Synthesis of 2‐Dihydrooxadiazolinyl Chromones

Reactions of the substituted 2‐formyl chromones with aroylhydrazines gave corresponding 2‐(aroylhydrazonomethylidyne) chromones. Then 2‐(3′‐acetyl‐5′‐aryl‐2′,3′‐dihydro‐1′,3′,4′‐oxadiazol‐2′‐yl) chromones were prepared by these 2‐(aroylhydrazonomethylidyne) chromones under refluxing with Ac₂O. All target compounds were characterized through elemental analysis and IR, ¹H NMR, MS.     

The Flexibility of the Non-Conservative Region at the C Terminus of <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-Hydantoinase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas putida</Emphasis> YZ-26 is Extremely Limited

We previously reported that a deletion mutant (P478) with a residue Arg deleted at the C terminus of d-hydantoinase (P479) from Pseudomonas putida YZ-26 was dissociated into the monomer from its dimeric state. Based on the above result, a series of mutants of the enzyme with the C-terminal residues either deleted or substituted were prepared. The size-exclusion chromatography and bioactivity assay show that a C-terminal-substituted enzyme (R479D) and several truncated mutants (P478, P477, P476, and P475) are dissociated into the monomeric state as well, but their activities are largely retained. In contrast, two other mutants (R474 and R479A) are expressed in the form of random aggregates without any activity. Our experiments demonstrate that only the last four amino acids (-PVQR) at the C terminus of the enzyme can be deleted without seriously affecting its activity, although the enzyme is dissociated from a dimer into a monomer. These mutants also reveal some unique properties such as the enzymatic activity in vivo or in vitro, the effect of divalent metal ions, and the thermostability etc. in comparison to wild-type enzyme (P479). In addition, the three-dimensional structural modeling shows that the intact structure of the enzyme is essential, and the flexibility of the non-conservative region at the C terminus of the enzyme is quite limited.     

Synthesis and VUV-UV spectroscopic properties of rare earth borosilicate oxyapatite: RE5Si2BO13:Ln (RE=La, Gd, Y; Ln=Eu, Tb)

Three rare earth borosilicate oxyapatites, RE₅Si₂BO₁₃ (RE=La, Gd, Y), were synthesized via wet chemical method, of which RE₅Si₂BO₁₃ (RE=Gd, Y) were first reported in this work. In the three oxyapatites, [BO₄] and [SiO₄] share the [TO₄] tetrahedral oxyanion site, and RE³⁺ ions occupy all metal sites. The differential scanning calorimetry-thermo gravimetry measurements and high temperature powder X-ray diffraction pattern revealed a vitrification process within 300-1200 °C, which was due to the glass-forming nature of borosilicates. From the VUV excitation spectra of Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ in RE₅Si₂BO₁₃, the optical band gaps were found to be 6.31, 6.54 and 6.72 eV for RE₅Si₂BO₁₃ (RE=La, Gd, Y), respectively. The emission and excitation bands of Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ are discussed relating with their coordination environments. Among the three hosts, Y₅Si₂BO₁₃ would be the best for Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺-doped phosphors.     

Plant cohesins, common themes and unique roles

Cohesin complexes are critical for holding sister chromatids together during nuclear division. They also play important roles in the compaction of chromosomes and their bipolar attachment to the spindle, DNA double strand break repair, and the regulation of gene expression. Studies on sister chromatid cohesion in a wide range of organisms have shown that the proteins involved, and the general events of this important process are conserved between yeast, plants and animals. However, species-specific differences have been identified. In this review a general overview of cohesins, their roles and mechanisms of action is presented, followed by a review of our current state of knowledge on plant cohesins. While plants utilize the same general set of cohesin proteins and similar processes to establish and release sister chromatid cohesion, they also exhibit a number of unique features that are likely to provide interesting new insights into the roles of these important proteins.     

Permeation hysteresis in PdCu membranes

H 2 permeation hysteresis has been observed during cycling of a 3 mum thick supported PdCu membrane with approximately 50 atom % Pd through the fcc/bcc (face-centered cubic/body-centered cubic) miscibility gap between 723 and 873 K. Structural investigations after annealing of membrane fragments under H 2 at 823 K reveal retardation of the fcc(H) --> bcc(H) transition, which is attributed to the occurrence of metastable hydrogenated fcc PdCu(H) phases. The H(2) flux at 0.1 MPa H(2) pressure difference in the well-annealed bcc single phase regime below 723 K can be described by J(H2) = (1.3 +/- 0.2) mol.m (-2).s (-1) exp[(-11.1 +/- 0.6) kJ.mol (-1)/( RT)] and that in the fcc single phase regime above 873 K by J(H2) = (7 +/- 2) mol.m (-2).s (-1) exp[(-30.3 +/- 2.5) kJ.mol (-1)/( RT)].     

Highly sensitive electrochemical label-free aptasensor based on dual electrocatalytic amplification of Pt-AuNPs and HRP

In this work, a label-free electrochemical aptamer-based sensor (aptasensor) was constructed on account of the direct immobilization of redox probes on an electrode surface. For this proposed aptasensor, a gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)-coated electrode was firstly modified with redox probes-nickel hexacyanoferrates nanoparticles (NiHCFNPs) through chemisorption and electrostatic adsorption. Then, platinum-gold alloy nanoparticles (Pt-AuNPs) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were respectively assembled onto the modified electrode surface, which formed the multilayer films for amplifying the electrochemical signal of NiHCFNPs and immobilizing thiolated thrombin aptamers (TBAs). In the presence of target thrombin, the TBA on the multilayer could catch the thrombin onto the electrode surface, which resulted in a barrier for electro-transfer, leading to the decrease of the electrochemical signal of NiHCFNPs amplified by the Pt-AuNPs and HRP toward H(2)O(2). The proposed method avoided the redox probes labeling process, increased the amount of redox probes, and further amplified the electrochemical signal. Thus, the approach showed a high sensitivity and a wider linearity to thrombin in the range between 0.01 nM and 50 nM with a detection limit of 6.3 pM.     

Preconcentration and sensitive determination of hexabromocyclododecane diastereomers in environmental water samples using solid phase extraction with bamboo charcoal cartridge prior to rapid resolution liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

In this paper, a simple and cheap method for the simultaneous preconcentration and sensitive determination of three hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) diastereomers (α-, β-, and γ-HBCD) in environmental water samples has been developed. It was based on solid phase extraction (SPE) and rapid resolution liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. Bamboo charcoal, one kind of cheap material, was investigated and used as SPE adsorbent for the enrichment and determination of HBCD diastereomers. Related important parameters affecting extraction efficiencies, including type and volume of eluant, amount of sorbent, sample pH, flow rate, and sample volume, were investigated and optimized in detail. Under the optimum conditions, experimental data exhibited excellent linear relationships between peak area and concentrations over the range 0.1-10?μg?L(-1). The limits of detection and precision were in the range of 0.005-0.015?μg?L(-1) and 4.59-7.47%, respectively. The proposed method has been successfully applied for the trace analysis of HBCD diastereomers in real-world environmental water samples.     

Cerium complexes of cyclodextrin dimers as efficient catalysts for luminol chemiluminescence reactions

The chemiluminescence of a luminol-H(2)O(2) system is found to be remarkably enhanced by the Ce(IV) complexes of EDTA-bridged cyclodextrin dimers. The dimers were proved to work much more efficiently than the corresponding monomer. The cavity shape of cyclodextrin moieties and their cooperation displayed an important role in amplifying the chemiluminescence. Further modification of either the cyclodextrin rims or the EDTA linker altered significantly the catalytic abilities of the cyclodextrin dimers, and the examination of the effect of substituents on the chemiluminescence outputs suggested that the proximity between the cyclodextrin cavity and the metallic center might account for the amelioration of the chemiluminescence output.