Photochemical thallimetric oxidations-estimation of formic acid

A simple, rapid and convenient redox method has been developed for the estimation of formic acid. Formic acid is photochemically oxidized with thallium(III) in the presence of bromide as catalyst, and the thallium(I) formed is determined by titration with potassium bromate. The procedure can also be used for the estimation of thallium(III) with formic acid as reductant.     

A mathematical model of medial consonant identification by cochlear implant users

The multidimensional phoneme identification model is applied to consonant confusion matrices obtained from 28 postlingually deafened cochlear implant users. This model predicts consonant matrices based on these subjects' ability to discriminate a set of postulated spectral, temporal, and amplitude speech cues as presented to them by their device. The model produced confusion matrices that matched many aspects of individual subjects' consonant matrices, including information transfer for the voicing, manner, and place features, despite individual differences in age at implantation, implant experience, device and stimulation strategy used, as well as overall consonant identification level. The model was able to match the general pattern of errors between consonants, but not the full complexity of all consonant errors made by each individual. The present study represents an important first step in developing a model that can be used to test specific hypotheses about the mechanisms cochlear implant users employ to understand speech.     

Conical parametric scattering of a single extraordinary beam in BaTiO3 crystal

In this paper, the parametric scattering of a single extraordinary polarized beam of laser in BaTiO₃ photorefractive crystal has been investigated experimentally and theoretically. The resulting pattern consists of beam fanning, isotropic ring, and anisotropic one. Among all parts of scattering pattern, isotropic ring has not been studied as much as beam fanning and anisotropic ring, and there still are some differences in reports about it. Therefore, the study has mainly focused on this part. In this experimental configuration, isotropic ring is just visible in positive angles although the other parts of parametric scattering pattern can be visible from behind and in front of the crystal. In addition to steady state pattern in forward and backward directions, its transient behavior with the rotation of crystal has been studied. The results of experiments have been analyzed carefully, and their theoretical explanations have been presented based on the standard theory of parametric scattering in photorefractive crystals. It has been shown that this configuration corresponds to the so called parametric B-process scattering.     

Climb via vacancy diffusion of edge dislocations in 2D dislocation microstructures

The prevention of strength degradation of components is one of the great challenges in solid mechanics. In particular, at high temperatures material may deform even at low stresses, a deformation mode known as deformation creep. One of the microstructural mechanisms that governs deformation creep is dislocation motion due to the absorption or emission of vacancies, which results in motion perpendicular to the glide plane, called dislocation climb. However, the importance of the dislocation network for the deformation creep remains far from being understood. In this study, a climb model that accounts for the dislocation network is developed, by solving the diffusion equation for vacancies in a region with a general dislocation distribution. The definition of the sink strength is extended, to account for the contributions of neighbouring dislocations to the climb rate. The model is then applied to dislocation dipoles and dislocation pile-ups, which are dense dislocation structures and it is found that the sink strength of dislocations in a pile-up is reduced since the vacancy field is distributed between the dislocations. Finally, the importance of the results for modelling deformation creep is discussed.     

Ferrimetric determination of uranium using rhodamine 6G as fluorescent indicator

Experimental conditions have been developed for the titration of uranium^IV with iron^III alum solution, using Rhodamine 6G as a fluorescent indicator. The titration is best carried out at 98–100° in a 2–3N hydrochloric acid medium, under filtered ultraviolet light, using 2.0 ml of 0.05% Rhodamine 6G solution for 30 ml of the titration mixture. A slight excess of iron^III solution quenches the greenish-yellow fluorescence of the dye through inner filter action. With the titration assembly described here, it is possible to determine uranium^IV with an accuracy of about 0.4%. This method appears to be more convenient than the potentiometric titration or the method employing potassium thiocyanate as internal indicator.

Evidence is also presented to show that the reaction between uranium^IV and iron^III is slow at room temperature.     

Thallimetric oxidations-V Titrimetric and spectrophotometric determination of hydrogen peroxide

Titrimetric and spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the determination of hydrogen peroxide at mmole and mumole levels respectively. In these methods thallium(III) is used as the oxidant and the reduced thallium(I) is determined oxidimetrically with potassium bromate in the titrimetric method and by measuring the absorbance of thallium(III) at 260 nm in the presence of 0.1M hydrochloric acid and 1M perchloric acid in the spectrophotometric method. Photochemical redox methods for the estimation of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a number of diverse ions are described.     

Molecular structures and dynamics of the stepwise activation mechanism of a matrix metalloproteinase zymogen: challenging the cysteine switch dogma

Activation of matrix metalloproteinase zymogen (pro-MMP) is a vital homeostatic process, yet its molecular basis remains unresolved. Using stopped-flow X-ray spectroscopy of the active site zinc ion, we determined the temporal sequence of pro-MMP-9 activation catalyzed by tissue kallikrein protease in milliseconds to several minutes. The identity of three intermediates seen by X-ray spectroscopy was corroborated by molecular dynamics simulations and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations. The cysteine-zinc interaction that maintains enzyme latency is disrupted via active-site proton transfers that mediate transient metal-protein coordination events and eventual binding of water. Unexpectedly, these events ensue as a direct result of complexation of pro-MMP-9 and kallikrein and occur before proteolysis and eventual dissociation of the pro-peptide from the catalytic site. Here we demonstrate the synergism among long-range protein conformational transitions, local structural rearrangements, and fine atomic events in the process of zymogen activation.     

Sequencing of tri- and tetraantennary N-glycans containing sialic acid by negative mode ESI QTOF tandem MS

Application of the negative mode electrospray ionization-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI QTOF) tandem MS for determination of substitution patterns by sialic acid and/or fucose and extention by additional LacNAc disaccharide units in single branches of multianternary N-glycans from biological samples is described. Fragmentation patterns which can be obtained by low energy collision-induced dissociation (CID) using the QTOF instrument include cleavage ions, diagnostic for determination of antennarity and for specific structural features of single antennae. Systematic fragmentation studies in the negative ion mode were focussed toward formation of the D diagnostic ion relevant for assignment of 3- and 6-antennae in complex N-glycans carrying three and four antennae in combination with epitope-relevant B- and C-type ions. For validation of this approach ESI QTOF fragmentation of the permethylated analogues was carried out in the positive ion mode. Using this strategy, products of in vitro glycosylation reactions were investigated in order to clarify some general aspects of N-glycan acceptor specificity during biosynthesis. Alpha1-3fucosylation using GDP-fucose along with a soluble form of the recombinant human alpha1-3fucosyltransferase VI was carried out on tri- and tetraantennary precursors to test structural requirements for formation of Le(x) versus sLe(x) motifs.     

Self-immolative polymers

Smart polymers are special kinds of polymeric molecules that respond to external stimuli. We have developed a novel smart polymer designed to sequentially disassemble into its building blocks upon initiation by a triggering event at the polymer head. The polymer structure is based on a polyurethane backbone that disassembles through a domino-like, 1,6-elimination and decarboxylation reactions. We synthesized a self-immolative polymer that amplifies a single cleavage reaction into multiple release of fluorogenic molecules and confirmed the head-to-tail disassembly concept. These polymers can be used to prepare highly sensitive molecular sensors with large signal-to-noise ratios. The sensors should be useful for the detection of a wide range of biological and chemical activities through use of the appropriate trigger at the polymer head.