Preparation and characterization of wool fiber reinforced nonwoven alginate hydrogel for wound dressing

Wound healing is a complex process which requires an appropriate environment for quick healing. Recently, biodegradable hydrogel-based wound dressings have been seen to have high potential owing to their biodegradability and hydrated molecular structure. In this work, a novel biodegradable composite of sodium alginate hydrogel with wool needle-punched nonwoven fabric was produced for wound dressing by sol–gel technique. The wool nonwoven was dipped in the sodium alginate-water solution and then soaked in calcium chloride solution which resulted in hydrogel formation. FTIR analysis and SEM images confirm the presence of alginate hydrogel inside the needle-punched wool nonwoven fabric. The wound exudate absorbing capacity of hydrogel based wool nonwoven was increased 30 times as compared to pure wool nonwoven. Moreover, the tensile strength and moisture management properties of hydrogel based nonwoven were also enhanced. The unique combination of alginate hydrogel with biocompatible wool nonwoven fabric provides moist environment and can help in cell proliferation during wound healing process.

     

Expanding the Myxochelin Natural Product Family by Nicotinic Acid Containing Congeners

Myxobacteria represent a viable source of chemically diverse and biologically active secondary metabolites. The myxochelins are a well-studied family of catecholate-type siderophores produced by various myxobacterial strains. Here, we report the discovery, isolation, and structure elucidation of three new myxochelins N1–N3 from the terrestrial myxobacterium Corallococcus sp. MCy9049, featuring an unusual nicotinic acid moiety. Precursor-directed biosynthesis (PDB) experiments and total synthesis were performed in order to confirm structures, improve access to pure compounds for bioactivity testing, and to devise a biosynthesis proposal. The combined evaluation of metabolome and genome data covering myxobacteria supports the notion that the new myxochelin congeners reported here are in fact frequent side products of the known myxochelin A biosynthetic pathway in myxobacteria.     

On the Converse of the Theory of Groups Acting on Trees with Inversions

In this paper we show that if G is a group acting on a graph X with inversions such that G has a presentation induced by a fundamental domain for the action of G on X, then X is a tree. Received: January 3, 2007., Revised: August 10, 2007 and May 3, 2008., Accepted: October 17, 2008.     

ESR dosimetric properties of talc and zircon

Two silicate minerals talc (Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂) and zircon (ZrSiO₄) with different crystal lattice structures were subjected to ESR dosimetric studies. Zircon shows anisotropic ESR signals at g_xx = 2.0168, g_yy = 2.0076 and g_zz = 2.0033, which have been identified as a hole-center associated with Y³⁺ substituted at Zr⁴⁺ sites. Other characteristic signals were observed and identified. The ESR signal at g = 2.0033 showed positive response to γ-irradiation at 110 Gy and is suitable for use in dosimetry and dating of natural zircons.Talc (a magnesium sheeted silicate) exhibits ESR derivative spectrum characterized by the presence of Fe³⁺ at g = 4.28 and the hf-sixtet Mn²⁺ signals. This is due to the possible substitution of Fe³⁺ and Mn²⁺ in the Mg²⁺ octahedral sites, respectively. The enhancement of the Mn²⁺ sixtet by γ-irradiation increases the area occupied by the signals that makes it difficult for use with dosimetric applications.     

A small-angle X-ray scattering study of the structure of lysozyme-sodium dodecyl sulfate complexes

The structure of lysozyme-sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) complexes in solution is studied using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The SAXS data cannot be explained by the necklace and bead model for unfolded polypeptide chain interspersed with surfactant micelles. For the protein and surfactant concentrations used in the study, there is only marginal growth of SDS micelles as they complex with the protein. Being a small and rather rigid protein, lysozyme can penetrate the micellar core which is occupied by flexible and disordered paraffin chains and also the shell occupied by the hydrated head groups. A partially embedded swollen micellar model seems appropriate and describes well the scattering data. The SAXS intensity profiles are analyzed by considering the change in the electron scattering length density of the micellar core and shell due to complexation with protein and treating the intermicellar interaction using rescaled mean spherical approximation (RMSA) for charged spheres.     

Effect of hydrocarbons and other parameters on hydrocarbon-utilizing Pichia angusta MTCC-225

Pichia angusta MTCC-225, a catalase-positive yeast that utilizes methanol and lighter hydrocarbons, is the subject of this investigation. An orthogonal experimental design L₁₆ was used to investigate the effects of methanol, a gas mixture, zero air, temperature, agitation, and salts solution on hydrocarbon utilizing P. angusta. QUALITEK-4 Software was used for automatic design and analysis of the experimental results. Among the various parameters tested, agitation contributed the highest influence (56.5%). Zero air, methanol concentration, and gas mixture showed a moderate influence on the growth of P. angusta. Methanol concentration and gas mixture showed a 10.91 and 10.12% influence, respectively, on yeast growth. Zero air played an important role, with a 15.19% influence on the utilization of hydrocarbon.     

Quartz crystal microbalance genosensor for sequence specific detection of attomolar DNA targets

A mass sensitive quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) based genosensor has been developed using breast cancer 1 (BRCA1) gene as a model gene. We modified the traditional sandwich assay by conjugating reporter probe DNA (DNA-r) with an assembly of gold nanoparticles leading to an increased mass on the surface, which enhanced the sensitivity to few orders of magnitude. The unique cleavage function of endonuclease is used for achieving the selectivity to complementary DNA over mismatched DNA. With this combination, the sensor exhibited excellent sensitivity with a detection limit of 10 aM BRCA1 gene and it showed good selectivity for even single base mismatch DNA targets. This ultrasensitive and cost-effective DNA detection protocol can be extended to the direct analysis of any non-amplified genomic DNA.     

Polarization of emission spectra from Ti3+-doped oxide crystals

The Ti³⁺ ion in YAlO₃ (YAP), Y₃Al₅O₁₂ (YAG), and Al₂O₃ crystals occupies distorted octahedral sites relative to the nearest neighbour ligand ions. Such distortions are of even-parity in YAG where the zero-phonon lines in emission occur via magnetic dipole transitions. In contrast, the zero-phonon transitions occur by electric dipole processes in Ti³⁺:YAP and Ti³⁺:Al₂O₃ where there are odd-parity distortions from octahedral symmetry. This paper reports measurements of the zero-phonon lines of Ti³⁺ ions in YAP, YAG, and Al₂O₃ at 10 K. The zero-phonon lines of Ti³⁺:YAP are strongly polarized perpendicular to the tetragonal axis and those of Ti³⁺:Al₂O₃ parallel to the trigonal axis. The experimental results are shown to be in accord with a molecular orbital model of the radiative transition according to which the transition intensities derive from odd-parity ligand wavefunctions induced into even-parity ground and excited Ti³⁺ wavefunctions by odd-parity crystal distortions.     

Design,synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel benzimidazole derivatives and their interaction with calf thymus DNA and synergistic effects with clinical drugs

A series of new benzimidazole derivatives was synthesized and characterized by IR,1H NMR,13C NMR,MS,and HRMS spectra.All the new compounds were screened for their antimicrobial activities in vitro by a twofold serial dilution technique.The bioactive evaluation showed that 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl benzimidazoles were comparably or even more strongly antibacterial and antifungal than the reference drugs Chloromycin,Norfloxacin,and Fluconazole.The combination of2,4-difluorobenzyl benzimidazole derivative 5l and its hydrochloride 7 respectively with the antibacterials Chloromycin,Norfloxacin,and the antifungal Fluconazole was more sensitive to methicillin-resistant MRSA and Fluconazole-insensitive A.flavus.In addition,the interaction of compound 5l with calf thymus DNA demonstrated that this compound could effectively intercalate into DNA to form a compound 5l-DNA complex that might block DNA replication and thereby exert good antimicrobial activity.