in the formic acid dimer

Molecules can be exposed to strong local electric fields of the order of 10(8)-10(10) V m(-1) in the biological milieu. The effects of such fields on the rate constant (k) of a model reaction, the double-proton transfer reaction in the formic acid dimer (FAD), are investigated. The barrier heights and shapes are calculated in the absence and presence of several static homogenous external fields ranging from 5.14 × 10(8) to 5.14 × 10(9) V m(-1) using density functional theory (DFT/B3LYP) and second order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) in conjunction with the 6-311++G(d,p) Pople basis set. Conventional transition state theory (CTST) followed by Wigner tunneling correction is then applied to estimate the rate constants at 25 °C. It is found that electric fields parallel to the long axis of the dimer (the line joining the two carbon atoms) lower the uncorrected barrier height, and hence increase the raw k. These fields also flatten the potential energy surface near the transition state region and, hence, decrease the multiplicative tunneling correction factor. The net result of these two opposing effects is that fields increase k(corrected) by a factor of ca. 3-4 (DFT-MP2, respectively) compared to the field-free k. Field strengths of ～3 × 10(9) V m(-1) are found to be sufficient to double the tunneling-corrected double proton transfer rate constant at 25 °C. Field strengths of similar orders of magnitudes are encountered in the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), in the microenvironment of a DNA base-pair, in an enzyme active site, and in intense laser radiation fields. It is shown that the net (tunneling corrected) effect of the field on k can be closely fitted to an exponential relationship of the form k = aexp(bE), where a and b are constants and E the electric field strength.     

Asymptotic expansions for the voltage potentials with two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional thin interfaces

We derive asymptotic formulae for two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional steady state voltage potentials associated with thin conductivity imperfections having no uniform thickness. These formulae recover highly conducting inclusions and those with interfacial resistance. Our calculations are rigorous and based on layer potential techniques. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synchronization of the unified chaotic systems using a sliding mode controller

The unified chaotic system incorporates the behaviors of the Lorenz, the Chen and the Lü chaotic systems. This paper deals with the synchronization of two identical unified chaotic systems where the slave system is assumed to have a single input. A sliding mode controller is proposed to synchronize the two systems. The asymptotic convergence to zero of the errors between the states of the master and the slave systems is shown. Simulations results are presented to illustrate the proposed controller; they indicate that the designed controller is able to synchronize the unified chaotic systems. Also, simulation results show that the proposed control scheme is robust to random bounded disturbances acting on the master system. Moreover, the proposed scheme is applied to the secure communications field, where simulation results indicate that the proposed scheme is effective.     

Direct detection of OTA by impedimetric aptasensor based on modified polypyrrole-dendrimers

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a carcinogenic mycotoxin that contaminates food such as cereals, wine and beer; therefore it represents a risk for human health. Consequently, the allowed concentration of OTA in food is regulated by governmental organizations and its detection is of major agronomical interest. In the current study we report the development of an electrochemical aptasensor able to directly detect trace OTA without any amplification procedure. This aptasensor was constructed by coating the surface of a gold electrode with a film layer of modified polypyrrole (PPy), which was thereafter covalently bound to polyamidoamine dendrimers of the fourth generation (PAMAM G4). Finally, DNA aptamers that specifically binds OTA were covalently bound to the PAMAM G4 providing the aptasensor, which was characterized by using both Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) techniques. The study of OTA detection by the constructed electrochemical aptasensor was performed using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and revealed that the presence of OTA led to the modification of the electrical properties of the PPy layer. These modifications could be assigned to conformational changes in the folding of the aptamers upon specific binding of OTA. The aptasensor had a dynamic range of up to 5 μg L⁻¹ of OTA and a detection limit of 2 ng L⁻¹ of OTA, which is below the OTA concentration allowed in food by the European regulations. The efficient detection of OTA by this electrochemical aptasensor provides an unforeseen platform that could be used for the detection of various small molecules through specific aptamer association.