Purification of 3,5-Dichlorocatechol 1,2-Dioxygenase, a Nonheme Iron Dioxygenase and a Key Enzyme in the Biodegradation of a Herbicide, 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), from Pseudomonas cepacia CSV90

An enzyme which cleaves the benzene ring of 3,5-dichiorocatechol has been purified to homogeneity from Pseudomonas cepacia CSV90, grown with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) as the sole carbon source. The enzyme was a nonheme ferric dioxygenase and catalyzed the intradiol cleavage of all the examined catechol derivatives, 3,5-dichlorocatechol having the highest specificity constant of 7.3 μM−1 s−1 in an air-saturated buffer. No extradiol-cleaving activity was observed. Thus, the enzyme was designated as 3,5-dichlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase. The molecular weight of the native enzyme was ascertained to be 56,000 by light scattering method, while the Mr value of the enzyme denatured with 6 M guanidine-HCl or sodium dodecyl sulfate was 29,000 or 31,600, respectively, suggesting that the enzyme was a homodimer. The iron content was estimated to be 0.89 mol per mole of enzyme. The enzyme was deep red and exhibited a broad absorption spectrum with a maximum at around 425 nm, which was bleached by sodium dithionite, and shifted to 515 nm upon anaerobic 3,5-dichlorocatechol binding. The catalytic constant and the Km values for 3,5-dichlorocatechol and oxygen were 34.7 s−1 and 4.4 and 652 μM, respectively, at pH 8 and 25°C. Some heavy metal ions, chelating agents and sulfhydryl reagents inhibited the activity. The NH2-terminal sequence was determined up to 44 amino acid residues and compared with those of the other catechol dioxygenases previously reported.

A scanning tunneling microscopy and potentiometry study of epitaxial thin films of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3

To investigate the role of grain boundaries and other growth related microstructure in manganite films, a scanning tunneling microscope is used to simultaneously probe surface topography and local potential distribution under current flow at nanometer level in films of epitaxial thin films of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 deposited on single crystal SrTiO3 and NdGaO3 substrate by laser ablation. We have studied two types of films strained and strain relaxed. Thin (50nm) films (strained due to lattice mismatch between substrate and the film) show step growth (unit cell steps) and have very smooth surfaces. Relatively thicker films (strain relaxed, thickness 200nm) do not have these step growths and show rather smooth well connected grains. Charge transport in these films is not uniform on the nanometer level and is accompanied by potential jumps at the internal surfaces. In particular scattering from grain boundaries results in large variations in the local potential resulting in fields as high as 104-105V/cm located near the grain boundaries. We discuss the role of local strain and strain inhomogeneties in determining the current transport in these films and their resistance and magnetoresistivity. In this paper we attempt to correlate between bulk electronic properties with microscopic electronic conduction using scanning tunneling microscopy and scanning tunneling potentiometry.

Bounded Unpopularity Matchings

We investigate the following problem: given a set of jobs and a set of people with preferences over the jobs, what is the optimal way of matching people to jobs? Here we consider the notion of popularity. A matching M is popular if there is no matching M' such that more people prefer M' to M than the other way around. Determining whether a given instance admits a popular matching and, if so, finding one, was studied by Abraham et al. (SIAM J. Comput. 37(4):1030-1045, 2007). If there is no popular matching, a reasonable substitute is a matching whose unpopularity is bounded. We consider two measures of unpopularity-unpopularity factor denoted by u(M) and unpopularity margin denoted by g(M). McCutchen recently showed that computing a matching M with the minimum value of u(M) or g(M) is NP-hard, and that if G does not admit a popular matching, then we have u(M) >= 2 for all matchings M in G. Here we show that a matching M that achieves u(M) = 2 can be computed in O(m root n) time (where m is the number of edges in G and n is the number of nodes) provided a certain graph H admits a matching that matches all people. We also describe a sequence of graphs: H = H(2), H(3), ... , H(k) such that if H(k) admits a matching that matches all people, then we can compute in O(km root n) time a matching M such that u(M) <= k - 1 and g(M) <= n(1 - 2/k). Simulation results suggest that our algorithm finds a matching with low unpopularity in random instances.

A Generalized Soft-Sphere for Monte Carlo Simulation

A new collision model, called the generalized soft-sphere (GSS) model, is introduced. It has the same total cross section as the generalized hard-sphere model [Phys. Fluids A 5, 738 (1993)], whereas the deflection angle is calculated by the soft-sphere scattering model [Phys. Fluids A 3, 2459 (1991)]. In virtue of a two-term formula given to fit the numerical solutions of the collision integrals for the Lennard-Jones (6-12) potential and for the Stockmayer potential, the parameters involved in the GSS model are determined explicitly that may fully reproduce the transport coefficients under these potentials. Coefficients of viscosity, self-diffusion and diffusion for both polar and nonpolar molecules given by the GSS model and experiment are in excellent agreement over a wide range of temperature from low to high.

Effects of heat-treatment processes on the electroless Ni-B coating and its natural aging mechanism

A Ni-B coating was prepared with EN using potassium borohydride reducing agent. The as-plated micro-structure of the coating was confirmed from XRD to be a mixture of amorphous and supersaturated solid solution. Three kinds of phase transformation were observed from the DSC curve. Different from the previous works, the formation of Ni4B3 and Ni2B was found during some transformation processes. The key factors which influence the variation of micro-hardness and micro-structure in deposits are the formation, the size and amount of Ni3B, Ni4B3 and Ni2B. Aging of the deposits treated under some heat treatment conditions occurred at room temperature. Changes of the micro-hardness indicated aging phenomena evidently. the natural aging phenomena are concerned with various kinds of decomposition of borides, especially with Ni4B3 phase. The extent of natural aging depends on the formation and the quantity of Ni(4)B3 and Ni2B.

Wideband-tuneable, nanotube mode-locked, fibre laser.

Ultrashort-pulse lasers with spectral tuning capability have widespread applications in fields such as spectroscopy, biomedical research and telecommunications. Mode-locked fibre lasers are convenient and powerful sources of ultrashort pulses, and the inclusion of a broadband saturable absorber as a passive optical switch inside the laser cavity may offer tuneability over a range of wavelengths. Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors are widely used in fibre lasers, but their operating range is typically limited to a few tens of nanometres, and their fabrication can be challenging in the 1.3-1.5 microm wavelength region used for optical communications. Single-walled carbon nanotubes are excellent saturable absorbers because of their subpicosecond recovery time, low saturation intensity, polarization insensitivity, and mechanical and environmental robustness. Here, we engineer a nanotube-polycarbonate film with a wide bandwidth (>300 nm) around 1.55 microm, and then use it to demonstrate a 2.4 ps Er(3+)-doped fibre laser that is tuneable from 1,518 to 1,558 nm. In principle, different diameters and chiralities of nanotubes could be combined to enable compact, mode-locked fibre lasers that are tuneable over a much broader range of wavelengths than other systems.

[Discurso do Deputado França Campos : Sessão da Câmara dos Deputados de 28 de agosto de 1957]

Discussão do Projeto nº 1.773-A, de 1956, que fixa a data para a mudança da Capital Federal. Demonstração do apoio do Brasil à mudança da Capital Federal, pelo voto de seus representantes na Câmara dos Deputados, onde 172 deputados, dos 194 votantes, manifestaram-se favoravelmente ao regime de urgência para a apreciação da matéria. Refutação dos argumentos de que a mudança da capital inviabilizará a cidade do Rio de Janeiro, uma vez que apenas 10 mil funcionários serão transferidos para Brasília e os portos da cidade terão sua atividade reforçada com a construção da nova Capital.

多热源分布时薄层液体中热毛细对流的分叉特征

研究一个液体薄层在热源作用下的流动特征.Pimputakar和Ostrach给出了单热源作用下薄层液体的高度和流场方程.在此基础上具体分析比较了多个热源分布作用下的流动图像随各参数尤其是随热源间距离不同的变化情况,着重讨论产生的分叉现象.

Purgatorio - two rather different views of the same event

Detailed description of plankton entrainment in power plant cooling systems.

Collecção das Leis do Imperio do Brasil de 1855

Parte 1 - Atos do Poder Legislativo