Studies on nucleotide pyrophosphatase I. Partial purification and properties of a sheep liver enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of dinucleotides

A partially purified sheep liver enzyme that hydrolyzed dinucleotides at the pyrophosphate bond was obtained by solubilizing the 18,000g sediment with n-butanol and fractionating the solubilized enzyme with acetone. The enzyme activity when measured using FAD as substrate, (FAD → FMN + AMP), was optimal at pH 9.7 and temperatures between 30 °–36 ° and at 60 °. The rate of release of FMN with time occurred with an initial lag of 30 sec, a linear increase for 1 min, and a subsequent irregular rate. In the presence of orthophosphate (Pi; 10 μImage ), FMN was released at an uniformly continuous and enhanced rate. 32Pi was not incorporated into the substrate or products. Sodium arsenate counteracted the effects of Pi. The apparent Km and Vmax were 0.133 mImage and 100 units; and 0.133 mImage and 200 units, in the absence and presence of Pi, respectively. The temperature optimum was 42 ° in the presence of Pi.Negative cooperative interactions observed at low concentrations of FAD were abolished by the addition of Pi. The inhibition by AMP was sigmoid and Pi abolished this sigmoidal response. The enzyme hydrolyzed in addition to FAD, NAD+ and NADP+. Nucleoside triphosphates were potent inhibitors of the enzyme activity. The partial inhibition of the enzyme by o-phenanthroline and by p-hydroxymercuribenzoate could be reversed by Fe2+ ions and by reduced glutathione, respectively.

Synthesis, structure, transformation studies and catalytic properties of open-framework cadmium thiosulfate compounds

Five new thiosulfate based inorganic-organic hybrid open-framework compounds have been synthesized employing mild reaction conditions. Of the five compounds, [Na-2(H2O)(8)][Cd(C10H8N2)( S2O3)(2)]center dot 2H(2)O, I and [Cd-2(C10H8N2)(2)(HS2O3)(2)(S2O3)(2)][(C10H9N2)(2)(C10H8N2)(2)]center dot 8H(2)O, II have one-dimensional (1D) structures and [Cd(C10H8N2)(H2O)(2)(S2O3)]center dot 2H(2)O, III, [Cd-2(C10H8N2)(3)(S2O3)(2)], IV and [Cd-2(C10H8N2)(2.5)(S2O3)(2)], V have three- dimensional (3D) structures. The 1D structures are somewhat related, formed by the bonding between tetrahedral Cd centers (CdN2S2) and 4,4'-bipyridine (bpy) units. The inter-chain spaces are occupied by the hanging thiosulfate units in both the cases along with Na(H2O)(6) chains in I and free bpy units in II. The three 3D structures have one-dimensional cadmium thiosulfate chains linked by bpy units. Interpenetration has been observed in all the 3D structures. The 3D structures appear to be related and can be derived from fgs net. Transformation studies on the 1D compound, [Na-2(H2O)(8)][Cd(C10H8N2)(S2O3)(2)]center dot 2H(2)O, I, indicated a facile formation of [Cd(C10H8N2)(H2O)(2)(S2O3)]center dot 2H(2)O, III. Prolonged heating of I gave rise to a 3D cadmium sulfate phase, [Cd-2(C10H8N2)(2)(H2O)(3)(SO4)(2)]center dot 2H(2)O, VI. Compound VI has one-dimensional cadmium sulfate chains formed by six-membered rings connected by bpy units to form a 3D structure, which appears to resemble the topological arrangement of III. Transformation studies of III indicates the formation of IV and V, and at a higher temperature a new 3D cadmium sulfate, [Cd(C10H8N2)(SO4)], VII. Compound VII has a 4 x 4 grid cadmium sulfate layers pillared by bpy units. All the compounds were characterized by PXRD, TGA, IR and UV-visible studies. Preliminary studies on the possible use of the 3D compounds (III-VII) in heterogeneous cyanosilylation of imines appear to be promising.

Studies on LDPE-cyanoethylated lignocellulosics blends using epoxy functionalized LDPE as compatibilizer

Rubberwood flour and cellulose have been plasticized by cyanoethylation and then blended with low-density polyethylene (LDPE). A small quantity of epoxy functionalized polyethylene i.e., polyethylene-co-glycidyl methacrylate (PEGMA) has been added to further enhance the mechanical properties. The mechanical properties were measured according to the standard ASTM methods. SEM analysis was performed for both fractured and unfractured blend specimens. The mechanical properties were improved by the addition of PEGMA compatibilizer. LDPE blends with cyanoethylated wood flour (CYWF) showed higher tensile strength and modulus than cyanoethylated cellulose CYC-LDPE blends. However CYC-LDPE blends exhibited higher relative elongation at break values as compared with the former. The TGA analysis showed lowering of thermal stability as the filler content is increased and degradation temperature of LDPE is shifted slightly to lower temperature. DSC analysis showed loss of crystallinity for the LDPE phase as the filler content is increased for both types of blends. Dielectric properties of the blends were similar to LDPE, but were lowered on adding PEGMA. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Experimental studies and phase field modeling of microstructure evolution during solidification with electromagnetic stirring

Thixocasting requires manufacturing of billets with non-dendritic microstructure. Aluminum alloy A356 billets were produced by rheocasting in a mould placed inside a linear electromagnetic stirrer. Subsequent heat treatment was used to produce a transition from rosette to globular microstructure. The current and the duration of stirring were explored as control parameters. Simultaneous induction heating of the billet during stirring was quantified using experimentally determined thermal profiles. The effect of processing parameters on the dendrite fragmentation was discussed. Corresponding computational modeling of the process was performed using phase-field modeling of alloy solidification in order to gain insight into the process of morphological changes of a solid during this process. A non-isothermal alloy solidification model was used for simulations. The morphological evolution under such imposed thermal cycles was simulated and compared with experimentally determined one. Suitable scaling using the thermosolutal diffusion distances was used to overcome computational difficulties in quantitative comparison at system scale. The results were interpreted in the light of existing theories of microstructure refinement and globularisation.

A bibliographical review of the high pressure studies of ferroelectric phase transitions

A brief review of the various high pressure studies on the phase transitions in ferroelectric crystals carried out over the past two decades is presented. The theoretical framework in which high pressure studies have to be viewed is given. The pressure data of ferroelectric crystals are organized in the form of tables. High pressure spectroscopic and structural studies are included. The review contains a bibliography of over two hundred references.

Theoretical gain‐optimization studies in CO2–N2 gasdynamic lasers. I. Theory

Based on a method proposed by Reddy and Daum, the equations governing the steady inviscid nonreacting gasdynamic laser (GDL) flow in a supersonic nozzle are reduced to a universal form so that the solutions depend on a single parameter which combines all the other parameters of the problem. Solutions are obtained for a sample case of available data and compared with existing results to validate the present approach. Also, similar solutions for a sample case are presented.

Studies in biogas technology. Part I. Performance of a conventional biogas plant

This paper gives an account of a conventional 5.66 m3/day (200 cubic ft/day) biogas plant which has been instrumented, operated and monitored for 2 1/2 years. The observations regarding input to the plant, sludge and biogas outputs, and conditions inside the digester, have been described. Three salient features stand out. First, the observed average daily gas yield is much less than the rated capacity of the plant. Secondly, the plants show ease of operation and a very slow response to reductions and cessations of dung supply. Thirdly, the unexpectedly marked uniformity of density and temperature inside the digester indicates the almost complete absence of the stratification which is widely believed to take place; hence, biogas plants may be treated as isothermal, ‘ uniform ’ density, most probably imperfectly mixed, fed-batch reactors operating at the mean ambient temperature and the density of water.

Varistors based on mixed‐phase ceramics containing ZnO and negative temperature coefficient spinels

High nonlinearity coefficients of 60–150 are observed in the current‐voltage (I‐V) curves of the mixed phase ceramics formed by cosintering ZnO with spinel phases having large negative temperature coefficients (NTCs) in resistivity. The region of negative slope in the I‐V curves of the NTC ceramics is progressively made positive with ZnO phase content, wherein ZnO grains function as a built‐in resistor in series to the resistance of the NTC phase. High α depends on the optimum phase content of ZnO as much as its intrinsic conductivity. The studies indicate that the predominent contribution to power dissipation is by way of joule heating from the resistive component of the current.

Kinetic studies on the interaction of gold(III) with nucleic acids. I. Native DNA-Au(III) system-spectrophotometric studies

Kinetics of the interaction of Au(III) with native calf thymus DNA has been studied spectrophotometrically to determine the kinetic parameters and to examine their dependency on the concentrations of DNA and Au(III), temperature, ionic strength and pH. The reaction is of the first order with respect to both the nucleotide unit of DNA and Au(III) in the stoichiometry of 2∶1 respectively. The rate constants vary with the initial ratio of DNA to Au(III) and is attributed to the effect of free chloride ions and the existence of a number of reaction sites with slight difference in the rate constants. The activation energies of this interaction have been found to be 14–16 kcal/mol. From the effect of ionic strength the reaction is found to occur between a positive and a negative ion in the rate-limiting step. The logarithm of rate constants are the linear function of pH and the slopes are dependent on ther-values. A plausible mechanism has been proposed which involves a primary dissociation of the major existing species (AuCl2(OH)2)−, to give (AuCl2)+ which then reacts with a site in the nucleotide unit of DNA in the rate-liminting step followed by a rapid binding to another site on the complementary strand of the DNA double helix. There exist a number of binding sites with slight difference in reactivity.

Polarization studies in electromagnetic scattering by small Solar-system particles

In remote-sensing studies, particles that are comparable to the wavelength exhibit characteristic features in electromagnetic scattering, especially in the degree of linear polarization. These features vary with the physical properties of the particles, such as shape, size, refractive index, and orientation. In the thesis, the direct problem of computing the unknown scattered quantities using the known properties of the particles and the incident radiation is solved at both optical and radar spectral regions in a unique way. The internal electromagnetic fields of wavelength-scale particles are analyzed by using both novel and established methods to show how the internal fields are related to the scattered fields in the far zone. This is achieved by using the tools and methods that were developed specifically to reveal the internal field structure of particles and to study the mechanisms that relate the structure to the scattering characteristics of those particles. It is shown that, for spherical particles, the internal field is a combination of a forward propagating wave with the apparent wavelength determined by the refractive index of the particle, and a standing wave pattern with the apparent wavelength the same as for the incident wave. Due to the surface curvature and dielectric nature of the particle, the incident wave front undergoes a phase shift, and the resulting internal wave is focused mostly at the forward part of the particle similar to an optical lens. This focusing is also seen for irregular particles. It is concluded that, for both spherical and nonspherical particles, the interference at the far field between the partial waves that originate from these concentrated areas in the particle interior, is responsible for the specific polarization features that are common for wavelength-scale particles, such as negative values and local extrema in the degree of linear polarization, asymmetry of the phase function, and enhancement of intensity near the backscattering direction. The papers presented in this thesis solve the direct problem for particles with both simple and irregular shapes to demonstrate that these interference mechanisms are common for all dielectric wavelength-scale particles. Furthermore, it is shown that these mechanisms can be applied to both regolith particles in the optical wavelengths and hydrometeors at microwave frequencies. An advantage from this kind of study is that it does not matter whether the observation is active (e.g., polarimetric radar) or passive (e.g., optical telescope). In both cases, the internal field is computed for two mutually perpendicular incident polarizations, so that the polarization characteristics can then be analyzed according to the relation between these fields and the scattered far field.

Infrared and Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance Studies of the Phase Transitions of Para-dichlorobenzene

The α→γ→α→β transitions of para-dichlorobenzene have been studied by employing infrared and n.q.r. spectroscopy as well as differential scanning calorimetry. The γ phase is associated with considerably higher values of some of the intramolecular vibration frequencies. The α→γ transition shows athermal nucleation behaviour as in martensitic transitions. Intermolecular vibration bands around 46 and 85 cm–1 present in γ and α phases disappear in the β phase. The α→β transition seems to be associated with some orientational disorder.

Conformational studies of the triphenylphosphazenyl side chain in cyclophosphazenes. I. Crystal and molecular structure of N3P3C15(NPPh3)

The title compound, C t8H~sC15NaP4, crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2~/n with a = 20.14 (2), b = 8.69 (1), c = 14.92 (2) A, fl = 98.8 (3) ° , Z = 4. The structure was determined from visual data and refined to R = 0-069 for 1450 reflections. The cyclophosphazene ring is non-planar. The exocyclic NPPh 3 group exhibits type I conformation [R. A. Shaw (1975). Pure Appl. Chem. 44, 317-341] in which the N-P bond is perpendicular to the adjacent P-CI bond.

A furnace for in situ synchrotron Laue diffraction and its application to studies of solid-state phase transformations

The design of a new microfurnace for use for Laue diffraction studies of solid-state transformations is described. The furnace operates in the temperature range 298-573 K with a thermal stability of about ± 0.1 K. The potential of the synchrotron-radiation Laue diffraction technique for studies of structural phase transitions is demonstrated. Experimental data on phase transitions in caesium periodate, potassium tetrachlorozincate and pentaerythritol are presented.