pH-Sensitive Oscillatory Motion of a Urease Motor on the Urea Aqueous Phase

A self-propelled object coupled with an enzyme reaction between urease and urea was investigated at the air/aqueous interface. A plastic object that was fixed to a urease-immobilized filter paper was used as a self-propelled object, termed a urease motor, placed on an aqueous urea solution. The driving force of the urease motor is the difference in the surface tension around the object. Oscillatory motion or no motion was triggered depending on the initial pH of the urea solution. Both the frequency and maximum speed of the oscillatory motion varied depending on the initial pH of the water phase. The mechanisms underlying the oscillatory motion and no motion were discussed in relation to the bell-shaped enzyme activity of urease in the enzyme reaction and the surface tension around the urease motor.     

Mesoscopic Strain Fields Measurement During the Allotropic α − γ Transformation in High Purity Iron

The allotropic phase change from ferrite to austenite represents a moment of massive interplay between the microstructural and mechanical states of iron. The difference of compacity between the two phases induces a microplastic accommodation in the material at grain scale. However, mechanical heterogeneities resulting from the transformation process remain challenging to characterise due to the high temperature conditions it is associated with. We developed experimental equipment for in situ observation of α ? γ and γ ? α transformations. Images of the surface of an iron sample taken by an optical camera were used as input for a Digital Image Correlation (DIC) routine. Special care was taken to maximize image resolution to capture sub-grain phenomena. Observations show that, at the mesoscopic scale, shear strain fields exhibit strong localisations that are evidence of transformations that are occurring.

     

A New Radar-Signal Parameter for Recognition of Wind-Related Weather Hazards

Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics - Wind-related weather hazards remain difficult to recognize targets for weather radars. Methods that use estimates of the width of the reflected-signal...     

Function of the Non-Crystalline X-Ray Amorphous Phase of Highly Dispersed Powder of CaO in Adsorption of CO2 and H2O

Russian Journal of General Chemistry - Highly dispersed CaO has been synthesized by heating an aqueous solution of calcium nitrate and D-glucose up to 800°C. Calcium oxide is formed with an...     

Application based Studies of HPTLC-bioautography in Evaluation of Botanicals: a Review

Journal of Analytical Chemistry - HPTLC is a widely used tool in standardization of herbs because of its ability to estimate the presence of active components in samples. HPTLC-bioautography is a...     

Scattering Indicatrix of Aqueous Hemoglobin Solutions

Journal of Applied Spectroscopy - Aqueous solutions of human hemoglobin have been studied by the multi-angle static light scattering method. The tendency of sickle-shaped erythrocytes to aggregate...     

Editorial to the Special Issue: Adsorption,Absorption and Thermochemical Transport Processes in Complex Porous Structures

Transport in Porous Media - The theme of coupling problems for adsorption, absorption and thermochemical transport in porous media is very important for engineering applications. Based on the...