Biosynthesis of cylindrospermopsin

Studies on the biosynthesis of cylindrospermopsin (1), a potent hepatotoxin associated with the cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, indicate that 1 is an acetogenin with guanidinoacetic acid serving as the starter unit of the polyketide chain. Feeding experiments show that C14 and C15 of 1 are derived from C1 and C2 of glycine, respectively, and C4 through C13 arise from five contiguous acetate units attached head to tail. The methyl carbon on C13 originates from the C(1) pool. The starter unit, established by the incorporation of [guanidino-(13)C,alpha-(15)N]-guanidinoacetic acid into N16 and C17 of 1, does not appear to be formed from glycine by known amidination pathways. The origin of the NH-CO-NH segment in the uracil ring is also unknown.     

Differential inhibition of postnatal brain,spinal cord and body growth by a growth hormone antagonist

Background  

Growth hormone (GH) plays an incompletely understood role in the development of the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, we use transgenic mice expressing a growth hormone antagonist (GHA) to explore the role of GH in regulating postnatal brain, spinal cord and body growth into adulthood. The GHA transgene encodes a protein that inhibits the binding of GH to its receptor, specifically antagonizing the trophic effects of endogenous GH.     

Transfer measurements for the Ti+Ni systems at near barrier energies

Large enhancements have been observed in the sub-barrier fusion cross sections for Ti+Ni systems in our previous studies. Coupled channel calculations incorporating couplings to 2⁺ and 3⁻ states failed to explain these enhancements completely. A possibilty of transfer channels contributing to the residual enhancements had been suggested. In order to investigate the role of relevant transfer channels, measurements of one- and two-nucleon transfer were carried out for ^46,48Ti+⁶¹Ni systems. The present paper gives the results of these studies.     

Using FTIR spectroscopy to detect sericin on historic silk

Silks represent some of the most precious ancient and historic textile artefacts in collections worldwide.Their optimum preservation demands an appreciation of their characteristics.One important concern,especially with regard to ancient Chinese silks,is whether the fabrics have been degummed.Silks with remnant sericin gum coating the fibroin fibres would require different conservation protocol.In previous research on aged silks,the presence of sericin has been inferred from amino acid analysis of hydrolysa...     

Design and performance of a plasma-source mass spectrograph

A plasma-source, simultaneously detecting, Mattauch-Herzog mass spectrograph for multi-element analysis was developed. Simultaneous detection should improve throughput, precision, and sensitivity over those instruments that use quadrupole or sector mass spectrometers. The new instrument is compact (approximately 80 cm in length) and is designed to detect a complete atomic mass spectrum in two mass windows that straddle but avoid argon. The design and some figures of merit are presented. With a dc glow discharge source, a precision of 0. 5% determined from eight consecutive 10-s images was obtained for Cu isotope ratios in Naval Brass B. With the same sample, nickel and lead were detected at limits of 8 and 1 ppm. Measured Mg isotope ratios with an inductively coupled plasma source were within 4% of the expected values. The resolution at full width at half maximum is currently limited to approximately 60, in part because of poor peak shape. The origin of this peak shape has been determined to lie within the array detector and possibly results from its interaction with the fringing magnetic fields produced by the second sector.     

Iron-catalyzed Doyle-Kirmse reaction of allyl sulfides with (trimethylsilyl)diazomethane

[formula: see text] Iron salts efficiently catalyze the Doyle-Kirmse reaction of allyl sulfides with (trimethylsilyl)diazomethane and ethyl diazoacetate in dichloroethane at 83 degrees C. Competitive dimerization is less of a problem with (trimethylsilyl)diazomethane than with ethyl diazoacetate. Good results are obtained using only 1.5 equiv of (trimethylsilyl)diazomethane, even without slow addition. Phosphine ligands affect the kinetics, but not the diastereoselectivity. Dppe and BINAP lead to higher yields than dppp, but no enantioselection was detected with R-(+)-BINAP.     

The decomposition of a linear mapping

We give a practical algorithm for obtaining the unique decomposition of a linear mapping into a sum of commuting semisimple and nilpotent mappings.     

Multifield computational fluid dynamics model of particulate flow in curved circular tubes

Limitations of mass transfer resulting from non-optimized fluid mechanics can severely affect the performance of synthetic membrane filtration systems. To improve membrane efficiency, modern applications of this technology have extensively used curved membrane ducts that take advantage of Dean vortices (i.e., curvature-induced secondary flows) to minimize membrane fouling. This paper is concerned with a complete three-dimensional analysis of single-phase and two-phase particle/liquid flows around a curved membrane tube. The proposed multidimensional model was implemented in an advanced (next-generation) multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver, NPHASE. The results of simulations have been validated against experimental data and compared against other findings available in the literature. The consistency and accuracy of the present approach have been demonstrated. The novel aspects of this work include: the demonstration that azimuthal vortices may bifurcate at Dean numbers lower than previously anticipated, the use of vorticity magnitude as a measure of vortex strength, and the explanation of the role that Dean vortices play to mitigate the effect of gravity on particle settling. The overall results have direct relevance to synthetic membrane fouling during filtration of particle suspensions.