Nanocatalysis on tailored shape supports: Au and Pd nanoparticles supported on MgO nanocubes and ZnO nanobelts

Active gold and palladium nanoparticles supported on MgO nanocubes and ZnO nanobelts and transition-metal-containing MgO nanobelts were synthesized by combining evaporation and deposition-precipitation techniques. The high activity and stability of the Au/CeO2 and Pd/CeO2 nanoparticle catalysts deposited on the MgO cubes are remarkable and imply that a variety of efficient catalysts can be designed and tested using this approach. The significant increase in the concentration of corner and edge sites in MgO nanocubes make them well-defined supports to study the detailed mechanism of the catalytic activity enhancement.     

Tritium in surface waters, tap water and in precipitation in Poland during the 1994–1999 period

Concentrations of tritium in environmental waters (precipitation, rivers, lakes, tap water) have been determined using electrolytic enrichment and liquid scintillation counting. In waters of big rivers (the Vistula and the Odra rivers), lakes and tap water the annual average concentrations were similar to each other being from 1.4 to 1.9 Bq·dm^-3. These concentrations were similar to those in the precipitation in which they ranged from 1.7 to 2.2 Bq·dm^-3. The lowest tritium concentrations were found in waters of the Seashore Region rivers (average for 1994–1999 was 1.1 Bq·dm^-3). The tritium concentrations in surface waters and in precipitation are still higher than that of natural level. The data obtained show that tritium concentration in the water of rivers might depend on the size of drainage area. The observed seasonal variations of tritium concentration in the precipitation collected in Warsaw and at the Mount Sniezka indicate the stratospheric source of tritium. It was found that about 30% of tritium deposited with precipitation is removed to the Baltic Sea with river waters.     

Proteomic Advances in Milk and Dairy Products

Proteomics is a new area of study that in recent decades has provided great advances in the field of medicine. However, its enormous potential for the study of proteomes makes it also applicable to other areas of science. Milk is a highly heterogeneous and complex fluid, where there are numerous genetic variants and isoforms with post-translational modifications (PTMs). Due to the vast number of proteins and peptides existing in its matrix, proteomics is presented as a powerful tool for the characterization of milk samples and their products. The technology developed to date for the separation and characterization of the milk proteome, such as two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) technology and especially mass spectrometry (MS) have allowed an exhaustive characterization of the proteins and peptides present in milk and dairy products with enormous applications in the industry for the control of fundamental parameters, such as microbiological safety, the guarantee of authenticity, or the control of the transformations carried out, aimed to increase the quality of the final product.     

Momentum distribution of electrons in metallic lithium

The momentum distribution of electrons in metallic lithium is calculated along the main axes of symmetry in momentum space. The crystal has a bcc structure of side 6.6317 a.u., both the crystal potential and orthogonalization to core states are adequately considered. The results show a marked anisotropy in the momentum distribution, this is mainly due to the strong effective potential seen by the conduction electrons. This causes states in the lowest band, particularly near the Brillouin zone boundary, to be strongly coupled.     

Dissecting Functional Biological Interactions Using Modular RNA Nanoparticles

Nucleic acid nanoparticles (NANPs) are an exciting and innovative technology in the context of both basic and biomedical research. Made of DNA, RNA, or their chemical analogs, NANPs are programmed for carrying out specific functions within human cells. NANPs are at the forefront of preventing, detecting, and treating disease. Their nucleic acid composition lends them biocompatibility that provides their cargo with enhanced opportunity for coordinated delivery. Of course, the NANP system of targeting specific cells and tissues is not without its disadvantages. Accumulation of NANPs outside of the target tissue and the potential for off-target effects of NANP-mediated cargo delivery present challenges to research and medical professionals and these challenges must be effectively addressed to provide safe treatment to patients. Importantly, development of NANPs with regulated biological activities and immunorecognition becomes a promising route for developing versatile nucleic acid therapeutics. In a basic research context, NANPs can assist investigators in fine-tuning the structure-function relationship of final formulations and in this review, we explore the practical applications of NANPs in laboratory and clinical settings and discuss how we can use established nucleic acid research techniques to design effective NANPs.     

γ irradiation effect on the polarization and resistance of Li-Co-Yb-ferrite

The effect of γ irradiation on some physical properties of rare earth ferrite of the general formula Li_0.5+zCo_z Yb_xFe_2.5−2z−xO₄, (z=0.1, x=0.00, 0.025, 0.050, … , 0.200) is discussed. The temperature dependence of the polarization and resistance is studied in the range (300 K≤T≤700 K) at different frequencies (10 kHz≤f≤1 MHz). The relaxation time and the activation energy have been calculated before and after irradiation with γ rays doses of 1 and 3 Mrad. A comparison was made between the ac resistance before and after irradiation for the samples with (0.0≤x≤0.2). The results after irradiation with 1 Mrad γ rays showed that the resistance at the critical concentration decreases from 800 to 25 kΩ at room temperature. Furthermore, with increasing temperature the resistance ranged from R≈130 kΩ at T≈310 K to R≈0.13 kΩ at T≈640 K. Thus, it is possible to improve the conductivity of this type of rare earth ferrite materials to be used in technological applications at room as well as at high temperature.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of new indolylpyrrole derivatives

The current approach described the synthesis of a new series of indolylpyrrole derivatives through multicomponent reaction of α-cyano chalcones, appropriate aldehydes, and ammonium acetate in refluxed acetic acid. The chemical structures of the designed compounds were confirmed with spectroscopic data and elemental analysis and then tested for their in vitro cytotoxic activity by SRB assay method towards three cell lines involving human Prostate adenocarcinoma; metastatic cells (PC-3), human ovary adenocarcinoma (SKOV3) and human dukes' type B, colorectal adenocarcinoma (LS 174 T). Most significant activity provided with compounds 5c, 5h and, 5j against prostate cancer cells (PC-3) with IC50s of 3.30 ± 0.20, 3.60 ± 0.10, and 3.60 ± 0.90 µg/ml, respectively. In human ovarian carcinoma (SKOV3), the compounds 5a, and 5i have stronger cytotoxicity with IC50s of 1.20 ± 0.04, 1.90 ± 0.50 µg/ml, respectively than the standard doxorubicin (IC50 = 2.20 ± 0.02 µg/ml). On the other hand, only compound 5a has the ability to diminish the viability of LS174T cells in an active manner with IC50 2.80 ± 0.10 µg/ml. Consequently, this effort offers groundwork for additional examination of nominated indolylpyrroles as antiproliferative agents.