The influence of compression conditions on the peculiarities of self-propagating exothermal reaction in Al–Ni powder reactive materials

The paper deals with the effect of the compression conditions on the propagation front velocity of exothermal reaction and the specific heat release in Al–Ni powder reactive materials with mean particle sizes of 70–110 nm. It was shown that the velocity increases from 2.7 to 8 cm s^?1 and comes to saturation with the lowering of the porosity (η) from 0.91 to 0.34, while the dependence of the specific heat release has its maximum for η?=?0.5. The results of the X-ray diffraction analysis obtained in situ during the sample heating suggest that the sequence of phase transformations in the system does not depend on the porosity. In all cases, first in the temperature range of ~?500–540 °C the NiAl compound is formed. With the further heating up to ~?640 °C, the Ni₃Al, Ni₂Al₃ and NiAl₃ compounds are additionally formed. The calculation of kinetic parameters was performed using the obtained curves of the differential scanning calorimetry: activation energy, pre-exponential factor and reaction model. The comparison of the calculated results and the scanning electron microscopy data has shown that such behavior of the Al–Ni system with the porosity lowering occurs due to the growth of the transformation degree and is associated with the presence in the final powder mixture of mutually non-contacting Al and Ni agglomerates with the dimensions of over 10 μm.     

High-resolution mass spectrometric analysis of secondary organic aerosol produced by ozonation of limonene

Chemical composition of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed from the ozone-initiated oxidation of limonene is characterized by high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in both positive and negative ion modes. The mass spectra reveal a large number of both monomeric (m/z < 300) and oligomeric (m/z > 300) condensed products of oxidation. A combination of high resolving power (m/Deltam approximately 60,000) and Kendrick mass defect analysis makes it possible to unambiguously determine the molecular composition of hundreds of individual compounds in SOA samples. Van Krevelen analysis shows that the SOA compounds are heavily oxidized, with average O : C ratios of 0.43 and 0.50 determined from the positive and negative ion mode spectra, respectively. A possible reaction mechanism for the formation of the first generation SOA molecular components is considered. The discussed mechanism includes known isomerization and addition reactions of the carbonyl oxide intermediates generated during the ozonation of limonene. In addition, it includes isomerization and decomposition pathways for alkoxy radicals resulting from unimolecular decomposition of carbonyl oxides that have been disregarded by previous studies. The isomerization reactions yield numerous products with a progressively increasing number of alcohol and carbonyl groups, whereas C-C bond scission reactions in alkoxy radicals shorten the carbon chain. Together these reactions yield a large number of isomeric products with broadly distributed masses. A qualitative agreement is found between the number and degree of oxidation of the predicted and measured reaction products in the monomer product range.     

FAMBE-pH: a fast and accurate method to compute the total solvation free energies of proteins

A fast and accurate method to compute the total solvation free energies of proteins as a function of pH is presented. The method makes use of a combination of approaches, some of which have already appeared in the literature; (i) the Poisson equation is solved with an optimized fast adaptive multigrid boundary element (FAMBE) method; (ii) the electrostatic free energies of the ionizable sites are calculated for their neutral and charged states by using a detailed model of atomic charges; (iii) a set of optimal atomic radii is used to define a precise dielectric surface interface; (iv) a multilevel adaptive tessellation of this dielectric surface interface is achieved by using multisized boundary elements; and (v) 1:1 salt effects are included. The equilibrium proton binding/release is calculated with the Tanford-Schellman integral if the proteins contain more than approximately 20-25 ionizable groups; for a smaller number of ionizable groups, the ionization partition function is calculated directly. The FAMBE method is tested as a function of pH (FAMBE-pH) with three proteins, namely, bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI), hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL), and bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A (RNaseA). The results are (a) the FAMBE-pH method reproduces the observed pK a's of the ionizable groups of these proteins within an average absolute value of 0.4 p K units and a maximum error of 1.2 p K units and (b) comparison of the calculated total pH-dependent solvation free energy for BPTI, between the exact calculation of the ionization partition function and the Tanford-Schellman integral method, shows agreement within 1.2 kcal/mol. These results indicate that calculation of total solvation free energies with the FAMBE-pH method can provide an accurate prediction of protein conformational stability at a given fixed pH and, if coupled with molecular mechanics or molecular dynamics methods, can also be used for more realistic studies of protein folding, unfolding, and dynamics, as a function of pH.     

Hexacoordinate triphenylantimony(V) complex with tridentate bis-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-phenolate-2-yl)-amine ligand: Synthesis,NMR and X-ray study

The oxidative addition reaction of 4,6-di-tert-butyl-N-(2-hydroxy-3,5-di-tert-butyl-phenyl)-o-iminobenzoquinone (IBQ) to triphenylantimony(III) proceeds with the migration of hydroxyl-proton to a nitrogen atom to form tridentate O,N,O′-coordinated bis-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-phenolate-2-yl)-amine ligand. In accordance with ¹H, ¹³C, DEPT NMR data, the new hexacoordinate complex [bis-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-phenolate-2-yl)-amine]triphenylantimony(V), [(AP-AP)H]SbPh₃ (1) in solution has a C_s symmetry plane leading to the equivalence of two O,N-chelate o-aminophenolato moieties. The molecular structure of 1 · acetone was studied by a single-crystal X-ray. Compound 1 was found to be air-stable both in solid and in solution. Its oxidation by PbO₂ leads to paramagnetic [4,6-di-tert-butyl-N-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-phenolate-2-yl)-o-iminobenzosemiquinolato]triphenylantimony(V), [(AP-ISQ)]SbPh₃ (2).     

Characterization of platinum anticancer drug protein-binding sites using a top-down mass spectrometric approach

A proof-of-principle study on the application of a top-down electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometric approach for characterization of the primary binding sites of the platinum anticancer agents cisplatin, transplatin, and oxaliplatin on ubiquitin is presented. Through employment of different fragmentation techniques, the binding sites of cisplatin and oxaliplatin were found at N-terminal methionine-containing ubiquitin fragments, while transplatin was observed to be attached to 19Pro-Ser-Asp-Thr-Ile-Glu24. The binding to proteins is of particular relevance for the mode of action of metallodrugs with regard to (de)activation, transport, excretion, etc. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first top-down mass spectrometric study on the protein binding site characterization of transition-metal anticancer agents and demonstrates the potential of the applied technique for investigating metal drug-protein interactions.     

Monte Carlo simulation of polymer analogous reaction in confined conditions: effects of ordering

The influence of energetic parameters of the interchain homo- and heterocontacts on a local ordering of Bernoullian copolymers has been studied using Monte Carlo simulations and probabilistic analysis. The results of both methods are in a good agreement. Then simple Monte Carlo procedure was employed to study the ordering in products of a polymeranalogous reaction with accelerating effect of neighboring groups. When the reaction with intra- and interchain acceleration and local ordering proceed simultaneously in confined conditions, the ordering might affect the process so that the formation of certain nano-structures (in particular, not trivial strip-like ones) is possible.     

Submanifolds Of Maximal Nullity In Symmetric Spaces

A non-totally-geodesic submanifold of relative nullity n — 1 in a symmetric space M is a cylinder over one of the following submanifolds: a surface F ² of nullity 1 in a totally geodesic submanifold N³ ? M locally isometric to S ²(c) × ? or H ²(c) × ?; a submanifold F ^k+1 spanned by a totally geodesic submanifold F ^k(c) of constant curvature moving by a special curve in the isometry group of M; a submanifold F ^k+l of nullity k in a flat totally geodesic submanifold of M; a curve.     

Influence of Environmental Parameters on the Stability of the DNA Molecule

Fluctuations in viscosity within the cell nucleus have wide limits. When a DNA molecule passes from the region of high viscosity values to the region of low values, open states, denaturation bubbles, and unweaving of DNA strands can occur. Stabilization of the molecule is provided by energy dissipation—dissipation due to interaction with the environment. Separate sections of a DNA molecule in a twisted state can experience supercoiling stress, which, among other things, is due to complex entropic effects caused by interaction with a solvent. In this work, based on the numerical solution of a mechanical mathematical model for the interferon alpha 17 gene and a fragment of the Drosophila gene, an analysis of the external environment viscosity influence on the dynamics of the DNA molecule and its stability was carried out. It has been shown that an increase in viscosity leads to a rapid stabilization of the angular vibrations of nitrogenous bases, while a decrease in viscosity changes the dynamics of DNA: the rate of change in the angular deviations of nitrogenous bases increases and the angular deformations of the DNA strands increase at each moment of time. These processes lead to DNA instability, which increases with time. Thus, the paper considers the influence of the external environment viscosity on the dissipation of the DNA nitrogenous bases’ vibrational motion energy. Additionally, the study on the basis of the described model of the molecular dynamics of physiological processes at different indicators of the rheological behavior of nucleoplasm will allow a deeper understanding of the processes of nonequilibrium physics of an active substance in a living cell to be obtained.     

Nitrogen modified carbide-derived carbons as adsorbents of hydrogen sulfide

Carbide-derived carbons produced from titanium carbide at temperatures from 600 degrees C to 1000 degrees C and exhibiting different porosities were treated with urea in order to introduce nitrogen containing species to their surface. Adsorption of hydrogen sulfide in the dynamic conditions in the presence of moisture was studied on initial and modified samples. The samples, before and after exposure to hydrogen sulfide, were characterized using adsorption of nitrogen, potentiometric titration, elemental analysis, and thermal analysis. The results showed that the introduction of nitrogen significantly enhances the performance of carbons in the process of hydrogen sulfide removal. The amount adsorbed and the degree of oxidation depended on the porosity. On the samples with very small pores, the adsorption was limited, probably owing to the sterical hindrances. With an increase in the size and volume of micropores, in which water and hydrogen sulfide can be accommodated, the efficiency of H(2)S removal by CDC increased.