Marine Bacterial Dextranases: Fundamentals and Applications

Dextran, a renewable hydrophilic polysaccharide, is nontoxic, highly stable but intrinsically biodegradable. The α-1, 6 glycosidic bonds in dextran are attacked by dextranase (E.C. 3.2.1.11) which is an inducible enzyme. Dextranase finds many applications such as, in sugar industry, in the production of human plasma substitutes, and for the treatment and prevention of dental plaque. Currently, dextranases are obtained from terrestrial fungi which have longer duration for production but not very tolerant to environmental conditions and have safety concerns. Marine bacteria have been proposed as an alternative source of these enzymes and can provide prospects to overcome these issues. Indeed, marine bacterial dextranases are reportedly more effective and suitable for dental caries prevention and treatment. Here, we focused on properties of dextran, properties of dextran—hydrolyzing enzymes, particularly from marine sources and the biochemical features of these enzymes. Lastly the potential use of these marine bacterial dextranase to remove dental plaque has been discussed. The review covers dextranase-producing bacteria isolated from shrimp, fish, algae, sea slit, and sea water, as well as from macro- and micro fungi and other microorganisms. It is common knowledge that dextranase is used in the sugar industry; produced as a result of hydrolysis by dextranase and have prebiotic properties which influence the consistency and texture of food products. In medicine, dextranases are used to make blood substitutes. In addition, dextranase is used to produce low molecular weight dextran and cytotoxic dextran. Furthermore, dextranase is used to enhance antibiotic activity in endocarditis. It has been established that dextranase from marine bacteria is the most preferable for removing plaque, as it has a high enzymatic activity. This study lays the groundwork for the future design and development of different oral care products, based on enzymes derived from marine bacteria.     

Preparation of Polycarbonate-ZnO Nanocomposite Films: Surface Investigation after UV Irradiation

Polycarbonate (PC)-ZnO films with different percentages of ZnO were prepared by a solution stirring technique and subjected to ultraviolet (UV; λ = 254 nm) irradiation. Structural parameters of the samples and the effects of UV irradiation on the surface properties of the PC and PC-ZnO nanocomposites were evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), water contact angle (WCA) measurements, and a Vickers microhardness (H_V) tester. The XRD patterns of the nanocomposite films were found to show an increase in crystallinity with the increasing ZnO nanoparticles percentage. The WCA was found to be reduced from 90° to 17° after 15 h of UV irradiation, which could be ascribed to the oxidation of the surface of the samples during the irradiation and exposure of the ZnO nanoparticles, a result that is also supported by the obtained XPS data. The microhardness value of the PC-ZnO films including 30 wt.% ZnO enhanced considerably after UV radiation, which can also be attributed to the exposition of the ZnO nanoparticles after photodegradation of the PC superficial layer of the nanocomposite films.     

A computational study of 1:1 and 1:2 complexes of nitryl halides (O2NX) with HCN and HNC

Quantum calculations at the MP2/cc-pVTZ have been used to examine 1:1 and 1:2 complexes between O₂NX (X = Cl, Br) with HCN and HNC moieties. The interaction of the lone pair of the HCN(HNC) with the σ-hole and π-hole of O₂NX molecules and hydrogen bonding between lone pairs of X and O of O₂NX with H of HCN and HNC have been considered in 1:1 complexes. The 1:1 complexes can easily be differentiated using the stretching frequency of the N–X bond. Thus, those complexes with σ-hole and H···O₂NX interactions show a blue shift of the N-X bond stretching while a red shift is observed in the complexes along the π-hole and H···XNO₂ interactions. In the 1:2 complexes, the cooperative and diminutive energetic effects have been analyzed using the many-body interaction energies. The nature of the interactions has been characterized with the Atoms in Molecules (AIM) and Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) methodologies. Stabilization energies of 1:1 and 1:2 complexes including the variation of the zero-point vibrational energy (ΔZPVE) are in the range 3–9 kJ mol^?1 and 21–40 kJ mol^?1, respectively.     

Efficient one-pot synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones from aromatic aldehydes and their one-pot oxidation to quinazolin-4(3H)-ones catalyzed by Bi(NO3)3·5H2O: Investigating the role of the catalyst

An efficient and novel synthesis of 2,3-disubstituted 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones via one-pot, three-component reaction of isatoic anhydride, primary amines and aromatic aldehydes catalyzed by Bi(NO₃)₃·5H₂O under solvent-free conditions is described. Oxidation of these 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones to their quinazolin-4(3H)-ones was also successfully performed in the presence of Bi(NO₃)₃·5H₂O. This new method has the advantages of convenient manipulation, short reaction times, excellent yields, very easy work-up, and the use of commercially available, low cost and relatively non-toxic catalyst. The role of Bi(NO₃)₃·5H₂O was also investigated in these transformations.     

Theoretical study and atoms in molecule analysis of hydrogen bonded clusters of ammonia and isocyanic acid

Abstract  

Ab initio and density functional calculations were used to analyze the interaction between a molecule of the isocyanic acid with 1 up to 4 molecules of ammonia at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) and MP2/6-311++G(d,p) computational levels. The cooperative effect is increased with the increasing size of studied clusters. Red shifts of the H–N stretching frequency for complexes involving the isocyanic acid as an H-donor were predicted. Atom in molecules was used to analyze cooperative effects on topological parameters.     

Kalman filtering for reliable estimation of BBB permeability

INTRODUCTION: The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays an important role in the pathophysiology of a number of central nervous system disorders. In the past, a number of laboratory techniques have been proposed to quantify permeability coefficient ki, an important index of barrier function. Recently, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used to estimate ki based on graphical plot technique. The MR technique was found to be in good agreement with the gold standard, quantitative autoradiography (QAR). However, a reduced image signal-to-noise ratio, among other factors such as partial volume effects, did not allow reliable estimation of permeability coefficients. This proof-of-principle study proposes the use of Kalman filter as a filtering technique for a reliable estimation of permeability coefficients. The results are compared to those obtained using the Wiener filter technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MRI experiments were performed in Wistar rats (N=2) using a 4.7-T Bruker Biospec MR system (Bruker Biospin, Billerica, MA). After acquiring localizer images, T2-weighted diffusion-weighted imaging images were acquired. Finally, a rapid T1 mapping protocol was implemented to acquire one pre-gadolinium diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid baseline data set followed by postinjection data sets at 3-min intervals for 45 min. Data were postprocessed with and without the application of Kalman and Wiener filters to obtain an estimate of ki. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Comparing T1 maps, Patlak plots and permeability maps with and without the Kalman filtering presented several interesting observations. Kalman-filtered Patlak plots, compared to nonfiltered plots, showed that discrete data points on the plot were closer to the line fit. The number of time points used for the construction of the graphical plot had no effect on permeability coefficient estimates when the Kalman filter was used. A box-and-whiskers plot showed longer Y-error bars for nonfiltered and Wiener data compared to Kalman-filtered data. These observations suggest that it may be possible to obtain reliable permeability coefficient estimates in a short study time by applying the Kalman filter to the data. Future work involves investigating the application of this filter on a large-sample-size animal study and evaluating the role of partial volume effects on BBB permeability estimation.     

A boundary value problem associated to non-homogeneous operators in Orlicz-Sobolev spaces

We apply a three critical points theorem of B. Ricceri to establish the existence of at least three weak solutions for a class of non-homogeneous Neumann problems. Furthermore, by using another theorem of him, we prove that an appropriate oscillating behaviour of the nonlinear term ensures the existence of infinitely many weak solutions. Our analysis is based on recent variational methods for smooth functionals defined on Orlicz-Sobolev spaces.     

The Effect of Morphological and Topological Characteristics on Effective Diffusivity and Permeability of Dual-Structural-Scale Synthetic Porous Medium

Transport in Porous Media - Image-based simulations at pore scale provide direct insight into the impact of the microstructure on flow and transport processes in porous media. Diffusion is an...