Heavy metal biosorption by bacterial cells

Microbial biomass provides available ligand groups on which metal ions bind by different mechanisms. Biosorption of these elements from aqueous solutions represents a remediation technology suitable for the treatment of metal-contaminated effluents. The purpose of the present investigation was the assessment of the capability of Brevibacterium sp. cells to remove bivalent ions, when present alone or in pairs, from aqueous solutions, using immobilized polyacrylamide cells of the microorganism in a flow-through system. The biosorption capacity of Brevibacterium cells was studied for lead, cadmium and copper. The metal cell binding capacity followed the order Cu > Pb > Cd, based on estimated q_max. These values, expressed as mmol metal/g dry weight cells, were 0.54 for Cu, 0.36 for Pb and 0.14 for Cd. Polyacrylamide-gel immobilized cells were effective in Pb, Cu and Cd removal. Lead removal was not affected by the presence of Cd and Cu; lead instead inhibited Cd and Cu removal. The desorption of the metal, by fluxing a chelating solution, restored the metal binding capacity of the cells, thus affording the multiple use of the same biomass in the remediation treatment. Received: 31 July 1997 / Revised: 22 December 1997 / Accepted: 30 December 1997     

Synthesis and Biophysical Studies on 35‐Deoxy Amphotericin B Methyl Ester

The use of molecular editing in the elucidation of the mechanism of action of amphotericin B is presented. A modular strategy for the synthesis of amphotericin B and its designed analogues is developed, which relies on an efficient gram‐scale synthesis of various subunits of amphotericin B. A novel method for the coupling of the mycosamine to the aglycone was identified. The implementation of the approach has enabled the preparation of 35‐deoxy amphotericin B methyl ester. Investigation of the antifungal activity and efflux‐inducing ability of this amphotericin B congener provided new clues to the role of the 35‐hydroxy group and is consistent with the involvement of double barrel ion channels in causing electrolyte efflux.     

A calibration curve at 2000 meters (A.S.L.): alpine valleys as field laboratories for teaching environmental monitoring to undergraduate students

High-altitude alpine valleys may be considered as ideal field laboratories for the interdisciplinary teaching of Environmental Sciences to undergraduate students in a Laurea degree, since different typologies of sampling sites (rivers, lakes, glaciers) may be found within walking distance, and students are encouraged to develop cooperative learning activities. Scientific data have been collected by 1st year students at the University of Insubria in Como during a teaching program in Ventina Valley and Caronno Valley near Sondrio (Italy). Analytical and geochemical results will be presented and discussed on the basis of organic deposition and water-rock interactions.     

Fostering and Understanding Iron Detection at the Ultratrace Level by Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry with Catalytic Enhancement

Iron detection at the ultratrace level in seawater is at the forefront in chemical oceanography research and analytical methodologies for its determination are actively sought. Voltammetric methods and specifically cathodic stripping voltammetry (CSV) with catalytic enhancement, are particularly fit for this purpose as they avoid any separation and pretreatment step, showing high sensitivity and robustness towards the saline matrix. Here we introduce a simplification in the instrumentation for iron detection by CSV using 2,3‐dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) as the ligand, atmospheric oxygen as the catalytic enhancer and a small 0.5 mL cell. The simplification involves the use of a standard, non‐specialized voltammetric cup as a holder for the small cell and the introduction of a simple silver wire as a pseudoreference electrode. The latter reduces the risk of sample contamination and is perfectly suited for employment with the small, 0.5 mL volume cell. Extensive optimization was performed in both ultrapure and seawater: a square wave frequency of 10 Hz was adopted, whereas the ligand concentration did not significantly influence the limit of detection (around 10 and 40 pM for ultrapure and seawater, respectively). The latter difference in signal to noise ratio was explained by the kinetics of iron complex reduction. The method was successfully validated by the analysis of a seawater sample with consensus value.     

Ditocopheryl Sulfides and Disulfides: Synthesis and Antioxidant Profile

Symmetrical ditocopheryl disulfides ( Toc ) ₂ S₂ and symmetrical and unsymmetrical ditocopheryl sulfides ( Toc )₂ S were simply prepared under remarkably mild conditions with complete control of the regiochemistry by using δ-, γ-, and β-tocopheryl-N-thiophthalimides ( Toc-NSPht ) as common starting materials. The roles of sulfur atom(s), H-bond and aryl ring substitution pattern on the antioxidant profile of these new compounds, which were assembled by linking together two tocopheryl units, are also discussed.     

Meson photoproduction on the nucleon with polarized photons

Meson photoproduction with polarized photons has proved to be a powerful tool to identify contributions of baryon resonances that are not evident in the differential cross-sections. It provides information that are complementary to those extracted using pion-nucleon scattering data. Extensive results have been produced in the past on beam asymmetries by the Graal collaboration for η and π ⁰ on the proton. New results are now available for the same reactions on the quasi-free neutron and for the K⁺ photoproduction on the proton. Contributions from hitherto undetected baryon resonances may be important to understand the results.     

Direct l-doublet transitions in the 0110 state of cyanogen chloride and cyanogen bromide

Direct l doublet transitions have been observed for the 01¹0 state of the ³⁵Cl¹²C¹⁴N and ³⁷Cl¹²C¹⁴N isotopic species of cyanogen chloride and the ⁷⁹Br¹²C¹⁴N and ⁸¹Br¹²C¹⁴N isotopic species of cyanogen bromide in the frequency range 4–22 GHz. The l-doubling constants (q⁰, q¹, q²) and the asymmetry parameters (ηeQq_z) of the halogen nuclear quadrupole coupling tensors have been derived. The constants q¹ have been calculated form the vibrational force fields of Whiffen for the four cyanogen halides using the formulation of Watson. Agreement with the observed values is found to be 10% or better and for cyanogen fluoride and cyanogen chloride the isotopic shifts in q¹ are also well predicted.