Binding constant measurement by hyper-Rayleigh scattering: bilirubin-human serum albumin binding as a case study

In this paper, a new application of the hyper-Rayleigh scattering technique in determining multiple binding constants of a small molecule like bilirubin to a macromolecule like the protein human serum albumin has been demonstrated. Human serum albumin has two binding sites for bilirubin, and the binding constants have been measured by carrying out a second harmonic titration of the protein against bilirubin and vice versa. The measured binding constants K(1) = 1.5 +/- 0.43 x 10(7) M(-1) and K(2) = 1.01 +/- 0.16 x 10(6) M(-1) agree well with the reported values obtained by other methods.     

Keggin ion mediated synthesis of hydrophobized Pd nanoparticles for multifunctional catalysis

Development of simple and reliable protocols for the synthesis of organically soluble catalytically active metal nanoparticles is an important aspect of research in nanomaterials. We demonstrate herein the formation of Pd nanoparticles by reduction of aqueous Pd(NO(3))(2) by photoexcited Keggin ions (phosphotungstate anions). This results in the formation of Pd nanoparticles capped with with Keggin ions that render the particles negatively charged. The Keggin ion capped Pd nanoparticles may then be phase transferred into nonpolar organic solvents such as toluene by electrostatic complexation with cationic surfactants such as octadecylamine at the liquid-liquid interface. This results in a new class of catalyst wherein both the Pd core and Keggin ion shell may be used in a range of catalytic reactions leading to a truly multifunctional catalyst dispersible in organic solvents.     

Calculation of relaxed orbital binding energies in atoms: Zinc and cadmium

Relaxed orbital binding energies of electrons in zinc and cadmium are calculated using a relativistic local density functional theory. The discrepancy between our calculated binding energies and those from gas phase experimental data are attributed to inhomogeniety and many body effects.     

Spectrophotometric determination of isoproturon using p-aminoacetophenone and its application in environmental and biological samples

A simple and sensitive method for the determination of isoproturon, a widely used herbicide is described here which is based on alkaline hydrolysis of isoproturon to its corresponding primary amine followed by diazotization and coupling with p-aminoacetophenone in alkaline medium. The absorption maxima of the coloured compound formed is measured at 525 nm. Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range of 0.5-5.0 mug in a final solution volume of 25 ml (0.02-0.2 ppm). The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity were found to be 8.6x10(5) l mol(-1) cm(-1) and 0.0002 mug cm(-2), respectively. The method has been satisfactorily applied to the determination of isoproturon in environmental and biological samples.     

Flow-through radioactivity detection of 3H- and 14C-labelled compounds in reversed-phase liquid chromatography by a liquid scintillation counting technique based on post-column extraction

A method for flow-through liquid scintillation counting in reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) based on the continuous extraction of aqueous column eluates with a water-immiscible liquid scintillator is evaluated in terms of sensitivity, reproducibility and extra-column band broadening. ³H- and ¹⁴C-labelled phenylthiohydantoinamino acid derivatives of widely different polarity serve as model compounds. For extractable derivatives, counting efficiencies of over 30 and 80% can be obtained for ³H and ¹⁴C, respectively. The reproducibility and extra-column band broadening depend on the mixing ratio of scintillator and LC eluent; relative standard deviations (peak areas) of less than 3% can be obtained. The sensitivity of flow-through counting can be increased at least 150-fold by storing the segmented scintillator/eluate stream in a capillary storage loop. After the separation is complete, the stream is re-introduced into the radioactivity detector at reduced flow-rates to increase the mean residence time, i.e., the counting time, in the detector.     

Behaviour of Solochrome Dark Blue B as a colloidal electrolyte

Summary The electrical conductance of Solochrome Dark Blue B at various dilutions and temperatures have been measured. TheWaldens product has been calculated at different temperatures and it varies with the temperature. The reagent has been found to behave as a colloidal electrolyte. The temperature of zero conductance has been determined to be –20 °C and temperature coefficient per degree centigrade per hundred of conductance 35 °C varies between 1.81 and 1.87.

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Zusammenfassung Die elektrische Leitfähigkeit von Solochrome Dark Blue B bei verschiedener Verdünnung und verschiedenen Temperaturen wurde gemessen, dasWaldensche Produkt bei verschiedenen Temperaturen berechnet. Es variiert mit der Temperatur. Das Reagens benimmt sich wie ein Kolloid. Die Temperatur der Null-Leitfähigkeit wurde zu –20 °C bestimmt und der Temperaturkoeffizient pro Grad in Prozenten der Leitfähigkeit bei 35 °C liegt zwischen 1,81 und 1,87.

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With 2 figures and 3 tables     

Stationary Riemannian space-times with self-dual curvature

Riemannian space-times with self-dual curvature and which admit at least one Killing vector field (stationary) are examined. Such space-times can be classified according to whether a certain scalar field (which is the difference between the Newtonian and NUT potentials) reduces to a constant or not. In the former category (called here KSD) are the multi-TaubNUT and multi-instanton space-times. Nontrivial examples of the latter category have yet to be discovered. It is proved here that the static self-dual metrics are flat. It is also proved that each stationary metric for which the Newtonian and nut potentials are functionally related admits a Killing vector field relative to which the metric is KSD. It has also been proved that the regularity of the field everywhere implies that the metric is KSD. Finally it is proved that for non-KSD space-times every regular compact level surface of the field encloses the total NUT charge, which must be proportional to the Euler number of the surface.The research reported here was done while the author was an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at Simon Fraser University.The author is also a member of the Theoretical Science Institute at Simon Fraser University, and preparation for publication was partially assisted NSERC Research Grant No. 3993.     

A single amino acid Gly-tag enables metal-free protein purification

Analytically pure proteins are indispensable for diverse applications, including therapeutics. Here, we report a methodology where a single amino acid, glycine, enables metal-free protein purification. This robust platform is enabled by a Gly-tag resin for site-specific capture, enrichment, and release through chemically triggered C–C bond dissociation by resonance-assisted electron density polarization.

Gly-tag resin precisely captures and releases a protein with one glycine at the N-terminus. The user-friendly protocol delivers analytically pure protein free of metal contaminants.     

Free energies of transfer of alkali halides from water to urea-water mixtures at 25°C from EMF measurements

The standard potentials_s E ^o of M/M⁺ (M=Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs) electrodes in aqueous urea solutions containing 12, 20, 30 and 37% by weight of urea have been determined at 25°C from emf measurements on the cell M(Hg)/MCl (m), solvent/AgCl–Ag, from the activities of metals in amalgams by use of a similar type of cell in water, and from the values of_s E ^o of the Ag/AgCl electrode determined earlier. The standard free energies of transfer of MCl, G _t ^o (MCl), from water to the mixed solvents, computed by use of these values and those for the Ag–AgCl electrode, rise sharply from Li⁺ to Na⁺ but fall from Na⁺ to K⁺ and rather sharply from K⁺ to Cs⁺ with a maximum at Na⁺ in all the solvent compositions. This has been attributed to the superimposition of soft-soft interactions on the electrostatic interactions between the ions and the negative charge centers of the possible hydrogen-bonded solvent complexes in the mixed solvents. Comparison of G _t ^o (i) values for individual ions, obtained by a simultaneous extrapolation procedure, with those in aqueous mixtures of methanol,t-butanol, and dimethyl sulfoxide leads to the conclusion that the solvation of these ions in all these solvents is chiefly dictated by the acid-base type of ion-solvent interactions.