Iodometric microdetermination of carboxyl function by indirect and direct procedures

Two iodometric procedures have been described for the microdetermination of certain organic acids which can be adopted for evaluating 0.03–0.1 meq of these acids. These methods consist of treating the acid sample with an excess of neutral potassium iodide and iodate. In the indirect method the iodate used up is measured whereas the direct procedure is based on the titration of the liberated iodine. The latter procedure has been applied to determine acids in a water-alcohol medium also. The effect of various factors influencing the stoichiometry of the reactions involved has also been studied.     

Quantification of Flavonoids,Phenols and Antioxidant Potential from Dropped Citrus reticulata Blanco Fruits Influenced by Drying Techniques

Physiologically dropped immature Citrus reticulata Blanco fruits are regarded as waste and discarded in the citrus orchard but are a good source of bioactive compounds including flavonoids, antioxidants and total phenols. A study was undertaken to identify and quantify these bioactive compounds and to investigate the influence of different drying techniques, namely freeze drying and hot air oven drying, on flavonoids namely flavanone glycosides, antioxidant potential and total phenol content in immature dropped fruits of Citrus reticulata Blanco. Flavonoids were quantified in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The antioxidant activity were investigated with three assays azino-bis [3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid]) (ABTS), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH), Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma (FRAP) and total phenol content was determined. Freeze dried samples of 12 and 14 mm size retained maximum hesperidin flavonoid content (27.03% and 27.20%) as compared to the hot air dried samples (17.99%) and retained higher phenolic content ranged from 50.54–54.19 mg GAEL⁻¹. The antioxidant activity in freeze dried fruits was from 12.21–13.55 mM L⁻¹ Trolox and 15.27–16.72 mM L⁻¹ Trolox with ABTS, DPPH assay and FRAP values ranging from 7.31–9.07 mM L⁻¹ Trolox. Significant positive correlation was found between the flavonoid hesperidin with antioxidant assays and total phenolic content (TPC). The results showed that waste citrus fruits can act as potential source of bioflavonoids, especially hesperidin, and antioxidants for pharmaceutical as well as nutraceutical industry.     

Facile extraction,processing and characterization of biorenewable sisal fibers for multifunctional applications

Synthetic fibers based materials have replaced most of the traditional metallic/ceramic materials for a number of applications owing to their enormous properties such as light weight, specific strength and modulus to name a few. Unfortunately, the traditional synthetic fibers are not desired from the health and environmental point of view. So, in this work, we have carried out the isolation, processing and characterization of cellulosic sisal fibers. These fibers were extracted for the first time by a simple and new unique mechanical extraction technique without affecting the quality of fibers. Subsequently these cellulosic sisal fibers were thoroughly characterized for their physicochemical, microstructure and mechanical properties. These fibers were then converted into fine textured sisal textile yarn made out of 3–6 sisal fibers in continuous operation and used for the preparation of new green materials. Different properties of fine textured sisal textile and the impact of sisal fine textile on the physical, microstructural, thermal and mechanical characteristics of the green materials were studied and discussed in detail.     

Neutral current effects in the parity violating nuclear force

The measurements of the ΔI = 1 part of the parity violating nuclear force when combined with information on neutral current couplings from neutrino scattering and pion production experiments allow an estimate of the isoscalar admixture in the neutral current if it has a vector axial-vector structure has been shown.     

The Mechanism of Thionyl Chloride Reaction with Dialkyl Alkylphosphonothionate Using 31 P NMR

Based on 31 P NMR studies of thionyl chloride reaction with dialkyl alkylphosphonothionates, a method for preparation of alkylphosphonic dichloride has been investigated. A mechanism via intermediacy of ester chloride is suggested.     

Isolation and characterization of the cellulose synthase genes <Emphasis Type="Italic">PpCesA6</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">PpCesA7</Emphasis> in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Physcomitrella patens</Emphasis>

Analysis of cellulose biosynthesis using molecular approaches has been successful in identifying genes in many cellulose-producing organisms, yet the mechanism of cellulose biosynthesis still remains to be understood. We are interested in developing the moss Physcomitrella patens as a useful system for the study of cellulose biosynthesis. This moss affords a number of advantages including a haploid dominated gametophyte and a very high efficiency of homologous recombination in its nuclear DNA for constructing gene knockouts. In addition, P. patens has only a primary cell wall unlike Arabidopsis thaliana, which has both a primary and a secondary cell wall. We identified two full-length cellulose synthase (CesA) genes of P. patens, PpCesA6 and PpCesA7 from an EST database and have analyzed the genomic sequences. PpCesA6 and PpCesA7 show high similarity to each other, both at the cDNA and genomic DNA levels. Single and double knockouts of PpCesA6 and PpCesA7 were generated and screened for phenotypic changes. While the PpCesA6 and PpCesA7 single knockouts did not show any obvious phenotypic differences from the wild-type, the double knockout had significantly reduced stem length. These results suggest that PpCesA6 and PpCesA7 probably have a very similar role in cellulose biosynthesis and their functions may be redundant. Additionally, their roles may overlap with the other P. patens CesAs as observed for CesAs involved in primary cell wall biosynthesis in A. thaliana.     

Production of Microbial Cellulose by a Bacterium Isolated from Fruit

This study presents the production of bacterial cellulose (BC) by a bacterium isolated from a rotten fruit and its process optimization. Here, isolation and screening of potent cellulose producers were carried out from different natural sources, viz., soil, rotten fruits, and vegetables and vinegar. A total of 200 bacterial isolates were obtained, which were screened for cellulose production using Hestrin?CSchramm medium. A novel and potent cellulose-producing bacterium was newly isolated from a rotten fruit and identified as Gluconacetobacter sp. F6 through 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing and morphological, cultural, and biochemical characteristics. After optimization of culture conditions, including pH, temperature, agitation, carbon/nitrogen sources, and inducers, the BC production was greatly increased from 0.52 to 4.5?g/l (8.65-fold increase). The optimal culture medium contained 1% (w/v) glucose, 1.5% (w/v) yeast extract, 0.5% (w/v) peptone, 0.27% (w/v) disodium hydrogen phosphate, 0.115% (w/v) citric acid, and 0.4% (w/v) ethanol. BC produced was analyzed for the presence of cellulose fibrils by epiflourescent microscopy using Calcofluor white stain and scanning electron microscopy and confirmed by NMR. There are very scanty reports about the optimization of BC production by bacteria isolated from rotten fruits.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of ion-irradiation induced deflection of 2D graphene films

Ion-irradiation induced surface stress generation and the resulting deflection of 2D cantilever graphene films is studied using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The simulation results show that the free-end deflection is strongly dependent on the kinetic energy of the incident ions. At low incident energies (?10 eV), the graphene film bends towards the irradiated side (upward deflection in our simulations); a transition from bending towards the irradiated side (upward deflection) to bending away from the irradiated side (downward deflection) occurs when the incident energy is ～10 eV; the downward deflection peaks at ～50 eV. Further increases of the incident energy cause the magnitude of downward deflection to decrease. The evolution of free-end deflection with respect to the number of incidences is also dependent on the incident energy. The dependence of the deflection behavior of the graphene films on the incident energy revealed by our atomistic simulations suggests the generation of intrinsic stress of different levels in the growing films. Such behavior may be attributed to competing mechanisms of production and annihilation of interstitial- and vacancy-like defects in the growing film. Understanding the dependence of thin film deflection on the incident energy provides guidelines for controlling thin film shapes at the nanometer scale using ion-beam machining.     

Optical Emission Spectroscopy of Carbon Clusters Produced in a Hollow Cathode Sputter Source

A hollow cathode sputter source is developed to trace the production of carbon clusters and study the influence of discharge current and argon gas pressure on cluster production using an optical emission spectroscopic technique. Optical emission spectra from the hollow cathode source reveal the production of the C₂ Swan band. The sputter source is optimized for the maximum carbon cluster yield. The vibrational temperature analysis of the C₂ cluster is carried out using the Boltzmann plot method. The dependence of vibrational temperature on argon gas pressure is discussed and the dominant method for C-C association in the glow discharge is suggested.     

Spontaneous translation of nanodroplet over a heterogeneous surface due to thermal cycles: role of solid–liquid interfacial fluctuations

ABSTRACT

We study the molecular-scale features of the solid surface that result in the spontaneous motion of a nanodroplet due to the periodic variation of temperature. We first employ a thermodynamic model to predict the variation of solid–fluid interfacial properties that can result in the above motion. The model identifies a composite (surface couple) made of two surfaces that are characterised by a large difference between the entropic parts of the solid–liquid interfacial free energies. In order to understand the molecular-scale features of the two surfaces that may form a surface couple, we performed grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations of Lennard Jones fluid and crystalline surfaces made of Lennard Jones-like atoms. We then used the cumulant expansions of the perturbation formulas to divide the interfacial entropy into two parts: The one that is directly affected by the solid–fluid attraction (direct part), and the other (indirect part) that is indirectly affected by the solid–fluid attraction via the alteration of interfacial fluctuations. Our results indicate that two surfaces form a surface couple if the differences between their chemical natures lead to large differences in the indirect part of the interfacial entropy, while the direct part remains relatively unaffected.