Reverse zymography using fluorogenic substrates for protease inhibitor detection

A novel, sensitive method for detecting protease inhibitors by using fluorescent protease substrates in gels is described. The protease inhibitors were separated on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gels containing a copolymerized peptide substrate, namely 4-methyl-coumaryl-7-amide (MCA). As the incorporated substrates in the gel, Boc-Phe Ser-Arg-MCA was used for trypsin, Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-MCA for alpha-chymotrypsin, and Z-Phe-Arg-MCA for papain. After electrophoresis, washing and incubating the gel with the target protease solutions allowed the substrate to be cleaved by the protease, and the release of the fluorescent 7 amino-4 methyl-coumarin (AMC), which was detected under a UV transilluminator. The uncleaved peptide-MCA substrate remained where the inhibitors were present, and was visualized as dark blue bands on the light-green fluorescent background gel. This new method offers several advantages over other previous methods including: (i) greatly increased sensitivity can be achieved in a shorter period of time, which may be useful for discovering new protease inhibitors in small amounts of crude material; (ii) the procedure is quite simple and quick since the incubation period is very short and no time is needed for staining and destaining steps; (iii) since these probes using substrate specificity/target proteases, they are excellent tools for detection and discrimination of unknown protease inhibitors for various target proteases.     

一种纳米TiO2粉体防团聚的新方法

开发了一种新的低成本防团聚方法——泡沫悬浮法。对泡沫悬浮法和共沸蒸馏法的防团聚效果进行了系统比较。结果表明，泡沫悬浮法可以有效抑制煅烧过程中纳米TiO₂晶粒的粗化和一次粒径的长大。泡沫悬浮法所得纳米TiO₂的粉体还具有团聚粒径小、粒度分布窄以及比表面积大的优点。通过FTIR、TG、DTA和松装密度实验对泡沫悬浮法的防团聚机理进行了研究，提出了纳米TiO₂防团聚模型。     

REVERSE ATOM TRANSFER RADICAL POLYMERIZATION OF STYRENE WITH COPPER-BASED CATALYST

 "Living"/controlled radical polymerization of styrene was carried out with diethyl 2,3-dicyano-2,3-diphenylsuccinate (DCDPS)/CuCl₂/bipyridine (bipy) initiation system at 120℃. The molecular weights of resultant PSt increased with the monomer conversion and the polydispersities were in the range of 1.37 ～ 1.52. A linear ln([M]o/[M])versus time plot was also obtained indicating the constant concentration of growing radicals during the polymerization with this initiation system. End group analysis by ¹H-NMR spectroscopic studies showed that the end groups of the polymer obtained is cω-functionalized by a chlorine group from the catalyst and a-functionalized by a (carbethoxy-cyano-phenyl)methyl group from the fragments of the initiator. Having C1 atom at the chain end, the PSt obtained can be used as a macroinitiator to promote a chain-extension reaction with fresh St and block copolymerization reaction with a second monomer, such as methyl methacrylate, in the presence of CuC1/bipy catalyst via a conventional ATRP process.     

Concentrated reverse micelles in a random graft block copolymer system: structure and in-situ synthesis of silver nanoparticles

The structure and rheological properties of a poly(dimethylsiloxane)-graft-poly(oxyethylene) copolymer at high concentrations in block-selective solvents were studied by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and rheometry. Analysis of SAXS data indicates that quasispherical, reverse micellar aggregates (with no ordered packing) are present in concentrated solutions of the copolymer in nonpolar solvents, and that upon addition of water, the size of such aggregates increases due to the solubilization inside the micellar cores. The viscosity of concentrated polymer solutions increases exponentially as water is added, and finally, viscoelastic, gel-like behavior is found in the vicinity of the phase separation limit. It was found that small silver nanoparticles with an average diameter of ≈3 nm can be synthesized inside the copolymer aggregates without the need of a reducing agent; namely, particles embedded in a viscoelastic matrix are obtained. The synthesis seems to follow first-order kinetics. Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

Competitive demethylation and substitution in N,N,N-trimethylanilinium fluorides

Fluorination of aromatic compounds by nucleophilic displacement of trimethylanilinium salts by fluoride is a commonly used reaction for radiotracer synthesis. Though the liberated trimethylamine is thought to be an excellent leaving group for this type of S_NAr reaction, scattered reports show that amine demethylation (reverse Menschutkin reaction) sometimes dominates over substitution, particularly when relatively electron rich fluoroarenes are the desired targets. Here we provide systematic experimental and theoretical studies of trimethylanilinium demethylation and substitution. Results from these studies highlight the limits of this leaving group in fluoroarene synthesis and have important ramifications for the design of nucleophilic fluorinating agents featuring ammonium cations.     

The influence of reverse energy transport on emission anisotropy in two-component viscous solutions

The effect of nonradiative reverse energy transport (NRET) in two donor-acceptor systems was studied experimentally. It was found that the NRET occurring in system I; rhodamine 6G (donor) and rhodamine B (acceptor), considerably lowers the emission anisotropy at medium and high concentrations. These results qualitatively confirm the predictions of the approximate theoretical approach of L. Kulak and C. Bojarski (see the preceding paper). In system II; rhodamine 6G (donor) and Nile Blue (acceptor), for which the NRET process does not occur, a good agreement with no-back-transport theory was obtained.     

Radiotracer Investigation of the Copper Ore Concentration Process

One of the most difficult operations for control and identification in copper ore concentration process is grain classification in hydrocyclone batteries. In the paper radiotracer investigations of the classification process immediately give values of hydrocyclones parameters with higher accuracy than obtained from conventional methods. Presented paper includes the results of the investigation which was carried out in “Lubin” Copper Mine in Poland.     

A simultaneous canonical form of a pair of matrices and applications involving the weighted Moore–Penrose inverse

In this paper, a simultaneous canonical form of a pair of rectangular complex matrices is developed. Using this new tool we give a necessary and sufficient condition to assure that the reverse order law is valid for the weighted Moore–Penrose inverse. Additionally, we characterize matrices ordered by the weighted star partial order and adjacent matrices as applications.     

On the rate of change of the sharp constant in the Sobolev–Poincaré inequality

The rate of change of the sharp constant in the Sobolev–Poincaré or Friedrichs inequality is estimated for a Euclidean domain that moves outward. The key ingredients are a Hadamard variation formula and an inequality that reverses the usual Hölder inequality.     

A variational inequality formulation of equilibrium models for end-of-life products with nonlinear constraints

Variational inequality theory facilitates the formulation of equilibrium problems in economic networks. Examples of successful applications include models of supply chains, financial networks, transportation networks, and electricity networks. Previous economic network equilibrium models that were formulated as variational inequalities only included linear constraints; in this case the equivalence between equilibrium problems and variational inequality problems is achieved with a standard procedure because of the linearity of the constraints. However, in reality, often nonlinear constraints can be observed in the context of economic networks. In this paper, we first highlight with an application from the context of reverse logistics why the introduction of nonlinear constraints is beneficial. We then show mathematical conditions, including a constraint qualification and convexity of the feasible set, which allow us to characterize the economic problem by using a variational inequality formulation. Then, we provide numerical examples that highlight the applicability of the model to real-world problems. The numerical examples provide specific insights related to the role of collection targets in achieving sustainability goals.