Isolation of phospholipase A2 from the venom of the green toadBufo viridis

Phospholipase A₂ has been isolated fromthe venom of he Central Asian green toad Bufo viridis in the electroophoretically homogeneous state for the first time by biospecific absorption chromatography. The affinity sorbent used was Affi-Gel 10 with covalently bound phosphatidylserine (PDS). The chemical inertness of the bound PDS to the hydrolytic action of phospholipase A2 and its high tendency to form biospecific complexes have been shown. Some biochemical characteristics of the enzyme isolated have been studied: influence of the pH and of the Ca²⁺ concentration and dependence of activity on substrate concentration.A. S. Sadykov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, fax 627071. Tashkent State University, fax 462472. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 105–109, January–February, 1994.     

An investigation of the membranotropic properties of the plant toxin thionin isolated fromPyrularia pubera

It has been shown by the ESR of spin probes that thionin initially interacts with with negatively charged membranes electrostatically and then passes into the membranes to a depth comparable with the length of the hydrophobic sections of the protein loops.Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 4, pp. 594–597, July–August, 1993.     

Synthesis of β -Cyperone via Fungal Hydroxylation of thujone-derived tricyclic cyclopropanes

Synthesis of optically active sesquiterpenes with a eudesmane C-skeleton from the chiral starting material thujone involves transformation of a tricyclic intermediate (1R,2R,4S)-1,7-dimethyl-4-(1-methylethyl)tricyclo[4.4.0.0^2,4]dec-6-en-8-one ( 2 ) into the bicyclic compound β -cyperone ( 5 ). Hydroxylation of 2 at C(5) or C(11) permits subsequent opening of the cyclopropane ring and rearrangement to β -cyperone. In this publication, studies involving hydroxylation of 2 by fungal cultures are presented. The resultant products are useful intermediates in efficient synthesis of eudesmane sesquiterpenes. Of five fungi tested, Rhizopus oryzae ATCC 11145 proved most versatile. It hydroxylates at the exocyclic C(11) position in high yield (70%) and, to a lesser extent, at C(5) (5%). Enzymatic activity appears at the end of growth phase and at least 2.2 g of 2 per liter can be metabolized without significant loss of product yield. A second fungus, Cunninghamella echinulata ATCC 9244, proved most useful for hydroxylation of derivatives of 2 for the preparation of derivatives of β -cyperone, although product yields were low (2–20%), some derivatives were nonreactive, and hydroxylation at C(9) occurred. The relationship between precursor structure and enzyme affinity is discussed.     

Energy levels of small titanium oxide clusters obtained from SCF calculations

The energy levels of small titanium oxide clusters [(TiO₂)₂, and (TiO₂H)₃, and (TiO₂H)₂] have been calculated using ab initio SCF methods. Both crystal and relaxed geometries have been considered. Systematic changes in the valencelevel structure resulting from geometry relaxation are found, which may be related to band-gap changes experimentally observed for small titanium oxide particles. In addition, a Ti? OH local surface state is found to be well described within a limited cluster model. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Exfoliation of Coatings from Silicon Crystals Electroless-Plated with Nickel and Electroplated with Gold

The microhardness and content of carbon in electroplated gold coatings were studied as influenced by the operation time of citrate and citrate-phosphate gold-plating electrolytes. Such physicomechanical properties as porosity, microhardness, internal stress, plasticity, and microstructure of electroless-plated and electroplated nickel coatings were studied and analyzed.     

An Inverse Problem for a Model of a Hierarchical Structure

We consider the inverse problem for the identification of the coefficient in a parabolic equation. The model is applied to describe the functioning of a hierarchical structure [1]; it is also relevant for heat-conduction theory [2]. Unique solvability of the inverse problem is proved.     

Boundary-value problem for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation

A mixed boundary-value problem for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation and its generalization is studied by the method used for the inverse scattering problem. A connection is established between conservation laws and boundary conditions in integrable boundary-value problems for higher nonlinear Schrödinger equations. It is shown that the generalized boundary-value problem requires a joint consideration of regular and singular solutions for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with repulsion.Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov Leningradskogo Otdeleniya Matematicheskogo Instituta im. V. A. Steklova AN SSSR, Vol. 169, pp. 151–165, 1988.