Fluorescence and biochemical characterization of glycated hemoglobin

Isoelectric focusing (IEF) of glycated hemoglobin (GHb) was carried out in ultra-thin polyacrylamide gels to separate the hemoglobin-advanced glycation endproducts (Hb-AGEs) from the hemoglobin-A_1C (HbA_1C) fraction. Precast polyacrylamide gels (Ampholine^® PAGplate) were used in Pharmacia LKB Multiphor II for this purpose. The separated bands for Hb-AGE and HbA_1C based on their isoelectric point (pI), were confirmed with the purifed fractions obtained from the cation exchange chromatographic technique. From the calibration curve, the pI values were found to be 6.748 and 6.495 for HbA_1C and Hb-AGE, respectively. The lowering of pI values for glycated hemoglobin, when compared to unglycated hemoglobin (pI = 6.852), can be attributed to the glycation at the amino terminals of the peptide chains. Increased reduction in pI value for Hb-AGE can be attributed to the effect of glycation of amino groups at various sites on the peptide chains, apart from the terminal amino groups. Fluorescence analysis was carried out for the purified fraction of Hb-AGE which showed the formation of a new fluorophor adduct having the excitation and emission maxima at 308 nm and 345 nm, respectively. Time-dependent formation of Hb-AGE under in vitro conditions was monitored by fluorescence (308/345 nm) over a period of 120 days, which showed its formation only after 3 weeks of incubation.     

Conformational analysis of methylphenidate: comparison of molecular orbital and molecular mechanics methods

Summary Methylphenidate (MP) binds to the cocaine binding site on the dopamine transporter and inhibits reuptake of dopamine, but does not appear to have the same abuse potential as cocaine. This study, part of a comprehensive effort to identify a drug treatment for cocaine abuse, investigates the effect of choice of calculation technique and of solvent model on the conformational potential energy surface (PES) of MP and a rigid methylphenidate (RMP) analogue which exhibits the same dopamine transporter binding affinity as MP. Conformational analysis was carried out by the AM1 and AM1/SM5.4 semiempirical molecular orbital methods, a molecular mechanics method (Tripos force field with the dielectric set equal to that of vacuum or water) and the HF/6-31G* molecular orbital method in vacuum phase. Although all three methods differ somewhat in the local details of the PES, the general trends are the same for neutral and protonated MP. In vacuum phase, protonation has a distinctive effect in decreasing the regions of space available to the local conformational minima. Solvent has little effect on the PES of the neutral molecule and tends to stabilize the protonated species. The random search (RS) conformational analysis technique using the Tripos force field was found to be capable of locating the minima found by the molecular orbital methods using systematic grid search. This suggests that the RS/Tripos force field/vacuum phase protocol is a reasonable choice for locating the local minima of MP. However, the Tripos force field gave significantly larger phenyl ring rotational barriers than the molecular orbital methods for MP and RMP. For both the neutral and protonated cases, all three methods found the phenyl ring rotational barriers for the RMP conformers/invertamers (denoted as cte, tte, and cta) to be: cte, tte> MP > cta. Solvation has negligible effect on the phenyl ring rotational barrier of RMP. The B3LYP/6-31G* density functional method was used to calculate the phenyl ring rotational barrier for neutral MP and gave results very similar to those of the HF/6-31G* method.     

Characterization of some new alkali metal molybdate hydrates by thermal and X-ray methods

Preparation and characterization of four new hydrated alkali metal molybdates Na₂Mo₄O₁₃·6H₂O, K₂Mo₄O₁₃·3H₂O, Rb₂Mo₄O₁₃·2H₂O and Cs₂Mo₄O₁₃·2H₂O are described. The compounds were prepared by crystallizing the solution obtained by dissolving MoO₃ and corresponding alkali metal carbonates A₂CO₃ or molybdate A₂MoO₄ in stoichiometric amount in distilled water. The hydrated molybdates were characterized by thermal (TG/DTA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. The number of water molecules in the compounds were determined from their TG /DTA curves recorded in air and identification of their dehydration products was done by XRD. The cell parameters of the compounds were obtained by indexing their XRD patterns. Attempt to prepare the corresponding hydrated compound of lithium was not successful. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Structures and basicity of LiNOH (N = 1 − 5) species

LiOH is one of the strong bases among neutral molecules. What about hydroxides of small Li_n (n = 2 ? 5) clusters? The addition of a single atom to a cluster sometimes has dramatic effects on its reactivity. This fact motivated us to perform an ab initio MP2/6‐311++G(d, p) investigation on Li_nOH species (n = 1 ? 5). These Li_nOH species are stabilized by both ionic as well as covalent interactions, and are found to be stable against elimination of LiOH and OH. We have determined their gas and aqueous phase basicity by considering hypothetical protonation reactions. The calculated proton affinities of Li_nOH (n ≥ 2) suggest their reduced basicity as compared to LiOH by 50–100 kJ/mol. The NBO charges and the highest occupied molecular orbitals also reveal the electride and alkalide characteristics of Li₂OH and Li₃OH, respectively. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Grafting onto Gelatin. II. Graft Copolymerization of Ethyl Acrylate and Methyl Methacrylate onto Gelatin in the Presence of Ce4+ as Redox Initiator

In order to initiate a comprehensive study of graft copolymerization of vinyl monomers onto soluble protein-gelatin, we have studied grafting of ethyl acrylate (EA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) onto gelatin using eerie ammonium nitrate (CAN) and eerie ammonium sulfate (CAS) as the redox initiator in an aqueous medium. A small amount of mineral acid (HNO₃ with CAN and H2SO4 with CAS) was found to catalyze the graft copolymerization. Graft copolymerization reactions were carried out at different temperatures. Maximum grafting occurred at 65°C both with EA and MMA. Percentage grafting has been determined as function of 1) concentration of monomer (EA and MMA), 2) concentration of initiator (CAN and CAS), 3) concentration of acid (HNO3 and H2SO4), 4) time, and 5) temperature.     

Structural and dielectric properties of Pb5(Ge,Si)O11

The ferroelectric lead germanate (Pb₅Ge₃O₁₁) and its isomorphous compounds are important because of their uses as pyroelectric and electro-optic devices. Comparison of inter-planar d-spacings of Pb₅Ge_3−x Si _x O₁₁ (x=0, 0.3, 0.7 and 1.00) suggests that there is no change in basic structure of Pb₅Ge_3−x Si _x O₁₁ when Si is substituted for Ge in small quantity (x<1). The dielectric properties of the Si-substituted compounds have been studied as a function of temperature (30 to 200°C). The ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition has been observed at 185°C. The Si doping causes (a) Curie point to shift towards low temperature, (b) peak value of the dielectric constant to decrease and (c) phase transition diffuse. The fast increase in dielectric constant of pure Pb₅Ge₃O₁₁ with temperature (beyond transition temperature) may be attributed to the development of space charge polarization in the system.     

Oscillation of higher order delay differential equations

A sufficient condition was obtained for oscillation of all solutions of theodd-order delay differential equation $$x^{(n)} (t) + \sum\limits_{i = 1}^m {p_i (t)} x(t - \sigma _{_i } ) = 0,$$ wherep _i (t) are non-negative real valued continuous function in [T ∞] for someT≥0 and σ_i,∈(0, ∞)(i = 1,2,…,m). In particular, forp _i (t) =p _i ∈(0, ∞) andn > 1 the result reduces to $$\frac{1}{m}\left( {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^m {(p_i \sigma _i^m )^{1/2} } } \right)^2 > (n - 2)!\frac{{(n)^n }}{e},$$ implies that every solution of (*) oscillates. This result supplements forn > 1 to a similar result proved by Ladaset al [J. Diff. Equn.,42 (1982) 134–152] which was proved for the casen = 1.     

Grafting onto wool. VIII. Graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) by use of Ce4+ -amine system as redox initiator

In an attempt to determine the role of a variety of amines in ceric-ion-initiated grafting, poly-(methyl methacrylate) was graft copolymerized onto Himachali wool in the presence of a variety of amines that included ammonia, diethylamine (DEA), dipropylamine (DPA), triethylamine (TEA), triethanol amine, and pyridine. All amines (with the exception of DEA) reduced the percent grafting. The reactivity of various amines toward graft copolymerization followed the order: DEA > DPA > NH₃ > TEA > triethanol amine > Py. An explanation based on the basicity, nucleophilicity, and steric requirement of amines is given to explain the observed reactivity order shown by the various amines toward graft copolymerization.     

Nonlinear ion-acoustic solitary waves in an electron-positron-ion plasma with relativistic positron beam

The propagation characteristics of nonlinear ion–acoustic(IA) solitary waves(SWs) are studied in thermal electron–positron–ion plasma considering the effect of relativistic positron beam. Starting from a set of fluid equations and using the reductive perturbation technique, we derive a Korteweg–de Vries(KdV) equation which governs the evolution of weakly nonlinear IA SWs in relativistic beam driven plasmas. The properties of the IA soliton are studied, and it is shown that the presence of relativistic positron beam significantly modifies the characteristics of IA solitons.     

Microwave Activated Solid Support Synthesis of New Antibacterial Quinolones

 A novel synthesis of 6-fluoro-7-(5-aryl-1,3,4-thiadiazol/oxadiazol-2-yl-sulfanyl)-4-quinolone-3-carboxylic acids from 7-chloro-6-fluoro-4-quinolone-3-carboxylic acid and 5-substituted 1,3,4-thiadiazoles/oxadiazoles on basic alumina under microwave activation is described. All compounds were screened for their in vitro antibacterial activity against B. lichenformis, 2689, K. aerogens 2281, S. typhimurium 2501, E. herbicola 2491, and P. vulgaris 2027 and found to possess activities comparable to that of the standard drug norfloxacin.