In situ conformational analysis of fibrinogen adsorbed on Si surfaces

Fibrinogen is a major plasma protein. Previous investigations of structural changes of fibrinogen due to adsorption are mostly based on indirect evidence after its desorption, whereas our measurements were performed on fibrinogen in its adsorbed state. Specific enzyme-linked immunosorption experiments showed that the amount of adsorbed fibrinogen increased as the surface became more hydrophobic. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) investigations revealed the trinodular shape of fibrinogen molecules adsorbed on hydrophilic surfaces, whereas all of the molecules appeared globular on hydrophobic surfaces. The distribution of secondary structures in adsorbed fibrinogen was quantified by in situ Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. Substrates of identical chemical bulk composition but different surface hydrophobicity permit direct comparison among them. Adsorption properties of fibrinogen are different for each degree of hydrophobicity. Although there is some increase of turn structure and decrease of β-sheet structure, the secondary structure of adsorbed fibrinogen on hydrophilic surface turned out to be rather similar to that of the protein in solution phase with a major -helix content. Hydrophilic surfaces exhibit superior blood compatibility as required for medical applications.     

Influence of Surface Coating on Fluoride Removal by Magnetite

Al(OH)₃- and ZrO(OH)₂-coated magnetites were prepared and used for fluoride removal from aqueous samples. The influence of pH, sorbent mass, and ions such as chloride, sulfate, and phosphate on the removal of fluoride was characterized. The sorption process was highly pH dependent, and the optimal sorption was obtained from pH 4 to 5 for ZrO(OH)₂- and pH 4 to 7 for Al(OH)₃-coated magnetites. The sorption isotherm was well described by the Langmuir equation for the sorbents. The maximum adsorption capacity of ZrO(OH)₂-coated magnetite (57.47?mg-F?g^?1-sorbent) was higher than for Al(OH)₃-coated magnetite (23.87?mg-F?g^?1-sorbent). The ion-exchange reaction occurred in 5?min and more than 99% of fluoride was removed from solution. When the ZrO(OH)₂-coated magnetite was used, the presence of foreign ions negatively affected the fluoride removal. The prepared sorbents showed an excellent performance for the removal of fluoride in water samples.     

Di‐μ‐acesulfamato‐κ3N,O:O;κ3O:N,O‐bis[(acesulfamato‐κ2N,O)bis(3‐methylpyridine)cadmium(II)]

In the structure of the title compound, [Cd₂(C₄H₄NO₄S)₂(C₆H₇N)₂], the dinuclear Cd^II complex is located on a twofold axis with two Cd²⁺ ions bridged by two oxide O atoms. Each Cd²⁺ ion is additionally coordinated in an equatorial plane by two N and three O atoms of the acesulfamate ligands and axially by two N atoms of the 3‐methylpyridine ligands, resulting in a distorted pentagonal bipyramidal coordination. We present here an example of a supramolecular assembly based on hydrogen bonds in a mixed‐ligand metal complex; intermolecular C—H...O hydrogen bonds give rise to R₄⁴(40) rings, which lead to one‐dimensional chains.     

Synthesis,Characterization, and AC Conductivity of Polyaniline/Selenium Composites

This study reports structural and thermal properties and temperature-dependent alternating current (AC) conductivity of polyaniline/selenium (PANI/Se) composites in emeraldine salt form prepared by a chemical polymerization method. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the doping process significantly affected the N-H bond in PANI chain. The free energy change, which was calculated from the Langmuir adsorption isotherm, showed that Se was electrostatically adsorbed on PANI molecules. From the scanning electron microscopy images it was determined that morphological changes caused by the doping process on PANI surface could affect conductivity. Thermal analysis, which was performed with differential scanning calorimetry, showed that the addition of Se increased the degradation temperature of PANI. Depending on the doping level, significant increase was observed in the AC conductivity of PANI, approximately 11, 13, and 17 times for 300, 350, and 400 K temperatures respectively.     

Heat transfer enhancement in a tube with equilateral triangle cross sectioned coiled wire inserts

The heat transfer and pressure drop were experimentally investigated in a coiled wire inserted tube in turbulent flow regime. The coiled wire has equilateral triangular cross section and was inserted separately from the tube wall. The experiments were carried out with three different pitch ratios (P/D = 1, 2 and 3) and two different ratio of equilateral triangle length side to tube diameter (a/D = 0.0714 and 0.0892) at a distance (s) of 1 mm from the tube wall in the range of Reynolds number from 3500 to 27,000. Uniform heat flux was applied to the external surface of the tube and air was selected as fluid. The experimental results obtained from a smooth tube were compared with those from the studies in literature for validation of experimental set-up. The use of coiled wire inserts leads to a considerable increase in heat transfer and pressure drop over the smooth tube. The Nusselt number rises with the increase of Reynolds number and wire thickness and the decrease of pitch ratio. The highest overall enhancement efficiency of 36.5% is achieved for the wire with a/D = 0.0892 and P/D = 1 at Reynolds number of 3858. Consequently, the experimental results reveal that the best operating regime of all coiled wire inserts is detected at low Reynolds number, leading to more compact heat exchanger.     

Electroanalytical Studies and Simultaneous Determination of Amlodipine Besylate and Atorvastatine Calcium in Binary Mixtures Using First Derivative of the Ratio‐Voltammetric Methods

The electrochemical behavior of atorvastatin and amlodipine at a glassy carbon electrode has been studied using different voltammetric techniques. First derivative of the ratio voltammetric methods for determination of amlodipine and atorvastatin in tablets in the presence of the other compound has been described. This technique depends on the measuring of first derivative of the ratio voltammograms of each concentration as a function of the increased concentrations. DP and SW voltammetric methods depend on first derivative of the ratio‐voltammetry by measurements of the selected potentials for amlodipine and atorvastatin. The linear response was within the range of 4×10^?6–1×10^?4 M for amlodipine and 2×10^?6–1×10^?4 M for atorvastatin. The proposed methods have been extensively validated.     

Hamilton decompositions of graphs with primitive complements

A k-factor of a graph is a k-regular spanning subgraph. A Hamilton cycle is a connected 2-factor. A graph G is said to be primitive if it contains no k-factor with 1≤k<Δ(G). A Hamilton decomposition of a graph G is a partition of the edges of G into sets, each of which induces a Hamilton cycle. In this paper, by using the amalgamation technique, we find necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a 2x-regular graph G on n vertices which:

1.

has a Hamilton decomposition, and

2.

has a complement in K_n that is primitive.

This extends the conditions studied by Hoffman, Rodger, and Rosa [D.G. Hoffman, C.A. Rodger, A. Rosa, Maximal sets of 2-factors and Hamiltonian cycles, J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 57 (1) (1993) 69-76] who considered maximal sets of Hamilton cycles and 2-factors. It also sheds light on construction approaches to the Hamilton-Waterloo problem.     

Electrochemical evaluation and determination of antiretroviral drug fosamprenavir using boron-doped diamond and glassy carbon electrodes

Fosamprenavir is a pro-drug of the antiretroviral protease inhibitor amprenavir and is oxidizable at solid electrodes. The anodic oxidation behavior of fosamprenavir was investigated using cyclic and linear sweep voltammetry at boron-doped diamond and glassy carbon electrodes. In cyclic voltammetry, depending on pH values, fosamprenavir showed one sharp irreversible oxidation peak or wave depending on the working electrode. The mechanism of the oxidation process was discussed. The voltammetric study of some model compounds allowed elucidation of the possible oxidation mechanism of fosamprenavir. The aim of this study was to determine fosamprenavir levels in pharmaceutical formulations and biological samples by means of electrochemical methods. Using the sharp oxidation response, two voltammetric methods were described for the determination of fosamprenavir by differential pulse and square-wave voltammetry at the boron-doped diamond and glassy carbon electrodes. These two voltammetric techniques are 0.1 M H₂SO₄ and phosphate buffer at pH 2.0 which allow quantitation over a 4 × 10⁻⁶ to 8 × 10⁻⁵ M range using boron-doped diamond and a 1 × 10⁻⁵ to 1 × 10⁻⁴ M range using glassy carbon electrodes, respectively, in supporting electrolyte. All necessary validation parameters were investigated and calculated. These methods were successfully applied for the analysis of fosamprenavir pharmaceutical dosage forms, human serum and urine samples. The standard addition method was used in biological media using boron-doped diamond electrode. No electroactive interferences from the tablet excipients or endogenous substances from biological material were found. The results were statistically compared with those obtained through an established HPLC-UV technique; no significant differences were found between the voltammetric and HPLC methods.     

Recent developments of melatonin related antioxidant compounds

Melatonin is known for its radical scavenger activity, which is related to its ability to protect cells from different kinds of oxidative stress. Oxidative stress has been implicated in the development of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, epileptic seizures, stroke, and as a contributor to aging and some cancer types. The antioxidant properties of melatonin include scavenging free radicals and the regulation of the activity and expression of antioxidant and pro-oxidant enzymes. Due to its free radical scavenger and antioxidant properties, multiple melatonin-related compounds such as melatonin metabolites and synthetic analogues are under investigation to determine which exhibit the highest activity with the lowest side effects. This review addresses recent studies with melatonin and related compounds.     

Equation of state of asymmetric nuclear matter: a VMC study

A Variational Monte Carlo (VMC) method is employed to investigate the properties of symmetric and asymmetric nuclear matter. The realistic Urbana V ₁₄ twonucleon interaction potential of Lagaris and Pandharipande was used to describe the microscopic interactions. Also, many body interactions are included as a density dependent term in the potential. Total kinetic and potential energies per particle are calculated for asymmetric nuclear matter by VMC method at various densities and isospin asymmetry parameters. The results are compared with data found in literature, and it was observed that the results obtained in this study reasonably agree with the results found in the literature. Also, the symmetry energy and incompressibility factor of the nuclear matter were obtained. The results obtained are in good agreement with those obtained by various authors with different methods and techniques.