Aequorin mutants with increased thermostability

Bioluminescent labels can be especially useful for in vivo and live animal studies due to the negligible bioluminescence background in cells and most animals, and the non-toxicity of bioluminescent reporter systems. Significant thermal stability of bioluminescent labels is essential, however, due to the longitudinal nature and physiological temperature conditions of many bioluminescent-based studies. To improve the thermostability of the bioluminescent protein aequorin, we employed random and rational mutagenesis strategies to create two thermostable double mutants, S32T/E156V and M36I/E146K, and a particularly thermostable quadruple mutant, S32T/E156V/Q168R/L170I. The double aequorin mutants, S32T/E156V and M36I/E146K, retained 4 and 2.75 times more of their initial bioluminescence activity than wild-type aequorin during thermostability studies at 37 °C. Moreover, the quadruple aequorin mutant, S32T/E156V/Q168R/L170I, exhibited more thermostability at a variety of temperatures than either double mutant alone, producing the most thermostable aequorin mutant identified thus far.     

Fabrication and characterization of Ag- and Cu-doped TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) by in situ anodization method as an efficient photocatalyst

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - In this study, copper (Cu) and silver (Ag)–doped TiO2 nanotubes were fabricated by in situ anodization method to improve their photocatalytic...     

The effect of the 4MAT method (learning styles and brain hemispheres) of instruction on achievement in mathematics

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficiency of 4MAT method of instruction in which learning style and cerebral hemispheres are taken into account in teaching the binary operation and its properties in mathematics. The sample of this study comprised 58 ninth grade students in two separate classes in a high school. One of the classes was selected as the experimental group in which 4MAT method of instruction was used; and the other class was selected as the control group in which the traditional teaching was given, and this selection was performed randomly. The data have been obtained primarily from three scales, namely ‘mathematical knowledge test’, ‘mathematical attitude scale’ and ‘knowledge test on binary operation and its properties’. It has been determined that 4MAT method of instruction was more efficient than the traditional method in teaching of the binary operation subject in mathematics.     

Pool boiling enhancement with environmentally friendly surfactant additives

Boiling heat transfer is used in variety of industrial processes and applications, such as refrigeration, vapor cycle power generation, heat exchangers, petroleum refining, and chemical manufacturing. Enhancements in boiling heat transfer processes are critical for making these applications more energy efficient. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the water pool boiling phenomena under the influence of environmentally friendly surfactant additives. The test setup used in this study has multiple benefits. First, the test setup enhances teaching in variety of classes through in-class demonstrations and student experiments. An experiment is described to allow the students to visualize and qualify different modes of boiling heat transfer. In addition, the test setup provides a platform for research in boiling enhancement. Using surfactant additives in boiling causes increased number of nucleation sites and decreased level of wall superheat. For determining surfactant effects, different concentrations of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), ECOSURF? EH-14, and ECOSURF? SA-9 are added to pure water and enhancement through surfactants is quantified. When times until boiling (liquid temperature reaches the boiling point) are measured, 17, 10.3, and 19.6 % lower times found (for SLS, EH-14, and SA-9, respectively) compared to pure water. Wall temperature reduction is measured for 50 ppm SLS 9.48 %, for 300 ppm EH-14 11.3 %, and for 200 ppm SA-9 10.43 %. It can be concluded from this study that a reduction in surface tension leads to a higher nucleation site density and more small bubbles on the boiling surface.     

Surface Properties of Graphene Functionalized TiO2/nHA Hybrid Coatings Made on Ti6Al7Nb Alloys via Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO)

Nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA)-matrix coatings containing graphene nanosheets (GNS)-nHA were coated on Ti6Al7Nb alloys by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) treatment for the improvement of their surface properties. Crystallographic properties, functional groups, and elemental analysis of coatings were characterized by XRD, ATR–FTIR, and EDS analysis. Surface morphological changes of the coated surfaces were investigated by AFM and SEM. The electrochemical corrosion behavior of the coatings was examined by using the potentiodynamic scanning (PDS) tests under in-vitro conditions in simulated body fluid (SBF). The results showed that the GNS was successfully deposited in ceramic matrix coatings on Ti6Al7Nb alloys. Also, the microstructural observations revealed that the coatings have a porous and rough structure. The XRD and ATR–FTIR quantitative analysis have proved the appearance of HA and GNS in the coating layers. An increase in the coating thickness, surface hardness, and anatase/rutile transformation rate was determined, while the GNS ratio in the coating layers was increased. The microhardness of the nHA coating reinforced with 1.5 wt% GNS was measured at 862 HV, which was significantly higher than that of GNS-free (only nHA) coating (584 HV). The best in-vitro resistance to corrosion in SBF was observed in the nHA/1.5GNS wt% coating.     

Detonation models of fast combustion waves in nanoscale Al-MoO3 bulk powder media

The combustion of nanometric aluminum (Al) powder with an oxidiser such as molybdenum trioxide (MoO₃) is studied analytically. This study focuses on detonation wave models and a Chapman-Jouget detonation model provides reasonable agreement with experimentally-observed wave speeds provided that multiphase equilibrium sound speeds are applied at the downstream edge of the detonation wave. The results indicate that equilibrium sound speeds of multiphase mixtures can play a critical role in determining speeds of fast combustion waves in nanoscale Al-MoO₃ powder mixtures.     

Drug detection based on the conformational changes of calmodulin and the fluorescence of its enhanced green fluorescent protein fusion partner

A homogeneous phase protein-based assay for the high throughput screening of drugs was developed using enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) as the reporter. For that, a fusion protein between calmodulin (CaM) and EGFP was constructed in order to monitor the conformational changes induced in CaM upon binding to tricyclic anti-depressant drugs. In the presence of Ca²⁺, CaM undergoes a conformational change exposing a hydrophobic pocket that interacts with CaM-binding proteins, peptides, and drugs. Further, the conformational changes induced in CaM upon binding to Ca²⁺ and the target analyte drug, leads to a change in the microenvironment of EGFP concomitant with a change in its fluorescence intensity. The observed change in fluorescence intensity of EGFP can be correlated to the concentration of the analyte present in the sample. Further, the response of CaM–EGFP fusion protein in the presence of Ca²⁺ to increasing concentrations of phenothiazines and structurally related tricyclic anti-depressants was investigated. Dose-response curves for various tricyclic anti-depressants were prepared. Moreover, this assay can serve as a model system for other homogeneous binding assays for pharmaceuticals employing genetically fused binding proteins with reporter proteins and may find applications in the high throughput screening of tricyclic anti-depressants.     

Pseudo f-Manifolds with Complemented Frames

In this paper we study pseudo \({\varphi}\)-structure on a differential manifold in which is a tensor field of type (1, 1) satisfying \({\varphi^{3}\,-\,\varphi=0}\). We obtain basic curvature tensor fields for pseudo f-manifolds with complemented frame.     

Corrosion protection of AA6061-T4 alloy by sol–gel derived micro and nano-scale hydroxyapatite (HA) coating

Micron and nano-scale hydroxyapatite (HA) were coated successfully on AA6061-T4 substrates by sol–gel method. Besides, the effects of coating thickness on adhesion strength and corrosion behaviour of the coatings were studied. Corrosion resistance was measured by potentiodynamic polarization test using a potentiostat under in vitro conditions. The coatings before and after corrosion tests were characterized by adhesion tests, a scanning electron microscopy attached with EDS and X-ray diffraction analysis. The results revealed that all the coatings exhibit a passive behaviour in Ringer’s solution. Specimens coated with nano-scale HA had the higher corrosion resistance than micro-scale coatings. The highest corrosion resistance appeared to be for the ~30 μm nano-scale HA coated substrates. However, for micro-scale HA coatings, the highest adhesion resistance was obtained at ~30 μm film thickness.