Nonequilibrium synthesis and assembly of hybrid inorganic-protein nanostructures using an engineered DNA binding protein

We show that a protein with no intrinsic inorganic synthesis activity can be endowed with the ability to control the formation of inorganic nanostructures under thermodynamically unfavorable (nonequilibrium) conditions, reproducing a key feature of biological hard-tissue growth and assembly. The nonequilibrium synthesis of Cu(2)O nanoparticles is accomplished using an engineered derivative of the DNA-binding protein TraI in a room-temperature precursor electrolyte. The functional TraI derivative (TraIi1753::CN225) is engineered to possess a cysteine-constrained 12-residue Cu(2)O binding sequence, designated CN225, that is inserted into a permissive site in TraI. When TraIi1753::CN225 is included in the precursor electrolyte, stable Cu(2)O nanoparticles form, even though the concentrations of [Cu(+)] and [OH(-)] are at 5% of the solubility product (K(sp,Cu2O)). Negative control experiments verify that Cu(2)O formation is controlled by inclusion of the CN225 binding sequence. Transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction reveal a core-shell structure for the nonequilibrium nanoparticles: a 2 nm Cu(2)O core is surrounded by an adsorbed protein shell. Quantitative protein adsorption studies show that the unexpected stability of Cu(2)O is imparted by the nanomolar surface binding affinity of TraIi1753::CN225 for Cu(2)O (K(d) = 1.2 x 10(-)(8) M), which provides favorable interfacial energetics (-45 kJ/mol) for the core-shell configuration. The protein shell retains the DNA-binding traits of TraI, as evidenced by the spontaneous organization of nanoparticles onto circular double-stranded DNA.     

荧光探针法研究PEO-PPO嵌段共聚物胶束的特性

利用十六烷基罗丹明Ｂ作为主要荧光探针，研究了水溶性嵌段共聚物Ｐｌｕｒｏｎｉｃ Ｆ－６８在水溶液中的胶束化行为，研究表明，Ｐｌｕｒｏｎｉｃ－Ｆ－６８形成胶束的监界胶束浓度与温度有极大关系，随温度的升高，其ＣＭＣ值急剧下降，并且温度对胶束的性质也有很大，影响温度升高可导致胶束的微观粘度增大，表现出很强的负粘－温效应，并发现引起这种负粘－温效应的主要原因是Ｐｌｕｒｏｎｉｃ Ｆ－６８分子中聚环氧乙烷（ＰＥ     

A novel class of amide-derived air-stable P,O-ligands for Suzuki cross-coupling at low catalyst loading

The benzamide-derived P,O-ligands efficiently promoted the Pd-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reactions of aryl bromides with phenylboronic acid at 0.01 mol % of Pd loading at 60-80 °C to form biaryls in excellent yields. A sterically hindered arylboronic acid gave a quantitative yield of the coupling product at 110 °C with 1 mol % Pd.     

Thermodynamically stable vesicle formation from glycolipid biosurfactant sponge phase

Thermodynamically stable vesicle (L(alpha1)) formation from glycolipid biosurfactant sponge phase (L(3)) and its mechanism were investigated using a "natural" biocompatible mannosyl-erythritol lipid-A (MEL-A)/L-alpha-dilauroylphosphatidylcholine (DLPC) mixture by varying the composition. The trapping efficiency for calcein and turbidity measurements clearly indicated the existence of three regions: while the trapping efficiencies of the mixed MEL-A/DLPC assemblies at the compositions with X(DLPC)< or =0.1 or X(DLPC)> or =0.8 were almost zero, the mixed assemblies at the compositions with 0.1 or =0.8 were multilamellar vesicles (L(alpha)) with diameter from 2 to 10 microm. Meanwhile, dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurement revealed that the average size of the vesicles at the composition of X(DLPC)=0.3 was 633.2 nm, which is remarkably small compared to other compositions. Moreover, the mixed vesicle solution at the composition of X(DLPC)=0.3 was slightly bluish and turbid and kept its dispersion stability at 25 degrees C for more than 3 months, indicating the formation of a thermodynamically stable vesicle (L(alpha1)). These results exhibited the formation of a thermodynamically stable vesicle (L(alpha1)) with a high dispersibility from the MEL-A/DLPC mixture. The asymmetric distribution of MEL-A and DLPC in the two vesicle monolayers caused by the difference in geometrical structures is very likely to have changed their self-assembled structure from a sponge phase (L(3)) to a thermodynamically stable vesicle (L(alpha1)).     

DFT study and Monte Carlo simulation on proton transfers of 2-amino-2-oxazoline, 2-amino-2-thiazoline, and 2-amino-2-imidazoline in the gas phase and in water

Density functional theory (DFT) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulation with free energy perturbation (FEP) techniques have been used to study the tautomeric proton transfer reaction of 2-amino-2-oxazoline, 2-amino-2-thiazoline, and 2-amino-2-imidazoline in the gas phase and in water. Two reaction pathways were considered: the direct and water-assisted transfers. The optimized structures and thermodynamic properties of stationary points for the title reaction system in the gas phase were calculated at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d, p) level of theory. The potential energy profiles along the minimum energy path in the gas phase and in water were obtained. The study of the solvent effect of water on the proton transfer of 2-amino-2-oxozoline, 2-amino-2-thiazoline, and 2-amino-2-imidazoline indicates that water as a solvent is favorable for the water-assisted process and slows down the rate of the direct transfer pathway.     

电极条件对硫酸介质中电解还原提纯镱过程的影响

研究了以钌铱钛合金网和汞分别为阳、阴电极, 在无气氛保护条件下, 采用电解还原方法从铥、镱、镥硫酸盐溶液中分离提纯镱的过程. 讨论了在8 V恒电压时的电极间距、位置, 以及阴、阳极表面积对电解过程中的电流、还原率影响. 优化了电解还原过程, YbSO4产品的纯度稳定达到99.5%以上, 一次收率可达80%;提镱后母液中的铥和镥被富集4倍以上, 其中Lu含量高于50%, 十分有利于后续铥/镥分离.     

Synergetic degradation of chitosan with gamma radiation and hydrogen peroxide

Chitosan samples were irradiated by ⁶⁰Co γ-rays in the presence of hydrogen peroxide with radiation dose from 10 kGy to 100 kGy. The degradation was monitored by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), revealing the existence of a synergetic effect on the degradation. Structures of the degraded products were characterized with Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), ultraviolet-visible spectral (UV-vis) analysis, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results showed that the crystallinity of chitosan decreases with degradation, and the crystalline state of water-soluble chitosan is entirely different from that of water-insoluble chitosan. An elemental analysis method was employed to investigate changes in the element content of chitosan after degradation. Mechanism of chitosan radiation degradation with and without hydrogen peroxide was also discussed.     

Mechanical properties of BPDA-ODA polyimide fibers

An aromatic polyimide was synthesized via a one-step polycondensation reaction between biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA) and 4,4′-oxydianiline (ODA) in p-chlorophenol. The polyimide (BPDA-ODA) solution dopes were spun into fibers by means of dry-jet wet spinning. The as-spun fibers were drawn and treated in heating tubes for improving the mechanical properties. The thermal treatment on the fibers resulted in a relatively high tensile strength and modulus. Thermal mechanical analysis (TMA) was employed to study the linear coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). Thermal gravimetry analysis (TGA) spectra showed that the BPDA-ODA fibers possessed an excellent property of thermo-oxidative degradation resistance. The sonic modulus E_s of the polyimide fibers was measured.     

Solution-phase synthesis and electrochemical hydrogen storage of ultra-long single-crystal selenium submicrotubes

Ultra-long single-crystalline trigonal selenium submicrotubes were synthesized using a facile one-step solution-phase approach with the assistance of nonionic surfactant Polyoxyethylene(20)sorbitan monolaurate (Tween-20), which turned out to be significant for the formation of ultra-long Se submicrotubes. XRD, Raman, SEM, and TEM were adopted to characterize the morphology, structure and phase composition of the as-prepared Se products. It was found that the length of the obtained Se submicrotubes was over 100 microm. By variation of the experimental parameters, the t-Se spheres, nanowires, and broken microtubes can be prepared. The possible growth mechanism of the ultra-long selenium submicrotubes was explained. In addition, we have also demonstrated that the synthesized ultra-long t-Se submicrotubes using the Tween-20-assisted approach can electrochemically charge and discharge with the high capacity of 265 mAh/g (corresponding to 0.97 wt % hydrogen in SWNTs) under normal atmosphere at room temperature. Cyclic voltammetry was adopted to investigate the adsorption-oxidation behavior of ultra-long selenium submicrotubes. It was observed that the morphology of the synthesized selenium products had a remarkable influence on their capacity of electrochemical hydrogen storage. These differences in hydrogen storage capacity are likely due to the size and density of tubes as well as the microcosmic morphology of different Se samples. The as-obtained ultra-long Se submicrotubes are expected to find wide applications in hydrogen storage, high-energy batteries, and optoelectronic, biologic, and catalytic fields as well as in the studies of structure-property relationships. This simple Tween-assisted approach might be extended to the preparations of one-dimensional nanostructures of tellurium and other anisotropic materials.     

茶叶中三氯螨杀醇残留量的快速HPLC测定法

用微量化技术处理茶叶样品，样品经石油醚提取、浓硫酸磺化后，用反相液相色谱分离、测定样品处理液中的三氯杀螨醇残留量，２３４ｎｍ检测，外标法定量。测定低限为０．５ｍｇ／ｋｇ，回收率为９１．５％～９９．３％，变异系数为１．５３％～６．９２％之间。