Purification,Characterization and N‐terminal Sequence Analysis of Betel Leaf (Piper betle) Invertase

The present study is the first report describing the purification, enzymatic properties and N‐terminal amino acid sequence of a native invertase in betel leaf. The invertase was purified as a monomeric glycoprotein of molecular mass (Mr) 68 kDa. The enzyme was capable to attack β‐fructofuranoside linkages from the fructose end of sucrose, raffinose and stachyose indicating it as an authentic β‐D‐fructofuranosidase with high specificity for sucrose (Km 4.83 mM). The maximum activity was detected at pH 5.2 and 37 °C. Glucose and fructose showed typical inhibitory effect on the enzyme activity where as lectin was found to be effective activators of the enzyme. Significant inhibition by heavy metal ion Hg²⁺ and sulfhydryl group modifying agents suggesting that free sulfhydryl group containing amino acid, cysteine is necessary for the catalytic activity of the invertase. A BLAST search of the N‐terminal amino acid sequence of betel leaf invertase showed significant homology with the homologous invertases in database.     

Synthesis of a new colorimetric receptor based on calix[4]pyrrole binding oxime for selective recognition of fluoride ions

A colorimetric anion sensor α-meso-heptaethylcalix[4]pyrrole-meso-3-aminophenyl-p-nitrobenzaldoxime was synthesised and characterised by various spectroscopic techniques. Anion-binding studies were carried out using UV–vis, and ¹H NMR titrations, revealing that the receptor exhibits selective recognition towards F^?  over other anions. The selectivity for F^?  among the halides is attributed mainly to the hydrogen bond interaction of the receptor with F^? . Receptor showed colour change from colourless to yellow in the presence of tetrabutylammonium fluoride with 1:2 stoichiometry. Cyclic voltammetry studies, carried out in CH₃CN, provided evidence of an anion-dependent electrochemical response with F^?  ion. This response was particularly dramatic in the case of receptor after the addition of ～1 equiv. of F^?  ion.     

Synthesis and Characterization of New Nickel(II) Chelates With S-Alkyl-Salicylaldehyde Thiosemicarbazones

Abstract

The template reactions of salicylidene-, 5-bromosalicylidene-, and 3,5-dichlorosalicylidene-S-R-thiosemicarbazone (R: propyl, butyl, pentyl, hexyl, heptyl, octyl, nonyl, dodecyl) with 5-bromo- and 3,5-dichlorosalicylaldehyde in the presence of nickel(II) yielded N¹,N⁴-diarylidene-S-alkyl-thiosemicarbazone chelates. The N₂O₂ type complexes were isolated as stable solid compounds and characterized by elemental analysis, electronic, infrared, ¹H NMR, and mass spectroscopies. The magnetic susceptibility measurements at room temperature (r.t.) indicate the diamagnetic nature of the complexes. The relationship between melting point (mp) values of the nickel(II) template complexes and the chain length of alkyl moiety was clearly shown.

Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Silicon and the related elements to view the free supplemental file.     

Preparation and Characterization of Intercalated Polymethacrylamide/Na‐Montmorillonite Nanocomposites

Polymethacrylamide/Na‐montmorillonite nanocomposites have been prepared by free‐radical polymerization. All the nanocomposites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential thermal analysis. The thermal properties of nanocomposites are notably improved by the presence of the montmorillonite layers in comparison with pure polymethacrylamide. X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy confirmed that polymethacrylamide could be easily inserted between the layers of Na‐montmorillonite to form intercalated nanocomposites, and significantly large d‐spacing expansions from 1.19 to 2.93 nm of the nanocomposites. Adsorptive properties of nanocomposites were also investigated.     

Reactivity of a New Phosphinidene Iron Complex

Abstract

A decade ago, King [1] postulated the low temperature formation of the transient phosphinidene Fe(C0)₄ complex 1 from the reaction between ⁱPr₂NPCI₂ and Na₂Fe(C0)₄ to account for the observed formation of several iron clusters. The chemistry of 1 was not further explored. We were attractedto 1 because of its suggested ease of formation. For comparison, the well established transient phosphinidene complex PhP-W(C0)₅ (3) is generated via cheletropic elimination from 7-phosphanorbornadiene precursor at temperatures above 5O° C. We confirmed the presence of transient 1 via trapping experiments with acetylene derivatives that yielded in all cases phosphirenes 2 in fair to good yield.     

Synthesis,characterization and computational investigation of poly(styrene-co-1-methylpyrenyl methacrylate): its efficiency as a macrophotoinitiator

Abstract

In this study, it has been demonstrated that poly(styrene-co-1-methylpyrenyl methacrylate) macro-photoinitiator (PSMM) containing side chain pyrene moieties were successfully prepared using “radical polymerization method.” Firstly, 1-pyrene methanol and methacryloyl chloride were reacted in dichloromethane for 24?h at 0?°C in order to give 1-methoxy pyrene methacrylate macromonomer. Then styrene was polymerized with this macromonomer to obtained macro-photoinitiator. The synthesized copolymer is also both computationally and experimentally demonstrated that the macro-photoinitiator obtained has similar absorption characteristics with the parent pyrene molecule. According to obtained results, the synthesized copolymer was more effective in the presence of triethyl amine as a macro-photoinitiator.     

Quadruple‐Resonance Magic‐Angle Spinning NMR Spectroscopy of Deuterated Solid Proteins

¹H‐detected magic‐angle spinning NMR experiments facilitate structural biology of solid proteins, which requires using deuterated proteins. However, often amide protons cannot be back‐exchanged sufficiently, because of a possible lack of solvent exposure. For such systems, using ²H excitation instead of ¹H excitation can be beneficial because of the larger abundance and shorter longitudinal relaxation time, T₁, of deuterium. A new structure determination approach, “quadruple‐resonance NMR spectroscopy”, is presented which relies on an efficient ²H‐excitation and ²H‐¹³C cross‐polarization (CP) step, combined with ¹H detection. We show that by using ²H‐excited experiments better sensitivity is possible on an SH3 sample recrystallized from 30 % H₂O. For a membrane protein, the ABC transporter ArtMP in native lipid bilayers, different sets of signals can be observed from different initial polarization pathways, which can be evaluated further to extract structural properties.     

A.V. Bitsadze's observation on bianalytic functions and the Schwarz problem

According to an observation of A.V. Bitsadze from 1948 the Dirichlet problem for bianalytic functions is ill-posed. A natural boundary condition for the polyanalytic operator, however, is the Schwarz condition. An integral representation for the solutions in the unit disc to the inhomogeneous polyanalytic equation satisfying Schwarz boundary conditions is known. This representation is extended here to any simply connected plane domain having a harmonic Green function. Some other boundary value problems are investigated with some Dirichlet and Neumann conditions illuminating that just the Schwarz problem is a natural boundary condition for the Bitsadze operator.     

闪电连续电流的光谱分析及通道温度特性研究

连续电流是闪电放电过程中的一个重要子物理过程,它是指雷暴云局部电荷中心在回击之后沿原通道对地的持续放电过程。在连续电流阶段,原本发光微弱的通道其亮度有时会突然增强,这种现象被称为叠加了M分量,自20世纪连续电流被发现以来,国内外学者进行了许多观测研究。目前主要是利用电磁学和光学的观测手段揭示其放电和发光的宏观特征,利用光谱观测对其通道内部微观的发光信息和物理特性等的研究还很缺乏。如关于连续电流阶段放电通道内的温度特性参数目前鲜有报道,而温度是研究闪电连续电流放电通道物理特性所必需的基本参量,也是预防连续电流引起的雷电灾害事故所关心的参数。依据由无狭缝高速光谱仪观测的一次云对地闪电首次回击后叠加三个M分量的连续电流过程的光谱资料,分析了整个放电过程中光谱的演化特征,计算了连续电流放电过程电流核心通道和外围电晕通道的温度,研究了两者随通道高度的变化特性。结果表明,在初始回击阶段,通道的光辐射主要是激发能较高的一次电离的氮离子辐射,在之后连续电流阶段,通道的光辐射则主要是激发能较低的中性氮、氧原子辐射。离子线辐射在回击初期时最强,氢Hα线和红外波段的中性原子线在M1时最强,连续谱在M2时最强。近红外波段的四条线OⅠ 777.4, NⅠ 746.8, 821.6和868.3 nm在整个放电过程都可以被观测到。在连续电流阶段,电流核心通道温度为42 060～43 940 K,比相应回击核心通道温度高6 020～7 900 K;外围电晕通道温度为16 170～20 500 K;通道核心温度和电晕温度均随时间变化不大;通道核心温度随通道上升呈减小趋势,而外围电晕温度随通道上升呈增大趋势。     

利用Turbiscan多重光散射技术研究常温液体奶酪的稳定性

常温液体奶酪是一种能够在室温下贮藏3~6个月的奶酪产品。液体奶酪在经高温处理后体系中的微生物数量达到商业无菌水平,但由于液体奶酪是一种水包油的不稳定乳液体系,在常温贮藏过程中,由于分散相颗粒的迁移和粒径大小变化导致乳液体系容易出现聚集、絮凝、浮油及沉淀等失稳现象,从而影响产品品质,缩短产品货架期,准确判断液体奶酪的稳定性对优化其加工条件具有重要意义。传统液态乳制品的稳定性评价主要是通过加速实验后肉眼观察分层、沉淀等情况,以及动态光散射等手段,尚缺乏快速可靠以及量化的评价标准。Turbiscan多重光技术在测试流体的稳定性时,无需对样品进行前处理,可实时检测样品的背向散射光和透射光的强度,计算出体系内部颗粒的迁移速率、沉淀层的厚度、体系的不稳定指数等参数,因此是评价流体稳定性的有效手段。研究利用Turbiscan多重光散射技术评价乳化盐、乳化剂、稳定剂和甜味剂的添加量对常温液体奶酪稳定性影响,同时以TSI值和感官得分为响应值,采用响应面法中的Box-Behnken试验设计模型优化常温液体奶酪的最佳配方工艺条件,并分析了导致常温液体奶酪不稳定的主要因素。研究发现：当乳化盐添加量为0.20%,0.40%,0.60%和0.80%时,24 h后的不稳定性指数从0.4增加到12.6;当乳化剂添加量为0.80%,1.0%时,24 h后的不稳定性指数从0.95增加到3.9;当稳定剂添加量为0.7%,0.9%时,24 h后的不稳定性指数从0.9增加到1.3,而甜味剂对体系整体稳定性的影响差异不显著。各因素对常温液体奶酪的不稳定性指数和感官得分影响顺序为乳化盐添加量（A）＞乳化剂添加量（B）＞稳定剂添加量（C）。乳化盐添加量0.60%、乳化剂添加量0.60%、稳定剂添加量0.70%、甜味剂添加量5.5%时,产品品质最佳且稳定性最高,在此优化条件下,样品在37 ℃,24 h内的整体不稳定指数值为0.80,样品顶端、底端的背散射光强变化值分别为0.66和0.78,感官评分为89分。研究表明通过调整乳化盐、乳化剂和稳定剂的用量能够很好地解决常温液体奶酪分层的问题,提高常温液体奶酪的稳定性。