Predictive Value of a Model of the Briggs−Rauscher Reaction Fitted to Quenching Experiments

Chloride Ion Inhibition, Stirring, and Temperature Effects in an Ethylacetoacetate Briggs-Rauscher Oscillator in Phosphoric and Hydrochloric Acids in a Batch Reactor

Briggs-Rauscher oscillating reaction has been investigated in hydrochloric acid media and in the presence of added chloride ions in phosphoric acid media in a batch reactor using ethylacetoacetate as the organic substrate. The changes in key oscillation parameters, namely, induction period, oscillation period, amplitude, and so forth, have been explained in terms of the steps of the skeleton mechanism proposed by Furrow and Noyes and by de Kepper and Epstein. In spite of several shortcomings as outlined in section 2 in the text, the same mechanistic steps are good enough to explain qualitatively most of the changes in oscillation parameters under different stirring rates and temperatures in phosphoric acid and hydrochloric acid media, particularly stirring effects explained well by the theory of imperfect mixing. Potential data indicate that 0.018 M HCl medium has the ability to exhibit near-zero/zero amplitudes before cessation of oscillations. Inhibition reactions from a low Cl^- concentration in the 0.018 M HCl media appear to be responsible for this interesting dynamical transformation, as toward the end of oscillations, the difference between [I^-] and [I^-]_crit [see eq J in the text] becomes very small because of depleted component chemicals due to chemical reactions.

Corticosterone oscillations during mania induction in the lateral hypothalamic kindled rat-Experimental observations and mathematical modeling

Changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity constitute a key component of bipolar mania, but the extent and nature of these alterations are not fully understood. We use here the lateral hypothalamic-kindled (LHK) rat model to deliberately induce an acute manic-like episode and measure serum corticosterone concentrations to assess changes in HPA axis activity. A mathematical model is developed to succinctly describe the entwined biochemical transformations that underlay the HPA axis and emulate by numerical simulations the considerable increase in serum corticosterone concentration induced by LHK. Synergistic combination of the LHK rat model and dynamical systems theory allows us to quantitatively characterize changes in HPA axis activity under controlled induction of acute manic-like states and provides a framework to study in silico how the dynamic integration of neurochemical transformations underlying the HPA axis is disrupted in these states.

HOI versus HOIO selectivity of a molten-type AgI electrode

AgI electrode is often applied not only to determine iodine concentration but also to follow oscillations in the weakly acidic medium of the Bray-Liebhafsky and Briggs-Rauscher reactions where it partly follows the hypoiodous acid (HOI) concentration. It is known that HOI attacks its matrix in the corrosion reaction: AgI + HOI + H(+) ⇆ Ag(+) + I2 + H2O and the AgI electrode measures the silver ion concentration produced in that reaction. The signal of the electrode can be the basis of sensitive and selective HOI concentration measurements only supposing that an analogous corrosive reaction between AgI and iodous acid (HOIO) can be neglected. To prove that assumption, the authors calibrated a molten-type AgI electrode for I(-), Ag(+), HOI, and HOIO in 1 M sulfuric acid and measured the electrode potential in the disproportionation of HOIO, which is relatively slow in that medium. Measured and simulated electrode potential versus time diagrams showed good agreement, assuming that the electrode potential is determined by the HOI concentration exclusively and the contribution of HOIO is negligible. An independent and more direct experiment was also performed giving the same result. HOIO was produced with a new improved recipe.

CONCLUSION

an AgI electrode can be applied to measure the HOI concentration selectively above the so-called solubility limit potential.

Quantitative study of synthetic Hox transcription factor-DNA interactions in live cells

Transcription factor-DNA interactions are life sustaining and therefore the subject of intensive research. In spite of vast effort, quantitative in vivo studies of the molecular mechanisms underlying these fundamental interactions remain challenging. In the preceding paper, we designed synthetic Sex combs reduced (Scr) peptides and validated genetically their function as transcriptional regulators. Here we present a controllable system for quantitative studies of protein-DNA interactions in live cells that enables us to "titrate" the concentration of the synthetic Scr peptides in a single cell. Using methods with single-molecule sensitivity, advanced fluorescence imaging and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), we were able to study the kinetics of Scr-DNA interactions in live salivary gland cells, where Scr is normally expressed during development. We discerned freely moving Scr molecules, characterized the specific and nonspecific Scr peptide-DNA interactions, and estimated their corresponding dissociation constants (K(d)) in vivo. Our results suggest that the synthetic Scr transcription factors find their specific target sites primarily by multiple association/dissociation events, the rapidity of which is largely owed to electrostatic interactions. Based on these new findings, we formulate a model mechanism and emulate the kinetics of Scr homeodomain-DNA interactions in live cells using numerical simulations.

Reactions of iodomalonic acid, diiodomalonic acid, and other organics in the Briggs-Rauscher oscillating system

It was found that oxalic acid is one of the main products in the Briggs-Rauscher oscillating reaction. In nonoscillating solutions, oxidation of iodomalonic acid and/or diiodomalonic acid by Fenton-type reactions also produced oxalic acid as well as I(2). Mesoxalic acid yielded oxalic acid under similar conditions. Tartronic acid was nearly inert to Fenton-type reactions; however, tartronic acid was oxidized by iodate and iodine to mesoxalic acid, which in turn could form oxalic acid in the presence of H(2)O(2) plus catalyst. Iodotartronic acid appeared to be a short-lived but significant intermediate, thus both tartronic acid and mesoxalic acid are possible intermediates. Glycolic acid and glyoxylic acid are not intermediates in the oxidation of iodomalonic acid, since they in turn produce formic acid under similar nonoscillating conditions.

I(+1) transfer from diiodomalonic acid to malonic acid and a complete inhibition of the CO and CO2 evolution in the Briggs-Rauscher reaction by resorcinol

A recent report on an intense CO 2 and CO evolution in the Briggs-Rauscher (BR) reaction revealed that iodination of malonic acid (MA) is not the only important organic reaction in the classical BR oscillator. To disclose the source of the gas evolution, iodomalonic (IMA) and diiodomalonic (I2MA) acids were prepared by iodinating MA with nascent iodine in a semibatch reactor. The nascent iodine was generated by an iodide inflow into the reactor, which contained a mixture of MA and acidic iodate. Some CO2 and a minor CO production was observed during these iodinations. It was found that in an aqueous acidic medium the produced I2MA is not stable but decomposes slowly to diiodoacetic acid and CO2. The first-order rate constant of the I 2MA decarboxylation at 20 degrees C was found to be k1 = 9 x 10(-5) s(-1), which is rather close to the rate constant of the analogous decarboxylation of dibromomalonic acid under similar conditions (7 x 10(-5)s(-1)). From the rate of the CO2 evolution, the I2MA concentration can be calculated in a MA-IMA-I2MA mixture as only I2MA decarboxylates spontaneously but MA and IMA are stable. Following CO2 evolution rates, it was proven that I2MA can react with MA in the reversible reaction I2MA + MA <--> 2 IMA. The equilibrium constant of this reaction was calculated as K = 380 together with the rate constants of the forward k 2 = 6.2 x 10 (-2) M (-1)s(-1) and backward k-2 = 1.6 x 10(-4) M(-1)s(-1) reactions. The probable mechanism of the reaction is I(+1) transfer from I2MA to MA. The presence of I(+1) in a I2MA solution is demonstrated by its reduction with ascorbic acid. To estimate the fraction of CO2 coming from the decarboxylation of I2MA in an oscillatory BR reaction, the oscillations were inhibited by resorcinol. Unexpectedly, all CO2 and CO evolution was interrupted for more than one hour after injecting a small amount of resorcinol (10(-5) M initial concentration in the reactor). Finally, some implications of the newly found I(+1) transfer reactions and the surprisingly effective inhibition by resorcinol regarding the mechanism of the oscillatory BR reaction are discussed. The latter is explained by the ability of resorcinol to scavenge free radicals including iodine atoms without producing iodide ions.

Periodic CO and CO2 evolution in the oscillatory Briggs-Rauscher reaction

While various reactions in the inorganic subset of the oscillatory Briggs-Rauscher (BR) reaction were clarified in the recent years, the organic subset of the present mechanisms contains only one process: the iodination of malonic acid. Further organic reactions can play a role, however, if malonic (MA) and iodomalonic (IMA) acids can be oxidized in the BR reaction. As CO2 and CO should be products if such oxidations can take place, the main aim of this work was to learn whether these gases are produced in a significant amount in a BR system. In our BR experiments, a rather intense evolution of both gases was observed with an oscillatory and a nonoscillatory component. With the initial conditions applied here, one from every 6 carbon atoms was oxidized either to CO2 or to CO in the course of the BR reaction. The amount of CO2 was about 4 times higher than that of CO. Experiments are in progress to disclose the reactions which generate the measured gases and their role in the mechanism of the BR reaction.

Nonlinear kinetics and new approaches to complex reaction mechanisms

This paper reviews recent developments in the field of nonlinear chemical kinetics. Five topics are dealt with: (a) new approaches to complex reaction mechanisms, stoichiometric network analysis, classification of chemical oscillators and formulation of their mechanisms by deduction from experiments, and correlation metric construction of reaction pathways from measurements; (b) thermodynamic and stochastic theory of nonequilibrium processes, the eikonal approximation, the evaluation of stochastic potentials, experimental tests of the thermodynamic and stochastic theory of relative stability, and fluctuation-dissipation relations in nonequilibrium chemical systems; (c) chemical kinetics and cellular automata and lattice gas automata; (d) theoretical approaches and experimental studies of stochastic resonance in chemical kinetics; and (e) rate processes in disordered systems, stochastic Liouville equations, stretched exponential relaxation in disordered systems, and universality classes for rate processes in systems with static or dynamic disorder.

Complex oscillations in a simple model for the Briggs-Rauscher reaction

Complex oscillations in a simple model of the Briggs-Rauscher reaction mechanism in a continuously stirred tank reactor proposed by Kim et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 117, 2710 (2002)] are investigated numerically. The k(0)-[CH(2)(COOH)(2)](0) phase diagram is constructed first where k(0) is the flow rate and [...](0) is the input concentration. Within the region surrounded by the Hopf bifurcation curve, we find complex oscillation regions which are again separated from the regular oscillation region by the secondary Hopf bifurcation curves. Mixed mode oscillations with an incomplete Farey sequence, periodic-chaotic (or nonperiodic) sequence, and various types of burst oscillations are observed in complex oscillation regions. Also, chaotic burst oscillations, which are due to the transition from one kind of burst to another kind, are reported.

Evaluation of antioxidant activity of some natural polyphenolic compounds using the Briggs-Rauscher reaction method

A new method based on the inhibitory effects of antioxidants on the oscillations of the hydrogen peroxide, acidic iodate, malonic acid, and Mn(II)-catalyzed system (known as the Briggs-Rauscher reaction), was used for the evaluation of antioxidative capacity. With this method, which works near the pH of the fluids in the stomach (pH approximately 2), a group of natural compounds present in fruits and vegetables or in medicinal plants assumed to have antioxidant capacity, was tested successfully. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the antioxidative properties of some active principles contained in vegetables and aromatic plants, namely, cynarin (from Cynara scolymus), rosmarinic acid (from Rosmarinus officinalis), echinacoside (from Echinacea species), puerarin (from Pueraria lobata), and oleuropein (from Olea europea). Also studied with the Briggs-Rauscher reaction method was the antioxidant activity of cyanidin 3-O-beta-glucopyranoside (from Citrus aurantium) in order to compare the results with those obtained by other methods. The conclusions on the dependency of the antioxidative activity on the pH of the testing system are given.

Sustained oscillations in living cells

Glycolytic oscillations in yeast have been studied for many years simply by adding a glucose pulse to a suspension of cells and measuring the resulting transient oscillations of NADH. Here we show, using a suspension of yeast cells, that living cells can be kept in a well defined oscillating state indefinitely when starved cells, glucose and cyanide are pumped into a cuvette with outflow of surplus liquid. Our results show that the transitions between stationary and oscillatory behaviour are uniquely described mathematically by the Hopf bifurcation. This result characterizes the dynamical properties close to the transition point. Our perturbation experiments show that the cells remain strongly coupled very close to the transition. Therefore, the transition takes place in each of the cells and is not a desynchronization phenomenon. With these two observations, a study of the kinetic details of glycolysis, as it actually takes place in a living cell, is possible using experiments designed in the framework of nonlinear dynamics. Acetaldehyde is known to synchronize the oscillations. Our results show that glucose is another messenger substance, as long as the glucose transporter is not saturated.