Statistical optimization and mutagenesis for high level of phytase production by Rhizopus oligosporus MTCC 556 under solid state fermentation

The present study deals with production of phytase from Rhizopus oligosporus MTCC 556 by solid state fermentation (SSF) using different (ADT27, IR20, PAIYUR1, KG, and RASI) rice bran varieties, in which ADT27 rice bran yield maximum of 6.2 U gds⁻¹ phytase. Statistical optimization was employed by Central Composite Design (CCD); the results showed that 3.0 g dextrose, 2.5 g ammonium nitrate, substrate size of 80 mesh, 10 mg calcium chloride was 116 hr at optimal for phytase production by SSF, with maximum of 23.14 U gds'. Phytase production improved by 4 fold (31.3 U/gds) due to chemical mutagenesis (mutant Rhizopus oligosporus MTCC 1116) in optimized media composition. Partially purified phytase showed approximately 90 kDa of molecular mass and was optimally active at 5.5 pH and 50°C temperature. Substrate specificity exhibited in sodium phytic acid and phytase activity was stimulated by Zn²⁺ and Ca²⁺.

Influence of local structural disorders on spectroscopic properties of multi-component CaF₂-Bi₂O₃-P₂O₅-B₂O₃ glass ceramics with Cr₂O₃ as nucleating agent

Multi-component CaF2-Bi2O3-P2O5-B2O3 glasses doped with different concentrations of Cr2O3 were crystallized through heat treatment. The prepared glass ceramic samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). Spectroscopic studies viz., optical absorption, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Raman and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) were carried out. The XRD, SEM and DTA studies indicated that the samples contain different crystalline phases. Results of optical absorption and EPR studies pointed out the gradual conversion of chromium ions from Cr(3+) state to Cr(6+) state with an increase of Cr2O3 content from 0.1 to 0.5 mol%. The results of FTIR, Raman and EPR studies revealed that Cr(6+) ions participate in the glass network in tetrahedral positions and seemed to increase the polymerization of the glass ceramics. The quantitative analysis of results of the spectroscopic studies further indicated that the glasses crystallized with low concentration of Cr2O3 are favourable for solid state laser devices.

Acetals from primary alcohols with the use of tridentate proton responsive phosphinepyridonate iridium catalysts

The association of the new phosphinepyridonate ligands along with an iridium metallic precursor resulted in the selective acetalization of various primary alcohols via a formal dehydrogenative coupling reaction.

Toxicity evaluation of gold nanoparticles using an Allium cepa bioassay

The size- and dose-dependent cytogenetic effects of gold NPs were evaluated for the first time by a simple and cost-effective Allium cepa (A. cepa) bioassay.

A Foldable Lithium-Sulfur Battery

The next generation of deformable and shape-conformable electronics devices will need to be powered by batteries that are not only flexible but also foldable. Here we report a foldable lithium-sulfur (Li-S) rechargeable battery, with the highest areal capacity (∼3 mAh cm(-2)) reported to date among all types of foldable energy-storage devices. The key to this result lies in the use of fully foldable and superelastic carbon nanotube current-collector films and impregnation of the active materials (S and Li) into the current-collectors in a checkerboard pattern, enabling the battery to be folded along two mutually orthogonal directions. The carbon nanotube films also serve as the sulfur entrapment layer in the Li-S battery. The foldable battery showed <12% loss in specific capacity over 100 continuous folding and unfolding cycles. Such shape-conformable Li-S batteries with significantly greater energy density than traditional lithium-ion batteries could power the flexible and foldable devices of the future including laptops, cell phones, tablet computers, surgical tools, and implantable biomedical devices.

A simple chalcone-based ratiometric chemosensor for silver ion

Herein, we report the selective binding of Ag(+) ion by the anthracene-based chalcone receptor 1. Receptor 1 behaves as a selective and sensitive chemosensor for the recognition of Ag(+) over other heavy and transition metal ions without any interference and is capable of detecting the metal ion down to 0.15 × 10(-6) M. Receptor 1 on binding with Ag(+) ions exhibits a ratiometric fluorescence enhancement, which is due to the inhibition of photoinduced electron transfer along with the intramolecular charge transfer mechanism.

Reprint of: Connections between single-cell biomechanics and human disease states: gastrointestinal cancer and malaria

We investigate connections between single-cell mechanical properties and subcellular structural reorganization from biochemical factors in the context of two distinctly different human diseases: gastrointestinal tumor and malaria. Although the cell lineages and the biochemical links to pathogenesis are vastly different in these two cases, we compare and contrast chemomechanical pathways whereby intracellular structural rearrangements lead to global changes in mechanical deformability of the cell. This single-cell biomechanical response, in turn, seems to mediate cell mobility and thereby facilitates disease progression in situations where the elastic modulus increases or decreases due to membrane or cytoskeleton reorganization. We first present new experiments on elastic response and energy dissipation under repeated tensile loading of epithelial pancreatic cancer cells in force- or displacement-control. Energy dissipation from repeated stretching significantly increases and the cell's elastic modulus decreases after treatment of Panc-1 pancreatic cancer cells with sphingosylphosphorylcholine (SPC), a bioactive lipid that influences cancer metastasis. When the cell is treated instead with lysophosphatidic acid, which facilitates actin stress fiber formation, neither energy dissipation nor modulus is noticeably affected. Integrating recent studies with our new observations, we ascribe these trends to possible SPC-induced reorganization primarily of keratin network to perinuclear region of cell; the intermediate filament fraction of the cytoskeleton thus appears to dominate deformability of the epithelial cell. Possible consequences of these results to cell mobility and cancer metastasis are postulated. We then turn attention to progressive changes in mechanical properties of the human red blood cell (RBC) infected with the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. We present, for the first time, continuous force-displacement curves obtained from in-vitro deformation of RBC with optical tweezers for different intracellular developmental stages of parasite. The shear modulus of RBC is found to increase up to 10-fold during parasite development, which is a noticeably greater effect than that from prior estimates. By integrating our new experimental results with published literature on deformability of Plasmodium-harbouring RBC, we examine the biochemical conditions mediating increases or decreases in modulus, and their implications for disease progression. Some general perspectives on connections among structure, single-cell mechanical properties and biological responses associated with pathogenic processes are also provided in the context of the two diseases considered in this work.

Dual Functional TiO2-Au Nanocomposite Material for Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Titanium dioxide-gold nanocomposite ((TiO2-Au)(nps)) materials dispersed in poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) polymer electrolyte are employed as solid-state electrolytes in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) containing nanocrystalline TiO2 nanoparticle (P25) or (P25-Au)(nps) thin film photoanode adsorbed with a near-IR dye sensitizer, nickel-phthalocyanine (NiPcTs). The photocurrent-photovoltage characteristics of the DSSCs are evaluated under standard AM 1.5 G simulated solar irradiation of 100 mW/cm2. The (TiO2-Au)(nps) nanocomposite material incorporated into the PDDA polymer electrolyte promotes interfacial charge transfer process, reduces crystallinity of the polymer electrolyte and enhances mobility of the /-/I3- redox couple, which are resulted in -6-fold increase in the overall solar to electrical energy conversion efficiency when compared to the unmodified polymer electrolyte based DSSC. When the P25 photoanode is replaced with the (P25-Au)(nps) photoanode, a further 8-fold increase in the overall energy conversion efficiency is achieved, owing to the increas in the charge transport through the photoanode. The photovoltaic performance of the present DSSC configuration is also compared with that of a cell sensitized by using standard N719 dye.

Correlations of Insulin Resistance and Serum Testosterone Levels with LH:FSH Ratio and Oxidative Stress in Women with Functional Ovarian Hyperandrogenism

Functional ovarian hyperandrogenism (FOH) is a form of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) characterized by elevated circulating levels of androgens derived from the ovary. Insulin resistance (IR) is the most common etiological factor in women with FOH. IR causes the generation of increased oxidative stress (OS) and diminished antioxidant status. OS is directly correlated with both IR and testosterone levels, which consequently contribute to endocrine and biochemical alterations in FOH women. In the current study, elevations in total testosterone, free testosterone and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels accompanied by a decrease in follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) level leading to higher LH:FSH ratio were the prominent endocrine changes observed in women with FOH. A significant increase in fasting blood levels of glucose and insulin, as well as an elevated IR were also seen in FOH women, as compared to their age matched controls. Women with FOH have higher pro-oxidant and lower anti-oxidant levels in blood than their age matched controls. In FOH women, elevations in LH:FSH ratio and OS are correlated more with hyperandrogenemia than with IR. Of the androgens, free rather than total testosterone has better positive correlations with elevated LH:FSH ratio and OS, and hence, the former is a better predictive marker for the development of biochemical PCOS in women with FOH.

Controlled crumpling of graphene oxide films for tunable optical transmittance

The delamination buckling approach provides a facile means to dynamically control the optical transmittance of extremely flexible and stretchable graphene oxide coatings with fast response time. Such graphene oxide coatings can be deposited by scalable solution-processing methods for potential applications in dynamic glazing.

Association of insulin resistance with adipocytokine levels in patients with metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) results from the derangement of adipocyte physiology and carbohydrate metabolism. Obesity and insulin resistance (IR) are integral features of MetS. The adipokine alterations in MetS often correlate with IR and body fat content. High adipose tissue content is associated with a decreased production of adiponectin and excessive production of tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), all of which induce IR. The present study evaluated the adipokine alterations in MetS and their association with IR. The findings of the current study indicate that MetS is associated with significant decrease in adiponectin and increase in TNF-α and IL-6. The present study also found that the adipocyte derived inflammatory adipokines, TNF-α and IL-6 correlate with IR while the anti-inflammatory adipokines, adiponectin does not correlate with the degree and severity of IR.

Vibrational spectra (FT-IR, FT-Raman), frontier molecular orbital, first hyperpolarizability, NBO analysis and thermodynamics properties of Piroxicam by HF and DFT methods

The solid phase FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra of 4-Hydroxy-2-methyl-N-(2-pyridinyl)-2H-1,2-benzothiazine-3-carboxamide-1,1-dioxide (Piroxicam) have been recorded in the region 4000-400 and 4000-100cm(-1) respectively. The molecular geometry, harmonic vibrational frequencies and bonding features of piroxicam in the ground state have been calculated by Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional theory (DFT) methods using 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. The calculated harmonic vibrational frequencies are scaled and they are compared with experimental obtained by FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra. A detailed interpretation of the vibrational spectra of the title compound has been made on the basis of the calculated potential energy distribution (PED). The electronic properties, such as HOMO and LUMO energies, molecular electrostatic potential (MESP) are also performed. The linear polarizability (α) and the first order hyper polarizability (β) values of the title compound have been computed. The molecular stability arising from hyper conjugative interaction, charge delocalization has been analyzed using natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis.