Involvement of specific mechanism in plasmid DNA uptake by mouse peritoneal macrophages

Lamina-associated polypeptide (LAP)2, which directly interacts with B-type lamins and chromosomes, is an integral membrane protein specifically distributed along the inner nuclear membrane of the nuclear envelope. Multiple regions of its large nucleoplasmic domain promote this localization, including the first (residues 1-296) and the second (residues 298-409) halves of the LAP2 N terminus. The second half is involved in LAP2 association with the nuclear lamina [Furukawa, K., Panté, N., Aebi, U. & Gerace, L. (1995) EMBO J. 14, 1626-1636]. In this study to further define its role, we examined which domain of B-type lamin interacts with LAP2 by means of a binding assay with bacterially expressed proteins and a yeast two-hybrid system. We found that amino acids in the region of residues 78-258 of the lamin B1 rod domain directly bound with LAP2. The data suggest that LAP2 may modulate the assembly of nuclear lamins.     

New block copolymers II. Synthesis and characterization of an ABA-type block copolymer

A new regular ABA-type triblock copolymer has been synthesized by polycondensation of the acid chloride of carboxy-terminated butadience-acrylonitrile rubber (CTBN) with hydroxyterminated polyethylene isophthalate (PEI) oligomer. This block copolymer was characterized by elemental (nitrogen) analysis, vapor pressure osmometry, viscometry, and IR and NMR spectroscopy. Quantitative estimation of block segments has been carried out by measuring the area under peaks assigned to various protons in the NMR spectrum of the polymer. NMR spectral analysis has been found to agree well with the nitrogen analysis of the polymer. The solubility and solution viscosity behavior of the polymer has also been studied.     

Assessment of Metal Contamination in the Mine Water of the West Bokaro Coalfield,India

This study was carried out in the West Bokaro coalfield area of the Jharkhand state of India to assess water quality for drinking and domestic purposes. Thirty mine water samples were collected from opencast and underground mines, and concentrations of Al, As, Ba, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Se, and Zn were determined using ICP-MS. Spatial distribution maps were prepared using GIS software so that the quality of the mine water could be easily understood. Metal concentrations were higher in the pre-monsoon season than in the post-monsoon season, irrespective of location, but there were more significant seasonal variations in the opencast mine water than in the underground mine water. The concentrations of Al, Ba, Fe, Mn, and Ni exceeded the desirable as well as the permissible drinking water limits in both seasons. The quality of the surface water as well as the groundwater in the region may be adversely affected by the high metal concentrations in this mine water.     

Magnetization reversal mechanism of chemically synthesized linear chains of α-Fe nanospheres

Journal of Materials Science - We report upon synthesis of stable chains of magnetically aligned zero-valent α-Fe nanoparticles and investigation of their magnetization reversal mechanism. The...     

Immobilization and the conformational study of phospholipid and phospholipid-protein vesicles

The present work demonstrates the immobilization of phospholipids and phospholipids-protein vesicles on solid substrate by simple drop-cast technique. We have also studied the structural and conformational transition of protein (OVA) molecules when they are loaded in immobilized vesicles of DPPC. High-resolution FE-SEM imaging is used to study the structural aspects of the immobilized vesicles of DPPC and OVA loaded DPPC. FTIR analyses of amide bands are being used to inspect the extent of the conformational transitions of β-sheet to α-helix of OVA in immobilized DPPC vesicles. Immobilized OVA-DPPC vesicles provide the structure of individual OVA molecule attached with DPPC, without aggregation amongst them.     

Enhanced antibacterial activity of tetramethylguanidinium-conjugated linear polyethylenimine polymers

In the present study, varying amounts of tetramethylguanidinium moiety have been conjugated to linear polyethylenimine to obtain linear polyethylenimine-tmg (LPTG) polymers. Incorporation of hydrophobic and highly basic moiety in the polymeric backbone resulted in the significant improvement in the antibacterial activity which was confirmed by zone of inhibition and MIC assays. Further, the results of transmission electron microscopy and confocal studies revealed that the projected LPTG polymers possessed higher antibacterial activity than the native polymer. In addition, these modified polyethylenimine (PEI) polymers were capable of reducing auric chloride into stable gold nanoparticles. These polyamine-stabilized gold nanoparticles can be used in various biomedical applications.     

Transient performance of a single-phase self-regulated self-excited induction generator using a three-phase machine

This paper presents the transient behavior of a three-phase star connected self-excited induction generator (SEIG) using three capacitors connected in series and parallel with a single-phase load. The voltage regulation of this generator is very small due to the effect of three capacitors. The dynamic model of the above generator has been developed based on stationary reference frame d–q-axes theory incorporating the effect of cross-saturation. The steady-state model of the scheme has also been developed. The simulated results of both the transient analysis for the different dynamic conditions, such as initiation of self-excitation, load perturbation and short-circuit and the steady-state analysis are compared with the experimental results. Both the simulated and experimental results are in close agreement with each other.