Production and Digestibility Studies of β-Galactosyl Xylitol Derivatives Using Heterogeneous Catalysts of LacA β-Galactosidase from Lactobacillus Plantarum WCFS1

The synthesis of β-galactosyl xylitol derivatives using immobilized LacA β-galactosidase from Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1 is presented. These compounds have the potential to replace traditional sugars by their properties as sweetener and taking the advantages of a low digestibility. The enzyme was immobilized on different supports, obtaining immobilized preparations with different activity and stability. The immobilization on agarose-IDA-Zn-CHO in the presence of galactose allowed for the conserving of 78% of the offered activity. This preparation was 3.8 times more stable than soluble. Since the enzyme has polyhistidine tags, this support allowed the immobilization, purification and stabilization in one step. The immobilized preparation was used in synthesis obtaining two main products and a total of around 68 g/L of β-galactosyl xylitol derivatives and improving the synthesis/hydrolysis ratio by around 30% compared to that of the soluble enzyme. The catalyst was recycled 10 times, preserving an activity higher than 50%. The in vitro intestinal digestibility of the main β-galactosyl xylitol derivatives was lower than that of lactose, being around 6 and 15% for the galacto-xylitol derivatives compared to 55% of lactose after 120 min of digestion. The optimal amount immobilized constitutes a very useful tool to synthetize β-galactosyl xylitol derivatives since it can be used as a catalyst with high yield and being recycled for at least 10 more cycles.     

Dendronized Anionic Gold Nanoparticles: Synthesis,Characterization, and Antiviral Activity

Anionic carbosilane dendrons decorated with sulfonate functions and one thiol moiety at the focal point have been used to synthesize water‐soluble gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) through the direct reaction of dendrons, gold precursor, and reducing agent in water, and also through a place‐exchange reaction. These nanoparticles have been characterized by NMR spectroscopy, TEM, thermogravimetric analysis, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV/Vis spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and zeta‐potential measurements. The interacting ability of the anionic sulfonate functions was investigated by EPR spectroscopy with copper(II) as a probe. Different structures and conformations of the AuNPs modulate the availability of sulfonate and thiol groups for complexation by copper(II). Toxicity assays of AuNPs showed that those produced through direct reaction were less toxic than those obtained by ligand exchange. Inhibition of HIV‐1 infection was higher in the case of dendronized AuNPs than in dendrons.     

Nonstoichiometric spinel ferrites obtained from alpha-NaFeO2 via molten media reactions

Different solid/liquid "exchange" reactions involving divalent cations, protons, or ammonium ions have been performed at low/moderate temperatures (between 80 and 500 degrees C) on alpha-NaFeO2 dipped in molten salts (or acid) media. Several ferrites have been obtained which are nonstoichiometric with partially inverse spinel structures. When sodium is replaced by divalent cations (Mg2+, Co2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+), the obtained ferrites are hyperstoichiometric (cation/oxygen ratio higher than 3/4) whereas proton or ammonium reactions result in hypostoichiometric materials (cation/oxygen lower than 3/4). All these ferrites present a platelet-like morphology and show ferrimagnetic, soft magnet behavior.     

What does the free space Lambda Lambda interaction predict for Lambda Lambda hypernuclei?

Data on LambdaLambda hypernuclei provide a unique method to learn details about the strangeness S = -2 sector of the baryon-baryon interaction. From the free space Bonn-Jülich potentials, determined from data on baryon-baryon scattering in the S = 0,-1 channels, we construct an interaction in the S = -2 sector to describe the experimentally known LambdaLambda hypernuclei. After including short-range (Jastrow) and RPA correlations, we find masses for these LambdaLambda hypernuclei in a reasonable agreement with data, taking into account theoretical and experimental uncertainties. Thus, we provide a natural extension, at low energies, of the Bonn-Jülich one-boson exchange potentials to the S = -2 channel.     

Estimation of dynamic elastic constants from the amplitude and velocity of Rayleigh waves

In this paper a method is proposed to characterize the elasticity of isotropic linear materials from the generation and detection of an acoustic surface wave. For the calculation of the elastic constants, it is sufficient that only one of the faces of the sample be accessible. The methodology is based on both the measurement of the Rayleigh wave velocity and on the determination of the normal to longitudinal amplitude ratio calculated from the normal and longitudinal components of the displacement of a point. The detection of two consecutive surface wave pulses using a single experimental setup permits the determination of the elastic constants. The method is applied to calculate Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of an aluminum sample as well as their systematic uncertainties. The results obtained give a relative uncertainty for Young's modulus on the order of the sixth part of that calculated for Poisson's ratio.     

Influence of low intensity noise on assemblies of diffusively coupled chaotic cells

The effect of time-correlated and white Gaussian noises of low intensity on one-dimensional arrays consisting of diffusively coupled chaotic cells is analyzed. An improvement or worsening of the synchronization between cells of the array driven by low-intensity colored noise is observed for a resonant interval of time correlation values. A comparison between colored and white noise and additive and multiplicative contribution has been carried out investigating the nonlinear cooperative effects of noise strength, correlation time, and coupling strength to control spatiotemporal chaos in coupled arrays of chaotic cells. The possibility to distinguish highly correlated areas of a diffusively coupled network of cells by using low-intensity time correlated noise is discussed. (c) 2001 American Institute of Physics.     

Meson-baryon s-wave resonances with strangeness -3

Starting from a consistent SU(6) extension of the Weinberg-Tomozawa (WT) meson-baryon chiral Lagrangian ( Phys. Rev. D 74, 034025 (2006)), we study the s-wave meson-baryon resonances in the strangeness S = - 3 and negative-parity sectors. Those resonances are generated by solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation with the WT interaction used as kernel. The considered mesons are those of the 35-SU(6)-plet, which includes the pseudoscalar (PS) octet of pions and the vector (V) nonet of the rho-meson. For baryons we consider the 56-SU(6)-plet, made of the 1/2⁺ octet of the nucleon and the 3/2⁺ decuplet of the Delta. Quantum numbers I(J ^P) = 0(3/2^-) are suggested for the experimental resonances Ω ^*(2250)^- and Ω ^*(2380)^-. Among other, resonances with I = 1 are found, which minimal quark content is sssˉl', being s the strange quark and l, l' any of the the light up or down quarks. A clear signal for such a pentaquark would be a baryonic resonance with strangeness -3 and electric charge -2 or 0, in proton charge units. We suggest looking for K ^- Ξ ^- resonances with masses around 2100 and 2240MeV in the sector 1(1/2^-), and for π ^± Ω ^- and K ^- Ξ ^*- resonances with masses around 2260MeV in the sector 1(3/2^-).