Defense-Related Polyphenol Oxidase from Hevea brasiliensis Cell Suspension: Purification and Characterization

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) was examined from the extract of leaf, seed, and cell suspension of Hevea brasiliensis, a rubber plant. The defense-related isozyme from Hevea cell suspension induced by culture filtrate of Phytophthora palmivora or by agitation stress was isolated through anion exchange and affinity chromatography, respectively. A 104-purification fold, migrated as a single band of 70?kDa on sodium dodecyl sulfate?Cpolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of PPO, was obtained after further purified by the preparative gel electrophoresis. Based on reaction with catechol and dopamine but not with p-cresol and guaiacol, it is a diphenol-type PPO. The values of V _max /K _m ratio indicated that catechol was the most specific substrate. The optimal activity of the purified PPO was observed at pH?6.0. The PPO activity was retained at pH?4.0?C10.0 and temperature 10?C60?°C. The inhibitors which completely inhibited the activity were ascorbic acid, dithiothreitol, and ??-mercaptoethanol while sodium azide was a poor inhibitor. The PPO obtained from Hevea cell suspension possesses high specific activity and is stable at wide range of pH and temperature. It is therefore suitable for extreme condition uses and may lead to an alternative source of PPO in various industrial applications.     

Optical properties of lithium magnesium borate glasses doped with Dy and Sm ions

Several studies showed the interesting properties of trivalent lanthanide ions when doped in various types of glasses. Optical and physical properties of lithium magnesium borate glasses doped with Dy³⁺ then with Sm³⁺ ions were determined by measuring their absorption and luminescence spectra in the visible region. The absorption spectra of Dy³⁺ showed eight absorption bands with hypersensitive transition at 1265 nm (⁶H_15/2→⁶F_11/2-⁶H_9/2) and three PL emission bands at 588 nm (⁴F_9/2→⁶H_15/2), 660 nm (⁴F_9/2→⁶H_13/2) and 775 nm (⁴F_9/2→⁶H_11/2). Regarding the Sm3⁺, nine absorption bands were observed with hypersensitive transition at 1237 nm (⁶H_5/2–⁶F_7/2); the PL spectrum showed four prominent peaks at ⁴G_5/2→⁶H_5/2 (yellow color), ⁴G_5/2→⁶H_7/2 (bright orange color), ⁴G_5/2→⁶H_9/2 (orange reddish color) and ⁴G_5/2→⁶H_11/2 (red color), respectively. Finally, a series of physical parameters such as the oscillator strengths, refractive index, ions concentration, Polaron radius and other parameters were calculated for each dopant.     

On the orthogonalised reverse path method for nonlinear system identification

The problem of obtaining the underlying linear dynamic compliance matrix in the presence of nonlinearities in a general multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) system can be solved using the conditioned reverse path (CRP) method introduced by Richards and Singh (1998 Journal of Sound and Vibration, 213(4): pp. 673–708). The CRP method also provides a means of identifying the coefficients of any nonlinear terms which can be specified a priori in the candidate equations of motion. Although the CRP has proved extremely useful in the context of nonlinear system identification, it has a number of small issues associated with it. One of these issues is the fact that the nonlinear coefficients are actually returned in the form of spectra which need to be averaged over frequency in order to generate parameter estimates. The parameter spectra are typically polluted by artefacts from the identification of the underlying linear system which manifest themselves at the resonance and anti-resonance frequencies. A further problem is associated with the fact that the parameter estimates are extracted in a recursive fashion which leads to an accumulation of errors. The first minor objective of this paper is to suggest ways to alleviate these problems without major modification to the algorithm. The results are demonstrated on numerically-simulated responses from MDOF systems. In the second part of the paper, a more radical suggestion is made, to replace the conditioned spectral analysis (which is the basis of the CRP method) with an alternative time domain decorrelation method. The suggested approach – the orthogonalised reverse path (ORP) method – is illustrated here using data from simulated single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) and MDOF systems.     

Control of diameter,morphology, and structure of PVDF nanofiber fabricated by electrospray deposition

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanofibers were prepared by electrospray deposition (ESD). To control the diameter, morphology, and structure of PVDF nanofibers, some parameters were investigated, such as polymer concentration, nozzle‐to‐ground collector distance, feeding rate of the polymer solution, and applied voltage. The fabricated fiber was 80–700 nm in diameter. The increase in the polymer concentration caused an increase in the polymer viscosity and fiber diameter. At low polymer concentration (5 wt %), polymer nanoparticles were formed. An increase in applied voltage will increase the fiber diameter. Variation in the nozzle‐to‐ground collector distance did not result in significant changes in the fiber diameter. Increase in the feeding rate of the polymer solution decreased the fiber diameter. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) measurements showed that the melting point and total crystallinity were decreased. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurement revealed that ESD process induced the formation of the oriented β‐phase PVDF structures. It was also demonstrated that the addition of hydrofluorocarbon solvent to polymer solution remarkably enhanced the formation of β‐phase crystalline structure of PVDF nanofiber. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 779–786, 2006     

Effect of surface roughness of TiO2 films on short-circuit current density of photoelectrochemical cell of ITO/TiO2/PVC-LiClO4/graphite

This paper reports the effect of surface topography of titanium dioxide films on short-circuit current density of photoelectrochemical solar cell of ITO/TiO₂/PVC-LiCLO₄/graphite. The films were deposited onto ITO-covered glass substrate by screen-printing technique. The films were tempered at 300 °C, 350 °C, 400 °C, 450 °C and 500 °C for 30 min to burn out the organic parts and to achieve the films with porous structure. The surface roughness of the films were studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Current–voltage relationship of the devices were characterized in dark at room temperature and under illumination of 100 mW cm⁻² light from tungsten halogen lamp at 50 °C. The device utilising the TiO₂ film annealed at 400 °C produces the highest short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage as it posses the smoothest surface topography with the electrolyte. The short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage of the devices increase with the decreasing grain size of the TiO₂ films. The short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage are 0.6 μA/cm² and 109 mV respectively.     

Sanguinamide B analogs: identification of active macrocyclic structures

We report the synthesis of three new sanguinamide B (San B) analogs. We substituted in amino acids along the San B backbone with an N-Me, glycine, or an aromatic moiety (Phe or d-Phe) generating twelve derivatives in total. Testing in HCT-116 colon cancer cell lines resulted in establishing a structure–activity relationship. Our data show that the substitution of l- or d-Phe adjacent to the thiazole in the San B backbone locks the macrocycle into a single conformer, but only d-Phe analogs are cytotoxic. We demonstrate that the conformation of the macrocycle is extremely sensitive to stereochemistry and amino acid placement.     

Radiological dose assessment of naturally occurring radioactive materials in concrete building materials

Previous studies have shown that the natural radioactivity contained in building materials have significantly influenced the dose rates in dwelling. Exposure to natural radiation in building has been of concerned since almost 80 % of our daily live are spend indoor. Thus, the aim of the study is to assess the radiological risk associated by natural radioactivity in soil based building materials to dwellers. A total of 13 Portland cement, 46 sand and 43 gravel samples obtained from manufacturers or bought directly from local hardware stores in Peninsular of Malaysia were analysed for their radioactivity concentrations. The activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K in the studied building materials samples were found to be in the range of 3.7–359.3, 2.0–370.8 and 10.3–1,949.5 Bq kg^?1 respectively. The annual radiation dose rates (μSv year^?1) received by dwellers were evaluated for 1 to 50 years of exposure using Resrad-Build Computer Code based on the activity concentration of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K found in the studied building material samples. The rooms modelling were based on the changing parameters of concrete wall thickness and the room dimensions. The annual radiation dose rates to dwellers were found to increase annually over a period of 50 years. The concrete thicknesses were found to have significantly influenced the dose rates in building. The self-absorption occurred when the concrete thickness was thicker than 0.4 m. Results of this study shows that the dose rates received by the dwellers of the building are proportional to the size of the room. In general the study concludes that concrete building materials; Portland cements, sands, and gravels in Peninsular of Malaysia does not pose radiological hazard to the building dwellers.     

Effect of substrate temperature on gold-catalyzed silicon nanostructures growth by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD)

The effect of substrate temperature on the structural property of the silicon nanostructures deposited on gold-coated crystal silicon substrate by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) was studied. The uniformity and size of the as-grown silicon nanostructures is highly influenced by the substrate temperature. XRD, Raman and HRTEM measurements show the silicon nanostructures consist of small crystallites embedded within amorphous matrix. The crystallite size of the as-grown silicon nanostructures decreases with increases in substrate temperature. FTIR shows that these silicon nanostructures are highly disordered for sample prepared at substrate temperature above 250 °C. The correlation of crystallinity and structure disorder of the silicon nanostructures growth at different substrate temperature was discussed.     

Wirelessly powered dielectrophoresis of metal oxide particles using spark-gap Tesla coil

Wirelessly powered dielectrophoresis (DEP) of metal oxide particles was performed using a spark-gap Tesla coil (TC). The main contribution of this work is the simplification of the conventional DEP setup that requires attaching wires directly to the electrodes. Wireless power from the TC generates a high output frequency and voltage, which corresponds to that used for the DEP. Therefore, a spark-gap TC was built and utilized to conduct the DEP process. Metal oxides (ZnO and Fe₂O₃) were used as targets for the assembly. The results showed that the wirelessly powered DEP technique via a TC was successful in assembling the metal oxide particles. Positive and negative DEP phenomena were observed. Positive DEP occurred during ZnO assembly, making particles chain grow 0.92 mm toward the sparks within 60 s. Negative DEP was observed during Fe₂O₃ assembly, where the repulsion of particles formed a void around the sparks with a 1.45 mm radius. The mechanism of this wireless DEP system is discussed.