Caught in the Hinact: Crystal Structure and Spectroscopy Reveal a Sulfur Bound to the Active Site of an O2‐stable State of [FeFe] Hydrogenase

[FeFe] hydrogenases are the most active H₂ converting catalysts in nature, but their extreme oxygen sensitivity limits their use in technological applications. The [FeFe] hydrogenases from sulfate reducing bacteria can be purified in an O₂‐stable state called H_inact. To date, the structure and mechanism of formation of H_inact remain unknown. Our 1.65 Å crystal structure of this state reveals a sulfur ligand bound to the open coordination site. Furthermore, in‐depth spectroscopic characterization by X‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy (NRVS), resonance Raman (RR) spectroscopy and infrared (IR) spectroscopy, together with hybrid quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) calculations, provide detailed chemical insight into the H_inact state and its mechanism of formation. This may facilitate the design of O₂‐stable hydrogenases and molecular catalysts.     

Screening and characterization of medicinal plants extracts with bactericidal activity against Streptococcus mutans

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to perform a screening of extracts obtained from 15 medicinal plants using water (at 25 and 90?°C) or ethanol (at 25?°C), to bactericidal activity against cariogenic S. mutans ATCC 25175, as well as to carry out the preliminary phytochemical characterization of the extracts and HPLC/MS assay for selected extracts. The extractions were carried out for 5?h at 400?rpm. Only five from 45 tested extracts were selected based on their antibacterial activity. The IC₅₀ varied from of 28?ppm for Quercus ilex up to 250?ppm for Jatropha dioica. Different polyphenolic and quinic acids, flavonoids, anthocyanin or tyrosol were identified by HPLC/MS in selected extracts from Rosa gallica L., Jatropha dioica Sessé, Mimosa tenuiflora (Willd.) Poir, Quercus ilex L., and Solanum nigrum. The obtained results confirm that selected extracts are good candidates to be used for cariogenic bacteria control.     

Separation of influenza virus‐like particles from baculovirus by polymer‐grafted anion exchanger

The baculovirus expression vector system is a very powerful tool to produce virus‐like particles and gene‐therapy vectors, but the removal of coexpressed baculovirus has been a major barrier for wider industrial use. We used chimeric human immunodeficiency virus‐1 (HIV‐1) gag influenza‐hemagglutin virus‐like particles produced in Tnms42 insect cells using the baculovirus insect cell expression vector system as model virus‐like particles. A fast and simple purification method for these virus‐like particles with direct capture and purification within one chromatography step was developed. The insect cell culture supernatant was treated with endonuclease and filtered, before it was directly loaded onto a polymer‐grafted anion exchanger and eluted by a linear salt gradient. A 4.3 log clearance of baculovirus from virus‐like particles was achieved. The absence of the baculovirus capsid protein (vp39) in the product fraction was additionally shown by high performance liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry. When considering a vaccination dose of 10⁹ particles, 4200 doses can be purified per L pretreated supernatant, meeting the requirements for vaccines with <10 ng double‐stranded DNA per dose and 3.4 µg protein per dose in a single step. The process is simple with a very low number of handling steps and has the characteristics to become a platform for purification of these types of virus‐like particles.     

Mathematical analysis of a viscoelastic problem with temperature‐dependent coefficients—Part II: Regularity

In this paper, we study local regularity properties of the stress solution of a quasistatic thermoviscoelastic problem whose behaviour law is of the Maxwell–Norton type with temperature‐dependent coefficients. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Incoherent convergence of diffraction free fields

We describe a method for the synthesis of diffraction free fields by means of an ensemble of optical fields mutually incoherent. The constituent optical fields are generated by controlling the angular correlation function between two points distributed on a circle in the frequency space. The angular position and the separation between the points are considered as random variables. The implicit probability density function allows us to generate diffraction free beams with easily tunable profiles. Inverse problems are also analyzed, which consists in finding the joint probability density function for a known irradiance distribution. Experimental and computational results are shown.     

Synthesis,characterization and biological properties of vanadyl(IV) complexes of diclofenac and indomethacin: an experimental and theoretical study

Two new vanadyl(IV) complexes with the non‐steroidal antiinflammatory drugs Indomethacin and Diclofenac were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, electronic, diffuse reflectance and FTIR spectroscopies and thermal behavior. The structures of the oxo‐vanadium(IV) complexes were obtained by carrying out ab initio calculations (B3LY/3–21G**) owing to the difficulties of obtaining single crystals of good quality for X‐ray studies. Indomethacin and Diclofenac did not cause any effect when tested on cellular proliferation in two osteoblast‐cell lines in culture (MC3T3E1 and UMR106). The biological effect of the complexes depends on the cellular type and on the nature of the coordinated ligands. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determining the absolute configuration of secondary alcohols by means of a chiral auxiliary and NOESY

The absolute configuration of secondary alcohols can be determined by NOE between the diastereotopic protons of the lactam and the protons of the alcohol moieties in some 1-(alkoxymethyl)-methyl-2-pyrrolidone-5-carboxylate derivatives. Two simple methods based on conformational analysis and ¹H NMR data have been developed. The main conformer, in all cases, was established by means of MM, semi-empirical, and ab initio calculations.     

The Effectiveness of a Voice Treatment Approach for Teachers With Self-Reported Voice Problems

SUMMARY: Teachers are considered the professional group most at risk of developing voice-problems, but limited treatment effectiveness evidence exists. We studied prospectively the effectiveness of a 6-week combined treatment approach using vocal function exercises (VFEs) and vocal hygiene (VH) education with 20 teachers with self-reported voice problems. Twenty subjects were randomly assigned to a no-treatment control (n = 11) and a treatment group (n = 9). Fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation was carried out on all subjects before randomization. Two self-report voice outcome measures were used: the Voice-Related Quality of Life (VRQOL) and the Voice Symptom Severity Scale (VoiSS). A Voice Care Knowledge Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), developed specifically for the study, was also used to evaluate change in selected voice knowledge areas. A Student unpaired t test revealed a statistically significant (P < 0.05) improvement in the treatment group as measured by the VoiSS. There was not a significant improvement in the treatment group as measured by the V-RQOL. The difference in voice care knowledge areas was also significant for the treatment group (P < 0.05). This study suggests that a voice treatment approach of VFEs and VH education improved self-reported voice symptoms and voice care knowledge in a group of teachers.