text
stringlengths 105
4.44k
| label
int64 0
9
| label_text
stringclasses 10
values |
|---|---|---|
For a light scattering instrument composed of many detectors placed at various angles, all the detectors need to respond the same way. Usually, detectors will have slightly different quantum efficiency, different gains, and are looking at different geometrical scattering volumes. In this case, a normalization of the detectors is absolutely needed. To normalize the detectors, a measurement of a pure solvent is made first. Then an isotropic scatterer is added to the solvent. Since isotropic scatterers scatter the same intensity at any angle, the detector efficiency and gain can be normalized with this procedure. It is convenient to normalize all the detectors to the 90° angle detector.
where I(90) is the scattering intensity measured for the Rayleigh scatterer by the 90° angle detector.
The most common equation to measure the weight-average molecular weight, M, is the Zimm equation (the right-hand side of the Zimm equation is provided incorrectly in some texts, as noted by Hiemenz and Lodge):
where
and
with
and the scattering vector for vertically polarized light is
with n the refractive index of the solvent, λ the wavelength of the light source, N the Avogadro constant, c the solution concentration, and dn/dc the change in the refractive index of the solution with change in concentration. The intensity of the analyte measured at an angle is I(θ). In these equations, the subscript A is for analyte (the solution) and T is for the toluene with the Rayleigh ratio of toluene, R being 1.35×10 cm for a HeNe laser. As described above, the radius of gyration, R, and the second virial coefficient, A, are also calculated from this equation. The refractive index increment dn/dc characterizes the change of the refractive index n with the concentration c and can be measured with a differential refractometer.
A Zimm plot is built from a double extrapolation to zero angle and zero concentration from many angles and many concentration measurements. In its simplest form, the Zimm equation is reduced to:
for measurements made at low angle and infinite dilution since P(0) = 1.
There are typically several analyses developed to analyze the scattering of particles in solution to derive the above-named physical characteristics of particles. A simple static light scattering experiment entails the average intensity of the sample that is corrected for the scattering of the solvent will yield the Rayleigh ratio, R as a function of the angle or the wave vector q as follows: | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
Xenin is a peptide hormone secreted from the chromogranin A-positive enteroendocrine cells called the K-cells in the mucous membrane of the duodenum and stomach of the upper gut. The peptide has been found in humans, dogs, pigs, rats, and rabbits.
In humans, xenin circulates in the blood plasma. There is a relationship between peaks of xenin concentration in the plasma and the third phase of the Migrating Motor Complex. For example, infusion of synthetic xenin in fasting volunteers will cause phase III activity. After a meal (the postprandial state), infusion of xenin increases both frequency and the percentage of aborally propagated contractions. In higher concentrations xenin stimulates exocrine pancreatic secretion and inhibits the gastrin-stimulated secretion of acid in dogs. Xenin is also produced in neuroendocrine tumors of the duodenal mucosa.
In vitro, xenin interacts with the neurotensin receptor 1. | 1 | Biochemistry |
A strong base deprotonates the dicarbonyl α-carbon. This carbon is preferred over the methyl carbon because the formed enolate is conjugated and thus resonance stabilized. The carbon then undergoes nucleophilic substitution. When heated with aqueous acid, the newly alkylated ester is hydrolyzed to a β-keto acid, which is decarboxylated to form a methyl ketone. | 0 | Organic Chemistry |
Electroporation is performed with electroporators, purpose-built appliances that create an electrostatic field in a cell solution. The cell suspension is pipetted into a glass or plastic cuvette which has two aluminium electrodes on its sides. For bacterial electroporation, typically a suspension of around 50 microliters is used. Prior to electroporation, this suspension of bacteria is mixed with the plasmid to be transformed. The mixture is pipetted into the cuvette, the voltage and capacitance are set, and the cuvette is inserted into the electroporator. The process requires direct contact between the electrodes and the suspension. Immediately after electroporation, one milliliter of liquid medium is added to the bacteria (in the cuvette or in an Eppendorf tube), and the tube is incubated at the bacteria's optimal temperature for an hour or more to allow recovery of the cells and expression of the plasmid, followed by bacterial culture on agar plates.
The success of the electroporation depends greatly on the purity of the plasmid solution, especially on its salt content. Solutions with high salt concentrations might cause an electrical discharge (known as arcing), which often reduces the viability of the bacteria. For a further detailed investigation of the process, more attention should be paid to the output impedance of the porator device and the input impedance of the cells suspension (e.g. salt content).
Since the cell membrane is not able to pass current (except in ion channels), it acts as an electrical capacitor. Subjecting membranes to a high-voltage electric field results in their temporary breakdown, resulting in pores that are large enough to allow macromolecules (such as DNA) to enter or leave the cell.
Additionally, electroporation can be used to increase permeability of cells during in Utero injections and surgeries. Particularly, the electroporation allows for a more efficient transfection of DNA, RNA, shRNA, and all nucleic acids into the cells of mice and rats. The success of in vivo electroporation depends greatly on voltage, repetition, pulses, and duration. Developing central nervous systems are most effective for in vivo electroporation due to the visibility of ventricles for injections of nucleic acids, as well as the increased permeability of dividing cells. Electroporation of injected in utero embryos is performed through the uterus wall, often with forceps-type electrodes to limit damage to the embryo. | 1 | Biochemistry |
Three nucleobases found in nucleic acids, cytosine (C), thymine (T), and uracil (U), are pyrimidine derivatives:
In DNA and RNA, these bases form hydrogen bonds with their complementary purines. Thus, in DNA, the purines adenine (A) and guanine (G) pair up with the pyrimidines thymine (T) and cytosine (C), respectively.
In RNA, the complement of adenine (A) is uracil (U) instead of thymine (T), so the pairs that form are adenine:uracil and guanine:cytosine.
Very rarely, thymine can appear in RNA, or uracil in DNA, but when the other three major pyrimidine bases are represented, some minor pyrimidine bases can also occur in nucleic acids. These minor pyrimidines are usually methylated versions of major ones and are postulated to have regulatory functions.
These hydrogen bonding modes are for classical Watson–Crick base pairing. Other hydrogen bonding modes ("wobble pairings") are available in both DNA and RNA, although the additional 2′-hydroxyl group of RNA expands the configurations, through which RNA can form hydrogen bonds. | 1 | Biochemistry |
Fluoride can act as a base. It can combine with a proton ():
This neutralization reaction forms hydrogen fluoride (HF), the conjugate acid of fluoride.
In aqueous solution, fluoride has a pK value of 10.8. It is therefore a weak base, and tends to remain as the fluoride ion rather than generating a substantial amount of hydrogen fluoride. That is, the following equilibrium favours the left-hand side in water:
However, upon prolonged contact with moisture, soluble fluoride salts will decompose to their respective hydroxides or oxides, as the hydrogen fluoride escapes. Fluoride is distinct in this regard among the halides. The identity of the solvent can have a dramatic effect on the equilibrium shifting it to the right-hand side, greatly increasing the rate of decomposition. | 1 | Biochemistry |
The Geochemical Society was founded in 1955 at a meeting of the Geological Society of America. Its first president was Earl Ingerson and dues started at two dollars per year. In 1990 it was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 1990.
In 1988, the Geochemical society created the Goldschmidt Conferences in honor of the geochemist Victor Goldschmidt (1888–1947), "considered to be the founder of modern geochemistry and crystal chemistry". It was soon joined by the European Association of Geochemistry, and at the 2014 meeting the two organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the governance and trademark protection of the meeting. The conference is one of the worlds largest devoted to geochemistry. The societys board of directors holds its annual meeting during the conference. | 9 | Geochemistry |
Chayen holds nine patents and has launched several commercial products for protein crystallization, such as "Chayen Reddy MIP" and "Naomi's nucleant." In addition, she has won the following awards:
* Women of Outstanding Achievement for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Commendation, WISE Campaign (2012)
*Investigator of the Year, Select Biosciences Life Sciences Awards (2011)
* Innovator of the Year, CWT everywoman in Technology Awards (2011)
Chayen was the Sterling Drug Visiting Professor of Pharmacology at Yale School of Medicine in 2009. She was formerly the president of the International Organization for Biological Crystallization. | 1 | Biochemistry |
All bonds are depicted as horizontal or vertical lines. The carbon chain is depicted vertically, with carbon atoms sometimes not shown and represented by the center of crossing lines (see figure below). The orientation of the carbon chain is so that the first carbon (C1) is at the top. In an aldose, C1 is the carbon of the aldehyde group; in a ketose, C1 is the carbon closest to the ketone group, which is typically found at C2.
The proper way to view a Fischer projection is to vertically orient the molecule in relation to the carbon chain, have all horizontal bonds point toward the viewer, and orient all vertical bonds to point away from the viewer. Molecules with a simple tetrahedral geometry can be easily rotated in space so that this condition is met (see figures). Fischer projections are commonly constructed beginning with a sawhorse representation. To do so, all attachments to main chain carbons must be rotated such that resulting Newman projections show an eclipsed configuration. The carbon chain is then positioned vertically upward with all horizontal attachments pointing toward the viewer. Finally, attachments to main chain carbons that face away from the viewer are placed in the vertical position of the Fischer projection, and those that face toward the viewer are placed in the horizontal position of the Fischer projection. Each intersection between a horizontal and vertical line on the Fischer projection represents a carbon in the main carbon chain.
Fischer projections are effective representations of 3D molecular configuration in certain cases. For example, a monosaccharide with three carbon atoms (triose), such as the D-Glyceraldehyde depicted above, has a tetrahedral geometry, with C2 at its center, and can be rotated in space so that the carbon chain is vertical with C1 at the top, and the horizontal bonds connecting C2 with the Hydrogen and the Hydroxide are both slanted toward the viewer.
However, when creating a Fischer projection for a monosaccharide with more than three carbons, there is no way to orient the molecule in space so that all horizontal bonds will be slanted toward the viewer. After rotating the molecule so that both the horizontal bonds with C2 are slanted toward the viewer, the horizontal bonds with C3 will be typically slanted away. So, after drawing the bonds with C2, before drawing the bonds with C3 the molecule must be rotated in space by 180° about its vertical axis. Further similar rotations may be needed to complete the drawing.
This implies that in most cases a Fischer projection is not an accurate representation of the actual 3D configuration of a molecule. It can be regarded as a projection of a modified version of the molecule, ideally twisted at multiple levels along its backbone. For instance, an open-chain molecule of D-glucose rotated so that the horizontal bonds with C2 are slanted toward the viewer, would have the bonds with C3 and C5 slanted away from the viewer, and hence its accurate projection would not coincide with a Fischer projection. For a more accurate representation of an open-chain molecule, a Natta projection may be used.
According to IUPAC rules, all hydrogen atoms should preferably be drawn explicitly; in particular, the hydrogen atoms of the end group of carbohydrates should be present.
In this regard Fischer projection is different from skeletal formulae. | 4 | Stereochemistry |
Given the ability to knock down, in essence, any gene of interest, RNAi via siRNAs has generated a great deal of interest in both basic and applied biology.
One of the biggest challenges to siRNA and RNAi based therapeutics is intracellular delivery. siRNA also has weak stability and pharmacokinetic behavior. Delivery of siRNA via nanoparticles has shown promise. siRNA oligos in vivo are vulnerable to degradation by plasma and tissue endonucleases and exonucleases and have shown only mild effectiveness in localized delivery sites, such as the human eye. Delivering pure DNA to target organisms is challenging because its large size and structure prevents it from diffusing readily across membranes. siRNA oligos circumvent this problem due to their small size of 21-23 oligos. This allows delivery via nano-scale delivery vehicles called nanovectors.
A good nanovector for siRNA delivery should protect siRNA from degradation, enrich siRNA in the target organ and facilitate the cellular uptake of siRNA. The three main groups of siRNA nanovectors are: lipid based, non-lipid organic-based, and inorganic. Lipid based nanovectors are excellent for delivering siRNA to solid tumors, but other cancers may require different non-lipid based organic nanovectors such as cyclodextrin based nanoparticles.
siRNAs delivered via lipid based nanoparticles have been shown to have therapeutic potential for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Central nervous disorders are not uncommon, but the blood brain barrier (BBB) often blocks access of potential therapeutics to the brain. siRNAs that target and silence efflux proteins on the BBB surface have been shown to create an increase in BBB permeability. siRNA delivered via lipid based nanoparticles is able to cross the BBB completely.
A huge difficulty in siRNA delivery is the problem of off-targeting. Since genes are read in both directions, there exists a possibility that even if the intended antisense siRNA strand is read and knocks out the target mRNA, the sense siRNA strand may target another protein involved in another function.
Phase I results of the first two therapeutic RNAi trials (indicated for age-related macular degeneration, aka AMD) reported at the end of 2005 that siRNAs are well tolerated and have suitable pharmacokinetic properties.
In a phase 1 clinical trial, 41 patients with advanced cancer metastasised to liver were administered RNAi delivered through lipid nanoparticles. The RNAi targeted two genes encoding key proteins in the growth of the cancer cells, vascular endothelial growth factor, (VEGF), and kinesin spindle protein (KSP). The results showed clinical benefits, with the cancer either stabilized after six months, or regression of metastasis in some of the patients. Pharmacodynamic analysis of biopsy samples from the patients revealed the presence of the RNAi constructs in the samples, proving that the molecules reached the intended target.
Proof of concept trials have indicated that Ebola-targeted siRNAs may be effective as post-exposure prophylaxis in humans, with 100% of non-human primates surviving a lethal dose of Zaire Ebolavirus, the most lethal strain. | 1 | Biochemistry |
In 2020, worldwide production capacity was approximately 180 million tonnes.
For use in industry, urea is produced from synthetic ammonia and carbon dioxide. As large quantities of carbon dioxide are produced during the ammonia manufacturing process as a byproduct of burning hydrocarbons to generate heat (predominantly natural gas, and less often petroleum derivatives or coal), urea production plants are almost always located adjacent to the site where the ammonia is manufactured. | 0 | Organic Chemistry |
The cell determines whether the amphibolic pathway will function as an anabolic or catabolic pathway by enzyme–mediated regulation at a transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. As many reactions in amphibolic pathways are freely reversible or can be bypassed, irreversible steps that facilitate their dual function are necessary. The pathway uses a different enzyme for each direction for the irreversible step in the pathway, allowing independent regulation of catabolism and anabolism. Due their inherent duality, amphibolic pathways represent the regulation modes of both anabolic by its negative feedback end product and catabolic by feedback by energy indicator sequences. | 1 | Biochemistry |
In spectroscopy, spectral flux density is the quantity that describes the rate at which energy is transferred by electromagnetic radiation through a real or virtual surface, per unit surface area and per unit wavelength (or, equivalently, per unit frequency). It is a radiometric rather than a photometric measure. In SI units it is measured in W m, although it can be more practical to use W m nm (1 W m nm = 1 GW m = 1 W mm) or W m μm (1 W m μm = 1 MW m), and respectively by W·m·Hz, Jansky or solar flux units. The terms irradiance, radiant exitance, radiant emittance, and radiosity are closely related to spectral flux density.
The terms used to describe spectral flux density vary between fields, sometimes including adjectives such as "electromagnetic" or "radiative", and sometimes dropping the word "density". Applications include:
*Characterizing remote telescopically unresolved sources such as stars, observed from a specified observation point such as an observatory on earth.
*Characterizing a natural electromagnetic radiative field at a point, measured there with an instrument that collects radiation from a whole sphere or hemisphere of remote sources.
*Characterizing an artificial collimated electromagnetic radiative beam. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
Some kinds of stabilizers are:
* antioxidants these prevent autoxidation of materials and come in 3 primary forms.
** Oxygen scavengers (primarily phosphite esters such as tris(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl)phosphite) are commonly used during the initial processing of the plastic.
** Persistent radical scavengers prevent or slow the photo-oxidation of polymers. Traditionally these are alkylated phenols such as butylated hydroxytoluene but now also include hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS)
** Antiozonants prevents or retards the degradation of polymers caused by ozone (ozone cracking)
* sequestrants, forming chelate complexes and inactivating traces of metal ions that would otherwise act as catalysts
* ultraviolet stabilizers are used to protect polymers from effects of ultraviolet radiation and come to 2 main types.
** UV absorbers which essentially act the same way as sunscreens
** Quenchers, which dissipate the radiation energy as heat instead of letting it break chemical bonds; often organic nickel salts, e.g. nickel phenolates | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
If the solvent is a solid, then gases, liquids, and solids can be dissolved.
* Gas in solids:
** Hydrogen dissolves rather well in metals, especially in palladium; this is studied as a means of hydrogen storage.
* Liquid in solid:
** Mercury in gold, forming an amalgam
** Water in solid salt or sugar, forming moist solids
** Hexane in paraffin wax
** Polymers containing plasticizers such as phthalate (liquid) in PVC (solid)
* Solid in solid:
** Steel, basically a solution of carbon atoms in a crystalline matrix of iron atoms
** Alloys like bronze and many others
** Radium sulfate dissolved in barium sulfate: a true solid solution of Ra in BaSO | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
It was historically used as a first-line treatment for hyperthyroidism, as the administration of pharmacologic amounts of iodine leads to temporary inhibition of iodine organification in the thyroid gland, caused by phenomena including the Wolff–Chaikoff effect and the Plummer effect. However it is not used to treat certain autoimmune causes of thyroid disease as iodine-induced blockade of iodine organification may result in hypothyroidism. They are not considered as a first line therapy because of possible induction of resistant hyperthyroidism but may be considered as an adjuvant therapy when used together with other hyperthyroidism medications.
Lugol's iodine has been used traditionally to replenish iodine deficiency. Because of its wide availability as a drinking-water decontaminant, and high content of potassium iodide, emergency use of it was at first recommended to the Polish government in 1986, after the Chernobyl disaster to replace and block any intake of radioactive , even though it was known to be a non-optimal agent, due to its somewhat toxic free-iodine content. Other sources state that pure potassium iodide solution in water (SSKI) was eventually used for most of the thyroid protection after this accident. There is "strong scientific evidence" for potassium iodide thyroid protection to help prevent thyroid cancer. Potassium iodide does not provide immediate protection but can be a component of a general strategy in a radiation emergency.
Historically, Lugols iodine solution has been widely available and used for a number of health problems with some precautions. Lugols is sometimes prescribed in a variety of alternative medical treatments. Only since the end of the Cold War has the compound become subject to national regulation in the English-speaking world. | 3 | Analytical Chemistry |
After-rust is a form of rust which sometimes develops on a non-ferrous metal surface when that surface has been finished, deburred, or cleaned with a carbon steel brush or steel wool. It is caused by microscopic deposits of the steel which become embedded in the metal surface and which over time begin to oxidize. This oxidation causes the surface to become dull and may impart a brown color to it. After-rust can be avoided by cleaning such surfaces only with non-ferrous brushes/ wools including rustless bronze, aluminum, and stainless steel wool and nonferrous wools such as those made of brass. | 8 | Metallurgy |
A typical run-around coil system comprises two or more multi-row finned tube coils connected to each other by a pumped pipework circuit. The pipework is charged with a heat exchange fluid, normally water, which picks up heat from the exhaust air coil and gives up heat to the supply air coil before returning again. Thus heat from the exhaust air stream is transferred through the pipework coil to the circulating fluid, and then from the fluid through the pipework coil to the supply air stream.
The use of this system is generally limited to situations where the air streams are separated and no other type of device can be utilised since the heat recovery efficiency is lower than other forms of air-to-air heat recovery. Gross efficiencies are usually in the range of 40 to 50%, but more significantly seasonal efficiencies of this system can be very low, due to the extra electrical energy used by the pumped fluid circuit.
The fluid circuit containing the circulating pump also contains an expansion vessel, to accommodate changes in fluid pressure. In addition, there is a fill device to ensure the system remains charged. There are also controls to bypass and shut down the system when not required, and other safety devices. Pipework runs should be as short as possible, and should be sized for low velocities to minimize frictional losses, hence reducing pump energy consumption. It is possible to recover some of this energy in the form of heat given off by the motor if a glandless pump is used, where a water jacket surrounds the motor stator, thus picking up some of its heat.
The pumped fluid will have to be protected from freezing, and is normally treated with a glycol based anti-freeze. This also reduces the specific heat capacity of the fluid and increases the viscosity, increasing pump power consumption, further reducing the seasonal efficiency of the device. For example, a 20% glycol mixture will provide protection down to , but will increase system resistance by 15%.
For the finned tube coil design, there is a performance maximum corresponding to an eight- or ten-row coil, above this the fan and pump motor energy consumption increases substantially and seasonal efficiency starts to decrease. The main cause of increased energy consumption lies with the fan, for the same face velocity, fewer coil rows will decrease air pressure drop and increase water pressure drop. The total energy consumption will usually be less than that for a greater number of coil rows with higher air pressure drops and lower water pressure drops. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
Mineral processing begins with beneficiation, consisting of initially breaking down the ore to required sizes depending on the concentration process to be followed, by crushing, grinding, sieving etc. Thereafter, the ore is physically separated from any unwanted impurity, depending on the form of occurrence and or further process involved. Separation processes take advantage of physical properties of the materials. These physical properties can include density, particle size and shape, electrical and magnetic properties, and surface properties. Major physical and chemical methods include magnetic separation, froth flotation, leaching etc., whereby the impurities and unwanted materials are removed from the ore and the base ore of the metal is concentrated, meaning the percentage of metal in the ore is increased. This concentrate is then either processed to remove moisture or else used as is for extraction of the metal or made into shapes and forms that can undergo further processing, with ease of handling.
Ore bodies often contain more than one valuable metal. Tailings of a previous process may be used as a feed in another process to extract a secondary product from the original ore. Additionally, a concentrate may contain more than one valuable metal. That concentrate would then be processed to separate the valuable metals into individual constituents. | 8 | Metallurgy |
Originally, the Van den Bergh reaction was used for a qualitative estimate of bilirubin.
This test is performed routinely in most medical laboratories and can be measured by a variety of methods.
Total bilirubin is now often measured by the 2,5-dichlorophenyldiazonium (DPD) method, and direct bilirubin is often measured by the method of Jendrassik and Grof. | 1 | Biochemistry |
Pioneer factors can function passively, by acting as a bookmark for the cell to recruit other transcription factors to specific genes in condensed chromatin. This can be important for priming the cell for a rapid response as the enhancer is already bound by a pioneer transcription factor giving it a head start towards assembling the transcription preinitiation complex. Hormone responses are often quickly induced in the cell using this priming method such as with the estrogen receptor. Another form of priming is when an enhancer is simultaneously bound by activating and repressing pioneer factors. This balance can be tipped by dissociation of one of the factors. In hepatic cell differentiation the activating pioneer factor FOXA1 recruits a repressor, grg3, that prevents transcription until the repressor is down-regulated later on in the differentiation process.
<br>
In a direct role pioneer factors can bind an enhancer and recruit activation complex that will modify the chromatin directly. The change in the chromatin changes the affinity, decreasing the affinity of the pioneer factor such that it is replaced by a transcription factor that has a higher affinity. This is a mechanism for the cell to switch a gene on was observed with glucocorticoid receptor recruiting modification factors that then modify the site to bind activated estrogen receptor which was coined as a “bait and switch” mechanism. | 1 | Biochemistry |
In a channel transport system, several proteins form a contiguous channel traversing the inner and outer membranes of the bacteria. It is a simple system, which consists of only three protein subunits: the ABC protein, membrane fusion protein (MFP), and outer membrane protein. This secretion system transports various chemical species, from ions, drugs, to proteins of various sizes (20–900 kDa). The chemical species secreted vary in size from the small Escherichia coli peptide colicin V, (10 kDa) to the Pseudomonas fluorescens cell adhesion protein LapA of 900 kDa. | 1 | Biochemistry |
Due to the presence of vanabins, concentration of vanadium found in the blood cells of Ascidia gemmata belonging to the suborder Phlebobranchia is 10,000,000 times higher than that in the surrounding seawater. A similar biological process might have played a role in the formation of vanadium ores.
Vanadium is also present in fossil fuel deposits such as crude oil, coal, oil shale, and oil sands. In crude oil, concentrations up to 1200 ppm have been reported. | 9 | Geochemistry |
An important trait of hyperaccumulating plant species is enhanced translocation of the absorbed metal to the shoot. Metal toxicity is tolerated by plant species that are native to metalliferous soils. Exclusion, in which plants resist undue metal uptake and transport, and absorption and sequestration, in which plants pick up vast quantities of metal and pass it to the shoot, where it is accumulated, are the two basic methods for metal tolerance. Hyperaccumulators are plants that have both the second technique and the ability to absorb more than 100 times higher metal concentrations than typical organisms.
T. caerulescens is found mostly in Zn/Pb-rich soils, as well as serpentines and non-mineralized soils. It was discovered to be a Zn hyperaccumulator. Because of its ability to extract vast quantities of heavy metals from soils. When grown on mildly polluted soils, a closely related species, Thlaspi ochroleucum, is a heavy metal-tolerant plant, but it accumulates much less Zn in the shoots than T. caerulescens. Thus, Thlaspi ochroleucum is a non-hyperaccumulator and of the same family T. caerulescens is a hyperaccumulator. The transfer of Zn from roots to shoots varied significantly between these two species. T. caerulescens had much higher shoot/root Zn concentration levels than T. ochroleucum, which always had higher Zn concentrations in the roots. When Zn was withheld, the amount of Zn previously accumulated in the roots in T. caerulescens decreased even more than in T. ochroleucum, with a concomitantly greater rise in the amount of Zn in the shoots. The decreases in Zn in roots may be mostly due to transport to shoots, since the volume of Zn in shoots increased during the same time span.
A heavy metal transporter, cDNA, mediates high-affinity Zn uptake as well as low-affinity Cd uptake. This transporter is expressed at very high levels in roots and shoots of the hyperaccumulator. According to (Pence et., al. 1999), an overexpression of a Zn transporter gene, ZNT1, in root and shoot tissue is an essential component of the Zn hyperaccumulation trait in T. caerulescens. This increased gene expression has been shown to be the basis for increased Zn21 uptake from the soil in T. caerulescens roots, and it is possible that the same process underpins the enhanced Zn21 uptake into leaf cells. | 2 | Environmental Chemistry |
Krafft temperature is defined as the minimum temperature from which the micelle formation takes place. It is named after German chemist Friedrich Krafft. It has been found that solubility at the Krafft point is nearly equal to critical micelle concentration (CMC). Below the Krafft temperature, the maximum solubility of the surfactant will be lower than the critical micelle concentration, meaning micelles will not form. The Krafft temperature is a point of phase change below which the surfactant remains in crystalline form, even in an aqueous solution. Visually the effect of going below the Krafft point is similar to that of going above the cloud point, with the solution becoming cloudy or opaque due to the surfactant molecules undergoing flocculation.
Surfactants in such a crystalline state will only solubilize and form micelles if another surfactant assists it in overcoming the forces that keep it crystallized, or if the temperature increases, thus causing entropy to increase and encouraging the crystalline structure to break apart. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
While the carbamate acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are commonly referred to as "carbamate insecticides" due to their generally high selectivity for insect acetylcholinesterase enzymes over the mammalian versions, the most potent compounds such as aldicarb and carbofuran are still capable of inhibiting mammalian acetylcholinesterase enzymes at low enough concentrations that they pose a significant risk of poisoning to humans, especially when used in large amounts for agricultural applications. Other carbamate based acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are known with even higher toxicity to humans, and some such as T-1123 and EA-3990 were investigated for potential military use as nerve agents. However, since all compounds of this type have a quaternary ammonium group with a permanent positive charge, they have poor blood–brain barrier penetration, and also are only stable as crystalline salts or aqueous solutions, and so were not considered to have suitable properties for weaponisation. | 0 | Organic Chemistry |
When nascent hydrogen is produced by anaerobic corrosion of iron by the protons of water, the atomic hydrogen can diffuse into the metal crystal lattice because of the existing concentration gradient. After diffusion, hydrogen atoms can recombine into molecular hydrogen giving rise to the formation of high-pressure micro-bubbles of H in the metallic lattice. The trends to expansion of H bubbles and the resulting tensile stress can generate cracks in the metallic alloys sensitive to this effect also known as hydrogen embrittlement. Several recent studies (Turnbull, 2009; King, 2008; King and Kolar, 2009) address this question in the frame of the radioactive waste disposal in Switzerland and Canada. | 8 | Metallurgy |
In organic chemistry, a carbamate is a category of organic compounds with the general formula and structure , which are formally derived from carbamic acid (). The term includes organic compounds (e.g., the ester ethyl carbamate), formally obtained by replacing one or more of the hydrogen atoms by other organic functional groups; as well as salts with the carbamate anion (e.g. ammonium carbamate).
Polymers whose repeat units are joined by carbamate like groups are an important family of plastics, the polyurethanes. See Etymology for clarification. | 0 | Organic Chemistry |
Native chemical ligation of unprotected peptide segments is used to prepare the protein's polypeptide chain, which is then folded to form a protein molecule. In native chemical ligation, a peptide C-terminal thioester reacts with a second peptide that has a cysteine residue at its N-terminus, to give a product with a peptide bond at the ligation site. Multiple unprotected peptide segments can be linked in this way to give the full length polypeptide chain, which is folded to give the target protein molecule. Once the chemical synthesis of an L-protein is achieved, the D-protein enantiomer can be manufactured using synthetic peptide building blocks made from D-amino acids and Gly. Convergent synthesis is most effective in preparing long polypeptide chains, by using peptide-hydrazides, where the hydrazide can be converted to a thioester for use in native chemical ligation. The hydrazide is stable to native chemical ligation reaction conditions, and can be converted in situ to a reactive peptide-thioester for the next native chemical ligation condensation reaction. | 3 | Analytical Chemistry |
The taxol synthesis started from the terpene verbenone 1 in Scheme 1, which is the oxidation product of naturally occurring α-pinene and forming ring A. Construction of ring B started with abstraction of the pendant methyl group proton by potassium tert-butoxide (conjugated anion is formed) followed by nucleophilic displacement of the bromine atom in prenyl bromide 2 to form diene 3. Ozonolysis of the prenyl group (more electron-rich than the internal double bond) formed aldehyde 4, which, after isomerization or photorearrangement to the chrysanthenone 5, was reacted with the lithium salt (via LDA) of the ethyl ester of propiolic acid 6 in a nucleophilic addition to the alcohol 7. This compound was not isolated but trapped in situ with trimethylsilyl chloride to the silyl ether 9. In the next step, Gilman reagent 8 is a methylating reagent in nucleophilic conjugate addition through the alkyne group to the ketone group, which formed the alcohol 10. The silyl ether protective group was removed by reaction with acetic acid to alcohol 11, which was then oxidized to the ketone 12 with RuCl(PPh) and NMO as the sacrificial catalyst. The acyloin group in 13 was introduced by KHMDS and Davis’ oxaziridine (see Holton Taxol total synthesis for another use of this system) and its hydroxyl group together with the ester group were reduced by lithium aluminium hydride to tetrol 14. Finally, the primary alcohol group was protected as a tert-butyldimethylsilyl ether by the corresponding silylchloride and imidazole in triol 15.
In the second part (Scheme 2) the procedures are still confined to rings A and B. More protective groups were added to triol 15 as reaction with PPTS and 2-methoxypropene gives the acetonide 16. At this point the double bond in ring A was epoxidized with m-CPBA and sodium carbonate to epoxide 17 and a Grob fragmentation (also present in the Holton effort) initiated by DABCO opened up the AB ring system in alcohol 18, which was not isolated but protected as a TIPS silyl ether 19 with triisopropylsilyl triflate and 2,6-lutidine. The C1 position was next oxidized by the phosphite ester, P(OEt) and the strong base KOt-Bu, and oxygen to alcohol 20 (the stereochemistry controlled by bowl-shaped AB ring with hydroxylation from unhindered convex direction), the primary alcohol group was deprotected with ammonium chloride in methanol to diol 21 and two reductions first with NaBH to triol 22 and then hydrogen gas and Crabtree's catalyst give triol 23. These positions were protected by trimethylsilyl chloride and pyridine to 24 and then triphosgene to 25 in order to facilitate the oxidation of the primary alcohol group to the aldehyde 26 by PCC. | 0 | Organic Chemistry |
The distinctive feature of the Grignard reagents is their formation from the organic halide and magnesium metal. Most other group II organic compounds are generated by salt metathesis, which limits their accessibility. The formation of the Grignard reagents has received intense scrutiny. It proceeds by a SET process. For less reactive organic halides, activated forms of magnesium have been produced in the form of Rieke magnesium. Examples of Grignard reagents are phenylmagnesium bromide and ethylmagnesium bromide. These simplified formulas are deceptive: Grignard reagents generally exist as dietherates, RMgX(ether)2. As such they obey the octet rule.
Grignard reagents participate in the Schlenk equilibrium. Exploiting this reaction is a way to generate dimethylmagnesium. Beyond Grignard reagents, another organomagnesium compound is magnesium anthracene. This orange solid is used as a source of highly active magnesium. Butadiene-magnesium serves as a source for the butadiene dianion. Ate complexes of magnesium are also well known, e.g LiMgBu. | 0 | Organic Chemistry |
Copper-clad steel (CCS), also known as copper-covered steel or the trademarked name Copperweld is a bi-metallic product, mainly used in the wire industry that combines the high mechanical strength of steel with the conductivity and corrosion resistance of copper.
It is mainly used for grounding purposes, line tracing to locate underground utilities, drop wire of telephone cables, and inner conductor of coaxial cables, including thin hookup cables like RG-174 and CATV cable. It is also used in some antennas for RF conducting wires. | 8 | Metallurgy |
Reducing agents can also be considered in demand as the rapid rise of low oxidation state chemistry has been reliant on them. Common compounds include but are not limited to potassium graphite (KC), sodium naphthalenide and its alkali derivatives, or s-block metals in their elemental form, such as lithium. However, these reducing agents can have drawbacks, especially concerning accessing low oxidation states. For instance, these complexes may not be soluble in certain solutions, may lack certain selectivity, or can have an over-reduction effect of the initial precursor. Additionally, other side reactions can occur. More importantly, corrosion can be considered. Pure magnesium can be employed as an example. As the humidity increases, the corrosion rate of pure magnesium increases. At 10% humidity, there is no corrosion; at 30% there is a small layer of surface oxide, with slight corrosion evident; at 80% an amorphous phase coats about 30% of the surface and shows significant corrosion. Instances like these concerning the disadvantages of reducing agents, can make the dimers more appealing to certain chemical synthesizes. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
In chemistry, the effective molarity (denoted EM) is defined as the ratio between the first-order rate constant of an intramolecular reaction and the second-order rate constant of the corresponding intermolecular reaction (kinetic effective molarity) or the ratio between the equilibrium constant of an intramolecular reaction and the equilibrium constant of the corresponding intermolecular reaction (thermodynamic effective molarity).
EM has the dimension of concentration. High EM values always indicate greater ease of intramolecular processes over the corresponding intermolecular ones. Effective molarities can be used to get a deeper understanding of the effects of intramolecularity on reaction courses. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
Heat engines, refrigeration cycles and heat pumps usually involve a fluid to and from which heat is transferred while undergoing a thermodynamic cycle. This fluid is called the working fluid. Refrigeration and heat pump technologies often refer to working fluids as refrigerants. Most thermodynamic cycles make use of the latent heat (advantages of phase change) of the working fluid. In case of other cycles the working fluid remains in gaseous phase while undergoing all the processes of the cycle. When it comes to heat engines, working fluid generally undergoes a combustion process as well, for example in internal combustion engines or gas turbines. There are also technologies in heat pump and refrigeration, where working fluid does not change phase, such as reverse Brayton or Stirling cycle.
This article summarises the main criteria of selecting working fluids for a thermodynamic cycle, such as heat engines including low grade heat recovery using Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) for geothermal energy, waste heat, thermal solar energy or biomass and heat pumps and refrigeration cycles. The article addresses how working fluids affect technological applications, where the working fluid undergoes a phase transition and does not remain in its original (mainly gaseous) phase during all the processes of the thermodynamic cycle.
Finding the optimal working fluid for a given purpose – which is essential to achieve higher energy efficiency in the energy conversion systems – has great impact on the technology, namely it does not just influence operational variables of the cycle but also alters the layout and modifies the design of the equipment. Selection criteria of working fluids generally include thermodynamic and physical properties besides economical and environmental factors, but most often all of these criteria are used together. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
Erythropoietin receptor has been shown to interact with:
* CRKL,
* Erythropoietin,
* Grb2,
* Janus kinase 2,
* LYN,
* PIK3R1,
* PTPN6,
* SOCS2,
* SOCS3, and
* STAT5A. | 1 | Biochemistry |
The Gouy-Chapman model fails for highly charged DLs. In 1924, Otto Stern suggested combining the Helmholtz model with the Gouy-Chapman model: in Stern's model, some ions adhere to the electrode as suggested by Helmholtz, giving an internal Stern layer, while some form a Gouy-Chapman diffuse layer.
The Stern layer accounts for ions finite size and consequently an ions closest approach to the electrode is on the order of the ionic radius. The Stern model has its own limitations, namely that it effectively treats ions as point charges, assumes all significant interactions in the diffuse layer are Coulombic, assumes dielectric permittivity to be constant throughout the double layer, and that fluid viscosity is constant plane. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
In science, a process that is not reversible is called irreversible. This concept arises frequently in thermodynamics. All complex natural processes are irreversible, although a phase transition at the coexistence temperature (e.g. melting of ice cubes in water) is well approximated as reversible.
In thermodynamics, a change in the thermodynamic state of a system and all of its surroundings cannot be precisely restored to its initial state by infinitesimal changes in some property of the system without expenditure of energy. A system that undergoes an irreversible process may still be capable of returning to its initial state. Because entropy is a state function, the change in entropy of the system is the same whether the process is reversible or irreversible. However, the impossibility occurs in restoring the environment to its own initial conditions. An irreversible process increases the total entropy of the system and its surroundings. The second law of thermodynamics can be used to determine whether a hypothetical process is reversible or not.
Intuitively, a process is reversible if there is no dissipation. For example, Joule expansion is irreversible because initially the system is not uniform. Initially, there is part of the system with gas in it, and part of the system with no gas. For dissipation to occur, there needs to be such a non uniformity. This is just the same as if in a system one section of the gas was hot, and the other cold. Then dissipation would occur; the temperature distribution would become uniform with no work being done, and this would be irreversible because you couldn't add or remove heat or change the volume to return the system to its initial state. Thus, if the system is always uniform, then the process is reversible, meaning that you can return the system to its original state by either adding or removing heat, doing work on the system, or letting the system do work. As another example, to approximate the expansion in an internal combustion engine as reversible, we would be assuming that the temperature and pressure uniformly change throughout the volume after the spark. Obviously, this is not true and there is a flame front and sometimes even engine knocking. One of the reasons that Diesel engines are able to attain higher efficiency is that the combustion is much more uniform, so less energy is lost to dissipation and the process is closer to reversible.
The phenomenon of irreversibility results from the fact that if a thermodynamic system, which is any system of sufficient complexity, of interacting molecules is brought from one thermodynamic state to another, the configuration or arrangement of the atoms and molecules in the system will change in a way that is not easily predictable. Some "transformation energy" will be used as the molecules of the "working body" do work on each other when they change from one state to another. During this transformation, there will be some heat energy loss or dissipation due to intermolecular friction and collisions. This energy will not be recoverable if the process is reversed.
Many biological processes that were once thought to be reversible have been found to actually be a pairing of two irreversible processes. Whereas a single enzyme was once believed to catalyze both the forward and reverse chemical changes, research has found that two separate enzymes of similar structure are typically needed to perform what results in a pair of thermodynamically irreversible processes. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
The chemical composition for fats differs from that of carbohydrates in that fats contain considerably fewer oxygen atoms in proportion to atoms of carbon and hydrogen. When listed on nutritional information tables, fats are generally divided into six categories: total fats, saturated fatty acid, polyunsaturated fatty acid, monounsaturated fatty acid, dietary cholesterol, and trans fatty acid. From a basal metabolic or resting metabolic perspective, more energy is needed to burn a saturated fatty acid than an unsaturated fatty acid. The fatty acid molecule is broken down and categorized based on the number of carbon atoms in its molecular structure. The chemical equation for metabolism of the twelve to sixteen carbon atoms in a saturated fatty acid molecule shows the difference between metabolism of carbohydrates and fatty acids. Palmitic acid is a commonly studied example of the saturated fatty acid molecule.
The overall equation for the substrate utilization of palmitic acid is
(106 ATP molecules produced, 4.61 ATP molecules per molecule of oxygen.)
Thus the R.Q. for palmitic acid is 0.696: | 1 | Biochemistry |
In spectroscopy, a Voigt profile results from the convolution of two broadening mechanisms, one of which alone would produce a Gaussian profile (usually, as a result of the Doppler broadening), and the other would produce a Lorentzian profile. Voigt profiles are common in many branches of spectroscopy and diffraction. Due to the expense of computing the Faddeeva function, the Voigt profile is sometimes approximated using a pseudo-Voigt profile. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
There have been palytoxin poisonings through skin absorption e.g. in people who handled corals without gloves in their home aquariums in Germany and the USA. | 0 | Organic Chemistry |
As metabolite analyses are being conducted at the individual patient level, pharmacometabolomics may be considered a form of personalized medicine. This field is currently being employed in a predictive manner to determine the potential responses of therapeutic compounds in individual patients, allowing for more customized treatment regimens. It is anticipated that such pharmacometabolomics approaches will lead to the improved ability to predict an individuals response to a compound, the efficacy and metabolism of it as well as adverse or off-target effects that may take place in the body. The metabolism of certain drugs varies from patient to patient as the copy number of the genes which code for common drug metabolizing enzymes varies within the population, and leads to differences in the ability of an individual to metabolize different compounds. Other important personal factors contributing to an individuals metabolic profile, such as patient nutritional status, commensal bacteria, age, and pre-existing medical conditions, are also reflected in metabolite assessment., Overall, pharmacometabolomic analyses combined with such approaches as pharmacogenetics, can function to identify the metabolic processes and particular genetic alterations that may compromise the anticipated efficacy of a drug in a particular patient. The results of such analyses can then allow modification of treatment regimens for an optimal outcome. | 1 | Biochemistry |
Protein interaction networks have been used to predict the function of proteins of unknown functions. This is usually based on the assumption that uncharacterized proteins have similar functions as their interacting proteins (guilt by association). For example, YbeB, a protein of unknown function was found to interact with ribosomal proteins and later shown to be involved in bacterial and eukaryotic (but not archaeal) translation. Although such predictions may be based on single interactions, usually several interactions are found. Thus, the whole network of interactions can be used to predict protein functions, given that certain functions are usually enriched among the interactors. The term hypothome has been used to denote an interactome wherein at least one of the genes or proteins is a hypothetical protein. | 1 | Biochemistry |
The system was originally developed by Richard Anthony Jefferson during his Ph.D. at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He adapted the technique for the use with plants as he worked in the Plant Breeding Institute of Cambridge, between 1985 and 1987. Since then thousands of labs have used the system, making it one of the most widely used tools in plant molecular biology, as underlined by thousands of citations in scientific literature. | 1 | Biochemistry |
For a single, nonrelativistic particle of mass m, in zero magnetic field, the transition dipole moment between two energy eigenstates ψ and ψ can alternatively be written in terms of the momentum operator, using the relationship
This relationship can be proven starting from the commutation relation between position x and the Hamiltonian :
Then
However, assuming that ψ and ψ are energy eigenstates with energy E and E, we can also write
Similar relations hold for y and z, which together give the relationship above. | 5 | Photochemistry |
* The World Health Organization (WHO) published updated guidelines for drinking-water quality (GDWQ) in 2017.
*The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published regulation of water quality in the section of ICS 13.060, ranging from water sampling, drinking water, industrial class water, sewage, and examination of water for chemical, physical or biological properties. ICS 91.140.60 covers the standards of water supply systems. | 3 | Analytical Chemistry |
There are two major families of molecular motors that transport organelles throughout the cell. These families include the dynein family and the kinesin family. Both have very different structures from one another and different ways of achieving a similar goal of moving organelles around the cell. These distances, though only few micrometers, are all preplanned out using microtubules.
* Kinesin These molecular motors always move towards the positive end of the cell
** Uses ATP hydrolysis during the process converting ATP to ADP
*** This process consists of ...
**** The "foot" of the motor binds using ATP, the "foot" proceeds a step, and then ADP comes off. This repeats itself until the destination has been reached
** The kinesin family consists of a multitude of different motor types
*** Kinesin-1 (Conventional)
*** Kinesin-2 (Heterotrimeric)
*** Kinesin-5 (Bipolar)
*** Kinesin-13
* Dynein These molecular motors always move towards the negative end of the cell
** Uses ATP hydrolysis during the process converting ATP to ADP
** Unlike kinesin, the dynein is structured in a different way which requires it to have different movement methods.
*** One of these methods includes the power stroke, which allows the motor protein to "crawl" along the microtubule to its location.
** The structure of dynein consists of
*** A Stem Containing
**** A region that binds to dynactin
**** Intermediate/light chains that will attach to the dynactin bonding region
*** A Head
*** A Stalk
**** With a domain that will bind to the microtubule
:::::These molecular motors tend to take the path of the microtubules. This is most likely due to the facts that the microtubules spring forth out of the centrosome and surround the entire volume of the cell. This in turn creates a "Rail system" of the whole cell and paths leading to its organelles. | 6 | Supramolecular Chemistry |
The echinoderm and flatworm mitochondrial code (translation table 9) is a genetic code used by the mitochondria of certain echinoderm and flatworm species. | 1 | Biochemistry |
ATP was discovered in 1929 by Karl Lohmann and Jendrassik and, independently, by Cyrus Fiske and Yellapragada Subba Rao of Harvard Medical School, both teams competing against each other to find an assay for phosphorus.
It was proposed to be the intermediary between energy-yielding and energy-requiring reactions in cells by Fritz Albert Lipmann in 1941.
It was first synthesized in the laboratory by Alexander Todd in 1948, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1957 partly for this work.
The 1978 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Peter Dennis Mitchell for the discovery of the chemiosmotic mechanism of ATP synthesis.
The 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was divided, one half jointly to Paul D. Boyer and John E. Walker "for their elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)" and the other half to Jens C. Skou "for the first discovery of an ion-transporting enzyme, Na, K -ATPase." | 1 | Biochemistry |
The extent of nephrotoxicity for vancomycin remains controversial. In 1980s, vancomycin with a purity > 90% was available, and kidney toxicity defined by an increase in serum creatinine of at least 0.5 mg/dl, occurred in only about 5% of patients. However, dosing guidelines from the 1980s until 2008 recommended vancomycin trough concentrations between 5 and 15 μg/ml. Concern for treatment failures prompted recommendations for higher dosing (troughs 15 to 20 μg/ml) for serious infection, and acute kidney injury (AKI) rates attributable to the vancomycin increased.
Importantly, the risk of AKI increases with co-administration of other known nephrotoxins, in particular, aminoglycosides. Furthmore, the sort of infections treated with vancomycin may also cause AKI and sepsis is the most common cause of AKI in critically ill patients. Finally, studies in humans are mainly associations studies where the cause of AKI is usually multifacotorial.
Animal studies have demonstrated that higher doses and longer duration of vancomycin exposure correlates with increased histopathologic damage and elevations in urinary biomarkers of AKI.37-38 Damage is most prevalent at the proximal tubule, which is further supported by urinary biomarkers, such as kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), clusterin, and osteopontin (OPN),
and in humans, insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) as part of the nephrocheck test.
The mechanisms that underlie the pathogenesis of vancomycin nephrotoxicity are multifactorial but include interstitial nephritis, tubular injury due to oxidative stress, and cast formation.
Therapeutic drug monitoring can be used during vancomycin therapy to minimize the risk of nephrotoxicity associated with excessive drug exposure. Immunoassays are commonly utilized for measuring vancomycin levels.
In children, the concomitant administration of vancomycin and piperacillin/tazobactam has been associated with an elevated incidence of AKI, relative to other antibiotic regimens. | 0 | Organic Chemistry |
Aluminum based nanogalvanic alloys were initially discovered by researchers of the Metals Branch of ARL's Weapons and Materials Research Directorate (WMRD) while they were testing a new nanostructured aluminum alloy intended for structural materials applications. During metallographic polishing for microhardness experiments, they noticed that the aluminum was disappearing upon contact with water and soon realized that it was creating hydrogen gas in the process. The research team then decided to repurpose the alloy powder for energy applications. A patent was filed for the invention in June 2018 in order to license the aluminum powder to industry. In 2019, the hydrogen fuel company H2 Power, LLC was the first to receive an exclusive license to use the aluminum based nanogalvanic alloys to investigate automotive and transportation power generation applications for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other vehicles. As of 2019, ARL researchers are looking for ways to improve the production and manufacturing process of the aluminum based nanogalvanic alloys. | 2 | Environmental Chemistry |
In terms of volume, most petroleum is converted into fuels for combustion engines. In terms of value, petroleum underpins the petrochemical industry, which includes many high value products such as pharmaceuticals and plastics. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
The preinitiation complex (PIC) is a large complex of proteins that is necessary for the transcription of protein-coding genes in eukaryotes and archaea. The PIC helps position RNA polymerase II over gene transcription start sites, denatures the DNA, and positions the DNA in the RNA polymerase II active site for transcription.
The typical PIC is made up of six general transcription factors: TFIIA (GTF2A1, GTF2A2), TFIIB (GTF2B), B-TFIID (BTAF1, TBP), TFIID (BTAF1, BTF3, BTF3L4, EDF1, TAF1-15, 16 total), TFIIE, TFIIF, TFIIH and TFIIJ.
The construction of the polymerase complex takes place on the gene promoter. The TATA box is one well-studied example of a promoter element that occurs in approximately 10% of genes. It is conserved in many (though not all) model eukaryotes and is found in a fraction of the promoters in these organisms. The sequence TATA (or variations) is located at approximately 25 nucleotides upstream of the Transcription Start Point (TSP). In addition, there are also some weakly conserved features including the TFIIB-Recognition Element (BRE), approximately 5 nucleotides upstream (BRE) and 5 nucleotides downstream (BRE) of the TATA box. | 1 | Biochemistry |
Tryptophan-rich sensory proteins (TspO) are a family of proteins that are involved in transmembrane signalling. In either prokaryotes or mitochondria they are localized to the outer membrane, and have been shown to bind and transport dicarboxylic tetrapyrrole intermediates of the haem biosynthetic pathway. They are associated with the major outer membrane porins (in prokaryotes) and with the voltage-dependent anion channel (in mitochondria).
TspO of Rhodobacter sphaeroides is involved in signal transduction, functioning as a negative regulator of the expression of some photosynthesis genes (PpsR/AppA repressor/antirepressor regulon). This down-regulation is believed to be in response to oxygen levels. TspO works through (or modulates) the PpsR/AppA system and acts upstream of the site of action of these regulatory proteins. It has been suggested that the TspO regulatory pathway works by regulating the efflux of certain tetrapyrrole intermediates of the haem/bacteriochlorophyll biosynthetic pathways in response to the availability of molecular oxygen, thereby causing the accumulation of a biosynthetic intermediate that serves as a corepressor for the regulated genes. A homologue of the TspO protein in Sinorhizobium meliloti is involved in regulating expression of the ndi locus in response to stress conditions.
In animals, the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor is a mitochondrial protein (located in the outer mitochondrial membrane) characterised by its ability to bind with nanomolar affinity to a variety of benzodiazepine-like drugs, as well as to dicarboxylic tetrapyrrole intermediates of the haem biosynthetic pathway. Depending upon the tissue, it was shown to be involved in steroidogenesis, haem biosynthesis, apoptosis, cell growth and differentiation, mitochondrial respiratory control, and immune and stress response, but the precise function of the PBR remains unclear. The role of PBR in the regulation of cholesterol transport from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane, the rate-determining step in steroid biosynthesis, has been studied in detail. PBR is required for the binding, uptake and release, upon ligand activation, of the substrate cholesterol. PBR forms a multimeric complex with the voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) and adenine nucleotide carrier. Molecular modeling of PBR suggested that it might function as a channel for cholesterol. Indeed, cholesterol uptake and transport by bacterial cells was induced upon PBR expression. Mutagenesis studies identified a cholesterol recognition/interaction motif (CRAC) in the cytoplasmic C terminus of PBR.
In complementation experiments, rat PBR (pk18) protein functionally substitutes for its homologue TspO in R. sphaeroides, negatively affecting transcription of specific photosynthesis genes. This suggests that PBR may function as an oxygen sensor, transducing an oxygen-triggered signal leading to an adaptive cellular response.
These observations suggest that fundamental aspects of this receptor and the downstream signal transduction pathway are conserved in bacteria and higher eukaryotic mitochondria. The alpha-3 subdivision of the purple bacteria is considered to be a likely source of the endosymbiont that ultimately gave rise to the mitochondrion. Therefore, it is possible that the mammalian PBR remains both evolutionarily and functionally related to the TspO of R. sphaeroides. | 1 | Biochemistry |
The term macromolecular assembly (MA) refers to massive chemical structures such as viruses and non-biologic nanoparticles, cellular organelles and membranes and ribosomes, etc. that are complex mixtures of polypeptide, polynucleotide, polysaccharide or other polymeric macromolecules. They are generally of more than one of these types, and the mixtures are defined spatially (i.e., with regard to their chemical shape), and with regard to their underlying chemical composition and structure. Macromolecules are found in living and nonliving things, and are composed of many hundreds or thousands of atoms held together by covalent bonds; they are often characterized by repeating units (i.e., they are polymers). Assemblies of these can likewise be biologic or non-biologic, though the MA term is more commonly applied in biology, and the term supramolecular assembly is more often applied in non-biologic contexts (e.g., in supramolecular chemistry and nanotechnology). MAs of macromolecules are held in their defined forms by non-covalent intermolecular interactions (rather than covalent bonds), and can be in either non-repeating structures (e.g., as in the ribosome (image) and cell membrane architectures), or in repeating linear, circular, spiral, or other patterns (e.g., as in actin filaments and the flagellar motor, image). The process by which MAs are formed has been termed molecular self-assembly, a term especially applied in non-biologic contexts. A wide variety of physical/biophysical, chemical/biochemical, and computational methods exist for the study of MA; given the scale (molecular dimensions) of MAs, efforts to elaborate their composition and structure and discern mechanisms underlying their functions are at the forefront of modern structure science. | 1 | Biochemistry |
In every experiment, it is important to determine the relative concentration of the protein in question, ammonium persulfate, and Tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)dichlororuthenium(II) hexahydrate that will be used in the protein cross-linking experiment. Previous experiments have shown that for amyloid β-protein (Aβ), the peptide assumed to cause toxicity in Alzheimer's disease, the ratio of protein: Ru(Bpy): APS is 1:2:40. The ratio of Ru(Bpy) and APS is suggested to be kept at this ratio, but the appropriate concentration of a given protein can vary. For many proteins that PICUP has not yet been used for, finding the appropriate concentrations can be done through trial and error. Generally, protein concentrations would fall in between 10 and 50μM, dissolved in the corresponding buffer, most likely sodium phosphate if testing for conditions at physiological pH. However, some studies of pure protein suggest that the protein to Ru(Bpy) ratio should be kept at 1:2 as well. This level arises from the fact that the lower amount of Ru(Bpy) can lead to the protein sample appearing to have more than the actual number of higher order oligomers, and a greater amount of Ru(Bpy) can allow for artificial cross-linking byproducts.
The general method for PICUP is as follows:
# The appropriate amount of the protein is pipetted into the polymerase chain reaction tube (PCR).
# Ammonium persulfate (APS) and Tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)dichlororuthenium(II) hexahydrate are added to the sample and mixed briefly.
# The PCR tube is placed in a glass vial to hold it still inside the bellows of the camera that would irradiate the mixture. Upon closing the lid that covers the camera, pressing down the camera shutter illuminates the tube for however long you program the camera to irradiate for. Using the same camera for every replicate of the experiment ensures that the irradiation time and the distance from the light sourced is controlled for every PICUP experiment.
# After the sample in the PCR tube is irradiated, a calculated amount of 1M Dithiothreitol (DTT) is immediately added to the mixture to quench the reaction. If the reaction is not quenched, the oligomers will continually aggregate and lower order oligomers will not be present in the mixture. In addition, if SDS-PAGE is to be used to analyze the oligomer distribution of the proteins after PICUP, DTT would also act as a denaturing agent to the proteins before gel electrophoresis. | 1 | Biochemistry |
Polyester resins are synthetic resins formed by the reaction of dibasic organic acids and polyhydric alcohols. Maleic anhydride is a commonly used raw material with diacid functionality in unsaturated polyester resins. Unsaturated polyester resins are used in sheet moulding compound, bulk moulding compound and the toner of laser printers. Wall panels fabricated from polyester resins reinforced with fiberglassso-called fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP)are typically used in restaurants, kitchens, restrooms and other areas that require washable low-maintenance walls. They are also used extensively in cured-in-place pipe applications. Departments of Transportation in the USA also specify them for use as overlays on roads and bridges. In this application they are known AS Polyester Concrete Overlays (PCO). These are usually based on isophthalic acid and cut with styrene at high levelsusually up to 50%. Polyesters are also used in anchor bolt adhesives though epoxy based materials are also used. Many companies have and continue to introduce styrene free systems mainly due to odor issues, but also over concerns that styrene is a potential carcinogen. Drinking water applications also prefer styrene free. Most polyester resins are viscous, pale coloured liquids consisting of a solution of a polyester in a reactive diluent which is usually styrene, but can also include vinyl toluene and various acrylates. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
The G protein-coupled receptors have seven hydrophobic transmembrane domains. Most of them are monomeric proteins, although GABA receptors require heterodimerization to function properly. The protein's N terminus is located on the extracellular side of the membrane and its C terminus is on the intracellular side.
The 7 transmembrane spanning domains, with an external amino terminus, are often claimed as being alpha helix shaped, and the polypeptide chain is said to be composed of around 450–550 amino acids. | 1 | Biochemistry |
One example is the pair . The former has one water of crystallization but the latter does not.
Another example is the pair of titanium(III) chlorides, . The former is violet and the latter, with two molecules of water of crystallization, is green. | 4 | Stereochemistry |
Thermogenin (called uncoupling protein by its discoverers and now known as uncoupling protein 1, or UCP1) is a mitochondrial carrier protein found in brown adipose tissue (BAT). It is used to generate heat by non-shivering thermogenesis, and makes a quantitatively important contribution to countering heat loss in babies which would otherwise occur due to their high surface area-volume ratio. | 1 | Biochemistry |
Dallol mountain has an area of about , and rises about above the surrounding salt plains. A circular depression near the centre is probably a collapsed crater. The southwestern slopes have water-eroded salt canyons, pillars, and blocks. There are numerous saline springs and fields of small fumaroles.
Numerous hot springs discharge brine and acidic liquid here. Small, widespread, temporary geysers produce cones of salt. The Dallol deposits include significant bodies of potash found directly at the surface. The yellow, ochre and brown colourings are the result of the presence of iron and other impurities. Older, inactive springs tend to be dark brown because of oxidation processes. | 9 | Geochemistry |
Molded and laser-ablated shark skin replicas have been fabricated, and shown to be oleophobic in water. The molded replicas use a negative made of polyvinylsiloxane dental wax and the positive replica was made of epoxy. These replicas have also shown that the structure of shark skin reduces the fluid drag caused by turbulent flow. The fluid dynamic properties of sharkskin have been mimicked in swimsuit, nautical, and aerospace applications. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
A semi-empirical method for the prediction of reactivity ratios is called the Q-e scheme which was proposed by Alfrey and Price in 1947. This involves using two parameters for each monomer, and . The reaction of
radical with monomer is written as
while the reaction of radical with monomer is written as
Where P is a proportionality constant, Q is the measure of reactivity of monomer via resonance stabilization, and e is the measure of polarity of monomer (molecule or radical) via the effect of functional groups on vinyl groups. Using these definitions, and can be found by the ratio of the terms. An advantage of this system is that reactivity ratios can be found using tabulated Q-e values of monomers regardless of what the monomer pair is in the system. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
The photochromic trans-cis isomerization of azobenzenes has been used extensively in molecular switches, often taking advantage of its shape change upon isomerization to produce a supramolecular result. In particular, azobenzenes incorporated into crown ethers give switchable receptors and azobenzenes in monolayers can provide light-controlled changes in surface properties. | 5 | Photochemistry |
The eastern blot is used for the detection of specific posttranslational modifications of proteins. Proteins are separated by gel electrophoresis before being transferred to a blotting matrix whereupon posttranslational modifications are detected by specific substrates (cholera toxin, concanavalin, phosphomolybdate, etc.) or antibodies. | 1 | Biochemistry |
Observations of an extracellularly secreted glucosyltransferase (gtfG) sequentially proximal to and activated by an rgg gene with inverted repeats in the intergenic region of Streptococcus gordonii served as a basis for studying its homology between Streptococcus pyogenes. It was discovered that S. pyogenes also shared an rgg/ropB gene located directly next to the subject of its transcriptional regulation, in this case speB protease, with intergenic inverted repeats. Confirmation of linkage between rgg/ropB and speB secretion activation was achieved by means of ropB insertional disruption which resulted in decreased speB production. | 1 | Biochemistry |
The MyD88-dependent response occurs on dimerization of TLRs, and is used by every TLR except TLR3. Its primary effect is activation of NFκB and Mitogen-activated protein kinase. Ligand binding and conformational change that occurs in the receptor recruits the adaptor protein MyD88, a member of the TIR family. MyD88 then recruits IRAK4, IRAK1 and IRAK2. IRAK kinases then phosphorylate and activate the protein TRAF6, which in turn polyubiquinates the protein TAK1, as well as itself to facilitate binding to IKK-β. On binding, TAK1 phosphorylates IKK-β, which then phosphorylates IκB causing its degradation and allowing NFκB to diffuse into the cell nucleus and activate transcription and consequent induction of inflammatory cytokines. | 1 | Biochemistry |
*Nitrosyl (NO) binds to metals in one of two extreme geometries - bent where NO is treated as a pseudohalide (NO), and linear, where NO is treated as NO.
*Dioxygen can be non-innocent, since it exists in two oxidation states, superoxide (O) and peroxide (O).
Ligands with extended pi-delocalization such as porphyrins, phthalocyanines, and corroles and ligands with the generalised formulas [D-CR=CR-D] (D = O, S, NR’ and R, R' = alkyl or aryl) are often non-innocent. In contrast, [D-CR=CR-CR=D] such as NacNac or acac are innocent.
*catecholates and related 1,2-dioxalenes.
*dithiolenes, such as maleonitriledithiolate (see example of [Ni(SCPh)] above).
*1,2-diimines such as derivatives of 1,2-diamidobenzene, 2,2-bipyridine, and dimethylglyoxime. The complex Cr(2,2-bipyridine) is a derivative of Cr(III) bound to three bipyridine ligands. On the other hand, one-electron oxidation of [[Ruthenium tris(bipyridine) chloride|Ru(2,2'-bipyridine)]] is localized on Ru and the bipyridine is behaving as a normal, innocent ligand in this case.
*ligands containing ferrocene can have oxidation events centered on the ferrocene iron center rather than the catalytically active metal center.
*pyridine-2,6-diimine ligands can be reduced by one and two electrons. | 0 | Organic Chemistry |
A single-molecule experiment is an experiment that investigates the properties of individual molecules. Single-molecule studies may be contrasted with measurements on an ensemble or bulk collection of molecules, where the individual behavior of molecules cannot be distinguished, and only average characteristics can be measured. Since many measurement techniques in biology, chemistry, and physics are not sensitive enough to observe single molecules, single-molecule fluorescence techniques (that have emerged since the 1990s for probing various processes on the level of individual molecules) caused a lot of excitement, since these supplied many new details on the measured processes that were not accessible in the past. Indeed, since the 1990s, many techniques for probing individual molecules have been developed.
The first single-molecule experiments were patch clamp experiments performed in the 1970s, but these were limited to studying ion channels. Today, systems investigated using single-molecule techniques include the movement of myosin on actin filaments in muscle tissue and the spectroscopic details of individual local environments in solids. Biological polymers' conformations have been measured using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Using force spectroscopy, single molecules (or pairs of interacting molecules), usually polymers, can be mechanically stretched, and their elastic response recorded in real time. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
PCLake is designed to study the effects of eutrophication on shallow lakes and ponds. On one hand, the model is used by scientists to study the general behavior of these ecosystems. For example, PCLake is used to understand the phenomena of alternative stable states and hysteresis, and in that light, the relative importance of lake features such as water depth or fetch length. Also the potential effects of climate warming for shallow lakes have been studied. On the other hand, PCLake is applied by lake water resource managers that consider the turbid state as undesirable. They can use the model to define the critical loadings for their specific lakes and evaluate the effectiveness of restoration measures. For this purpose also a meta-model has been developed. The meta-model can be used by water managers to derive an estimate of the critical loading values for a certain lake based on only a few important parameters, without the need of running the full dynamical model. | 2 | Environmental Chemistry |
The HR-EBSD method can achieve a precision of ±10 in components of the displacement gradient tensors (i.e., variations in lattice strain and lattice rotation in radians) by measuring the shifts of zone axes within the pattern image with a resolution of ±0.05 pixels. It was limited to small strains and rotations (>1.5°) until Britton and Wilkinson and Maurice et al. raised the rotation limit to ~11° by using a re-mapping technique that recalculated the strain after transforming the patterns with a rotation matrix () calculated from the first cross-correlation iteration.
However, further lattice rotation, typically caused by severe plastic deformations, produced errors in the elastic strain calculations. To address this problem, Ruggles et al. improved the HR-EBSD precision, even at 12° of lattice rotation, using the inverse compositional Gauss–Newton-based (ICGN) method instead of cross-correlation. For simulated patterns, Vermeij and Hoefnagels also established a method that achieves a precision of ±10 in the displacement gradient components using a full-field integrated digital image correlation (IDIC) framework instead of dividing the EBSPs into small ROIs. Patterns in IDIC are distortion-corrected to negate the need for re-mapping up to ~14°.
These measurements do not provide information about the hydrostatic or volumetric strains, because there is no change in the orientations of lattice planes (crystallographic directions), but only changes in the position and width of the Kikuchi bands. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
Laser diffraction analysis is typically accomplished via a red He-Ne laser or laser diode, a high-voltage power supply, and structural packaging. Alternatively, blue laser diodes or LEDs of shorter wavelength may be used. The light source affects the detection limits, with lasers of shorter wavelengths better suited for the detection of submicron particles. Angling of the light energy produced by the laser is detected by having a beam of light go through a flow of dispersed particles and then onto a sensor. A lens is placed between the object being analyzed and the detectors focal point, causing only the surrounding laser diffraction to appear. The sizes the laser can analyze depend on the lens focal length, the distance from the lens to its point of focus. As the focal length increases, the area the laser can detect increases as well, displaying a proportional relationship.
Multiple light detectors are used to collect the diffracted light, which are placed at fixed angles relative to the laser beam. More detector elements extend sensitivity and size limits. A computer can then be used to detect the object's particle sizes from the light energy produced and its layout, which the computer derives from the data collected on the particle frequencies and wavelengths.
In practical terms, laser diffraction instruments can measure particles in liquid suspension, using a carrier solvent, or as dry powders, using compressed air or simply gravity to mobilize the particles. Sprays and aerosols generally require a specific setup. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
In order to define and characterize a biosynthetic gene cluster, all the putative genes within said cluster must first be identified and their functions must be characterized. This can be performed by complementation and knock out experiments. In the process of characterizing putative genes, the genome under study becomes increasingly well understood as more interactions can be identified. Identification of putative genes is necessary to study genomic evolution, as significant proportion of genomes make up larger families of related genes. Genomic evolution occurs by processes such as duplication of individual genes, genome segments, or entire genomes. These processes can result in loss of function, altered function, or gain of function, and have drastic affects on the phenotype.
DNA mutations outside of a putative gene can act by positional effect, in which they alter the gene expression. These alterations leave the transcription unit and promoter of the gene intact, but may involve distal promoters, enhancer/silencer elements, or the local chromatin environment. These mutations can be associated with diseases or disorders associated with the gene.<br /> | 1 | Biochemistry |
A diet with insufficient vitamin D in conjunction with inadequate sun exposure causes vitamin D deficiency, which is defined as a blood 25(OH)D level below 12ng/mL (30nmol/liter), whereas vitamin D insufficiency is a blood 25(OH)D level of 12–20ng/mL (30–50nmol/liter). An estimated one billion adults worldwide are either vitamin D insufficient or deficient, including in developed countries in Europe. Severe vitamin D deficiency in children, a rare disease in the developed world, causes a softening and weakening of growing bones, and a condition called rickets.
Vitamin D deficiency is found worldwide in the elderly and remains common in children and adults. Deficiency results in impaired bone mineralization and bone damage which leads to bone-softening diseases, including rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Low blood calcifediol (25-hydroxy-vitamin D) can result from avoiding the sun. Being deficient in Vitamin D can cause the absorption of dietary calcium to fall from the normal fraction (between 60 and 80 percent) to as little as 15 percent.
Dark-skinned people living in temperate climates have been shown to have low vitamin D levels. Dark-skinned people are less efficient at making vitamin D because melanin in the skin hinders vitamin D synthesis. Vitamin D deficiency is common in Hispanic and African-Americans in the United States, with levels dropping significantly in the winter. This is due to the levels of melanin in the skin, as it acts as a natural protectant from sun exposure. | 1 | Biochemistry |
Jaynes (1985, 2003, et passim) discussed the concept of probability. According to the MaxEnt viewpoint, the probabilities in statistical mechanics are determined jointly by two factors: by respectively specified particular models for the underlying state space (e.g. Liouvillian phase space); and by respectively specified particular partial descriptions of the system (the macroscopic description of the system used to constrain the MaxEnt probability assignment). The probabilities are objective in the sense that, given these inputs, a uniquely defined probability distribution will result, the same for every rational investigator, independent of the subjectivity or arbitrary opinion of particular persons. The probabilities are epistemic in the sense that they are defined in terms of specified data and derived from those data by definite and objective rules of inference, the same for every rational investigator. Here the word epistemic, which refers to objective and impersonal scientific knowledge, the same for every rational investigator, is used in the sense that contrasts it with opiniative, which refers to the subjective or arbitrary beliefs of particular persons; this contrast was used by Plato and Aristotle, and stands reliable today.
Jaynes also used the word subjective in this context because others have used it in this context. He accepted that in a sense, a state of knowledge has a subjective aspect, simply because it refers to thought, which is a mental process. But he emphasized that the principle of maximum entropy refers only to thought which is rational and objective, independent of the personality of the thinker. In general, from a philosophical viewpoint, the words subjective and objective are not contradictory; often an entity has both subjective and objective aspects. Jaynes explicitly rejected the criticism of some writers that, just because one can say that thought has a subjective aspect, thought is automatically non-objective. He explicitly rejected subjectivity as a basis for scientific reasoning, the epistemology of science; he required that scientific reasoning have a fully and strictly objective basis. Nevertheless, critics continue to attack Jaynes, alleging that his ideas are "subjective". One writer even goes so far as to label Jaynes' approach as "ultrasubjectivist", and to mention "the panic that the term subjectivism created amongst physicists".
The probabilities represent both the degree of knowledge and lack of information in the data and the model used in the analyst's macroscopic description of the system, and also what those data say about the nature of the underlying reality.
The fitness of the probabilities depends on whether the constraints of the specified macroscopic model are a sufficiently accurate and/or complete description of the system to capture all of the experimentally reproducible behavior. This cannot be guaranteed, a priori. For this reason MaxEnt proponents also call the method predictive statistical mechanics. The predictions can fail. But if they do, this is informative, because it signals the presence of new constraints needed to capture reproducible behavior in the system, which had not been taken into account. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
Delapril (INN, also known as alindapril) is an ACE inhibitor used as an antihypertensive drug in some European and Asian countries but not in America. It is taken orally, available in 15 mg and 30 mg tablets. | 4 | Stereochemistry |
Ensuring accuracy of the results is essential if GEOTRACES is to build a meaningful global dataset. To this end, the [https://web.archive.org/web/20120716041115/http://www.geotraces.org/science/intercalibration] Standards and Intercalibration (S&I) Committee is in charge of securing that truthful and precise data are generated in the GEOTRACES Program through the use of appropriate sampling protocols, analytical standards and certified reference materials, and the active sharing of methods and results.
Since the concentration, activity, or chemical speciation of a trace element or isotope can be affected by sampling methods, sample handling, and analytical determinations, GEOTRACES follows the strategy of cruises to occupy a common station along their transects. At the same time two U.S.-led cruises (2008 and 2009) provided samples for intercalibration to laboratories from many countries. Seawater samples are available for use by other labs that wish to join this effort.
Simple data comparisons like depth profiles show whether there are disagreements and, if so, the investigators can examine their methods and even data work ups to identify and remedy the problems. | 9 | Geochemistry |
Plants have been engineered for scientific research, to display new flower colors, deliver vaccines, and to create enhanced crops. Many plants are pluripotent, meaning that a single cell from a mature plant can be harvested and under the right conditions can develop into a new plant. This ability can be taken advantage of by genetic engineers; by selecting for cells that have been successfully transformed in an adult plant a new plant can then be grown that contains the transgene in every cell through a process known as tissue culture.
Much of the advances in the field of genetic engineering has come from experimentation with tobacco. Major advances in tissue culture and plant cellular mechanisms for a wide range of plants has originated from systems developed in tobacco. It was the first plant to be altered using genetic engineering and is considered a model organism for not only genetic engineering, but a range of other fields. As such the transgenic tools and procedures are well established making tobacco one of the easiest plants to transform. Another major model organism relevant to genetic engineering is Arabidopsis thaliana. Its small genome and short life cycle makes it easy to manipulate and it contains many homologs to important crop species. It was the first plant sequenced, has a host of online resources available and can be transformed by simply dipping a flower in a transformed Agrobacterium solution.
In research, plants are engineered to help discover the functions of certain genes. The simplest way to do this is to remove the gene and see what phenotype develops compared to the wild type form. Any differences are possibly the result of the missing gene. Unlike mutagenisis, genetic engineering allows targeted removal without disrupting other genes in the organism. Some genes are only expressed in certain tissues, so reporter genes, like GUS, can be attached to the gene of interest allowing visualization of the location. Other ways to test a gene is to alter it slightly and then return it to the plant and see if it still has the same effect on phenotype. Other strategies include attaching the gene to a strong promoter and see what happens when it is overexpressed, forcing a gene to be expressed in a different location or at different developmental stages.
Some genetically modified plants are purely ornamental. They are modified for flower color, fragrance, flower shape and plant architecture. The first genetically modified ornamentals commercialized altered color. Carnations were released in 1997, with the most popular genetically modified organism, a blue rose (actually lavender or mauve) created in 2004. The roses are sold in Japan, the United States, and Canada. Other genetically modified ornamentals include Chrysanthemum and Petunia. As well as increasing aesthetic value there are plans to develop ornamentals that use less water or are resistant to the cold, which would allow them to be grown outside their natural environments.
It has been proposed to genetically modify some plant species threatened by extinction to be resistant to invasive plants and diseases, such as the emerald ash borer in North American and the fungal disease, Ceratocystis platani, in European plane trees. The papaya ringspot virus devastated papaya trees in Hawaii in the twentieth century until transgenic papaya plants were given pathogen-derived resistance. However, genetic modification for conservation in plants remains mainly speculative. A unique concern is that a transgenic species may no longer bear enough resemblance to the original species to truly claim that the original species is being conserved. Instead, the transgenic species may be genetically different enough to be considered a new species, thus diminishing the conservation worth of genetic modification. | 1 | Biochemistry |
A bumblebee nest differs in size and structure from that of a honeybee. Bumblebee nests are smaller and contain far fewer individuals which is mostly due to differences in the method of colony reproduction. Honeybee colonies can contain up to 50,000 individuals, whereas bumblebee colonies usually only contain a few hundred. This means the number of bees available for foraging is low and resources must be allocated accordingly. Assessing the level of food stores is not seen in honeybees, likely because the large colonies make such assessment inefficient. Bumblebees only store enough honey for a few days. By monitoring the levels of the honey pots a bumblebee colony can either up or down regulate the number of bees out foraging. Lab experiments by Anna Dornhaus and Lars Chittka in 2005 showed evidence of this up or down regulation by monitoring the activity level of the hive after the addition of nectar to the honey pots. Hive activity increased when high quality nectar was injected into the honey pots, provided the wells werent already full. When the honey pots were full, there was no significant change in activity regardless of whether the nectar imported was from a high or low quality source. They hypothesized that either the foraging bee does not signal the nest or the nest bees ignore the signal because the demand for food is low. The tropical bumblebee Bombus transversalis' has also been shown to respond to honey pot levels in a similar way. | 1 | Biochemistry |
* Therapeutic T cell engineering: altering T cells to target cancer-related antigens for treatment
* Monoclonal antibody production: improving monoclonal antibody production using engineered cells
* In vivo cell factories: engineering cells to produce therapeutics within the patient's body
* Directed stem cell differentiation: using external factors to direct stem cell differentiation
* Antibody Drug Conjugates: engineering antibody and cytotoxic drug linkages for disease treatment | 1 | Biochemistry |
It was originally hypothesized that salinosporamide B was a biosynthetic precursor to salinosporamide A due to their structural similarities.
It was thought that the halogenation of the unactivated methyl group was catalyzed by a non-heme iron halogenase. Recent work using C-labeled feeding experiments reveal distinct biosynthetic origins of salinosporamide A and B.
While they share the biosynthetic precursors acetate and presumed β-hydroxycyclohex-2'-enylalanine (3), they differ in the origin of the four-carbon building block that gives rise to their structural differences involving the halogen atom. A hybrid polyketide synthase-nonribosomal peptide synthetase (PKS-NRPS) pathway is most likely the biosynthetic mechanism in which acetyl-CoA and butyrate-derived ethylmalonyl-CoA condense to yield the β-ketothioester (4), which then reacts with (3) to generate the linear precursor (5). | 0 | Organic Chemistry |
Beyond its immediate industrial applications, ledeburite holds a central position in metallurgical studies. The exploration of this unique microconstituent contributes to a deeper understanding of phase transformations, solidification processes, and the principles governing alloy behavior. Researchers and metallurgists leverage ledeburite as a model system to investigate the fundamental aspects of phase diagrams, eutectic reactions, and the kinetics of microstructural evolution during cooling and solidification.
Metallurgical studies involving ledeburite extend to the development of advanced materials with tailored properties. By comprehending the nuances of ledeburite formation and its impact on steel performance, scientists can design alloys with improved strength, hardness, and corrosion resistance. This knowledge is invaluable in pushing the boundaries of material science and engineering, paving the way for innovations in diverse fields. | 8 | Metallurgy |
Mycoestrogens are xenoestrogens produced by fungi. They are sometimes referred to as mycotoxins. Among important mycoestrogens are zearalenone, zearalenol and zearalanol. Although all of these can be produced by various Fusarium species, zearalenol and zearalanol may also be produced endogenously in ruminants that have ingested zearalenone. Alpha-zearalanol is also produced semisynthetically, for veterinary use; such use is prohibited in the European Union. | 1 | Biochemistry |
Ectopic is a word used with a prefix ecto-, meaning “out of”, and the suffix -topic, meaning "place." Ectopic expression is an abnormal gene expression in a cell type, tissue type, or developmental stage in which the gene is not usually expressed. The term ectopic expression is predominantly used in studies using metazoans, especially in Drosophila melanogaster for research purposes. | 1 | Biochemistry |
Used doctor blades, from gravure and other printing and coating processes, can be inspected with a goniometer, typically with a built-in light source, to examine the blade edge for wear and correct angles. A difference in angle from that set on the machine may indicate excessive pressure, and a range of angles ("rounding") probably indicates a lack of stiffness, or wear, in the blade holder assembly. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
Production cost of microalgae-biofuel through implementation of raceway pond systems is dominated by the operational cost which includes labour, raw materials, and utilities. In raceway pond system, during the cultivation process, electricity takes up the largest energy fraction of total operational energy requirements. It is used to circulate the microalgae cultures. It takes up an energy fraction ranging from 22% to 79%. In contrast, capital cost dominates the cost of production of microalgae-biofuel in PBRs. This system has a high installation cost though the operational cost is relatively lower than raceway pond systems.
Microalgae-biofuel production costs a larger amount of money compared to fossil fuel production. The cost estimation of producing microalgae-biofuel is around , which is considerably more expensive than conventional gasoline. However, when compared with electrification of the vehicle fleet – a key advantage of such biofuel is the avoidance of the costly distribution of large amounts of electrical energy (as is required to convert existing vehicle fleets to battery electric technology), therein allowing for the re-use of the existing liquid-fuel transportation infrastructure. Biofuel such as ethanol is also greatly more energy dense than current battery technologies (approximately 6x as much) further promoting its economic viability. | 0 | Organic Chemistry |
Beginning in 2018 in response to the recurring hypoxic events, activists from civil society have lobbied under the name of "ILP (Iniciativa Legisativa Popular) Mar Menor" for a law that would recognize the right of the Mar Menor ecosystem to exist, treating it as a "legal person" following the legal paradigm of rights of nature. In October 2022, Spanish lawmakers granted these rights, making the Mar Menor the first case of an ecosystem protected by rights of nature in Europe. The Mar Menor is now legally represented by a group of citizens, scientists and officials; furthermore, anyone can bring legal action on behalf of Mar Menor, without first having to prove legal standing. | 2 | Environmental Chemistry |
Numerous biomolecules exhibit the ability to dissolve certain metal cations. Thus, proteins, polysaccharides, and polynucleic acids are excellent polydentate ligands for many metal ions. Organic compounds such as the amino acids glutamic acid and histidine, organic diacids such as malate, and polypeptides such as phytochelatin are also typical chelators. In addition to these adventitious chelators, several biomolecules are specifically produced to bind certain metals (see next section).
Virtually all metalloenzymes feature metals that are chelated, usually to peptides or cofactors and prosthetic groups. Such chelating agents include the porphyrin rings in hemoglobin and chlorophyll. Many microbial species produce water-soluble pigments that serve as chelating agents, termed siderophores. For example, species of Pseudomonas are known to secrete pyochelin and pyoverdine that bind iron. Enterobactin, produced by E. coli, is the strongest chelating agent known. The marine mussels use metal chelation esp. Fe chelation with the Dopa residues in mussel foot protein-1 to improve the strength of the threads that they use to secure themselves to surfaces.
In earth science, chemical weathering is attributed to organic chelating agents (e.g., peptides and sugars) that extract metal ions from minerals and rocks. Most metal complexes in the environment and in nature are bound in some form of chelate ring (e.g., with a humic acid or a protein). Thus, metal chelates are relevant to the mobilization of metals in the soil, the uptake and the accumulation of metals into plants and microorganisms. Selective chelation of heavy metals is relevant to bioremediation (e.g., removal of Cs from radioactive waste). | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
: The commonly used markers include simple sequence repeats (or microsatellites), single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). The process of identification of plant genotypes is known as genotyping.
Another area that is developing is genotyping by sequencing. | 1 | Biochemistry |
VitaminD (ergocalciferol) and vitaminD (cholecalciferol) share a similar mechanism of action as outlined above. Metabolites produced by vitamin D are named with an er- or ergo- prefix to differentiate them from the D-based counterparts (sometimes with a chole- prefix).
* Metabolites produced from vitaminD tend to bind less well to the vitamin D-binding protein.
* VitaminD can alternatively be hydroxylated to calcifediol by sterol 27-hydroxylase (CYP27A1), but vitaminD cannot.
* Ergocalciferol can be directly hydroxylated at position 24 by CYP27A1. This hydroxylation also leads to a greater degree of inactivation: the activity of calcitriol decreases to 60% of original after 24-hydroxylation, whereas ercalcitriol undergoes a 10-fold decrease in activity on conversion to ercalcitetrol.
It is disputed whether these differences lead to a measurable drop in efficacy (see ). | 1 | Biochemistry |
In general, when scientists determine the amount of a substance that may be hazardous for humans, animals and/or the environment they determine the amount of the substance likely to trigger effects and if possible establish a safe level. In Europe, the European Food Safety Authority produced risk assessments for more than 4,000 substances in over 1,600 scientific opinions and they provide open access summaries of human health, animal health and ecological hazard assessments in their OpenFoodTox database. The OpenFoodTox database can be used to screen potential new foods for toxicity.
The Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program (TEHIP) at the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) maintains a comprehensive toxicology and environmental health web site that includes access to toxins-related resources produced by TEHIP and by other government agencies and organizations. This web site includes links to databases, bibliographies, tutorials, and other scientific and consumer-oriented resources. TEHIP also is responsible for the Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET), an integrated system of toxicology and environmental health databases that are available free of charge on the web.
TOXMAP is a Geographic Information System (GIS) that is part of TOXNET. TOXMAP uses maps of the United States to help users visually explore data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Toxics Release Inventory and Superfund Basic Research Programs. | 1 | Biochemistry |
CrysTBox (Crystallographic Tool Box) is a suite of computer tools designed to accelerate material research based on transmission electron microscope images via highly accurate automated analysis and interactive visualization. Relying on artificial intelligence and computer vision, CrysTBox makes routine crystallographic analyses simpler, faster and more accurate compared to human evaluators. The high level of automation together with sub-pixel precision and interactive visualization makes the quantitative crystallographic analysis accessible even for non-crystallographers allowing for an interdisciplinary research. Simultaneously, experienced material scientists can take advantage of advanced functionalities for comprehensive analyses.
CrysTBox is being developed in the Laboratory of electron microscopy at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. For academic purposes, it is available for free. As of 2022, the suite has been deployed at research and educational facilities in more than 90 countries supporting research of ETH Zurich, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Max Planck Institutes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fraunhofer Institutes or Oxford University. | 3 | Analytical Chemistry |
PI3K inhibitors may overcome drug resistance and improve advanced breast cancer (ABC) outcomes. Different PI3K inhibitors exhibit different effect against various PI3K types. Class IA pan-PI3K inhibitors have been more extensively studied than isoform specific inhibitors; Pictilisib is another pan-PI3K inhibitor with greater subunitα-inhibitor activity than buparlisib. Idelalisib is the first PI3K inhibitor approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and is utilized in the treatment of relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma and follicular lymphoma. Copanlisib is approved for relapsed follicular lymphoma in patients who have received at least two prior systemic therapies. Duvelisib is approved for relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL), and relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma, both indications for patients who have received at least two prior therapies. | 1 | Biochemistry |
The Great Calcite Belt (GCB) of the Southern Ocean is a region of elevated summertime upper ocean calcite concentration derived from coccolithophores, despite the region being known for its diatom predominance. The overlap of two major phytoplankton groups, coccolithophores and diatoms, in the dynamic frontal systems characteristic of this region provides an ideal setting to study environmental
influences on the distribution of different species within these taxonomic groups.
The Great Calcite Belt, defined as an elevated particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) feature occurring alongside seasonally elevated chlorophyll a in austral spring and summer in the Southern Ocean, plays an important role in climate fluctuations, accounting for over 60% of the Southern Ocean area (30–60° S). The region between 30° and 50° S has the highest uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO) alongside the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. Knowledge of the impact of interacting environmental influences on phytoplankton distribution in the Southern Ocean is limited. For example, more understanding is needed of how light and iron availability or temperature and pH interact to control phytoplankton biogeography. Hence, if model parameterizations are to improve to provide accurate predictions of biogeochemical change, a multivariate understanding of the full suite of environmental drivers is required.
The Southern Ocean has often been considered as a microplankton-dominated (20–200 µm) system with phytoplankton blooms dominated by large diatoms and Phaeocystis sp. However, since the identification of the GCB as a consistent feature and the recognition of picoplankton (< 2 µm) and nanoplankton (2–20 µm) importance in high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll (HNLC) waters, the dynamics of small (bio)mineralizing plankton and their export need to be acknowledged. The two dominant biomineralizing phytoplankton groups in the GCB are coccolithophores and diatoms. Coccolithophores are generally found north of the polar front, though Emiliania huxleyi has been observed as far south as 58° S in the Scotia Sea, at 61° S across Drake Passage, and at 65°S south of Australia.
Diatoms are present throughout the GCB, with the polar front marking a strong divide between different size fractions. North of the polar front, small diatom species, such as Pseudo-nitzschia spp. and Thalassiosira spp., tend to dominate numerically, whereas large diatoms with higher silicic acid requirements (e.g., Fragilariopsis kerguelensis) are generally more abundant south of the polar front. High abundances of nanoplankton (coccolithophores, small diatoms, chrysophytes) have also been observed on the Patagonian Shelf and in the Scotia Sea. Currently, few studies incorporate small biomineralizing phytoplankton to species level. Rather, the focus has often been on the larger and noncalcifying species in the Southern Ocean due to sample preservation issues (i.e., acidified Lugol’s solution dissolves calcite, and light microscopy restricts accurate identification to cells > 10 µm. In the context of climate change and future ecosystem function, the distribution of biomineralizing phytoplankton is important to define when considering phytoplankton interactions with carbonate chemistry, and ocean biogeochemistry.
The Great Calcite Belt spans the major Southern Ocean circumpolar fronts: the Subantarctic front, the polar front, the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current front, and occasionally the southern boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The subtropical front (at approximately 10 °C) acts as the northern boundary of the GCB and is associated with a sharp increase in PIC southwards. These fronts divide distinct environmental and biogeochemical zones, making the GCB an ideal study area to examine controls on phytoplankton communities in the open ocean. A high PIC concentration observed in the GCB (1 µmol PIC L) compared to the global average (0.2 µmol PIC L) and significant quantities of detached E. huxleyi coccoliths (in concentrations > 20,000 coccoliths mL) both characterize the GCB. The GCB is clearly observed in satellite imagery spanning from the Patagonian Shelf across the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans and completing Antarctic circumnavigation via the Drake Passage. | 9 | Geochemistry |
The advantage of using ketenyl anion molecule is to synthesize desired compound selectively without concerning dimerization before synthesizing a target product. In ylide-ketenyl anion, electrophile can be substituted in exchange of metal to functionalize the ketene moiety at high yield. Since the central carbon is negatively charged, this nucleophilicity enable substitution with a series of electrophilic compounds such as triphenylmethyl group. Some ketenyl anion can further react with other compounds to form a new functional group. For example, after electrophilic substitution of ketenyl anion with triphenylmethyl group, the treatment with water results in formation of carboxylic acid at C=O moiety. Reported compounds from Gessner et al. had more than 90% yield isolated as solid.
Not only at the central carbon where a cation can be coordinated, other carbon atom and terminal oxygen atom can also be functionalized upon electrophilic substitution. This reactivity allows activation of chemical bonds such as S-S and C=O bonds and new bonds C-S bond and C=C bond. These products requires CO and substrates of interests, which highlight new synthetic pathways of organic compounds at room temperature instead of extreme conditions such as pyrolysis.
A stabilized ketenyl anion also undergoes dimerization with disubstituted phosphine compound to form a heterocyclic product. In this reaction, an intermediate is proposed to be electrophilic substitution of a disubstituted phosphine compound followed by dimerization.
In different ketenyl anion compound, cleavage of C-H bond, C=N bond, and I bond at room temperature were also reported in phosphinidene-stabilized ketene. For I cleaving reaction, the mechanism is proposed to be cleavage of the bond at central carbon and migration of I to phosphorus atom. | 0 | Organic Chemistry |
In the last century, refrigeration allowed new settlement patterns to emerge. This new technology has allowed for new areas to be settled that are not on a natural channel of transport such as a river, valley trail or harbor that may have otherwise not been settled. Refrigeration has given opportunities to early settlers to expand westward and into rural areas that were unpopulated. These new settlers with rich and untapped soil saw opportunity to profit by sending raw goods to the eastern cities and states. In the 20th century, refrigeration has made "Galactic Cities" such as Dallas, Phoenix and Los Angeles possible. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
Upon illumination of the chloroplasts, the pH of the stroma rises from 7.0 to 8.0 because of the proton (hydrogen ion, ) gradient created across the thylakoid membrane. The movement of protons into thylakoids is driven by light and is fundamental to ATP synthesis in chloroplasts (Further reading: Photosynthetic reaction centre; Light-dependent reactions). To balance ion potential across the membrane, magnesium ions () move out of the thylakoids in response, increasing the concentration of magnesium in the stroma of the chloroplasts. RuBisCO has a high optimal pH (can be >9.0, depending on the magnesium ion concentration) and, thus, becomes "activated" by the introduction of carbon dioxide and magnesium to the active sites as described above. | 5 | Photochemistry |
He invented the first hardware security module (HSM), the so-called "Atalla Box", a security system that secures a majority of transactions from ATMs today. At the same time, Atalla contributed to the development of the personal identification number (PIN) system, which has developed among others in the banking industry as the standard for identification.
The work of Atalla in the early 1970s led to the use of hardware security modules. His "Atalla Box", a security system which encrypts PIN and ATM messages, and protected offline devices with an un-guessable PIN-generating key. He commercially released the "Atalla Box" in 1973. The product was released as the Identikey. It was a card reader and customer identification system, providing a terminal with plastic card and PIN capabilities. The system was designed to let banks and thrift institutions switch to a plastic card environment from a passbook program. The Identikey system consisted of a card reader console, two customer PIN pads, intelligent controller and built-in electronic interface package. The device consisted of two keypads, one for the customer and one for the teller. It allowed the customer to type in a secret code, which is transformed by the device, using a microprocessor, into another code for the teller. During a transaction, the customer's account number was read by the card reader. This process replaced manual entry and avoided possible key stroke errors. It allowed users to replace traditional customer verification methods such as signature verification and test questions with a secure PIN system.
A key innovation of the Atalla Box was the key block, which is required to securely interchange symmetric keys or PINs with other actors of the banking industry. This secure interchange is performed using the Atalla Key Block (AKB) format, which lies at the root of all cryptographic block formats used within the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards.
Fearful that Atalla would dominate the market, banks and credit card companies began working on an international standard. Its PIN verification process was similar to the later IBM 3624. Atalla was an early competitor to IBM in the banking market, and was cited as an influence by IBM employees who worked on the Data Encryption Standard (DES). In recognition of his work on the PIN system of information security management, Atalla has been referred to as the "Father of the PIN" and as a father of information security technology.
The Atalla Box protected over 90% of all ATM networks in operation as of 1998, and secured 85% of all ATM transactions worldwide as of 2006. Atalla products still secure the majority of the world's ATM transactions, as of 2014. | 7 | Physical Chemistry |
* Coordinates the activities of more than 70 polypeptides required for initiation of transcription by RNA polymerase II
* Binds to the core promoter to position the polymerase properly
* Serves as the scaffold for assembly of the remainder of the transcription complex
* Acts as a channel for regulatory signals | 1 | Biochemistry |
Reflections, or mirror isometries, denoted by F, where c is a point in the plane and v is a unit vector in R. (F is for "flip".) have the effect of reflecting the point p in the line L that is perpendicular to v and that passes through c. The line L is called the reflection axis or the associated mirror. To find a formula for F, we first use the dot product to find the component t of p − c in the v direction,
and then we obtain the reflection of p by subtraction,
The combination of rotations about the origin and reflections about a line through the origin is obtained with all orthogonal matrices (i.e. with determinant 1 and −1) forming orthogonal group O(2). In the case of a determinant of −1 we have:
which is a reflection in the x-axis followed by a rotation by an angle θ, or equivalently, a reflection in a line making an angle of θ/2 with the x-axis. Reflection in a parallel line corresponds to adding a vector perpendicular to it. | 3 | Analytical Chemistry |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.