Large-scale production of cellulose-binding domains. Adsorption studies using CBD-FITC conjugates

A method for the gram-scale production of cellulose-binding domains (CBD) through the proteolytic digestion of a commercial enzymatic preparation (Celluclast) was developed. The CBD obtained, isolated from Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I, is highly pure and heavily glycosylated. The purified peptide has a molecular weight of 8.43 kDa, comprising the binding module, a part of the linker, and about 30% glycosidic moiety. Its properties may thus be different from recombinant ones expressed in bacteria. CBD-fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugates were used to study the CBD-cellulose interaction. The presence of fluorescent peptides adsorbed on crystalline and amorphous cellulose fibers suggests that amorphous regions have a higher concentration of binding sites. The adsorption is reversible, but desorption is a very slow process.     

Observation of baker’s yeast strains used in biotransformation by atomic force microscopy

Different strains of baker’s yeast(Saccharomyces cerevisiae) were imaged with an atomic force microscope (AFM). The images of uncoated and nonfixed samples were reproducible with high-constrast and nanometer-resolution. Molecules from the polysaccharide surface of the cell wall were pictured and the distance of atoms was measured. The preparation of samples was easy, suggesting that AFM is a useful tool in this type of analyses.     

Block renormalization group for Euclidean Fermions

Block renormalization group transformations (RGT) for lattice and continuum Euclidean Fermions in d dimensions are developed using Fermionic integrals with exponential and -function weight functions. For the free field the sequence of actionsD _k generated by the RGT from D, the Dirac operator, are shown to have exponential decay; uniform ink, after rescaling to the unit lattice. It is shown that the two-point functionD ^–1 admits a simple telescopic sum decomposition into fluctuation two-point functions which for the exponential weight RGT have exponential decay. Contrary to RG intuition the sequence of rescaled actions corresponding to the -function RGT do not have uniform exponential decay and we give examples of initial actions in one dimension where this phenomena occurs for the exponenential weight RGT also.     

Asymmetric zirconocene precursors for catalysis of propylene polymerization

Racemic isopropylidene (1-η⁵-cyclopentadienyl)(1-η⁵-indenyl) dichlorozirconium and the 3-methylindenyl derivative have been synthesized and characterized. These precursors activated with methylaluminoxane produce poly(propylene) with hemiisotactic microstructures. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Bis(μ‐acetato‐κ3O,O′:O′)bis[bis(acetato‐κ2O,O′)diaquadysprosium(III)] tetrahydrate

The title compound, [Dy₂(C₂H₃O₂)₆(H₂O)₄]·4H₂O, crystallizes in the form of dimeric units related by an inversion centre. Each cation is nine‐coordinate, binding to two water mol­ecules and three acetate groups, two of which are bidentate and the third tridentate. This last acetate group acts as a bridge between neighbouring metal atoms, leading to an intradimer Dy?Dy separation of 4.170 (1) Å.     

Characterization of SiO2-P2O5-ZrO2 Sol-Gel/NAFION™ Composite Membranes

Composite membranes were prepared by (a) infiltrating NAFION with SiO₂-P₂O₅-ZrO₂ sol, and (b) recasting a film using NAFION solution containing SiO₂-P₂O₅-ZrO₂ sol. The membranes were characterized by Differential Thermal Analysis and ac-impedance spectroscopy as a function of relative humidity. The influences of the heat treatment (80°C–150°C) and cleaning on the electrical properties were investigated. The incorporation of SiO₂-P₂O₅-ZrO₂ gels into NAFION lead to improvements in its thermal stability and proton conductivity.     

Theoretical study of the electronic structure of CnS (n=1-6) thiocumulenes

Linear sulfur-carbon chains C(n)S (n=1-6) of astronomical interest were examined by means of several theoretical methods. The three smallest compounds of the series were chosen to evaluate the performance of several computational models, including Hartree-Fock theory, density functional theory with the Becke's three parameter exchange functional and the correlation functional of Lee, Yang, and Parr (B3LYP), and electron-correlated methods (second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation method (MP2), configuration interaction method including single and double excitations (CISD), and quadratic configuration interaction method including single and double excitations (QCISD) in combination with a large variety of basis sets. The systematic comparison between the experiment and theory indicates that the B3LYP/6-311G** method can be considered suitable for the study of the electronic structures of the C(n)S compounds. The electronic ground states of the C(n)S molecules alternate between 1Sigma and 3Sigma for odd and even values of n, respectively. The B3LYP/6-311G** wave functions for these electronic ground states were analyzed by means of the atoms in molecules (AIM) and natural bond orbital (NBO) methods. Both approaches suggest that the electronic structures for the singlet and triplet compounds must be considered separately. According to the NBO method, singlet compounds can be properly represented by acetylenic structures with alternating single and triple bonds (S[triple bond]C-C[triple bond]C...). However, triplet compounds are better described by means of double bond-double bond cumulenic structures (S=C=C=C=C...) as a consequence of the average between different alpha and beta electronic densities. AIM delocalization indexes and NBO interactions between localized orbitals also indicate that these structures are strongly pi delocalized. Finally, the different singlet and triplet structures proposed provide a consistent explanation for the geometries, dipole moments, and spin-density values of the C(n)S compounds studied.     

On xenon molecule excited state lifetimes

Time-resolved excitation spectra of xenon vapor in the 150 nm region are analysed in terms of four main fluorescence lifetimes corresponding to decays of four stable excited electronic states of the Xe dimer. The two shortest decay times, ≈ 2 ns and ≈ 60 ns, are assigned to the direct radiative relaxation of the two lowest excited ungerade states, (¹Σ⁺_u)0⁺_u and (³Σ⁺_u))1 u respectively. The two longest decay times, ≈ 150 ns and ≈ 500 ns, must correspond to the overall depopulation rates of the two lowest excited gerade states, (³Σ⁺_g)1g and (¹Σ⁺_g)0⁺_g, decaying into the gerade ground state by cascading down through the intermediate ungerade states.