Phonon spectrum of binary ions

For the first time, an attempt is made to describe the phonon spectrum of binary ions (AB, AA, BB type). The experimental structure factors have been used for the case of the Na---Cs alloy system. The Egelstaff formula for liquid metals has been extended to the case of an alloy system. Interesting results are obtained by varying the concentration and temperature.     

Structure and Functional Characterisation of a Distinctive β-Lactamase from an Environmental Strain EMB20 of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus cereus</Emphasis>

The rampant use and misuse of antibiotics in human medicine, agriculture and veterinary have become the key contributors to global antimicrobial resistance. One of the significant resistance mechanisms that inactivates antibiotics and impedes treatment of bacterial infections is the expression of β-lactamases. Rising evidence of newer variants of β-lactamases in the environment is therefore a serious threat to the presently available antibiotic armoury. The present work describes the purification of a variant β-lactamase isolated from a soil strain EMB20 of Bacillus cereus. The lactamase was purified using three-phase partitioning and gel filtration chromatography to a 30-fold purification and 15% recovery yield. Contrary to the general trend, the lactamase was not a metalloenzyme, but its activity was enhanced in the presence of Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺. The EMB20 lactamase exhibited improved stability against inhibitors and denaturing agents such as urea and GdmCl as compared to its commercial analogue. The improved stability of EMB20 lactamase was further validated by circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy. This study reemphasizes the rising prevalence of environmental lactamase variants. Decoding the structure–function correlation of such lactamases in the presence of inhibitors will provide insights into the response of this enzyme towards inhibitors as well as its substrates.     

Comparison of Collisional and Electron-Based Dissociation Modes for Middle-Down Analysis of Multiply Glycosylated Peptides

Analysis of singly glycosylated peptides has evolved to a point where large-scale LC-MS analyses can be performed at almost the same scale as proteomics experiments. While collisionally activated dissociation (CAD) remains the mainstay of bottom-up analyses, it performs poorly for the middle-down analysis of multiply glycosylated peptides. With improvements in instrumentation, electron-activated dissociation (ExD) modes are becoming increasingly prevalent for proteomics experiments and for the analysis of fragile modifications such as glycosylation. While these methods have been applied for glycopeptide analysis in isolated studies, an organized effort to compare their efficiencies, particularly for analysis of multiply glycosylated peptides (termed here middle-down glycoproteomics), has not been made. We therefore compared the performance of different ExD modes for middle-down glycopeptide analyses. We identified key features among the different dissociation modes and show that increased electron energy and supplemental activation provide the most useful data for middle-down glycopeptide analysis.

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Activation analysis in a multitechnique study of trace element imbalances in age-related neurological diseases

It has been suggested that several age-related neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis may be related to environmental toxins. Bulk sample multielement analyses by INAA alone are not adequate to define the role of trace elements in these diseases. A multitechnique approach has been developed that incorporates 14 MeV, instrumental reactor, radiochemical, and pre-irradiation chemical neutron activation analysis, together with laser microprobe mass spectrometry. The analytical scheme is able to provide bulk or protein normalized elemental concentrations, as well as microstructural, cellular, and subcellular localization information.     

Bi(OTf)3 and SiO2-Bi(OTf)3 as effective catalysts for the Ferrier rearrangement

Bi(OTf)3 and SiO2-Bi(OTf)3 are found to effectively catalyze the Ferrier rearrangement of tri-O-acetyl glycals with different alcohols providing an effective route to 2,3-unsaturated O-glycosides with good anomeric selectivity and good to excellent yields after short reaction times.     

On studies of spontaneously emitted Cd I and Cd II lasing transitions

The effect of spatial variation with respect to metal surface, buffer gas (helium) pressure, temporal behavior on the intensity of spontaneously emitted Cd I and Cd II lasing transitions is reported. A strong dependence of intensity of the emitted spectrum on pressure of helium gas, indicating electron-ion recombination is observed. An estimate of temperature corresponding to recombination laser for Cd I and Cd II transitions is presented.     

Field emission theory of dislocation-sensitized photo-stimulated exo-electron emission from coloured alkali halide crystals

A new field emission theory of dislocation-sensitized photo-stimulated exo-electron emission (DSPEE) is proposed, which shows that the increase in the intensity of photo emission fromF-centres during plastic deformation is caused by the appearance of an electric field which draws excited electrons out of the deeper layer and, therefore, increases the number of electrons which reach the surface. The theory of DSPEE shows that the variation of DSPEE flux intensity should obey the following relation

Synthesis,characterization, and antibacterial activity of some thiazoles derived from allyl thioureas

Synthesis of thiazoles was carried out from allyl thioureas using different cyclizing agents such as hydrogen chloride gas and bromine. Synthesized compounds were characterized by IR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. The synthesized thiazoles were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against Gram postitive (Lactobacillus bulgaris and Streptococcus mitis) and Gram negative (Yersinia) as well as antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger fungi.     

Entropy of Quantum Dynamical Systems and Sufficient Families in Orthomodular Lattices with Bayessian State

The purpose of the present paper is to study the entropy hs（Ф） of a quantum dynamical systems Ф = （ L, s, Ф）, where s is a bayessian state on an orthomodular lattice L. Having introduced the notion of entropy hs（ Ф, A） of partition A of a Boolean algebra B with respect to a state s and a state preserving homomorphism Ф, we prove a few results on that, define the entropy of a dynamical system hs（Ф）, and show its invariance. The concept of sufficient families is also given and we establish that hs （Ф） comes out to be equal to the supremum of hs （Ф,A）, where A varies over any sufficient family. The present theory has then been extended to the quantum dynamical system （ L, s, Ф）, which as an effect of the theory of commutators and Bell inequalities can equivalently be replaced by the dynamical system （B, s0, Ф）, where B is a Boolean algebra and so is a state on B.     

Anomalous behavior of optogalvanic signal in a miniature neon discharge lamp

A strong optogalvanic effect has been observed in a negative glow of a miniature neon discharge lamp using tunable pulse dye laser pumped by a copper vapor laser. A comparative study on temporal evolution of optogalvanic signal in a positive and negative dynamic resistance region of the discharge is described. Dye laser beam was tuned to various neon transitions 1s_i → 2p_j (Paschen notations) within 570-617 nm wavelength range. Anomalous behavior of optogalvanic signal was observed at 588.2 nm for (1s₅ → 2p₂) neon transition at low discharge current (<220 μA). This anomalous behavior is the attributes of damped oscillations of optogalvanic signal that correlate with negative dynamic resistance (dV/di < 0) of the discharge. Penning ionization at low discharge current and small energy mismatch is assumed to be the main cause of the negative dynamic resistance. Penning ionization process has been explained by resonantly ionizing energy transfer via collisions between neon buffer gas atoms in the lowest metastable state (1s₅) and electrode sputtered atoms in ground state using their partial energy level diagram.