Partial purification and characterization of protease enzyme from Bacillus subtilis megatherium

Bacteria of genus Bacillus are active producers of extracellular proteases, and characteristics of enzyme production by Bacillus species have been well studied. The aim of this experimental study is isolation and partial purification of protease enzyme from the Bacillus subtilis megatherium bacteria species. Protease enzyme is obtained by inducing spore genesis of bacteria from Bacillus species on suitable media. The partial purification was reali-zed by applying successively ammonium sulfate precipitation, dialysis, DEAE-cellulose ion exchange chromatography to the supernatant. In this study, the effect of substrate concentration, reaction time, the effect of inhibitor and activator on the optimum pH, optimum temperature, pH stability, and temperature stability was determined. Molecular weight of the obtained enzyme was investigated by SDS-PAGE. In this study, the specific activity of the supernatant, which was partially purified from Bacillus subtilis megatherium bacteria, was 10.4 U/mg, specific activity of supernatant was 13.5 U/mg after 80% ammonium sulfate fractionation. The final enzyme preparation was 1.1-fold purer than the crude homogenate. Molecular weight of the protease was determined, and it was found that the weight of enzyme was 45 kDa by using SDS-PAGE.     

Humidity sensing properties of ZnO-based fibers by electrospinning

Zinc oxide (ZnO) based fibers with a diameter of 80-100 nm were prepared by electrospinning. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and zinc acetate dihydrate were dissolved in water and the polymer/salt solution was electrospun at 2.5 kV cm⁻¹. The resulting electrospun fibers were subjected to calcination at 500 °C for 2 h to obtain ZnO-based fibers. Humidity sensing properties of the fiber mats were investigated by quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) method and electrical measurements. The adsorption kinetics under constant relative humidity (RH) between 10% and 90% were explained using Langmuir adsorption model. Results of the measurements showed that ZnO-based fibers were found to be promising candidate for humidity sensing applications at room temperature.     

Synthesis of silver nanoflakes on chitosan hydrogel beads and their antimicrobial potential

Abstract

The present study involves the fabrication of CH and CH-Ag hydrogel beads and the investigation of the antimicrobial properties. The beads were fabricated using a simple coacervation method. The successfully synthesized beads were characterized by UV-Vis and FTIR. The surface morphology, shape and diameter of the samples were determined by optical microscopy and SEM. The antimicrobial activities were determined against potential human pathogens including bacterial and fungal species. Our results demonstrated that beads can be utilized as potential materials for use in biomedical approaches including delivery systems and tissue engineering applications to prevent microbial contamination and to inhibit the growth of microorganisms.     

Novel Nanocomposites of Polypyrrole Doped with Fullerene C60

This paper reports on the structural, thermal, and dielectric properties of polypyrrole/fullerene C₆₀ nanocomposites synthesized by a interfacial polymerization method. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) analyses clearly indicated the existence of interactions between polypyrrole (PPy) and the fullerene C₆₀ nanoparticles. Thermal analyses indicated that the extrapolated onset degradation temperature (T_deg) of PPy increased with increasing doping level. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the fullerene C₆₀ changed the morphology of PPy. Dielectric analyses showed a temperature dependent dielectric relaxation behavior. The relaxation time of the nanocomposites with high doping levels tended to increase with increasing temperature. This behavior of the polypyrrole/fullerene C₆₀ nanocomposites indicated that they could be used as a high temperature ultrasonic transducer.     

Partial order relations on family of sets and scalarizations for set optimization

In this study, some new order relations on family of sets are introduced by using Minkowski difference. The relations between these orders and the ordering cone of the vector space are obtained. It is shown that depending on the corresponding cone, these order relations are partial orders on the family of nonempty bounded sets. Some relationships between these order relations and upper and lower set less order relations are investigated. Also, two scalarizing functions are introduced in order to replace set optimization problems with respect to these partial order relations with scalar optimization problems. Moreover, necessary and sufficient optimality conditions are presented.     

Dielectrophoretic characterization and separation of monocytes and macrophages using 3D carbon‐electrodes

Monocyte heterogeneity and its prevalence are revealed as indicator of several human diseases ranking from cardiovascular diseases to rheumatoid arthritis, chronic kidney diseases, autoimmune multiple sclerosis, and stroke injuries. When monocytes and macrophages are characterized and isolated with preserved genetic, phenotypic and functional properties, they can be used as label‐free biomarkers for precise diagnostics and treatment of various diseases. Here, the dielectrophoretic responses of the monocytes and macrophages were examined. We present 3D carbon‐electrode dielectrophoresis (carbon‐DEP) as a separation tool for U937 monocytes and U937 monocyte‐differentiated macrophages. The carbon‐electrodes advanced the usability and throughput of DEP separation, presented wider electrochemical stability. Using the 3D carbon‐DEP chip, we first identified the selective positive and negative DEP responses and specific crossover frequencies of monocytes and macrophages as their signatures for separation. The crossover frequency of monocytes and macrophages was 17 and 30 kHz, respectively. Next, we separated monocyte and macrophage subpopulations using their specific dielectrophoretic responses. Afterward, we used a fluorescence‐activated cell sorter to confirm our results. Finally, we enriched 70% of monocyte cells from the mixed cell population, in other words, concentration of monocyte cells to macrophage cells was five times increased, using the 30‐kHz, 10‐Vpp electric field and 1 μL/min flow rate.     

Immobilization of CoII-(N,N′-bis(salicylidene)-2-aminobenzylamine) on Poly(pyrrole-co-o-anisidine)/Chitosan Composite Films: Application to Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Catechol

In this study, poly (pyrrole-co-o-anisidine)/chitosan composite (Cs) films were prepared by cyclic voltammetry technique on platinum electrode using different pyrrole and o-anisidine mole ratios. Immobilization process was accomplished in Co^II-(N,N′-bis(salicylidene)-2-aminobenzylamine)(CoL) dissolved 0.15 M acetonitrile-LiClO₄ solution by cyclic voltammetry technique at 0.2–2.0 V potential range. Three electrode methods were applied in all electrochemical studies. After immobilization process, the characterizations of the electro catalytic surfaces (Cs−CoL−Pt) were carried out by cyclic voltammetry and SEM images. The SEM images clearly indicated that the [CoL] complex is immobilized onto composite films. The electrocatalytic activity of the modified electrodes on the catechol was investigated using buffer solutions of different pH values. The results of catalytic studies revealed that, pH=10 buffer solution was the optimal solution and 1 : 1 Cs−CoL−Pt electrode was the best electrode for catechol oxidation. In square wave voltammetry measurements using this electrode, two linear working ranges were determined. The linear response ranges for catechol determination were found as 3.0 μM–6.0 μM and 16 μM–80 μM for the first and the second linear working ranges, respectively, with 1.1 μM detection limit.     

Kinetic role of tert-amines in the osmium tetroxide catalyzed trimethylamine N-oxide dihydroxylation of cyclohexene

Effect of some tert-amines on the catalytic osmium tetroxide dihydroxylation of cyclohexene in aqueous tert-butyl alcohol has been investigated All amines have been found to retard the catalysis greatly and beyond a definite concentration of amine, the rate reaches a minimal and remains constant. The oxidation of cyclohexene is inhibited by pyridine, 2.2′-bipyridyl and DABCO with an inverse first-order dependence whereas inhibition by triphenylamine NN-diethylaniline, picoline pyrazine hexamethylenetetraamine and TMEDA shows an inverse partial order dependence. The inolvement of dioxomonoglycolatoosmium(VI) esters and their monoamine adducts in the rate determining oxidation step was established by the linear plots of 1/Δk₂ vs. 1/[L] where Δk₂ is the decrease in the second-order rate constant in the presence of [L] concentration of tert-amine. The ligand-accelerated or ligand-decelerated catalysis of tert-amines in the catalytic osmium tetraoxide dihydroxylation of alkenes may vary depending on the secondary oxidant on the alkene and on the structure and concentration of the tert-amine. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 29: 359–366, 1997