Some biological transformations involving unsaturated linkages: the importance of charge separation and charge neutralization in enzyme catalysis

Current status of knowledge on the biological reduction of CC and CO is briefly reviewed. It is Argued that the crucial event in the reduction of CC is the addition of a proton to the more electron-rich terminal of the double bond to produce an electron-deficient species which is then neutralized through hydride transfer from NADPH. The activation for the reduction of a CO group may also be achieved by a related process in which the carbonyl oxygen is polarized by H-bonding to an acidic group on the enzyme, prior to hydride transfer from NAD(P)H.Thus with both these systems an early event in catalysis is the protonation of the substrate for which, normally, strong adds win be required. Since the groups available at the active-met of enzymes are weak acids, a mechanism through which powerful proton donating species could be transiently generated from them is proposed. The salient features of this mechanism may be enuinciatcd as follows: Let us consider the enzyme-substrate complex (A) in which an imidazolium group is about to play a role as a proton donating species. It is argued that rearrngement of initial complex(A)to the catalytic-complex(B), in which the negatively chared counter ion is removed away from the imidazolium cation, would transiently convert the latter group into a powerful proton danating species. the rearrangement (A)→(B) could occur through a protein conformational change or via a charge-relay system or a combination of both processes.     

A Sensor for Serotonin and Dopamine Detection in Cancer Cells Line Based on the Conducting Polymer−Pd Complex Composite

An electrochemical sensor based on the conducting polymer composite with a palladium complex (Pd(C₂H₄N₂S₂)₂) was developed for the detection of serotonin and dopamine simultaneously in the breast cancer cell and human plasma samples. The proposed sensor was fabricated using the Pd(C₂H₄N₂S₂)₂ complex‐anchored poly2,2 : 5,2‐terthiophene‐3‐(p‐benzoic acid) (pTBA) layer on the AuNPs decorated reduced graphene oxide (AuNPs@rGO) substrate, which revealed the enhanced anodic current of the target species. The sensor probe was characterized by electrochemical and surface analysis methods. The experimental parameters affecting the sensor performance were optimized, in terms of AuNPs@rGO concentration, the number of electropolymerization cycle for pTBA, immobilization time of Pd(C₂H₄N₂S₂)₂, and pH. The dynamic ranges for serotonin and dopamine were obtained from 0.02 to 200 μM, and from 0.1 to 200 μM with the detection limit of 2.5, and 24.0 nM, respectively. The reliability of proposed sensor was evaluated using cancer cell lines for the clinical applications.     

Ion acoustic solitary waves with adiabatic ions in magnetized electron-positron-ion plasmas

Linear and nonlinear ion acoustic waves in the presence of adiabatically heated ions in magnetized electron-positron-ion plasmas are studied. The Sagdeev potential approach is employed to obtain the energy integral equation in such a mulitcomponent plasma using fluid theory. It is found that electron density humps are formed in the subsonic region in magnetized electron-positron-ion plasmas. The amplitude of electron density hump is decreased with the increase of hot ion temperature in electron-positron-ion plasmas. However, the increase in positron concentration and obliqueness of the wave increases the amplitude of nonlinear structure. The increase in positron concentration also reduces the width of the nonlinear structure in a magnetized multicomponent plasma. The numerical solutions in the form of solitary pulses are also presented for different plasma cases. The results may be applicable to astrophysical plasma situations, where magnetized electron-positron-ion plasma with hot ions can exist.     

Nonlinear closure modeling in reduced order models for turbulent flows: a dynamical system approach

Nonlinear Dynamics - Reduced-order models (ROM) of structurally dominated fluid flows have significant applications in science and engineering, such as design, control, and optimization....     

Laser cutting of Kevlar laminates and thermal stress formed at cutting sections

Laser cutting of Kevlar laminates is carried out and thermal stress field developed in the cutting region is predicted using the finite element code. Temperature predictions are validated through the thermocouple data. The morphological changes in the cutting section are examined by incorporating optical and scanning electron microscopes. It is found that temperature predictions agree well with the thermocouple data. High values of von Mises stress are observed at the cutting edges and at the mid-thickness of the Kevlar laminate due to thermal compression formed in this region. The laser cut edges are free from whiskers; however, striation formation and some small sideways burning is observed at the kerf edges.     

Flow and thermal study of MHD Casson fluid past a moving stretching porous wedge

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - This research provides the analysis of an analytical method named Homotopy analysis method which is applied to examine the series solutions/results on...     

Numerical Investigation of Graphene as a Back Surface Field Layer on the Performance of Cadmium Telluride Solar Cell

This paper numerically explores the possibility of ultrathin layering and high efficiency of graphene as a back surface field (BSF) based on a CdTe solar cell by Personal computer one-dimensional (PC1D) simulation. CdTe solar cells have been characterized and studied by varying the carrier lifetime, doping concentration, thickness, and bandgap of the graphene layer. With simulation results, the highest short-circuit current (I_sc = 2.09 A), power conversion efficiency (η = 15%), and quantum efficiency (QE~85%) were achieved at a carrier lifetime of 1 × 10³ μs and a doping concentration of 1 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ of graphene as a BSF layer-based CdTe solar cell. The thickness of the graphene BSF layer (1 μm) was proven the ultrathin, optimal, and obtainable for the fabrication of high-performance CdTe solar cells, confirming the suitability of graphene material as a BSF. This simulation confirmed that a CdTe solar cell with the proposed graphene as the BSF layer might be highly efficient with optimized parameters for fabrication.     

Hyperfine structure studies of Tantalum

A narrow bandwidth ring dye laser pumped by an argon ion laser has been used to investigate the hyperfine structure of the even and odd parity levels of tantalum by optogalvanic spectroscopy in the wavelength range 5640 to 6050 Å. Seventeen transitions have been observed and eight of these have not been reported in the literature so far. These transitions involve 27 levels with 15 odd and 12 even parity configurations. The magnetic dipole hyperfine interaction constants A and the electric quadrupole interaction constants B for these levels have been computed and compared with the data available in literature. The results for the levels at 34799.71 cm^?1, 26960.46 cm^?1 and 19657.78 cm^?1 are reported for the first time.     

1H-NMR-Based Metabolomics: An Integrated Approach for the Detection of the Adulteration in Chicken,Chevon, Beef and Donkey Meat

Meat is a rich source of energy that provides high-value animal protein, fats, vitamins, minerals and trace amounts of carbohydrates. Globally, different types of meats are consumed to fulfill nutritional requirements. However, the increasing burden on the livestock industry has triggered the mixing of high-price meat species with low-quality/-price meat. This work aimed to differentiate different meat samples on the basis of metabolites. The metabolic difference between various meat samples was investigated through Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy coupled with multivariate data analysis approaches like principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least square-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). In total, 37 metabolites were identified in the gluteal muscle tissues of cow, goat, donkey and chicken using ¹H-NMR spectroscopy. PCA was found unable to completely differentiate between meat types, whereas OPLS-DA showed an apparent separation and successfully differentiated samples from all four types of meat. Lactate, creatine, choline, acetate, leucine, isoleucine, valine, formate, carnitine, glutamate, 3-hydroxybutyrate and α-mannose were found as the major discriminating metabolites between white (chicken) and red meat (chevon, beef and donkey). However, inosine, lactate, uracil, carnosine, format, pyruvate, carnitine, creatine and acetate were found responsible for differentiating chevon, beef and donkey meat. The relative quantification of differentiating metabolites was performed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey test. Our results showed that NMR-based metabolomics is a powerful tool for the identification of novel signatures (potential biomarkers) to characterize meats from different sources and could potentially be used for quality control purposes in order to differentiate different meat types.