DIFFERENTIAL EFFECT OF ULTRAVIOLET-B RADIATION ON CERTAIN METABOLIC PROCESSES IN A CHROMATICALLY ADAPTING Nostoc

The impact of UV-B radiation on growth, pigmentation and certain physiological processes has been studied in a N2-fixing chromatically adapting cyanobacterium, Nostoc spongiaeforme. A brownish form (phycoerythrin rich) was found to be more tolerant to UV-B than the blue-green (phycocyanin rich) form of N. spongiaeforme. Continuous exposure to UV-B (5.5 W m-2) for 90 min caused complete killing of the blue-green strain whereas the brown strain showed complete loss of survival after 180 min. Pigment content was more strongly inhibited in the blue-green strain than in the brown. Nitrogenase activity was completely abolished in both strains within 35 min of UV-B treatment. Restoration of nitrogenase occurred upon transfer to fluorescent or incandescent light after a lag of 5-6 h, suggesting fresh synthesis of nitrogenase. Unlike the above processes, in vivo nitrate reductase activity was stimulated by UV-B treatment, the degree of enhancement being significantly higher in the blue-green strain. Like the effect of UV-B on nitrogenase, 14CO2 uptake was also completely abolished by UV-B treatment in both strains. Our findings suggest that UV-B may produce a deleterious effect on several metabolic activities of cyanobacteria, especially in cells lacking phycoerythrin. Strains containing phycoerythrin appear to be more tolerant to UV-B, probably because of their inherent property of adapting to a variety of light qualities.     

Biotreatment of High Strength Nitrate Waste Using Immobilized Preadapted Sludge

One of the major wastes generated by fertilizer, explosive, and nuclear industries are nitrate (as high as 1,000 ppm NO(3)N) whose removal before disposal has become a growing concern. In this study, an active denitrifying sludge was immobilized onto support materials like cloth and polyurethane foam and their denitrification efficiency on high nitrate wastes [1,000 ppm NO(3) (225 ppm NO(3)N), 5,000 ppm NO(3) (1,129 ppm NO(3)N), 7,500 ppm NO(3) (1,693 ppm NO(3) N)] was studied. Results showed complete degradation of the nitrate wastes (225 ppm NO(3)N, 1,129 ppm NO(3)N, and 1,693 ppm NO(3)N) without any accumulation of nitrite in a period of only 1, 4, and 10 h, respectively. Based on adhering and entrapment principle, an immobilization unit was developed using a combination of cloth and foam as well as both individually. This system used for treating such high nitrate wastes was found to be quite effective in waste water treatment, particularly in problems associated with solid-liquid separation. The batch column reactor was run in about 45 batches without any loss in activity or reactor stability.     

Denitrification of Highly Alkaline Nitrate Waste Using Adapted Sludge

Uranium extraction and regeneration of ion exchange resin generates concentrated nitrate effluents (typically 500 to 10,000 ppm NO(3)-N) that are highly alkaline in nature (pH 9.0 to 11.0). It is difficult to remove nitrate from such solutions using standard physiochemical and biological methods. This paper reports denitrification of such wastes using preadapted sludge (biomass), which was acclimatized to different influent pH (7.5 to 11.5) in a sequencing batch reactor (4 l) for 2 months. Performance of the developed consortia was studied under different pH (7.5 to 12). Biomass denitrified the synthetic wastewater containing 1,694 ppm NO(3)-N at a pH of 10.5. Decrease in nitrite build up was observed at higher pH, which differs from the reported results. Kinetic analysis of the data showed that specific rate of nitrate reduction was highest (78 mg NO(3)-N/g MLSS/h) at higher pH (10.5). This was attributed to the acclimatization process. Thus, high-strength nitrate wastewater, which was highly alkaline, was successfully treated using preadapted sludge.     

E−Z Isomerization in Guanidine: Second-order Saddle Dynamics,Non-statisticality,and Time-frequency Analysis

Our recent work on the E−Z isomerization reaction of guanidine using ab initio chemical dynamics simulations [Rashmi et al., Regul. Chaotic Dyn. 2021 , 26, 119] emphasized the role of second-order saddle ( SOS ) in the isomerization reaction; however, we could not unequivocally establish the non-statistical nature of the dynamics followed in the reaction. In the present study, we performed thousands of on-the-fly trajectories using forces computed at the MNDO level to investigate the influence of second-order saddle in the E−Z isomerization reaction of guanidine and the role of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) on the reaction dynamics. The simulations reveal that while majority of the trajectories follow the traditional transition state pathways, 15 % of the trajectories follow the SOS path. The dynamics was found to be highly non-statistical with the survival probabilities of the reactants showing large deviations from those obtained within the RRKM assumptions. In addition, a detailed analysis of the dynamics using time-dependent frequencies and the frequency ratio spaces reveal the existence of multiple resonance junctions that indicate the existence of regular dynamics and long-lived quasi-periodic trajectories in the phase space associated with non-RRKM behavior.     

Fractal dimension-bound spatio-temporal analysis of digital mammograms

A new Fractal Dimension-based diagnosis technique for the change detection and time-series analysis of masses in the temporal digital mammogram is presented in this paper. As the digital mammograms are confirmed as a reliable source for the prognosis of breast cancer, the demand for the development of precise computer aided detection techniques is constantly on the increase. This formed the basis for the development of this method using Fractal geometry, which is an efficient mathematical approach that deals with self-similar and irregular geometric objects called fractals. This work comprises of the detection of spatial masses using Fractal Hurst bound enhancement and segmentation of those temporal masses using Fractal Thresholding. The consultant radiologist’s assessment of mass lesions forms the baseline for comparison and validation of the detected masses. Further, this research work performs temporal analysis of mass lesions, detected from the mammograms of the current and the respective prior view using the principle of Fractal Dimension. The precision of Fractal-dimension based temporal texture analysis of malignant masses of digital mammograms subsequently attributes to their characterization.     

Toward a magnetostructural correlation for a family of Mn6 SMMs

We have structurally and magnetically characterized a total of 12 complexes based on the Single-Molecule Magnet (SMM) [MnIII6O2(sao)6(O2CH)2(MeOH) 4] (1) (where sao2- is the dianion of salicylaldoxime or 2-hydroxybenzaldeyhyde oxime) that display analogous structural cores but remarkably different magnetic behaviors. Via the use of derivatized oxime ligands and bulky carboxylates we show that it is possible to deliberately increase the value of the spin ground state of the complexes [Mn6O2(Me-sao)6(O2CCPh3)2(EtOH)4] (2), [Mn6O2(Et-sao)6(O2CCMe3)2(EtOH)5] (3), [Mn6O2(Et-sao)6(O2CPh2OPh)2(EtOH)4] (4), [Mn6O2(Et-sao)6(O2CPh4OPh)2(EtOH)4(H2O)2] (5), [Mn6O2(Me-sao)6(O2CPhBr)2(EtOH)6] (6), [Mn6O2(Et-sao)6(O2CPh)2(EtOH)4(H2O)2] (7), [Mn6O2(Et-sao)6{O2CPh(Me)2}2(EtOH)6] (8), [Mn6O2(Et-sao)6(O2C11H15)2(EtOH)6] (9), [Mn6O2(Me-sao)6(O2C-th)2(EtOH)4(H2O)2] (10), [Mn6O2(Et-sao)6(O2CPhMe)2(EtOH)4(H2O)2] (11), and [Mn6O2(Et-sao)6(O2C12H17)2(EtOH)4(H2O)2] (12) (Et-saoH2 = 2-hydroxypropiophenone oxime, Me-saoH2 = 2-hydroxyethanone oxime, HO2CCPh3 = triphenylacetic acid, HO2CCMe3 = pivalic acid, HO2CPh2OPh = 2-phenoxybenzoic acid, HO2CPh4OPh = 4-phenoxybenzoic acid, HO2CPhBr = 4-bromobenzoic acid, HO2CPh(Me)2 = 3,5-dimethylbenzoic acid, HO2C11H15 = adamantane carboxylic acid, HO2C-th = 3-thiophene carboxylic acid, HO2CPhMe = 4-methylbenzoic acid, and HO2C12H17 = adamantane acetic acid) in a stepwise fashion from S = 4 to S = 12 and, in-so-doing, enhance the energy barrier for magnetization reorientation to record levels. The change from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic exchange stems from the "twisting" or "puckering" of the (-Mn-N-O-)3 ring, as evidenced by the changes in the Mn-N-O-Mn torsion angles.     

Force field calculations and reassigments of Raman and IR frequencies of pyrazine-N,N'-dioxide

Force field calculations have been carried out for the planar and non-planar modes of pyrazine-N,N′-O₂ using the observed vibrational frequencies obtained from the IR and Raman spectral studies on pyrazine-N,N′-O₂-h₄ and pyrazine-N,N′-O₂-d₄ reported in the literature [D.A. Thornton, P.F.M. Verhoeven, G.M. Watkins, Herman O. Desseyn, Benjamin J. Van der Veken, Spectrochim. Acta 46A (1990) 1439]. The purpose of the present work is to determine force fields for the pyrazine-N,N′-O₂ molecule and to present vibrational assignments for the observed IR and Raman frequencies to the fundamental modes, combination bands and overtones. The planar force field determined in the present case is expected to be better than that reported earlier [S. Szöke, G. Varsanyi, E. Baitz, Acta Chim. 53 (1967) 345] because of the inclusion of the observed frequencies due to pyrazine-N,N′-O₂-d₄ isotopomer. In addition, the non-planar force field for this molecule is reported for the first time.